In the city of Quesselve, somewhere along the south-east shore of the half-breed kingdom. A small red two-tailed fox was jumping from house to house to get to its destination as soon as possible without anyone noticing it. The fox had done this many times before, although it was never worried about being hidden in the shadows before, it knew every sled, every loose brick of the houses, it knew exactly where to step to not lose its balance. The streets were different too, they had never been so quiet when the sun was still up before, and the silence was not peaceful rather it was full of anxiety and depression. It picked up its speed when the large castle appeared in sight, jumping up through the castle towers and trees around it, the fox landed on a window ledge in one of the high window towers, the window opened and the fox slipped in.
Inside the room it slowly transformed into a girl, she looked completely human now, except for some little features like the fox ears and the red puffy tail.
"Did you see anything Emily?" from inside the room appeared another girl, this one too had some other features that distinguished it from a normal human, like a long yellow tail with brown hairs at the end and similar ears.
"No, I managed to reach the easter walls and looked over the tallest tower, I didn't see anyone outside the city, they haven't sent help yet," the other girl answered.
"I don't understand, what is he waiting for? and what the hell the barbarians are waiting for?" she wondered aloud.
"I think they are holding us hostage, Vanessa," said the other girl.
"And what? ask my father to surrender the whole kingdom for a city?" she scoffed.
"I think we should try to escape," said Emily.
"No, we can't, we have no idea what they would do to the rest of the people in the castle, to Uncle," said Vanessa.
"Dad's already locked in the dungeon with the rest of his ministers, maybe your father isn't sending help because he is worried about you, if you escape you can come back yourself with an army and save us," said Emily.
"No, we don't need to do that, I trust my father he must have a plan in mind, we need to do something from the inside if a fight happens, we must make sure we can secure the people quickly and help them too, we need to make a proper plan, did you manage to talk to your brother?" asked Vanessa.
"No, James and all others who were at the port when the barbarians landed are still under very tight security, they took away all their weapons, and have chained the ones who tried to protest, they don't feed them much to keep them tired and weak," said Emily.
"Are they still in the warehouse by the port?" she asked.
"Yeah," Emily replied.
"We need to find a way to contact him, without their help we won't be able to start a proper fight, isn't there any other way inside the warehouse," she asked.
"I thought of that when I was checking the place out, but the security is too tight, they are always kept under watch, it's too dangerous," said Emily.
"Don't worry about that just tell me the way," said Vanessa.
"Well, the whole dock is built over water, and so is the warehouse, we can just dive into the water from the edge somewhere secluded and swim to under the floor of the warehouse, that's how far I have thought," said Emily.
"Brilliant, that will get us right underneath to the room where they might be keeping James," said Vanessa.
"Yes, we can check the blueprints of the warehouse in my dad's library but the floor under the warehouse would be made of really strong wood and it would be several layers thick, what are we doing once we get there?" asked Emily.
"We need someone who can be of help," said Vanessa.
"Who?" asked Emily.
"Who do you think? Weiss!" said Vanessa.
"No, she will never agree to help us, I mean it is really dangerous, and you know how big of a rat she is, she hates us," said Emily shaking her head.
"She won't be like that now, even if she would want to help us save the city, we need to ask her at least," said Vanessa.
"Ah, I don't know, I mean even if we did, how will the three of us get past the watchmen to the warehouse, I mean It's fine for me, I transform into a small fox, but you transform into a big lioness and Weiss into a big beaver," said Emily.
"We don't need to go there through the city, doesn't the pond behind the castle directly link to the sea, we can just swim there and it will be much easier to hide too," said Vanessa.
"Yeah, that's the best way," agreed Emily.
"Now we just need to get the map of the warehouse and Wiess," said Vanessa.
"You stay here, I'll bring the map," said Emily.
"No, doesn't that barbarian chief has taken up your dad's office," said Vanessa.
"I'll make sure he isn't in there, I am not that stupid," said Emily.
"There might still be his men there," said Vanessa.
"I'll just say, I was going to get some food from the kitchen, I have used that excuse before, they try to scare you and just sort of growl at you but they leave me alone," said Emily.
"No, I heard what happened with Sora, I can't let you go alone, I am coming with you," said Vanessa.
"If you come we'll be noticed even more, with those huge tits and ass, you are like a buffet for them, that's why Sora got taken advantage of, because she was like you, trust me let me go alone," said Emily.
"No, It's getting late, I am coming too, we'll take Weiss and leave directly from there, I can't stay in this room all the time, I anyway have to come to the pond later," said Vanessa.
"Mom had instructed you to keep your head down, if they found out who you are, I mean they can see you are a lioness," said Emily.
"There are other lion families too, and these are different times, we have to be brave," said Vanessa.
"And if they stop us, which they will if they saw us, what then?" said Emily.
"I'll just have to endure it, for my nation and my people," said Vanessa.
"You are too noble sometimes," said Emily shaking her head.
"Fine, let's go," said Emily and the two girls left the tower room and headed downstairs for the main part of the castle. The castle was built with large black stones, carried by elephants and bears many centuries ago, thick red carpet was laid in the corridors, it used to be cozy and warm, but now every corner felt dangerous and dark to Vanessa.
They quickly made their way to Emily's dad's office, it was in the center of the castle, the most important room, with a large window looking over the rest of the city and the sea, fortunately, they didn't run into any barbarian guard on the way and the office was empty too, they quickly took the book with the city maps and left the library this time in the other direction where the rest of the nobles were staying.
"Do you know which room she is in?' asked Vanessa.
"Yeah, this one," said Emily and opened the door without knocking. Someone jumped inside the room and hissed when they saw Emily entering but then slowed down when Vanessa entered too.
Weiss was similar in height to Vanessa and in other areas, but she didn't have the same long tail, her nose was a bit rounder, her front teeth just a tad bigger, and her eyes black, her hair brown and curly. Wiess didn't like Emily and she didn't shy away from saying so, but she still hesitated whenever Vanessa was around since she was the daughter of the king.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed at Emily.
Emily sighed reluctantly and then told her their plan, Vanessa had to chip in because she had started shaking her head already.
"I don't want to do it," said Weiss.
"Isn't Dean, there too, don't you want to help your brother?" asked Vanessa. This finally made Weiss stop shaking her head and think a little.
"We can't be scared, Weiss, if we sit doing nothing, we will all be killed anyway, we should try something at least," said Emily.