FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The air conditioning quietly blew cold air throughout my car. The temperature wasn't going above seventy five today, but I enjoyed keeping the luxuries of technology close to me. I passed by an abandoned building only three miles from town, boarded up and decrepit. Its former use from long ago was unknown. Many abandoned buildings from long ago were still standing, as if cursed from their age. The only active buildings out here were military bases, but even those had their share of ancient structures.

"Ah!" A startled shout escaped my lips as my car ran over a harmless pothole. "Phew." I slowed down and shook my head in relief. The paved road gradually broke down into patchy sections, creating a bumpy ride for my vehicle. My destination was a few miles into the empty countryside. Nothing but ragged hills and meadows of dull grasses for all to see. However, there was a much greener place that I wanted to reach. It was forbidden, but I had visited its borders before.

Corridor Region Valley A. It was a bland, nameless name that designated the area nestled between a small mountain chain and the flat meadows roughly running north to south for thirty miles. It was the closest area where anthropomorphic people lived to me. Anthros on one particular continent, where I lived, formed their own polities separate from humans. The breakaway long ago was hard fought, and a few flare ups occasionally broke out. Border disputes were common and became barren zones of dual occupation or simply abandonment for nature to reclaim the area.

Domains were contiguous pieces of land in limitless shapes and sizes not under federal authority. Some were several square miles and others ranged in the tens of thousands. The majority were forested, hilly, and unknown to humans. A single domain regardless of size could contain several competing factions or various alliances of anthro groups. This left much of the lands left to reclaiming nature and minimal development aside from leftover infrastructure and farming. Anthro domains outnumbered human zones by a fair degree. Many human territories were islands within a sea of anthro Domains. Despite the complex arrangement of borders, contact was kept at a minimal between both sides.

The lack of contact between humans and anthros left plenty of intrigue and curiosity to percolate. Without advanced technology that humans possessed, anthro groups resorted to direct contact with human zones to reach agreements. But those were far and few between. Both sides enforced their boundaries and very few on either side dared to cross. No one wanted to become the other side's prisoner and return home after a lengthy exchange.

History proved to be a difficult subject to reflect upon for humans and anthros alike. The first violent wars that humans engaged in had nearly put an end to the earth itself. Then the separation of Anthros from human populations could've ended humanity a second time. But all of it interested me. Trees came into view.

'I'm here.' I could see the end of the dilapidated roadway. I parked in the grass where there was shade. The car door slammed shut and I was standing in the wild grasses. Several yards away was a simple corral styled fence, and behind that was a forest. It was the mutually agreed upon border between my country and their territory. The grass lightly crunched beneath my shoes as I approached. The boundary itself was rarely observed by armed outposts unless near a populated city. I slipped under the fence, as I had done several times before and walked into the forest. The world of barren fields disappeared behind me as I entered a beautiful place of a thousand trees. The third week of April was a perfect time to visit the valley's edge. The leaves of deciduous trees were born anew in a fresh green. I was in a world of chattering birds, scurrying squirrels, and absent of urban noise. Of I was lucky, then I would see a deer or maybe even a possum. It was breathtaking. My hand felt over my pocket only to notice an absence.

"I forgot to bring the camera..." I frowned at the realization but resumed walking anyway. It was a short walk of carefully navigating around the foliage but well worth the view. The drop, merely steps away, was very steep. To me this was the true boundary between the land I lived and the closest anthro Domain. All I could see were trees throughout the rolling valley hills and a few distant fields where it wasn't very steep. It reminded me of an ocean's waves frozen in time. I knew exactly where I was. Roughly twelve miles across was the narrowest width of this anthro Domain. It was nearly bifurcated by a small plateau of human controlled land that acted as an airbase. I walked over to another spot where the view was picturesque. My last step resembled stepping into water as the unstable ground beneath me caved.

