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Hello there, dear readers! I'm excited to have completed the newest chapter of The Fox's Path! This chapter was proofread by the amazing Trismegistus Shandy, whose stories are absolutely worth a read! Please feel free to leave a review!

"So... tomorrow's the day..." Ben said, his white and black striped tail swishing behind him. He was looking around the dinner table, at everyone's subdued faces. Shaun's excitement had been growing the closer the date of his departure into the Badlands approached, but the tension emanating from the family was sufficient enough to quelch his enthusiasm. The white tiger smiled at his nephew sitting across from him. "The day that my nephew goes out to complete the Ritual. I'm proud of you Shaun."

The teen wolf's ears perked up at that, and his tail slowly started to wag. Taylor, who was sitting on Shaun's left, smiled a little at his excitement, despite her worries.

"As am I, Shaun," Laura said after clearing her throat. She had remained the most vocal about Shaun going on this trip, even after coming to accept its inevitability. Still, she wanted to show her support. "I may not agree with your choice to agree to go, but I want you to know that I am so proud of you." The she-wolf's voice was laced with emotion, but she still managed a smile. Shaun's tail started to wag faster, just as he felt a thump on his right shoulder. He looked over at his big sister Molly, rubbing his shoulder where she had playfully boxed him, to see her tail a blur of excitement.

"I'm proud of you too, buddy, and I'm excited to get to see my baby bro out on an official Guild assignment!" the older wolf said, while Lily, who was sitting on Molly's right, just rolled her eyes.

"You're just excited to be in command of your own ship for once, no matter how tiny it is," Lily snarkily said.

"I'll have you know, Lily-pad," Molly said with a smirk as she addressed her little sister, "that the Blade of Tristova, while smaller than the Zeinta, it is in its own right a sleek, efficient, and deadly vessel, fighting in skirmishes a lot more dangerous than anything we'll be encountering out there."

"Especially with a complement of soldiers and Magi on the ground. Plus, let's not forget the extensive and, if I'm being honest here, downright brutal training that they've been putting you all through," Ben said, motioning to Shaun as he spoke, "that it'll just be a cake walk. Seriously, Shaun, I've seen you during your sessions. On your own, you are truly a force to be reckoned with."

The insides of Shaun's ears turned pink at the praise, causing him to look away and catch Taylor's eye. The teen vixen kept up her smile, despite the nervous tension she could feel from everyone at the table. Within the last week, there had been another three attacks, including an attack on a nearby Lescht compound. Since they had no such defenses or magic or modern technology to defend themselves with, it had been reported in the news to have been particularly devastating.

Shaun jumped a little when Abe reached across the table to clap his son on the shoulder. The grizzly bear gave Shaun a warm smile and an affectionate squeeze with his massive paw. "You'll do wonderfully, son, we all know it," Abe rumbled out. The rest of the meal passed by with only slightly stilted conversation, the family making an effort to praise and clearly trying to bolster the wolf's confidence. Soon enough, Taylor made her way upstairs, heading towards Lily's room, which she was still currently staying in, stopping at the open door of her room, which was Molly's former room that she was now staying in while she was in town. She saw Molly over at her desk, looking over a map. Molly, sensing the vixen's presence, looked over her shoulder at her new little sister and waved her in.

"Heya, Tay-Tay!" Molly said, using the term of endearment that Lily had first coined. "Something on your mind?" Molly asked after getting up and taking a seat at the foot of her bed, patting the spot next to her. Taylor walked over and took a seat, nodding.

"Does it have to do with Shaun's trip tomorrow?" Taylor nodded, her ears starting to splay on her head.

"Why do they have to go?" Taylor asked. "If it's so dangerous that they have to have this kind of an escort, then why even send some highschoolers out there anyway?"

Molly leaned up next to her youngest sister and draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, they have to go in order to complete the Ritual ," Molly said. matter-of-factly.

"I've heard people mention some ritual, but I cannot get any information about it," Taylor said, venting her frustration, "or why the adult mages can't just do it!"

"It's a pretty hush-hush subject, not everyone knows all of the specifics, except those that go to perform it, and maybe a few others. I'll tell you what I know of it, but you must promise me that you'll tell no one, okay?" Molly waited for Taylor to promise before continuing.

"Shaun mentioned him telling you about the Sargael empire. And how they tried to create their own brand of super messed up order, right?"

"Yeah. He said it was something to do with bringing order from chaos." Molly nodded.

"Pretty much. But to do that, they started to experiment in areas of science and magic that the guilds all over the world had unanimously forbidden. And the survivors eventually learned just why that was. They set off a chain reaction that warped the land itself that is now the Badlands. The laws of science and nature are now twisted in ways that even after all the time that we've had to study it, we still know very little about. It was a chain reaction that stopped exactly at their borders, in all of their borders all around the world, even the parts that weren't connected by landmass. The worst of it though, originated from their former capital, now ruins. It is there that Shaun and the others are going to be trekking tomorrow, to perform the Ritual. Now don't go asking me just what actually takes place, because I do not know," Molly said, cutting off Taylor who had opened her muzzle to ask about that very thing.

