Sophia saw Fey’s humanoid form for the first time, and she was an instant fan of the adorable short fox-girl, but she had some slight issues with how her appearance didn’t match her image any longer. Slightly upset by that, the red fox showed the tiger just how scary cute girls could be when they wanted and showed the blonde her dark side.
“And Maya calls me scary when I get angry.” Sophia had no better summary than this after having witnessed Fey being upset at her.
“You’ve earned it, too.” The fox-girl sounded ever so slightly smug. “That being said, I’d love to see you angry. I heard some stories and saw some glimpses of your potential, and they seemed incredibly promising, but I've yet to see the real deal.”
“Well, you need to threaten or hurt one of my loved ones, but I can not recommend that.” Judging by her glare, the blonde didn’t like that idea.
“Don’t worry, we have the same values in that regard, so that won’t happen.” Fey smiled at her. “Wait, accidents with Steph during our training won’t count, right?”
“Nah, she’s sturdy.” The tiger shook her head.
“Alright! Make sure to let me be there the next time you get angry, though.”
"I mean, I don't like being angry, so I try not to get to, but sure, I guess?”
“Thank you!”
“Speaking of training, though, should we do some more?” Sophia got back to the thing they got together for in the first place. “We got gloriously sidetracked, but I still want to learn!”
“Good mindset!” Fey gave her a thumbs-up. “It would be a good exercise to get used to this body, too.” She gestured all over herself. “I feel a little rusty.”
“You didn't look too rusty when you got upset at me earlier!"
"Oh, trust me, I was." The fox-girl showed her a slight smirk.
“Ha.” Sophia suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
“Come on, let’s go!” Not giving her a chance, Fey grabbed her hand and dragged her off to the edge of the floating island they were on. There, without hesitating for a fraction of a second, she jumped off while dragging the tiger down the 500-meter fall with her.
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“You are the worst!” Having arrived in the cherry blossom below the island, Sophia glared at the fox-girl next to her in the little crater they were in.
“Why?” Fey cutely tilted her head while she dusted herself off and removed some of the cherry petals and branches from her body, clothes, and hair. “It was the fastest way to get down here. Creating your portals and going through them would’ve taken longer than the ten seconds it took us to fall.”
“That’s not the issue here!” The blonde got loud. “WAIT! Why am I the voice of reason here?!”
“I need to act more like my looks now, don’t I?” The short and energetic-looking fox-girl smiled at her again.
“…” Sophia stared back at her. “You do know that you're acting exactly like Steph usually does, right?" She felt something familiar there.
“Why do you always go for such low blows?!” Fey looked mortified.
“Steph’s personality is kinda infective, isn’t it?”
“I’ll only admit to being less strict inside your domain because it’s a private space.” The fox-girl turned her head away.
“Sure~.” The blonde’s voice turned cheeky. “It definitely matches your looks more, but… Well, Ari said the same about letting loose in here because no one can judge her."
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“Exactly.” Fey nodded.
“There’s no way I’m going to learn anything about restraint from you this way, though.”
“What if I get so unhinged that you chose to learn restraint just to make me stop?”
“Is that a threat or an invitation?” Sophia was a bit of a fan of being unhinged, after all.
“Yes.” The fox-girl just smirked at her.
“NO!” The tiger shook her head. “NU-UH!”
“What?”
“Yes, as a reply to non-yes questions is a privilege of highest playfulness that you have to earn first! You can’t just do that!”
“I just did, though?” Fey gave her another cute smile.
“Are you trying reverse psychology on me now?!” Sophia was trying to understand her. “Making me the reasonable one so I understand it?”
“I have no idea what you mean.” She just kept smiling.
“Urgh!” Letting out a groan, the blonde then dropped the topic. “Why did you want to go down here, anyway?” She pointed up through the hole in the crown of the cherry tree they crashed through after jumping down the floating island.
“To train, of course!”
“Inside my beloved forest?!” Sophia didn't like the idea. “This is a sanctuary to relax, not to fight!”
