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The gentle yet vigorous bump of the ship against the dock roused Fugue from where she’d been slumbering quietly on Miko’s shoulder, the latter simply having been writing a few letters for the ship’s crew to take back to Inazuma with them. It was simply a few new ideas for light novels that had come to the kitsune as she had travelled on her way to Liyue. Though the two of them were currently in the lower guest cabins, their shared cabin just so happened to be one of the ones blessed with a window, so Miko could see the changing scenery as the traveled from the archipelago to the mainland. Ocean had been all she could see for most of the trip, and Fugue had long since fallen asleep, only being roused by the very bump of the ship that had caused Miko to write ‘yag’ instead of ‘Yae’ as she signed her name on the ideas, but it was no trouble.
The very ideas themselves were kind of disjointed. Simply a few bullet points, that would have to be developed further, but in terms of what the kitsune had currently… long lost lovers separated by ocean certainly seemed like an appetizing story to say the least. Not unlike how it’d turned out for her and Fugue, now that she thought about it.
Hm, in fact…
Miko made some small adjustments to the idea, maybe not long lost lovers, but… hm, maybe the story of a kitsune and a huli jing? Hm, different kinds of creatures, yet, also similar in some aspects, one from the archipelago, one from the mainland? Hm.. still separated by ocean, and it might even be a more interesting story than what she’d thought of previously. Though it was an idea, and well, if Miko had the chops herself, she’d even write it herself. Though, she thought with a slight smirk, she was no writer, so, someone else will have to do it. But it should be easy right? She certainly had her ways of… convincing people to do such a task.
“Miko, what are you doing?” Fugue’s half-asleep voice sounded and Miko rolled up her sheet of ideas and placed it back in her bag. She then turned around to face the brown furred vixen in all her glory.
“Just writing down a few light novel ideas,” she hummed. “The one about a certain kit and the oni sold well, I might as well start thinking about another that might be an access, now should I?” Fugue was suddenly energized and Miko chuckled to herself.
“Hm, who should we make it about now? If… Gorou and Itto one sold so well, we should probably make it similar, correct? Though, we’ve kind of run out of people we could base it on. Oh, we’re going to Liyue, right? Maybe we can base it off one of the people there?” Fugue suggested, before catching a whiff of herself. “Archons above, I smell like death. We’ll probably have to stop at a perfume shop somewhere, that, and my tail feels dry, so I should probably get some tail care products as well. I’m sure it’s the ocean air that has dried it out, and I can’t hide all my tails like you can.”
“Well, I’m kindly going to inform you, that we are here, Tingyun,” Miko said in a soft tone that would never come out in public, causing Fugue’s own gaze to soften. “That bump you felt just now was the ship coming into the Harbour.” Miko’s eyes then gleamed mischeviously. “Or were you too asleep to realize that occurred,” she hummed, causing Fugue to roll her eyes.
“I wasn’t caught by the Abyss that long Miko,” Fugue responded. “But, while we’re out there, please refer to me as Fugue, okay? I’m not sure how many people would really recognize me out there. But last they remember, I died. I’m not quite sure how I even survived in the first place. No doubt Hu Tao would’ve had a field day with me if she found out I survived. Though, let’s not worry about that anyways. I did want to show you my home region, didn’t I?” Miko nodded but didn’t respond.
“We should get going then, the day is still young,” she hummed. “And though we aren’t on a time limit, we should still not linger. Though, if you want, I can reveal one of my tails if you want? I haven’t been to the mainland much myself, so I don’t think many of the people will know me either. And, it may you feel less left out.” Fugue blinked.
“That really wouldn’t be necessary, Miko, but if you want to, you can. I’m going to go change.” Miko nodded and then walked over to the window and looked out at the Harbour. Light grey clouds loomed above the town, threatening rain and Miko shuddered at the thought of wet fur. She didn’t quite like the thought of getting her fur wet, as no matter how many perfumes Fugue used the smell still remained. It was a bother that she didn’t quite want to deal with, frankly. Miko then turned her gaze on her tailless rear end. Showing one of them didn’t really help the kitsune or her girlfriend all that much, but it might help her blend in with the other Foxians that were scattered throughout the lands of Liyue.
