The supernatural exists, hidden among society and Parahumans, and it's a dangerous world out there. Good thing Taylor Hebert has a 700-year old fox spirit to rely on.
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Kitsune Noir (Worm AU)
- Thread starter UnwelcomeStorm
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01 Chase Game
UnwelcomeStorm
BARK! BARK! BARK!
- Location
- United States
Kitsune Noir
2 AM on a Saturday and I was running away from an angry dragon. No, not Lung. The actual dragon. He lived on 48th street and was kind of a dick.
Okay, back up a bit. This needs some context.
My name is Taylor Hebert. I live in Brockton Bay, a worn-down coastal city on the edge of New Hampshire. It's got a failing economy, a worthless port, and way too many parahumans. I should know, I'm one of them. Kinda. Unlike most capes, my power isn't laser beams or superstrength or anything: my power is a person.
Again, kinda.
I met my partner a little over a year ago, while I was hiding from my ex-friend at school. I first saw him as a glowing ball of light, ducking and weaving between stacks of bookshelves in the school's meager library. Nobody else was around, and the librarian hadn't marched over to demand to know what was going on with the lightshow, so I decided to follow it. You'd think I'd know better, having been raised by an English Lit professor, but will o' wisps didn't come to mind immediately, sue me. Once I started following, the glowing ball stopped weaving around and made a beeline for one of the little study cubbies at the back of the library, and came to a stop on the desk.
So, you can see me! Well that narrows this down then, doesn't it?
I looked around. The voice a-hemmed a couple times until I looked back at the glowing orb. "You..."
Yes, me.
"Who are you? Are you a cape?"
Nah. Not like this, anyway. Pleased to meet you, I'm not big on names but I've gone by Jou in the past, so you can call me that.
I looked around again, waiting for someone to show up and explain how this was all just another prank. Ha-ha, Taylor's talking to herself. "Your name is... Joe?"
The glowing ball bobbed up and down for a moment. Eh, close enough. And you are?
"Taylor."
Great, fantastic. Well, Taylor, I have an offer for you...
He certainly did. Joe was a fox spirit, emphasis on spirit. As he explained it, he couldn't interact with the physical world without a physical body, and he wanted a body because the physical world had stuff like candy and movies and fried tofu. I, meanwhile, wanted to stop being helpless, bottom of the barrel Taylor Hebert. Or to put it more bluntly, I wanted superpowers.
So having them more or less offered up on a silver plate? It didn't take much to convince me. I still thought it over for a few days, but Joe was patient and pretty clear on what he wanted out of the bargain: entertainment. Apparently, it gets pretty boring being without a body. I wouldn't be his first host, which did make me a little nervous to think about, but, well, the world was a dangerous place these days. Powers could help me protect myself, as well as let me do something with my life.
As I said, it didn't take much to convince me. I brought Joe's little glowing ball of energy home with me in my backpack, and followed his instructions. I closed my eyes, held the ball of foxfire in my hands and felt warmth seep into me. When I opened them, I wasn't helpless, bottom of the barrel Taylor Hebert anymore. I watched my ears perk and swivel in the mirror, and counted my seven long, black tails, and grinned. Look out Brockton, here we come.
Which leads back to the dragon.
Melkhira wasn't a very old dragon, thankfully, but that didn't stop him from being every bit as territorial and jealous as his more mythical kin. A shiver worked its way up one of my tails and I juked to the left, just in time for a fireball to scream past me and impact on an abandoned car. Perfect! I darted into the smoke cloud, one hand covering my mouth and nose, and released a net of energy from my core. The illusion clung to the billowing smoke and expanded, magic working to swallow the sound of my pounding feet and occlude the view of the street beyond it.
It worked. Melkhira's angry bellows echoed off the nearby buildings, but in his human disguise he didn't have keen enough senses to pierce my illusions. I kept running anyway, of course-- I'm not stupid. But eventually even my enhanced stamina petered out and I slowed to a stop, bent over with my hands on my knees. "I hope you realize... this is all... your fault."
How was I supposed to know he was going to be home?
"Oh I dunno, research?! Like you were supposed to do?!"
Pfahh, my partner scoffed. I found the gem, didn't I? That's the important part. Besides, we came out fine.
"If by fine you mean we stole from a dragon and now he's gonna have it in for us for, like, ever." Ranting at Joe aside, I kindled my powers and let the stolen gem, a polished rutilated quartz the size of my fist, be swallowed up by a gout of blue-green foxfire. The luminous gem was far from the first thing we'd stolen from another supernatural, and it wouldn't do to leave it out in the open where it could be tracked down and get us mugged.
