The small red-haired girl stares down at the small note written in familiar characters:

  Sorry kiddos, something came up and I had to go. But here’s some money in case you want to go and buy anything. And that pendant is a bit of ‘insurance,’ so if anything dangerous comes up, make sure to spin that little dial on the side.

  -Oswin

  Kumiho grabs the completely ordinary looking pendant. Despite being gold in color, the material is obviously something else simply painted gold and the chain as well feels rather chintzy and fragile in her hands. Even the centerpiece is rather boring and lackluster: with it just being a simple circular shape with some light engravings in it and a small bumpy dial on the side. The engravings themselves are also rather boring: just little triangles and circles within the boring round centerpiece to seemingly give it the illusion of being interesting. In other words: it was a completely basic and boring pendant you could find just about anywhere.

  She lightly fiddles with the pendant for a bit, deciding after a while to wear the pendant over her red shirt. The rest of the foxes are each doing their own thing: Sune is peacefully humming a tune while braiding Hollie’s hair; the midnight haired girl reads the language book Oswin gave her, occasionally asking Sune questions relating to the language; Fang is still sleeping soundly as no one has decided to bother him.

  While watching the serene moment for a long time, she notices Hollie’s ears slightly twitch and her eyes leave the book as she stares at the door for a long moment before glancing at Kumiho and ever so slightly nodding her head once.

  “Uh, hey... Uhm, Sune... it’s too bright here, can we turn that way?” Hollie cautiously says to Sune who in response tilts her head like a dog.

  “Uhm, sure.” She speaks with obvious confusion but still follows Hollie’s lead as they turn away from the door.

  Kumiho closes her eyes and focuses her senses like she had been taught from a young age to do. But unbeknownst to her, her ears begin to lightly glow with a fiery red aura as she focuses on her hearing. Kumiho hears the quiet humming of Sune as if she was humming right into Kumiho's ears; she is able to hear Fang’s slow and measured breathing with perfect clarity. And she hears the muffled mutterings of a man right behind the door to their room. She slowly walks over to the door with light feet and slightly opens the door ajar before the man can even knock.

  The man is wearing a dark cloak that drapes over his entire body, leaving almost everything besides his mouth to the imagination. His body freezes upon noticing the door opening, his head moving down slowly to look at the young girl.

  “Oh hello, young lady.” The man’s voice is surprisingly friendly as he gives the young girl a smile.

  Kumiho stares at the man who spoke fluently in her native tongue, “Who are you?” Kumiho curtly responds, her hand tight on the door ready to close it at a moment's notice.

  “Well, you can call me Hrafn for now.” The man leans in to get closer to Kumiho’s eye level.

  “So... Hrafn... What do you want?” Kumiho’s tone is cautious and callous.

  “Oh, well I’m looking for a friend of mine.” As the man leans even closer, his eyes are fully revealed to her. His eyes are a light grey with countless black lines. The lines moving and turning within the man’s eyes, an ever-changing fractal of lines within the man’s eyes that constantly move and shift and turn.

  “What is with your eyes...?” She asks while staring at the shifting lines in his eyes.

  “Oh, my eyes? Aren’t they so cool~? I promise that you won’t find another’s eyes to be quite like mine.” The man replies with extreme pride. Before Kumiho can even respond he continues, “And I’m not a fae so please don’t get me confused with them.” The man speaks in a tired tone.

  “Well... Okay... But we can’t help you.” As Kumiho continues to curtly answer she tries to close the door but the man grabs it and pries it open, beginning to speak in a panic at her actions.

  “Wait! Wait! I’m not a slaver or a citizen of this kingdom! I’m not even human actually! And my eyes aren’t weird! They’re cool!” As the man urgently begins revealing things to make himself more trustworthy his eyes become even stranger. When the man started panicking the many lines within his eyes began shifting and creating a “!” within the man’s eyes. Where the lines remain outside the thin black border of the shape, letting it be filled in with the man’s naturally gray eyes. The strange phenomenon causing Kumiho to completely freeze up in confusion.

