Tentatively, you rose to your feet, a prickling feeling spreading from your tails as they seemed to produce more and more foxfire without your incentive.

“It's your tails.” Shaggy said.

“Huh?”

“Your tails. They produce foxfire when you rub your tails together.” he explained. “Try to keep that in mind.”

You stared back at your flashy new appendages, and flicked them a couple times for good measure. A bit of foxfire rolled off of one, and you instinctively reached out to touch it. The cool blue flame glommed onto your hand and clung to it like a magnet. It didn't feel anywhere near as cold as it did a moment ago.

You watched as the flames danced along your slender fingers, flexing them a few times for good measure. As you did, the flames crept up your fingers, until the entire glob of foxfire clung to your fingertips. One by one, you folded your fingers down, until the only ones left holding the foxfire in place were your index and middle finger.

Bringing it up to eye level, you waved your fingers back and forth, waiting to see if the flickering orb would detach from your fingers. When that didn’t work, you decided to be a bit more forceful, and flicked your hand at a nearby antenna. For a moment, the foxfire seemed to consume the thin metal wire, causing a thin layer of frost to develop over it.

You were kind of hoping for the entire thing to freeze over…

Your confusion and disappointment must have been evident on your face, because Shaggy chose that moment to speak up.

“By default, foxfire is chilling to the touch.” he said, sliding into the role of lecturer with ease. “But only to living beings. It drains them of their energy. To the undead, however, they would mostly serve as a distraction, or an inconvenience at most.”

“Oh…” you muttered, deflating a bit.

“But…that’s not all they can do, you see. You’re only scratching the surface.” Shaggy put in, leaning in closer. “With enough practice, you can control the temperature of each one. And when a bunch of those little bundles of foxfire get a bit too close to one another…”

“They’ll create a chemical reaction!” you gasped.

Shaggy nodded approvingly, and sat back to watch you experiment.

—-------

Over the next twenty minutes, you learned how to alter the temperature of individual Kitsunebi based on how fast or hard you breathed or knocked your tails together. You also figured out how to alter their trajectory mid-flight, and summon them back to you.

You didn’t know whether it was due to the fact that these things were made using your spiritual power, or if your link with Ami Han was making this process far easier than it would normally be, but you at least found this part to be somewhat intuitive. Shaggy reasoned that most fox kits had at least a fundamental understanding of how to wield their foxfire, so it shouldn’t have been that hard for you to figure it out with a bit of practice.

(Cont.)

Shaggy was now holding the chain of one of his charms in his mouth. It looked like a tiny locket.

“Spiritual power comes from within, so we must prepare your mind for introspective meditation.”

You raised an eyebrow and knelt down to sit on the floor with your legs crossed.

“Is that really how it works?” you asked, trying not to sound too skeptical.

The black dog gave you an admonishing look.

“Your body is changing in ways that neither of us can fully predict. A proper warrior shouldn't expect to be able to expertly wield an unfamiliar weapon with a body that they aren't entirely comfortable with.”

You draped both tails over your legs and began to rub them self-consciously. He might have a point there.

“If you're ready to come to terms with your new body, then I'll support you.” he went on. “If you ever want to become as strong as your grandmother, then you must learn to accept everything about yourself. The good and the bad. You will always be yourself, even if your sense of self is constantly shifting.”

You stared down at your clawed hands, wondering if you could ever fully accept a version of yourself that you had no part in developing. You didn’t want to. Because the fact that someone else was capable of changing your life so easily made you feel helpless.

There might be no going back. But so what if there wasn't! No matter what happens to you or what you become, you'll always be Cindy Moon. And there'll always be people that care about you enough to pull you back from whatever dark path you might stumble down.

You cupped one hand under the other, resting them both over your stomach. You closed your eyes, breathed in deep, and let it out slowly after about ten seconds.

“Thank you. I'm ready now.” you declared.

Shaggy responded by moving his head from side to side, and causing the pendulum to swing gently. You allowed your eyes to follow the pendulum, feeling your heart relax as your focus became incredibly singular.

You were no longer thinking of drafts for upcoming essays, or the unfinished homework you had waiting for you. Instead, your awareness of your own body was being heightened by the hypnotic rhythm of the pendulum.

You weren’t susceptible enough to be made to cluck like a chicken like some people, but since this fell further into the category of guided meditation, you felt more comfortable with participating.

“Close your eyes, and focus on breathing.” Shaggy slowly said. “Just breathe.”

You did so, breathing in and out slowly for at least a minute.

“Feel the air pumping in and out of your lungs. Feel the blood flowing through your veins. Feel the very beating of your heart. Do they feel any different than before?”[/]

“...No. My heartbeat is a little faster than normal.”

“That's normal.” Shaggy said. “But you know your body better than anyone. What's different this time?”

(Cont.)

“I think you should worry more about yourself, though.” he added, looking past your legs. “It looks like you’re not done putting out that fire.”

You tilted your head in confusion.

“Huh?”

And that’s when you glanced down and saw what had grabbed his attention. Your heart dropped when you saw the multi-colored flames dancing along your fox tails.

Plural. As in…more than one.

You spun around, thrashing your tails in order to put out the fire. But they didn’t go out, no matter how hard you tried. Then, you stopped and realized something else.

This fire wasn’t actually hot. Not even a little bit.

Shaggy was looking at you with concern, but, after a few seconds you could see him coming to the same conclusion that you had.

“Fox lights.” he concluded.

You nodded absently.

“Kitsunebi.”

“Huh?” Deadhead blurted out, looking to Harpy for help. She just shrugged at him.

“Foxfire.” you clarified. “It’s virtually harmless, but they say that Kumiho and Kitsune used them to mislead travelers and bring about misfortune.”

“And now…it’s something that you can do as well.” Shaggy commented.

How do you feel about this?

>Worried. Your body's going through so many changes so quickly. You just hope you can manage to hide all this before you have to go back to school.
>Curious. You wonder what you can accomplish with these fox lights. You might need to experiment with them later.
>Excited. If you can create foxfire, then that must also mean that you can create illusions. At least, you think that's how it works. You're honestly not sure.
>Exhausted. This was honestly within your expectations. It isn't a surprise for a half-Kumiho to develop Kumiho traits.
>Write-in.