Chapter 1. Vivid Dreams

The foxkin's golden eyes locked with Nora's across the moonlit clearing, freezing her in place.

"You don't belong here," the creature whispered, her black-and-white fur rippling in the otherworldly breeze. "And yet, you keep coming back."

Nora took a hesitant step forward, drawn by something in that piercing gaze. The air between them seemed to shimmer with an electric current. The foxkin's ears twitched as she tilted her head, studying Nora with a mixture of curiosity and… was that longing?

"Who are you?" Nora's voice caught in her throat. "Why do I keep dreaming about you?"

The foxkin's mouth curved into a playful smile. She extended one elegant hand, clawed fingers beckoning…

Nora bolted upright in bed, heart hammering against her ribs. Sweat plastered her dark hair to her forehead as she gasped for breath, the phantom scent of pine and moss filling her nostrils. She brushed frantically at her arms, half-expecting to find dirt from the forest floor clinging to her skin.

"Damn it," she whispered to her empty apartment. "Again."

Over the past few weeks, Nora's dreams had evolved from fleeting impressions into vivid, strikingly realistic adventures. She had always been a vivid dreamer, but these were something else—so strikingly real that she often found herself catching phantom scents or feeling the lingering touch of beings who couldn't possibly exist.

"Just stress," she'd muttered to herself after she got to the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face, trying to wash away the lingering scent of a forest she'd never visited.

Still, it was hard to deny that the dreams felt far too structured to be random. Every night picked up where the last had left off, as though someone behind the scenes was crafting a carefully choreographed story. The dreams drew her into a world teeming with fantastical beings: beast-human hybrids with sleek, animalistic grace and creatures so alien they seemed plucked from another dimension. They weren't just figures in the background; they interacted with her, pulling her deeper into their realm.

Despite the unsettling nature of these encounters, Nora found herself looking forward to nightfall, her heart racing with a forbidden anticipation she hadn't felt in years. Her fingers would hover over the sleep aid her shrink had prescribed, only to withdraw at the last moment, craving the intoxicating thrill that awaited her on the other side of consciousness. These imaginary adventures filled the void left by her lack of real-world romantic life. They provided an exhilarating and profoundly intimate escape. In her dream world, she experienced myriad interactions with unusual companions.

And some of them… oh, they were quite sensual.

Nora stumbled into her kitchen, her body moving through the morning routine on autopilot as her mind lingered in the forest clearing. Tea. Toast. Put the dishes into the sink. Each mundane action felt hollow compared to the vivid sensations of her dream.

The foxkin's golden eyes haunted her, that almost-touch lingering like static electricity on her fingertips.

By the time she reached her desk and logged into her workstation, reality had grudgingly reasserted itself. The lines of code on her screen blurred as her eyelids drooped. Three days until the deadline, and the API integration was still failing. The big boss would expect an update by morning, but all she could think about was whether she'd return to that same clearing tonight.

"Focus, damn it," she muttered, taking a sip of lukewarm tea that had long since lost its comforting aroma. Her desk was littered with empty energy drink cans, a half-eaten protein bar. A small framed photo stood near the screen: her parents posing by the Amalfi Coast in Italy—a family holiday she'd been too busy to join last year. Next to it sat her neglected sketchbook, unopened for months now. Art had once been her escape, her way of processing emotions, but lately, even that felt like too much effort.

Nora's phone buzzed with a message from a friend: "Game night Friday? It's been ages!" The third invitation this month. Nora sighed, typing a quick "Sorry, raincheck? Deadline hell," before tossing the phone aside. They were drifting away, one ignored invitation at a time.

Her fingers absently traced the small crescent-shaped scar on her wrist—a childhood memento from falling out of her grandfather's apple tree, the same grandfather who'd filled her head with stories of spirit worlds and creatures that walked between realms. "Some people have one foot in each world," he'd told her, his eyes twinkling. "Just like you, little dreamer." She'd dismissed those tales as she grew older, embracing logic and code instead of fantasy.

Now, she wasn't so sure.

Turning back to her monitor, she rubbed her tired eyes and forced herself to focus on the failing code. But inside her mind, a quiet voice wondered if the foxkin would be waiting for her tonight, and what secrets might finally be revealed if Nora had the courage to reach out and take her hand.

The foxkin's sharp, elegant features had an almost otherworldly beauty, and her playful yet piercing gaze lingered with Nora long after waking. She wasn't like anything Nora had read about or seen in her usual media. The mystery gnawed at her, prompting a few awkward late-night Google searches that led her down an unexpected rabbit hole.

Even now, instead of working on the project, Nora couldn't stop muttering. "Foxkin… kitsune…" Her screen glowed in the otherwise dark room. She skimmed pages of mythology, game lore, and fan art, her face burning as she stumbled across questionable sites.

"What the hell am I even looking at?" she groaned, closing the tab.

