Chapter 1 – Kana

Someone was bolting through the storm.

Kana’s right arm had a long bleeding scratch on it, into which the rain soaked. Lightning flashed as she ran for her life, her 3 fox tails trailing behind her. She didn’t look back, but she heard a hunting howl and knew the Tengu were close behind.

Why couldn’t the kitsune and Tengu yokai have an alliance?

Because Foxes and Wolves are enemies. Kana thought.

Another howl. The Tengu were gaining on her.

Suddenly, a figure burst out of the underbrush. The Tengu surprised her and took her down, swiping away her backpack. The potions!  The Tengu kept her back. “You’re not getting away that easily.” he snarled. More Tengu surrounded her. Their leader stepped forward. “Where is the Tenth Tail?” the leader demanded. “What makes you think I would carry the Tenth Tail all the way here, knowing that I am chased by the Tengu assassin, Niko, sent by Riku the Tengu Emperor?” Kana replied slyly. Niko immediately knocked her down. “Do you really think that we’ll fall for the lies of a kitsune sorcerer?” he asked. He turned to two other Tengu. “Search her.” he commanded. They obeyed, checking in every pocket. “Nothing, sir.” one of the Tengu guards. “Hey, wait a second,” began the other one. “Doesn’t Kana have six tails? This Kitsune only has three.” “Of course she has six tails,” exclaimed a new voice outside of the ring of Tengu. They all turned, and saw a kitsune with six tails standing calmly with the backpack. “You may have learned to not believe kitsune lies, but you haven’t learned that a kitsune can be mistaken for another kitsune.” the real Kana said. Niko turned and saw the fake Kana’s face replaced with that of a younger kitsune. Kana dug into the backpack and pulled out a big ruby. The Tenth Tail.

“Give that to me.” Niko hissed. “And you might go free.”

“What makes you think that I will give this gem, the enchanted Tenth Tail, which belongs in the mask of the great kitsune emperor, back to you after you stole it from us?” she replied, raising it up into the air. “YOU WOULDN’T DARE!!!” Niko exclaimed. “I certainly would.” Kana replied. “ELES SEN S’KA!!!” The Tenth Tail vanished in a sudden burst of flames. “NO!!!!!!” Niko roared, lunging toward her. Kana slowly sagged down. Niko jumped on top of her. “BRING IT BACK! BRING IT BACK!” he screamed. “It’s too late.” Kana moaned. “It’s done.” “WHERE HAVE YOU SENT IT!?!?!?!?” Niko yelled, but Kana had lost consciousness. Niko turned to the other Tengu. “Bring her and the other kitsune and put them in the deep prison. The enchanted one,” he commanded. They did just that. “You may have hidden the Tenth Tail, but it will not be hidden forever.”

Chapter 2 – Luke

It was Saturday.

One of his favorite days because, after all, what kid ever liked school?

And of course he had to do his homework. But after that, he could read all the comic books he wanted.

Luke was never a kid for nonfiction. It took him a few hours to get through Tom Sawyer. It was very boring, but at least he got to play minecraft once he was done.

(And read his comic books)

He very much loved mangas, especially the ones about foxes and kitsunes. Foxes were always his favorite animal.

Anyways, it was Saturday and he was playing minecraft and reading comic books. Then his sister burst in. “Did you hear the news?” she asked, “Jedidiah is missing this time.” Luke’s eyes went wide. Last he had heard from Jed, he claimed he had found a sort of red gem.

“Oh no.” he exclaimed. “Not Jed.” his sister nodded, then left the room. Soon after, Luke decided to try and look for Jed, so he also left.

“Mom, I’m going out to the woods.” he said. “OK Honey, just be back before dark.” Luke’s mom called back. He got on his bike, and headed for the forest.

When he reached the campsite, he parked his bike and walked down the trail that led out the other side.

