Taking Rank

by Hana Steven

  Chapter 7

  Closed-Minded Animosity

  I am awoken by Dad in the morning. Gale is still sleeping by my head.

  “Time to wake up,” Dad says, gently shaking my shoulder. Transitioning to shaking Gale, he adds, “Both of you. I know you’re tired, but we promised to meet Poseidon and Erik for breakfast.”

  Gale opens her mouth wide in a yawn as I reach up and rub at my eyes.

  “Morning,” I say through a yawn of my own.

  Mornin’, Gale says in my head.

  “Once you two get up we can go and get breakfast,” Dad says.

  Gale climbs to her paws and stretches, arching her back down until her stomach almost touches the mattress before jumping down and heading to the bathroom.

  I swing my feet over the edge of the bed and head to my pack.

  “We’ll be staying for another night,” Dad informs me. “So feel free to wear something more comfortable.”

  I nod and grab the sundress Dad first bought me, as well as some clothes for Gale, and follow my sister into the bathroom.

  Once Gale has transformed and we both change clothes, we move back out into the room and Dad leads us to the inn’s dining room.

  As we enter, Poseidon waves to catch our attention and we make our way through the other tables to our two companions.

  “Finally decided to join us, huh?” teases Poseidon.

  “Had to wake up our sleeping beauties,” Dad replies.

  Gale and I wave in greeting before Dad ushers us off to the window to order.

  On our way, I notice a little boy sitting with his mom, watching us with a forkful of scrambled eggs paused halfway to his mouth. I wave to the boy with a smile as the eggs fall from his fork.

  We quickly order and make our way back to our table. As we pass by their table again I notice the boy still watching us, or rather, Gale. I give her a nudge and motion to the boy.

  She looks over to the boy and gives him a fanged smile and a wave. She giggles a little as his mouth opens even wider and his eyes look ready to pop out of his head in wonder.

  We rejoin Poseidon and Erik at the table and I ask, “So what are we going to do today? We aren’t supposed to go back to the Adventurer Shop until tonight.”

  “Well,” Dad begins. “For starters, we should probably get Gale some clothes and gear of her own.”

  “Ugh,” Erik exaggeratedly groans. “Clothes shopping.”

  “Don’t you like shopping?” I ask.

  “Not like you girls seem to,” he replies. “I usually get my stuff and then spend the next hour or two waiting on my mom or sister.”

  “You just don’t understand the joy of trying to find the right combination,” Poseidon states with a scoff.

  Dad sighs, “When you girls have had your fun, why don’t we explore the city?”

  “That sounds like fun!” Gale cheers. “I haven’t been able to see a city before.”

  “And we can find a book store,” I agree happily.

  “Didn’t you bring like four books with you?” Dad asks.

  “Yeah, so?” I ask. “I have room for more. And Gale wants to learn to read; as much as I hate to admit it, Drake Tamers isn’t a good beginner’s series.”

  “That makes sense,” he agrees. “At least the second part.”

  Someone from the kitchen calls out, “Andrews,” and Dad and I go to fetch our food. As we pass the boy again, I notice him sneaking glances toward our table. Looks like Gale has a new admirer.

  We soon return with our breakfast and dig in. After a few minutes I notice Poseidon looking over my shoulder. Looking behind me I see the boy standing a few feet behind us and watching Gale’s tail as it happily swishes back and forth.

  “Hello,” I greet, startling the boy.

  At my voice Gale turns and sees the boy as well. “Hello!” she cheers. “My name Gale, what’s yours?”

  The boy looks from me to Gale and then says, “I’m Billy. Is your tail real?” He looks really hopeful as he waits for her reply.

  Gale glances down to her tail then replies, “Yeah, its real. See?” she starts wagging her tail again.

  “Woah,” Billy says in awe, his eyes wide and a grin on his face.

  Gale giggles before we hear a woman’s voice call out, “Billy? Oh, there you are, time to go, sweetie.”

  Looking up, I see the woman who was sitting with Billy.

