Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There really wasn't much he could do as a fox.

Etho skittered about his base, trying desperately to knock the chests open to russle through them.

His item sorter was well made, but the chests being in the ground did not work well with a snout or paws.

Not to mention that he was tired. This problem wouldn't have been so difficult to solve if he wasn't exhausted.

He's been alive a while, the 7 tails fanning behind him a testament to that. He should've known better than to completely exhaust himself without having spare bones and skulls in an easy to reach area.

Him being a kitsune isn't exactly a secret on this server, but it isn't the most talked about thing here.

It's not like someone would just have some out for him.

With a disgruntled shriek, he jumps back into the rest of his base, curling up into a corner to sleep.

He'll deal with this later when he has energy. Maybe he'll possess someone, just this once, to grab some bones. Who, though?

And as he closes his eyes, curling his tails around his body, he sleeps.

“Etho!” A voice wakes him up, and he lets out a sniff.

“Etho!” He calls again and he realizes it's Joel. As much as he'd like to chat with his biggest fan, he doesn't exactly want to do so as a fox.

Though, out of all his options, Joel isn't the worst.

With a gecker, he starts to make his way over to where Joel's voice is coming from.

“And of course you came when I call. Are you sure you aren't-” He didn't expect a foxy Etho, eyes trailing from eye level to his body.

“What's up with this? Why're you not transformed?” Joel crouched down, cocking his head slightly at Etho.

He, in return, just let out a sigh.

“Oh.” Joel looked at him. “...Well, I guess we know now who's the better shapeshifter.”

Etho, not being able to speak, merely huffs something and nips at his knees.

Joel scrambled back. “Hey! I was going to help you, but now-”

Ethos just nipped him again, almost enough to cause some of his threads in his kimono to come undone. Almost, at least.

‘“Ugh, fine. Where's your leaves?”

He theoretically could use leaves and reeds instead of bones, but it does use more energy to stay in human form for shorter.

He yips, shaking his head.

“... You don't use leaves?” He asks, incredulous.

He sniffs, as to ask what he uses instead of bones.

“I really am the better shape shifter.” Joel jokes, standing up again. “So, what do you use?”

He can't shape shift to show what he uses, and if his previous attempts to play charades with Grian and trees were to be believed, he wouldn't be able to show him physically what he needs.

Instead, he just huffs and jumps into Joel's arms.

After sputtering, Joel sighs and stands up, Etho in his arms.

“Since I have no idea what you need, we're going to my base and we'll try from there.”

He yips, content with that plan.

Joel did not feel comfortable flying with an Etho in his arms, and Etho did not feel well enough to start soaring, so the pair of them decided to walk back to his base.

As Joel walked, he simply pet Etho behind his ears, letting him relax in his grip. It felt nice for his tired body. They didn't speak, the simple wind blowing past filling the silence.

They passed by Gem's base when Etho noticed something.

A giant skull carved into Magic Mountain.

This was a perfect. Well, not to transform, but to communicate.

He jumped right out of Joel's grasp, turning back to face a sputtering Joel.

“W-what?”

He pointed his nose upwards towards the skull.

“You need… a skull?”

He yips, body low to the ground and tails spinning like a windmill behind him.

“Do I even have one of those?” Joel mutters to himself.

As he says that, the sound of fireworks go off above them, and landing next to them is a certain Gem.

“Joel!” She greets before looking at Etho. “Oh, hey Etho! Not feeling human today?”

It was odd to have someone talk so openly about it.

“I'm trying to figure out what he needs to transform back. Turns out, he needs a skull. You don't happen to have one, do you?”

“Hm. Well, if you promise to not ask questions, follow me.” She turned on her heel and went into her base.

Etho jumped back into Joel's arms, and he, after sighing, followed Gem.

Into Gem's storage room they went, Etho shaking out some water from his fur. She opened up a chest that had a few pristine skulls in it.

“Skeletons or people?”

“... I said no questions.”

Joel placed Etho down to grab all of the skulls, bringing it down to Etho's level to let him pick the one he wants.

He sniffed them all, bumping the one he wanted with his snout.

Gem let out a hum and grabbed the other ones, returning them to her chest.

She went shuffling through her other chests, and her brow furrowed when opening one.

“Oh, I'm out of bones.”

