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Post by Kristofor on Sept 21, 2020 15:14:27 GMT -6
Mira's Pov Sleeping in the knapsack was comfortable enough, just like a den. But I have to admit, my new fox's fur is warm and fluffy and really cuddly. I can get used to sleeping next to or on him like this... ahhh. I can feel all of me just melt a bit with relaxation. The shallow but no longer as bad breathing a feeling beside me. The big black bird with bigger claws that hadn't eaten me yet had torn away my fox's outer layer of fur, cleaning his hurts and his fur falls away easily in places. What remains is either bald patches or short and black. I look at myself a bit in my sleepiness; some of my own fur has fallen out; well, it happens when we panilla stress a lot, and I've been stressed all.day.long. Even when I was sleeping, I felt stressed! I couldn't stand watching him be de-furred like that and started to scream again, and the smaller one who had originally stuffed a ROCK down my fox's throat had taken me away, given me food and let me be alone. But he's not being de-furred anymore, and just rests. I'll rest too; I'm so tired... +1
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 21, 2020 15:21:32 GMT -6
Pov swap Feeling alone in the world hurts almost as badly as breaking your leg; but one lasts longer then the rest. Considerably longer. Physical hurt vs the hurt inside your chest. I've felt alone like this only three times in my life; when my father was down with double pneumonia to the point I had to live with my relatives until he got better. He did, and I'm so incredibly thankful for that. It tore at me so badly while I was a cub. The mocking mention of his illness, his condition, I had to go meditate to calm myself down and avoid breaking down in front of everyone. Compared to having forced amputation of your tail, it really hurt. Having your tail forcefully removed is a physical hurt, very physical. To this day, I don't believe the fox who lost his tail ever had it grow back. Its part of your spinal column after all. That doesn't grow back.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 21, 2020 15:30:56 GMT -6
The second time I've felt alone in the world was when my ...ex girlfriend left me. We'd been steady for a few years; a quiet relationship between two foxes. When we grew up, we got a bit... exploratory. Safely of course. My family somehow heard of our fling and got sat down to have the birds and the bees explained. Or in short hand, where baby foxes come from. I don't think I've felt my ears burn so much in my life. Now informed, I wanted to avoid being in a relationship that serious; I wasn't ready to be a father fox yet. But she wanted to have cubs while she was young and pretty. She really changed since we were cubs; nearly to my shoulder, excluding ears, her fawn spots becoming a unique looking pattern that most other foxes got jealous of. She insisted I grow my fur longer, as it looked really pretty turning blonde at the tips.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 21, 2020 15:39:41 GMT -6
A more dominant natured vixen, she would insist on being 'exploratory' every now and again; and I knew she wanted to have cubs with me. Really badly. In secret, I made sure I couldn't. The local animal physician had a special tonic for young animals who were getting 'exploratory' in their relations where you could temporarily be infertile. To keep from having such young families spring up. Mostly for rabbits, she told me. I had a hard time saying 'no' to my girlfriend, but I wasn't going to have cubs. I wasn't. She got impatient, and wanted a serious relationship. I had no actual line of work for being a grown up fox, and we still lived at home. I had no way of supporting a wife, so I rejected her proposal. And she chose to leave me. It hurt to say goodbye, but to me, it was best for us to remain friends. I haven't heard from her in months.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 21, 2020 15:52:14 GMT -6
We'd been together for so long, it hurt inside my chest to have that go on. I set myself to mediating, practicing my martial arts and finding a line of work I'd actually enjoy for a long period of time. Briefly delivering newspapers in the valley for a bit of pocket money was enough as a teenager to treat ourselves, being young foxes, to nights out on the wilds and such. But I had very little money set aside for the future. But my family was still there, and I was thankful for it. They always support me. The third time I felt so alone in this world was standing in front of the big city I had chosen to leave my uncle's fox hole and go live in. Away from everything I knew and loved. With what was on my back, a panilla I knew nothing about, and no knowledge of the language that humans spoke.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 21, 2020 16:06:45 GMT -6
The mousefolk who had found me outside the gate were nice enough and even spoke my language, but... I should've been more guarded; their boss, the cat I assume to be the boss, destroyed it all...
