"Wake up, sleepyhead!" cried a high-pitched, excited voice. "Wow, you're lucky. I wish Lieutenant Cobra Lily was my sister. Then I could sleep that long!"

Iris groaned, rolled over, and shook herself away. As she got up, she yawned, then asked the voice, "How long have I been out?"

"A sun-down."

"A sun-down?! I have to go meet Cobra Lily," mumbled Iris, forcing her eyes to open up wider. She noticed the little scrap of an arctic fox standing in her doorway, smiling with a few chipped teeth.

"She sent me to fetch you!" chirped the new fox. Looking at him, the fact that in the Dark Ages red foxes like her used to eat arctic foxes. Wincing at the barbaric thought, she got up to distract herself and examined the little scrap. "Hi..."

"Hi! I'm Smog!" he smiled, excited. "You can call me the Smoker, though, it sounds cool!"

"Okay..." she replied absentmindedly. Maybe not. Let's go for Smog.

"Where is she?" Iris asked tentatively, heading towards Smog.

"Well, I'll take you to her! You aren't trying to get rid of me, are you? You better not be, because I'm a battle-hardened warrior!" the little scrap cried, puffing his chest out proudly. I'll believe that he has more experience than me, but battle-hardened? Maybe not....

"This way!" chirruped the little fox. He bounded out the door and down the hall, his dark caramel eyes twinkling. Iris followed him wordlessly.

Smog slowed down so Iris could keep pace with him. "Don't you like to race?" She shrugged. After some silence, he asked, "Did you really become friends with the Scary One?"

"Scary One?" Iris repeated.

"Yeah!" Smog looked around nervously, before informing her, "She wants us to call her 'Hunter'. She...yells a lot, and isn't a very nice Trainer."

"I think she was pretty nice," offered Iris. Smog gaped at her with shock plain on his face at this remark, whispering, "Wow. So it's true."

After quite a few twisting and turning hallways, Smog stopped at a hole in the floor. Iris asked, "So what do we-" before being cut off as Smog jumped into the hole, shouting, "WHEEEE!!!" Iris quickly looked down the hole after him, worry coating her features. "Smog?" she called, right before overbalancing and falling down after him.

She thought about screaming, but as wind whipped past her, her fur going crazy, she realized that there was no point. I'm not going to be like one of those wimpy damsel in distress book characters that scream every chance they get.

Suddenly, she fell onto a wooden slide and started jolting down it. By the Oracle's tail, did I really think that Smog would've jumped off to his doom on purpose?! ...yes. Yes, I did.

She eyed the slide as she skidded down on it. The wood was rough, and even though her fur was unusually thick, she was still certain that she had gotten at least one splinter.

She finally flew out of the slide and dropped to the ground, hacking sand out of her mouth, her throat dry. Dizzily looking up, Iris squinted to see Smog standing next to her. "Not bad for a first-timer!" cried Smog, smiling.

She spat some more of the gritty sand out and gingerly started to get up from the sand. Glaring at Smog playfully, Iris asked, "So Cobra Lily's supposed to meet us here? Where is she?"

"Right here." Her sister appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, making Iris stumble back in shock.

"How'd you just appear like that?!" Iris demanded.

"I didn't. You just weren't paying enough attention." Cobra Lily smirked, while Iris internally seethed a little bit.

"So, Lieutenant Cobra Lily, ma'am, do I go back? Or can I stay?" asked Smog, his deep brown eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Hmmm..." Cobra Lily teased, pretending to ponder thoughtfully.

"Pretty please?! Pretty pretty please?! Pretty pretty pretty please with a humpback chub on top can I stay?" Smog pleaded. Cobra Lily snorted at his wording, and Iris glanced at her, confused.

"What's a humpback chub?" she asked.

"Only the ugliest fish in all of Lupinox," her sister told her. "Seriously. You might get to see one. We're heading to the oasis."

As they picked their way through the sand, Iris remarked, "I find it hard to believe that there is an oasis in this endless, desolate expanse of sand."

"Welp, there is one!" chirped Smog, striding quickly, sweat on his brow as he struggled to keep pace with the others. Iris was shocked to see how much energy he had.

When they had walked through the sand for what Iris felt like was miles, what appeared but a large lake with beautiful trees bearing large, ripe, delectable fruits of all sorts, with voles and other prey wiggling around the roots. She gaped in shock and could've sworn that her jaw hit the ground.

