Phillip shed tears of joy. After being alone for so long, after having to come home to a house that might as well have been full of strangers every day, he was finally surrounded by family.
His new father called, "Brothers and sisters, honor elders, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, I present to you the newest member of our family: Kazura Phillip!"
The kitsune all applauded.
As Phillip waved his tail and nuzzled his new parents' and big brother's fur, feeling his fur brush against theirs, it finally occurred to him. Phillip's clothes have vanished!
"EK! I'm naked!" Phillip squealed, bringing his tail to his front.
Some of the foxes stared at Phillip in confusion, some politely chuckled, and others covered their face, but not in the 'avert your eyes' but more 'oh brother' sort of way.
And Phillip realizes the foxes, his family, weren't really covering themselves in anything but their fur and perhaps some trinkets.
Arata laughed. "I told ya Phillip, don't plan on wearing much around here! The stuff we DO wear for super special occasions? You wouldn't WANT to wear every day, believe me!"
This got Arata some stern looks from some of the older kitsune (but not the two nine-tails in the room) and some praise from the other kits.
"I think it's about time we introduced you to the rest of your family Philli-chan," Kari began to say, but then she was interrupted by a yawn from Phillip.
"Oh yes... you made your wish to the stars when you were about to sleep... we knew we had to sent Arata as quickly as we could. In the joy of having you here, I forgotten you'd still need your rest. Arata, please take your brother to his room! We can continue family introductions later tomorrow. when Philli-Chan's internal clock is realigned."
"Yes okāsan!" Arata bowed to his mother and took his new brother by the paw, grabbing the kit's suitcase. The crowd parted as Arata led Phillip upstairs.
Once the two kits were gone, an eighty tails fox sage with extra long fur wearing a red necklace said,
"I still say we should have made him a toddler. Humans grow old and die so fast. I mean, he's what now in our years? Eighty? He's lost most of his childhood! That's too cruel! You don't ever get those years back, believe me."
"They grow old faster, but they mature faster as well," said a plump blond kitsune vixen with a encouraging smile.
"This was Shin and Kari's decision and right on how Phillip was to be brought into the family, there is no 'undo' button,'" said the silver ninetails vixen with a voice of total calm and control.
"And now we must cram eighty years worth of grooming into the little kit," Said a crimson kitsune vixen, with three tails, holding a smoking pipe, her... accent felt slightly off compared to the others, feelings more from the steps.
"I didn't want him traumatized from his ascension," said Kari, "Children are always in a rush to grow up, making him start all over again is not the first gift I want to give him as his mother."
+++
Phillip was so tired that now that the rush was over, he barely registered where Arata was leading him. But the bedroom he came to... it was HIS bedroom... no one else's... he wan't sharing it with anyone... this brought another wave of emotion from him.
Arata helped the new kitsune onto the bed as the kit curled up, asleep by the time Arata pulled the covers on top fo him.
Phillip dreamed that he left his new furry body as a phantom, and leapt through the window, and saw a sky with more than one moon. As a phantom he jumped over the tree tops, hopping through the branches. He saw flowers of surprising colors in fields. He saw trees that seemed to turn and smile at him as he passed.
The little phantom fox skipped along roads both plain dirt and fancy pavings that looked like they'd have taken centuries to complete. He dove under the water of river and streams seeing species of fish he never knew existed.
He also spotted mundane animals like deer, and raccoons, and... a raccoon-dog thingie?
He bump straight into another fox phantom. It looked up at him confused. It was also the same color as those little blossoms he'd seen on some of the tree. The two scoped each other out for a few moment, circling each other. Then the other phantom trapped Phillip on the head and skipped away. Phillip wasn't so alone as not to recognize a game of tag when he saw it!
The two chased each other through the forest for so long Phillip lost track of time. Finally, Phillip left like it was time for the dream to end and waved at the other phantom who waved at him back, looking like they had somewhere they needed to be too, and the two parted.
It wasn't hard for Phillip in his dream to get back to himself, it was like being pulled by a magnet! And finally, he went back inside his new furry self, needing another nap, odd, he didn't think you could fall asleep in a dream...
Phillip woke up, and found a muzzle in front of him, "Guess my dream of being adopted by fox people and turned into a fox person was no dream."
He also found a wide screen TV in his room... though it appeared to be hooked up to a stone box instead of any electronics. There was a remote... and look inside were pretty crystals instead of batteries.
He turned on the TV... and it immediately showed a Floyd Fox short! The little bright orange fox wearing blue shirt and gloves, getting into silly antics that his cleverness got him out of. Grown-ups said the show taught wrong behavior.
Phillip sat there forgetting his world for a minute. It had been so long since he'd just sat in bed and watched a cartoon! And then a gong sounded. And Phillip had lived in the orphanage long enough to know what that spelled! Time to get up!
Phillip opened his suit case to find everything still there, toothbrush and toothpaste, a book of bedtime stories, a plastic brachiosaurus figure, and his picture of him, Will, and Patty. Looking at that human boy in the picture... and Phillip suddenly realized that was gone. Phillip looked in a mirror and looked at his fox self... Well, Arata had said he could appear any anything, maybe he could appear as his old self? Well, that would make visiting Will and Patty easier at least. Too bad no one had told him how to do it yet... then again he HAD just arrived...