  “I just wanted to say hi,” Billy explains as his mom approaches.

  Billy’s mom looks over us, pausing for a moment on Gale, then rubs her eyes and says, “Come on, Billy. I think I need to find myself a coffee.”

  Reluctantly Billy says, “Okay.” He then turns back to us and says, “I have to go now, bye.”

  “Bye, bye,” Gale waves.

  I wave as well as Billy hurries over to his mom and the two of them leave the room. With the boy and his mom out of sight, I turn my attention back to my breakfast. As I shovel eggs into my mouth I notice Dad still looking toward the doorway with a frown on his face.

  Quickly swallowing, I ask, “Is something wrong?”

  I notice Gale looking up at my question as Dad answers, “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  I don’t really like that answer, but I trust him and stay silent.

  Gale looks to me and mentally asks, What do you think it is that has him worried?

  I don’t know, I respond. But I think it may have been Billy or his mom.

  Billy seemed nice enough to me, she says.

  His mom, then? She was acting kinda odd.

  Gale shrugs then goes back to her food.

  When we’re done with our breakfast, we ask for directions to a clothing store and set out to explore the city.

  We make our way back to the main road and head east, further into the city. After a few minutes we arrive at the recommended store, Laurence’s.

  Entering the store, we are greeted by a couple of young ladies wearing nice pleated dark grey skirts and red lacey blouses with matching suit vests on over them. One has pretty red hair tied up in pig tails that somehow don’t look childish on her. The other has brown hair cut short like mine.

  “Welcome to Laurence’s,” they say in unison.

  The one with pig tails continues, “My name is Sandy. What may I help you folks with?”

  “I’m looking for some clothes,” Gale says. “Pants, shirts, underwear, some shoes, and,” she pauses. Looking to Dad asks, “Can I get a dress, too?”

  “I’ll get you one,” I offer.

  Gale wraps me in a hug and cheers, “Thank you!”

  I return her hug and say, “You’re welcome.”

  “That’s nice,” Dad says. “But I think I can afford a dress. Save your money for something else,” he says, ruffling my hair.

  “Okay,” Sandy says. “Please follow me.” With that she turns and leads us into the store.

  Much like Jenney’s store in Amerton, this store is filled with racks of clothes. Some are for little kids and are bright simple colors, some with cartoon figures on them, while others are for adults and use more subtle designs.

  We soon leave the adult clothes behind and enter a section of clothes for girls. Sandy takes a shirt from a rack and holds it up to Gale only to return it and grab a different size of the same shirt. Seemingly happy with this one, she grabs several more shirts and adds a few pairs of shorts and pants to her growing armload.

  “Shall we go try those on?” Poseidon asks, grabbing a couple packages of underwear off of a nearby shelf.

  Gale nods and we follow her to the dressing room. On our way, I spot a frilly dress that reminds me of a Gothic Lolita, a dress style I saw in one of Beth’s comics, except in blue with green and white highlights rather than black with grey and white. The hem of the skirt flares out slightly with a silver underskirt just visible underneath while the arms go only a few inches past the shoulder. I grab the dress and hand it to Gale when I catch up to them outside the dressing rooms.

  Sandy looks at th
e dress then looks to me and says, “Good eye. That should highlight her hair and eyes quite well.”

  Opening the door, she ushers Gale in then asks, “Do you need any help?”

  “I’ll help her,” I say, darting in after Gale.

  Poseidon steps in behind me, and closes the door. “Okay, then, off with those and then we’ll get you into something more your size.”

  Gale takes off the clothes I lent her and sets them on the bench.

  Aren’t you embarrassed to be naked? I ask her mentally.

  I’ve been naked most of my life, she replies. It doesn’t bother me like it seems to bother you humans.

  Poseidon hands her a pair of underwear and says, “Put these on, and then we can move on to the over things.”

  Gale pulls them on, adjusting them until they fit comfortably with her tail.

  Poseidon helps her check how they fit then nods, “Looks like I grabbed the right size. What do you want to try on first?”