'I'm falling!' My body began descending with the loosened ground. My arms reached for anything to hang on. In the fray I managed to grab onto a lingering branch, and my shoes dug into the dirt cliff. Debris fell down the steep drop. My fall was halted. Hanging on by a thread, I could climb back up. 'That was close-' A clear snapping sound sent doom through my body. The branch broke off and my sight of the high ground grew small. I tumbled down the steep drop.

"Aaahh!" I yelled as my body collided with nimbler branches, rocks, and the grouse itself. I continued tumbling down the earthy slope, hitting many snags along the way. The final drop was at least ten feet, broken only by a thick tree limb.

"AH-Oof!" My world stopped spinning as I finally hit a stable bottom. "Ugh..." I rolled into all fours with difficulty. Dizziness threw me off balance twice before I could manage to stand upright. I leaned against a tree and looked up. A canopy of trees and the steep face of earth looked down at me. Panic crept into my thoughts at my situation.

'Oh no. This isn't good.' I looked around for a way to get back up. The cliff face was too steep to climb, and nothing grew close enough to aid any ascent. I walked over rocks along the base of the cliff and searched for a way back up. I clawed at the dirt in vain. A dull sting made my entire arm ache. I stopped my fruitless search and looked myself over. My clothes were dusty and stained from the fall, but that was the least of my problems. My arm had several cuts, and the side I landed on was sore.

"Is there another way to get back up?" I looked around the forest where I had fallen. I was standing in a thicket of young trees where only a few taller ancient ones stood. The sky was virtually hidden. With the cloudy weather, the ground level in the forested valley appeared even darker. I couldn't help from staring at the foliage for a moment. The bright green of middle spring was breathtaking, even in my current dilemma. I started walking through the forest. I tried keeping close to the first cliff I fell down, but steep slopes and difficult terrain continued pushing me further away. It was impossible to get a view of exactly where I was. I might have worked with maps back home, but out here it was useless to not have them. Unable to see very far, I constantly looked over my shoulders.

"What lives down here?" My voice quivered at the thought of running into danger. The sharp chatter of a nearby bird startled me. "Ah-!" I covered my mouth and calmed down. 'They're just birds. This entire forest is full of them.' I had to remind myself. My steps lightly crunched over dead leaves and rocky soil. I slid down a gentle slope and paused to think. I didn't want to admit it, but I was utterly lost.

"Arooowoowowooo!" A cross between a howl and barking cry had my full attention.

"Where did that come from?" I looked around the now silent forest. What if I ran into an Anthro? My heart beat quickened and I hurried through the dense trees trying to find my way back. I pulled back limbs and noisily trudged through the undergrowth. Steadily growing tired and frustrated at myself, I stepped onto a thin opening between the trees that resembled a path.

'Oh my...' My body froze completely. I saw something that made my jaw fell open. I found myself staring at an anthropomorphic male tiger and male timber wolf. Their bodies were mostly human, but the animalistic qualities were very obvious. Heads, muzzles, claws, fur, and even tails... Both wore loincloths made from slightly modified long sleeve shirts tied around their waists, and nothing else. I didn't doubt their mouths held dangerous teeth, and the claws their hands possessed appeared sharp. However, what they carried scared me more than their stature or natural weapons. The wolf carried a sniper's rifle with a buckskin sheathed knife. His big feline counterpart had a quiver and bow along with a small hatchet. What were they planning to do with those weapons? Their open mouthed expressions mirrored my own shock. A full minute passed where no one knew what to do. At last both looked at each other before approaching me. I was too scared to move as they cornered me. The wolf grabbed my arm and I was led by both, further into the forested valley. We descended down the hills, but it was a slow process with so many trees blocking a straight path. I stared at the tiger's striped back as we walked. The relief that I wouldn't have to survive in a valley while trying to climb out was quickly replaced by another fear.

