When Joey had first returned to his new home, Sasha never let him out of her sight, moving his crib into her room and keeping hold of him as much as she could not wanting to lose him again. Joey wanted to keep the details of his encounter with the demon to himself knowing if his mom ever knew about that she would have had a heart attack and didn't want worry her any further than she already had been. As time passed, however, she had become more relaxed, allowing him to return to sleeping in his own room as life slowly began to return to normal, well almost normal. As a result of Ryuchi's fox possession, Joey found himself endowed with magical abilities, of which, he had no knowledge of how to use, but things didn't stop there, one day Joey noticed a bit of a tingling sensation on his hands and back. Looking down on his his hands he could see the fur on the back of his hands changing white in color in the form of strange symbols, that went even down to marking the skin under his fur. Even though Joey had no idea what they meant Ryuchi knew what they were, kanji bearing the words light, water and protect. Joey had no idea why they showed up, leaving Ryuchi to try and solve the little mystery of their appearance himself for the time being. The appearance of the markings was a surprise to Ben and Sasha, causing them to grow worried and concerned seeing the strange kanji marking him now. Ryuchi suggested that Joey tell them what happened, as it would only worry them more if they didn't know the cause. Sasha was, understandably, horrified at first hearing of what had happened, causing her to clutch the otter tightly against her chest knowing all the troubles that Joey went through to return home. Ben on the other hand did his best to keep calm, but his face had an expression of shock and worry, despite the news of everything that had happened to their son, both were just glad and relieved to see that, Joey was unharmed in the end and was back home with them. A few days had passed and seeing that the marks weren't causing any issues, the two eventually began relaxing about it, wantign to let things return to normal. Despite having magic abilities now, Joey still went about life as normal as he could, wanting to enjoy his new life, and be the child Ben and Sasha deserved.
"Morning sweetie" Sasha's voice rang out, as she turned the lights on in Joey's room
Joey just groggily groaned in his sleep hiding his face underneath his bed sheets and pillow to block out the light, wishing to sleep more.
"Come on sleepy butt, we have day of fun ahead of us" She replied cheerfully walking on up
Sasha pulled the blankets off the sleepy little otter, lifting him up out of bed as he clutched his otter plushie tightly in one arm. The little otters eyes were struggling to open up as he suckled on his pacifier trying to wake up. Sasha carried him off to his changing table laying him down and began to undress him from his pajamas giving his belly a playful tickle to help him wake up, making the little otter squeal and squirm happily being quite ticklish.
"There's my happy little pup!" Sasha replied playfully rubbing the otters belly
Joey just smiled happily waking on up now, keeping still for Sasha as she began to change his diaper. The little otter just held his plush looking up at the ceiling some thinking to himself as to what they would all be doing today, only to have his question be answered for him, as sasha taped his new diaper on around him.
"There we go little one, now your all fresh and clean for the park" Sasha replied with a smile
"The park?" Joey asked some with a curious look
The otter sat up on his changing table looking over at his mom seeing her grabbing out some clothes for him to play in.
"Of coarse, its a nice big playground for all of you little cuties to have fun at, and after we have fun at the park we can go and get some nice tasty ice cream and a little trip to the toy store!" Sasha replied with a merry motherly tone
"OOOOH! I love ice cream!" Joey exclaimed in excitement
Sasha just smiled seeing the little otters excited expression happy to see him loving the idea. She quickly dressed him in a light green shirt and pair of light blue shorts getting him dressed for the day.
"I thought you'd love the idea of going somewhere that's fun, maybe you'll meet some new friends there" Sasha replied happily slipping some shoes on his feet
"When do we leave mommy?" Joey asked eagerly wiggling with excitement
"Right after breakfast silly boy, gotta eat up to grow up to be big and strong" Sasha answered cradling the little otter
Joey smiled happily relaxing in his moms arms as she carried him to the dining room and saw Ben happily cooking some little chocolate chip waffles for Joey.
"Hello there little guy, sleep good?" Ben asked s he served up the waffles on a plate
"I slept really good daddy" Joey answered being sit in his highchair
"That's good, got a big day of fun ahead of you" Ben replied setting the plate of waffles on his tray
Joey didn't even bother with syrup or using his fork and started eating up happily, only causing Ben to chuckle.
"He has a bigger appetite than you do" Ben commented to Sasha
Sasha only blushed some and made a small playful pouty expression, "Oh hush! I'm not that messy of an eater"
"Sure you're not, but i think the home movies i have of us say otherwise" Ben replied.
"WHAT!? you said you got rid of those!" Sasha exclaimed blushing brightly.
"Hehe, I guess i lied" He replied giving her a kiss. Sasha just blushed some brightly under her fur kissing back happily, as Joey only made face.