  Gale picks out a shirt and a pair of shorts. She quickly dresses and then examines herself in a mirror on the wall.

  As Gale examines herself I comment, “It looks like those fit pretty well.”

  “Yeah,” Gale agrees. “They fit much better than the ones you lent me.”

  “That makes sense,” I say. “I am bigger than you.”

  “Yeah,” she agrees. She then playfully goes on, “But I have adorable ears and a tail.”

  With a grin at our banter, Poseidon suggests, “Why don’t you try on the dress?”

  Gale nods then takes off her shirt and shorts. Poseidon and I help her into the dress.

  “Ow!” Gale exclaims as we try to pull the dress up into position. Gale steps away while rubbing the base of her tail.

  “Sorry,” Poseidon apologizes.

  I step forward and suggest, “Let’s tuck your tail into the dress.” Looking to Poseidon, I add, “Maybe they can add a slit or something for it.”

  “Probably,” Poseidon agrees. “I was going to ask them to adjust it if need be anyway.”

  “Okay,” Gale agrees.

  I hold her dress out and she tucks her tail down inside then I pull it up and she slips her arms into the sleeves. I lace up the back and let Gale get a look at herself in the mirror.

  “You sure do have good taste,” Poseidon tells me. “She looks good in that.”

  “Yeah,” Gale says. “But it’s rather uncomfortable with my tail scrunched up like this.”

  “Hold still,” Poseidon says, pulling a couple safety pins out of a pocket. She kneels down behind Gale and says, “Now where do they need to put the slit?”

  Gale moves a hand back and touches just below the small of her back. “The base of my tail is here.”

  “Okay,” replies Poseidon, sticking a pin on either side of where Gale pointed. “Let’s get you out of this and we can ask Sandy to make the adjustments.”

  I untie the laces and Gale slips the dress off. We wait for Gale to put on another set of clothes before leaving the room with her new clothes in arm.

  “Looks like they fit,” comments Sandy.

  “Yes,” Poseidon answers. “But we would like you to make some adjustments on this dress.”

  “Of course,” Sandy agrees. “What needs done to it?”

  Poseidon holds out the dress and points to the two pins, “Could you put a slit between these two pins?”

  “Sure,” Sandy replies uncertainly. “However, since that sort of alteration would make it hard to sell afterward, you’ll have to pay for it first.”

  “That’s fine,” Dad replies.

  We follow Sandy back to the front where she totals our purchase. Dad pays for the clothes as the other woman folds them and puts them into a bag. When we have paid, Sandy takes the dress into a small room to the side of the counter.

  Poseidon looks through the nearby clothes while Dad and Erik take a seat on a nearby bench. Gale and I spend our time waiting looking at the jewelry beneath the counter.

  After several minutes, Sandy returns. “Okay, I added the slit like you asked. But if you don’t mind me asking, what is it for?”

  Taking the dress from her Gale replies, “You’ll see!” Taking my hand she hauls me back to the dressing room.

  Closing the door, she quickly removes her current clothes and I help her into the dress. Gale threads her tail through the slit and then I lace up the back.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s much better,” she says, examining herself in the mirror again.

  After folding the discarded clothes, I open the door and we make our way back to the front counter. I head over to Dad and deposit the clothes into the bag.

  “You had me add a slit for her costume tail?” Sandy asks in disbelief.

  Gale giggles, and replies, “It’s not a costume. See,” she adds, turning around and swishing her tail about.

  “Her tail is real?” asks the other clerk.

  “Yep,” I say.

  Both women just stare at Gale for a while before Poseidon says, “Why don’t we go and find a place for lunch?”

  “Already?” Gale questions. “We haven’t been in here for that long have we?”

  “No,” Dad answers. “But this way we can take our time and stop at a few places if you want.”

  “Cool!” Gale and I say in unison. Looking to each other we giggle at ourselves then head over to the door.

  We travel down the road, looking at the various shops along the way. We stop at a few temporary stalls set along the road selling everything from handmade dolls to jams and jellies. Eventually we come across a building with a sign of a cloud supporting a yellow and red colored triangle with the words “Slice of Heaven” in bright red underneath.

