Saki

  I carefully, oh so very carefully climbed off of her, making sure she was still asleep as I grabbed my clothes in my mouth and dragged them far away from her before shifting back. I'd rather the wild animals see me getting dressed than awaken that monster.

  Once dressed I made my way over to the main camp, the trees we slept behind with the added illusion of a rock near it still hiding Tama. I went to get food only to find there was none. Tera and David were already up.

  Tera smiled at me with a look of glee on her face and I began to worry. Then she spoke and my doubts became manifest.

  "There you are, Saki. I have great news! Empress Tama has decreed that you are to catch your own food in the morning, stating a true fighter must be able to survive on her own." Tera looked downright giddy as she spoke, her eyes lighting up and a light giggle showing her pure delight.

  I blanched before looking over at David. "David, you can't seriously be okay with this?!" David turned to face me. He held a primitive wooden spear in his hand.

  "On the contrary, Saki, I agree with Tama's ideal! We should all hunt for our food, not just bring rations, which is why me and Tera threw all the food away!" He had that gleam in his eye that screamed desire to kill and eat the first thing he found.

  I began to shake. I was starting to regret asking Tama to train me; this had to be against some kind of law.

  "What's wrong, Saki? Aren't your kind supposed to be predators? Take the horrid shape of yours and go eat something raw like that animal you are!" Tera's voice was calm, almost playful. But the jab stung hard.

  "It's not how that works..." I said weakly in reply but she continued.

  "Of course it isn't you prefer humans to animals, don't ya, Saki?" She said, her voice bitter. She clearly was still very upset about the last two days.

  "That's enough, Tera. I am so sick of you two fighting and I know Tama is too. If you keep antagonizing her I am personally going to step inTama won't even need to be here." David said, his voice full of irritation.

  I smiled at him. "Thank you..." I started to say but he cut me off.

  "None of that either, Saki. You're just as guilty, maybe not this time, but you have instigated just as bad. You both need to stop!"

  My ears dropped, tail wrapped around my leg and my eyes looked at the ground. He was right, even if I didn't want to admit it. Tera was horrible to me, but I rose to the occasion every time.

  Tama's words from yesterday reverberated through my mind: "Nya! Don't fight it, use it!" I nodded to myself before looking up, not at David but Tera. "I am sorry that you hate my nature, Tera. But I want you to know I don't hate you. Not anymore. The last month has shown me there are bigger things to hate than petty rivalries."

  I watched as Tera opened her mouth, closed it, then frowned. After a long moment she asked a question that surprised me. "What does your kitsune form even look like? I heard your kind, like these large demon foxes that just explode hatred and fear."

  I winced at that analogy, but instead of biting back, I simply shook my head and smiled. "Not exactly. Would you like to see?" I asked, my voice quivered as I spoke, but the truth was that I shouldn't be ashamed of who I was.

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  She looked into my eyes for a long moment before nodding once.

  I stepped back and after taking a few deep breaths, I willed myself to shift. Hairs grew over my body as I shrank, my clothes falling in a pile on the ground as my face extended into a long furred mouth. My front arms grew fur and my hands shifted to paws, my legs followed suit. All of it taking place over the course of only a few seconds.

  Where Foxkin me once stood, a small fox now sat, looking up at Tera with my same emerald green eyes.

  Tera raised an eyebrow and began to speak. "I wasn't expecting you to..." Before she could finish, I began to grow. My eyes shifted to red and my tail split from the one into nine. My size increased until I was only a foot shorter than Tera.

  Tera dropped the spear she had been holding. Her face paled at my kitsune fox form. But I wasn't done. With a deep breath, I shifted again, growing even larger. My white hair became lush and silky, my red eyes almost seemed to glow as I reached just under nine feet tall. Now looking down on David and Tera.

  Tera fell to her knees, the fear on her face palpable. I simply looked at them, unable to speak as a fox.

  "Holy mother of Earth! You are massive, Saki!" David said as he looked up at me in amazement. "The insane things you must be able to do in that form!"

  I looked at him and nodded, but instead of moving, I began to shrink until I was back in my Foxkin form. I picked up my clothes without a word and began dressing myself. Tera did not respond, she did not move. She simply stared at me with wide eyes as I did this.

  I walked over to her and held out a hand. "It's not as powerful as you thinkI am still a fox." I said casually. She looked at my hand, but didn't take it. "My size is also a curse. I am far too weak to do anything in my full formI can only stand there. Even basic walking takes too much energy."

  "That's kind of a bummer, Saki. I could just imagine that version of you just wrecking everything around you with ease. How strong are your tails? What attacks can you do?"

  After holding my hand out to Tera for another moment, and her ignoring it, clearly not even looking at me, but where I had been, I sighed and turned to face David.

  "Actually it's quite interesting. In my normal combat form I can breathe fae fire from my mouth. It burns like Void, but it doesn't seem to cause any lasting damage. I haven't tested my tails extensively, but I know for a fact they can tear a goblin in four with a little effort."

  "That's amazing! Do you have any like, built-in armor or anything?" David asked curiously. He looked at me earnestly, his eyes filled with excitement.

  Of course David would get excited about a combat form. Not the lore, not the fact I can shift my form. Nope, just 'neat form, how does it fight'.

  "No extra armor unless you count fur, and it isn't enhanced just regular fox fur." I said simply. While I wouldn't admit it openly, I actually really liked the way David was looking at me, like I was special and cool. The little girl in me was all giddy and I blushed slightly.

  He wasn't attractive to me of course, but to be praised by someone always felt nice.

  He nodded, seemingly lost in thought before asking, "Can we spar?"

  I was caught off guard by the question and looked at him confused. "Why? You never wanted to spar before?" My head tilted to the side slightly in puzzlement as I awaited his answer.

  "Well that's obvious, Saki. You aren't exactly a fighter, anything you can do as a beastkin I've seen other fighters do better. But getting to spar with a legendary creature like a Kitsune, no offense, is probably one of the most amazing things ever!" He nodded as he spoke, pumping his fists together as he almost begged to spar with me.

  I laughed, hard. Even as I did, I began to shift. I would love to spar with David. Maybe it was the part of me that just loved the attention I was getting, but also, I wanted to see if I had improved at all with Tama's lessons yesterday.

  My body still ached, but I was craving a good spar to test my skills... I paused at that and realized I might be becoming a battle junkie... I shrugged internally and smirked as my nine tails began to grow and dull earthen spikes grew on them.