Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

The sun had finally set by the time they were able to fully liquefy the ice statue. Rebecca held herself up with her knees, breathing hard. “What the fuck?” She was still in shock at just how sturdy the ice statue turned out to be.

“Yeah, I’m not training with you again,” Shouri decided, slightly glaring at Priscilla.

“You can’t argue with the results,” the woman chuckled.

“Results?”

At that exact moment, Rebecca’s tuner began to beep. “Hm?” Shouri brought the device back up to check on the notification.

Famiglio Incendio (New!)

Presto (New!)

He shot a narrow glance at the elder Maestro. “I see,” he muttered.

“What is it, Shouri?” Rebecca inquired, curious about why her tuner had beeped.

“Famiglio Incendio, Presto,” he replied.

“Eh?! What?!” she yelped, suddenly receiving her Maestro’s rhythm. With no frame of reference of what the spell he was forcing on her, she fought casting it while she turned away to prevent any collateral damage.

When Rebecca felt comfortable with releasing the spell, she found herself being compelled to kneel. She placed her hands on the ground, and a small ring of fire ignited just in front of her. From the ring, a ball of red formed and began to morph into a new shape.

Four legs in a quadrupedal layout, a head with a distinctive snout and two triangular ears atop, and finally a long puffy tail. With the features solidified, the circle of fire faded leaving the final product: a tiny fox made of what appeared to be solid flames.

“Wh-what the heck is this?” Rebecca stared at the creature she had been forced to create.

“It’s a living spell – it can cast one Lanciafiamme for every rank it's cast with,” Priscilla imparted on the fire element. Shouri nodded in the affirmative.

Rebecca furrowed her brow, looking at the tiny fox. It didn’t have a face, but walked around and even sniffed the air as if it was a living creature. Reaching out, she was also able to touch it. “Huh?” It was solid. She took it up in her hands and lifted it off the ground as if it were the small animal its silhouette was based on. “I can touch it?” She questioned. It looked like a ball of fire and even glowed, but it could be picked up and held.

“It’s solid rhythm,” Shouri replied. “It’s kind of like a Scherzando in that sense. It can take damage and cast its one spell, and as soon as it uses up its rhythm it vanishes.”

“It’s a very potent and powerful spell, while also being incredibly easy to raise,” Priscilla revealed.

“How do you know so much about this spell?” Taika queried the elder Maestro, having noted her sole Resonator was of the water element.

“Simple: one of my Resonators is a fire element,” the woman chuckled.

“Oh! Uncle Aiden, right?” Pacifica chimed in.

“Yes dear, Aiden is off on his own, pursuing other ventures, but I raised that boy from a pup and I very much remember when we got this spell,” the elder woman recalled fondly.

Rebecca held the small rhythm fox in her arms. “Kinda soft.” She noted. “What do I have to do to raise it?” the fire Resonator asked.

“Just keep it out like you have it. The spell will slowly accumulate ranks the longer it’s out,” Priscilla told her. Noting how dark it had gotten, the adults of the group waved them back toward the way they had come from. “Let’s head back, probably should get you kids fed and in bed,” the woman tittered.

With that in mind, the group began to head back. Rebecca kept her gaze on the rhythm beast in her arms. It certainly was warm and put out a lot of light. Way more than her fire-light utility spell. As they walked, Shouri and Priscilla chattered about Maestro things, while Pacifica and Jack trailed behind talking about the bayou that their group had visited.

The whole time the tiny rhythm fox was “looking” around, ears twitching with the acoustic stimuli surrounding it. Rebecca’s expression warmed, and she started to giggle quietly to herself.

Taika stared at her plate of food, then shot a side-long glance at Rebecca, who still had possession of the fire-fox-familiar she had summoned earlier. Not wanting to address the fire Resonator directly, the lunar fox instead tapped the sources of knowledge of the subject.

“Pacifica’s mom, how long does that spell last?” she inquired.

“You can just call me Priscilla, dear,” the woman giggled. “It can last indefinitely as long as Rebecca is healthy. It will just be a slight drain on her rhythm.”

Rebecca’s ears twitched and her tail wagged as she giggled and petted the smaller fox more. “Hrmph,” Taika huffed and returned to eating.

Shouri raised a brow. He jumped as Pacifica, sitting to his left, snatched her tuner off of his waist. She quickly thumbed up a message and flashed the screen to her Maestro.

“Talk to Taika.”

He nodded slowly in agreement – something was bothering his lunar-fox and for the sake of their peaceful ‘vacation’, he’d head off this turmoil at the pass.

As dinner concluded, Jack took the emptied plates away and cleared the table. Shouri himself rose to his feet. “Taika, wanna go on a walk?” he asked.

Being singled out to be alone with her Maestro, Taika perked up in an instant. “Si!” she exclaimed, tail wagging excitedly.

Rebecca too rose, looking around for her shoes. “Stay here with Pacifica. Play with your fox a bit more before we dismiss it for the night,” Shouri told his fire Resonator.

She wilted, ears folding back. “But it’s dark,” she pointed out, holding out the little flame-fox which glowed a bright, warm light.

“Lunars can see in the dark just fine.” Shouri countered with a knowing smile.

Thankfully Rebecca’s protests ended there; she hung her head in defeat. “Relax, Taika and I will be fine.” He patted the girl’s head. “We’ll be back in a little while,” he announced to the rest of the home.

“Call if you need us.” Pacifica waved her tuner, having never returned it to her Maestro. She was entirely too comfortable with handling her own tuner, a trait very few Resonators possessed. Either way, he didn’t mind the arrangement, though he’d have to talk about Pacifica’s mobile gaming habits. That was a discussion for another time – he had a raven-haired vixen still excitedly waiting for him.