'Where am I being taken?' I nervously looked at the trees around them, unable to see more than a couple of yards ahead. And what were they going to do with me? I pushed away the possibility that I would be eaten without much success. It seemed like hours passed before the scenery finally changed. The forest at last opened up and revealed a field of grass spotted with clover. It was greenery uncommon where I was from. We cleared another patch of woods and the land opened up again, but this time a lot wider. The trees surrounded the center of low rolling hills, but I noticed more than just green grass. A rectangular section of mostly barren dirt was visible. It was a cleared field with rows in the rich soil.

'A farm?' I couldn't believe it. Several neat rows of fledgling corn plants lined the worked land. More farms of numerous crops were visible along the few naked hills and slopes. Anthros were tending to the worked land with simple tools. Some even wore cone shaped hats to carry a little shade from the sun. Small structures dotted the tightly knit hills within the forested valley.

'Farmers and huts?' The similar small structures were made with varying materials. Their homes were nestled among the trees, bushes, and tall grasses. A stream cut through the scenic village with a single bridge unifying both hilly sections of land. A young Anthro was collecting water with a bucket. Villagers looked up from their work and eyed the presence of a human curiously.

'They probably haven't seen a human before.' The feeling and circumstances were mutual, and I was just as curious about them. I was taken to a stone structure. It was a crudely constructed house my human standards, but the hut was definitely special compared to the others. The wolf quickly crouched down and entered. The tiger waited with me patiently. A long moment passed before the wolf appeared and waved for me to come inside. I stooped down and crawled through the opening. The inside was maybe the size of a modest room. The dirt floor was mostly covered with animal pelts and small rugs, except for the central pit for a fire. Odd ornaments decorated the primitive place: a quiver and bow in one corner, a rifle hanging on the back wall, a small stack of blankets and other pelts to the side among others. Seated beside the empty fire was a tall but lithe grey wolf. Fluffy chest and neck fur was unkempt but the rest of his fur was sleek and well combed. His eyes gazed at me intently. Was I dealing with a man-eater? My nerves were petrified. I was pushed towards him where an animal skin covered some of the dirt floor. I sat down at a an arms length from him, unsure of what to expect.

"What is your name?" He calmly asked. I was dumbfounded.

"You speak English?!" My shock seemed to amuse him.

"Of course I can talk! Do you think we bark at each other all day?" He shifted in his seat. I had expected savage creatures gnawing in bones! My mouth opened without a word and I shrugged much to his amusement. I wasn't in the midst if a bunch of untamed wild animals! "So tell me what your name is. You must have one."

"Uh it's uh... Matteo." I told him.

"Matteo..." He sounded the word.

"Who are you? What is this place?"

"This is our village, and I am the chief. How did you manage to get into our valley?" He inquired. "Humans have never been seen here before."

"I-I don't know how it happened. I was walking along the top ridge overlooking part of the valley, but then I fell and couldn't find a way back up. That's when I ran into the uh... wolf and tiger." I explained. "Can you take me back to human territory?"

"Is this true?" He asked the other wolf.

"As far as we know." He nodded. The chieftain thought for a moment

"I'm afraid that I cannot take you back home alone." He admitted to my dismay. "The pathways through this valley will remain secret to human eyes. However, I can contact humans through another tribe. We can arrange something with them."

"How long will that take?" I worried about stories of humans being held captive.

"I don't know." He didn't give me any clues. "But you're going to stay in our village as our guest." He decided. "I'll arrange a place for you to stay."

"Thank you." I blurted out with a thankful sigh. "But is it safe for me to stay here?" The wolf tilted his head at me as if I had just called him a fish.

"You should be very safe here." He confirmed. "Although I can't guarantee privacy for a few days. Everyone will wonder who you are."

'Well, it could be worse.' I thought. 'At least I can view a friendly village until a helicopter unit searches for me.' It might take a day or two, but my workplace should notice my absence. Finding my car close to Valley A should give enough reason to search from the skies. At least, that was the theory.

"Take him to our doctor first." He told the tiger.

'Doctor?' I wondered who among them could possibly be a doctor. The feline helped me to my feet and outside. I was led a short distance to a nearby home constructed of old bricks, stone, wood, and thatch. The outside mixture was only the beginning of the bizarre.

