<--Main <-Fan Art A Day at the Beach by Cody Risen (Wil_I_Zin The Druid Echidna) It was a normal morning for Keen. Well, as normal as it could get. You see, Keen had a special secret. Not a crush on someone or loads of money hidden in a bank account. His secret was a person. Well, not exactly a person. She was more of an animal than a person, and her name was Miyo. She was a Kitsune. So what is a Kitsune? A Kitsune is best described as a fox. A multi-tailed fox. Thought to have been extinct or just a myth, the Kitsune is an ancient creature. Known to be mischievous, these creatures would play harmless pranks on humans. Although sometimes the pranks weren't that funny to the humans. Some times a Kitsune would be punished by a higher ranking Kitsune, usually because they played a huge prank on a human. Sometimes the humans would punish a Kitsune too, and when they did, they usually went overboard. Kitsunes are ranked by how many tails they have. A Kitsune is born with one tail and gains one more for every 100 years they live. With life spans reaching a thousand years or more, a ten-tailed Kitsune was considered very powerful by Kitsunes and humans alike. The tail of a Kitsune also contains magical ability. These abilities range from breathing fire to shape-shifting. Keen had first meet Miyo on the sidewalk of downtown Tokyo. She was disguised as a human, but Keen could still see her ears and tail. Not to mention she was wearing very strange clothing. He first looked at her and noticed her tail. She stopped and looked straight at him. Time seemed to stop as he looked at her. But then suddenly she took off running. She ran right across the street right into traffic. HONK! HONK! Unfortunately for Miyo, she stopped right in front of a moving semi truck. She was hit by the truck but suffered a mild concussion. Keen stayed with her at the hospital and helped her sneak out. He found out she was a Kitsune and that she had lost 7 of her tails. Miyo now stays with Keen, and considers him her "master". Today, however, Keen was glad that he could relax. He had planned for them to go to the beach and have some fun. Seeing how Miyo didn't know much about today's world, they would take the local train out to a small beach on the east coast of Japan. The beach was called "Shimmering Sands Beach" and there wouldn't be many people there. Miyo had been staying in Keen's upstairs guest room for the past 2 weeks. Her cover was that she was his cousin, and would be staying for awhile. Still, couldn't understand life as it is today. She had been recently awakened to this new world and was having trouble fitting in. -Come on Miyo!, called Keen. -Coming!, she said as she bounded down the stairs. -Great, now let\' s get moving. Keen saw that Miyo was already in her swimsuit that she bought the other day. He was glad that she at least had a good sense in what was acceptable. They hurried out the door and got in the car. Keen drove to the nearby train station and parked the car. It was really early in the morning, but they had to be sure to avoid the crowds of people at the beach. After they got on the train and sat down, Keen placed the basket he was carrying down on the floor. He slumped down in his seat and started to doze off. Miyo however stood up and looked out the window. She was amazed at this new world. How can big things move so fast? How could a box called a "refrigerator" be so cold on a hot day? She was most amazed the Kitsunes were not known to the humans. She couldn't remember much of her past, and for the life of her did not remember why she had been punished. The train started to slow down and that's when Miyo saw the beach. Spreading for miles was sand, rocks and the big blue ocean. -Wake up Keen, said Miyo, where here! -Ok, Ok , said Keen yawning, I' ll get up. -This is so cool! -It's just the beach Miyo, said Keen picking up the basket. -I know but I' ve never seen anything like it. Soon the train stopped and they both got off. The train sped away as Miyo ran down the boardwalk to the beach. Keen ran after her and set the basket down in the sand. Miyo ran right into the water, which she quickly jumped out of. -The water is so cold!, she said -What do you expect, said Keen, it' s the ocean. -I just didn' t expect it to be 'so' cold! Keen went into the water and started swimming. He looked at Miyo who had already set out a blanket and started to search throughout the basket for something to eat. She pulled out a sandwich and started eating it. Keen got out of the water and joined her by opening a soda. -It' s really cool here Keen, said Miyo. -Yeah, said Keen, I used to come here a lot when I was a kid. -That' s pretty cool. Miyo stopped talking and looked over at some kids playing