Also, it helps bring in an interesting plot point for that light novel idea she had. Hm, maybe the kitsune is exceptionally shy and reveals one of her tails to blend in?
Now Miko wasn’t shy, but the kitsune wouldn’t be her, now would she? So, shy kistune it is. Though, to see how that would exactly work out… a bit of… method acting would be needed. Not the shy part, but…
Smirking, Miko willed one of her tails to reveal itself. Pink, the same shade as her hair, and tipped with a paler pink than rest of the tail. It was mildly fluffy, though not as much as Fugue’s, which had gone an orange, almost white with darker tips under the Abyss’s influence. Opposite, in a way, though they were both beautiful tails, in Miko’s opinion. Miko then took a moment to admire her tail, not often revealed, and it showed. The tail was almost in pristine condition, like no dirt had ever come into contact with it. Fugue’s tail was also somewhat pristine, its beauty not marred by dirt either, and would probably help with the blending in that Fugue wanted to seem to do.
It was a perfect tail to blend in with.
It was as Fugue resurfaced, that Miko was admiring her revealed tail and Fugue looked at the tail. “So you did it?”
She asked simply, heels tapping on the wooden floor of the ship. Miko looked up and then smirked at her.
“Why yes, I did. Like it, hm?” Miko hummed and Fugue looked at it.
“It’s good. Definitely looks like a Foxian’s tail, if that’s the look you were looking for. Well, I’m not sure what other look you could really go for with tails like that. Maybe a wolf? But besides that.”
“Your dress…” Miko hummed as she took in what Fugue was wearing, Fugue looking over at her. “It really suits you. It’s a duller brown than your hair, and near black, with hints of red. With your tail as well, it complements it well.” Fugue looked away in slight embarrassment but then returned her gaze on Miko.
“Ready to go?”
“Hm~ Of course, Tingy~” Miko hummed and Fugue laughed a little before wrapping her arm around Miko’s and smiling, the two walking out of the cabin area, and onto the main deck of the ship where the captain of the said ship was chatting to one of the other crew members before sending a wave the two vixens’ way, Fugue returning the gesture and thanking them in Liyuean. Miko and Fugue then left the ship and the ship bounced a little in the jetty as they descended. “So, Fugue,” Miko hummed, tail leaning cold behind her back. “Where to first? I’m sure you still know your way around the place, and the Harbour seems to have changed a lot since I last visited, though maybe that’s because I didn’t stay long.” Fugue sent her a playful look.
“Yeah, because you were interested in that whole fighting fungi thing. You put Liyue Harbour completely from your head and headed straight for the jungles of Sumeru. Archons above, maybe if you’d gone to Chenyu Vale instead, we would’ve met earlier. I haven’t been to the Harbour in a while either. Mostly because I don’t really live there, and then the whole Abyss thing happened,” her eyes darkened. “As for where to go first? How about Bubu Pharmacy? Didn’t you say you wanted to try new herbs for making incense? Bubu is a pharmacy but… Qiu… Qiu usually had extras of all the various herbs he gathered. He has a habit of overstocking. Or maybe…” Fugue’s eyes narrowed as her smile became a smirk. “… he got a little distracted. Getting distracted with making perfumes can result in less than ideal scents, while in… Qiu’s case, he picks too much.” Miko’s ears pricked in interest.
“Oh? Do my ears deceive me? Distracted , you say. How so? In that, how exactly does he get distracted?” Mischief entered Fugue’s eyes, one of the many signs that even after the run in with the Abyss, it was still Tingyun under all that… baggage.
“I think I’ve told you this story before, Yae,” Fugue responded, green eyes alight. “But …Qiu, he has, or well, at least had this habit of going off on trips to Sumeru, completely unprompted. Like he has some sort of purpose to be there. So much so that, I’ve more consistently had to deal with Baizhu than Qiu. So, it led me to wondering if he has a secret that is in Sumeru, but I never really figured it out what it was exactly. One of my theories was that he had a secret boyfriend that I didn’t know about, but that’s probably not it. Anyways, besides the point.” Fugue wrapped her arm around Miko’s again and then walked them over to the pharmacy.
