Onyx’s gaze wandered around in awe as they entered the fox district. The sights were much different than anywhere else he had seen. The buildings varied in size, but most of them were made of wood rather than stone, and they had distinct shapes and designs, mostly having curved, tiled roofs. Many of the foxes’ clothing reminded him of Kumiko’s, and the guards carried swords simir to hers; thin, long, slightly curved, long handles and with a “disc” in pce of the crossguard. As they delved deeper into the district, he saw and smelled foods the likes of which he had never seen nor smelled before.

  However, something was bothering him. A weird sound that would py for a mere second, so close to him. He brushed it off the first couple of times, but he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

  “Do you hear that?” Onyx asked, turning to face Lily and Ulva.

  Ulva was covering her muzzle, although he could tell she was smiling, while Lily was looking away with her arms crossed.

  “We do,” Lily said, raising her hand. “Because it’s me.”

  Onyx tilted his head to the side. “What’s wrong?”

  “A serious condition called ‘hunger’.”

  Ulva’s ughter finally broke through the barrier of her paws.

  Onyx smiled, scratching his neck. “I guess it’s about time we take a break and eat.”

  “Agreed,” Ulva nodded. “It doesn’t help that the smell of food is everywhere.”

  “Now for the hard part,” Onyx’s finger hovered in the direction of several pces. “Where, exactly, do we eat?”

  “I’m not in the mood to be picky!” Lily excimed, spinning her finger randomly. “We’ll eat…there!” Her finger settled on a random pce in the distance, then immediately sprinted in its direction.

  “Wait!” Onyx called, before him and Ulva sprinted after the hungry woman.

  They walked into a small tavern. The foxes, and a couple of humans and wolves, were inside. Some drinking, some eating, and some pying board games. Lily dashed to the counter and called for the tender. A white-furred vixen answered.

  “Welcome!” The vixen greeted with a smile. “How may I be of–”

  “Your best dish!” Lily replied enthusiastically.

  Onyx pced a paw on Lily’s head, smiling sheepishly. “We would like to see what you serve here first, please.”

  The vixen’s smile widened. “Ah, you’re new here, I see. Very well, we have…”

  The vixen proceeded to list names that Onyx had no idea what they meant, and they had to ask what each one contained. Eventually, they settled on fish soup.

  They waited at a table until their food was served. Onyx took a whiff. It smelled like there was fish in there, but ultimately, taste was the most important thing. He took a spoonful into his mouth, and the fvours exploded. It was familiar, yet unique from anything he had ever tasted. He dug into the dish eagerly, before he heard Lily’s enthusiastic voice again.

  “This…is…the best soup ever!” Lily cheered, before bringing the whole dish up to her face with gusto.

  “Careful!” Ulva warned while giggling.

  After having their fill and walking out of the tavern, Onyx sighed in regret. “That was more expensive than I anticipated…”

  “We should’ve checked the price first,” Ulva added.

  “You’re not wrong, but I’d say it was worth it,” Lily said.

  Onyx chuckled. “That it was.”

  As they walked through the district, they heard a masculine voice shout, “I said be gone!”

  Onyx turned to face the source of the voice. There was a small commotion in front of one of the taverns. After exchanging looks with Ulva and Lily, they headed closer to the tavern to see what was happening.

  A soft, feminine voice was heard, “But...I really need–”

  “You don’t have enough coins!” The manly voice sounded again.

  Once they were close enough, Onyx could see what was happening. An adult wolf, bck and brown hide, cd in armour stood there, gring at a short female cat kemono with a calico fur, wearing a hooded dress, her hair half bck and half orange.

  “Onyx,” Lily whispered. “You see his armor? And that hammer on his back? They look…”

  Onyx nodded. “He’s definitely a Yeager.”