  “How about we get pizza?” Dad suggests, as I find my mouth watering at the delicious smells coming from the building’s door.

  “What’s pizza?” Gale asks.

  “Well that answers your question,” Erik says. “We can’t just not introduce them to pizza.”

  “In other words,” Poseidon says flatly, “you really want pizza.”

  “Can’t both be true?” Erik counters with a hurt expression on his face.

  Poseidon just shakes her head with a sigh as Dad replies, “Pizza it is, then.”

  We make or way into the building and are met by the unintelligible buzz of many conversations. A sign near the door says “Please seat yourselves,” so we head over to an open table and make ourselves comfortable.

  After a few moments, a waiter comes over with glasses and a pitcher of water to take our order; we decide on a Meaty Deluxe and a Supreme. As we chat while waiting on our food, a loud gruff voice calls out from behind Gale and me.

  “Animals aren’t allowed in restaurants.”

  Looking over my shoulder, I see a slightly overweight man, a little shorter than Dad and wearing a fancy dark blue suit. He has blonde hair cut short and an irritated expression on his face.

  “If you’re going to dress like a dog,” he says, glaring at Gale, “then you should act like one.”

  “What’s your problem, dude?” Erik asks.

  “My problem is with people like you lot spoiling your kids like this,” the man snaps back.

  “And why do my ears and tail mean I’m spoiled?” asks Gale.

  “The fact that your family lets you embrace wild fantasies about being something you’re not says you’re spoiled,” he explains. “You’re a human girl, so lose those toys and act like one.”

  “My, aren’t you a grump,” comments Poseidon.

  The man turns to look at Poseidon with murder in his eyes, but Gale pulls his attention back.

  “I am not human,” she says flatly. “I don’t have anything against humans, but it’s rude to just assume everyone you meet is one.”

  “This is what I am talking about!” the man exclaims. “Your parents let you pretend for so long that you actually think you’re a dog.”

  “I am a fox,” Gale rebukes. “And I was minding my own business. Why do
n’t you do the same and leave us alone?”

  Gale turns from the man and I start to do the same when he reaches out and jerks Gale’s shoulder back so she has to look at him.

  “Nobody talks to me like that, you brat!” he all but screams.

  “If you have a problem with me, then how about a duel?” Gale suggests. “If I win, you leave us alone. If you win, I will be myself,” she gives a mischievous grin.

  Her grin looks like she’s merely confident, but I know the joke to her proposal; the man probably expects her to take off a fox costume, but instead she will become an actual fox. I get a bad feeling, however, when the man gets an evil-looking smile.

  “Sure, brat,” he agrees. “Let’s go outside.”

  We all follow the man outside along with a good portion of the customers from the restaurant. Dad and Poseidon move to either end of the street, probably to keep things from getting out of control.

  “Clear a space!” the man hollers, taking a position in the middle of the street.

  As Gale takes a position a good twenty feet from the man, she calls out, “Remember our deal. When we’re done, you leave us alone.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” he replies. “There is no way that I am going to lose to some spoiled brat.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Gale says. “To prove I’m not spoiled, I’ll let you make the first move.”

  The man shakes his head with a chuckle before quite quickly launching a Fireball at Gale. Gale catches it on a shield then sends a Wind Blast at the man, knocking him back several feet and onto his behind. She quickly follows up with a Vine Snare that straps the man flat to the road.

  Casually walking up to him, Gale says, “I’d say you lost.”

  “Like hell I’m going to accept losing to you,” he growls as she stares down at him.

  “I can go further if you want,” Gale says, conjuring a Fireball of her own and holding it over his head.

  The man’s eyes go wide and he yells, “I give!”

  Gale throws her hand up in a victory cheer as her Fireball fades into the ether. Taking a step away, she releases the man and starts to head my way.

  “Look out,” I yell, pointing behind her as the man rises and throws another Fireball at her.