A Couple Days Later…
"So you live pretty close to Revit?" Keng asked as he followed side-by-side with Lily.
"Yup. It's a smaller village, but it's an off shoot of Revit." Lily nodded. The two moved through the thick forest. Blue, orange, and red leaves covered the sky as Lily confidently and happily lead the way.
"So, what was it called again?"
"For'wut."
"Forest?"
"For and woot together. Say it together."
"For woooot?"
"Almost."
"For'wut."
"Exactly! You got it!" Lily clapped. The two chuckled as Keng continued to joke about name. The forest path eventually widened, opening up to a bustling village. Children ran past Lily and Keng, shouting and giggling as they ran past them.
"Hey, kids!" Liliy shouted. "You guys need to stay close to the village!" A young man came to a stop next to them. Keng noticed a pink haired man with blonde roots with Asian features. He wore black shorts that went past his knees and sandals. He had a blue shirt on and looked curiously at Keng.
"Who's this, sis?" The man asked. Lily turned and her face instantly lit up.
"Winn? You— I thought you weren't supposed to be here until the party? W-why are you—" Winn bear hugged his sister as Lily giggled in excitement.
"Missed you lots, Li." Winn smiled.
"I missed you too!" The two hugged for quite awhile, pulling away when Keng's stares grew too much for Lily. "Oh, uh… This is… Keng." Lily pulled away and motioned at Keng. Winn turned to look at Keng, studying him.
"Oh, the one you mentioned in your letters. The Fox spirit with two bodies?" Winn looked at Lily. Lily nodded and Winn turned and stuck his hand out, giving off a bright white smile. "I'm Winn Wang. Lily's older brother."
"Keng." Keng shook his hand. He could feel Winn's grip tightening. It seemed like Winn was trying to tell Keng something without exchanging any extra words. Keng smiled and squeezed hard enough and shook his hand. The two pulled apart and Keng gave polite bow. "It's nice to finally meet one of the brothers Lily affoectionalely talks about."
He gave a happy smile as Winn studied him. He couldn't tell what Winn was thinking. Winn wasn't like the other people he met. They had things they showed but when he looked at Winn, he couldn't tell.
"Well, this'll be great!" Winn turned to look at Lily. "Mom will get a kick outta this. Why don't you go in and show your… What do you even call him?"
"Uhh… He's my b—" Lily began to say when Keng interrupted.
"Friend." Keng nodded.
"Mmm, friend." Lily nodded. Winn nodded and looked into the forest.
"I have to catch the children. I'll be back." Winn patted Lily. He turned to look at Keng, giving him another glance. "Go inside and meet the others. I'll be back."
"A-alright." Keng bowed. Winn gave a toothy grin as he shimmered and ran.
'He's bursting with energy.' Keng observed.
"Come on. Let's go." Lily tugged Keng forward.
For'wut villagers waved and greeted Lily and Keng. They all watched Keng as he passed, all curious about who the Fox Spirit was. Lily lead them to a house near the forest. There were pelts and meat out in the sun as a fire was going.
"Come on, Jacob! Stop!" A similar looking Winn chuckled as a dirty blonde with pink tips man tackled the similar looking Winn out the door.
"You're gonna get it dude!" Jacob chuckled as he tickled the similar looking Winn.
"Stop it! Stop it!"
"Boys! Enough!" A feminine voice shouted. A woman who looked like an aged Lily with black hair stood in the doorway. "I said to help me not horse around!" Jacob and the similar looking Winn rolled around the ground as they both chuckled. "Come on! STop i—"
"Hi Mom! I'm back!" Lily waved, running to the black haired woman.
"Ah, Lily! You're back! I thought you weren't coming back until next week?" Lily's mom hugged her daughter. Jacob and the similar looking Winn stood up and ran to their sister, hugging her.
"Hey Lil, you're back!" Jacob pinched Lily's cheeks.
"Surprise!" The similar looking Winn ruffled her hair.
"Stop! Stop!" Lily swatted. Though this was a happy moment, Keng couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. He never had anything like this and even though the Fox Spirits were all connected, he didn't have family like this. It didn't help that Lee Seng's memories were making it hard for him, either.