"Maybe putting something at stake will help you concentrate to keep the damage low.”
“That may be true, but…” It wasn’t enough to convince her.
“How about a less destructive approach, then?" Fey tried a different approach.
“I’m listening.”
"A classic manhunt.”
“What does that mean in this world?” As the blonde had a rough idea of what that entailed in her old world, she raised an eyebrow.
“The focus lies on the hunt, and places with limited visibility like this are perfect. Only limited magic abilities are allowed, and no cutting through terrain in a brute-force manner is permitted. The goal is to track down and subdue the prey.”
“So… Hide and seek with higher stakes?” Sophia tried to understand it.
“Pretty much.”
“Are there any other rules?”
“Whatever we agree on beforehand.”
“So, if we ban everything related to fire and everything else that destroys more than three trees per square kilometer, that can be arranged?”
“Not an issue~.” The fox-girl gave her another thumbs-up. “Though, then I have some rules for you, too.”
“Yes?”
"No portals or straight-up teleportation.” She shook her head. “It would be impossible for me to catch you with those.”
“That’s only fair.” The tiger nodded.
“Or any other magics that only overseers can use." Fey stared right at her. "I know a few things Mira can use, and I'm more than sure you're hiding a few of your abilities from everyone, as well. I have no idea as to what you classify, but you can use a few of their tricks, after all."
“…” She paused for a moment. “Okay.”
“Hit the mark, huh?”
“No comment.” Sophia had no intention of elaborating anything there. "Anyway, there's one last question I have regarding your hide-and-seek idea.”
“Yes?” The fox-girl tilted her head.
“How will any of this teach me restraint?” She was missing the connection.
“An excellent question!”
“You have no idea, do you?” The blonde felt a sense of relatability in her reply.
“I have!” Fey disagreed with her judgmental stare. “Again, before we can teach you restraint, you need to learn to use your powers correctly at all times. Me hunting you will keep the pressure high, and you might get used to making quick and good decisions to get away from me.”
"I feel like you just made that up, and the only reason is you wanting to play, but as it sounds interesting, I don't mind." Sophia smiled at her.
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“Alright, you have five minutes to get away from me before I start hunting you.” Once they agreed on the plan, Fey got ready to hunt the tiger.
“Do you have any idea how far I can get away in five minutes?!” As Sophia was quite confident about her running skills, she felt like the fox-girl was making a mistake here.
“I saw you running.” She simply shrugged. “Impressive for a regular hybrid, but trust me, I am faster than you.”
“Oh?” And with that, the blonde’s competitive spirit was lit. “I’ll make you regret this!”
“Do your best~.” Fey wasn’t intimidated by her. “Okay, head on out.”
“Bye!” Jumping at the chance, the blonde disappeared so fast that only an afterimage of her was left for a fraction of a second.
“So eager.” Fey just smiled in the direction Sophia disappeared in. “Just like the younger sister.” She seemed to be in a good mood. "It pains me to admit that I can see why Chloe likes them so much and even loves one of them… but why are they all so airheaded?! That daughter of mine included.” The fox-girl wasn’t just blaming the sisters.
Once she finished complaining, she got comfortable under one of the weeping cherries while Sophia increased her lead in their already ongoing hunt.
“I can’t believe I’m back in this form.” Leaning against the tree’s trunk, the fox-girl lifted her arms to stare at them and the back of her hands. “It’s getting close to 20 years now, huh? I stopped using it when Chloe became aware of her surroundings. That was another stupid mistake of mine. Just as Sophia said, this form surely makes her feel closer to me. This is her real mother, after all. I hope she’ll accept it. I’m not a fan of it, but I’ll get used to it again soon. Mira will be happy, too. She likes her humanoid version, and there are many things we can do together if we're both in this form."
“Alright, it’s time to teach that smug tiger a lesson.” She ended up being busy with her thoughts for about ten whole minutes before Fey decided to finally go and catch herself some striped prey.
Afterward, she disappeared from her resting spot so fast that the wind she created ripped all petals from the tree she had been sitting under mere moments ago.