  The calico held on to the wolf’s leg. “I beg you! Please help him! He will pay you when–”

  “I said screw off!” The wolf shook his leg violently, dropping the cat to the ground. “He is definitely dead, so I'm not getting paid for this!” The wolf then smirked. “You can, however, reconsider my offer to pay me in…other ways.”

  The cat stood up, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “If…if that is what it takes to save him, then….”

  “That’s enough!” Ulva stepped forward, standing between the wolf and the cat and jabbing a finger at the former. “How dare you?! Have you no shame?!”

  At first, Onyx didn’t understand Ulva’s reaction. It took him a few moments to realize what was really going on.

  The wolf raised an eyebrow at Ulva. “Mind your own business, girl! This is between me and her! Unless, of course, you’d like to ‘pay’ in her stead.”

  Ulva gasped, her gre intensifying. “You…” She swung her arm in an attempt to sp the Yeager, but he blocked it.

  “Let her go!” Onyx stomped towards the two, spping the Yeager’s arm off Ulva’s.

  The wolf appeared to be in shock for a moment as he stared at his own arm, before he chuckled, slowly turning to face Onyx. “When did this city fill with vigintes?” He stood extremely close to Onyx, his face mere inches from his. “Back. Off. And take your nosy maiden with you.”

  Onyx could feel his face heat up in rage, his clenched paws shaking. “No,” he snarled.

  The wolf scoffed. “I won’t warn you again.” He pushed Onyx back with one paw. “Back–”

  Before he could finish his threat, Onyx had returned the push with one of his own. Except, his push sent the Yeager crashing into the ground, the impact stirring dirt into the air.

  Onyx gazed in shock at his victim, and then at his paw. Shit. Even in this form, I still have the strength of a dragon?!

  Lost in his thoughts, Onyx couldn’t react as the Yeager charged at him and brought his knee to his stomach. “Now you’ve done it!” The wolf growled.

  Onyx dropped on one knee, clutching his stomach. Damn it! What have I gotten myself into?! If I get hurt, I will turn back into a dragon…here…in the middle of the city!

  Ulva charged at the Yeager and punched him in the face. “Leave him alone! Or else…” her paw held on to the hilt of her sword, revealing part of the bde.

  Lily joined Ulva, her hand ready to unsheath her dagger.

  Two guards approached the scene, and one of them called out, “What is going on here?”

  Ulva, Lily and the Yeager had a short, yet intense staring contest, then the Yeager chuckled, turning his back to them. “Nothing important, officer.”

  The guard groaned, giving the Yeager a gre. “You always start trouble when you visit, Eivor. Don’t make us ban you from ever stepping foot here again.”

  Eivor smirked, shaking his head. “Now that would be tragic.”

  The guard scoffed, giving Eivor the same nasty look for a moment before he and the other guard turned around and left. Onyx heard one of them mutter, “Humans and wolves always causing trouble.”

  “We shall meet again, boy,” Eivor said, starting to walk away. “When your dies aren’t around to save your ass.”

  Ulva gave Onyx a shoulder to help him stand up. “Are you okay? Take this.” She produced a pink feather and handed it to him.

  Onyx accepted the feather with a smile. “Thank you. I’m fine, really.”

  “That was insanely reckless!” She scolded. “If you were hurt, you could’ve…”

  Onyx nodded. “I know.”

  “Though I must say, that was one hell of a push you gave him there,” Lily said, smirking. She stood beside the cat and patted her on the back. “Are you okay? Mind telling–”

  The cat stood up and pushed Lily’s hand off her back, facing away from them. “I…appreciate you standing up for me. But that was my chance to save Alphonse! And you blew it away!”

  Ulva frowned at the cat. “You can’t be serious. That man was taking advantage of you. Who knows what else he would’ve done.”

  The calico faced them again, her lip quivering and a tear wetting her cheek. “But…”

  Lily leaned down to be level with her. “Hey, it’s fine. We’re working with a Yeager. He can help you.”

  The cat looked up at her wide-eyed. “Really?! But I don’t have much to pay with.”

