The Tricksters Tail

Chapter III

Zorro, now in his usual clothing of a brown shirt and jeans, walked out of his house and into the streets of New Maria, the city of hope in Arville. The sun was shining brightly on the cobblestone path, with the scent of pine in the air and shadows moving around the colorful houses that lined the streets. It was a beautiful day in New Maria.

As Zorro walked through the streets, he couldn't help but notice all the animals going about their daily business, whether it be working or playing. He was particularly drawn to the fountain of power, where the other two artifacts, the Redwing Talon and the Serpent's Gaze, had been placed. The Trickster's Tail was the only one missing.

However, Zorro's thoughts of admiration were interrupted when he noticed a group of trouble-making raccoons teasing an old, grumpy wolf named Louie. They were accusing him of breaking into his bakery and stealing strawberry muffins. Louie yelled at the raccoons, threatening to call their parents, but he kept tripping and falling as he tried to chase them.

Witnessing this, Zorro decided to step in and go after the raccoons before they could escape. Using his sneaking skills, Zorro climbed up to the roof of a house and jumped down in front of the raccoons.

"Wait! Please don't hurt us! We just wanted to take the muffins for ourselves," one of the raccoons cried out, fearing for their lives. "Oh please, he doesn't have a sword. He's not going to hurt us," a second raccoon teased Zorro, causing the fox to chuckle.

"Oh, I don't have a sword," Zorro replied with a sly smirk, "but I do have this." He then used a small fireblast on his paw, which freaked out the raccoons. They quickly handed him the muffins and ran away. Zorro smirked and quickly walked back to Louie's bakery to return the muffins.

"Sir Louie? I got back the muffins from the raccoons," Zorro said as he saw Louie get up from his chair. "Thank you, my dear son! I've had enough of those raccoons stealing from my shop," the elder wolf explained, placing a piece of sponge cake on the counter.

"For stopping the raccoons, I reward you with this piece of cake," Louie told Zorro as he wrapped it and handed it over. "Thank you, sir, but you didn't have to do this. I was just helping out," Zorro said as he took the cake and bid Louie goodbye.

Just as he was about to go around the corner, Zorro spotted Perla, an orange vixen who had secretly admired him for a long time. "Hi, Zorro!" Perla said, blushing as she approached him, holding a piece of paper.

"Good morning, Perla! How is the bookstore holding up?" Zorro greeted her. "It's going well! I sold a couple of my poems to the crowd. It should be enough to get me to Fableheaven this winter," the vixen replied, still blushing just from seeing his eyes.

"Oh, and I, uh... made a new poem! I'm going to give you the first copy! I hope you love it!" Perla said, handing her crush the piece of paper. "Well, I can't wait to read it, Perla," Zorro said, putting it in his pocket, causing Perla to smile but feel a little hurt. "I've got to get going to my uncle's shop, so I'll see you later," Zorro told Perla as he made his way to his uncle's shop.

"Yeah, I'll see you later! Have fun at work," Perla replied as Zorro walked away, smiling beautifully. "One day he'll realize," she said to herself as she walked back into the bookstore.

As Zorro strolled further into the woods, he finally arrived at his Uncle Rey's blacksmith store. He walked in, standing tall and proud as the scent of burning coal hit his nose. His uncle was working on a sword and welcomed Zorro.

"You're a few minutes late, dear nephew," Rey told Zorro as he handed him the box of metal. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. There was a group of raccoons stealing from the bakery, and I had to step in and help Louie," Zorro explained to his uncle as he handed him his apron.

"Very well, nephew. Now you might want to consider taking night shifts to defend the store from anyone trying to break in," Rey replied, laughing as Zorro chuckled and shook his head, putting on the apron and heading to the cash register.

"Let's get this day started."