Halfway through, he saw a deer that ran across the path, knocking him down. “Oof!” he exclaimed, then saw something red flash on the path. Something big and shiny, it looked like a rock, until it flashed again. A gem!He thought excitedly. It looks like a giant ruby. He crawled over to it. It was right in the middle of the path. “Who would have left this big of a gem?” he wondered. He reached out and grabbed it.

A blinding red flash, a whooshing sound, searing pain, then everything went black.

When he woke up, he had lost track of time. How long have I been out? He wondered. He realized he hadn’t woken up in bed. Instead he had woken up on a forest path. Where am I? He looked around and his memories came flooding back. The news that Jed was gone, walking down the path, the deer, falling down, finding the big ruby… the ruby! Where is it? There was a weight on his chest, and he noticed an amulet around his neck. He opened it. Inside was a piece of the ruby. He closed the amulet, and vaguely remembered that when he had grabbed the gem, he was knocked out by something. Suddenly, his hand started to hurt. He looked at it and noticed a scar on his palm, forming a spiral. The strange scar looked sort of fresh. He also noticed that his head and tailbone hurt a bit. He patted his head, but immediately felt something furry that wasn’t his hair. Even as he felt it, the pain in his head hurt more as the furry thing twitched. He got up, a little wobbly, and, looking behind him, meaning to look down the path and wonder which way led back home, he noticed two long fox tails. His tailbone started to hurt when they twitched. They were attached to him, presumably connecting with his tailbone. He screamed and fell on them, which only made the pain worse. He screamed again, this time from the pain, and rolled on his side. He groaned. “Ow, ow, ow…” Luke moaned, clutching his head. He couldn’t believe it. Somehow, he had grown 2 fox tails, which meant that the furry twitchy things on his head were his ears. It also meant that he had fox ears. “How is this happening?” he asked, to no one in particular. He wondered how his mom would react. He had been transformed into a kitsune, and he had no idea how it happened.

Chapter 3 – Zachary

Zachary hadn’t found Luke anywhere in the fortress.

They had agreed to meet in the Nether fortress they had just recently cleared, so where was he?

He got a text from Luke’s mom:

Is Luke with you?

So Luke wasn’t home, which meant he had completely forgotten about meeting up on Minecraft

Zachary sighed, and logged off. This was the third time he had forgotten about meeting up.

Suddenly, his window opened and Luke crawled through. “Zachary,” he gasped. “You’ve got to help me!” Zachary immediately noticed the tails and the ears. “Whoa! What happened to you?” he exclaimed. “I don’t know.” Luke replied. His fox tails both twitched at the same time, and Zachary noticed that he was wearing an amulet. “Where did you get that?” he asked. “I don’t know, it was just there when I woke up.” “Woke up? Did you take a nap?” “No, I was knocked out.” Suddenly, Luke’s eyes went wide. “How long have I been gone, Zack? How long have I been GONE!?!?!?” he demanded, obviously panicked. “Chill out, dude!” Zachary exclaimed. He had never seen his friend so terrified. “You’ve only been gone all afternoon. Your mom thinks that you’re at my house.” To Zachary’s surprise, Luke calmed down. “I thought I had been gone for days. I lost track of time.” Luke exclaimed, his ears went down. “Iwaswalkingdownapathandthenadeersuddenlyjumpedand…” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.” Zachary exclaimed. “Calm down, and then explain it to me. I want to hear everything.”