"Why in the Oracle's name is there a slide that leads to a magical oasis underneath a rebel base?!" Iris gasped.

Her sister chuckled. "You'd be surprised how many kitsunes are in the rebellion."

"Oh yes. Of course. Magic is the answer to everything," Iris responded dryly, imitating her History Trainer, Aciano's dull voice. His lessons might have been interesting, but he certainly wasn't.

Cobra Lily burst out laughing, while Smog chirped, "That's a funny voice, but it wasn't that funny." That, of course, made Cobra Lily laugh even harder.

Smog humphed and ignored them. Iris cautiously tapped the trunk of a tree, asking, "So why are we here?"

Cobra Lily smiled. "This is where we train all of our new recruits. Also, I thought it would be fun to see your face after you fell down that slide."

Iris cried, "So you arranged that on purpose?!"

Clearly not feeling guilty, her eyes twinkling, her sister simply replied, "Yup."

Growling under her breath, Iris stepped closer to the pool to get a better look. The water was a lovely, clear blue color, and everything about it screamed, 'paradise!' She cautiously touched it with her paw; it seemed almost unreal. The water rippled outwards, and she quickly pulled her paw away.

"You like it?" asked Cobra Lily. "I made most of it myself. It used to just be a puddle. You know, new kitsunes that join us make a contribution to the Oasis after their training is complete. That's why I expanded it and cleaned it up."

"I suppose that clears up the water thing."

"Yep, my specialty's water... Um, anyhow, now that you've seen the Oasis, now we're going to take you to the Rapids of No Looking Back. And yes, Smog, you can come."

"Really?!" asked Iris. "I can't believe I forgot about that! The Territory of the Banished is by the border of the wolves and the foxes! No wonder! This camp must be really close to the wolven side so that you can send spies over!"

"Bingo." Cobra Lily smiled.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" yelled Smog, his caramel brown eyes twinkling as he took off.

"Oh, yes!" Cobra Lily took off after him, clearly not worried about seeming like a professional lieutenant.

"Wait!" cried Iris, feebly chasing them. "How do we get out of here..." her voice trailed off as she focused her energy on running, and she managed to overtake her sister.

"Wow! You definitely couldn't do that the last time I saw you!" Cobra Lily cried, putting on a burst of speed.

"Well, I'm bigger now!" Iris replied, stretching her legs as she bounded forward, before suddenly stopping at a large basket. She walked over and cautiously traced a claw around the edges. "Did I win? Is this how we get out?"

Smog stumbled over, huffing and puffing, his breath coming heavily. "Yeah, it... it's a..huh a... pulley sy..stem..." he gasped.

"Okay, everyone get in the basket!" commanded Cobra Lily. It makes sense that they made her lieutenant...

They scrambled in, and when they were settled, her sister looked up and called, "Take us up!" An enormous rock dropped down, and the basket started to lurch upwards.

I wonder if this is what it is like to fly... at least somewhat. Her eyes wide, Iris watched the Oasis get smaller and smaller until they were all the way up.

A fox helped them out, nodding respectfully. "Lieutenant. Smog. Newbie." Smog poorly disguised his laugh as a cough, and it sounded like he was choking. Iris glared at him, and he quickly subsided.

With a flick of her tail, Cobra Lily got Smog to fall in behind her, and Iris, after some confusion, did so as well. As they marched down the hall, her sister whispered, "I hate this soldier stuff, but Frost and Frostbite want it. You know, the twin Bosses."

"They seemed kind of creepy," Iris whispered back, shuddering as they turned left.

"They are!" chirped Smog rather loudly, to which Iris replied, "Shhhhh!"

"Yeah, well, Frostbite can control ice and snow, so she's kind of...icy." Her sister glanced back at them, her eyes twinkling with her pun. "Frost can literally see into your soul, read your mind, figure out your purpose. It's really unnerving." Wow...

Finally, they stepped into the sunlight. Iris shielded her eyes, adjusting to the blinding sun, but Cobra Lily and Smog seemed unfazed. "I do not know how in the Oracle's name any of those heroes in books can act so brave," she muttered under her breath, her tail twitching nervously.

"Well, Sis, come on! It's time for you to learn what we face," Cobra Lily said. "Let's just hope that no one's there to give you the Newbie Initiation!" With that, the three of them marched off to face the Rapids of No Looking Back.