"What I do know are two things. One, in order to maintain a certain... balance that was discovered after the fall of the Sargael Empire, when expeditions were first made into the capital, a certain ritual, of their own design, needed to be performed every now and again, when certain celestial bodies on this plane of existence and others would line up in a specific way, in order to keep that balance maintained, and offering some level of stability to the Badlands. And the second, one of the requirements of the ritual is that it must be performed by students who have yet to learn and master certain levels and areas of magic. Something to do with a teenage magus in training's mind and how it functions. That's what I've gleaned at least," Molly said, giving Taylor a caring squeeze as they both sat there in silence. Taylor thought over what she had just been told.

"So then... Shaun really doesn't have a choice in the matter?" Taylor asked, her ears laying flat on her head.

"After he had accepted the offer to go... no... not really..." Molly said quietly.

"The... creatures... they're getting more... dangerous... aren't they?" Taylor asked after another moment of silence.

"Yeah," Molly said, her voice serious, "but it still has to happen. Hence why the ground troops, the extra Magi, and the ship I'll be commanding tomorrow. I meant what I said at dinner. The Blade of Tristova is without a doubt one of the best ships in the entire aerial fleet."

"Wh-what's it like... to be on an airship?" Taylor asked, trying to distract herself from the ball of ice in her stomach.

"Oh-ho, is my littlest sister showing an interest in joining the aerial navy?"

"Huh? I didn't say that! I was just curious. I've never seen an actual airship before coming to the crazy wor--city!" Taylor said, catching her almost slip-up.

"Lily did mention something about you escaping from one of those Lescht compounds, as well as something about a shootout and some explosions." Taylor winced as the misinformation of her origins still appeared to have taken on a life of its very own. They spoke more, getting to know one another, with Taylor feeling herself become more comfortable around her new big sister. Of course, her thoughts, and therefore their conversation, drifted back towards Shaun and his trip the next day. It was at this point that Molly stood up and had Taylor follow her to the desk, where there was a map laying out. Taylor recognized it as a map of Risen City, and the surrounding areas, including the Badlands to the east.

In the time that Taylor had been living with the Springs, she had come to learn that Risen City is an independent city-state, what turned out to be quite the common occurrence. To the south there was a small neighboring country named Filostantia, which mostly consisted of marshlands. To the west was a forestland that led right to a coast. There were also coastal beachlands to the north of the city itself. Taylor had also learned that Risen City was located on the northernmost point of the continent of Gushuana, with a few small islands just off the coast... and some floating over the land itself, as a shocked Taylor had seen herself one day.

The topographical map showed the Badlands and how it was connected via a peninsula that widened out into a much larger landmass, all depicted in pink, with a few paw-drawn symbols scribbled in a few places. Taylor saw the pencil Molly had been using next to the map. The she-wolf explained that she had been going over the details of the trip tomorrow, and making a few additional plans and contingencies, taking special note of certain landmarks and areas for the escort. They talked a little bit longer, with Molly wanting to further reassure Taylor, and it marginally working, before Taylor had to go back to Lily's room in order to do her homework. As she tried to concentrate on the mathematical formulae questions for altering the atomic structure of a quartz sample, her mind kept wandering back to the trip, and the worry she was feeling. After she was finished, and after staying up a bit to answer some more questions about what her old world was like for Lily, she tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, the little bit of sleep she did find was fitful, and full of anxiety, at least until she awoke to find Lily in the bed with her, wrapped around her protectively. After that, the vixen managed to sleep through the night, her dreams still colored by her fears.

All too soon, she awoke to the day of Shaun's departure. There was no school on this day, so for Taylor and Lily, there was no real rush to get ready. Shaun however, as well as Molly and Ben, were each dressed and ready to go. Taylor saw Molly in her full military uniform, while Ben was wearing a set of jeans and a white t-shirt. He had a sword strapped to his back, what Taylor thought looked like a cutlass, as well as a well-worn brown leather messenger bag slung around one shoulder. And Shaun was wearing his school uniform, with a pendant, silver, in the shape of a seven-pointed star hanging from a gold chain around his neck. They were sitting at the table as the girls came down, Lily with full bedfur along her face, still wearing her pjs.