Joel looked down at Etho. “You need bones?”

He let out a gecker.

“Well yeah? You're obsessed with Etho, you should know this.”

“It's the other way around, Gem; he's obsessed with me-”

“Right, right. Listen, he just needs some bones and he'll be set. Also, get him a set of clothes before he transforms.”

Joel paused for a moment. “Are you sure you aren't the one obsessed with him? You seem to know a lot.”

“Eh, shapeshifters tend to know these things. Except you, I guess.”

He sputtered for a bit before Etho nipped at his feet, telling him he wanted to leave.

“...Fine.”

“See you guys later!”

“See you, Gem.”

Etho jumped back into his arms, and they made their way back to the surface, walking to Joel's base.

“Alright, how many bones do you need?” Joel went shuffling through his chests while Etho sat on the ground.

He yipped twice.

“Two, okay.” He went to another chest, pulling out a kimono. It was green with red highlights. Etho's colors.

“It was a prank gift. I didn't wear it, nor did I create it myself. It's not even made for the correct season.”

He also grabbed a piece of black fabric that could be used as a mask.

He let out a gecker, sounding like laughter moreso than his other ones.

“After I helped you? Really, Etho?” His tone was light-hearted from where he was leaning against the wall.

Etho struggled to get the skull onto his head, especially with bones in his mouth, so Joel walked over and placed it on his head.

“I'll give you some privacy.” He walked out.

Joel was waiting outside when the door opened and Etho came out, wearing the kimono and mask. It looked nice on him.

“Wow, Etho, copying my style? Obsessed much?”

“And you went through all the trouble to help me. You must be obsessed.”

If next time someone went over to Joel's base and saw a skull and bones on top of some clothes on a low table, well, it wasn't their business.

Chapter Text

Joel was miserable. His elytra broke, he was in the middle of a desert, far as the eye can see, his feet hurt, and, oh right, he didn't have enough energy to keep his transformation up so he was walking on all fours in the desert.

The sand was getting into his fur, and was blazing hot against his paw pads.

He didn't even bring enough water, so he's also dehydrated. He debated keeping over and just dying, but then he'd have to come back to grab his stuff.

As if some god was up there listening, he heard firework rockets go off and someone land next to him.

And it's Etho, because of course it is.

“Joel? You look like death.”

He lets out a yelp, a slight growl to it.

“You sound like a seagull.” He still pulls out bottle and pours the liquid into the cap.

He hands it to Joel, who licks it up after a hint of hesitation. Beautiful, cold water.

Once it's empty, Etho fills it up again and they repeat this.

“Alright. I'm guessing you didn't turn back into a Tanuki for fun, so let's take you back to my base to see if I have anything you could need.”

That sounded good enough for Joel, so he walked over to Etho, who picked him up.

“We're far from my base, so I'm thinking we could fly. Yelp twice if you're too nauseous for that.”

He's just hot, and some air could help take the sand out of his fur. He stays silent.

“Cool.”

And with that, he lit the firework and they were off.

In no time at all, they made it back to Etho's base, which was angelically cooler than the desert.

The grass was cool, untouched by the sun thanks to the surrounding trees and building.

If you asked Joel later, no, he did not melt into the grass immediately after Etho's feet touched the ground.

He let out a chittering sigh, and Etho simply chuckled.

“So you need. Leaves?” He looked around. The grass around his base was a vibrant green, reminiscent of the jungle he based in.

Joel just chittered.

“Any specific leaf you need, or…?”

Joel stood up, looking at the trees around.

The closest was Etho's cherry blossom tree, petals gently falling in the breeze.

As pretty as they are, the best leaves are large and green, with no blemishes. If he must have a gradient, it must be predominantly green base, red tips, and a decent gradient of yellow in the center to provide a pretty gradient with no brown.

It always gets harder to find good leaves in the autumn and winter, so he always keeps around a plant that stays green all year at his base, but it recently got infected with an infection, tarnishing the leaves, so he has no stockpile.

His best bet is the forest just beyond Etho's base. He turns to face Etho before walking into the forest.

Etho hums and follows him in, looking around.

He picks out a leaf, decently sized, and calls over Joel to inspect it.

The edge is slightly ripped, and there's a few dots bespeckling the leaf. The green was also not very vibrant.