Phillip remembered the gong and... well he didn't need to get dressed. That was weird. He hadn't breakfast yet, so brushing his teeth didn't make sense.
Phillip wish he had time to check out his new room, but that gong and his engrained reaction to such things from his time at the orphanage compelled him... Uh-oh. Looking at the beautiful wooden halls... Phillip had no idea where to go. This wasn't good... he was gonna be late for school!
That was when Arata ran up, skidding a halt direct in front of him!
"Hey Phillip! Good morning!"
"Good morning Arata!" Phillip said, knowing his name felt so natural. "Uh, can you tell me where breakfast is? I kinda need to eat fast so I'm not late for school."
Arata stared for a second ,then burst out laughing. "School? SCHOOL!? Haha! Little bro, you're HOME SCHOOLED from now on!"
"... Oh." Phillip didn't mind that so much, the public school system had been torture for him, not the teachers really, but the bullies had been awful. Though that did mean one less chance to see Will and Patty.
"What you think of the TV? My idea after you mentioned that TV show."
"Really?! Thank you!" Phil' hugged him.
"Heh, welcome. Surprised we have TV?"
"uh, no?" Phillip said a bit confused.
"Heh, cool! Nice to know you weren't of those humans who thought only their kind knew how to advance. But you really want breakfast, follow me!"
As Phillip followed Arata, Phillip looked out the window at the beautiful landscape... it was so much like his dream. And ... "WHOA!"
"What is it?"
"There's... there's more than one moon..."
"Ha! Did you think you were still on Earth?" Arata patted Phillip on the back. "We're on a separate demiplane ... " Blank look from Phil'. "Think of it as our seperate personal universe."
"Oh. But... there are moons like in my dream."
"Your dream?"
"I dreamed I flew out of my body last night and floated around."
"... Phillip-chan... that was astral projection, ditched your physical vessel and you DID fly around!"
"So... I was a ghost?"
"... That was one way of putting it."
"Could I visit Patty and Will that way? When I'm sleeping?"
"... I guess ya could. But traveling between worlds is tricky all on your own right now. I needed some tricks from our great uncle Kenji to pass through. But he gives them out like candy, I'm sure you'll have no trouble."
-
Kari said, "No auntie Nabiki, we are NOT erasing my son from the memories of his human playmates so they don't miss him." Kari quickly cut her off raising a claw. "Nor are we turning them into his toys or servants. I had Shin do a background check, they are with loving families, and it wouldn't be right to take that from them."
"These are MODERN TIMES niece, we don't mistreat servants or throw out Tsukumogami when we grow bored of them! They'd still be happy here!" said the pudgy blond kitsune.
"That... isn't the point." Kari said awkwardly.
-
Arata and Phillip were on a been line to the dining hall... when they smacked straight into the crimson kitsune vixen with the pipe from yesterday.
"Uh, hi auntie Ruki!"
"Vel." She ignored Arata and focused on Phillip. "Welcome to the Kazura clan Phillip-chan. I hope you appreciate the honor you have been given by my sister allow you the chance to become one of us."
Phillip nodded vigorously. "I do I do I do I swear!"
"... Good. Understand. Until the stars themselves fall and the sun burns out, you are one of us. You are no longer a child of Adam and Eve. Your belong to a different legacy now. Everything you do, will reflect upon us, not just yourself. All is ours, is yours now. All who serve us, now serve you. All who call us allies, are your allies. All who call us enemies... are now your enemies."
Phillip shivered a bit at that last one. Arata hugged Phillip's shoulder, but he didn't dare talk back to Auntie Ruki.
"You will be formally introduced to the rest of the immediate clan today. The extended clan will arrive soon so you might be formally introduced. You are not expected to memorize them all at once, but you will be expected to pay attention during their introductions. I am to be your tutor. There are eighty years worth of grooming and lessons that you are behind on as of today. But your mother has insisted that you are given time to get used to your new station before I begin instructing you."
Phillip had to remember to thank his new mother.
Auntie Ruki turned around on paw and marched ahead of them. "Now come along, you will be introduced to your fiancee at breakfast."
"MY WHAT?!" Phillip said. He didn't know that word!
"... It is of no grand consequence, she is the youngest born of her clan branch, same as you. You will married a in hundred and twenty years time. Normally this arrangement would have been made when you were born, so it being arranged when you have been reborn is the next best thing. Consider yourself lucky, I did not meet my husband until our wedding day. But times change..."
Phillip felt dizzy. He was gonna get married... okay, not for a hundred years... but still... Arata let him lean on him. He gave him a sympathetic smile. "Welcome to the family Phil'."
Phillip followed behind, his head whirling... They came to a large round red wooden table... at the other end where foxes he didn't recognize from yesterday... and a little pink fox vixen, her eyes widened at the sight of him. ... it was the phantom from his 'dream.'
"Uh, am I still dreaming?" The pink kitsune asked blinking blue eyes.
"... I dunno, am I?" Phillip said shocked.
"Uh... um... my name's Sakura."
"I'm... I'm Phillip."