So Luke told him the whole story about how he had heard the news about Jed disappearing, walking down the forest path, the deer knocking him down, finding the ruby, being knocked out, and waking up. “When I woke up, I was hurting all over, and I found a piece of the gem in this amulet.” he opened the amulet, and Zachary saw a glittering ruby, nearly the size of the amulet itself. “I tried to take it off, but it wouldn’t come off.” To prove his point, he tried to take off the necklace, but it wouldn’t come over his head. “I also found a strange scar on my hand.” Luke held up his hand, and Zachary saw a spiraling scar on the palm of his hand. “I don’t know where it’s from.” he explained. Zachary studied the scar. “It looks like the scar that Eragon had, in the movie Eragon.” he noticed. “Maybe you have superpowers.” “Jed had found a gem, last I heard from him. Maybe he found the ruby and the same thing happened to him. And then someone dragged him off.” “When did you hear from him?” Zachary asked. “Three weeks ago.” Luke replied, his tails twitching. “Really? I just heard from him last week.” Zachary replied. “What?” Luke exclaimed. Both his tails wagged. “What did he say?” “He said he was lost in the forest, with really bad phone service, but he can’t get back because he’s cut off by a forest fire.” “The Onslaught one?” Luke asked. His tails immediately stopped wagging and he started looking worried. “He didn’t know what it was called, but he’s running away from it. However, it’s catching up to him. He said he might not make it because he’s breathing in smoke.” “We’ve got to start looking for him!” Luke exclaimed, jumping up. “It doesn’t matter if you are going, I am. I’m not going to leave Jed in there.” “I never said I wasn’t coming!” Zachary exclaimed. “He’s my friend too!” “Well, we’ve got no time to dawdle! We have to pack!” Luke immediately pulled out two backpacks, and started packing them with supplies. “I’ll get some food.” Zachary said, running out of his room. His parents weren’t home because they both had full time jobs. He rummaged through the pantry and pulled out fruit and other foods that didn’t need cooking. He ran back to the room. “Here!” he said, putting the food in the backpacks. “I’ve got everything we need.” Luke said. “Let’s go.” They climbed out the window, got on their bikes, and headed for the forest path.

When they got to the camping clearing, they parked their bikes and ran down the forest path. Then Zachary saw it.

The ruby.

It was huge, bigger than any normal ruby, but it looked like some pieces had been knocked off. “Is that it?” he asked Luke. “Yeah.” he replied. Zachary started to walk to it. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Luke said. Zachary started to grab it. “Wait! No!” Luke screamed, but it was too late.

Zachary had grabbed it, and now he was feeling searing pain, and then there was a flash of red light, and then everything went black.

Chapter 4 – Luke

“Wait! No!” Luke had screamed, but Zachary had already touched the gem. He screamed, and the ruby glowed so bright that for a moment Luke was momentarily blinded. When he could see again, he saw an amulet around his friend’s neck, and Zachary had the tail and ears of a racoon. Suddenly, white flecks of something started falling out of the sky. Ash! He thought with a pang of panic, he realized that Zachary was unconscious. He ran over and dragged him into the trees, and noticed the gem was gone, with no sign that it had ever been there in the first place.

Luke dragged Zachary through the woods. And just in time, too, because the trees on the other side of the path suddenly burst into flame! Luke pulled out 2 masks, putting one on Zachary, and one on himself. “Help us!” he screamed. “HELP!” The fire was getting closer. Suddenly, hands grabbed him and Zachary, pulling them deeper into the forest.

“Come on,” said a muffled voice. “That fire is getting closer, and I can’t pull you both fast enough to get away.” Luke immediately grabbed Zachary and helped the stranger pull him. Together, they outran the fire.

