A girl clad in white sleeps beneath a tree beside the glittering lake. Her ears twitch as she tosses and turns as a nightmare seizes her.
"Run amethyst run!" Her mother cries. Shortly before strangers came to the village and upon seeing an albino they forsake the people and curse them.Then the village was set ablaze. And her parents killed before her eyes. The little albino neko fled covered in their blood.
The girl flew awake with a scream and began to sob into her hands as the memory burns in her head.

Trotting through the autumnal vista, Akori seemed more at home than she had most places on this world. Here was somewhere the kitsune moved about in as if supposed to, her sleek, russet coat blending into the fiery colours of the leaves and flowers. Though, if one were to think Akori a regular fox at first glance, they were soon to be proven wrong, as the four, bushy tails streaming out behind her would attest. There was also the small matter of her size - Akori had decided that, today, she would be the size of a horse. Pausing, the kitsune gave herself a mighty shake, sending stray twigs and leaves flying from her coat, before sneezing. This place smelled odd, clearly not her homeworld, but that was okay. It was just something she would get used to, the more she was here, and the more she explored. Besides, life was for experiencing, not staying in the same old, familiar places.

Moving forwards again, Akori's ears flicked back and forth, tracking the sounds around her. Absently, she pulled at the leather straps holding her pack tied about her shoulders. Improvised saddle bags, as it were, they held all of her worldly possessions - or rather, the stuff she couldn't wear and shift forms with. She was contemplating stopping and either rummaging in her pack for food, or taking a nap when she heard it. A shrill scream, from somewhere nearby. Without a thought, the kitsune moved into a jog, covering ground towards the noise. All she could think of was helping whoever had screamed, or at least finding out what had happened. It had sounded like a young one, afraid, and someone that young shouldn't be out here, let alone screaming.

Arriving at the source of the sound, Akori found a girl, sobbing beneath a tree.
Without a thought, the kitsune moved beside her and, plopping onto her haunches, curled a tail about her. While it couldn't be said that Akori had a maternal bone in her body, she was sensitive to the emotions of others - you couldn't be an energy vampire of sorts and not be - and this girl was shrouded in sadness. Also, crying. That was a giveaway, too, and you hugged crying people, and told them it would be okay. So that is what she did, despite not knowing the girl, and probably needing to have introduced herself beforehand.

But when had Akori actually ever planned anything?

"Hey, it's okay. My name's Akori - what's yours?" she asked, cocking her head down at the girl. Oh, cat ears and a tail, that was interesting. Was she a shapeshifter, too?
"I heard you screaming and came to see what's going on. Are you in danger?" Akori continued, lifting her head to look around. Finding nothing but picturesque scenery, she looked back at the girl, awaiting an answer.

Amethyst wiped her eyes and looked up at the giant fox. "Its just going to be a bad day"she murmured and leaned into the tail before stiffening and saying warily "your not hunting an albino neko are you?" She asked? Clad in a torn white dress of expensive silk she pulled her pack closer keeping the gold crowns adorned with rubies inside close to to her for safety.

While some kitsune were servants and heralds of dark powers, others were guardians and companions of goodness.

Akori, as it happened, was neither of these.

True, she tended towards wanting to help, and be good to others, but she was also out to have as much fun as possible. If she made people happy while doing so, all the better! So at the girl's question, Akori huffed out a laugh, and shook her head. The very idea that someone would have contracted the kitsune to go hunting for anyone, let alone a child, was ridiculous. For one thing, no-one knew who she was on this world, and so wouldn't bother seeking her out to do anything, and secondly, Akori wasn't exactly a gifted hunter. Sure, she had all the senses of a mundane fox, and then some, but she wasn't practised at stalking specific targets.

"No, I'm not hunting you - or anyone else," Akori replied at last, "Who is looking for you?"
Someone had to be after her, right? Crying, screaming, and immediately asking if a stranger was hunting her - you didn't need to be a genius to connect those dots.

Amethyst relaxed again "I am not quite sure who is hunting me or why they wish to kill me. But ten years ago they killed my parents and burned my village to the grpund. It was going to be the newest kingdom." She whispered. Then she pulled out her crown and those of her parents. She laid the the crowns of the king and queen on the ground and put hers atop her head. "My name is Princess Amethyst Ghost. I think they are after me because I am pure white. An albino. But I am not sure. I have fled for ten years. I don't stay in one place for more than a day or they might find me… And being untrained and unprotected I will surely die." She wraps her arms around her knees and stares into the water nearby. "I haven't even gone near a town or village or city. I am too frightened." Amethyst grabs her parents crowns and puts them back in her pack adding hers after. The gold sparkles and the rubies glint as the sun reflects off the disappearing signs of royalty.

