Flames Gotta Stick Together
We stood there, dead still staring at each other.
Before me stood a group of red Foxes, of various numbers of tails, which looked to be led by a three tailed Fox at the front of them.
They were a deep red colour with white stomachs and most of the adult ones gave of an extremely elegant feeling. Some of them looked as if they were injured and struggled to stay up with the help of the more able ones. They also had children within the group, though I could not get a good view of them as they hid behind their guardians.
There was one in the group who I kept finding my eyes drawn to. That was the one who was leading them.
"Sooo cute…" I whisper quietly.
Although they all looked very cute and fluffy, the leader at the front was especially so.
The long bushy tails and other fluffy parts that I wanted to rub myself against. The beautiful brown determined eyes that looked ready to take me on if I threatened her. The pose she took while looking at me screamed that she was trying super hard to be intimidating, but just made her look cuter.
"Haaah must fluff…" I whisper as I slowly creep forward to my goal.
"My lady… please restrain yourself, your thoughts are plastered on your face." Terre says as she puts a hand on my shoulder to break my trance.
"Ahem, sorry you are right Terre… Though it seems a bit hypocritical for you to be warning me about controlling my behaviour…"
"I do not know what you mean my Lady… Although yes, I think the sight of you happily playing with these fluffy creatures… would be a…. wonderful sight… Haaah what a blissful sight that would have been… Tch why did I stop her…" Terre began to mumble to herself.
I left Terre to her own little world and began to slowly approach the group of Foxes. If these creatures had intelligence, I should be able to communicate with them due the [Common Language Knowledge] I obtained when I evolved.
So once I got close enough, I started my vital mission of communicating with these adorable creatures…
"Greetings! My name is Alicia Valensca, Daughter of Petra Valensca who is the current ruler of this territory. Who are you and what is your business here?" I say in the most powerful tone I can muster with my rather childish voice.
"…" They continued to stand stone still and stare at me.
Although I did not know how they would respond, I at least expected them to say something!
I turn round and check with Terre if I did anything wrong, she seemed like she would have some good advice in these situations.
…
"…Terre…"
"Fufufu…"
She still seemed to be in her own little world.
"Haah why are both Mother and Terre like this?" I wonder out loud to myself.
While I was despairing at the weirdness of the two closest people to me, the leader of the Foxes slowly walked forward.
"I-I am Ignis, I am the acting chief for my Skulk. We were chased from our territory by some Cursed Wolves who attacked us unprovoked. I was under the impression that this area was not controlled by any being, may I ask if this just happened recently?" The Fox said in a voice that sounded as if it was trying as hard as mine to sound powerful. Though I hate to say it, I feel like she may do it better than me.
As I curse my own voice yet again, Terre walks up behind me and puts a hand on me to bring me back to my senses once again. Though as I come back to my senses, I hear some rustling in the forest behind the Foxes.
Hmm must be another animal, I can't sense any danger so it should be fine. It is probably something harmless, I think to myself.
"My Lady, these Wolves they speak of, they could possibly be the ones that also drove me from my old nest. We should question them a bit more, though I do not believe them to be a danger to us, from looking at who makes up this group."
Indeed, this group is mostly made up of pregnant, injured and children Foxes. They would not be any threat to us.
"This territory has only been claimed in the last couple of years by my Mother. She is currently away from the territory on business so I am the current Acting Queen of this area. Now all of you can come forward and we can furth… WATCH OUT! [Fireball]"
Just as I am finishing my sentence I see a dark shadow jump towards one of the Fox children who had strayed too far from the group.
"ARGHHH!" The shadow shouts as the fireball makes a direct hit on it. It sends it flying away back into the forest.
"All of you behind me and Terre now! If you do not move quickly you could be in great danger! I sense more coming!" I shout in order to try and get them to move safely behind me.
The Foxes seemed a little hesitant to listen to a stranger. I don't blame them, I don't know if I could trust a strange human looking being I just met when all they have seen is Foxes all their life. I was ready to repeat myself when…
"Everyone! Listen to her and get behind her, she saved a child so we can trust her for now!" The leader Fox helps me encourage everyone to move behind me.
Her words seemed to persuade them, as they quickly move to position themselves to where we directed.
Once they are all behind me, we wait for the monsters to show themselves.