The stranger led them to a small clearing with a tent in the middle. “In here, quickly!” the stranger commanded. Luke immediately pulled Zachary inside. “Thanks.” he breathed. “Don’t get too comfortable,” the stranger replied, “It’s only a temporary shelter.” he pulled off his mask and hood. “Jed!” Luke exclaimed. “Yes, it’s me, and I don’t know why you came after me, because now you and Zachary are stuck here. The only way back to the town is blocked by the fire.” Suddenly, Zachary moaned, opening his eyes. “Everything hurts.” he groaned. “Don’t move around too much,” warned Jed. “It’ll hurt a lot more.” Luke noticed that Jed had the tail and ears of a wolf. “I didn’t know you had two tails.” Jed exclaimed, astonished. “I was turned into a kitsune.” Luke explained. “Did you find that ruby, too?” He noticed the amulet around Jed’s neck. “Yeah.” Jed replied. “Is there anyone else missing?” “Thalia vanished.” Luke replied, his tails and ears drooping. “I wasn’t told about that.” Jed said. “Has anyone found her yet?” “No.” Luke replied. Suddenly, they heard a faraway cry for help. “Did you…” Luke started. “Yeah.” Jed replied. “It sounds like Thalia.” “THALIA!!!” Luke cried out, immediately launching out of the tent and running full speed, faster than he had ever ran. “Help!” Thalia’s voice rang out again. Smoke filled Luke’s vision, but he saw a figure surrounded by smoke. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her away before the fire could get her. “This way!” he exclaimed, heading for the tent site. Thalia followed. Soon they found the small clearing and burst into the tent. Thalia collapsed, gasping for breath. Luke also collapsed. The neck of a water bottle was thrust into his mouth. “Drink.” said Jed. Luke drank. “Thanks.” Luke groaned, then looked over at Thalia. She had the tail and ears of a cat. “What’s happening to us? Why are we growing animal tails and ears?” he asked. “I don’t know,” Jed replied. “It’s just happening. Where did you find the ruby?” “I found it in the middle of the forest path, after I was knocked down by a deer. Zachary found it in the same place after we went out to look for you.” Luke responded.  Zachary groaned. “It… may have something… to do with the ruby.” Thalia rasped. Jed made her drink again. “That’s the same place where I found it, but it disappeared after I touched it. I’m guessing it reappears when someone is walking toward it, but the forest fire guarantees that nobody will be walking the path anytime soon.” “Look!” Jed exclaimed, pointing at something outside. Luke looked out, and saw the ruby, now nearly gone.

“It looks like the last piece. It’s about big enough to fit inside an amulet.” Suddenly, the gem disappeared! “We’ve got to find out where it’s headed next.” Luke exclaimed. “The fire!” Thalia shrieked, pointing at a red glow. “Run! We don’t have time to pack the tent!” Jed yelled. “The packs!” Luke exclaimed, grabbing the backpacks. “Run!” Jed yelled.

“Run!”

Chapter 5 – Kayla

Kayla was admiring herself in a mirror. Again.

She loved seeing which dress she looked better in. This one was a sparkly silver one, one of her favorites. She hadn’t decided which one was her ABSOLUTE favorite,  because they were all pretty. Plus, she wasn’t exactly one to make up her mind when it came to beauty. Her room practically screamed pretty. Pink walls, a shiny gold-rimmed mirror (although she doubted it was real gold, but at least it was shiny), a whole closet with sparkly, beautiful dresses, and a whole bunch of hair supplies (hairbrushes, hair dryers, etc.). She was just turning around to go get another dress, when something caught her eye. A ruby! In her room! A real ruby! “Oooh,” she exclaimed, “shiny! I wonder how it will look if I have it made into a bracelet?” she went right over and grabbed it…

And then there was a blinding red flash, a lot of pain in her hand, and that was the last thing she remembered.

When she woke up again, she wasn’t in her room anymore. Was she in the forest? Her head and her butt hurt. “Oooowwww.” she exclaimed, then noticed the air was smoky. She got up and felt her head. There was something furry on her head! Two furry things! There was also a ball of fur above her butt. It twitched, and Kayla felt a little more pain. “Ow. Oh, if only I had a mirror so I could see what is on my head.” she said, then she remembered that she had a little pocket mirror in her pocket. She pulled it out and held it up, and gasped at what she saw.

She saw what seemed to be long bunny ears protruding through her hair. They twitched, and she felt more pain in her head. “Oh.” she exclaimed. She realized that the things that looked like bunny ears were bunny ears, and they were protruding through her hair, and she didn’t have a hairband on, which meant…