"Wait here." The tiger told me and slipped inside. I patiently waited and looked around the tribal village. A few Anthros nearby curiously eyed me as the wolf from earlier talked to them. After a few minutes, the tiger's head poked outside.

"You can come in." He exited. "I'll wait here when you're done."

"Ok." I knelt forward and crawled inside. My nose was immediately bombarded by a dozen smells and aromas. Seated inside was another wolf, but with chocolate brown fur from ear to tail. Unlike the mix of tribal and human clothes, he wore a dark blue robe. I still expected him to be wearing a lab coat of some sort, but I didn't know if the recent twist of events could get any stranger. "Hello."

"Hi." The fact that Anthros spoke the same language as people still bewildered me. Trinkets decorated the walls from squirrel pelts to glass bottles and fragments of metal. The jaw bone of a deer was tied atop a rigid staff beside him.

"What kind of doctor are you?" I looked around the odd home.

"A medicinal doctor." He grinned. His black nose curiously smelled the air around me. Darker eyes fell to my arm. "I was told that you had fallen." He spoke up.

"Yes." I remembered about the fall I had taken.

"May I see?" He scooted closer.

"Sure." I lifted my shirt and revealed my side to him. His head peered close and a hand reached out. Black padded fingers touched my skin. I held still despite the tenderness pulsating through me.

"A bruise is forming." He noted.

"Yeah... It hurts." I grimaced. I blew a sigh and lowered my shirt when he retracted.

"Let me see your arm." He pointed to where I was visibly injured the most. I let him look as he had with my side. The sensation of claws touching my skin startled me. I immediately pulled my arm away from the wolf. The canine blinked and looked at me questioningly.

"S-sorry." I returned my arm to him. His grip was surprisingly gentle as he carefully inspected my limb.

"None of your bones are broken." He concluded much to my relief. "But these cuts don't look good."

"Do you have any ointment-?" My voice cut off as he dipped his head to my skin. The warm blast of air from his breathe moved the small hairs on my skin. I yanked my arm away from the canine. "You licked me!" I sounded as if he had tried to cut my arm. His brow raised and head tilted questioningly at me.

"Yes, that will help your cuts heal on their own." He reasoned as if reading from a medical book. "It's better than using anything else we have." It was disgusting to me, but better than having several cuts left raw. I held out my arm to him and sat there in partial disbelief.

'I'm letting a wolf person lick me.' I watched him "clean" over my red cuts. "Can I dry my arm?" I asked when he finished.

"Let the air dry it." He recommended. I simply sat there with my arm out, hoping that it would hurry up. The wolf sat close to me, curiously watching me. "What kind of human medicine do you know of?" The male asked.

"Um... I'm not a doctor, but I know about ointments for cuts, rashes, or sores. There's pills for headaches and other small ailments."

"I've heard that humans possess a lot of medicine that cures any ailment." He spoke. "More so than herbs alone." He reached over and grabbed a small white roll. "This," he showed me, "was traded to us from another village that trades with a few humans."

"That's gauze." I looked at bandage material. "It's used for really bad cuts or after surgery I guess."

"Surgery?" His ears dialed around at the funny word.

"Where they open your body up and operate, and use a lot of other technology." I didn't know where to begin, but the canine was all ears. He made a fire while we talked. Explanations were lengthy and usually did not bridge many gaps between what we knew. The evening was running out of time, and the outside light grew dim. I didn't know where the chief wanted me to stay, but I hoped it wouldn't be in this oddly decorated hut.

"Is my arm ok?" I held it out to him. The wolf gave a quick inspection.

"Everything looks fine. You should be good to go." He grinned approvingly.

"Thank you for... your help." The tiger was waiting for me by the hut's entrance.

"You were in there a long time." His deep voice spoke.

"Yeah..." I felt squeamish under the watch of his feline eyes.

