The chase between Aura and Fey reached its explosive finale, literally, and once they made it through the violent and massive steam explosion that took out both, they still needed to settle on who won and who lost.
“There is no way I accept defeat here!” The two had crawled out of the crater they had accidentally created and were in the middle of an argument as if nothing happened. “The best I’ll accept is a draw!” Aura vehemently shook her head.
“What do you mean, best you can accept?!” Fey glared at her. “It’s crystal clear that you lost!”
“It was by mere chance that you landed on top of me!”
“I still would’ve won if you landed on top of me, you know?” The fox slowly shook her head.
“How does that make any sense?!” The wolf loudly disagreed.
“The goal was to catch you, and that usually happens by touching the person running away. It doesn’t really matter how one gets touched, does it? I even went ahead and gave you a little squeeze to make sure and clear your hug requirement."
“…” She had a hard time finding a compelling argument.
“So, do you admit defeat?” Fey grinned at her.
“Never!” Her pride didn’t allow her to do so.
“Stop being so stubborn!”
“You are part of the group who isn’t allowed to call others stubborn!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fey just stared right at her.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
----------------
After having agreed to disagree on the outcome of their chase, the duo returned to the others on the island.
“Congratulations on your victory!”
“That was amazing!” The sisters immediately surrounded Fey and clapped their hands.
“Heh.” With an expression full of smug, she just smirked at the wolf.
“Grrr!” Aura growled back at her. “It was a draw!”
“How was that a draw…?” Sophia and Steph looked confused.
“Because we took each other out!”
“So?” The two only got more confused.
“It was a chase, was it not?” The dog-girl shrugged.
“The goal was for Fey to catch you.” The blonde did the same. “Not who was better in the admittedly very impressive magic showdown.”
“…” The female wolf went silent.
“Those sisters have some redeeming features, after all.” Fey was proud of them.
“Hey!” The two didn’t like her wording.
“That being said, Aura was literally playing around with you until it changed into more of a regular magic match.” Fen sided with his wolf. “You would’ve had no chance if Aura didn’t want to have more fun during your contest.”
“That is regrettably true.” The red-haired girl had to agree. “Though, I feel like I have to say that I think she also would’ve had a hard time finding me if the roles were reversed.”
“Should we give it a try?” The female wolf stared at the fox. “I’d like to see if that constellation would also end in a draw.” She still couldn’t accept it.
“It wasn’t a draw!” Fey raised her voice. “My victory even was confirmed by the sisters!”
“Since when do you listen to them?”
“…” The expression of the red fox turned awkward. “W-When they’re right, they’re right.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Oi!” The girls in question didn’t like the look on her face and the stutter she had. “Actually, we think it might be a draw, after all.”
“It’s a good thing I rarely listen to either of you.” Fey’s mood instantly changed to playful again.
“You’re the worst!” The sister-telepathy was going strong today.
“Can you even still call this hide and seek or a chase?” Chloe joined the conversation while she was still looking over the edge of the island and down on the destroyed battlefield they turned the plain below them into.
“Of course!” Fey, Aura, Fen, and Steph didn’t see the issue.
“Hmm, it looked amazing, and I really want to play around with magic together with both of you, but I have to side with our lovely pink ball of fluff here.” Sophia nodded a couple of times while looking at Chloe. “You two were just playing around and having fun! Nothing wrong with that, but both of you had forgotten about the objective halfway in.”
“Ah.” Both turned their head away from the blonde as they had a hard time refuting her argument.
“This is the grown-up version of hide and seek!” Steph tried to defend them because she loved to play like that, too.
“Now, grown-up hide and seek is something else entirely.” Maya lightly shook her head without elaborating further.
“Ah, true, you’re right about that.” The dog-girl just nodded in agreement.
“I mean, it’s great that you’re having fun, but it seems a little excessive?” Chloe also loved using magic and getting carried away with it, but usually not in overly offensive ways.
“Hearing that from you, miss-I-have-no-sense-of-holding-back, that really is something else.” Fey stared at her daughter with big eyes.
“Exactly.” The pink girl nodded. “Also, good luck on telling me to hold back the next time I have a fun idea I want to try, Feyfey.”