  “Don’t worry about that for now.”

  The calico hugged Lily, resting her face against her stomach. “Thank you, thank you!”

  Lily chuckled shyly.

  The cat pulled away, rubbing her green eyes. “My name is Autumn.”

  Lily pointed a thumb at herself. “Lily. These are Onyx and Ulva.”

  Autumn nodded at the two wolves. “Thank you for what you did. And…sorry for yelling at you.”

  Onyx raised a reassuring paw. “I understand how you feel. Now, mind telling us about Alphonse and what happened to him?”

  Autumn fiddled with her dress. “I’m…a maid. I work for him. We were on our way here when…something attacked us.” Autumn trembled for a moment. “I couldn’t get a good look at it, but it was huge and ugly. It had so many limbs and made a terrible sound. It captured Alphonse and he shouted at me to run. I didn’t want to leave him, but…fear got the better of me and I scurried here. I tried telling the guards but they said that it was a Yeager’s job. But Alphonse had most of the coins. I didn’t have enough to pay a Yeager. Well…you saw what happened next.”

  Onyx rubbed his chin, giving Autumn a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”

  “Do you know what that creature might be?” Ulva asked Onyx.

  “I have a few theories, but my knowledge is limited and the description is vague. We’ll have to ask Rolo.”

  “Come with us, Autumn,” Lily said, extending a hand to the cat. “We will meet the Yeager at the Lunar Inn.”

  Autumn nodded, taking Lily’s hand. “But please, we must hurry. It’s already been two days. I fear that Alphonse might be…” She trailed off.

  Onyx crossed his arms. He knew it was more than likely that Autumn’s master was dead, but he didn’t want to tell her that. The thunderbird will have to wait. “Come on, then. We’re burning daylight.”

  As they walked, Onyx fell back a few steps to whisper to Ulva out of Autumn’s earshot, “Isn’t she too young to be a maid? And that Yeager…I can't believe he would try to take advantage of a little girl.”

  Ulva stifled a giggle.

  Onyx titled his head to the side. “What?”

  “I am twenty, mister Onyx,” Autumn answered. “But I appreciate your concern.”

  Onyx stared at her with wide eyes and a gaped jaw, partially because of her answer and partially because she could hear them.

  Ulva leaned closer to him and whispered, “I was about to tell you, that’s the average height of an adult cat kemono.”

  Onyx scratched his head. “How…interesting.” And their hearing is scary!

  Entering the wolf district, Onyx was met with familiar yet different sights. The buildings reminded him of his home vilge, but there were more of them and in bigger sizes. Finding the Lunar Inn was just a matter of asking for directions, and a little bit of walking and getting lost ter, they finally found it. A rge sign hung outside, adorned with a rough painting of the night sky and “Lunar Inn” written in a fancy font. The pce inside was spacious, lined with tables and chairs, a stairway in the deep end that led to the upper floor.

  They didn’t have to look for anyone, because Raksha rushed towards them and greeted them.

  “Missed you too, mom,” Onyx chuckled.

  “How was your tour?” Raksha asked, then gnced at Autumn. “And who’s the dy?”

  “I’m Autumn,” the calico answered, dipping her head slightly. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

  “Autumn, this is my mother and a Yeager in training, Raksha, and that is Rolo, a full-fledged Yeager.”

  Autumn dipped her head again, this time for Rolo, then turned to face Raksha again. “Your son and his friends defended me and said mister Rolo could help.”

  “Is that so?” Raksha gnced at Onyx.

  “We’ll tell you all about that,” Onyx said, turning to face Rolo. “We ran into one of your Yeager friends. Eivor. Lovely guy.”

  Rolo nearly choked on his drink upon hearing the name. “My condolences.”

  “I see his reputation precedes him.”

  “Don’t tell me you fought him.”

  Onyx scratched at his head. “Well, not exactly…”

  Rolo shook his head. “Eivor holds grudges really hard.”