He slowly moved closer and Lily noticed him first. She pulled away and motioned at Keng.
"Come over here. Comee, come!" Lily motioned.
"Who's that? He come with you?" Jacob asked. Jacob and similar looking Winn began to quickly move past Lily and towards the new face.
"This the guy you mentioned in your letters?" Similar looking Winn asked. "What was his name?"
"Keng." Keng answered. He gave a polite bow as the two brothers started to circle the Fox spirit.
"A three tailed Fox Spirit? This one must be that new one I've heard about." Jacob snapped his fingers. "What was the other one's name, again?"
"Lee Seng." Keng replied.
"Exactly!" Jacob nodded. His happy demeanor quickly shifted into big brother mode and he studied Keng.
"So what's your relationship with my sister?" Similar looking Winn asked.
"Bright! Jacob! Enough! He's technically the leader of the Saviors and my friend!" Lily shouted trying to break her older brothers apart.
"Ah, you two! Are you going to be like this every time she brings a new boy friend over?" Mother Wang shouted.
"BOYFRIEND?!? HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND?!?" Jacob and Bright shouted in unison. They turned to face Keng and began to grab him when a black haired young man stood in front of the two tall brothers. The black haired young man was slightly shorter than the brothers as he gave an unamused look.
"Enough, Jacob. Bright. You'll scare him. You know he isn't her boyfriend. He's too old for that. Mom would tell Dad and Dad would spill his guts on the floor before he even laid his hands on her." The black haired man spoke.
"Phi!" Lily pushed herself through her brothers and looked up at Philip. "Where were you?"
"I went to grab some food for Mom. Dad's not too far behind." Philip motioned. He turned to look at Keng and gave him a nod. "I'm Philip. Lily wouldn't stop talking about you and your buddy for weeks." Philip stuck out his hand and Keng shook it.
"Keng. Nice to meet you." Keng smiled as Philip moved out of the way.
"Why are you standing outside? Weren't you supposed to help your mother?" A gruff male voice spoke.
"Father!" Lily shouted. She pushed past and ran to her father, a dirty blonde-pink haired man with pink tails behind him.
"Ah, Lily. You're back! I thought you weren't supposed to be back for awhile longer? Why're you here? Did your leader leave already?" Lily's Father asked.
"Oh, no. Things didn't go well and he's with me. I actually have something to talk to you and Mom about regarding him."
"Regarding him? What do you mean?" Lily's Father moved past him and looked at Keng. Philip pushed Keng forward and watched the Silver Fox stumble forward.
"S-sir." Keng stumbled as he bowed. "It's nic-nice to finally meet you. L-Lily talks a-about you a-all the time." The Pink Fox studied the Silver Fox, circling him as Lily and her siblings watched. Mother Wang moved to join her sons, watching.
"Ah, you radiate such nice energy!" Lily's Father chuckled. He patted Keng hard in the shoulder. Keng awkwardly chuckled and nodded. "Come inside. Let's feast tonight! I can't wait to see my oldest son, again, but tonight we celebrate the kids who've returned today! Come, come!"
Keng was shoved forward by Lily's father. They all went inside the hut which turned out to be way larger than Keng imagined. The brothers pulled him out of their father's grasp and sat him down and gathered around him.
"So, how long you've been here?" Bright asked.
"How long you know our sister?" Jacob asked.
"Stop barraging him with questions. You make it look like he's actually dating our sister." Philip shook his head.
"Two months, almost?" Keng replied. The three brothers looked at him. Philip was the most surprised that Keng had actually answered. "I've been here two months and I've known your sister for a month now?"
"Only a month and you've been together? In the same place?" Jacob leaned into Keng.
"It's not like that. We sleep in different rooms. She does her thing and I do mine. She cooks a lot and I watch her because she's good at it."
"So you're saying you let a lady do all the work?!?" Jacob slammed the table.
"That's not what he's saying." Bright shook his head. "You know she likes cooking."
"But she knows how to hunt like the rest of us!" Jacob shouted.
"He looks like the type to wander around a lot." Philip pointed out.
"How do you know?" Jacob asked.
"Calm down, bro." Bright patted Jacob. "He's really tan for this time of year."