Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

Birds chirped in the bright blue sky overhead. The smell of freshly baked cookies hung in the air. She felt the soothing scratch of Zeph behind her ears. Rin looked out over her domain. The two fluffy tail people were carrying trays of sweets and pizza. Mr. pointy ear man had a bag of ch.i.p.s.

One by one, her loyal subjects brought offerings to reward their fluffy overlord. She would bless them with the sound of a purr, or the rare cheek nuzzle. An annoying girl with a white stripe of hair prostrated before Rin, apologizing for her constant harassment. As a kind and benevolent ruler, Rin forgave the girl. Instead of being banished, Lili was sentenced to catch blue butterflies for the Empress.

After dealing with her loyal subjects, the kitten queen sat upon her throne of clouds. Zeph followed and started to feed her cookies. He started pressing them against her cheeks. It was most annoying.

"Rin...Rin wake up...Wake up Rin!!!"

The kitten slowly opened her eyes. Gone was her throne. Her plate of cookies and sweets nowhere to be found. Worse yet, there was no large pizza. It was all a dream. Zeph rubbed her cheek with his finger.

"Wake up sleepy head," Zeph said softly. He picked her up and started walking to the kitchen.

As they approached the kitchen, a familiar scent wafted its way into her nose. Her eyes widened. Small sparkles could be seen in her blue irises. Zeph entered the dining room, and it was there. Sitting in mouthwatering glory, a pizza rested on the dinner table. ~YAAY!~

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Rin was sitting on the couch in the living room while watching her favorite children's show. She had no idea what it was about, but the pretty colors and simple songs made her happy. Her head was bobbing along to show's music when something caught her attention. An orange fluffy tail with a white tip was at the end of the couch wiggling. Every wiggle made her want to pounce on it more and more. When she was about to move, she heard a rustling noise.

The sound came from the opposite end of the couch. When she looked, Rin saw a fluffy silver tail wiggling there. Bianca and Semara decided to have a little contest. It was inspired by something Zeph said a few days ago. They needed a judge to see who had the nicest tail, but it was a little embarrassing. Then they thought of Rin. She would be an impartial judge, so the two found her in the living room. To make sure the kitten would only pay attention to the tails, the two shifters agreed to hide behind the couch and only tempt the kitten with their tails.

They peeked over the top of the couch and bent in a way that would let them swing their tails around the back and sides of it. Watching Rin, they would wiggle their tail to get her attention, or whisper her name. This went on for a minute before Rin finally stopped watching CV and focused on the two tails.

Rin was confused. The tails were here, but the fluffy ear people were missing. She worried about them for a few seconds and decided to do something. Maybe the tails were lonely without their people attached. Hopping over to the foxtail, Rin gently bit it and tugged. Bianca and Semara continued to watch from behind the couch. Semara frowned when Rin picked Bianca's tail.

"See, told you my tail is nicer." Bianca had a smug smile on her face. The tugging on her tail grew more intense as Rin tried to pull it towards the center of the couch. The smug smile turned into a look of discomfort. Then the tugging stopped.

Rin heard someone whisper, but she couldn't see anyone nearby. It sounded like the fox lady. Maybe the tail was trying to tell her something, but it wouldn't move. She wanted to bring both of the tails to the middle of the couch so they won't be lonely anymore. They could all wait together until the fluffy ear people came back. Since the foxtail wouldn't budge, she made her way over to the silver one.

"Oooh miss fancy tail, may not have one yet." Semara teased her friend. Then she felt the same tugging sensation Bianca felt earlier.

The two watched as Rin moved back and forth between the two tails, wondering what she was doing. Then the tugging started to get harder. Bianca and Semara stared at the kitten's odd behavior. They tried to think of a reason why she would constantly pull their tails.

"What is she doing?" Semara whispered.

"I don't know, maybe she's trying to figure out which one is better. Maybe she needs more room or wants to lie on top of our tails. We should try to put more of our tails on the couch and see if she'll lay on one." Bianca changed her posture. Now she had her side to the couch and her b.u.t.t near the end. She was bending so that she could get as much of her tail around the corner as possible.

Zeph and Lili walked into the living room, each with a bowl of popcorn. They were going to watch a movie but stopped in the hallway. Lili tilted her head as she watched two shifter girls bent over wiggling their butts at the end of the couch while peeking over the back side of it.

"What are they doing?" Lili whispered to Zeph. She didn't want to interrupt them.

"No idea, maybe…dancing?" Zeph pulled out his tablet and started recording.

"What are you doing?" Lili watched the tablet display the two shifters weird display.

"I'm recording this. It's hilarious." Zeph recorded a video of the two shifter girls squatting, wiggling, and bouncing and tried not to laugh too loud. He was going to add a music track to it. If Semara and Bianca decided to prank him again, he now had ammo to return fire.