My ears have turned into bunny ears! She thought dizzily. She realized that this meant that the ball of fur right above her butt was a bunny tail. And it’s my bunny tail. she thought. “I have a bunny’s ears and tail!” she exclaimed. How exciting! And pretty! Suddenly, something shot past her. Then another thing, and another thing! The last one stopped, and she realized it was Thalia! “Kayla, what are you doing here?” she demanded. “Um, I think I just woke up here.” Kayla replied. She patted the ground. “Right here.” “It found you.” Thalia said, pointing at Kayla’s chest. Looking down, she realized she was wearing a necklace with an amulet  hanging down. “Oooh, how pretty!” she exclaimed, but then she was grabbed on the arm. “There’s no time to marvel!” Thalia exclaimed. “We have to run. The forest is on fire and the only way back to town is by the forest path. Run!” she started pulling Kayla along. She looked back and saw a red glow, and then a tree burst into flames! “Ok, you don’t need to convince me!” She yelped. She started running, faster than ever before, which wasn’t what she was expecting, considering Kayla didn’t exactly run a lot. “Yaaaaaahhh!!!” she shrieked, shooting like a bullet through the trees, past Zachary and easily catching up to Jed. The only one who was matching her speed was Luke, who seemed to have two fox tails and fox ears. They bolted through the trees, which went by like a blur. Soon they burst into a very large glade, with a big lake at the end. They jumped into the lake with no hesitation, going out probably a few hundred feet before stopping, and paddled like their lives depended on it, which they probably did. A little later, they heard more splashes as their friends jumped in. Just in time, too, because the trees burst into flame.

A while later…

The trees were nothing but ashes now, soot dragged around by the wind. They crawled out of the other end of the lake, which had untouched trees.

They walked in.

Chapter 6 – Luke

Luke was freezing cold.

Ever since they had crawled out of the lake, Luke had been nothing but cold. He was huddled in one of the few blankets they had brought along with them. How far away from their homes were they? Which way was North? It was almost night. With Jed’s tent gone, they had to huddle inside a small tent that Zachary had brought along. “I-i-i-i-i-it’s f-f-f-freezing in here.” he shivered. “A-a-a-and it’s a v-v-v-very tight s-s-s-space.” Jed had the first watch. Luke hoped he could be as ferocious as a wolf, but he wasn’t sure. His tails wrapped around him, warming him up. He needed to learn how to move them by will. He went out of the tent, trying to keep his tails wrapped around him.

Luke found Jed by the lake, just looking out to the other side. He turned at the sound of his footsteps. “What are you doing out?” he asked. “I couldn’t sleep, and it’s a very small space in that tent, and it makes me a little uncomfortable being pressed on by our friend’s bodies.” Luke explained. “Hmm.” mused Jed. “I suppose that would make me a little uncomfortable, too.” he said, looking back out over the lake. Luke craned his neck to see over the lake. Suddenly he tripped over a stone and fell into the lake! He immediately was swept out in the middle of it and dragged down. Luke hit the bottom, utterly panicked. He didn’t seem to be able to swim back up, and he was already needing breath. He tried again, but his feet were stuck. He couldn’t hold his breath anymore. He gasped in the water. Suddenly, his amulet started glowing, and he could suddenly breathe. He was breathing! Underwater! Energy started coming out of the amulet, cutting through whatever was holding his feet. Then, the energy surrounded him and slowly brought him back to shore. He burst through the surface, gasping. He heard his name from the far end of the lake, then he was brought back down. He fell asleep on the bottom, his amulet glowing softly red.

Suddenly, he was standing in front of a sleeping Thalia. “Whoa!” he tried to exclaim, but he didn’t hear anything. He sat down in front of her, and his amulet glowed and touched her’s. Suddenly, everything went black and he felt like he was falling. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a gem on the forest path. He realized that he was in Thalia’s dream, and he was seeing what had happened when she grew her tail and ears.

She was walking down the path, a few weeks ago, when a deer knocked her down. Rolling over, she found a large, complete ruby in the middle of the path. She wondered where it had come from, and grabbed it. There was a blinding flash, searing pain in her hand, and then everything went black.