"Follow me and I will show you to your home." We walked by a few huts more closely than earlier. I could see in detail that they were fashioned out of wood, but reeds, stone, old bricks, and other materials were frequently used in combination. Not only the houses, but the entire village was a unique blend of tribal, modern, and natural themes. Baskets as well as buckets were stacked outside one hut. Basic farm tools weren't rare to see either. I could see an adolescent leopard further downhill carrying a bow and his father carrying a spear. Both wore loincloths, but the adolescent also wore a ragged tee shirt.

Some of the females were topless, and hand made loincloths were as commonplace as shorts or pants. A female feline head poking outside of one entrance curiously watched me. The person was decidedly female due to a pair of breasts openly hanging below her. We passed directly by a clothesline where two females, a coyote and lynx, of unknown age were tending to the various drying garments. The feline's slitted eyes stared at me without a word. Even the infant playing at her feet watched me pass. The male tiger walking alongside me kept the villagers from prying around with the wave of a hand.

"Here is where you will stay." He spoke. We finally approached a lonely hut made primarily from wood like the others. The grass around the sides was a little tall for a regular yard.

"This one?" I had a feeling nothing else would be much better.

"Yes." He nodded. I walked to the little hut. "Sleep well."

"Thanks. You too..." I waved as he left. 'No door... or windows.' I couldn't help but notice. I had to stoop down and creep inside rather than simply walk inside. My temporary "home" was anything but homely in my view. In the center was a fire pit with a small stack of firewood. The "bed" was a deerskin with two blankets folded on top. Other than an empty basket and bedding of pine straw in the corner, it was simply a dirt floor hut. The ceiling was barely high enough to stand up. I found myself on eye level with a simple network of plastic pipes.

'PVC piping.' The reinforced structure seems stable enough. I took a deep breath only to cough. There was a smell that reminded me of the forest, but also something animalistic too. "Everyone lives like this?" I sat down on the fur pelt. No TV, air conditioning, clocks, tables, microwaves, or anything! Just walls and silence.

"Aroooo!" A sudden howl startled me. A vulpine bark responded sharply.

'Calm down...' I told myself. 'They're not just wild animals.' The fact that their leader was peaceful was a blessing. The image of savage wild animal people seemed like a naive farce now. I never would've imagined them being able to farm. They had to be more human than animal.

'I can learn about them for a few days.' The opportunity seemed like a miracle but at a high cost of comfort. Nothing about this would be easy, but I was thankful for what had played out. I laid back on the deer pelt. I used one of the folded blankets as a pillow and rolled the second one out. Darkness was already descending on the nestled village, and without any technology or artificial lighting there was only one thing to do. Sleep.

A realization oddly struck me during the middle of the night. The first amenity of civilized life I missed wasn't cuisine, a finely made bed, or even a nice home with air conditioning. 'No toilet paper...' I frowned and returned to the hut during the thick of the night.

My first night inside the village was restless, and provided me with little sleep. I tossed and turned over a pelt with enough homesickness to make me anxious. Without a mattress, the deer pelt was almost as hard as the ground it covered.

"They need beds..." I grumbled only to hear someone. I blinked and sat up only to jump in my spot. "Hello?" A figure was kneeling inside the hut's entryway. Ears visibly perked up.

"Hi!" A voice eagerly returned. It was an middle aged canine, a grey wolf. He was dressed modestly with only a pair of khaki shorts and a necklace of plastic beads. The villager motioned to someone outside. A female leopard entered behind him. She wore a buckskin loincloth and a colorfully blue scarf around her chest. The garment was tantalizingly translucent to my eyes. She carried something in a bowl with her.

"Hey. Here's some food to help you start the day." She offered me.

"Thank you." I peered inside its contents before plucking out a piece. It was definitely meat, and still warm from a fresh fire. I ate the first piece. "Mm." I ate a few more pieces. "What kind of meat is this?"

"Venison." The leopardess answered warmly.

"Mmhm. We even put some liver in there for you." The male spoke.