“I’ve made a horrible mistake.” She hung her head in return. “Okay, hear me out, alright?”
“Yes?” Chloe tilted her head.
"Steph already knows about it from our previous chases, and I told Sophia, too, but when I’m inside a domain, I’m not nearly as strict when it comes to magic usage.”
“Well, duh!” The pink fox pointed down the island, at the massive field of destruction, while continuing to stare at her. “I kinda figured that part already.”
“Ahaha.” She awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Outside, in the regular world, I worry that I might have an impact on something I shouldn't, thanks to my ties to Mira, the overseer of magic. Destroying an ecosystem or two could have serious consequences, as well. Those are things I don't have to worry about when we're inside the domain of an overseer."
“Worry a little!” Sophia didn’t like the last part.
“And I told you that it’s not a big deal even in the regular world.” Mira smiled at her. “It’s a resilient place, that world of yours. Nothing too bad would happen if you let loose.”
“You’re just saying that because it would be interesting for you to watch!” Fey glared at her.
“Yup!”
“Stupid overseers and their constant desire to be entertained…” The red fox let out a sigh.
“It’s in our nature!” Mira simply smiled at her before looking at Sophia. “Right?”
“Leave me out of this!” The blonde vehemently shook her head. “I’m no overseer!”
“You do love to be entertained, though.” Chloe saw the connection.
“So do you!” Sophia stared right at her. “As do Fen, Aura, Steph, Anna, as well as Maya and Ari to some degree!” Her gaze wandered between all of them while saying so.
“Okay, fair point.” The pink fox had to give that round to her. “Anyway, so as long as I stay within Sophia’s domain, I can do whatever I want with magic, and you won't ever complain?!" She focused on Fey again.
“Yes.” She nodded. “In fact, I would welcome it. The more you power yourself out there, the tamer you will be in the regular world.”
“We’ll see about that!” Chloe took it as a challenge.
“You can do the same in my domain, by the way.” Mira didn’t want to be left out. “I’d love it if you have your own little area in my place!”
“Sure!” She smiled at her. “I want to start with Sophia’s domain, though! I want to be a part of its founding to boast about it later on when it inevitably becomes famous!”
“You love to hear it!” The blonde gave her a thumbs-up. “I have just the idea for you, too! Fey agreed to also build her own biome in my domain under the condition of doing it together with her.”
“LET'S GO!” Chloe liked the plan very much and looked at the red fox with sparkling eyes.
“I thought you didn’t want to get involved in her place?” Mira seemed surprised about it.
“Sophia tricked me into it.” Fey just lightly shook her head.
“Ah, okay, that makes more sense.”
“Ehehe~.” Sophia looked rather proud of herself while smirking at them.
“Let's do it, Feyfey!” Chloe was excitedly circling around her mother. “Please!”
“I mean, I never go back on my word, even if my opponent cheated.” She glared at Sophia once more. “Yes, let’s build something together soon.”
“YAY!” The pink fox was quite happy about it. “Let's start with it immediately once I’m done with the place Fenfen and I are doing right now!”
“There’s absolutely no rush.” If it were for her, she’d prefer it to not happen, after all.
"You're just hoping I forget about it if enough time passes!"
“I-I would never!” Feeling caught by her own daughter, Fey turned her head away.
“Grr!” Chloe didn’t believe her.
“How about, after that, the three of us build something together in my domain, then?” Mira smiled at her daughter while pointing at the red fox.
“Ohh!” Chloe’s eyes were sparkling again. “That sounds lovely! I’d love to do that!”
“I really can’t say no to that, either.” Fey reacted with a wry smile. “It does sound like an endearing activity with the two of you, though.” She absolutely had nothing against family bonding time. “I’d like to create something worthwhile, though. Something we still can enjoy a long time away from now on. Not simply going as wild with magic as possible.”
“I can’t wait!” The pink fox was okay with that.
“I already know that it will be my new most-liked place inside my domain.”
The family continued to bond for a little while longer before they eventually put the topic on hold for the time being. Afterward, they all returned to the cottage and had dinner together to finish off quite an eventful day.