Then, the dream fast-forwarded to when she woke up again. She had felt pain in her head and in her tailbone. She looked behind her and saw her tail. Then, she felt two furry cat ears on her head. She then realized that she couldn’t have gone back home like this; her parents would have freaked out. Instead, she decided to linger near the end of the forest and see if she could have gotten to one of her friend’s houses unseen. But such an opportunity never rose up, and she had to set her mind to surviving. Then the rest of the dream erupted in flames and the dreamscape shuddered and went dark.

He woke up back in the lake, immediately swimming back to shore. He burst through the surface again. “Are you all right?” asked Jed. “Yes, this weird necklace thing kept me alive.” Luke replied. “But I’m really cold now.” he immediately wrapped his tails around him, then wrapped a blanket around him too, entering the tent, then entering a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, they packed up. “How are we going to get back?” Thalia asked, pointing to the flames on the other side of the lake. “Even if the flames die down, we would still be breathing in smoke.” “We aren’t.” Jed replied. Everyone turned to him. “Even if we can get back, everyone will treat us like freaks, and the city officials will probably send us to a lab.” “You’re right. We can’t go back, so we won’t . We’ll travel forward, and go somewhere. Las Vegas, maybe.” “That’s 2000 miles away.” Jed argued. “We’ll never make it.” “We can try to make it to New York.” suggested Thalia. “It’s closer than Las Vegas, and we can fit in if we hide our ears and tails.” “That is a good point.” muttered Jed. “We should start right away.” exclaimed Kayla. “I’ve heard it’s pretty.” “Oh, brother.” Luke muttered. “I agree, but not because it’s pretty.” Zachary said. “With all the people, we’ll blend in right away.” And so, they started off toward New York.

The first night, Luke thought he heard footsteps. A light, far away, gleamed at him, then disappeared. That was weird. He thought, but didn’t say anything. The next morning, they started off again. That night, Luke couldn’t sleep. He was just watching a tree wave around, when something whacked him on the back of the head, and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he saw a curved wall, and realized they weren’t where they were last night… Was it still night? How much time had passed? He twitched his ears to get some feeling in them, then realized that he was tied up! He couldn’t move his tails. There was the sound of engines. Was he in a plane?

He still couldn’t move, and it was getting very annoying. He immediately saw his friends Jed, Zachary, Thalia, and Kayla. They were still knocked out, and Zachary kept twitching his tail. It was mesmerizing, but kind of annoying. Where were they going?

Suddenly, a door slammed at the front of the plane (if that’s what it was) and Luke saw a figure walking towards them. He immediately realized that she was Japanese. She dumped a bag of something on the floor in front of them, then looked at me. “You’re up early.” she said. “You can speak english?” Luke exclaimed. “Of course.” the woman replied. “What kind of question is that? I had to know your language to get around America.” She then untied Luke. “I hope you’re hungry.” she said, untying the others, then walking back to the front of the ship as the others woke up. “Where are we?” Thalia asked. “Go away, let me sleep.” muttered Kayla groggily. Zachary and Jed immediately sat up, looking at each other, the curved wall of the plane, then at me. “Where are we?” they asked. “I don’t know.” Luke replied. Jed cautiously opened the bag. “They gave us a bunch of food!” he exclaimed. “Meat and vegetables. There’s some carrots in here, too.” “Carrots?” Kayla asked, sitting up and looking in. She pulled out a carrot and chewed heartily. Luke noticed that he couldn’t move his legs. The others seemed to have the same problem. The people on the plane must have paralyzed our legs so we don’t hijack the plane. He thought. He grabbed a raw steak and chewed happily. It tasted just the same as cooked steak!

Luke looked around. The room they were in rocked back and forth as the plane hit some turbulence.

As he was eating, Luke started to wonder what was going to happen to them. Would they get sold to a circus? Did Japan even have circuses? He didn’t know. I suppose we’ll find out soon. He thought.

“Are we in a plane?” asked Thalia. Luke nodded. “Why are we on a plane?” Kayla asked, confusion showing on her face. “We were ambushed and knocked out. I still don’t know why, but I recently learned that one of our captors is Japanese, so I think that we’re being taken to Japan.