"So now that we have it and we've gained yet another angry neighbor... what do we do with it?"
Good question! I almost want to try selling it back to Melkie.
"Yeah, he won't take that very well."
Probably not. We could see if the Adepts want it.
"I'd rather not. I don't really want to be on their radar."
Eh, fair. Just hold onto it for later, I guess. We could trade it for some favors down the line somewhere.
I kindled my powers and let my disguise take shape, my seven long tails dissolving into blue-green foxfire and my ears folding back until they vanished in my hair. In no time I was just another boring white guy, perfect for walking home through the edge of Empire territory. Almost-perfect shapeshifting was one of the advantages to sharing my body with a 700-year old fox spirit.
"Y'know," I mumbled into my collar, "I can't shake the feeling we forgot something. Joe, what about you?"
Me? No, I haven't forgotten anything.
"That doesn't really answer my question. Do you know what I forgot?"
...maaaaaaaaybe.
"Joe!"
I mean there may have been a World Studies essay you were supposed to write, but nothing important.
"...oh shit."
* * *
Mr. Gladly was droning on, but my attention was on Madison, watching the cutsey girl sharpen her pencil for an inordinately long time. As I'd thought, she kept on until the teacher turned his back on the class to write on the chalkboard, she emptied the sharpener's reservoir of pencil shavings into her hand. She was so predictable. Not too great at pattern recognition, either, as evidenced by right about... now!
A quick prod of invisible force to one of her shoes caused the girl to trip, and instinctively spread out her hands to catch herself before she could fall face-first onto the floor. Conveniently, that meant the mess of wood shavings and graphite ended up in her hair instead of mine. Madison's face flushed in a rapid procession of indignation and embarrassment. Priceless.
I agree, but I'm itching to have a go at someone who might stand the barest chance of being a challenge, y'know? Hey, hey, let's go out today, look for some trouble!
I guess we can check in with the usual suspects, sure, I thought back at my partner. Think the Dead Market's going to be in town?
This early in the month? Doubtful, but it wouldn't hurt to check.
We can check out the regular markets, too, for a change of pace.
If this action results in ramen I am all for it.
* * *
After school, I left a note for dad and then ventured back out in search of a bus to take me to the Lord's Market. It had become one of my favorite places to hang out, after Joe became my partner. The sheer number of sights and smells and sounds I could pick up on was almost a high of its own, and this is where most of my allowance and various ill-gotten gains tended to end up; Joe tended to think with his stomach, and the array of street food available here was delightful. Best of all, shapeshifting meant I never got fat. I felt truly sorry for all the plebs who had to count calories.
I stopped by a cafe for a brownie and a ridiculously sugary coffee. So very, very sorry.
I was enjoying my decadence when something pricked at my senses. It felt like being watched, and also like pulling a comb lightly through the fur on my ears. I looked around the cafe until I spotted the source: another girl, about my age, tapping away at a laptop. She had a half-eaten pastry and a still sugary, but not quite ridiculously so coffee on the table next to her. I studied her: blonde-ish, green eyes, freckles, and a crease in her forehead that looked like a headache.
That what I think it is?
Cape, yeah. Thinker, from the feel of it. Gonna poke her?
Oh yeah.
Awesome.
The cape took a sip of her coffee and caught me staring. I started to grin, and her eyes widened. Without a word I scooped up my drink and treat and walked briskly over to her table, sitting down across from her without an invitation. She pulled the screen of her laptop down a little, still eyeing me. There was a half-smile on her face now, a kind of a mix between 'I know something you don't know' and 'what is this stranger doing?' I just smiled wider, and tuned my own powers onto her. Cape, like I thought. Definitely Thinker. Not expecting to be surprised out of costume. Knows that I know she's a cape. And knows that I know that she knows.
The two Thinker powers dissolved into a tangle of she-knows-I-know-she-knows. The cape fully closed her laptop, all of her attention on me, and a wary gleam in her eyes. I, on the other hand, was nearly vibrating with excitement. "Well this is fun."
"Is it?" She asked me, her half-smile becoming a smug grin. "Most people wouldn't think so."
"I'm not most people. And neither are you."
The cape glanced to the side to check for eavesdroppers. Right, right, secret identities. I lowered my voice. "No worries. It's all in good fun, yeah?"
"That's what I always say," she responded. "So, who—"
I reached out and put my hand over her mouth. "Nope! No questions! You don't know me and I don't know you."
