Biohuman

Lady Vix'i packed some extra clothes for all three boys while Lee Seng Realmwalked back to his dorm room and switched outfits. Keng grabbed the bow and strapped it onto the sack given to him by Lady Vix'i. He gave the sword to Lee Seng to hold.

"Got everything?" Lee Seng asked.

"Yeah. Lady Vix'i gave us all extra outfits and three translucent rocks. She said they would be used for cleaning the outfits." Keng explained.

"Cool. You good, Ritsuka?" Lee Seng looked over at Ritsuka.

"Mmmhm." Ritsuka nodded.

"'Kay let's go then." The three moved out of the crystallium and moved to the left side of the Village. Halys had told them he would wait for them by the left gate. Foxes stared at Ritsuka as they passed. Lee Seng had seemingly moved to the right of Ritsuka, putting him in between Lee Seng and Keng as they passed.

"Who's that with the twins?" A female Fox pointed at Ritsuka.

"Oh, you don't know?" A male Fox looked at the other. He pointed over at Ritsuka. "The vessel, Lee Seng, brought his human friend into this Realm."

"They brought a human to this Village? Don't they know they can't do that?"

"Nobody told them. That's why they're leaving today. I hear they're going to that cabin in the floral forest."

"Oh, God King." The female covered her mouth. "They're better off going to the Tomb!"

"Captain Halys needs to train them apparently."

"Doesn't Captain Halys hate that place the most? Wasn't he one of the many who got really spooked?" The female Fox looked at the male Fox. The male Fox nodded. "How did they manage to convince him to go back to that place?"

"Not sure." The male Fox shrugged as Lee Seng and the two other boys moved further away. "I wonder how long they'll last in that place."

"What're you guys talking about?" A second female Fox stood next to the other two and looked at Lee Seng and the others. "They're going to the cabin, right?"

"Mmhm." The first female fox answered. "How long do you think they'll last?"

"They're Saviors, right?" The second female Fox asked. The two others nodded. "They might be able to make the night."

"Half a night." The male Fox answered.

"Watcha wanna bet?" The second female Fox raised her eyebrows with a sly smile.

"Guard duty."

"Oh, you wanna?" The second female stuck her hand out.

"Deal." The male fox shook her hand.

Lee Seng, Ritsuka and Keng moved past the large gates. Chimera and Halys stood in the middle of the large road, making small talk as the boys walked up to them.

"I shouldn't need you in the three days you're training with them. You're free to come back before sunset if you don't wish to stay there." Chimera spoke. "Just try not to show your fear in front of the boys."

"C-Commander…" Halys rubbed the back of his head. "Do you think they'll be able to figure out what's lurking in that cabin?"

"Why're you so scared, General?" Chimera patted Halys' shoulder. "Don't be scared. It can't hurt until nightfall anyways." Halys gulped as Chimera turned to face the three boys. "This is your human friend?"

"Mmhm. Ritsuka is the Eldest Fox Spirit, Chimera. They're familiar with the human Realm." Lee Seng introduced Chimera.

"O-oh." Ritsuka watched the tails shimmer and the tails changed. The snake tail peeked from behind and looked at Ritsuka. "Hello. I'm Ritsuka Yamada. Nice to meet you, s-sir…?" Ritsuka noticed more masculine features with Chimera. General Halys turned to look at Ritsuka, almost offended by Ritsuka's comment when Chimera simply put their hand out.

"Ritsuka doesn't mean anything ill by that, Halys. Don't be offended for me." Chimera spoke.

"W-what?" Ritsuka looked at Lee Seng from Chimera to Halys.

"I do not identify as either gender in human terms. You could say I'm non-binary. My form keeps a fairly neutral look between male and female." Chimera explained.

"So, should I not call you sir?"

"You may call me sir, ma'am, Commander. I do not mind. My subordinates do not like it when others identify me as either or, but I don't care."

"Ah, I'll keep that in mind, sir… Chimera." Ritsuka bowed politely as Chimera turned to face Halys.