  “What is wrong with your eyes...?” She asks while staring at the “!” in his eyes with a completely baffled expression.

  “I already told you. They’re the coolest eyes you’ll ever see in this dump of a kingdom.” The man’s words are so childish that Kumiho for a moment doesn’t even know how to react.

  “..." She looks at him oddly for a long time before continuing, "Regardless of your weird eye-”

  “-Cool!” The man interrupts her with his child-like enthusiasm.

  “Cool... eyes... You said you’re not human or a fae? And if I don’t like your answers I’m closing the door.” Despite understanding the risks Kumiho finds it hard to not question the strange man in front of her, especially since he seems harmless enough.

  “I’m just like you actually.” As Hrafn speaks in his jovial voice, he takes off his hood and reveals what is under his cloak. He is a young white skinned man in his mid-twenties with short black hair and on the back of his head and neck are midnight black bird feathers. Under the cloak is his shirtless torso with splotches of disorderly black feathers sporadically growing from random places on his pale white chest. His left arm is raised to be perpendicular to his body, and attached to the underside of his raised arm and side of his bare torso is a matted and mangy black wing. The feathers all messed up, lacking the normal glossiness Kumiho was used to with other “bird-people” she has met, the messed-up feathers and wing being an obvious sign of the man’s lineage.

  “A hybrid...” She quietly mumbles to herself.

  “Mhm. My mom was human and my pops a bird.”

  “Wait... But what about your eyes?” Kumiho inquires curiously.

  “That... I can’t explain-”

  Kumiho begins to close the door and as she does the man quickly rushes to stop her as his eyes shift into the word for “please.”

  “Wait! Please just hear me out!” The man sounds close to crying as his eyes shift into falling tear drops.

  She slowly opens the door until it is slightly ajar again and waits for the man to continue. “My eyes come from my mother, and they are a genetic thing. I would love to tell you what they really are but she told me I should never tell people what they really are. Just know that they have nothing to do with ‘fae magic’ and they aren’t dangerous. Please believe me and help me out?” The man ends his rant in a pitiful tone with a pleading smile plastered on his face.

  Kumiho silently appraises Hrafn, after an awkwardly long moment of silence that leaves Hrafn squirming the entire time, she speaks, “What did you need again?” The girl tersely asks with genuine confusion in her voice.

  The man’s expression freezes as three evenly spaced squares appear in his eyes: “...”, “You serious?” He questions, genuinely flabbergasted.

  “Yes, I forgot.” She responds without her tone or gaze faltering for a moment.

  The man stares at the girl’s shameless stare with a baffled look on his face, “Uh... I was looking for someone, remember?” He pleadingly asks the young red-haired girl.

  “I don’t”

  Her curt response causes his expression to freeze again as he sighs loudly with his head down, mumbling under his breath: “This shameless knave...”

  Kumiho has a cold smile on her face, “What was that?” She asks coldly while slowly closing the door.

  “WAit I didn’t mean it!” His voice cracks as he pleads with the young girl.

  “Mhm, now who are you looking for?” She reopens the door and drops the fake smile as her face goes back to a calm expression.

  “I’m looking for a man named Oswin. Ever he-BANG” Hrafn is cut off by the door loudly slamming shut. His body is completely still as he stands in front of the closed door; even his ever-shifting eyes stopping their constant movement upon the absurd sight of the closed door.

  Sune with her hands still braiding Hollie’s hair looks at Kumiho and then at the shut door, “Is someone outside?”

  “Just a door-to-door salesman, ignore him.” There is light knock on the door as a muffled voice comes through the door.

  “What did he just say?” Sune has a puzzled expression as she tries her best to hear what the muffled voice is saying

  “He’s just trying to trick us into buying something.” A quiet sobbing can be heard from outside the door.

  “Uhm... Is he... crying...?” Sune is quite bothered by the crying noises, “Shouldn’t you at least hear him out? He doesn't sound like a dangerous person.”