'Liver?' I stopped eating and looked at the two different cuts. That slowed my appetite. "Who are you two?" I changed the subject.

"I'm Natu, and this is Savi." He introduced themselves to me.

"I'm Matteo... What do you call this place?"

"The hut?" Both of them guessed.

"No. This valley. The forest." I elaborated.

"Katsurao." The wolf male answered with a grin.

"Katsurao..." It was a much more dignified name than Corridor Valley A. There was a lot that I wanted to ask them. "Where did you get clothes like those?" I asked.

"Oh these?" The wolf looked at his khaki pants. "I traded a hatchet for them years ago."

"No, you traded a few old shirts and fabrics for them." The female leopard corrected him.

"I don't remember it like that..."

"So they come from another village?" I interrupted.

"Yes." The female nodded. "We don't directly trade with humans, but one village downstream does."

"So no one here has any contact with humans?"

"No. I think the chief sends someone to a neighboring village to do that." Natu rubbed his long jaw.

"I heard that you became lost after you came to the valley." Savi the leopardess spoke.

"Yeah. I didn't plan on being here."

"Why did you come here if you didn't want to stay?"

"It isn't easy to answer." I began. "I love the beauty of nature and the mysteries that places like here hold, and it's really nice just to take it all in for a moment and nothing else." I vividly remembered each time I drove an hour from the city for the past few years.

"I think Katsurao is a beautiful place too." She nodded and looked at Natu who briskly nodded.

"Don't let your food get cold." The grey wolf pointed at the bowl.

"Oh! I think I ate enough." I handed them back the meal. "Thank you though. I appreciate the hospitality."

"Sure!" They smiled, revealing dangerously sharp teeth. I noticed their legs as they crept back outside. Something funny caught my eye.

"Paws?" I blinked as their tails disappeared. I expected them to be plantigrade, but it oddly made just as much sense that they were digitigrade. My eyes searched the section of dirt floor where they walked trekked. I found a paw print clearly etched into the dirt.

"Wow..." I traced around with a finger. Grainy pictures of such prints were seldom found in newspapers or online articles, but here I was in the middle of one small Anthro Domain! It was just as rare to see artifacts over two centuries old. Maybe being in the valley for a few days would be exciting. My thoughts were interrupted by a quiet commotion outside. "Two people can't be that loud outside..." I made my way outside. I froze finding many pairs of eyes settle on me. A group was seated outside my temporary home like an audience. Canines, felines, and foxes alike were watching me. The leopardess and grey wolf who had just visited me were talking to a few villagers towards the side.

"What's going on?"

"Everyone wants to ask you questions." Natu spoke up. Villagers of all ages were present and ready to ask away. I stood up and surveyed the crowd. Several little ones were seated with their parents. Older villagers were standing behind them. A mother lioness was topless and openly nursing her infant kit. A border collie beside her was doing the same. I half expected them to have a litter rather than one newborn like humans. I was still surprised that no one was outrightly naked. An adolescent tiger stepped forward and placed a low three legged stool before running back into the tight knit crowd.

"Ok..." I hesitantly took the seat. I didn't have anything else planned for the day anyway. The little group of youngsters as well as adult sat patiently with upright ears.

"What's your name?" The nursing lioness began.

"Matteo."

"Mat-tay-yo!" A pup sang aloud.

"Do all humans look like you?" A male cheetah asked next.

"No, they look very different from each other. Kind of like how uh, foxes and... raccoons." I tried explaining. The feline blinked and looked at his friends around him.

"Do they have different colored fur on their heads?"

"Well, no."

"Always solid, without any patterns?"

"Yes. Brown, black, blonde, red... I think that's about it unless it turns grey or white."

"Human fur changes color?" A few were baffled at the possibility.

"Only with age, or unless you dye it a different color."

"Die? How do you kill your own fur?" An adolescent fox scratched his head.

"It just means to change the color with a... something very colorful." This was more difficult than I had imagined!