…
After a few moments they appeared. Large, dark as the midnight sky, Wolves came stalking out of the forest that the Foxes came out of just moments ago.
All of them were covered in scars, which said to me they were a fighting race. There sharp claws were already out and scrapping against the floor in anticipation and their eyes screamed that they were up for a fight.
If they hadn't been trying to kill such cute creatures, I would have thought that these Wolves were my sort monsters! Meh never mind I guess, I shall just have to run them off…
"Oi PIPSQUEAK! How dare you attack me when I was about to devour my prey! Such a SMALL inferior being like you have insulted a member of the immensely powerful Kage Clan! Like these Foxes, you and your friend there will be slaughtered for this insult!" It seems that the Wolf who is barking insults at me now, was the one I sent flying, but that does not matter right now…
"what did you just say…"
"HAH! What did you say you PIPSQUEAK!"
"Fufufu… you said it again…"
"Speak louder BRAT we canno…. Hiiii!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
I strengthen my body and charge at full speed straight towards the leader of the group who said that BULLSHIT about me.
I completely lost it.
"HAHAHA none of you are leaving here! [Spirit Weapon]" I shout in a frenzied state.
"N-NO WAITTT ARGHHHH!"
I impale the loud Wolf on the blade of my scythe and throw his body away from me.
"Well he wasn't worth SHIT was he… How about you guys?!"
"NOOO EVERYONE ATTACK HER TOGETHER!" The remaining 12 Wolves try to surround me and use their number to there advantage.
"TRY IT! [Blood Lust] [Spirit Armour] [Weapon Enhancement]" I activate a bunch of skills to test them out on these monsters.
"I shall take you down now! Hah?!" One of them tries to charge at me, so I charge straight back at it with my weapon in hand.
Surprised by my movements it tries to stop itself and dodge the incoming swing of the scythe. But it's too late.
"ARGHHHH!" Another one is down, it is cut straight through by the scythe.
"HAHA NEXT!" I laugh and say maniacally.
While I was having fun fighting…
---
POV Ignis.
What was I watching?
A small child like being, is slaughtering the same Wolves that I would have struggled greatly against. I defeated the last one easily because he was injured, but these were not injured Wolves. These were Wolves who had clearly rested and planned before trying to attack us. Yet this young girl had easily just mowed through two of them in an instant.
"… So strong." I involuntarily murmur.
"Fufu isn't she. Though she still has a loooong way to go before being as powerful as her Mother." A lady with four arms walks next to me and says.
Really? Her Mother is a lot stronger then her? Just who are these people?! I wanted to ask but...
"Haah even when she is like this, Lady Alicia is still really cute…"
"I-I suppose…" I say in an unsure voice.
As I looked closer though, she really was cute. Like a small, adorable, but vicious, animal.
I find myself watching her every movement really closely as she flies around the battlefield fighting off multiple enemies. Then it occurs to me.
"H-hey miss? Is she going to be okay?" I say to the six limbed lady next to me, who was still lost in her delusions.
This Alicia, quickly killed two of them and had killed three more since then. But she was still outnumbered by them, surely she could not keep this up and beat all of them by herself.
Snapping out of her delusions the lady next to me puts on a thinking pose.
"Hmmm? I suppose I can secretly take down the two on the edge of the battlefield." She says nonchalantly.
As she says that, her shadow seems to split into two and run off towards the two Wolves on the outskirts of the battle.
The Cursed Wolves seem to have the ability to slip into shadows and pop out somewhere else. That gives them the ability to use strong surprise attacks on an enemies vulnerable spots, and were also good at using other dark element magic attacks. So they were very dangerous.
What happened to the targeted Wolves next, made me question that belief.
The Wolves in question were just about to run in to attack the girl called Alicia when…
"Huh?!"
"AH NO!"
The shadows from the lady seemed to be pulling them down into themselves, making them look like they are sinking into the ground. Before long the Wolves had completely disappeared into her shadows. No trace of them was left, none of the other Wolves noticed as it happened too quickly.
I looked at the being next to me in amazement. She sees me looking at her, winks and puts her finger to her mouth.
"Fufu please don't let Lady Alicia know about this." She smiles, but I felt a chill as she did.
She feels like she may be just as powerful as Alicia, I will have to make sure to stay on their good side.