volleyball. -What are they doing?,asked Miyo. -They're just playing volleyball, said Keen. -That sounds like fun, do you think we could play? Before Keen could say anything else Miyo ran over to the volleyball court to see the game up close. She was amazed how the humans bounced the ball back and forth without it hitting the ground. Keen stood behind her making sure she wouldn't do anything stupid. -Hi do you think I could play?, asked Miyo. Like that. -Miyo, said Keen, they're busy with a game now so- -Sure you can, said one of the men, you can take mine and Sandra' s place. -Thanks, said Miyo. The man then left the field and sat on the sidelines, as did another girl. Keen and Miyo took their positions. -Hey Keen, whispered Miyo, How 'do' you play this game? -The object of the game is for the ball to land on the other players side. The ball was served and Keen hit it back to the other side. One of the guys rebounded it back. Miyo bumped it up and Keen spiked it down. The other two people on their side cheered. Keen picked up the ball and served it. The other team returned it. One of Miyo's teammates hit it very high air. Miyo jumped up and spiked it down. Everyone had their mouths open, even Keen was shocked. Miyo looked at everyone with puzzlement. She didn\' t realize she just jumped 7 feet in the air. -How in the world did you do that?, asked one of the guys. -Did what?, asked Miyo. -She does cheerleading, said Keen. -That is so cool, said one of the girls. Keen and Miyo said good-bye and went back to where they set up their stuff. The found their site completely a disaster! -What happened here!, exclaimed Keen. After looking through all of their stuff, most of the food was missing, and so was Keen' s camera! -My camera is missing!, yelled Keen. -Hang on Keen, said Miyo, I think I smell the guys who took our stuff. -You can 'smell' them? -Yeah, we Kitsunes have a good sense of smell. Miyo stuck her head in the air and sniffed around. She started walking over to the lifeguard house and pointed in that direction. Keen walked around the hut and saw three guys eating some sandwiches and messing around with Keen's Camera. -Hey give that camera back, said Miyo. The bullies looked up and saw Keen and Miyo. They started laughing at both of them. One of them who was the oldest stepped forward. -Why should I?, asked the gang leader. -Because it's not yours, replied Miyo. -Miyo we should go, suggested Keen. -No, don't go, said the leader, I sure we could come to an... agreement. The leader snickered at his own comment towards Miyo. Miyo's face turned red. Even thought she was over 900 years old and she didn't know the customs of today, she knew a prick when she saw one. -Come on Keen, she said, were leaving. The bullies taunted Keen and Miyo as they walked away. Miyo then ran around the hut and to the other side. There was a dirt mound at the other end and they looked over the mound at the bullies. Miyo then poked Keen to get his attention. He looked at her and watched as she transformed back into her normal fox form. -Watch this, she said. Miyo stood on top of the mound and made herself look very big. She then growled and hissed at the bullies. Slowly they turned around and saw the strange white fox. They fell down on their butts and started whimpering. -Now, said Miyo in her fox form, you think it's nice to pick on people huh? All the leader of the bullies could was mutter and whimper at this talking fox. -Now get!, she yelled. The bullies took off running and dropped Keen's camera. Miyo and Keen started laughing and rolling in the sand. They had never seen such wussies in their life. -That was fun, said Miyo. -Here, said Keen handing Miyo a leaf, People are going to wonder where that girl went, and why I have a white two tailed fox with me. Miyo put the leaf on her forehead and she was showered in white light. When the light faded Miyo was there back in her human form. Unfortunately, she was also naked. Keen quickly covered his eyes and handed her back her bathing suit. Miyo slipped back into her suit and they picked up Keen's camera. They spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing on the beach. Soon they had to go home. As Keen packed up the basket, Miyo gathered up some cool stones she had found on the shore. They headed back to the train station and rode back to their car. As Miyo looked out the window she thought she was very lucky to have a friend like Keen. End of Tale Keen and Miyo are copyright characters of Magic Kitsune and should not be used without the owner's permission. Wil_I_Zin The Druid Echidna is copyright of Cody Risen and should not be used without the owner's permission. Fox Tails is hosted by comicgenesis, a free hosting service for webcomics