Akori watched as the girl placed two crowns on the ground, and a third upon her head. Sure, they were pretty things, far as royal regalia went. Of course, the kitsune hadn't actually seen all that much in the way of crowns and finery, but she imagined this set was rather nice. They certainly sparkled and shimmered in all the right ways. The story the girl told her was sad, though utterly confusing to Akori. Why anyone would attack a family, burn a village to the ground, and hunt a child because of her colouring, made no sense at all. Cocking her head, the kitsune scratched at one of her pointed ears with a forepaw, thinking. Humans were rather concerned with looks, this was true - it was the whole point she had 'designed' her human form to look so appealing, after all. They also had weird superstitions and beliefs, as far as she was concerned. It wasn't beyond belief that they thought an albino child heralded doom and gloom or whatever. All utter nonsense, of course, but humans could do such cruel things based on such insubstantial beliefs.

The kitsune didn't understand the whys of it all, but the result was obvious in the lonely, scared girl beside her.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Amethyst," Akori said, curling her tail tighter about the girl in support. Was she supposed to say 'your highness' or something now? Nah - fancy titles and stuff just weren't her style, and the kid seemed like she needed a friend more than she did the empty words.
"Have you thought of finding someone to teach you? Or to defend you?" she asked, "I am sure there will be someone willing to help you."
There were many people around - not all would wish harm upon Amethyst. In fact, more would want to help than not, she thought.

Amethyst looked up at her and smiled saddly "I have been much to afraid to enter any town or village or city. The few I entered had my picture in them" she replied. "Would you travel with me for a while?" She asked rising to her feet as the sun rose higher into the sky. She wiped her eyes and smiled a little wider "it would be nice to have a companion for a bit. Thank you for c9nfprting me Akori"

Akori was a few centuries old - certainly much older than Amethyst - and while most would have found her optimism naive and childish, the kitsune rather thought it opposite. It was easy to get mired in dark thoughts and distrust, and allow those moods to drag you down into a spiral with them. It was sad to see one as young as Amethyst as distrustful and hopeless as she was. Especially since, personally, Akori believed that there would be more willing to assist the girl than not. Greed could motivate many, but compassion could do much the same. Shaking her head, the kitsune huffed at herself. She was starting to sound like her mother! No point over-thinking it or chewing it over and over, the fact was, someone needed help. Akori was in a position to do so. Therefore, she would.

Gently, she nudged Amethyst's side with her muzzle after the girl wiped her eyes, grinning.
"There we go, a smile is much better!" she said, before uncurling her tail from about Amethyst. Getting to her feet, Akori gave herself a small shake, rattling the items in her pack, and flinging some small twigs and blades of grass from her coat.
"Sure, though I don't have any idea where to go. I'm new around here," she agreed easily, happy to go along with the cat-girl. It wasn't like Akori had a life or death mission to see to, was it? "You can sit on my back, if you want," the kitsune offered. She'd carried people before, actually. Some willing, some not so much. She didn't see it as degrading or anything like that. In fact, it was kind of fun. You could run with slower friends much easier if they were on your back and not worry about leaving them behind. You just ran the risk of dropping them, but there were the straps of her bags for Amethyst to hold onto. It would be fine!

"Did you have anywhere you wanted to go?" she asked. Otherwise, they could pick a direction and just see what was that way.

Amethyst smiled and climbed up onto the kitsune's back "Thank you Akori. I have traveled pretty far and my feet are in pain and I believe blistered. Or maybe I should say paws. Hmm I have no idea. What would you call them?" She lost her train of thought as she gazed at her feet. They were elongated and looked sort of cat like in a way that they were raised up higher. But where human toes and flesh. She sat straddling the giant fox she wouldn't need the pack straps because of her cat like agility and her tail which flicked constantly to and fro to aid in her balance.

Twisting her neck, Akori glanced at Amethyst's paw-feet at the girl's question. True, they fit either definition, but they were closer to human feet than, say, her own vulpine paws. "I'd call them feet," Akori decided, after a moment's thought, "It must be difficult to find shoes that fit you," she added. No wonder Amethyst had blisters if she couldn't cover her feet, and had been wandering the wilds for years!

Looking forwards once more, Akori began walking at an easy, ground eating lope. No real goal in mind, just going wherever the fancy took her - no doubt Amethyst would pipe up if something caught her interest, or she thought of somewhere she wanted to go.
"I think there's some bindings in my pack, if you want to put them around your feet," the kitsune said, belatedly remembering she even had them, "I think they used to be a skirt, before I decided to go running in the dark and got it all torn up on a thorn-bush."
She sighed wistfully before chuckling, her jaw dropping in a wicked grin.
"Fun times!"

"I'm a travelling bard, so I walk a lot," Akori prattled on, even as she trotted alongside the lake, "I look for inspiration for songs and epics, as well as I just like travelling. It's a lot more interesting than just staying in one place. You meet a lot more people, and see a lot more, too."
Cocking her head, Akori looked back at Amethyst.
"Can you sing or play any instrument at all? I can teach you, if you'd like."