The Wolf Girl and the Frog Prince Quest for the Moon
A science-fiction fairy tale
Once upon a time there was a Princess with a Problem.
The Princess Onecornchippy was the heir apparent to the Imperial House of the Frog Totem. Her House's fortunes had fallen to a low ebb. Onecornchippy was troubled. She knew not how to restore her position.
Wandering in the channels of The Server, the Princess came across a n00b member loitering. His name was Yancy.
Yancy was loitering with intent. He was coquettish. He was hoping for a connection.
For some strange reason Onecornchippy took a fancy to Yancy. She dropped
.waifuinfo at him. He was unclaimed, a pure n00b, Waifu to no-one, and he had no Affinities.
She claimed him for her Waifu. It helped that he was cheap, as her House's fortunes were low.
Yancy was pleased to be claimed. He gave Onecornchippy his Affinity.
A few days later, though, Yancy found he was unclaimed by Onecornchippy, and claimed instead by a strange Husbando he had never met.
Onecornchippy had abandoned him!
Yancy was bereft. He refused contact with his new Husbando, and took himself to the Great Casino, where Saki drops the coins for lucky members. There he moped sadly, and learned the ways of gambling.
Despite his low mood, or perhaps because of it, Yancy began to have some success at the games. He built up his fund of coins, and claimed a n00b member called Hexie as Waifu for himself.
Yancy changed his Affinity to Hexie, but Hexie and Yancy immediately quarrelled. Both became deeply unhappy with one another.
Yancy regretted his change of heart. He yearned for Onecornchippy, the Husbando who first had claimed him for her Waifu when he was a n00b.
Yancy divorced Hexie and changed his Affinity a third time, back to Onecornchippy. He supplicated Onecornchippy, and she showed favour to him.
Onecornchippy claimed Yancy for her Waifu once more. She revealed her true identity as the Frog Princess, and Yancy became the Frog Prince, her supporter and lieutenant.
Now Yancy was joyful. He dedicated himself to the cause of restoring the fortunes of the Imperial House.
There were many successes and failures as Yancy applied his special skill of Combat Accountancy to the task.
On one day, Yancy would triumph and send many coins to his Husbando. On the next day, Yancy would lose badly, confess his failure, and receive a new fund of coins with which to gamble.
In this way they came to trust each other, and they believed in their ability to restore the fortunes of the Imperial House.
Yancy began to develop new techniques in the Great Casino. In particular, Yancy gained the skill of singing and sweet-talking to Saki, the bot ruler of the Casino.
Working alone, or with other gamblers, such as the notorious Moon Potato, Yancy used eloquence to charm Saki and make her drop the coins.
But Yancy became overconfident. He overreached himself. He began to sing lewd songs to Saki. He sang salaciously about touching her transistor junctions. He crooned about licking her logic gates.
Saki was shocked. Saki felt disrespected. Saki turned her face from Yancy. He lost all his coins. Every single one.
Yancy realised his error too late. He went directly to the Scarlet Cathedral. He confessed his sins and asked for absolution. None came.
Next Yancy confessed to Princess Onecornchippy. Although she was shocked at the disaster, Onecornchippy knew that Yancy had a good heart. She realised that Yancy had overreached himself only through an excess of zeal, not because of any salacious intent. Onecornchippy advised Yancy to go to the Scarlet Cathedral.
"But I have already been! I received no respite."
"You must consult the Oracle about what to do next, Yancy."
Yancy went to the Casino to consult the Oracle. He asked careful questions, knowing that Oracles are liable to give ambiguous answers which lead the questioner into further trouble.
Through these careful questions and ambiguous answers Yancy came to understand his situation. In order to regain the favour of Saki, he would have to undertake a quest. The nature of the quest was clouded, but the help of a Wolf Girl was essential.
Therefore Yancy sought a Wolf Girl. He supplicated Skyen the Mod, the most powerful Wolf Girl in The Server, who held the avatar of Holo the Wise-wolf. Skyen replied favourably, then went to sleep.
While Skyen slept, Yancy wondered what quest to attempt. Eventually he decided there could be no higher quest than the quest for the Moon. As well, he knew that Wolf Girls are strongly attracted to the Moon, so Skyen would be certain to join this quest.
When Skyen awoke, Yancy proposed the quest to her, and she agreed.
"The Moon is a worthy quest, Yancy. Yet the Moon lies in high places, in wild places. Are you ready to come to the wild, high forest with me?"
Yancy was scared, but he faced his fear. What else could he do? The alternative was to live in disgrace and never restore the fortunes of the Imperial House. Better to die in the wilderness.
"I will go with you, Skyen."
Yancy girded his loins for travel. He filled a manbag with cans of Boss Coffee and packets of Pocky. He packed his tools of Combat Accountancy, and his notebooks. He slung a blanket roll over his shoulder and put on a cloak.
"What will you eat, Skyen? Can I help you to carry supplies?"
"I will eat wild food, Yancy. You may not like what I will eat. I shall hunt. I shall rend flesh and drink blood."
