It was evening. The train swiftly moved on the railroad and advanced towards its destination which still lay far ahead. Lucy was sleeping on a chair, and motherly squirrel Sandy had dozed off too. Only Sam was awake, reading a book she had brought along, about basic squirrel spirit incantations. She suddenly felt her stomach grumble.
"Hmm?" she looked down at her belly, "I feel hungry..." she glanced at slumbering Sandy and Lucy and smiled: "Would be a pity if I woke them over such a simple thing. I'll go to the wagon restaurant myself".
She stood up and silently slipped out of the coupé. She passed the door of her wagon and appeared in a glamorous wagon restaurant, where people sat at tables and enjoyed their dinner. Some of them even had their spirits accompany them. Sam walked up to one of the free tables and wanted to take a seat when a tall, sixteen-year-old boy with punk-like black hair and an arrogant smirk arrived with two coquettish girls, took the whole place, and pushed her away:
"Beat it, kid, I came here first".
"I came here first! You go away!" Sam frowningly put hands on her waist, not afraid of the robust lad.
"Eh? Who do you think you are, ordering me around? I'm giving you the last chance - beat it before I've gone mad..."
The two coquettish girls giggled playfully, hearing their boy's 'brave' remark.
"Oh, so you won't move? Then you'll have it the hard way..." Sam proudly cracked her joints and touched her wooden bead-bracelet: "Twinkle, Sandra Nutts!"
Bright light emerged from her bracelet, and in a few minutes, stupefied Sandy appeared in the wagon restaurant. She blinked, glanced around, and then surprisedly looked at Sam:
"What's the reason for rousing me up, honey?"
"Sandy, this boy came after me and pushed me away from the table, claiming he came first. He was rude to me! Beat him up!"
"Oh?" Sandy furrowed her brows and looked at the boy now, "It is not good to bully a younger girl! Please, kindly apologize to Sam!" she put hands on her waist just like Sam before.
Seeing she had called upon a squirrel, the boy and his two maidens burst out laughing:
"Oh boy! You think you can punish me with that mere little rodent?!"
Sam and Sandy flared up:
"She's not a mere squirrel! She is Sandra Nutts, the toughest of all squirrel spirits!"
"You are a very bad-mannered kid, laughing at strangers!" Sandy reddened up too and crossed her arms.
The boy still laughed hard.
"You both are grounded!" he grabbed his skull necklace: "Roar, Tigran Zverev!"
A fire-light emerged and soon formed into a tan-skinned, red-tiger-eared, red-to-black-haired, yellow-eyed man-like spirit with robust stature, muscular bare chest, blue trousers on bare feet, and a long, orange, black-striped jacket-coat. The people presenting there all gasped and began watching the interesting events, anticipating a battle to begin. Sam and Sandy widened eyes, seeing such a giant and what's more, predator-natured spirit before them. Sam now got truly scared and hid behind Sandy, shivering a little. The boy easily noticed her fear and chuckled:
"I gave you last chance but you didn't take it... Now fight!"
"S... Sandy... I'm scared..." Sam tearfully looked up at her squirrel spirit.
The boy and his girls burst out laughing again:
"Go cry off, you scaredy-cat!"
Seeing such an insulting behaviour of his towards her beloved child and hostess, Sandy flared up and clenched her fists:
I will no more surrender to some brainless spirits only because they're predators...
"We accept the challenge!"
Sam widened eyes - she was really going to fight a tiger spirit?!
"Sandy, don't! You're going to get hurt!" tears filled her eyes as she clutched her mommy spirit's yellow dress.
"Haha! You're really going to take the challenge? You are truly nuts!" the boy laughed, and then snorted: "Fine, have it your way... Tigran, finish her off!"
"Alright, Rudy," Tigran sneered, took a battle pose, and readied his sharp claws.
Sandy frowned at him, and then glanced at Sam with a kind smile:
"Don't worry, honey, I'll be alright. You step back a little, to stay safe," she turned back to her opponent and took a battle pose of a swift squirrel.
"Good luck..." Sam murmured and indeed stepped back as advised.
Tigran bellowed and charged on. Sam gasped and closed eyes not to see this gruesome view, but suddenly she heard Sandy's battle cry, so she curiously opened eyes again, just to see how her squirrel spirit had sprung up and over the tiger, dodging his attack, and then rotated in the air, hit him with her foot, and dropped him to the floor. The people widened eyes - such an adroit squirrel! Sam rejoiced - Sandy had gained an advantage. Rudy instead pouted - how this squirrel dared act so tough?! He yelled at Tigran:
"Destroy her!"
The tiger didn't really need his encouraging words - he was already raged enough to act on his own. He leaped up, turned back to Sandy, and roared at full force. He ran towards her again, and when Sandy wanted to repeat the same manoeuvre, he grabbed her by foot, rolled her in the air, and dropped her to the floor, making her forehead bleed.
"Sandy!" Sam rushed up to her, knelt by her side, grabbed her in her arms, and shook her: "Sandy! Are you alright? Answer me!"
The squirrel weakly raised her eyelids and gazed into her eyes. A sweet smile covered her face:
"S... Sammy..."
"Sandy! Please get up! Please be well!" Sam began crying. She could hear Rudy's evil laugh from the behind, and it brought even more tears to her.
Suddenly, she felt something shade her. She fearfully looked up and screamed - it was that beastly tiger.
"Move!"
"No! Leave Sandy alone!" she frowned at him with tearful eyes and covered Sandy with her body.
"I said move!" the tiger roared now, grabbed her, and threw her aside.
Sam screamed and hit the floor hard. She began crying with hot tears as she got hurt. The tiger approached the barely-conscious fallen squirrel, and snarled, wanting to stab his claws into her.
"Sandy!" Sam yelled in agony, but suddenly, large water current emerged from aside, hit Tigran's claws, turned into ice, and froze his entire hand.
"Ahh!" Tigran painfully roared and fell back. He snarled, and he and Rudy, as well as tearful Sam and the people, glanced aside, widening eyes with astonishment.
"Lucy!" Sam cried with joy and hope - it was her big sis standing there at the wagon door. She was frowning, with a hand put on her Yin-and-Yang locket.
"Who the heck are you?" Rudy squinted at her, while his two girls fearfully hid behind him as they got scared of the freezing water-ice current that had hit Tigran.
"The name's Lucy Caldwell. Leave my friends be if you don't want trouble".
"Trouble?" Rudy burst out laughing again, "Tigran has beaten both of your friends in an instant. Who the heck are you to cause me trouble? You are just a weenie girl like those two!" he pointed on barely-conscious Sandy and tearful Sam. Tigran snarled and his inner fire caught his frozen hand, melting the ice.
"Ice cannot overcome my fire. You are toast, woman".
Rudy grinned proudly, sure of his tough spirit.
"Oh, I would not be so certain..." they heard an ominous, sly voice, and from behind Lucy, a long-white-haired, red-eyed, white-fox-eared, light-blue-clothed, light-blue-fanned boy emerged, with five white foxtails.
Sam widened eyes - since when had that demon fox become white?! Many people too gasped in shock - a tailed fox spirit?! Rudy raised an eyebrow - how come a fox acted so tough? Tigran was a tiger, after all. Some stinky fox couldn't beat him! Tigran, apparently, had the same thoughts as his master:
"How come a mere arctic fox talks so big to a fire tiger?"
The fox man chuckled in response and covered his mouth with his light blue fan.
"He is not a 'mere arctic fox'," Lucy frowned, "He is my spirit guardian. Yin - Huli Yuehong".
All of the people presenting there gasped, while Tigran shuddered with utmost fear - Huli Yuehong?!