"Ewwww, cooties!" Joey replied jokingly
Sasha just tickled him in response, of coarse he didn't believe that, but he wanted to play along with his role for them seeing it made them both happy. Once breakfast was done, everyone got cleaned up before heading out the door with Ben carrying Joey on his shoulders as they decided to walk off to the park not living that far away from it. Joey looked around some from atop of Ben's shoulders looking at all of the houses as they transitioned to shops and stores as they started to enter the downtown district of the city as thy got closer and closer to the park. The little otter swished his tail in excitement seeing it all for the first time, feeling excited to see what his new home was like, wanting to walk around and explore everything in sight.
"Daddy can i walk around on my own please?" Joey asked beggingly
"You can if you want but you will hafta hold my hand, can't go wandering off now on your own yet" Ben answered
The skunk stopped briefly setting the otter down on the ground holding onto Joeys hand so he couldn't wander off. The trio walked on along towards the park before Ben felt Joey starting to slow down and fall behind pulling back on Ben's arm.
"Something wrong?" Ben asked concerned looking behind him
Joey merely pointed towards a building "Whats that? it looks like some kinda weird school"
Ben looked over some curiously at the building, "That's a school for foxes, they only accept gifted kits" Joey looked at the building some curiously seeing it full of multi tailed kits running about, wondering if they meant it was for kitsune's like Ryuchi was. While Joey was deep in thought a small young orange kitsune with flaming tails stepped on out walking along side a taller purple kitsune. The young charfox looked over some towards the little otter and at that point a streak of light flashed across the kits left eye with a look of determination.
"YOU! I challenge you to a fight!" The charfox shouted pointing towards Joey
Joey just looked over at the fox blinking his eyes in confusing seeing the fox rushing at him. The otter began looking around as Ben and Sasha just looked in surprise but before they could do anything the charfox was suddenly frozen in place by the purple kitsune, who was walking up with an unhappy expression on her face.
"What has gotten into you? you've never went out to attack some random fur like this before" She asks walking on up
"this kid isn't some random fur, he is an opponent, and i defeat my opponents" He replied
"Opponent? Is this because I looked at the school?" Joey asked a bit worriedly
"Your tricksterous lies won't work on me, you are my opponent and we shall fight the good fight!" the small kit replied energetically
"CHAR VON ROX!" The purple kitsune replied sternly "Enough of this now, you know its against the rules to use magic outside of school anyway!"
Char's ears folded on back some knowing Violet was serious when she used his full name and settled on down.
"I apologize for that, Char here gets exciteable sometimes. My name is Violet by the way" She replied shaking the hands of Sasha and Ben
"He certainly had us worried there for a moment" Sasha replied nervously having never sen that ever happen before
"Now what do we say?" Violet asked Char
"I'm sorry..." Char replied pouting some
Violet bent down and petted the otters head softly, "I'm sorry if he gave you a scare...." She replied trailing off some
Violet looked at the otter some as she comforted him sensing what it was that got Char riled up, picking up on the magic power that resided inside of Joey
"Does he do this alot?" Ben asked a little bit concerned
"Huh? oh no, he is normally quite calm outside of his school, he normally doesn't challenge others to fights" Violet replied
"Then what made him go after our son like that?" Sasha asked
"Well, he probably sensed your sons magic, he normally ignores others that are weaker than him, in a certain way its almost a compliment for him to consider your son a rival" Violet replied
"But, I don't even know how to use my magic really" Joey replied a bit meekly
"What do you mean? Your magic shouldn't be that strong unless you have been practicing with it alot" Char commented some with a quizzical look
Violet looked over at the parents some perplexed a little bit.
"So your son isn't attending any sort of magic school?" She asked with a concerned tone
"Ummm... no, we only just learned of him having magic not that long ago, not to mention i don't think it would be very safe for him to be learning such stuff" Sasha replied picking the otter up
"Why do you ask? Does he have to attend magic school or something?" Ben asked scratching the back of his head
"Well yes, all of us kitsunes are required to attend school for us to learn to use our abilities safely, its not a good idea to let them grow up without proper instruction on usage of their abilities" Violet replied
Joey just looked at Violet squirming a bit in his moms arms not being held this tightly since he had first returned to Sasha. Joey just listened some to what Violet was saying wondering why Ryuchi had never mentioned this all to him before hand
"Well....okay, if he has to attend then umm how does he you know attend, we aren't magical family so we have no idea how this all works" Ben replied confused by all of this
"Luckily for you I do work at the school, so I can help get the little guy signed up, I just need to get the paperwork all together, its just formality stuff it wont really cost anything so if that's a concern you don't have to worry about that" Violet replied
"Well okay then, should we swing on by later then or do you mail it out?" Ben asked unsure of what to do
"Mommy may I please get down?" Joey asked finding it boring listening to everyone talk
"Sorry sweeties" Sasha replied setting him on down
Joey had walked on up to Char curiously looking at him seeing another kitsune, as char looked over at the otter while the grownups talked.
"You're a weird looking kitsune, your tail isn't busy and your ears are small and not pointy" Char replied
"Well I'm not a fox i'm an otter" Joey replied
"An otter? How does an otter have kitsune magic?" Char asked
Joey could only shrug his shoulders not really knowing how it was possible himself.
