Foxfire: Veil of the Nine Phantoms

19: Whiteout IV - Snowstorm

December 25 - Melanie

I heard a notification sound from my phone and retrieved it from my pocket. To my delight, I discovered a message from my closest friend, Eva.

"Look at what my parents got for Christmas!" Eva messaged.

In the picture she sent me, I saw an adorable red Shiba Inu puppy, the type that frequently made appearances in Doge or Cheems memes. I couldn't help but chuckle when I realized the breed of dog they'd chosen. In the photo, the puppy was enthusiastically gnawing on the corner of a small pillow. In another snapshot, the puppy napped softly on the wooden floor, evoking an irresistible sense of adorableness that brought a smile to my face.

"It's so cute! Is it a boy or a girl?" I texted back.

"It's a boy. We're going to name him Tokwa! It means tofu hehehe," she replied. "My parents said that since I'm studying in Vancouver, they needed to find a replacement."

"You're not going to be the favourite child anymore!"

"They said the dog would be a better choice because it will shower them with unconditional love and will be easily satisfied by dog food, unlike a whiny teenage girl who costs thousands of dollars to put through university." It was just a text message, but I could feel Eva rolling her eyes through the screen.

I chuckled softly, catching Hoshiko's attention. She called to me, "Darling, your generation spends far too much time with their necks craned downwards, staring at phone screens all day."

"I'm just chatting with my friend. Her family got a dog for the holidays."

"Oh?" Hoshiko frowned at the mention of dogs.

"Here, let me show you," I said, tilting my phone's screen toward Hoshiko to display the adorable photos of my friend's Shiba Inu. "Isn't he just adorable?"

Hoshiko examined the photos with a troubled frown. "That is truly disgusting. That dog looks precisely like the kind of dogs that pursued me when I was just a young fox. Those dreadful little hunting dogs possess a truly ferocious bite. Revolting, repulsive, vile little creatures. That's what I think of them. Natural enemies of kitsune, I tell you."

I teased, "I thought you weren't afraid of dogs anymore, grandma. It's just a puppy."

She shook her head, saying, "That puppy will one day grow into a formidable beast, capable of striking terror into the hearts of foxes throughout the neighbourhood."

"If that's what you believe, grandma... If that's what you believe..." I replied with a hint of amusement, then turned off my phone and returned it to my pocket.

We were standing inside the Old City Hall's clock tower, just beneath the tower's resonant bells. The bourdon bell reverberated loudly, signalling the passing of each hour. It was the evening of Christmas day, and darkness had enveloped the cityscape beyond the tower's walls. Hoshiko had kindly suggested we fly up to the gargoyles situated outside the clock tower, but I hesitated at the idea of standing on those stone figures, exposed to the open air nearly a hundred metres above the ground. The thought of it seemed far too precarious for my liking. So, instead, the two of us opted to stealthily climb the dusty stairwell that wound its way up the dimly lit shaft, leading to the clock perched atop the tower.

The interior of the clock tower was shrouded in darkness, clearly not a place meant for visitors. The only person regularly allowed to enter the clock tower was the horologist responsible for maintaining the tower's grand clock, a timepiece that had faithfully kept time since 1899. Hoshiko held her foxfire in her hands, providing us with a dim but comforting light. The kitsune's radiant amber eyes shimmered with an otherworldly luminance, a sight I had grown accustomed to whenever she harnessed her magical abilities.