Richard was incredibly nervous as he moved. Particularly as after transforming, he had to carry his clothes and shoes under one arm and thus if Rachel had run into anything like the mundane Mountain Lion that mauled Rose the previous night, he wouldn't have free hands to drive the attacking animal off and he didn't want to lose his clothes. Even if they were the clothes that didn't fit his new human form as well as they used to, he didn't want to lose them. But the worry over Rachel being attacked remained.
For when he'd been able to single out Rachel's scent he'd gone more than a block and had entered a park in the center of Moon Lake. It was complete with cut grass and carefully arranged trees, as typical of most city parks and he also noted that were some heavy hedges around the outside of the park, which he supposed made sense and could allow for a transformed were do what he was presently doing, move through the park at night with little worry about someone from out of town clearly seeing him. There were also things that he could see that were fairly typical of city parks. Wooden and plastic playground equipment in places, picnic tables, swings, there was even a Lions Club dining area with picnic tables set up there. All of it looked like a fairly normal city park.
The thing that was not "normal" about the park was that there were fewer lamps and lights than was to be expected and at the same time they were also dimmer than similar lights that city parks in Michigan would have had. Richard supposed this made sense for weres as his vision, particularly in his fursona, wasn't hampered by the dim light. However it WOULD likely impair the vision of a normal human, which Rachel was and that then reinforced his worries. Particularly as the parks sidewalks didn't follow the straight lines that most of Moon Lake's streets were, and thus when Rachel turned off of one turn onto one of the sidewalks going through the park and away from the street, Richard found that she got turned around and ultimately lost trying to follow them and that by the time she left the park, she'd actually started moving in a direction that would take her more south-west than north, which was the direction of the Van Direstag home. It was only when she'd gotten a block or so from the park, past the Elementary School building, and then a few houses down that she turned north and toward the woods that would be between the street Richard was on and Main Street to the north. It was more toward the Van Direstag home, but it would still take Rachel through the woods and potentially into trouble. Nervous and worried, Richard continued to follow his nose.
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Meanwhile, Rachel was in a different section of the woods, though north of Main Street and not too terribly far from where her home was. To a degree she regretted leaving the sidewalk along the street to go through Moon Lake's central park and getting lost as a result, particularly in the low light that made noticing street signs when she crossed them difficult or picking up precisely on where the main buildings that she knew and could recognize as something that would lead her home. She was also a bit embarrassed after almost walking onto two lesbian werefoxes have sex and then being caught by Megumi in the woods. Especially because she had found herself a bit aroused by what she'd overheard from the other too weres and had let that get the better of her, and that in turn lead to Megumi pleasuring her a bit while coaching her through some of the embarrassment at getting caught.
And that had been good, even if Rachel was fairly certain that Megumi wasn't gay or bisexual. Though, from what she'd read on werefoxes and what she'd picked up from her talks with Megumi and Aaron, that could just be that werefoxes were instinctively good at things like sex and coming from a noble family, Megumi also operated on a certain sense of duty to those she considered her friends. That was something that lifted Rachel's spirits a bit in that not only did she have her old friend from Michigan, Melissa Jenkins, here but had new friends that were willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to help it. For the most part it helped settle a lot of her worries, though there was the added surprise that Megumi had also revealed that her cousin Aaron might be bonding to her. She'd never expected anything like that and also knew that from what Megumi had told her the day before, a werefox's bond to its mate was unbreakable and carried a great of certainty on who one's "true love" was. Rachel had never expected anything like that and that then left her pondering what Megumi just asked her as they sat together in a soft area on a bed of leaves in the woods.
"So, the question is, Rachel-san," Megumi started to ask as she laid back and opened her legs a bit, "What will you do now?"
Rachel noted the invitation that Megumi offered and noted the possibility that she, herself, might be bi. However as she came down from the what Megumi given her, Rachel also remembered the bigger picture she was in. She hadn't completely decided on what were to be and that a werefox was an option, though admittedly she'd been leaning more toward being a werebear before now, and that made rushing to being a were unwise. There was also the fact that while her father becoming a werelion fixed the worries about being forced to become a werewolf there was still the concern about what her parents would allow. She was normally a bit rebellious and that was part of what had allowed her to get as far as she had with both Megumi and her cousin, but she also knew her parents would be protective and getting herself in a mountain of trouble with them wouldn't help things going forward.
"A part of me wouldn't mind the experimentation," Rachel managed, "but it's probably wiser not to. I mean... I've been looking at being a werebear as well... and if I show up at home a werefox, my dad will go through the roof."
"Understandable," Megumi nodded and then carefully stood up and then offered her hand to Rachel.
