Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

"Sho... what were we doing?" Pacifica asked.

"I dunno, I feel like something is wrong though," Shouri replied.

Once more they found themselves in the dreamscape, complete with the empty, unchanging fog. The familiarity of the mist elicited a sense of dread rather than one of ease.

"We're in a dream," Shouri established quickly.

"Right! Yeah!" Pacifica nodded, again becoming cognizant of the situation they had fallen into.

The two frowned, exchanging hums of thought. "I really feel like something is missing though, but I just can't remember when we fell asleep," Shouri grunted, trying to dig up any semblance of a memory.

Pacifica too, strained herself, reaching deep to dredge up a memory of their objective here. "Something is missing," she repeated Shouri's thought. "Darn it, what are we forgetting?" She pounded her head with her fists. It was really important, yet whenever she tried to think of what it could be all she drew was frustration.

"Maybe if we walk, we'll figure it out?" Shouri suggested.

"Yeah, good idea Sho." Pacifica nodded with a smile.

There was something about this whole set-up that felt familiar and put him on edge, but his memory of events outside the current dream was too muddled to inform his decision-making.

Endlessly they walked never making any progress. No matter how long and far they shuffled along everything simply looked the same. Even the ground beneath them never seemed to change. A play on loop, practically taunting them in its repetition.

"Augh, still can't think of anything" Shouri suddenly spoke up.

"Maybe we should take a break?" Pacifica offered.

"Mhm, that sounds good."

Locating a suitable patch of wall, the pair took a small reprieve from their pilgrimage. "You know, this feels weirdly familiar." The water Resonator leaned her head against her Maestro as they sat on the ground.

Furrowing his brow, Shouri slowly nodded. "Definitely, but it's-"

Cutting him off was a low growl. One which was etched into their very souls. "I suddenly remember this dream," Pacifica spoke the grim realization.

"Fuck fuck fuck. We need to wake up," Shouri cursed, jumping to his feet and pulling his otter-girl up with him.

THUD THUD THUD THUD

The pair bolted for their lives. Behind them was the massive lion that wanted them dead. The same lion that had attacked them twice now.

"Leave us alone you fuck!" Pacifica screamed back at the beast. All this accomplished was earning a piercing roar from the savage beast.

"What did you think that would do?!" Shouri shouted back to Pacifica.

"I was hoping it'd be intimidated!" she cried out.

"You're sounding more intimidated now than anything!"

"You're not?!"

"I never said that!"

Shouri desperately whipped his head to and fro, looking for any kind of landmark they could dart around or an alleyway to hide in. Something, anything!

Alas, there was none to be found. The walls and road stretched on forever like the worst maze in the world – a single path to infinity, with an angry beast wanting to consume them in hot pursuit.

Unfortunately, the chase had to end at some point, and this time it was Pacifica who catalyzed their demise as she suddenly tripped, being torn out of Shouri's grasp.

"PACI!" Shouri pivoted back sharply, diving to scoop her into his arms. He did make it, saving her from being crushed underfoot by the lion. But even in the dream world, it seemed Shouri wasn't the best at these kinds of athletics and the pair lay in a heap on the ground. A delicious-looking pile of meat from the perspective of the lion who pinned the pair down for a third round of consumption.

All the air was gently crushed out of them as the beast applied the precise amount of pressure to keep them alive but squeeze the resistance out of them. A cruel merciless beast this one was, toying with them until the very end.

Thwick!

The beast perked up. Something had struck it. Whatever it had been was small, barely registering to the creature, but annoying nonetheless.

Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick Thwick

The volume increased rapidly until 107 of these strikes total had hit their mark.

"Alright! I tried asking nicely!"

THWACK!

The beast was removed by a massive force, giving Shouri and Pacifica much-needed relief and room to breathe. The pair sat up coughing and wheezing, taking in large gasps of life-giving air.

Clack clack

Something landed nearby. A pair of metal geta. Tracing up the figure that had saved their lives, they found this mystery person was clad in black monk robes with matching beige pants. A singular white-tipped black fox tail swished behind them. Their long black hair was tied high, swaying in the wind that had begun to blow upon their entrance. A pair of blue eyes opened, and the savior's lips turned to a smirk as small silver beads began to fly to their neck, forming a necklace 107 strong.

