Eris was the daughter of the Town Lord, so she was privy to some information that other children weren't. On the other hand, Christina had been directly told about the upcoming evacuation by Commander Clark, so she knew more about it than even Eris did.
As such, it wasn't surprising that the two of them to quickly realized what this sudden trip on the Sunchaser was really about.
Once the two girls had gotten Lucas out of earshot of the room where the kids were staying, Eris couldn't keep up her cheerful act anymore and immediately asked, "Do we really have to leave?"
"Yes," Lucas said bluntly, his tone solemn and serious, "It's becoming more and more dangerous by the moment. We need to evacuate as soon as possible."
A sense of gloom washed over the trio when Lucas spoke those words.
Even Christina, who had only been in Redwood Town for half-a-day, felt a sense of fondness for this place which had brought so much colour into her life.
The trio fell silent, unsure of what to say or do next as Lucas' words had left no room for debate or discussion.
The decision had already been made and plans were already in motion. There was no stopping this, Redwood Town would soon be abandoned.
"Yip yip…"
The little fox, which had been curled up in Lucas' arms the whole time, looking like a fluffy white towel of some kind, seemingly sensed the tension in the air and poked her head out, letting out a few short cries. It was almost as if she was asking what was going on, though there was no way to know for sure.
Eris and Christina were both shocked out of their daze by the kit suddenly announcing herself, but it didn't take long for smiles to return to their faces as they both leaned in closer and began reaching out to pet her.
In response, the kit actually stuck her head out further, allowing the girls to fawn over it.
Although he had already witnessed the pup allowing Eris to touch her before, Lucas still couldn't help feeling a bit peeved when he saw the fox actively trying to get close to the girls.
He had fed her, protected her, bathed her, and treated her injuries before this little fox fully accepted him, yet she seemed to have no trouble at all getting along with Eris and Tina, allowing them to do whatever they wanted!
The nerve!
"I've never seen a fox beast like this before, and I've never even heard of one with three tails. Do you know what species she belongs to?" Christina asked curiously as she gently stroked the kit's head, drawing a slight purr from the latter.
Lucas shook his head, "Master examined her personally, but other than thinking she came from some kind of cold environment and that she had a powerful Bloodline Ability, we don't know anything else about her."
Letting out a sigh, Christina mused, "It's strange thinking this little one might one day become a terrifying monster capable of wiping out cities and kingdoms"
"I know, right?" Lucas agreed whole-heartedly, "Master said that she's almost certainly the child of an Eighth Order Spirit Beast, but seeing her act so friendly and docile, it's hard to imagine her as any kind of threat."
Aside from biting Lucas when they first met, the kit hadn't shown any kind of hostility like a normal beast would. On top of that, when she did bite Lucas' finger, her teeth hadn't even been sharp enough to pierce his skin or draw blood.
"Why are you calling this cutie a 'monster' or a 'threat'?" Eris pouted, "How can such an adorable creature be dangerous?"
There were many things Lucas and Christina wanted to say in response to Eris' outburst, like how even the most beautiful of beasts could be extremely vicious and deadly, but it was clear from how enamoured Eris was with the fox pup that she wouldn't listen to them, so they just kept their thoughts to themselves.
"What's her name?" Eris asked suddenly, clearly ready to move the conversation forward.
"Her name?" Lucas asked back, not quite sure how to respond.
What exactly was he supposed to say here?
Given how powerful he suspected her parents were, the chances of this kit having a name already were quite high in his opinion, but there was no way for him to know what that was, and he certainly couldn't ask her about it.
Spirit Beasts might be able to communicate with humans once they developed enough, but this baby fox was nowhere near that stage yet, so trying to reach out to her with his Soul Sense was clearly a waste of time.
Fortunately for him, Christina seemed to know a thing or two regarding such matters and patiently explained, "From what I've been taught, powerful Spirit Beasts will often give their offspring names, but those names are mostly meaningless to humans. If somehow someone tames a Spirit Beast, they will usually give them a second name."