The pharmacy was situated in the upper level of the city, past a gigantic flight of stairs that Miko only vaguely remembered from her previous time here, simply used as a means to and end when traveling to Sumeru, it was the shorter path than going through the dock, though both paths would end up in the same area, the one up the stairs was the shorter one. The pharmacy was then situated on the opposite of that entrance, in some sort of garden, Miko couldn’t recall the term, but the traveled on a small bridge over a small pond, and people were milling about, a young girl with the tail of a dragon was fiddling with one of the lotus heads, a determined look on her face. Beside the apparent hatchling, was another dragon lady, though she didn’t appear to have a tail, and was also a scrutinizing the lotus head.
“It’s nice to see Bailu hasn’t changed,” Fugue said beside her, voice sounding vaguely like that sort of sad nostalgia that one might feel in homesickness. “Though no one has seemed to notice me, which I suppose is a good thing. I have no recollection of the various gods that the people of Liyue worship, but I don’t doubt that whatever resurrection god they have would receive a lot of… you know, if they saw me alive. Maybe it’s for the best, though.” Not saying much else, Fugue continued on the journey to the actual pharmacy, quiet. Miko followed her, deciding then to rather let her have this moment to reminisce on everything. Miko herself, focused back on the surrounding scenery.
A new face had appeared then, an older Foxian, with teal hair and a pale tail, not unlike Fugue’s own. She appeared to be lost thought, having just come from the pharmacy herself. The teal-furred Foxian almost seemed to be mourning as there was an inherent sadness in how she held herself. She was quiet, and if Miko thought about it a little too hard, she looked like Fugue. Then, the teal vixen noticed Miko’s curious look and she straightened. “Can I help you?” The Foxian asked, before narrowing her eyes slightly. “You’re not any Foxian I’ve seen before, and yet, you look familiar. Do I know you?”
“Perhaps~,” Miko responded. “Though, I’d have to ask if you’re familiar with light novels? And as such, if you are familiar with the Yae Publishing House? Because, I just so happen to be connected to that establishment, so you might know me from there. Though, to give you a hint, if you’d so desire, do you happen to be aware of the owner and head editor, Yae Miko? My most… relevant connection is to her.” The teal Foxian lifted her gaze, and her gray-blue eyes narrowed as if trying to place where she’d seen Miko from before. “Would it help if I hid my tail?” Miko asked with a mischievous tone, to a blank stare from the teal Foxian.
“Hide your tail?”
“My dear tail, you’ve done your job for now~,” Miko hummed. “Go away now please.” As if her tail had suddenly gained sentience, it obeyed its master and faded out of existence. Miko then turned her attention back on the Foxian, reveling in her baffled expression. “That ring any bells, hm? Or do I need to bring all of them out? Cause I’d be glad to do so.”
“Connected to Yae Miko… hair and tails are a particular shade of pink… light novels…. Multiple tails? Are you a kitsune?” The teal Foxian murmured as she put together all of the hints that Miko had given her, Miko, herself getting kind of bored of this little ‘game’ they were playing. Don’t tell her that this Foxian was as stupid as that blithering oni. Anyone would be better than that oni.
“Is it really that hard? Fine.” Miko willed for all her tails to reveal themselves, and suddenly standing was a lot harder to do. The extra weight caused her to stagger and it wasn’t long before Fugue caught her from seemingly out of nowhere. Miko was surprised for all of two seconds, before her face gave way to a soft grin for two seconds before returning to it smirk. “Sorry, about that Ti- I mean Fugue. It appears… that I’m not used to having all my tails out at once.”
“You should take a page out of my book then, and stick to one or none for most of the time.”
“You can’t hide all of them.”
“Yes. I know that, Yae,” Fugue laughed slightly. “I’m the very one who told you that.” Miko laughed herself.