She pulled my hand away. I kept talking. "Let's play a game. Somewhere between Tag and Hide-and-Seek. I'll chase after you, and you'll chase after me. Whomever gets the other one's name first wins. Loser helps out the winner. Sounds good?"
The cape hadn't quite shaken off her confusion, but I could see it in her eyes: competition. It didn't even matter if she'd had no plans to go along with my idea. I'd challenged her and now she wanted to win. She wanted to prove she was smarter, more clever, more devious. She wanted to outfox me. It wouldn't happen, but it was going to be a great game along the way.
"Start in 30 minutes? Yes? Great!" I finished my brownie in two quick bites, chased it with my coffee, then stood. The cafe's door chimed when I opened it as I was leaving. "Catch me if you can!"
Tattletale started scrambling to pack up her laptop.
2 AM on a Saturday and I was running away from an angry dragon. No, not Lung. The actual dragon. He lived on 48th street and was kind of a dick.
Okay, back up a bit. This needs some context.
My name is Taylor Hebert. I live in Brockton Bay, a worn-down coastal city on the edge of New Hampshire. It's got a failing economy, a worthless port, and way too many parahumans. I should know, I'm one of them. Kinda. Unlike most capes, my power isn't laser beams or superstrength or anything: my power is a person.
Again, kinda.
I met my partner a little over a year ago, while I was hiding from my ex-friend at school. I first saw him as a glowing ball of light, ducking and weaving between stacks of bookshelves in the school's meager library. Nobody else was around, and the librarian hadn't marched over to demand to know what was going on with the lightshow, so I decided to follow it. You'd think I'd know better, having been raised by an English Lit professor, but will o' wisps didn't come to mind immediately, sue me. Once I started following, the glowing ball stopped weaving around and made a beeline for one of the little study cubbies at the back of the library, and came to a stop on the desk.
So, you can see me! Well that narrows this down then, doesn't it?
I looked around. The voice a-hemmed a couple times until I looked back at the glowing orb. "You..."
Yes, me.
"Who are you? Are you a cape?"
Nah. Not like this, anyway. Pleased to meet you, I'm not big on names but I've gone by Jou in the past, so you can call me that.
I looked around again, waiting for someone to show up and explain how this was all just another prank. Ha-ha, Taylor's talking to herself. "Your name is... Joe?"
The glowing ball bobbed up and down for a moment. Eh, close enough. And you are?
"Taylor."
Great, fantastic. Well, Taylor, I have an offer for you...
He certainly did. Joe was a fox spirit, emphasis on spirit. As he explained it, he couldn't interact with the physical world without a physical body, and he wanted a body because the physical world had stuff like candy and movies and fried tofu. I, meanwhile, wanted to stop being helpless, bottom of the barrel Taylor Hebert. Or to put it more bluntly, I wanted superpowers.
So having them more or less offered up on a silver plate? It didn't take much to convince me. I still thought it over for a few days, but Joe was patient and pretty clear on what he wanted out of the bargain: entertainment. Apparently, it gets pretty boring being without a body. I wouldn't be his first host, which did make me a little nervous to think about, but, well, the world was a dangerous place these days. Powers could help me protect myself, as well as let me do something with my life.
As I said, it didn't take much to convince me. I brought Joe's little glowing ball of energy home with me in my backpack, and followed his instructions. I closed my eyes, held the ball of foxfire in my hands and felt warmth seep into me. When I opened them, I wasn't helpless, bottom of the barrel Taylor Hebert anymore. I watched my ears perk and swivel in the mirror, and counted my seven long, black tails, and grinned. Look out Brockton, here we come.
Which leads back to the dragon.
Melkhira wasn't a very old dragon, thankfully, but that didn't stop him from being every bit as territorial and jealous as his more mythical kin. A shiver worked its way up one of my tails and I juked to the left, just in time for a fireball to scream past me and impact on an abandoned car. Perfect! I darted into the smoke cloud, one hand covering my mouth and nose, and released a net of energy from my core. The illusion clung to the billowing smoke and expanded, magic working to swallow the sound of my pounding feet and occlude the view of the street beyond it.
It worked. Melkhira's angry bellows echoed off the nearby buildings, but in his human disguise he didn't have keen enough senses to pierce my illusions. I kept running anyway, of course-- I'm not stupid. But eventually even my enhanced stamina petered out and I slowed to a stop, bent over with my hands on my knees. "I hope you realize... this is all... your fault."