  Kumiho mutters under her breath before responding, “I’ll ask him one more thing but if he doesn’t give a good response, I’m not dealing with him again.”

  Sune pleasantly smiles at Kumiho before putting her attention back on Hollie and acting like nothing even happened.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Kumiho opens the door slowly and stares down at Hrafn’s crying form, “Are you actually crying?” She asks incredulously.

  “Huh?” He wipes his eyes before standing upright with pure joy on his face and smiley faces falling like raindrops within his eyes, “You-you-you actually came back out because you felt bad?! I knew you weren’t as cruel as you pretend!”

  “...” The girl stares at the man expressionlessly.

  “Erm, ahem. I promise I’m not an enemy of Oswin. I’m actually good friends with him you see! We go way back!” The black-haired man speaks enthusiastically.

  “And how do I know you aren’t lying to get information on him?” Kumiho’s cold tone causes Hrafn’s smile to drop.

  “Did he like... Ever say anything about me? Well, I’m sure he di-”

  “He hasn’t. Ever talked about anyone he knows.” She curtly cuts him off.

  “Well, uhhh...” He scratches the feathery back of his head.

  “I have an idea actually. What's the password Oswin told us to ask strangers?”

  “Password? What passwo-” His eyes widen as he suddenly grins, his eyes themselves begin grinning with large crescent smiles, “You’re quite a cunning little knave. Will this work?” His voice completely changes from his normal childish one to one that is darker and more serious as he pulls out a completely ordinary golden pendant. A pendant that is completely identical to the one Kumiho currently wears around her neck. As he holds it up, both pendants’ ordinary engravings begin to light up with a blue flash, Kumiho’s pendant shooting a blue laser from its center right into the center of Hrafn’s pendant. The next moment, both pendants begin to glow a light green instead and the glow begins to slowly fade back into nothingness. As the lights fade so too does the man’s grinning face as his eyes return to normal and he stands completely dazed for a long moment.

  Hrafn’s eyes suddenly focus back on Kumiho as he begins merrily smiling at Kumiho, “I’m sorry about him, I know he can sometimes be a bit much.”

  “Uhm... Sure... But I don’t actually know where Oswin is.”

  “So... this was for nothing...?” He stands there completely still, his eyes becoming motionless.

  “Mm-huh?” Kumiho lightly jumps as someone grabs her shoulders from behind.

  “I know where Oswin went!” A cheerful voice rings out.

  “You do?” Hrafn’s face lights up.

  “Yeah! He said he was gonna get some medicine... to help with his sickness.” Her excitement quickly fades as she mentions her savior’s poor health.

  “Medicine? Oswin’s sick...? How is that possible...!” Hrafn begins erratically muttering to himself while chewing on his thumbnail. The lines in his eyes increasing in speed as the fear on Hrafn’s face continues to become more and more evident.

  “Are you okay?!” Sune worriedly tugs on the man’s sleeve.

  As his emotions seem to reach their apex he stops in place, his whole body freezing and even the lines within his eyes freezing. His widened eyes slowly fall as his face turns cold and expressionless. Hrafn takes the thumb out of his mouth and coldly stares at the small girl still tugging at his sleeve, the lines of his eyes still completely stationary. “I’m fine.” His emotionless voice causes Sune to let go and awkwardly back away.

  “Uh-Sorry...”

  “Mm. Where did Oswin go again?”

  “Uhm... To get medicine.”

  “We were supposed to meet next week... Ruining my plans like always that guy.” The man’s calm and measured voice lacks any irritation or any emotion at all for that matter, sounding as if he is simply acting irritated because he thinks he should instead of truly being annoyed with the other man. He turns and begins walking down the hall without another word. Sune attempts to call out to him, but before she can Kumiho quickly pulls her back into their room and closing the door tight.

  “What was that for?”

  “I don’t trust him. Quicker we stop talking to him, quicker he leaves.”

  “But isn’t he Oswin’s friend? Why wouldn’t you trust him?” Sune’s genuine confusion causes the red-haired girl to groan in annoyance.