Where did these dreams originate? No amount of research explained why this character haunted her dreams—or why these nightly visits felt so personal. The dreams weren't just entertaining escapes. They were… intimate. Nora had never felt anything like the rush of excitement and connection she experienced with the foxkin. Each encounter left her both exhilarated and disoriented.

The therapy changed nothing, and dreams continued to animate Nora's sleep on a daily, or maybe it should be said on a nightly basis. And while Nora immensely enjoyed these pleasurable moments, she still wanted to figure out the source of these unusual experiences.

She tried to ignore the allure at first, but the curiosity became unbearable. Determined to find a system in the madness, Nora began keeping a journal, scrawling down fragments of memory before the details faded. Drawing small faces and figures on the margins. She recorded every strange sensation, every interaction with the dream characters, and every emotion that bubbled to the surface.

"So, if I'm going crazy," Nora said out loud, laughing while writing the first memories in this diary. "At least I'll do that in a proper way, and leave thorough documentation for my shrinks."

As if that wasn't enough, Nora meticulously recorded the times she went to sleep, the encounters she experienced, the variety of characters she met, and the intensity of each interaction.

The patterns were undeniable. When Nora stuck to a healthy routine—early nights, clean eating, and exercise—her dreams became more vivid, and her connection to the foxkin grew stronger. Nights when she stayed up late or let stress consume her led to chaotic, less coherent dreams. It was like the dream world rewarded her for taking care of herself.

Finally, Nora found at least some sense of control. And not only over her dreams but also over her life in general. And that stability was lacking since even before one of the first unusual dreams came to her a couple of weeks earlier.

Nora tapped her pen against her lips, staring at the patterns emerging in her journal. "Either my subconscious has become my personal health coach, or something else is at work here." A chill ran down her spine. "What if I'm not the one in control?"

Still, if for a moment Nora considered this dream manipulation the new norm, it had a lot of limitations. And it wasn't like she planned to go to bed at three in the morning, ruining her healthy habits and daily routines only to test a hunch.

Or should she try that?

Nora flipped through her diary, tracing patterns with her fingertip. "I can change the scenery but not the story." She laughed, the sound hollow in her empty apartment. "Next I'll be claiming I've found a portal to another world." Her laughter faded as she stared at the detailed sketches she'd made of the foxkin's eyes.

Frustrated but determined to gather additional experimental data, she sought even more unusual ways to prepare her mind and body before sleep, hoping to gain more control over her visions.

Following a hunch, Nora booked a spa day, indulging in hot baths and a blissful head massage that left her body humming with relaxation. That night, as she sank into bed, she whispered a silent hope: "Let it work. Let me see her again."

She was primed for an immersive experience.

***

The air was alive when Nora opened her eyes. Sunlight filtered through the emerald canopy of a forest, painting the ground in shimmering patches of gold. The scent of moss and damp soil filled her lungs, grounding her in the surreal beauty of the dreamscape. She crouched, running her fingers through the dew-covered grass, marveling at how real it felt. This time, she definitely wasn't just an observer. She had agency.

Pushing herself to her feet, Nora strode forward, her steps confident yet cautious. The forest felt alive, not just with the rustle of leaves but with an underlying energy that thrummed beneath her feet. As she approached a sunlit glade, her breath caught.

Under the shade of a massive oak sat the foxkin. Her black-and-white fur gleamed in the dappled light, and her golden eyes sparkled with mischief as she noticed Nora's approach. The foxkin's tail flicked lazily behind her, a hypnotic motion that matched her sly smile.

With a playful glint in her eye, the… woman… gestured for Nora to sit near her.

"Aren't you sneaky?" she said, a smile playing on her foxy face, her voice rich and teasing.

It wasn't the first time people from Nora's dreams addressed her. But before, most interactions ended there, after her presence was acknowledged. Now, it felt different… It was only the beginning—the first steps of something more profound.

Slowly, Nora sank onto the grass.

"Weren't ordinary dreams enough for you?" the foxkin asked, cocking her head.

Feeling a strange mixture of annoyance and curiosity, Nora shot back: "I can leave if I'm not expected here. But something tells me that you were waiting for me. And if so, why are you even surprised that I was looking for something more?"

The foxkin's eyes sparkled with a knowing look, and Nora felt a shiver of excitement. She realized that the boundaries between waking life and the world of dreams were beginning to blur, opening a doorway to possibilities she had never imagined. The world as she knew it was about to change forever. The scenery around her was no longer a passive backdrop. And she finally might have a say in what unfolded next, be the showrunner of her own story.

"Oh, I am waiting for you, alright," said the foxkin woman. "But I wasn't sure that you'd be able to get through. Let alone get here so soon!"

She stopped, her gaze softening as she looked at Nora appraisingly and leaned closer to Nora's ear. "I should say that this is an unusual situation for me as well," she whispered as if sharing a secret. "I've seen you before in my dreams, and there was this feeling of connection. Did you sense it as well? We have something in common. But I'm not yet sure what it is."

