The Jungle

Umbra crept through the brush, peeking between the leaves to watch a group of his fellow fae converse. Umbra had recently learned to shift his form, and found that his new ferret-like body was more suited for sneaking around.

Umbra desperately wanted to speak to the children that lived around him, but he could never work up to courage to introduce himself. He didn't feel worthy enough.

“Are you inviting all the nobles to your birthday party?” one of the fae, a girl with chubby cheeks, asked.

“Only the ones from the tribes my parents like. I know for sure we're inviting the Aquarius, Sepulchre, and

Chthonic tribes…” a boy responded.

“What about Astral? Aren't they one of the big clans?” another fae piped in.

Umbra's heart skipped a beat. That was his family!

The girl shook her head. “No, my momma said that the Astrals aren't worth anything anymore. Their clan is dying out.”

Umbra retreated farther into the trees, stomach churning. What were they talking about?

“Yeah,” the boy agreed, “I heard that the head of the Astrals only had one pup before the alpha female died. You know the weird kid that lives in the house farthest from us? He's the only heir.”

----

Standing on the front porch, Tails rocked on his heels, all four eyes staring excitedly at Umbra. A massive, childish grin stretched across his lips.

Umbra glared coldly at Tails, studying the humanoid creature. His torso was longer than a human’s and his spine seemed to be unnaturally flexible. A forked tongue was visible behind a mouthful of sharp fangs, and Umbra assumed he had venom sacks in the roof of his mouth. Patches of pink scales glimmered on his brown skin.

“I am so excited to actually meet you,” Tails chirped, laying his hands on his arm. Umbra was irked at his touchy-feely personality. Was he squeezing his bicep? “I mean, yeah, reading that article and then looking at Mr. Matthew’s Tumblr posts was great, but this is a whole new level of awesome!”

“You were able to track down Matthew’s social media from just one magazine article?” Umbra paused, knitting his eyebrows, “And Serpentine have internet connection?”

Tails waved a smart phone that he produced from his pocket. “Of course we have internet- we're not savages. It's pretty fast too.”

“Let's just get this over with,” Umbra mumbled, miffed. “Take me to the Serpentine Realm.”

“Aye, aye, Captain Mortis,” Tails giggled, slicing into the air with a pocketknife. Umbra squinted, recognizing an obvious jab at his eyepatch.

Runes crackled with black and white magic, taking Umbra by surprise. But it was gone within seconds, the portal ripping into existence. Umbra’s breath caught in his throat, suddenly overwhelmed. This was really happening.

Umbra turned his head, catching a glimpse of Matthew waving and blowing kisses in the window. The sight alleviated the ache in his stomach, and he hastily adjusted his tie to hide his moment of weakness.

It’s going to be okay, Umbra thought, casting his worry aside and stepping into the portal.

----

As Umbra's body was flung through the boundaries of time and space, it seemed as if fate wanted to metaphorically kick him in the groin just one more time. Umbra popped into existence cursing the gods as he hit a mud puddle face-first. He cursed Time in particular, as he was sure the Überdragon was currently laughing at his poor luck.

“Are you kidding me?” Umbra barked at Tails, who was covered in mud, “This was my best suit!”

Tails threw his hands in the air, scowling, “I know, right?! I just had this coat drycleaned!”

He may be obnoxious, but his priorities are in the right place, Umbra remarked to himself, raising an eyebrow.

Coming to his feet, the Serpentine Realm stretched before him in all its glory. The jungle was not a thick, humid forest like Umbra expected. Instead, massive trees covered in beautiful flowers and wide leaves took root in the sandy soil. Colorful birds flew overhead, their wings gracing the vivid red sky.

“I've never been here,” Umbra murmured, wiping the mud off his silk coat, “Can you at least point me in the basic direction of your house?”

Tails pointed his finger to the south, where Umbra could see the steeple point of a temple breaking through the canopy. “That's where I live.” Looping his arm with Umbra’s, Tails began to skip, dragging his new mercenary along with him.

“Oh man, I'm so happy!” he exclaimed, “I'm finally gonna have a friend to take home!”

This is going to be a long trip, Umbra thought.

Author's Note- So, another pop quiz...what's your favorite nfh moment?