  “Just because he is Oswin’s ally doesn’t magically make him a good person or our ally.”

  “Well... Okay. Sure. Whatever. Fine.” Her tone becoming more annoyed with every new word.

  Kumiho stares at the girl while she keeps changing her words for a long moment before going to sit at the wooden desk and fiddling with the small coins Oswin had left on the desk for them. Sune staring at Kumiho with evident frustration but drops it when Hollie calls her over. Some time passes as she continues mindlessly play with the coins while deep in thought before she asks Sune a serious question, “Sune?” The white-haired girl’s head and ears perk up, “Humans buy things with these coins, right?”

  “Uh, yeah, everything from our clothing to the food we've eaten has been bought with those coins, why are you asking?”

  “Well, I was just thinking...” She pauses for a long moment while staring at the shining coins, “Since Oswin has helped us so much... Why don’t we get some of these coins to give to him? As I imagine it is expensive buying all the clothes we have and paying for this room.”

  “You want to earn money?”

  “Mhm, do you have any ideas...?”

  As Sune is about to respond she is interrupted by a loud yawn, “Hoaah~... Why don’t you ask the lady downstairs if she has anything you can do.” Fang rubs his green eyes while speaking.

  “Mmm... Maybe.”

  .

  .

  .

  “You said you know how to cook? Show me.” An old woman with brown hair tied in a bun and a brown leather apron speaks in Kumiho’s native tongue, the young girl quietly examining the small kitchen.

  Directly in front of her are five different sized cast iron pans and five cast iron bowls that hang by small wooden hooks that are nailed to the wooden wall. Right under those hanging tools is a wooden countertop with a square wooden knife block, a small cutting board, and a sharpening block. The knife block filled with some knives and a simple metal kitchen knife with a worn wooden handle sitting beside the cutting the board. On the right of the counter is a wooden cupboard right in the corner of the room; a few feet in front of the cupboard is a white fur covered door on the right wall. And behind her is a large wooden island table with a plethora of different pots, pans, bowls, tools, and more; either simply just lying on the table or hanging from hooks attached to ropes that go up to the low hanging ceiling. And lastly, on the wall opposite to where Kumiho stands are several strange black boxes with small levers and buttons all over them.

  “What do you want me to cook?”

  “What did you cook back at home?”

  After an awkward amount of silence Kumiho calmly responds, “They always liked how I cooked and seasoned venison, or just any meat really. So any simple meat dish you want I can probably make.”

  “Mmm~, make some simple bite sized pieces of any cooked venison you want, season and cook how you would at home. The meat is behind the fur door.” The old woman speaks sternly with a tough expression on her face.

  Kumiho simply nods as she opens the fur door and is met with blast of cold air. All of the walls are covered in the same white fur as the door and a fist sized blue beating heart sits inside the farthest wall from the door, emitting waves of freezing cold with every beat. Kumiho enters the room and pushes past the different hung-up pieces of animal meat before stopping before one of the hooks and pulling off a boneless deer tenderloin off the hook. She brings the long red tenderloin to the cutting board and begins cutting it to equal sized parts with practiced ease. The knife slicing through the meat with seemingly no resistance, Kumiho’s hands glowing with an almost imperceptible red aura as she quickly cuts through the meat with the worn blade like the meat isn't even there. She pulls off a small cast iron pan from one of the wooden wall hooks, places it on the countertop before picking up the cutting board and sliding the cut tenderloin chunks into the pan.

  “You’re quite good with a knife.” The old woman muses, pointing towards the cupboard in the corner of the room, “Any spices or seasoning you want are in there. Oh, and have you ever used a firewyrm cooker?”

  “No...” She puzzledly stares at the old woman.

  “Season it with whatever you want and I’ll show you.”

  Kumiho quickly moves to the cupboard and begins grabbing green-tinted glass bottles filled with a plethora of ground up herbs, spices, and liquids, only holding them up for a moment before either placing them on the counter next to her or putting them back. Once satisfied she brings the seven bottles and begins to grab pinches of different seasonings before evenly spreading them around the bite sized tenderloins. As she finishes with the last bottle she puts all of them away and picks up the heavy cast iron pan with both hands, glancing towards the old woman.