How was I supposed to know he was going to be home?
"Oh I dunno, research?! Like you were supposed to do?!"
Pfahh, my partner scoffed. I found the gem, didn't I? That's the important part. Besides, we came out fine.
"If by fine you mean we stole from a dragon and now he's gonna have it in for us for, like, ever." Ranting at Joe aside, I kindled my powers and let the stolen gem, a polished rutilated quartz the size of my fist, be swallowed up by a gout of blue-green foxfire. The luminous gem was far from the first thing we'd stolen from another supernatural, and it wouldn't do to leave it out in the open where it could be tracked down and get us mugged.
"So now that we have it and we've gained yet another angry neighbor... what do we do with it?"
Good question! I almost want to try selling it back to Melkie.
"Yeah, he won't take that very well."
Probably not. We could see if the Adepts want it.
"I'd rather not. I don't really want to be on their radar."
Eh, fair. Just hold onto it for later, I guess. We could trade it for some favors down the line somewhere.
I kindled my powers and let my disguise take shape, my seven long tails dissolving into blue-green foxfire and my ears folding back until they vanished in my hair. In no time I was just another boring white guy, perfect for walking home through the edge of Empire territory. Almost-perfect shapeshifting was one of the advantages to sharing my body with a 700-year old fox spirit.
"Y'know," I mumbled into my collar, "I can't shake the feeling we forgot something. Joe, what about you?"
Me? No, I haven't forgotten anything.
"That doesn't really answer my question. Do you know what I forgot?"
...maaaaaaaaybe.
"Joe!"
I mean there may have been a World Studies essay you were supposed to write, but nothing important.
"...oh shit."
* * *
Mr. Gladly was droning on, but my attention was on Madison, watching the cutsey girl sharpen her pencil for an inordinately long time. As I'd thought, she kept on until the teacher turned his back on the class to write on the chalkboard, she emptied the sharpener's reservoir of pencil shavings into her hand. She was so predictable. Not too great at pattern recognition, either, as evidenced by right about... now!
A quick prod of invisible force to one of her shoes caused the girl to trip, and instinctively spread out her hands to catch herself before she could fall face-first onto the floor. Conveniently, that meant the mess of wood shavings and graphite ended up in her hair instead of mine. Madison's face flushed in a rapid procession of indignation and embarrassment. Priceless.
I agree, but I'm itching to have a go at someone who might stand the barest chance of being a challenge, y'know? Hey, hey, let's go out today, look for some trouble!
I guess we can check in with the usual suspects, sure, I thought back at my partner. Think the Dead Market's going to be in town?
This early in the month? Doubtful, but it wouldn't hurt to check.
We can check out the regular markets, too, for a change of pace.
If this action results in ramen I am all for it.
* * *
After school, I left a note for dad and then ventured back out in search of a bus to take me to the Lord's Market. It had become one of my favorite places to hang out, after Joe became my partner. The sheer number of sights and smells and sounds I could pick up on was almost a high of its own, and this is where most of my allowance and various ill-gotten gains tended to end up; Joe tended to think with his stomach, and the array of street food available here was delightful. Best of all, shapeshifting meant I never got fat. I felt truly sorry for all the plebs who had to count calories.
I stopped by a cafe for a brownie and a ridiculously sugary coffee. So very, very sorry.
I was enjoying my decadence when something pricked at my senses. It felt like being watched, and also like pulling a comb lightly through the fur on my ears. I looked around the cafe until I spotted the source: another girl, about my age, tapping away at a laptop. She had a half-eaten pastry and a still sugary, but not quite ridiculously so coffee on the table next to her. I studied her: blonde-ish, green eyes, freckles, and a crease in her forehead that looked like a headache.
That what I think it is?
Cape, yeah. Thinker, from the feel of it. Gonna poke her?
Oh yeah.
Awesome.
The cape took a sip of her coffee and caught me staring. I started to grin, and her eyes widened. Without a word I scooped up my drink and treat and walked briskly over to her table, sitting down across from her without an invitation. She pulled the screen of her laptop down a little, still eyeing me. There was a half-smile on her face now, a kind of a mix between 'I know something you don't know' and 'what is this stranger doing?' I just smiled wider, and tuned my own powers onto her. Cape, like I thought. Definitely Thinker. Not expecting to be surprised out of costume. Knows that I know she's a cape. And knows that I know that she knows.
The two Thinker powers dissolved into a tangle of she-knows-I-know-she-knows. The cape fully closed her laptop, all of her attention on me, and a wary gleam in her eyes. I, on the other hand, was nearly vibrating with excitement. "Well this is fun."