  Onyx groaned. “Great. Just what I needed.” He turned to face his mother. “I’ll tell you everything. But first, tell us what happened with the thunderbird.”

  The group sat down around the table that Raksha and Rolo had used. First, Raksha expined what she and Rolo had discovered, about a thunderbird and a camazotz. Then, Onyx told them how they had met Autumn.

  Onyx y back against his chair, rubbing his chin. “This is a problem indeed.”

  Rolo nodded with a low groan.

  “We must try and save Alphonse as soon as possible,” Raksha stated. “But if we leave the thunderbird and camazotz unchecked, there’s no guarantee they won’t attack again before we return.”

  “We also don’t know what exactly attacked Alphonse,” Rolo added. “We have to investigate the location where he went missing. Although, whatever it was, he’s probably dead by now.”

  Autumn’s gaze turned to the floor, her ears folding back against her head.

  Onyx shot Rolo a gre. “We can’t say that for sure yet!”

  “It’s fine, mister Onyx,” Autumn said, her eyes still facing down. “I know the odds are against me. But…I must try to save him.”

  Onyx took a deep breath, eyeing the table for a moment before gncing at his mother. “Should we split? If so, how?”

  Rolo raised his paw. “I will handle the thunderbird and camazotz.”

  Onyx raised an eyebrow. “On your own?”

  “If I must.”

  “No way. Someone should stay and help you.”

  Raksha raised her paw. “I have an idea. I will investigate Alphonse’s disappearance. Onyx will stay and help Rolo. I will fetch Dyle before I head to the location. I’m sure it won’t be hard to find a tall, green alligator. Moreover, based on Autumn’s description, the monster could be a type of arachnid. Dyle’s fire magic will be useful against it.”

  “Then I will stay with Onyx and Rolo,” Ulva said, her attention with Raksha. “We already know what they’re facing. Lily can give them the wax and any potion they need, then leave with you. You, on the other hand, don’t know what you’re up against. You may need Lily to cook up something quickly when you finally identify the monster.”

  “I don’t like this,” Onyx addressed his mother. “What if you face multiple monsters as well? And Dyle is a loose cannon. He may get you and himself killed!”

  “I understand your concern, son. But have faith in me. I can control Dyle.”

  Onyx hummed, deep in thought.

  “If you encounter something too dangerous for you to handle, return here and we’ll face it together,” Rolo suggested.

  “But if we waste time…” Raksha trailed off, gncing at Autumn.

  “I understand, dy Raksha,” Autumn said, her paws fidgeting in her p. “It’s true that I want Alphonse saved as soon as possible, but I wouldn’t wish to get you killed trying to do so.”

  Raksha sighed, nodding, then returned her gaze to Onyx.

  Onyx closed his eyes and nodded in turn. “Fine. Sounds good enough.” He gestured at Lily. “And you?”

  Lily leaned back against her chair and crossed her arms. “I don’t know. Both groups may need me, but Ulva makes a good point about Raksha and Dyle being a more logical pce for me. So…I guess we’ll go with that.”

  “It is settled, then,” Rolo announced, standing up. “Onyx, Ulva, we better prepare. Lily, hand us what we need and prepare to leave with Raksha.”

  Everyone obliged, and Lily handed the wax, burn cream, a couple of bombs, and the shapeshifting potion to Onyx.

  As they said a short goodbye, Raksha embraced Onyx. “Please be careful. I wish I could stay with you on your first official ‘monster hunt’, but it is what it is.”

  Onyx smiled at her, pcing a paw on her head. “I will.”

  “And don’t worry about that Eivor guy. If I run into him, I’ll kill him.” Raksha smiled warmly.

  Onyx simply chuckled. He felt it was equally as likely that she was joking or serious.

  With that, each group went their own way, with Autumn leaving with Raksha and Lily to lead them to the spot Alphonse had been kidnapped.