  “Follow me.” She waves Kumiho to follow her as she walks over to the strange black boxes. “Put the pan in the circle.” She points to what used to be a red circle but has now been heavily scorched with little square holes evenly placed in a grid pattern within the circle. She pushes a few buttons and moves a few dials as fiery red veins are revealed all over the black box, all of them eventually leading to the red circle in the middle or more specifically the small holes. Once the glowing veins reach the circle that is hidden by the large pan, Kumiho begins to feel a wave of heat come from the box.

  “Pretty neat right?” The woman proudly asks, slightly lifting the cast iron pan to show small flames coming from each square hole.

  “How?” Kumiho asks curiously while examining the strange box in front of her.

  “The whole thing is made out of a dead firewyrm. The main body is made of the thing’s skin and flesh, and those little holes lead to its fire sac that is somewhere in there. Then you just use these dials to feed the sac some oxygen and world-energy, and boom. You got fire.”

  “Isn’t this expensive?”

  “Ha” The woman lightly chuckles before excitedly responding, “Not really. Firewyrms are only a bit smaller than a horse, though they’re quite a bit longer, but anyways, their teeth aren’t particular sharp, nor do they have much actual physical power. Their only real strength that makes them normally so dangerous is their ability to breathe fire. Except that doesn’t matter since ranchers just sever the tube that connects the fire sac to the mouth right after they’re born. And when you combine how non-dangerous they are now with the fact that they can get to full size in under a month and can lay more than ten eggs at once. It makes them a very cheap and affordable commodity.”

  “You know quite a lot about them.”

  “Mhm. My dad used to ranch them before we lost the house...” Her tone takes a somber turn.

  Kumiho simply stays quiet as the woman begins to mumble things to herself and simply focuses her attention on the sizzling meat in the pan. After some time of cooking, Kumiho puts all the pieces of tenderloin on a plate and shows it to the brown haired woman.

  She grabs a piece with her hand, lightly squeezing and sniffing the meat, “It has a good feel to it and smells quite good. It seems properly cooked and the seasoning you used is a little strange but who knows, maybe Easterners have some secret on what to season meat with.” As the woman dryly jokes she pops the chunk into her mouth and begins chewing. “Hmmm.” She lightly hums to herself before swallowing and standing there in silence, Kumiho becoming increasingly antsy as the wait continues. “This is really good actually.” The woman says with quite a bit surprise in her voice as Kumiho quietly lets out a breath she had been holding in. “I would have you make more... But it is also quite late and children as young as you need sleep... Sooo, come by the kitchen after you get back from wherever you go every day and I can get you on some actual recipes I’ll need you to cook.”

  Kumiho’s eyes brighten slightly as she asks with withheld excitement, “Does that mean I’m hired?”

  The woman lightly laughs at the girl, “Of course it does, what else could I be telling you to come by again for?” She cheerfully jokes with the young girl before patting her on the back, “Now get a good night's sleep, can’t have my new employee being tired on her first day of real work.”

  Kumiho is rushed out of the kitchen and is told goodnight by the staff of the small tavern, including: The old woman, the young woman at the front desk, and the two waitresses.

  As Kumiho enters the room she and the others have been staying at for the past few days she sees that all the other children have already gone to bed and Oswin still isn’t back. She sits on her bed and for a long time just watches the different children sleep: Hollie lightly hugs Sune’s arm with a content smile as the two girls’ foreheads lightly touch; Fang is seemingly sleeping soundly, but Kumiho notices him slowly scratching his left wrist with a slight frown on his lips. She frowns at the sight and gets up, lightly moving his right hand away from his left wrist and holding it for just a short moment. The boy’s frown slowly disappearing, Kumiho leaving the side of his bed with a light smile once the boy’s frown is completely replaced with a smile of his own.