“Tingyun…” a haunted voice from beside them, causing the two vixens to turn their heads to the teal Foxian still in the proximity, Fugue’s grip on Miko noticeably tightening. “I… how… you…” The Foxian stretched out her hand to cup Fugue’s cheek, and Miko just watched them curiously. The two looked so alike, it was honestly interesting. “You… I…” the Foxian tried again, words failing her. Gently, Miko removed herself from Fugue’s gripped and let the two Foxians do their thing. Suddenly, the teal Foxian steeled her expression. “How about you two come to tea?” She asked, seemingly out of nowhere, but Miko could sense that it was probably code for ‘let’s go somewhere private’.
So, that was how the three of them ended up in the Foxian’s house in the lower depths of Chenyu Vale, particularly near the ocean. Her house was adorned in Xianzhou memorabilia, an ancient fleet that even Miko had known about. Helmed by many a Liyuean, a dream for some, a reality for others. A old, sort-of boating license was pinned up on a wall, and various wood-carved figurines were sitting on wooden shelves on the wall. The Foxian herself was currently making them all some tea, and Miko, who was unfamiliar with most mainland teas, had asked for anything, Fugue for Violetgrass tea. There was also Violetgrass in a pot on the table. Fugue was quiet, staring quietly at the Violetgrass in the vase.
“Violetgrass… she remembered,” Fugue murmured and Miko looked at her.
“Your favourite flowers,” Miko recalled, making a few notes on her light novel ideas page. Merely that the two characters could have favourite flowers and that could be a potential plot point. And that they could scent the letters they say to each other. “What do they smell like again?” Fugue sat up and looked at her.
“They don’t smell like much, growing on cliffsides and all that. Though, they do smell vaguely like lavender, mixed with the scent of a rose. Sweet, but not sour, or arid. Their scent is airy and has a slight pungent undertone.”
“They also smell like the open air on the ocean,” a third voice answered, and the teal Foxian reappeared, placing tea down in front of the two vixens and then sat down across from them, and her voice lowered to a serious tone as she straightened out her dress. “Tingyun, I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I just saw you out and about, seemingly unharmed, wandering around with who else but Yae Miko.” Miko picked up on a slight fluctuation in the Foxian’s tone, and it compelled her to say something.
“This wasn’t my doing. I… I don’t often admit things like this, but I was also quite concerned when Tingyun disappeared. We… had… been doing some business together, so imagine my surprise when I happened to hear about her disappearance. Or well, ‘death’ in this case. In any other case, I would’ve said I was in denial, but something felt off. In other words, the spirits were upset, and something in me was telling me that she wasn’t quite ‘dead’. Gravely wounded, possibly. But not dead.”
“I was attacked by an Abyss Lector. It was no fault of Miko’s own, nor was it mine. After that… I’m not sure what exactly they did, but it was like my body wasn’t my own anymore, I was just some insignificant speck, not in control of my own body. They… they copied my… my… everything . My mannerisms, my voice. My movements. However, there was one thing that they couldn’t copy,” Fugue subtly looked over at Miko. “Once they were done with my body… they killed me. Or tried to. Miraculously, I survived. Well, with a bit of help. I have no memory of anything following the attack, except a few things that are unrelated…”
“Hm,” replied the teal Foxian. “What do you remember, Tingyun?” Fugue’s ears pricked and she looked over at her. Miko could pick up a hint of relief in the teal Foxian’s voice, but whenever her eyes glanced at her, suspicion clouded her gaze.
“I remember most things, I believe. But most things directly afterwards I don’t. I remember meeting Miko for example-“
“How did you meet Yae Miko?” The teal Foxian responded, interrupting her. Her eyes found Miko again and a not so subtle glare showed on her face. This Foxian clearly didn’t like her, and Miko wasn’t exactly sure why. Though maybe it was still based on a misconception-
“Mom,” Tingyun, no Fugue, retorted, causing Miko’s ears to prick in shock, causing them to be held as high as Fugue’s own ears. The teal Foxian on the other hand, paled slightly as if shocked to hear that word come out of Fugue’s mouth. “That’s my girlfriend you’re talking to, and judging by how she helped me, I think you could at least show her a bit of respect.” Miko hid the chortle Fugue’s rebuttal had roused from her behind her hand. She hadn’t heard much of the cheeky side of her girlfriend in a while, but it was still the funniest thing, and most endearing thing about her. The teal Foxian looked offended in the way a mother might, but her expression soon fell away, as care for her daughter was probably the more important thing at the moment than worrying about who that child was dating specifically.