Laura, dressed for the day, entered from the garage, giving a pained smile as she took a seat. Finally, Abe came down the stairs, dressed in red hospital scrubs, Taylor by now knowing that that was a sign that he had been called into work. But he too took the time to take a seat at the table. Breakfast was relatively light. A small plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee, which a bleary-eyed Lily immediately started to gulp down. Only after a few minutes did she seem to wake up more. Conversation was just as light as the breakfast, if not also a little awkward. Then, there came a knock at the door, and Taylor saw the solemn look on everyone's faces. She knew that the time for Shaun's journey had come. They all stood, the family once more taking turns telling Shaun how proud they were, as well as for Molly and Ben, and made all three promise to be as safe as possible. Shaun's tail drooped, despite his apparent excitement.

Seeing the three off, Taylor watched as Ben opened the door to reveal a silver dragon, in dark green hooded robes, standing on the doorstep. There were soft glowing runes on the robes that shifted and squirmed around, never staying still. With a final goodbye and a promise to be back in a while, Ben led Shaun out the door, with Molly following behind, giving one last wave. Once the door had been shut, Laura took in a shaky breath, prompting Abe to pull her into a comforting hug.

"They'll be safe, honey," he said in his gentle yet deep voice. "It'll all be over soon."

"Yes... you're right," Laura said, returning the hug while simultaneously wiping her eyes, "they'll be back before we know it." Taylor knew that, despite her worries, Laura was trying her best to remain optimistic. She took a step forward to offer her adoptive parents a hug, only to suddenly realize that Lily was hugging the vixen's tail close to herself, her own tail tucked between her legs. Taylor opened her muzzle to say something of comfort to Lily, only to find herself pulled into a bone-crushing hug. A few moments later, and Taylor found that Laura and Abe had joined in their hug, all four standing there in the living room, embracing each other. Soon, Abe had to finish getting ready for work, and broke off from the hug to head back upstairs.

"Alright, girls," Laura said, trying to sound chipper, and being mostly successful, "head on up and get dressed."

"Huh, why?" Lily asked, confused. "They said that there was no school today."

"True, but I think it would be nice to have ourselves a nice mother-daughters day today," Laura said, rubbing both of their headfur. Lily tried to bat their mother's paw away, smiling a little herself.

"Okay," she said as she grabbed a hold of Taylor's paw and led the vixen up the stairs. "I actually got us a pair of cute matching outfits, Tay-Tay!" Lily said, excitement in her voice. Taylor, having a feeling that this would be another lesson in her newfound femininity, sighed and went along with it, recognizing Lily trying to keep a positive attitude by keeping her mind distracted from her worries. Taylor found that her assumption was correct when, after entering her room, Lily rummaged around in her closet for a minute only to pull out two matching white sundresses.

"Really?" Taylor asked, to be met with Lily's puppy eyes. Taylor's resolve crumbled instantly beneath the onslaught. "Okay, okay, just put that sad look away!"

"And can I help you do your claws?" Lily asked, still keeping up the look.

"Fine," Taylor said, looking away.

"And make-up?"

Taylor looked back to try and draw a line, but made the mistake of looking directly at the face and taking another full brunt of the look. Taylor sighed.

"... Okay..." she said, noticing how quickly Lily dropped the sad look and was back to her usual energetic self.

Honestly now, the fact that I'm somehow the younger sister here is just downright ridiculous, Taylor thought to herself as Lily practically buzzed all around her, gathering up claw and make-up supplies. Then Lily was standing before her, with a determined look in her eyes.

"This is going to be my masterpiece!" Taylor gulped a little as Lily advanced on her.

One Makeover Later...

"Girls?" Laura stood at the base of the stairs and called up. Shortly after doing so, she chuckled. Down came Taylor and Lily, side by side, looking like twins, despite their being two different species. They were both wearing white sundresses, with thin little straps over their shoulders. The skirts of the dresses flared out at the hips, with the hemline ending just above their knees. As they got closer, Laura also noticed that they were both wearing matching lipstick and some light eyeshadow, the claws on their paws colored a white to match their dresses.

"You both look beautiful," Laura said, making Lily's tail wag and causing Taylor to blush a little, her own tail wagging. They both thanked her before following the motherly wolf out to the garage, both getting into the back of the minivan. Laura pulled out of the garage and, after waiting for the garage door to lower, turned down the street, driving out of the gates and into the city proper. It was a few minutes before they came to the mall, Laura quickly finding a space to park in.

"So, what's the plan for today, Mom?" Lily asked as they started to get out of the vehicle.

"Well, I thought that our first stop would be to pick up some things for a little celebration, once your brother and sister and uncle return from their little... excursion." Laura kept her voice from wavering, which Taylor noticed.

"Oh," Lily said in a small voice, automatically taking Taylor's paw in her own. "Okay, yeah, that's a good idea."

Taylor gave Lily's paw a squeeze, and smiled at her sister when she looked up.

"And then I thought that we three could do something special together as well. But that's going to be a bit of a surprise." Laura gave them both a wink, and started to lead the two towards the front entrance of the mall.

Thank you all very much for giving my latest chapter a read! I hope that you enjoyed it!