Sophia decided to speedrun finding Prince Nathan together with his group, and so she took Anna and Ari on a little trip. Honing her detection magic to their specific powers, she rapid-fired her portal stones over the continent while scanning for them. A little under 20 throws and 1500, give or take a few hundred, kilometers later, she eventually found a match, and the trio decided to check it out to make sure.
“By the way, are we going for an emotional reunion because it has been so long, or are we okay with some mischief?" The girls used a portal that put them ahead of Nathan's group, and they currently waited for them to catch up when Sophia smiled at the other two.
“I’m listening.” Anna liked the blonde’s playful expression.
“It definitely would be on brand for the striped siblings, so I can’t really say anything against that idea.” Ari shrugged. “Personally, I’d be okay without mischief, but knowing that my sister probably got herself a girlfriend without telling us, clears me of any restraints of stopping you."
“That means she likes the idea, too!” The princess smiled at her fellow tiger. “What do you have in mind?”
“Not that much, actually. In fact, I almost think it’s kind of a cute thing to do.” The blonde then pointed at a set of four trees right next to the road they were standing on. “How about we get a picnic table from my storage and place it there and just have some snacks and a drink as they walk by, pretending that it’s the most normal thing.”
“Wait, that actually is adorable!” The jaguar liked the plan even more now.
“Hmm.” Anna suddenly seemed a little less convinced. “I’m missing the part where he eats a fireball.”
“I mentioned the part where the two were quite the menaces in the castle, right?” Ari glanced at Sophia while scratching her cheek.
“I’ve heard that before.” She nodded. “I’m also looking forward to seeing it, but even I think a nice-to-see-you-fireball to the face is a bit much?”
“Thank you!”
“Fine, let’s do the cutesy hello first.” The princess hung her head.
“Well, the sibling-energy definitely is commendable.” Not knowing what else to say, Sophia then simply pulled out a wooden picnic table from her storage, which had a bench on each side attached to it. In fact, she got two of them so that their guests would have something to sit on later as well.
----------------
“I don’t think I can live without your storage anymore.” The trio sat down at the table, Sophia on one side, and the couple at the other, when Ari looked at the blonde while munching on one of the cookies that were on the table.
“So I’m just convenient for you, huh?” Sophia decided to go for a needlessly dramatic reply.
“I was just trying not to be ambiguous for a change!” The jaguar glared at her. “If I said that I can’t live without you anymore, Anna would’ve started pouting!”
“True!” The princess nodded in agreement before eating another cookie on her own.
“But now I’m pouting!” Sophia puffed up her cheek to bring out the intent even more.
“I just can’t win with those tigers…” She only hung her head.
“Indeed!” The striped girls seemed proud of themselves for some reason.
“Haa…”
“By the way, how far away is Nathan now?” The princess turned a little more serious again. “Or, what we assume to be their group, that is.”
“They should arrive over that little hill over there soon.” The blonde pointed to her right and up the path there. “Though, I wonder if our magic power will make them wary, just like those adventurers escorting the merchant the other day.”
“Unless we emit hostility, people usually don’t react to magic power unless it’s really close.” Ari shook her head. “The adventurers also only reacted once we were right behind them, after all.”
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“Unless we emit hostility, huh?” Sophia tilted her head. “Like a certain princess wanting to make her brother eat fire?”
“Mhmm.” The jaguar hadn’t thought about that.
“That’s not hostility!” Anna firmly shook her head. "That's just sisterly love!”
“Fair enough.” Sophia, a fellow sister-haver, could understand her reasoning. “Anyway, the group should come over the hill any second now.” She then pointed at the little hill the road was leading up before eating a cookie on her own.
A few moments later, a group of four slowly appeared, and while they were still too far away to make out fine details, it definitely was a male tiger and a cat, as well as a female golden jaguar and a reddish-brown-haired feline girl with a few extra hues in her super-long hair.
Once they came a good bit closer, it became apparent that the tiger boy had the exact same tail and ears as Anna, but his hair was cut short and a bit of a darker orange. He was also on the taller side, standing easily over 180cm, and his facial features matched a younger version of Menzor. However, as his hair was so short, he didn't really have any stripes, but rather some black streaks in his hair. He was wearing regular jeans combined with a dark grey shirt.
