With You 2023
Some years back:
It had been a sunny, warm day in the Hidden Gardens, and Hikari was out enjoying the colorful blooms when the faint sound of crying caught her ear. Looking around for the source of the sound, she couldn’t see anything at first, but as she looked closer, she noticed a gap in the bushes, which had been occasionally quivering. Standing up and brushing the stray grass blades off of her threads, the brown and white Scarfox slowly approached where she thought the sound was coming from. Peering into the shrubbery, she noticed a Mini Scarfox huddled up among the leaves and coloured petals sobbing into their hands.
She called out softly, and the Mini flinched, curling in on themself even more than they already were. Hikari called out again, and this time the smaller fox looked up at her with a sniffle and a whine.
“Where’s mama?” The mini’s voice was childlike, broken and wavering through the tears.
“I don’t know,” Hikari replies gently. “Can you tell me what she looks like?”
The mini breaks down into sobs again, managing to stammer out something about people in white lab coats, needles, curtains, and beeping machines with bags of fluid. Hikari wasn’t entirely sure, but she felt like the mini might have been talking about a hospital. However, questioning the small Scarfox about it yielded no coherent answers, so she decided to try and coax the mini out of the bushes instead. She extended her hand, waiting for the small fox to uncurl and take it voluntarily before guiding the little creature, who was shaking like a leaf at that moment, out into the warm sunshine. Giving the mini Scarfox time to compose themself, Hikari took them by the hand and walked away from the bushes to sit down in the grass.
“Where… What is this place?”
“This is the Hidden Garden. It’s one of the biomes in our home world,” Hikari gestures to the scenery surrounding them. “It’s a lush place willed with a lot of plants.” Thinking about it, she turns back to her companion. “How long have you been here?”
“I dunno…” The mini fox looks down at their hands, and then adds quietly, “I wasn’t taught how to tell time yet. Mama said she’d teach me when I was able to come home, but I went to sleep and woke up here. Everything is weird. Am I dreaming?”
Hikari’s ears droop. One didn’t become a Scarfox by falling asleep and dreaming, but she didn’t have it in her to break the truth to the little fox. Instead, she tried to distract her companion, asking if they were hungry. Immediately, their ears perked up and a big toothy smile spread across their face.
“Yeah!!”
“Then, how about we go get something to eat?”
“Can I have pizza?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want.”
Standing up once again, Hikari helped the smaller fox up onto their pointy feet and took their hand in hers. It was still soggy from the crying, but she no longer felt the mini fox shaking like they had been previously. Guiding them back towards the more lived-in area of the Hidden Garden, Hikari showed the new fox around, letting the child be distracted by the sights, smells, and sounds of the new world around them as they made their way towards a place where they could eat. The rest of the day had been spent with the two traveling around together until the sun had begun to set. As the sky tinted pink and purple, the mini once again brought up their missing mother, and Hikari made the difficult choice to explain to the child what had happened.
As one would expect, it didn’t go well. Hikari spent the next several hours trying to find the smaller fox, who had fled in tears and claiming that their missing mother was out there somewhere. It was late into the night when Hikari located the smaller fox once more, curled up once again among the flowers and bushes, evidently worn out from all of the running and crying. As she sat down beside the child, she said nothing, instead letting the mini make the choice to come to her if they so desired. Ultimately, though they were defiant at first, the loneliness and need for comfort set in and the crawled closer, settling down into Hikari’s lap, quickly conking out. Carrying the smaller fox in her arms, Hikari had returned home then, promising to take the child back to the human world in the following days to try and reunite them with their family.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Present:
Hikari places the crystals on the counter and thanks the shop owner, gathering up the supplies into a bag and cradling it in her arms. Today was the anniversary of the day she and Sandstone had met, and as had become a tradition for the two, a nice picnic among the fragrant blooms was about to take place. Getting the mini to accept the reality of the situation had been tough, even moreso once Sandstone had been reunited with her human family, but once Sandstone had learned to use her magic to hop back and forth between the Scarfox world and the human world, she had become optimistic in her new life and new health, settling in nicely among the other Scarfoxes living in the Hidden Garden. During her daily activities, Hikari would catch glimpses of Sandstone playing with the other minis or napping among the flowers, and on rainy days, the mini would come visit her to talk about her adventures and other things that had caught her eye. Despite being a sobbing mess when they’d first encountered each other, Sandstone had quickly become quite a daring, mischievous child with an endless curiosity about the Scarfox world and all that it holds. As Hikari approaches the field, she sees the snake-patterned Scarfox already setting up a checkered blanket beside a picnic basket that was, Hikari mused, bigger than Sandstone herself.