"You're face is really flat." A pup snickered.

"Are there many deer where you're from?" Another voice asked.

"No, I don't think I've seen more than a few."

"When you told me about surgery yesterday," I noticed the wolf doctor was in the crowd, "why do doctors wear gloves and masks? Will they become ill?"

"What's surgery?" One if his Anthro companions lightly elbowed the wolf.

"Not exactly. They do it so the person they are helping doesn't get an infection. It wouldn't be good if you drive back home-"

"You drive?" One piped up.

"What does driving mean?" The lioness mother asked as she patted her infant.

"A car. They're vehicles." I glanced around, noting that there wasn't any machinery visible in the village.

"Are vehicles an animal?"

"No."

"Are they like those things that fly overhead?" Another asked.

"A plane?" The first one didn't understand.

"Yeah, they're much smaller but you get inside and it moves where you want it to go."

"Wow!" A few hushed whispered dispersed through the curious crowd.

"What do you all do for fun?" I asked.

"Play in the stream!" Two kits answered excitedly in unison.

"We tell stories." An elder raccoon smiled revealing at least two missing teeth.

"One of my friend's family watches the stars at night!" A cheetah kit added.

"Do humans have many stories to tell?" An older panther inquired. "About someone becoming lost in the woods or giant deer in the forest?"

"Well, I know some history but not many stories." I admitted. The bombardment of information was only the beginning. No cars, electricity, phones, or screens to stare at. News was passed by howl or word of mouth, and fires were the only means of cooking. There were no months to name, but seasons to tell the cyclical arc of a year. Maybe I had bargained for too much by taking an audience!

A second day of living in the anthro village came and went. Then a third passed. By the fourth day I became concerned, but not worried. I was normally preoccupied with keeping a young kit or two entertained, talk to curious villagers, or even help with a chore. But right now I was sitting on a hillside speckled with wild flowers, watching a stray butterfly visit each. The shade was my only relief from the late spring sunshine. Passing clouds above were only temporary relief. The rolling hills and forests were nestled deep in the background. In the foreground were the villager's houses and the stream. Throughout the scene villagers were working, farming or around the house. It reminded me of something a famous painter would create. Despite the gorgeous scenery that I took the trouble to visit a few scant times each year, my mind was entirely elsewhere.

'Hasn't someone noticed that I disappeared? Government official? A coworker?' By now it was the end of the work week, and I was expecting a diplomat or military unit to be in the village to bring me home. I didn't expect an armada of agents to march into the valley, but surely a team was figuring out my location... I glanced at my arm. The cuts healed surprisingly well from the wolf's spit alone. The tenderness on my side had mostly vanished, but my recent memories were as fresh as ever.

"Hey! Matteo!" A boisterous voice interrupted my thoughts. A male tiger, female badger, and female German shepherd approached me. The male and one of the females carried packs over their shoulders.

"Hello."

"We're going to visit a settlement south from here, would you like to go with us?"

"It's about the same size as our village. They'll be welcoming like us." The second added.

"How far is this village, and how long will you be gone?"

"It's a two day walk, and we'll be there for at least ten days." The German shepherd female spoke up. As much as I was curious about visiting and seeing everything, I had to restrain myself and look at the situation of being rescued first.

"No thanks." I turned down the offer. "Good luck and enjoy the visit." I bade them farewell. I was used to phone calls for communication, but here everything was face to face for obvious reasons. There was no screen for me to stare at for seven to eight hours a weekday. 'It's so different here.' I was accustomed to the fast paced life of a busy city, but in this village life was still much like its forests. I looked up and noticed a male wolf approaching me. The dark grey male was tall and well built. It was the typical view that humans had of most anthros: strong, intimidating, and mysterious. He kindly smiled.

"Hello." He held up his hand. The canine stood before me wearing only a loincloth made of buckskin and a few ornamental necklaces. He was broad chested and strongly built, but only a touch taller than me.

"Let's go on a hunt together." He offered.

