Prologue

“Cassidy come on calm down,” A well-built woman exited a tall building. More accurately a female Biscotti exited. Slightly taller and typically more well-built than your average human woman, but the more noticeable difference were the floppy ears sprouting from the side of her head and short bushy tail sprouting from where a human tail bone would end, in this case poking out of a convenient hole in her outfit between the loose shirt she was wearing and her relaxed jeans. Both her ears and tail were covered in a fur the same color as the “hair” on her head, a bright caramel brown. “Babe?” She cautiously approached the girl she was chasing after.

This girl, in contrast to her, was slightly small and would be slightly thin for a human, but was average build for a Miqo and only slightly on the short side. Much like the Biscotti chasing her though the most distinguishing feature between a Miqo and your typical human was her ears and tail. In comparison to the Biscottan her ears were sharper, pointed upward without any of the floppy slack, and her tail was longer, slender, and more prehensile as well. Again the fur on her ears and tail matched the “hair” on her head, which was a dull red color. Her tail sprouted out through a rather discreet separation in her dress between two ruffles. The dress itself was simple one piece white dress. The sort of double ruffle that was typical in all of the beastkin dresses to allow for tails to slide through was actually a bit odd looking, making the dress appear fancier than it really was, at least to a human.

The Biscotti approached the Miqo who was sulking a little distance away, her tail wrapped loosely around her left leg. Biscotti tails had a famous tell for when they were happy and similarly Miqo tails had a tell for when they were sad, though this tell was less well known.

“Hey hey,” The larger of the two spoke calmly as she approached carefully putting her hand gently on the smaller one’s shoulders. “It’s ok Cassy relax.”

“Ugh it’s definitely not ok,” Cassidy said with a sniffle. “I totally freaked out in there.”

“Well I mean …” The Biscotti struggled to sugar coat things but failed to do so in a convincing way. “Yeah ok a little.”

“I’m sorry it’s just all of this,” Cassidy did a quick spin gesturing to the whole land around them. “It’s just so much. To see all this stuff so … untainted. And to think about what that all means.”

“Yeah I. Well I can’t even begin to relate.” Cassidy just stared at her partner with tear filled eyes.

“And they just kept pushing it.”

“Look Samara. She’s just turning fifteen. She hasn’t even been out of her puppy years for that long. She’s just curious, and maybe a little overeager” Cassidy gave her a look. “I know. The whole human conquest thing isn’t taken as seriously over here. They don’t know it’s such a touchy subject for some Miqo. I’ll go talk to her, tell her to apologize.”

“No no Callie,” Cassidy grabbed her partner’s sleeve stopping her advance back toward the large, tall, building. “That's just going to make things worse, and it’s already tough getting your family to accept us. I mean not only the whole Miqo thing but we’re both girls and I know how everyone over here is obsessed with the family line.”

“Now who’s being culturally insensitive?” Callie playfully brushed Cassidy’s arm. Cassidy looked up and gave a slight chuckle.

“Yeah ok you got me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok baby,” Callie gave a quick kiss to Cassidy’s forehead. “Look don’t worry about what they think ok. I love you, they aren’t going to keep me away from you no matter what.”

“Oh gosh,” Cassidy blushed a little. “You’re such a softie.”

“Well whaddya wanna do now? You gonna head back in there?” Cassidy glanced over Callie’s shoulder back to the building. The first floor was lit up brightly and loud music could be heard starting up again. The lights on the second floor were dimmed and the rest of the tall building was dark.

“Can you get into your room from the outside?”

“No all the stairs start in the family room.” Cassidy frowned slightly. Even though in some respects this was a snapshot of the culture she had been so hurt about losing, she had to admit this family building layout of living left a lot to be desired. Having to walk past everyone to get up to your room in the large building was probably annoying even if all of these was her blood relatives.

“Can you bring my staff out?” Callie gave Cassidy a quizzical look.

“What are you gonna do with that?”

“Nothing crazy,” Cassidy said defensively. “I’m just gonna levitate up there.”

“Lotta effort just to avoid awkward conversation.”

“It’s me you’re talking to.”

“True. I’ll go see what I can do.”

“Just go chuck it out your window, but leave it open for me.” The two moved back to the building to do just that. Callie received a warm welcome from her family as she entered one of the many doors to the first floor of the large building. A large central “family room” as they called it. She would have to climb up a series of stairs as each floor was subdivided between different smaller family groups on one level, and then individual families on the next, and the individual rooms above that. It meant that Cassidy had enough time to get into position by the window of Callie’s bedroom that they’ve been sharing while they were here. After a few minutes Cassidy heard a whooshing sound as what appeared to be a large stick fell from the window and landed with a small thud on the ground near her.

Cassidy hurried and picked the stick up. Well it was a little more than a stick to her. It was about as tall as her and at the end of it was a gnarled circle of roots, inside of this circle was a light purple crystal about the size of Cassidy’s fist. Really the crystal was the important part of the whole thing. Cassidy grabbed the staff confidently, her hand fitting into its familiar worn spot on the handle. The crystal at the tip glowed slightly, before the whole thing was enveloped in a sparkling blue aura. When Cassidy dropped the staff again instead of hitting the ground it floated horizontally in place. Cassidy shakily sat herself on the staff. The thing was only about as tall as her and not very wide, so it was a bit of a precarious perch, but one she was used to. With a sure grip Cassidy channeled her magic again and the staff slowly lifted upward toward the open window it fell from.

“Well hey cutie,” Callie said cheesily leaning against the window sill.

“Aaaa!” Cassidy yelped and the staff abruptly fell about six inches but stabilized before disaster struck.

“Oh sorry babe.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Cassidy brushed the near death off and the staff climbed again. On reaching the desired height Cassidy carefully stepped into the small room, grabbing the staff once she was inside and stopping the spell causing the staff to obey the laws of gravity again.

“My sexy enchantress,” Callie said seductively.

“Easy there tiger,” Cassidy giggled. “You got a birthday party to get back to.”

“You sure you’re gonna be ok up here?”

“Yeah yeah I’m fine. I’ll just make things worse if I go back.”

“Oh All right babe,” Callie waved as she made her way to the almost ladder like stairs at the front of the room. As she descend the hatch the ladder was attached to folded back up not unlike how the door to your attic might close. Cassidy pointed her fingers at the lamp by the bed and the room and white crystal inside lit up with a similarly distinctly artificial white light that matched the color of the crystal. Cassidy squinted at the harsh light, and rotated her finger counter clockwise and the brightness dimmed until Cassidy was satisfied. She pulled out her book from her bag next to the bed and began reading.