"You should be on your way. You'll have to deal with the spirits that haunt that place before you can start training and unpacking." Chimera reminded Halys. Halys gulped, nodding.

"Do not worry." Chimera  turned to face the boys. "We have two Saviors and Mr. Yamada seems well-versed in his abilities from what I've gathered."

"H-how do you…?" Ritsuka began to speak when Chimera let out a small smile.

"The Commander has the best insight of all the Fox Spirits." Halys cleared his throat. He folded his arms together and looked at the boys. "Chimera can easily assess a person through one glance. If the Commander says you're well-versed, I shall keep that in mind as we venture to the cabin."

"So, the cabin is actually haunted?" Lee Seng changed the subject back to the cabin.

"We don't know what haunts it, but it has managed to scare even my bravest men away and make them fear it." Chimera looked over at Halys who tried not to shrink in his own skin. "This would be a great opportunity to practice your Seer abilities, Lee Seng. If you can accurately point where the thing resides and purify it, we can make repairs to the cabin so whenever Mr. Yamada decides to come with you, you'll have somewhere to stay that's relatively closer than the Tomb."

"Oh, you don't have to, Commander." Lee Seng graciously waved his hands back and forth.

"I do not mind humans at all. I've seen both good and bad humans. I know they are just like us and I want you and others to be able to come visit this Village when they need to. We'll be able to continue our work and create a small Village in the floral forest where Fox Spirits and their spouses may reside while visiting the main Village."

"Ahh, we'll try our best to get rid of whatever is plaguing that cabin then." Keng brightly answered. Chimera smiled and nodded.

"Well, that's it from me. I'll swing by in three days to test you. If you can pass my assessment, I will give you some of my own comrades in the expedition "

"Really?" Lee Seng's eyebrows raised. Chimera nodded their head. "I'll work hard then!" He beamed a big smile at Chimera who simply nodded once more and turned to pat Halys.

"Off you go then. I know you're delaying the inevitable." Chimera told Halys. Halys nodded and motioned for the boys to follow him. Lee Seng and Keng waved goodbye to Chimera. Chimera waved as Ritsuka turned and gave a quick bow before jogging after the others.

"Chimera seems nice. Is he… Is she…? What do you normally use when you talk about Chimera?" Ritsuka asked.

"They/them pronouns, I guess? Lady Vix'i and the others use they/them so I used it." Lee Seng answered.

"Ahhhh, I'll keep that in mind for them then." Ritsuka nodded. "By the way," Ritsuka whispered. "Doesn't Chimera look masculine to you?" Lee Seng watched as Halys' ears twitched.

"Chimera looked neither masculine nor feminine to me when I met them for the first time." Lee Seng shrugged Ritsuka away. "But Chimera is one of the most talked about people around the Village. They're somebody everyone respects."

"Ahhh, they're that revered." Ritsuka nodded.

"Commander Chimera has lived longer than all of us. They have immense knowledge that shouldn't be easily brushed away. The Commander has great intuition when it comes to tasks and strategies." Halys praised Chimera. "You three have the biggest task ahead of you. You must be able to clear the spirits that reside in the cabin and purify the area so we can safely reside there. The floral forest has been one of the most sought out places to live, but due to the large amount of spirits that reside there, it's been hard to establish a Village there."

"Ahhh, so the spirits just reside in that forest?" Lee Seng asked. Halys nodded.

"Spirits and the usual creatures." Halys shrugged. "The spirits usually don't mess with us, but these in particular spirits in particular have a nasty personality. They don't want to give up the cabin because someone decided to mess with some runes and accidentally made enemies outta the spirits."

"They messed with runes?" Keng asked.

"What did they do that messed that up?" Lee Seng added.

"I'm not sure." Halys shrugged. He glanced back at the group of boys. "That night screwed me over. The spirits got really mad and just…" He shuddered. "Let's just continue. We need to figure out what we need to do to appease the spirits. Let's pick up the pace." Halys motioned. He picked his pace up to a jog. Lee Seng and the others picked up the pace and followed after Halys.