If the best trained warrior in history took a Cyanis to the face the way that Yue is just now, she'd be lucky just to stay on her feet. At best she'd stumble back several paces acking and pffting and possibly even thbbbting at the face full of cutie all up in her business before she finally managed to get things under control, and even then she'd have to deal with the raw horror of a trembling scaredyvixen nuzzling her neck as though the warmth found therein was some sort of get out of jail free card and a security blanket rolled up into one precious thing. And honestly, how many warriors do [i]you[/i] know who'd handle themselves even that well? Bet you a shiny nickel that even the Demon Swordswoman herself (whatever her name really was) couldn't have done any better than that. 

Now, if you're Yue? Well, then you've got a bit of a handicap. Or three. See, like, for one thing? She's not even standing! It's a story circle, so she's been politely and attentively sitting here this whole time, maybe pulling steadily further and further into herself as stuff's gotten scarier, but... in a polite and attentive way, y'know? So no warrior's stance and Battle Readiness for her. 

And for two things? Ya girl's a lot of things, but 'strong' isn't exactly one of them. Just take a look at her arms. Twigs, you'd call 'em, if you weren't worried about the twigs ganging up on you after work and giving you [i]such[/i] a poking for being sassy enough to insult 'em like that. This is the kind of girl who sometimes needs to find a river or a particularly agreeable bear to ask it for help opening a jar for her. A jar that she closed herself! Her tummy is cute and trim in keeping with her skinny-girl profile, but you could go over it with a magnifying glass and not find so much as a one-pack let alone six, 'cause muscle definition implies the existence of muscles. So yeah.

And for three things, these are really scary stories. Ancient debts you don't know you're collecting and ice demons stealing you while you're trying to sleep, and, and... extra c-c-conditions and eeeeeeeep! Also yeeeeeeeep! But mostly eeeeeeeeep! S-so maybe she's not exactly on the best of her game right now, even if her game was somehow magically better than a magic super monk/demon or a double princess or the world's best and prettiest handmaiden. No, she's quivering and shaking and inching ever-so-closer to Hyra the more words come out of anybody's mouths.

All of this is to say that when Cyanis comes to her seeking Asylum, it's all Yue can do to not go rolling so far over that she winds up on the bottom of the pile. And funny enough, it's actually her training that helps her manage this. Not her sword training, sillyhead, that's useless! No no no, it's all her experience as the World's Best Fox Mom that lets her roll with the sudden yipping weight and only go flopping over sideways into Hyra's embrace. 

She's love to say it's kindness that guides her now, but it's not. Her fingers rub soothingly behind Cyanis' fluffy ears while her opposite hand wraps protectively around the wish granting girl's tummy, but that's all a function of how scared she, Yue, is. Snuggles are a two way street, ok? That's just science. Snuggle science, specifically. She holds Cyanis tight because she's as badly in need of clinging material as anybody here. She trembles and shivers so much that her body has become a soothing, uh, whaddya call 'em? Tuning forks? Yeah, and her trembling breath makes a wonderful shushing noise that can put any triangle at ease. That's the magic of being born for something, I guess. Even when you're not trying to do it you're still really good at it. 

But that's how we wound up in our current situation: Hyra's iron arms around Yue's tiny scrawny twigs (aaaah, no no, it was a... uh, a joke! Don't hurt meeeee~) holding Cyanis as tight as a doll at bedtime, with a softly purring Kat curled up asleep and blissfully unaware of what any of the fancy folk are actually saying as the perfect cherry on top of this comfort sundae. Oooh, man. An ice cream parlour would be an amazing next adventure, just sayin'.

"D-do you, um. Do you maybe think we could, uh... I mean. Um. M-maybe that's enough ghost stories f-for one night. I mean! Um! Thank you and, uh... no, no! It's fun, r-really! I'm having a (gulp) blast. But we're scaring, um, Kat, so..."

"Yeah guys!" squeaks Cyanis with [i]incredibly[/i] believable bravado, "You're scaring Kat! Just look at her!"

And the big fox holds up the smaller one and shakes her until frightened yips ayayayayayay their way across the entire castle.