The cat-boy had pitch-black hair, which was also cut pretty short, together with an equally black tail and ears. Only the fluff inside his ears was pure white. He was wearing dark blue cargo shorts with a white t-shirt and was slightly shorter than the prince.
The jaguar-girl looked almost exactly like Ari, at least when it came to her build and facial features. At best, there was a slight difference in height and size, as she was the tiniest bit taller and bigger. The shape and length of her ears and tail were incredibly close to Ari's, as well. The rosette pattern also matched, but the coloring absolutely did not. While most of Ari's hair and tail were black with golden accents that made her pattern pop out a little more, this jaguar’s hair and tail were primarily gold and yellow, together with some sprinkles of white in her inner hair and underside of her tail, which made the rosettes stand out a lot more. She was wearing a long, dark blue skirt with a white blouse.
The puma-girl next to her had a similar medium build as the jaguar, while being slightly taller than her, but the differences in their feline features were massive. She didn’t have any pattern in her hair or tail, no stripes, rosettes, or dots, but the coloring still made her stand out. The base color of her long hair was a reddish-brown that gradually faded into a grayish-blonde hue in the last third of it. Mainly concentrated on her inner hair around and below her neck, a lot of white was added in as well. Her long tail, which was a little thicker than Sophia’s, had the same base color, but with a white underside and a black tip. The shape of her ears was somewhat close to Maya's, only that they weren't pointy and a lot more rounded, not quite as much as Sophia’s, though. They were a bit of a mix between the two of them. Just like Sophia, she was wearing a pair of denim shorts, but she had combined them with a beige spaghetti top. She, too, was showing a bit of stomach, though.
“I told you the food wasn’t good anymore!” The tiger-boy raised his voice as he pointed at the trio while looking at the puma-girl in his group. “I’m hallucinating now!”
“I think he might be right.” The jaguar-girl nodded a few times while glancing at her. “I’m also seeing things that are impossible.”
“The food was perfectly alright!” She started pouting. “I’m feeling fine! What about you?” She then faced the cat-boy.
“I mean, it tasted a little funny, but I’m used to that when you cook.” He let out a small chuckle. "I also don't think it was spoiled, though."
“Oi!” Her pouting face got even stronger. “If you’re talking about the two tigers and the jaguar having a picnic together over there, they’re real and no hallucination!” She then paused for a moment. “Wait… maybe it wasn’t fresh anymore…?” The puma only then noticed the surrealness of the picture.
"I have some experience with food poisoning, and group hallucinations are not usually a part of it.” The cat-boy shook his head. “Also, not even Vivi would be stupid enough to put anything unknown in our food.”
“Hey!” The puma’s pout changed into a glare. “There was no need for the even!”
“I mean…” He scratched his cheek.
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” Her glare got stronger. "Okay, I know that tigers are rare, and it makes even less sense for them to have a picnic in the middle of nowhere, but it could still be real, right?”
“SHE’S MY SISTER!” Nathan and Nina pointed at Anna and Ari, respectively.
“Hah.” The puma didn’t know what to say. “I won’t be cooking for a while, I guess.” She looked a little awkward. "WAIT! I have no idea what your sisters look like, so why would I be seeing them, too?!"
“That point goes to her.” The cat-boy nodded a few times. “I’ve never met them before either, after all.”
“See?!”
“I like them already!” Sophia was a fan of their dynamic and let out a chuckle while listening to them.
“Can I make Nathan eat a fireball already?” Anna was getting a little impatient.
"I have no idea what's going on, but please do!" The puma-girl reacted with a firm nod while looking at the princess as she gave her a thumbs-up.
“ANNA?!” He was slowly realizing the three girls were real.
“Who else would like to make you eat a fireball?” The princess stood up from the bench and walked over to him.
“Uhh…” The other three of his group turned their heads away.
“We’re definitely going to be good friends~.” Sophia liked them more and more already.
“What are you doing here?!” Nathan only got more confused. However, before he was able to get any answers, Anna had already hugged him because she had actually missed him a lot.
A moment later, Ari also walked up to her sister Nina, and the same scene repeated itself. Naturally, the siblings needed a few minutes for their reunion, so Sophia, the puma-girl, and the cat-boy just waited in silence.
- Doomderp -
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