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Rin was having a great weekend. Yesterday she got to play in the pool with everyone without getting wet. Then, when her afternoon nap was done, she got to eat pizza for dinner. This morning she got to play with the fluffy ear people. They finally found their tails, with her help of course. She was happy that she kept them on the couch so that the tails wouldn't get lost. The reward for her efforts were treats, scratches, and cuddles.

Lunch ended a little while ago, and the sun was shining brightly. Rin decided to go play in the new yard. She saw Bianca and Semara sunbathing again. There were two glasses full of a bright blue liquid with a tiny umbrella stuck in them. They were talking and giggling every once and a while. Sneaking up behind them, Rin sniffed the drinks without them noticing. The scent stung her nose. She had no idea why they would drink something like that. Milk was so much better.

Since the two girls were busy, Rin decided to go play in the new grotto. The glowing plants reflected off the surface of the water, causing shifting light patterns to travel across the cave. Rin stood on the water in the center of the cave, mesmerized. She crouched down low, wiggled, and then ran for a stream of lights.

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Lili was looking for Rin for a while and finally found her having fun in the grotto. The little kitten was bouncing around the walls. Unfortunately for Lili, she was too heavy to walk on water. At least not with her current magical ability. Instead, she slowly walked into the pool and swam silently toward the kitten.

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Zeph finished editing the video he recorded earlier. Now the two shifter girls were dancing to a silly song. There wasn't much else to do so he decided to play with Rin. Remembering how much the kitten liked it, Zeph changed into his cat-kin shifter form. His tail and ears were extra soft and fluffy this time, because he learned how to shapeshift with more detail. Walking past the mirror, Zeph looked at his reflection. Hopefully, that growth spurt would kick in soon, and make him handsome instead of cute.

After leaving his room, Zeph closed his eyes and sensed Rin's location through their bond. She was in the backyard. Walking out the back door, his eyes wandered over to the two shifter girls. He sighed and fought the instinct to stare at them. Puberty was going to be annoying. Looking around the backyard, he couldn't find Rin. He approached Semara and Bianca.

"Hi, guys." He waved.

"Hey, what's up." Bianca smiled t him.

"Hi." Semara waved back.

"Do you know where Rin went. I sensed her out here, but I don't see her." Zeph saw the pitcher of blue liquid on the nearby table. He went over to pour himself a glass when his enhanced sense of smell kicked in. It was alcohol. "Really, isn't it a little early to be drinking?"

Bianca laughed. "It's our day off. I've spent most of the summer either in the woods or inside. Since it's the last day, we decided to treat ourselves to a little relaxation."

Semara chimed in, "That's right. So, little kitty, no pranking okay."

Zeph raised an eyebrow at them. "Little kitty? How much have you had to drink."

Semara drank through a straw, emptying her glass and making that hollow sipping noise. "Not enough, be a dear and pour me another glass of smiles." The wolf girl sent him a wink and held out her glass.

Zeph heard Bianca laugh really loud. He looked at his coach. "How much has she had?"

Bianca took a small sip from her glass. "I think two or three. She gets a little silly when she drinks. Don't worry though, she can handle a few more glasses."

"Whatever you say." Zeph walked over with the pitcher and refilled their glasses. "So, about Rin."

Semara pointed to the top of the grotto. "Lili chased her up there. Eli made a little cliff for diving, and Rin's on it.

Zeph looked up and saw Rin staring at Lili with her back arched. Lili looked like she was ready to jump at the kitten. Rin backed up to the very edge and couldn't retreat any further. The little girl approached slowly. They stared at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Bianca giggled. "Lili's not going to fall for it is she?"

"I bet she will. It seems like she gets tunnel vision when it comes to catching that cat." Semara was already halfway done with her new drink.

Zeph smirked. "Of course she's going to fall for it. Lili is pretty book smart but her common sense sucks."

Two seconds passed after Zeph said that, Lili jumped at the kitten. Rin lept backward off the cliff to dodge. The girl followed after her. On the way down, Lili reached towards Rin and tried to grab her. Unfortunately for the girl, this kitten had wind magic.

Rin's falling speed decreased and Lili fell passed her. With a loud splash, Lili belly flopped right into the pool. After a couple of seconds, Lili's head popped up out of the water. She looked around for Rin, but couldn't see her. The kitten was still n the air.

Rin floated slowly down and landed right on top of Lili's head. She peeked down at the girl, reached out a paw, and bopped her right on the nose. Then, Rin ran across the pool and jumped into Zeph's l.a.p.

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Hello everyone, here's the last mini-chapter for the week. I'm still sick, but I'm getting better. I'll resume regular chapters on Monday. These mini-chapters were pretty fun, so I'll probably do more in the future. As you can see, these focused on Rin. Just leave a comment on the characters you'd like to see for the next minis in the future. These mini-chapters won't be replacing regular chapter updates. Instead, I'll make them whenever I have extra time.

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