"Sorry, I'm late," Taika spoke from this newcomer's body.

"T-TAIKA?!" Shouri and Pacifica exclaimed in shock.

"Yep! Never fear I am here!" the vixen beamed, her tail swishing behind her excitedly.

"What the heck are you wearing?" Shouri inquired, finally taking in the odd garb his Resonator was clad in.

Her ears twitched, as she glanced behind her. "Hang on Sho." Pivoting on her geta, she turned back to face the direction she had sent the Scherzando in. Once more emerging from the fog was the lion. It approached slowly, carefully. Whatever this strange fox was, it was not to be trifled with.

"W-wait! Taika! You can't fight that! We don't have spells!" Pacifica tried to warn her.

The monk-robed vixen relaxed, turning to her Maestro and fellow Resonator. "Uhhh, this is a dream? We can do whatever we want."

"Eh?" Shouri and Pacifica stared back, flabbergasted.

"Just watch." She took in a deep breath, extending a palm towards the beast. The 107 beads left her neck and shot toward the sky. "Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato!" she called out.

Her voice echoed down the empty street they stood on. For a moment there was silence. The beast began to growl once again. That was until the fog began to clear. "Right on schedule." Taika chuckled. A massive space rock wrapped in ice descended from the sky, slowly smushing the beast underneath.

Shouri and Pacifica looked not at the destruction of their tormentor, but to the girl who had rescued them. She stood confidently, staring down the last rites of the beast, her hair, tail, and robes whipping in the wind triumphantly.

As the dust settled, Pacifica felt a sense of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted off of her. "That did it." She looked at her hands. "That thing won't bother us again." A smile rose on her lips, as the joy invaded her from where the despair had left.

Shouri, ever the scholar, was more curious about his Lunar Resonator. The strange monk robes turned to light, shattering off of her and returning her to her usual everyday attire. "Sho." She smiled at her Maestro.

"What the heck just happened?" he asked, though returning her expression in kind.

Taika stroked her chin in thought. "So, there was this girl," she began, "she had big yellow dragon wings. Oh, she also had horns and super long blonde hair." The vixen frowned for a moment. "And some cute fluffy ears like me and Paci's!"

"Okay?" Shouri didn't see the relevance.

"She told me she was going to save you herself, but since I was here it'd be best if I did it instead," the lunar fox recalled.

That felt strange to Shouri, but he chalked it up to random dream nonsense. Looking around, the walls that surrounded them were crumbling away, revealing the true nature of their shared dreamscape: a picturesque field of flowers, in the distance there was a single, solitary hill with a tree that stood proudly at the peak.

"It's beautiful." Pacifica took in the sights as the final puffs of fog melted away under the warm, gentle sunlight. She took hold of Shouri and Taika's hands.

"Come on."

Leading the pair up the hill they found a spot to sit. Pacifica took the center, with Shouri and Taika on either side of her.

"This is nice." Shouri leaned on Pacifica's shoulder.

"Yeah." Taika did the same, cozying up against her friend.

"This is the kind of dream I want to have." Her eyes gradually closed, finally at peace.

The next time her eyes opened, Pacifica found herself in the MA office she had fallen asleep in. The only difference was the sun was now setting. She awoke not exhausted and afraid, but rested and content. Shouri and Taika too slept peacefully, faces free from pain or worry. Slowly she drifted back to sleep, feeling safe to do so.

Upon her next awakening, the sun had completed its journey for the day, now fully set.

"Hey, hey, wake up." Rebecca shook Pacifica before walking around the bed to do the same to Shouri.

"Rebecca?" Shouri groggily rose. Waking up feeling somewhat rested presented one conclusion to him: "I guess we won." He yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah, like an hour in, you all started getting rhythm back, so I just let you sleep," the fire Resonator told the bed-bound trio. "We got a new problem though."

The tone in her voice was grim, which sobered up Pacifica and Shouri in an instant. Taika was still dead asleep though. "What's going on?" Shouri hesitantly inquired.

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"This just got slipped under our door a couple of minutes ago." Rebecca handed a folded-up piece of paper to Shouri before going to turn on some of the room lights.

"What is it?" Pacifica asked as the lamps were flicked on by Rebecca.

"Dunno." Shouri unfolded the sheet, finding a handwritten note.