The foxkin drew back and started playing with her gorgeous black and white tail.

"Name is Sumi, by the way," she said. "And you?"

"I'm Nora. Nice to meet you!"

"This morning," Sumi continued, "I felt I had to be here. This powerful urge like if I didn't drop everything and walk to this glade, something terrible would happen. And it's bizarre. I never had any premonitions like that before. I don't think anyone in my family ever had a similar experience. Before this day, it was only dreams, nothing more. But a meeting in the real world? That's insane!"

Nora's chest constricted, each breath coming in shorter gasps. The ground beneath her seemed to tilt and spin as her vision narrowed to pinpricks. "Oh my god," she heard herself gasping, her voice sounding distant and unfamiliar to her own ears. Her fingernails dug into her palms, the sharp pain the only thing anchoring her to this strange reality.

It was true, and the sensation was so real that she could almost forget she was dreaming. "Real world, you say," Nora commented as if she wasn't talking about some fantasy. "But I'm sure I'm still dreaming. How is it even possible?"

The foxkin woman smiled, her ears twitching playfully. "I know that you come from a different world," she said. "That much is obvious. Who else could have entered my dreams so intensely? But yes, this is a real world. For me and for many other people."

Nora frowned, trying to make sense of the foxkin's cryptic words. "What do you mean?"

Sumi's smile faded slightly, her tone becoming more serious. "This place isn't just a dream," she said. "Well, maybe it was for you. But for me, it's just my world where I was born and where I've lived my whole life. Generations of my ancestors were born here, made babies, and then I appeared. Somehow, you've been able to create a connection and now you're here as well…"

A mix of excitement and disbelief washed over Nora. The idea of all the people she met in her dreams of the past weeks being more than mere figments of imagination was overwhelming. "How is that possible?" she asked. "I'm just an ordinary person."

Sumi smiled and shook her head. "Do I look like a fountain of knowledge to you?" she exclaimed.

Nora glanced around, taking in the vibrant colors, the surreal beauty of the forest, and the palpable sense of possibility. The allure of this place was undeniable, but so were the questions it raised.

"But how…? Just the previous night, I wasn't able to control most of the things about my dreams," Nora said as if trying to prove something to Sumi. "Today, I have this conversation with you. It looks like some kind of progress but how can you be sure that I'm staying here?"

Sumi's gaze held a mixture of warmth and caution. "I don't know. And I don't know who can answer all of these questions for you," she said. "But I probably can help you with getting at least some answers."

Nora's heart pounded as she weighed her options. It was thrilling to explore a fantastical realm, uncover its mysteries, and perhaps even shape its destiny. But the unknown consequences loomed large. If she stayed here, would she even be able to see her home again? To return to her world? That is, even if staying here was an option.

Back on Earth, she had lots of unfinished tasks and obligations. Her work. Her parents! What about being a responsible person?

Before Nora could voice her thoughts, Sumi's hand brushed against hers—a jolt of energy shot through her, powerful and undeniable. A thrilling current surged through Nora's body as if Sumi's touch had awakened a primal energy deep within her. The ground beneath her seemed to pulse in response, the forest itself attuned to their connection.

"Whoa!" Nora gasped. "What was that?" she whispered, her voice shaky.

Sumi's playful demeanor shifted to something more serious. She seemed to be as surprised as Nora by that surge of energy between them. Her gaze held Nora captive, her voice a soft, enticing murmur. "Take your time," she said, her fingers lingering against Nora's. "The choice is yours, and it's a significant one. But I can sense that you feel it: this realm has already begun to stir something deep within you. It's part of you now."

As Sumi's words wrapped around her, Nora felt a sensual heat rise between them. The forest's vibrant energy seemed to flow from Sumi's touch, mingling with the growing desire that fluttered in Nora's chest. She was drawn to Sumi, captivated by her presence and a promise of something more.

Standing on the brink of a new reality, Nora felt her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and desire. She had always yearned for something beyond the ordinary. Everybody who knew how nerdy she was wouldn't be surprised either. And now it seemed she had stumbled over something exciting in the most unbelievable of places. It was a whole magical journey that was only beginning. And the choices she made here would not only shape her dreams but the very fabric of both of their worlds.

As Sumi's hand lingered on hers, their fingers entwined for a brief, intimate moment. Nora felt a flush of warmth and excitement. There was a promise in Sumi's touch, an unspoken invitation to explore not just the mysteries of this realm but the tantalizing connection growing between them.

However, before Nora could fully immerse herself in the moment, the dream world began to waver. The vibrant colors of the clearing dulled, the ethereal glade blurred, and a strange pulling sensation tugged at Nora's consciousness.

"No…! Wait…!" Nora reached out instinctively, her fingers slipping through the thinning air as the forest and its inhabitants faded from her view.