Rachel managed to climb back to her feet and pulled her underwear and pants up. She had to brush a few things off to make sure there were no leaves that would be brushing against her skin. Once covered, she looked over to Megumi who looked back to her with some calm and peaceful look about the werefox's face.
"This is still embarrassing given that it all started with me getting lost after lost and then stumbling onto your neighbors having a good time," Rachel managed as Megumi lead Rachel in an eastward direction. "And then there is what you said about Aaron... I mean, I wouldn't have thought that a bond would form after one... well... act."
"It is a sexual act," Megumi explained, "and that's largely how a werefox will know the bond is there... that they've found the one that they can live out their days with. They mate... and my dad says when his bond formed with my mother, he saw them living out their lives in the back of his mind and she saw the same. It's part of what makes it wonderful for werefoxes... though one must also get used to the whole sex side of things."
"Which my parents won't accept," Rachel said slowly, "at least for me. Maybe for my older brother... but not for me or my younger brother."
"A lot of that is being new to Moon Lake," Megumi admitted, "and in this case... you could have an advantage as when a bond forms for a werefox, it's also generally meant that the true feelings are mutual... regardless of whether or not the partner is another werefox."
"Regardless of whether or not the werefox is with another werefox?" Rachel wondered.
"Yes," Megumi nodded as they walked along, "while most romantic couples in Moon Lake are going to be things like a werefox/werefox pairing there are various pairings that are with a different kind of were. One of the big "events" that went on before even Mel's arrival here in Moon Lake with her father was an incident in which a werefox vixen went rogue and turned a college professor here. Though he bonded to his wife, who became a werecat. So, even if you become a werebear, that wouldn't change the existence of that bond between you and Aaron."
Rachel sighed and nodded as she made her way through the woods and stayed close to Megumi. These woods had even less light than the park did and as such Rachel had some difficulty in making things out in the distance. She could see Megumi and that was about it. That kept her close to Megumi. Though their journey was such that Rachel soon wasn't getting much of a sense that they were headed to the Van Direstag home. Her home was just to the north of the Tachibana compound at a narrow point in the "block." From where they were, if they were in the woods between Main Street and Wild Street, they'd need to going to the northeast in order to ultimately get to the Van Direstag home. They were, however, going more straight east, parallel to Main Street on the other side of the houses on it.
"Say... where are we heading?" Rachel asked after a few moments.
"To my family's home," Megumi answered, "if your father has indeed become a werelion... he'll have some idea on what you've been up to out here. I can see that you're cleaned up before you head home. I'll even loan you some of my clothes. When you go home, you won't carry the scent of lust and arousal on you and the clothing you'll be wearing will be clean. Hopefully you won't be too late for dinner or anything like that."
Unaware of the added pieces of drama from the day, Rachel followed and they eventually came to the wall around the Tachibana estate. Megumi approached a small gated door near one corner and opened it. Rachel entered through it and came into the backyard area behind the main building. All of it carried a very oriental and palace like atmosphere, even if scaled down to a much smaller land area. There was a small freshwater pond that had various water plants and well trimmed foliage around it. There were a pair of cherry trees that flanked a small building along the north wall. Rachel didn't know if it was for the maintaining of the garden that she and Megumi had entered or for something else, though not wanting to put her foot in her mouth on Japanese culture, which the estate was clearly built to honor, she stayed silent on it.
"It all looks good," Rachel said slowly after a moment as she heard the gate latch shut behind them.
"Yes," Megumi answered, "though we must hurry. I'm sure your parents should be expecting you home soon."
Rachel nodded and followed Megumi toward the backdoor of the main home. It was a bit late and her parents likely did expect her home by now. And if she hadn't gotten lost on the way back, she probably would have been home by now, though, she also wouldn't have also learned that one of her acts of "rebellion" may have started something that could last a lifetime... regardless of whether or not she became a werebear or werefox.
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Richard was semi relieved as he approached Main Street from the south, though he found that he was also well to the west of where the easiest route home was. His only reasoning for Rachel coming this far west would have to do with the fact that she hadn't mastered Moon Lake's layout completely. Though the thankful thing was that Rachel had largely went in a straight line through the woods and ran into nothing along the way. That was a good thing, and he hoped that when she crossed Main Street she would have noted the Japanese style walled estate to the east and moved to that corner which would lead her home. His ears pivoted as he looked about to check for traffic and found none... at least none in the nearby area. There were some sounds of traffic elsewhere, but none in the immediate area where he was. Making sure his clothes were tight underneath his arm and his shoes held firmly, Richard then dashed across the road and again sniffed the air, finding that again Rachel moved straight toward the woods, indicating that she had to be lost and that only added to his worries.
"Please be alright," Richard thought to himself as he did so.