Kitsunegari (July catch-all)

[detectiveofthewest]

A: After the full moon

Heiji had been lucky to walk away from his run-in with Tal as well as he had -- a werewolf during this particular time of year was even more dangerous than usual. But he was still badly hurting, and he did not yet want to return to the Other Realm, where one of his own kind might see an excellent opportunity to take advantage of his wounds. Nor could he wander the streets as a human slowly bleeding through his clothing.

So instead he limped along quietly in the early hours of the morning in the least energy-intensive form he could. A small black fox, looking for a burrow to hole up in and lick his wounds.

B: You are cordially invited (July 7)

In light of his new title as well as his decision to stay in London for the foreseeable future, Heiji had had a home constructed for himself in Faery -- a little out of the way for his non-fae acquaintances to come visit him, but much less likely to arouse undue interest from any neighbors. It was a Japanese-style house, of course, with a small pond and cherry trees outside the windows.

Now he sat out the steps, sipping at his sake and waiting for company.

C: Fox hunt (Evening in Richmond Park, July 11th-ish)

Hoofbeats sounded in the distance, accompanied by the distant baying of hounds. A flit of red fur through the grass, and then the sounds of the dogs took on a new, excited cast. Panicked and frightened, the young fox ran blindly through the trees. The paths looked the same, the woods were unfamiliar. Meanwhile, the sounds of her pursuit was getting closer...

Heiji ran through the park, looking for any sign, but he'd lost sight of the hunting party. All he had to go on now was the baying of the hounds. There were thousands of foxes in London, and why hadn't she listened to him?

He grimaced as he charged through the grass. "Of all the rotten luck...!"

D: Choose your own adventure :')

Comments

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji pulled his ears back and arched his back. Message: Move over, Wile E.

His tail lashed back and forth, rustling against the green summer grass. Now the chickens that had been asleep were waking up in response to the alarmed calls. Of course, their night vision wasn't great, but it wasn't really the sight of the animals outside that was alarming them.

[tippytoes]

Chickens have a very good sense of smell; if the noise hadn't woken them, the scent of the pair of them together would have, and they'd be just as flustered. It's a wonder the people inside the house haven't woken up, and Malia internally scowls, snapping her teeth at the fox.

I was here first.

[detectiveofthewest]

The light snapped on inside the house. Angry shouting was now coming from inside. Whoops.

Taking advantage of the sudden racket, Heiji decided to just go for it. He darted inside the henhouse in a dark blur of motion, pouncing on the nearest, juiciest looking hen and biting down hard. He shook her feathered body sharply, snapping her neck in one savage motion.

Time to get going, plenty of time... probably.

[tippytoes]

You moron!!

Malia's head jerks up at the light, and then back down to the fox, growling in annoyance. She, too, darts inside the now cramped henhouse, grabbing her own hen. It's an awkward, comedic, scramble to get back out, consisting of her legs tangling up on her and feathers flying everywhere. She gets pecked for her trouble, too, but keeps ahold of the now dead chicken in her mouth.

Clods of dirt go flying as she scrambles for the hole in the fence, just as the back door to the house opens up.

[detectiveofthewest]

"What's going on out there?" came a woman's voice. A man had burst out the back door to the house, holding some dark implement in his hand. In his other, he had a flashlight, which he trained around to find the source of the commotion. The beam caught the bushy, white-tipped fluff of Heiji's tail, among a few other things.

"It's a fox! And some kind of mangy mutt dog!" That was you, Malia. That was you. The man came around to the side of the fence -- a broom, that was what it was. A corn husk broom, which he was going to swing in the direction of any pesky varmints he encountered.

Heiji skittered under the fence, shoving his hen through the opening so he could wriggle through after it.

[tippytoes]

Wow, rude. The mangy mutt comment (despite the fact it's nothing she's never heard before) and the stupid fox just bolting off. Malia doesn't make it to the hole in time; she gets hit by the broom. Growling at the old man doesn't scare him. It just makes him more determined to hit her, and she's forced to drop her prize in order to run away.

The minute she's through the fence, she lunges after Heiji, grabbing him by the tail with a human hand, dragging him into the nearby underbrush where her clothes are. She's finally registered that he's not a normal fox, but she doesn't recognize him just yet.

Which is why she shakes him a little by the scruff of his neck, holding his face level to hers.

"What the hell!?" She hisses out the words in a low whisper. "I was here first!"

[detectiveofthewest]

Dragging a fox by the tail, really? You could seriously injure him like that, MALIA TATE. Heiji stared indignantly at Malia, the chicken still in his jaws wobbling comically along with him as she shook him.

It wasn't like he could answer in this form anyway.

[tippytoes]

She grunts, because duh he can't respond to her. She can't yell, because that'll alert the homeowner to their position, and she sits in the underbrush, waiting for the chaos to die down.

When it's quieted down, she drops him, baring her teeth. "You cost me dinner."

[detectiveofthewest]

Once the noise and the sounds of the rest of the chickens quieted down (and now that he'd successfully nabbed one for himself) the urge to stalk and kill receded. Heiji dropped onto the grass. Dinner? Really? This was unusual for him, but apparently routine for Malia.

He laid the hen at her feet and looked up at her. You could have his chicken if you wanted, Malia.

[tippytoes]

Malia stands up and starts getting dressed, looking down at him over her shoulder. The moonlight is a little brighter out here, and as Malia's pulling on her shirt she glances at him again with a double take.

"Heiji!?"

[detectiveofthewest]

As Heiji shifted back into his human form, little blue flames licked at his shoulders. They died out harmlessly as he finished the transformation.

"Fancy meetin' you here. I guess I should've ordered takeaway and stayed in for the night."