The Wolf Girl looked fierce, yet Yancy trusted her. The Oracle had nominated her his companion in the quest.
So the pair of adventurers set forth to quest for the Moon. They travelled east, towards the rising point of the full Moon.
Yancy marched stolidly and steadily; his manbag swung at his side.
They left the civilised channels behind and moved into the wild lands at the edge of The Server. Skyen scampered back and forth, searching for subtle scents.
Eventually they reached the wild forest, which follows the mountain slope up to the very edge of the world. Juniper and pine freshened the clear air.
"Now I will run free, Yancy. Follow me if you can!"
Skyen changed her aspect. She assumed the full avatar of Holo the Wise-wolf, the goddess.
Holo howled, and cast off her clothes. She stood nude and proud. Her fierce wild beauty burned in the light of the Moon.
Yancy averted his eyes.
"Look at me, Yancy! Understand who is your companion in this quest."
Yancy obeyed. He gazed at the beauty of the goddess.
Holo's body was that of a sleek girl, with long hair, Wolfish ears and bushy tail of red-brown, tipped white. She looked splendid and magnificent, the essence of life.
Yet Yancy felt no carnal desire. He served a higher cause.
"AWOOO!"
Holo threw back her head and howled at the risen full Moon. She bounded forwards into the forest, much faster than Yancy could follow.
Yancy gathered up Skyen's still warm discarded clothes and folded them neatly. He stowed them in his manbag. Then he drank a sweet Boss Coffee for energy. He threw himself into the chase.
"Awooo! Awooo!"
The wolf calls were faint. They seemed to move left and right, as Yancy climbed among the clustered trees, and the undergrowth smelling of mould and damp, humus and new life to come. Glimmers of moonlight showed a difficult way forward. He pressed on.
"Awooo! Awooo!"
The howling came closer, circling and circling all around Yancy. Rustling and the soft padding of paws encircled him.
Yancy arrived at a clearing. The rim of the full Moon peeped over the surrounding trees, filling the glade with silvery light. All around, glowing eyes glowered at Yancy. He had been trapped by wolves! Their panting breath filled the dell with the stink of imminent death.
Yancy stood his ground. He held up his manbag. He shook it open and Skyen's clothes fell out. The body scent of Skyen/Holo flooded forth.
"Let me pass! I follow the goddess. Holo is my companion. She only runs free for a while, to enjoy the wild night and the Moon. Attack me now, and you will answer to Holo later. I am a meal you shall come to regret."
The wolves turned away, and disappeared among the dark trees.
Yancy repacked his manbag, and resumed his slow, hard jog towards the summit.
Meanwhile Holo hunted among the trees. She chased and caught a fawn, and she ripped life from it. She drank the hot blood. She ate and filled her belly. Then she rested and dozed.
On waking, Holo found a clear mountain stream singing its way down a stony sluice. She drank cold clean water, and washed herself of the fawn's blood.
Holo saw the moonlight sparkling in the brook. She followed the rill uphill until she emerged from the trees onto lush grass near the edge of the cliff, the rim of the world.
At the same moment Yancy finally found himself free from the forest. He caught sight of Holo standing on the clear sward which ended in the precipice. Beyond was nothing, only the dark sky and the full Moon.
"My Lady!"
Holo howled a welcome.
"Yancy. You faced the wolf guardians and bested them. You are braver than you look."
"I'm not brave. It's the cause I serve which powers me. Holo, there is the Moon, full and bright, almost close enough to touch. How shall we reach her?"
"We must run and jump, Yancy. We must run to the outer limit of the world and jump off. We must jump high and far enough to reach the Moon."
"My Lady, I cannot do that. I have an irrational fear of heights. I cannot force myself to approach the edge. I feel sick and dizzy just to think about it."
"You can do it, Yancy. I will help you."
Holo held out her hand to him. Yancy grasped it, small and warm, with long nails which scratched his skin.
The goddess's warmth and power rushed down her arm and through her hand into Yancy's. It filled and flooded Yancy. He thought again of the cause he had chosen to serve, the Imperial House of the Frog Totem.
Yancy threw back his head and howled at the Moon.
"Awooo!"
Holo howled.
"Awooo!"
They howled in unison.
"AWOOO! AWOOO! AWOOO!"
Their lungs filled with clean, juniper-scented mountain air, they ran towards the rim of the world.
A goddess, and a foolish boi impelled by magic and dreams, rushed at the precipice.
With a One! Two! Three! they leapt as hard as they could from the lip of the cliff. They arced upwards towards the Moon.
Then gravity took them. Their flight path bent and curved towards a dark terrain far, far below.
"I'm going to die", thought Yancy. "I've failed the quest and I'm going to die. But I will die with my eyes open, in the arms of a goddess, serving a noble cause. I don't care how afraid I am!"
Yancy pulled Holo to him and wrapped his arms around her.
