Part 28 (1/2)

Didn't you know this is the form I use to get all the girls? I teased and tried to smile but it felt awkward with vulpine lips.

That's mean. Trying to hurt my feelings?

Maybe.

You're so cruel when you're cute.

There was no way I was winning this one.

Luckily I turned a glance over my shoulder when I picked up the unusual sound of something screaming through the air. It had to be the s.h.i.+p coming in.

I ducked my head back into the pocket when the s.h.i.+p crashed into the sand and water with a rather large wave. Ashe stepped closer when I heard my voice calling in the distance. She started moving and I bounced around a bit. I guess she didn't have a perfect pace like I had thought.

I listened to the initial awkward conversation we had on the sh.o.r.e about her hair and how I was being inconsiderate. It made me realize just how much Ashe had been teasing me without me even aware of it. She had to have made a big huff about her hair this time since she knew I was the one who fixed it up for her.

Time travel screws everything up.

All I want to do is hug you again; it would be weird right now wouldn't it? Ashe's voice rose in my mind.

You will in a second. I explained right as I heard Ettie's voice mention hugging *baby Ella' and then felt squashed between two stiff bodies.

That was a terrible hug. And I'm not a baby! Ashe sighed and I felt her annoyance rip through me.

You sure are complaining like one.

I am not! It was the truth. At least you hug better later...or earlier. She exclaimed while I heard my other self then felt the push of Ashe being drawn aside. I knew this was my cue and popped my head up from the pocket.

I looked around to see myself, mere inches away, surprised. I could only imagine how more surprised I would have been if another Gnidori had been here instead of a fox.

This is really weird. I said as Ashe scooped me out of the pocket.

How do you think I feel? She commented while lifting me up to her face; my heart jumped. I had completely forgotten *Reynard' had licked Ashe last time. Did that mean I had to do it? I guess I could...

I slipped my tongue out and licked over Ashe's skin right up against my face. She giggled like before and I felt like my heart was going to give out with how fast it was beating. I was almost sure she could feel it.

That's it. I'm keeping you like this.

Nooooo way. You can't make me.

She felt amused while she bothered herself with spinning some lie about why there were two foxes. She did well with that one. The other Gnidori wouldn't suspect a thing if she was anything like me; which I knew she was.

After a brief explanation which I coached Ashe through when the other me had grabbed her tightly wanting to know about the faerie. I concluded, Just say you aren't sure. Mention the sleeping spell. That'll sell it.

Once Ashe wasn't feeling quite so nervous about lying to the other me she seemed to dig a bit better into it, even lying a few more times about how we found them and how we tracked The Blue Faerie.

The group gathered back around us, and Ashe pushed me up to her shoulder. I looped around my roommate's neck to see Reynard brightened up and sniffing in my direction. He nearly fell from Ettie's shoulder if she hadn't scooped him up in to her arms to hold him.

Reynard says he missed you and thinks you look funny. Ashe explained with trying to hide a giggle, while Goldie took over much of the conversation about heading to Bluebeard's tower.

Thanks, I guess.

He also says he was fine if you were worried. He just woke up in the wrong place and that he picked up a pa.s.senger. Ashe continued to relay messages between Kit or Reynard and me while we all headed toward the tower.

Kit mentioned something about time magic not being even remotely simple and actually took very specific rituals that could take months of planning. It was more likely I had been hit with a *Time Touch'.

He wouldn't explain what that was though. Just that certain people could do it if they were descendants of Rip Van Winkle and that it was similar to Midas' Gold Touch.

By the time the other Gnidori was pounding on the door to the tower, we had officially mostly run out of things to talk about. Even with having told them we would have to fight Bluebeard. I realized afterwards that was a bad idea since I could then feel Ashe worrying about that.

I plopped back inside Ashe's pocket when the other me busted through the door. I could already feel the magic so strongly emanating from the place that it was clear now that I hadn't been the one to finally break the door open. It had been opened with a magical pull.

Once Ashe and Ettie had helped the other me up, my head was just poking back out, following the trace of magic to Bluebeard as he descended the steps. Reynard started growling and something deep inside told me to follow along with him, so I did.

It wasn't long before everyone discovered Goldie was related to Bluebeard and Reynard started barking which only made me want to bark with him.

Things were quickly spinning in to chaos, which really shouldn't have been a surprise to me, since I knew all that was going to happen. Just as Han keeled over from the mere spell of the Sleeping Curse so thickly permeating the room everything stepped into motion.

The ground ripped up around us and grabbed everyone. I instantly jumped on to the piece of the floor wrapped around Ashe and ripped and tore at it with my paws and teeth, Reynard had jumped down to it as well, helping me.

It wasn't until Ashe had pulled the hatchet I had given her through the earthen grasp that she finally broke free from it. Both Reynard and I jumped on to her. Reynard took my pocket while I sat on her shoulders.

I wanted to say so desperately right in that moment that Ashe shouldn't mention what she knew about Bluebeard's secret, but I knew even if I did she still would have done it. She's just that kind of girl. So instead I said, You have to buy me time. To unlock my magic.

She registered everything so quickly and chose the best route was to be *caught' by Bluebeard. So she screamed out his secret to the other me, holding her hatchet tightly and I wrapped my tail around her neck. I'm with you. I'm always right beside you.

She nodded right before a hand yanked around her waist and she was dragged behind the wall of fire the blue-bearded wizard made.

Maybe my comment had somehow helped her to be so content, thinking about the image of her face when I had seen her dragged behind the fire while in my normal form. As soon as the fire was surrounding us, I jumped out and bit down on the arm that had been wrapped around Ashe to let her get free.

The price of doing that was obvious. I went hurling through the fire wall and slammed into a normal wall with my tiny fox body. It felt like a combination of when I had been thoroughly burned by the Salamanders and then tossed through the wall by Nera.

I couldn't even move until a wet nose came sniffing over my body and nudged me. I smiled. Of course with Han's nose he would have recognized my magic immediately. At least he was smart enough to have not given me away.

I pushed my tiny body up, with the support of Han nudging me against the wall I had slammed in to. But I couldn't change yet, for some reason the other me still hadn't even decided to go through with getting my magic back.

Why?

Then I remembered it...

Of course. This was the moment I had been contemplating the risk of releasing my magic. My voice had pressed through me and I had accepted it as simply my thoughts.

Technically it was my thoughts, simply coming from a future me!

I stumbled forward as Han barked something at me that I couldn't understand. I shook my head and scratched my paw in the ground summoning up a wisp of energy as I thought what I wanted to be carried to the other me.

Your magic is always worth it. Don't forget that... Hue didn't.