...its all gone. It hurts so badly inside of my aloneness. The sight of my papers being torn in half right down the middle... I worked for three months on those papers. The cat's claws... he had something on them. In my attempt to defend myself, I smelled something off about when he was trying to claw out my spinal column. And here I was lying in my own blood and bile and such. And all I can do... is lie there and wait. The burning in my skin and blood. Sounds and smells are getting mixed up inside my mind. I can hear Mira's cries... of panic mostly. Then I smell birds. Something makes it very hard to breathe thats forced itno my throat, like something is literally stuffing its way down my mouth. Drawing it down... and a fizzing feeling inside my stomach that spreads. It makes my innards burn and fizz and I don't remember anythign else. Its all dark now. +1
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 4:27:47 GMT -6
I wake up slowly, a lightness to my limbs. I can hear my own breath, the beat of my heart, the subtle rush of my blood inside my body, where it belongs. Occasional pops and movements of my bones, when moved. If you hold your hands up to your ears to the point of covering most incoming sound and flex your fingers, you can hear the bones and joints move. A fascinating thing. If you cover your ears and focus on the sound of what you hear inside yourself, it helps with having heard loud noises, like gunfire. I'm floating...and finally open my eyes. But I'm not in a body of water, but lying in someplace that is stacked to bursting with oddball items. But with the waking, comes the aches. My neck itches, and reaching to scratch it, I feel wraps of cloth, and very short, if not completely missing fur. Beside me, I can feel a quicker heartrate. Mira nestled next to me, sound asleep.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 4:32:26 GMT -6
"About time you woke up. Any longer and I would've thought you were a lost cause." Something large and black comes into my vision, leaning in with a big black beak. My first instinct had my paw swiping at him, away from me. The heavier sound of a foot stepping back. Why was I lying on my back, in this mess? Where am I? Trying to sit up, the big black thing with a beak puts out a clawed hand, and another at the small of my back... its helping me sit up. The blood rushes to my head briefly, forcing me to close my eyes against vertigo. "Slowly. No rush, no predators." No predators, they say, I can't help thinking to myself. The big beak was enough to spook anyone. It stepped out of sight and brought something that looked like an overstuffed pillow to put behind me, giving me a bit of a push on my chest to lean back. Its more supportive then lying down.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 4:37:02 GMT -6
"There you go." the bird beaked thing backed up a few steps. Its a very strange looking bird, with feathered eyebrows and black feathers. Instead of familiar looking bird feet, they were much more... rounded, like a paw. His tail wasn't right either, it arched back like a summer scorpion, tipped with long feathers instead of a stinger. I open my mouth to speak but the air needed to speak doesn't come enough, and I start coughing. The beaked creature winces, and brings water. Water...! Forget being polite, I take the bag of water offered, and down half of it. It burns my throat to go down the first few swallows, I'm so dry feeling. The water bag is emptied out shortly after that and another one brought. The bird moves normally instead of hopping from place to place. A lot of birds live on my uncle's property, probably a side result of living in a tree.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 4:41:49 GMT -6
"Might be tough to talk for a few days, boy." the birdish creature tells me. "Fighting for your life can do that to a folk." I can understand him fluently... and it sets me in a mildly paranoid state. Guarded. It hands me a small bowl of berries; raspberries and blackberries. Unease grips me, and it hurts to swallow. "Don't worry, its not going to poison you. I pick em myself from the brambles outside." the bird responds to my lack of interest in eating what's in front of me. Slowly, I reach for a berry with two fingers, and put it into my mouth. Chew a few times, and swallow. The taste is a bit sour, like they're underripe? Its sour enough to make a horrible noise and force myself to swallow it. Because food is food. But there wasn't just sour, my mouth just plain tasted gross. More water. "Eat those, it'll help put your tastes back to more normal." Under the multiple fat berries... BLUEBERRIES.