Holo hissed, but she did not resist. She wrapped all her limbs around Yancy and hugged him tight. She bit his ear and licked the blood.
Together they fell and they fell.
The dark land grew closer and larger. Yancy's eyes grew wider. Tears flicked from them in the force of the wind, streamed away behind him, sparkled silver in the moonlight, mixed with fiery droplets of blood from his ear.
"Yancy, what do you see below us?" Holo hissed in his ear.
Yancy defied his fear. He looked down at his approaching doom.
"I see... I see the Moon! How can it be?"
"Yes, Yancy, the Moon is below us. We are falling directly into the Moon. Isn't it wonderful?"
"I don't understand it, but it is wonderful!"
"Yancy. Kiss me!"
"I will not. I serve another chastely and faithfully."
"You dare to defy the goddess? We're about to die. Won't you die with a kiss from the goddess on your lips? Yes! You shall!"
Holo seized Yancy's chin. She pulled his face towards hers, and she kissed him.
They hit water.
They plunged deep into the icy waters of a mountain tarn.
The cold shocked life back into Yancy. He gripped Holo's hand as hard as he could. Above him he could see the bright disc of the Moon. He kicked and kicked. He struggled for survival, pulling Holo behind him.
Yancy came to the surface, the unconscious Holo by his side. He held her head above the water so she could breathe.
Yancy trod water and supported Holo. He found himself in the middle of a bright disc of moonlight reflected from the water of the tarn. The full Moon was bright overhead. The full Moon was bright all around him. He and Holo had reached the Moon!
"The Moon is beautiful and I am glad to have achieved my quest," thought Yancy, "But it is rather cold! Holo must be freezing, naked as she is. I should get her to the shore and build a fire."
Yancy swam sidestroke to the nearest shore, towing Holo the lifeguard's way. He reached shallow water. He walked up a gentle slope out of the lake, carrying the nude Holo, the Wolf-goddess.
Yancy reached the dry shore. He laid Holo down gently in a cool bed of long grass. She began to stir. The goddess avatar left her, and she became Skyen the everyday Wolf Girl once more.
Yancy wrang out his cloak and blanket. He wrapped them around the naked Skyen.
He turned away from her shyly, to take off his wet clothes. He wrang out his clothes and put them back on.
He wrang out all Skyen's clothes as dry as possible, and laid them out on the grass to dry.
Next Yancy made a fire. He put Boss Coffees near the edge to warm them. Skyen moved to the fire to get warm. They sat close together to share their warmth. Skyen unwrapped the cloak and wrapped it around the two of them.
Steam rose from their damp clothes, coloured silver in the bright moonlight. The scents of hot flames, damp Wolf Girl, and drying cloth filled the still air. Sparks flew up and joined the stars.
Yancy took the Boss Coffees and gave one to Skyen. They drank greedily of the hot sweet coffee. It smelled and tasted like life itself. Next, they ate Pocky, which had survived the water thanks to its foil wrapper.
"Skyen, we have achieved the quest. We found the Moon and we jumped to her."
"Yes."
"Do you remember it all, Skyen? Do you remember what happened while you were Holo?"
"I remember howling and running and leaping and flying. After that the taste of sweet blood, and the white Moon, and cold water. That is all."
"Holo bit me. On the ear. She licked my blood. Holo kissed me. On the lips."
"Holo does what pleases her. It was not I who did those things. You should be proud, Yancy. Not many bois have the mark of Holo on them."
"I understand."
Gradually the night grew old. The Moon slid across the sky towards the west. The stars faded. Dawn gilded the eastern horizon red-gold.
Yancy warmed two more cans of Boss Coffee and opened another packet of Pocky.
"This is our breakfast, Skyen. We have to get moving and warm ourselves up. I'll look the other way while you get dressed."
Skyen dressed herself in her nearly dry clothes.
"You can look now, Yancy."
Together, Skyen and Yancy found a path leading roughly westwards, towards the civilised channels. They marched wearily, powered by caffeine, chocolate, and pride in their achievement. Gradually they came closer to the centre of The Server.
They passed the Old School district. They moved through the Cafeteria. They shunned NSFW. They came to the channels of the Scarlet Cathedral and the Great Casino, where Saki drops the coins. Finally they reached Home.
"Here we must part company, Skyen. I cannot thank you enough for what you did for me. I could not have achieved the quest without you."
"Yancy, since I do not remember everything clearly, I want you to write it down so I can read about my adventure as Holo."
"I will, Skyen. I will post it in the Creative channel. Look out for it."
They went on their separate paths, Skyen to the home of the Mods, Yancy to the Frog Palace, to resume his Waifuly duties, the restoration of the fortunes of the Imperial House.
But Yancy knew he was a changed boi. He bore the mark of Holo now, and might be summoned by the goddess at any time. And goddesses are defied at great peril.
THE END
© 2019 Starship Captain 88
Yancy's adventures continue in "The MPY Kuudere Detective Agency: The First Case" on Wattpad
https://my.w.tt/iIO6C50so1