As I turn back to the battle, to my amazement it was just about done. There was only two Wolves left, and they looked extremely tired…
---
Alicia POV.
"Hehe so you two are the only ones left… come then let's finish this up!"
"AHHHH YOU BITCH! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
They both shout at me as they charge forward to their deaths. They separate and each one goes either left or right.
I conjure a large fireball in my right hand and aim it at one of the wolves advancing towards me.
"[Flare Bomb]!" I cast and throw the fireball at the wolf on my right side. Completely evaporating it.
"NOOOOOOOoooo…."
"Now you…" I turn my attention to the second wolf on my left. It has almost reached me…
"HAHA NOT ENOUGH TIME TO RAISE YOUR WEAPON OR CAST YOUR SPELLS THIS TIME HUHHH… URGH!" It stops in its tracks just before I am in range of its claws.
"What the?!" It looks back, and sees a small shadowy tentacle has gripped its leg.
"Urgh! No worries I'll just use dark magic…"
"Nope." I say, and behead the last remaining Wolf.
Its body falls to the ground, and I look around at my handy work. The scattered corpses of the wolves I have fought litter the beautiful surroundings as well as various scorch marks from my magic.
Ahhh, well that was quite the workout. Wish they could have been a bit stronger. Hmmm, plus I thought there were a couple more of them…
*Clap Clap*
I turn and see Terre approaching me. With the leader of the Foxes following slightly behind her.
"Marvellously done my Lady, you looked very powerful."
"Hehe thanks Terre… Hey Terre did any of them escape? I swear there was more than what I killed that came out of the forest."
"Not at all my Lady, you took all of them out yourself." Terre says with a big smile.
"Hmmm if you say so." I was still not sure, but I suppose if Terre says there was no others then I shall just take her word.
Me and Terre keep chatting away about various things until the Fox spoke up.
"Excuse me, I just wanted to thank you for saving us from those Wolves. If you were not there, I am sure we would have been wiped out."
The Fox thanked me for protecting her skulk, as she called it, and asked if there was anything they could do to return the favour.
"Haha no problem at all! If anything I should thank you for bringing me such a good battle!" I say merrily.
"I-If you say so. Anyway I am not sure what to do now, we have no where to go if this is your territory…"
"What are you saying? You can come back with us." I say like it was obvious.
"Huh… Really?"
Does she really think I was just going to throw them out?
"Of course, it would be cruel to turn away such cute fluffy creatures… Ahem, I mean you have women who are pregnant, injured and children with you, it is only right I help you."
The Fox looked at me in disbelief at first, but that soon turned to joy and gratitude.
"T-Thank you so much! I shall go let the rest of the skulk know, please give me a bit of time to convince them to come along."
And so, after a bit of talking with the rest of her group, they all agreed to come back home with us. We had plenty of room as well, so that is no problem.
"Right everybody! Please follow me and Terre to your new home!" I shout at the top of my lungs towards the Foxes.
After a bit of rest, we set off home. Once again, mine and Mothers Kingdom grew once more.
---
Alicia Valensca
Race: Chaos Flame Dragon
Level: 12
Vit: 5500 MP: 6800 Str: 300 Spe: 322 Sta: 318 Int: 95
Titles: [Princess of the Mountains] [Tiny One] [Charming One]
Divine Protection: [Dragon God Xerxes]
Class: Berserker (Proficiency: 18%)
Element Affinity: Fire (Strong) Dark (Strong)
Active Skills: [Flame Element Magic: Level 6]LVLUP! [Feisty Roar: Level 9]LVLUP! [Princesses Command: Level 1] [Territory Boost: Level 3] [Body Strengthening: Level 8]LVLUP! [Humanoid Transformation] [Spirit Armour] [Spirit Weapon] [Dark Element Magic: Level 1] [Blood Lust] [Berserker Link] [Weapon Enhancement: Level 2]
Passive Skills: [Flame Element Resistance: Level 10] [Strong Dragon Vision] [Flame Dragons Bravery] [Dragon Regeneration] [Sharp Senses] [Dark Element Resistance: Level 10] [Earthen Element Resistance: Level 2]LVLUP! [Humanoid Subordinates]
Status Effects: [Small Build]
Affiliation: Queen of The Mountains Territory [Position: Princess/Acting Queen]