"Is it?" She asked me, her half-smile becoming a smug grin. "Most people wouldn't think so."
"I'm not most people. And neither are you."
The cape glanced to the side to check for eavesdroppers. Right, right, secret identities. I lowered my voice. "No worries. It's all in good fun, yeah?"
"That's what I always say," she responded. "So, who—"
I reached out and put my hand over her mouth. "Nope! No questions! You don't know me and I don't know you."
She pulled my hand away. I kept talking. "Let's play a game. Somewhere between Tag and Hide-and-Seek. I'll chase after you, and you'll chase after me. Whomever gets the other one's name first wins. Loser helps out the winner. Sounds good?"
The cape hadn't quite shaken off her confusion, but I could see it in her eyes: competition. It didn't even matter if she'd had no plans to go along with my idea. I'd challenged her and now she wanted to win. She wanted to prove she was smarter, more clever, more devious. She wanted to outfox me. It wouldn't happen, but it was going to be a great game along the way.
"Start in 30 minutes? Yes? Great!" I finished my brownie in two quick bites, chased it with my coffee, then stood. The cafe's door chimed when I opened it as I was leaving. "Catch me if you can!"
Tattletale started scrambling to pack up her laptop.
This fic is the result of a request from my Patreon. It was originally posted in my snippet thread, but due to demand is getting its own thread and becoming an actual story.
This Taylor isn't nearly as depressed as canon Taylor and seems to have embraced quite a bit of the foxiness.
Crescent Glaive
Knight Of The Blood Moon
- Location
- The Blood Moon Keep, Planet Noxum IV
Oh yes! This is gonna be awesome 🤩
- Location
- Madison, AL
I like this!
Czlyydwr Llrngwl
"Sell ya a door Learn gull," Czly/Celly for short
- Location
- Where the Beef is
- Pronouns
- Any
"Hm, well, if it's UnwelcomeStorm, it's probably fine," that's the kind of feeling that I have about it. When it's hobby writing released for free online, it's not like I have any right to make complaints, even if I do worry for the diversion from previous stories.
UnwelcomeStorm
BARK! BARK! BARK!
- Location
- United States
That's always going to be a problem when you make a bunch of different threads like I do.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm more than halfway done with the next chapters of both Constellations and I Am the Law. Once those are posted I'll write another Kitsune Noir or two, then cycle back.
EntropicObserver
Eldtich watcher of funnies and happy times
- Location
- HOW WOULD I KNOW?
Aaaaaannnnnnd Watched
This is going to be good
This is going to be good
OffBrandANON
eldritch horror, pink flamingo
- Location
- California, USA
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
and another story from you to watch.
- Location
- Blood Gulch
I really regret entering this thread, I'm already in love and there's only one chapter of the story. I don't know how I'll cope with this new addiction while waiting for updates. Looks like I'll be re-reading Constellations again this weekend...
- Location
- Capricorn Construction Corporation (™)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Watched. Kitsune? In Worm? By UnwelcomeStorm? Count me in! It's like Christmas came early!
Khornes_Knight
unreasonably angry in reasonable quantities
- Location
- England, UK, Europe, Ancient Terra 021.M3
watched.
you had me at 'fluffy tails'.
you had me at 'fluffy tails'.
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
She had me at the alert, "@UnwelcomeStorm has started a thread..."
HereticMIND
[happy_robot_dinosaur_noises.flac]
- Location
- Howard County, MD
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Yup. That's a watch from me.
What? Fluffiness ALWAYS gets a watch from me. Especially if it's US.
What? Fluffiness ALWAYS gets a watch from me. Especially if it's US.
Jim Starluck
CO, ICS Vanguard
- Location
- Cincinnati, OH
*vulpine grins intensify*
- Location
- Norfolk, England
Yeah, I really like the sound of this. Fukken watched.
I was hooked already on the title lol.
Oh god a Kitune, Oh god, this is going to end in Tears and Fire.
Author: Unwelcome Storm...this is going to end in WAFF and Fire.
Author: Unwelcome Storm...this is going to end in WAFF and Fire.
- Location
- Villa Straylight, Freeside, Earth Orbit
Aaaaand Watched!
Seeing such a happy and blithe Taylor having fun by playing with metphorical fire can only end in tears, and laughter. (For us at least.)
Seeing such a happy and blithe Taylor having fun by playing with metphorical fire can only end in tears, and laughter. (For us at least.)