Joel huffs, and continues looking.

Etho just shrugs, dropping the leaf, and continuing on his search.

“So, tell me what type of leaf you need. I'm guessing vibrant green. Stay silent for no.”

He thrills.

“Right. I'm guessing they need to look symmetrical?”

He climbs onto a tree branch to examine some leaves.

“Really? Alright. I'm also guessing no holes or dirt, right?”

He chitters, jumping down from the branch.

Etho hums, and they continued searching, the wind blowing being the only sound keeping it from being eerily quiet.

Joel goes up higher and higher in the trees, claws gripping onto the branches. It's not that he's afraid of heights, but it does make him slightly… nauseous.

If he doesn't look down, he'll be- and he missed his jump.

Thankfully, a well placed (misplaced?) Etho breaks his fall, because he lands directly on his back.

Etho lets out a noise, rubbing his neck as he gets up.

Usually, if Joel could speak, he'd just laugh at the situation, but right now, because he hasn't eaten in a while, he's dry retching at ground a little ways away.

After a while, his stomach settles better, and he realizes that he's being pet. More specifically, scritched right behind the ears.

There's no one around, and he's just tired, so he just leans into it.

“Do you need more water?”

He huffs.

“Food? I probably have something on me.”

He brings his head up to look at Etho.

“Uhm, let's see… You alright with an apple?”

From where he was laying, he stood up on mildly shaky legs.

“Alright.”

Etho takes out an apple and his sword, cutting up the apple to feed to Joel.

They sat there for a while in their impromptu picnic, Joel slowly gaining his energy again.

Unlike their search for leaves, they chatted, Joel yelping while Etho spoke normally.

When they finished, Joel was feeling much better. He stood up, eyes peering into the trees.

“Next time you find something good, I'll grab it for you.”

Joel just tilts his head at Etho, as if to say you care? How obsessed are you?

Etho just pats his head, which he huffs at.

That being said, there's an odd hint of red in the trees. It's only the start of summer, so there shouldn't be any red leaves, but lo and behold.

He yelps to Etho a ways away, who comes to stand next to him.

Joel runs around his legs a bit before yelping again at the leaf.

“The red one?”

Joel drops his body, a playful stance.

Etho goes to pillar up to the leaf, taking care to pluck it off the branch.

“Hm. I'm not sure about this one. It has writing on it for some reason.”

Joel looked over the leaf. Red at the tips, a gradient to yellow and a green base. The tips were unfrayed. There was no dirt or holes in the leaf, though Etho was right, there was writing on it. It was in some kind of script that neither could read.

Upon investigation, it just appeared the leaf just grew that way, and did not harm the quality of it. They could ask someone to translate, but Joel just wanted to become a human, and the leaf would probably just die if he used it.

There wasn't any other leaf of this quality in this forest though, so he'd take it.

Taking care to not harm the leaf, he takes it in his mouth.

“Really? Okay, let's get you some clothes before you change.” Etho opens his arms, allowing Joel to jump right into them.

He does, and they walk back to Etho's base.

Joel sat on the ground as Etho shows him his sorting system. After some shuffling of shulkers, he pulled out a white t-shirt, a leather brown vest, and some black pants and shoes.

Joel sniffs at the vest. It doesn't seem like something Etho would wear.

“Double life. It got mixed in with my stuff, and I always forgot to give it back.”

Joel tilted his head.

“Do you want me to bring up the kimono?” He tried giving it back, but Joel said to just keep it.

He didn't.

With that sorted, he picked up the clothes and Joel, bringing them back up to the upper levels of the base.

While some of his base just led to the outside world, he placed some curtains, allowing Joel some privacy.

“I'll be outside if you need me.”

He placed Joel down, leaving the room, pulling the curtains closed as he did.

“Carrying me around in your arms? Really, you're obsessed with me, Etho.”

“Did it feel good when I pet you?”

“You must have dreamed for the opportunity to pet me.”

“You didn't answer the question.”

Stalemate. They simply smiled at each other before laughing.

Joel excused himself, saying that there are some things he needs to work on, and Etho bid him farewell.

Plants are easier to blend into a base without people asking, but if anyone noticed Etho carefully pruning and cleaning some plants in his base, well, that's just Etho for you.