Beatrix woke up in a strange place, there was the smell of a large fire burning nearby. His head was foggy and behind his eye felt sore, like a headache. He looked around him, he was inside a sort of wooden cave, made of branches from pine trees. The cracks were sealed with mud and wood pulp. The roof was flat but tall and in the middle was a hole where he could see a light grey sky. The breeze quickly brushed through his fur and went back out the hole. 

He stood up and turned around, he saw Blaine and Bartholomew laying down with their hooves and hands tied and their mouths muzzled. Beatrix rushed over to help them but was stopped by a thick vine that was tied to his hind right leg and the very back wall of the wooden cave. 

“Help! Help! I’m trapped!” Beatrix cried. 

“Shut it, Kasai!” A low pitched but feminine voice shouted. Beatrix looked up to the entrance and saw two figures standing. 

“Who are you? Where am I? Why are we tied up?” Beatrix asked rapidly. 

“Hush!” An even deeper voice called, this was a male. “You should tell us why you’re here!”

“I am going to untie you, but you will be led by Nanook. We have questions for you,” The female said. 

Nanook, the male, stepped forward into the light and Beatrix was astonished by what he saw. His eyes stared into Nanooks, they were light blue like glaciers falling into ice cold oceans. He felt his heart race and his stomach fly. Nanook didn’t look harmful at all, not cold and stern like Blaine, more relaxed and fine. Nanook was a griffon, but not like the ones he heard his mom tell stories about. He was smaller than the ones he saw in the jungle, and their colours were almost opposite. They looked like a whole different species. This griffon was part mountain lynx and part snowy owl. This was strange, Beatrix always thought that a griffon was only a harpy eagle mixed with a jaguar. If there were different types, maybe there were more than just the two he now knew of. 

Nanook used his talons, which were only on his front hands, to cut the vine. His talons were black like onyx and sharp like obsidian shards. He tied the loose end of the vine around his own wrist. 

“Aigh’t c’mon” he said as he led him toward the exit. When he turned around he noticed Nanook’s funny, tinny little bob tail. It was cute. Beatrix’s eyes were fixated on the griffon so much so that he didn’t even notice Blaine moving around trying to get Beatrix to stop following him like an idiot. 

Beatrix followed behind Nanook along a little path of soft ground, like soil but not quite. After a short amount of walking, they arrived at a triangular building made of whole trees, thick and sturdy. Out of the top there was a thick smoke floating up into the clouds. 

“This’s the chiefs den,” 

“Wow…” Beatrix gasped as he scaled the height of the den, it was at least fourteen tail lengths tall, his tail, not Nanooks tail. 

“I ‘av ‘em Mas’ko,” He called to the female leader. 

“How many times do ay ‘av to tell ya, ‘is Masako!” She shouted, clearly annoyed. Beatrix tried to hold back his giggles, they had such a silly way of talking. She sighed, “C’min!” 

Beatrix was shocked by what he saw, it wasn’t her beauty, or her tail, or her eyes, or the massive fire in front of him. It was just “her”. He was looking right at another kitsune! 

“Ye look shocked!” She chuckled, “Ne’er seen a kit’sun e’fore?”

Beatrix could no longer contain his giggles, he burst out laughing, tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. 

“Wat’cha laughin’ aboot?” Nanook asked, not stern, but amused.

“You’re talking so funny! Why do you talk like that?” Beatrix laughed. 

“Tisn’t funneh to mock another’s speech,” She said coolly.  

“S-sorry,” Beatrix mumbled. 

“Let’s get r’at t’ the point,” she started, “Do ya know where ya’ar?” He shook his head. “We’ar the Yama skulk,” 

“What does yama mean?” he asked.

“T’means mount’n, we’ar the kit’sun’s of the mount’ns.” She explained. 

Beatrix had never met a kitsune outside of the Kasai skulk. She was all grey except for the black socks on her paws and the tips of her ears. Her eyes were leafy green and she had long silver whiskers. 

“What’re ya do’in ‘ere?” 

“We’re looking for the qilin that lives in the caves somewhere up this mountain,” he answered. 

“Ya mean Haoran?” she asked. 

“I don’t know his name, but apparently he’s waiting for us,” Beatrix explained.

“He’s wait’n for all’a ya?” she asked suspiciously. 

“Of course! Why wouldn’t we all go together? I live with them, I can’t go by myself,” Beatrix said obviously.

“Mmm, ay see. So ye’r just pass’n through, ey?” Nanook chimed in. 

“I think so, if you guys will let us,” 

“Ay! We ‘av no reason to d’lay ya,” he said cheerily. 

“Nanook, we ‘av someth’n for ‘em to ‘elp us with, ‘ight?” she asked.

“Ay! Ya breath fire kid?” He turned to Beatrix.

“Um…I can, sort of,” he said sheepishly.

“Let’s make a deal, ey?” He started, “We got a really nasty hatch of baby lindworms in ar’ wa’er cave. The’re ruin’n the peace and mak’n the river slimy. If ya can get rid’o ‘em, we’ll guide ya ‘ight to Haoran,”

Beatrix stared at him blankly.

“Do we ‘av a deal?” he asked. 

“Will I be able to have Blaine and Bartholomew with me?” 

Nanook looked at Masako, “Ay, I doubt such a wee thing ‘ere could beat a hatch ‘o lindworm on ‘is own,” she said with a smile. 

“I’ll do it!” he decided. 

“Then let’s go get yer friends out’a them vines,” Nanook turned out of the den and Beatrix followed behind.