Char just playfully poked Joey's nose, "Hehe you're silly"
Joey just only let out a surprised meep being poked not expecting to have his nose poked
"OOOH! can i sleep over with him please! please! please!" Char asked Ben and Sasha excitedly
"Oh well I think that's up for Violet to decide" Sasha replied some seeing the energetic fox
"Oh well i don't see any harm in it" Violet answered happily
"YAY!!! Ohhh i can bring archanine along with me!?" Char asked excitedly
"You can, just keep him out of trouble" Violet replied and looked back at Sasha and Ben, "Is five o' clock all right with you two?"
Ben and Sasha both nodded in agreement, "Sure five sounds perfectly fine with me" Ben answered
Char nodded his head happy to to be told he could stay the night with Joey.
"Sorry for trying to fight you, I didn't know you hadn't learned to use your magic yet, my name is Char by the way" Char replied smiling widely holding his paw out
Joey looked and shook the foxes hand some "My name is Joey, nice to meet you"
Violet smiled some seeing them getting along now as she walked on back home with Char to help him get ready for the sleep over. Joey watched as the two walked on back home before Ben held Joeys hand walking on along towards the park so they could have their day of fun before the sleepover.
Later that day, as the sun was starting to set, joey was in his room holding his plush bear, barry, wondering what his first sleepover would be like, especially after what happened earlier that day.
"I find it interesting that someone as young as him could sense your magic so quickly" a voice commented in joey's mind
"What do you mean?" Joey asked himself
To anyone else it would look like he was simply talking to his plush toy, like any other cub would do, but in reality, th clever little otter used it as a way of talking to Ryuchi, without raising suspicion
"Well he is still quite young, most kitsunes his age, don't have such a level of sensory ability, its something even I still have some trouble with" ryuchi replied
""so you can't even do that?" Joey asked
"Well i never said that, i can its just not easy to do, especially so casually that all it took was a single glance" Ryuchi replied
"Does that mean he is stronger than you?" Joey asked
"Hard to say, he already has three tails to my two, he certainly has potential to become quite the powerful kitsune" ryuchi replied
"Is that a good thing?" Joey asked
"Only time can tell" Ryuchi replied
Just then, the doorbell rang out alerting everyone that Violet and Char had arrived. Joey toddled on over to the front of the house just as Sasha opened up the door seeing Violet walk on in with some folders of paperwork as char ran towards the otter with a plush toy, looking like an archanine, surprisingly following along with him. The charsune lept into the air causing Joey to meep some in surprise before being playfully pounced by the exciteable charsune and was then tickled relentlessly by him. The otter squealed out in laughter as he squirmed trying to get free as Char just kept tickling him playfully.
"Hehehe, your too ticklish!" char replied as he stopped
joey caught his breath as he got up feeling the playful charsune, get off of the little otter
"i can't help it if i'm ticklish" Joey replied
"that's why your so fun to play with!" Char replied
While Violet spent time straightening out joeys application to the kitsune school, Joey and Char played together along with the plush archanine. Joey had no idea how the plush toy was alive, but char explained how he had used his magic to bring him to life and how he had become one of his best friends as a result. The there played as the hours passed on by, before the adults came on into the room they were all in to get them all ready for bed.
"okay boys time for bed" Sasha replied as Ben helped picked the the two cubs up for a change
After a quick change of diapers and clothes, the two were set for bed. Ben had laid the two down in bed covering them up under joeys space themed blankets, tucking them in for the night.
"Sweet dreams you two, you both can play more in the morning" Sasha replied
Violet smiled and gave Char a hug goodbye before leaving back home. Char smiled and snuggled up with the otter happily as Ben and Sasha turned out the lights and left the door open slightly to let the hallway light on in some, leaving the two to sleep through the night.
Only a an hour passed though before Joey was awakened by a loud clap of thunder and a bright flash of lightning, startling the otter, causing him to clutch his plush bear tightly. The flashes of lightning casting terrifying looking shadows from what was normal toys and furniture in his room. Joey whimpered slightly as the sounds of the storm raged on outside his window, waking up Char.
"whats wrong?" char asked
"There's a big storm outside" Joey replied
"So? It's only a storm" Char replied some puzzled
Joey just held his bear tighter, "i like rain but i don't like the thunder or lightning , I really don't"
Char looked and wrapped his arms around the otter softly and folded his flaming tails around Joey warmly.
"Don't worry then, I wont let the meanie storm bother you" He replies with a big smile
Joey looked over at Char some and held him tightly and happily, feeling comforted from it. Chars plush archanine joined them curling up around the pair of cubs to help comfort the frightened little otter. Joey smiled and nuzzled into the archanine's belly softly as the raging storm didn't bother him as much anymore, the comforting hold of his new friends being enough to calm him down to drift back off to sleep. The three laid there comforting each other in a tight bond in what was the start of what would be an inseperable friendship amongst each other.
Yes, I do not like thunderstorms. Especially when it sounds like the lightning is striking quite close. So i will find it hard to relax during such storms. Now simple rain storms, even heavy rain, doesn't bother me.