“Let me repeat myself. How did you meet… Miko? Can I call you that?” The teal Foxian’s ears twitched as she glanced at Miko and Miko hummed in response.
“That, or Yae or Guuji, if you so desire. And I’m sure Tingyun here will tell you her side, but from my side… You see, that famous Advice Columnist Ms Hina, you’ve heard of her right? Anyways. She has some… passionate fans in her fan base, let’s just say. Specifically an oni…”
“An oni?”
“A blithering idiot of an oni, but an oni. Anyhoo~ I had this idea one day to… sort of, you know, spice up her actual outfit to something more unique. It just so happened to be Sakura season too, which is a rather romantic season where I’m from, many romance festivals taking place there. So, I’m walking throughout the town, searching for ideas for Ms Hina, right? Well, I’m not sure about Foxians, but kitsunes have enhanced senses of smell, you know? So~,” Miko hummed and looked over at Fugue, who took that opportunity to join Miko on her chair, throwing her tail over the back of the seat. “I’m walking down, and this pleasant scent graces my nose. Expertly crafted to intermingle varying scents without them overpowering each other, truly the marks of an excellent perfumist-“
“You flatter me Miko,” Fugue interjected, before taking over the story from there. “So, Miko, following her nose, ends up finding me in the middle of the city, looking for new scents, and then asks me to help with her… Ms Hina problem.”
“I remember that trip,” the teal Foxian responded. “That was your first trip to Inazuma, correct? You went on that ship with that young woman Beidou. It was your first trip without me being part of the crew. It was after… her.” She seemed to lose steam, and Miko noticed Fugue’s gaze soften.
“I’m sure Caiyi appreciates what you did for her, after that incident. But yeah, that was my first trip to Inazuma. I likely wouldn’t have met Miko without it. Though… that was before everything happened. I remember that Miko and I just sort of clicked, some might even say it was destined. But I’m not sure I really believe in any god anymore. I mean, not after happened to me.”
“Tingyun…”
“I don’t even remember what gods roam through Liyue. I don’t remember if the animals I see out this window are even adepti anymore. Do I even know what an adeptus is? The Archons are the only ones I remember existing. Though, maybe that’s because they had a hand in reviving me. I’m not sure… of anything . The one thing I remember, though? After everything that happened? The one thing that cuts through the cloudy memories of when my body wasn’t my own? Ironically, it’s love. Or well, care, I guess, as cliche as it is. People cared about me, enough to try and revive me I guess, but I was never dead. It probably wasn’t that at all, maybe Irminsul sensed something was wrong, if Irminsul even exists. Whatever it was, the one thing I viscerally remember? It’s strange, but it was Miko’s behaviour. She wasn’t acting like herself. I was merely in a vegetative state in my own body, but I could tell. My brain and senses may have been ten feet underwater, but I could tell. Miko, while usually frivolous and mischievous, can sometimes mask her emotions behind those very emotions, and I believe that’s what she was doing in that moment. Her true emotions were peeking through, because she was worried. Worried that this business partner, or something more, was gravely hurt, maybe even on the verge of actual death. And-“ Fugue’s voice started shaking. “And, I don’t blame her for it.” Both Miko and the teal Foxian got up and walked over to where Fugue was, who had started sniffling. Miko brought her into a hug.
“Hey,” her voice came out soft, and had no semblance of cheek or mischievousness, causing the teal Foxian to start slowly smiling, though she still seemed wary of Miko and walked over to join them. “Tingy…” Miko murmured, but words failed her for once in her life and then the teal Foxian joined in on the hug.
“Tingyun…” said the teal Foxian. “I’m just happy that you’re still here, okay? Whether you remember things or don’t…” both Miko and the teal Foxian continued hugging her for a while before the teal Foxian eventually broke it off. She then turned her gaze on Miko. “I guess I have been kind of rude, I haven’t even introduced myself. From now on, you can refer to me as… Yukong.” Miko nodded and gave her a simple smile.
“Marvelous.”