"Heeeh…" Eris responded in a rather inattentive manner, distracted by the kit's cute yipping as she scratched its chin lightly.
Lucas, on the other hand, got the princess' point and began pondering.
The boy didn't know the first thing about naming a beast, or anything for that matter since he had never done so before, so he was at a bit of a loss.
Fortunately for Lucas, he had a veritable database of names in his inherited memories to pull from, so even if he couldn't come up with a good one on his own, he could at least find one that fit properly.
Looking down at the little fox, the things that stood out to Lucas the most were her 3 tails, pure white fur, and low body temperature. Gently running his fingers through her coat, which felt light and a bit cold to the touch, a certain name sprung into his head and he unconsciously blurted it out, "Yuki."
""Hm?"" Both Eris and Christina looked up at Lucas curiously, silently asking for an explanation.
Seeing the two inquisitive gazes pointed at him, Lucas smiled and explained, "It means 'snow' in…"
Here, Lucas paused for a moment, not quite sure what to say. His Master and everyone around him had repeatedly warned him not to expose his inherited knowledge, and while this name was quite a minor piece of information, it certainly counted as otherworldly information.
Quickly adjusting, Lucas simply followed up, "Yuki is a girl's name that means snow in a certain foreign language. Or at least that's what I heard from someone once."
Taking advantage of the pause in the fawning by Eris, Lucas gently lifted the little fox up to meet eyes with her and asked, using both his voice and his Soul Sense to hopefully convey his meaning, "What do you think? Do you like the name 'Yuki'?"
The kit didn't seem to understand at first, but after Lucas pointed to himself and said his name, then to Eris and Christina and said theirs in turn, before point at the pup and calling her Yuki, the fox yipped twice in an energetic manner.
"Seems like she likes it," Christina commented before reaching out her hand again and petting the little fox, "Nice to meet you, Yuki."
To say she wasn't afraid of the consequences of getting close to a Spirit Beast kit with a Bloodline Ability would be a lie; but at this point, it was already too late. Since that was the case, Christina figured it would be better to be on Yuki's good side if her parents ever showed up, and what better way was there to get close to a baby than to spoil it?
It certainly wasn't that Tina found Yuki adorable and simply wanted to pet her.
Certainly not.
Yuki, the newly named fox kit, yipped a few more times before she curled back up into Lucas' arms and seemingly fell asleep.
Eris wanted nothing more than to snatch Yuki away from her little brother and cuddle her, but seeing the little fox sleeping so comfortably, she somehow restrained herself.
Finally snapping out of her cuteness induced trance, Eris doubled back to the subject and asked in a whisper-like voice, "So, what's a Bloodline Ability?"
Lucas would have face-palmed, but his hands were full, so he simply let out a sigh and explained what his Master had taught him just an hour or so ago.
After hearing that Yuki came from an incredibly powerful species, and that her parents were likely Eighth Order or even higher-level Spirit Beasts, rather than showing fear or unease, Eris had a very different reaction compared to everyone else who had met the kit so far, "Wow! That means Yuki is going to grow up to be super strong, right? And when that happens, we'll be friends with her! That's so cool!"
Lucas and Christina were both dumbfounded for a moment, but then they burst out laughing, "Pft… phaha…"
Confused, Eris glanced back and forth between her little brother and new big sister, wondering what she had said that was so funny.
At first it wasn't a big deal, but when Lucas and Christina continued laughing for a while, Eris began to feel left out and pursed her lips, "I thought you two didn't get along, but now you're both laughing at me! It's not fair!"
Immediately, the laughter caught in both Lucas and Christina's throats as they unconsciously glanced at each other.
There was still some awkwardness between them at that moment, with the boy thinking this princess was a bit too violent, and the princess thinking this boy was a bit too hateful, but like most kids their age, after sharing a few experiences and a good laugh together, much of those ill feelings had faded.