Calling out to the mini fox, Hikari waves, a gesture that Sandstone returns energetically.
“You’re not gonna BELIVE what I found yesterday,” Hikari practically bounces with excitement once Hikari has joined her at the picnic spot.
“Oh~? And what did you find?” Hikari raises an eyebrow, a smile spreading across her face.
“A weird plant in someone’s garden,” Sandstone motions with her hands while she speaks, “I think… It’s a Pretend Peony, but it’s so strange looking!” The mini fox opens the basket and reaches in for the plates and cutlery. “It was like every bloom was half one color and half another, but some of the buds didn’t even look fully bloomed! Not only that,” she continues, setting a place for herself and Hikari, “the petals were all made out of different materials!”
“That does sound interesting,” Hikari’s ears perk up as she tries to picture it. “I’d like to see it too, maybe you can show me later?”
“I DEFINITELY WILL!” The childlike excitement of her finding being validated gets the better of Sandstone and she accidentally yells the words. “Oops, sorry.”
Hikari can’t help but laugh at that as she sets down her own bag and starts to unpack her own offerings for the picnic - some loaves of fresh, handmade bread and still-warm biscuits, fresh jams and small cartons of berries, even some cold cuts of meat. To drink, she had bought fresh squeezed fruit juices and lemonade. Looking at the spread of foods, Sandstone can’t help but drool a little as she eagerly dives into the food, taking a bit of each to sample and making sure Hikari has taken some too, before she reaches for more. As the two eat and bask in the warm sunshine, they tell each other about their adventures and just reminisce about the past years, setting a comfortable mood. Occasionally, other Scarfoxes pass by, even a mini or two stops to say hello to the pair before scurrying off again, and once more the sun slowly starts to sink towards the horizon.
By this time, Sandstone is happily snuggled up against Hikari, with the latter resting her arm around the smaller fox and patting her lightly on the head.
“Did you enjoy the picnic?”
“Yeah! The lemonade was sour though,” Sandstone sticks out her forked tongue in disapproval, making a “blegh” sound afterwards.
Hikari chuckles. “Not a fan of sour things?”
“Hm, no,” Sandstone mumbles quietly.
“Alright, I’ll remember that for next time,” Hikari pats the mini on the head once more. “Let’s get this cleaned up before it gets dark.” She gets up from her spot, and starts collecting the plates, leaving Sandstone to flop dramatically on the grass like a limp plush toy.
“Gimme a minute,” the mini groans, “too full…”
“Oh, you,” Hikari shakes her head, but there’s a smile on her face. “Glad you enjoyed yourself.”
“Best. Picnic. EVER,” Sandstone, emphasizes each word the way kids sometimes do when they’re trying to make a point. “We gotta do this again soon.” Rolling over, she pushes herself up and then helps Hikari clean up the picnic spot.
Once things are neatly packed up, the two exit the field and, as Hikari had asked previously, Sandstone takes her to see the “weird plant” that she had mentioned before. The two marvel at it for a bit, discussing the possibilities of what could have caused it to turn out the way it did, and then continue their journey back to the willow trees. Stopping at the branching paths, Sandstone says goodnight to Hikari and vice versa, and the two exchange one final wave to each other as they head their separate ways to go home.