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 4:46:31 GMT -6
I'll let you in on a secret, a little known fox secret that usually other animals dont' find out unless they actually befriend a fox. We love blueberries. I remember reading a story about a fox who had swapped someone's bb pellets for blueberries and totally dominated them in bb paintball. How do foxes and other animals play paintball? Slingshots. Its sweet and juicy and perfectly ripe when I pick one out and pop it into my mouth. Aaaah... a familiar taste. Still a bit off, but I would need to rinse my mouth a bit more. "Appetites good, seems to be alert enough to eat and drink." the bird murmured to itself as I ate. "Doesn't seem capable of talking yet." Halfway through my berries, the bird thing brings a slab of rock and a piece of chalk to write with. WHERE AM I? I write with one paw while eating more berries. "My tree nest." +1
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 4:52:14 GMT -6
"The city has a massive limits, and more outskirt areas then can be seen on any single old map. This is the outskirts; all the land around the Mine mountain is bought up by the city officials and left to be 'open wilderness'." the bird curls his clawed fingers a bit to quote it. I'm...inside the city? Briefly, I wonder if I've been caught by something. "Nobody's seen you, except for myself and the magpie." Magpie? those shiny-loving thieving birds that stole shiny things? "Be grateful, the magpie heard your pet screaming and came to investigate. Otherwise might've been pushing up daisies." A cold drop lands in my gut. I remember now; the two mousemen, the cat, the fight, protecting Mira from a mad cat, and being left to die in the gateway. I dont' remember anything else... beyond it. "Got a name, boy?" the bird asked, a bit gruffly. My hand hesitates on the slate before writing Kristofer. "mm, I see. Weird spellin' for a fox of multiple colors."
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 20:45:37 GMT -6
He's right, I am a fox of multiple colors. Mostly black, with the silver and the excessively long blonde tufts. The bird introduced himself to be Raven, a scavenger who traded in oddball goods. I guess what he doesn't sell, the nest is built with. "Are you aware of how lucky you are?" the bird asked me once my berries are consumed, and had some more water in me. A confused tilt of the head... no, not really. "The thugs you walked into are part of a small group called the Trinity Triad. The cat with the flat face uses paralytic shellfish poison to incapacitate his victims. If left untreated, your lungs become paralyzed and you suffocate." My ears drop straight back, fearful. It still hurts to swallow without water. "And you were exhibiting much earlier symptoms then normal. Know why?" Headshake of no. I don't remember being allergic to shellfish... or even trying any...?
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 20:58:00 GMT -6
"Its because of your genetics, I'd be wagering." and what looks like a human who's skin is double colored comes into the cramped room. "Evenin' Raven." "Gah, why are you here, did that fledgling let you in? I thought you left!" Raven turns around, flapping irritatedly. The human brushes past the bird and comes to drag a stool up to my 'bed' and settle down. Looking down, I can see a not-knapsack, but not a suitcase either. Another kind of human bag? "Don't get your feathers in a knot, I heard my patient woke up." waving off the irate bird, I got a good look at the human. Their hair is long, wild, and brilliantly red. With gleaming blue eyes through the double color of his skin. Dressed in not-so-well-to-do clothes of nondescript, except for the hair, I wouldn't be picking him out of a crowd. He peers owlishly at my chalkboard, smiling. "Hello Kristofer, my name is Locus."
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Post by Kristofor on Sept 22, 2020 21:27:18 GMT -6
I nod a hello. He offers a just as dual colored hand to shake, and we shake hand and paw. "Good firm shake, that's good. Your grip is strong." Locus notes. He puts the bag up on his lap, opening it up at the top to fish out certain instruments of metal and glass, small and thin and a few other items. I've seen a few of these before, only smaller, that the physician badger used for young animals checkups to make sure we were healthy. "I'll apologize beforehand, my bedside manner leaves much to be desired." he says to his bag. "Raven gave me a call when he said he found a victim of the Triad in near broad daylight." he hisses an exhale through his teeth. "Such sloppy work. You must've given those 'city guards' a scare." My answer is a shrug of my shoulders, which shift my neck bandages. Its instinct to scratch them, as my fingers reach for the cloth wraps...
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