Two cats, two foxes, and a shiny fox crawl up to a castle. Stop me if you’re heard this one.

Or don’t, they all have to stop here anyway. They’re close now. Close enough to make out [s]with[/s] the final obstacle between them and all the other obstacles. If it weren’t for all eyes on the hunt, they’d have been spotted long ago. But, well, you don’t get to be a khan by not noticing the funny way the grass moves out the corner of your eye while the rest of your eye is watching a fox expertly hop circles around your hounds.

Someone’s got to do something. A brave someone. A competent someone. A someone who doesn’t need to be told the obvious, ever. Because they know a thing or two about a thing or two. And they are, reliable sources say, really pretty.

“I can distract her while the rest of you get inside.” No jokes. No show. A little bit of fun, yes, can’t forget that. But no jokes. “By the time we’ve drawn heartblades she’ll have called the huntresses back - probably with a horn or something - and then we’ll need someone to come rescue us. Highly embarrassing. Better one of us get her attention, and the rest of us deal with whatever surprises are waiting inside. Besides,” and you, dear Yuki, get a Fluffy Fox Smile, all for you. Don’t spend it all in one place. “Isn’t saving maidens and reuniting lovers a knight’s job?”

He knows what you’re thinking: Hazel, my sweet, how can one foxboy get an entire Khan to leave her post? Surely you’ll be caught in a flash, and then she’ll spot everyone else, and then it’s the horn and the capturing and the embarrassment? Why are you so confident that you, who’s never been a distraction before in his life, can pull this off?

Tsk, tsk tsk~

Easy: He’s not gonna get caught! He’s gonna scamper, and sneak, and swish, and sword, and she’s not gonna catch him! Bing bong so simple! She’s not gonna pounce and bear him to the ground! She’s not gonna pin him helpless beneath all those muscles! She’s not gonna trap both his little wrists in one very big hand and use the other very big hand to cup his very very little chin and breathily growl in his earsies as she interrogates and savors her delicious new boytophy! Trophy! Magical Prince Princess! So! You know! It’s totally fine!!! Not a problem at all, for anybody!!!