They stepped out of the home and into the elements. Thankfully for their late evening walk, it was quite nice out, not hot at all, but also not too cold where it was uncomfortable. A nice crisp chill for a moonlit stroll.

Shouri led Taika across one of the streets to a sidewalk and the pair walked quietly for some time, taking in the ambience of the sleepy community. The Maestro was the one that broke the silence.

“What’s going on between you and Rebecca?”

Taika’s expression hardened before she whipped her head away from Shouri’s scrutinizing gaze. She silently cursed the fact that she enhanced his vision through their continued link.

“Mrmph...” the vixen grumbled to herself, fidgeting with her jacket.

The pair came to a stop atop a hill that led down to a small grassy field. It was a water overflow pond for the community, though right now it was empty and dry, so grass had taken over the small artificial basin.

“Taika,” the Maestro spoke sternly, hands at his hips.

“I don’t like the way she acts,” Taika muttered.

“How so?”

“She always plays up how bad it is but she doesn’t know what it’s like.”

Shouri remained silent, letting Taika talk.

“Her attitude just plain annoys me, I can’t stand her. Her victim complex just-”

“You’re lying.”

Taika stopped mid-thought, slamming into the brick wall Shouri had just thrown into her thoughts.

“Rebecca hasn’t been acting like that. After she saved us from the kidnapper she’s been changing. Sure, there are times when I have to coax her into asking for things, but that comes with the territory,” Shouri voiced his observations.

“What do you mean I’m lying to you?!” Taika glossed over what he said regarding Rebecca.

Shouri raised a brow. He knew this was a can of worms he was opening, but it appeared this can may be industrial strength. Either way.

“Lie, noun – an intentionally false statement,” he snarked back, though his voice was as flat as possible.

This only served to frustrate the fox further. “Lo so che vuol dire! Perché pensi che stia mentendo?!” she barked.

The Maestro was non-plussed by the situation, though he could feel his own will eroding due to the state of flux his bond with Taika was now in. Instead, he focused on his own strength to force his way through the situation. “I’m not graced by Cunei, but I think you want to know why you’re lying.” His voice had lost quite a bit of its emotion as he processed what he needed to say logically.

“You’re not looking at Rebecca as a victim of her circumstances, you’re looking at her as a rival,” he stated calmly.

Taika’s glare broke for just a moment, as she stepped back, shaking her head in denial.

“A r-rival? A rival for what?” she tried to play it off.

And failed. “Me. You’re afraid she’s going to take me away from you,” his eyes glowed with bright yellow rhythm as he spoke.

“Ha! She could never!”

Silence.

Shouri’s gaze lowered. “Your legs are trembling,” he pointed out. “It’s the thing you’re afraid of most.”

Taika gritted her teeth in frustration. She didn’t like this. It was all true, all of it. And she hated it. “N-no it isn’t!” She lied anyway. The way he stared at her right now, the emotionless robot that her Maestro had become – that’s what she really hated. What was even going on?

Of course, it was her fault! That damn bitch put these stupid little ideas in his head and now-

She was snapped out of her rage-filled thoughts as Shouri grabbed her hands. “Okay, I really can’t do this without you, so just bear with it for a moment,” he suddenly spoke. She could feel his rhythm – he was trying to etude with her? While they were in the middle of an argument?!

The lunar fox snatched her hands away and backed off. “What are you playing at?!” She didn’t even know what she was playing at right now – all she knew was she was panicking and nothing made sense.

Shouri took a breath and drew Taika’s tuner from his side. She froze, certain words coming back to her:

“This button here lets me take control of you.”

The red button! He was going to force her to like Rebecca! She leaped towards him, but as she did so, he tossed the tuner into the grass and allowed her to slam into him full force. The two tumbled to the ground and then rolled down the grassy knoll until they reached the bottom of the recess in the earth. Taika laid atop of Shouri. She groaned, pushing herself up whilst keeping him pinned to the ground.

“Wh-why did you throw my tuner away?” she questioned him, more concerned with the implications of the gesture than the actual act.

“I wanted to keep talking on even ground,” he replied.

Shouri maneuvered himself around and grabbed her wrists, keeping himself pinned down by her. Once more she could feel his rhythm. “Stop! I don’t want to understand! Let me be mad!” she cried out, though submitted to the etude regardless.

“Nngh,” he grunted. This was hard, especially now being bound to the earth by his Resonator. Regardless, he pressed on. “It’s not that I’m trying to cheat your understanding, but I can’t explain it to you without you,” he finally let out.

Unfortunately for Taika, she did understand what he meant by that – which meant the etude was working. He needed her willpower otherwise he couldn’t muster up enough courage on his own to talk to her like this...

Wait...

“You... need me?”

A cool breeze blew over them as they remained in place. “Sorry,” Shouri whispered.

“You need me,” Taika repeated.

“Your stubborn willpower gets me up in the morning and keeps me going through the day.”

Taika remained rooted firmly atop her Maestro, unsure of what to do. Shouri acted for her, moving her arms away and lowering her down to lay on him. He wrapped his arms around her. “You never knew me before - I’m not the same person that I was. I’ve become hopelessly addicted to you,” he whispered into her ear, with an accidental sensual tone.

Her face was the warmest it had ever been in her life. “I need you,” he finally spoke her realization. “So please, give Rebecca a chance, she’s not your replacement. I promise.”

“Sh-sho,” the girl squeaked.

“What you have over Pacifica and Rebecca is you prop up my weak stave – they don’t. And I don’t plan on getting another Resonator, strong-willed or otherwise,” he slowly explained. “I can’t let you leave my side Taika. I’m sorry for being so selfish.”

Tears rolled down Taika’s cheeks. What a fool she was.