"Right now?" All the male had on his person was a sheathed knife tied around his waist

"Yes." His muzzle curled into a canine grin. A dark grey furred hand lowered down to me. I blinked at the claws and pads in front of my face. The digits were surprisingly human despite their animalistic accessories. I reached up and grasped the Anthro hand. The leathery touch on my palm registered more familiar than foreign. "My name is Tuyuklu." The wolf introduced himself as he pulled me to my feet. I said it in my head over a few times to get the hang of it.

"Mine is Matteo." He nodded.

"Come. Follow me." He motioned and turned around. He took me across the bridge and towards on side of the surrounding forest. Two others were waiting by a patch of ferns, a raccoon and a fox. Both were a unique blend of tribal and modern remnants. The female raccoon wore an old pair of jean shorts and an oversized bra on her chest. She wielded a bow in her hand with a quiver on her back. The male red fox had a loincloth of buckskin and a tee shirt with a few holes in it. He had a knife and hatchet on his person.

"I'm Eve." The female raccoon smiled and offered her hand.

"Nice to meet you." I shook her hand. "I am Matteo."

"Mat-tay-o." She pronounced the odd name.

"I'm Nethua." The fox a few steps away grinned.

"Hey."

"Is he hunting with us?" The raccoon curiously asked.

"As an observer, I think." The grey furred canine answered.

"I have your gun." The fox handed the wolf a sniper rifle.

"Thanks. Everyone set to go?" The other two intently nodded. "Follow us and stay close." The wolf advised and we departed through a trail. The sunny village of small farms soon vanished behind us. We were now immersed in the darker Katsurao Forest. The sounds of many birds and distant echoes were ever present. Their chirps and sharp tweets were distinct to Anthro ears, but a droning cascade to mine. The forest itself was fairly dense in most places. Saplings and other plants grew wherever any sunlight managed to leak through the treetops. Eve looked over her shoulder at me.

"Do you hunt back at your village?" The raccoon asked.

"No, I don't."

"Have you ever hunted before?" The fox asked next.

"No." My answer surprised the group.

"Then what do you do?"

"It's not easy to explain." I wondered if there was a good way to even explain my human way of life to them. "It's a lot like making maps."

"Oh. So you explore the land around certain areas?"

"In a way." I didn't know how else to say that I used a GIS mapping software for my day job. We reached a sunnier spot in the forest where I could see patches of sky through the canopy of limbs and leaves above. Ahead, Eve and Nethua halted with their ears drawn forward. One turned and waved for us to stop before creeping ahead.

"What is it?" I watched them.

"They're looking to see if there are any deer ahead." The wolf told me. "It is a common spot for deer to be." A moment passed before they returned.

"Nothing." Eve told us. They led us along the hidden hunting trail towards the stronger sunlight. After a few more steps, we entered a little open space of short grasses. The surrounding trees resembled walls.

"Is this a small field?"

"Yes." He snickered at my surprise. "There are... a few open fields like this throughout the valley." We trekked ahead and entered the forest again. We climbed a small hill single file. Their legs were defined for a rigorous lifestyle in the uneven valley. Four digit claws gripped the ground when necessary.

'Their paws must be durable.' I noticed how they didn't wear footwear over the hilly terrain. Not a single villager needed shoes or any footwear at all. We continued walking for at least an hour along slopes and snaking pathways before taking a rest. I sat down on a fallen log with an audible huff.

"You alright?" Eve asked me.

"Yeah," I breathed. "I'm just out of breath." The raccoon shrugged and sat down beside me. She wasn't even tired. They were athletes compared to me!

"There are some strawberries in another little field nearby if you want any." Nethua gestured. "It will be a while before any blackberries are in season."

"No thanks, I'm fine." I didn't want to slow them down any more than I had to. "I have been wondering though... What exactly does your chieftain do?"

"He works with diplomacy between other villages, and its his duty to arrange traders to come by. He also directs what to do in emergency situations like if the stream floods or if a bad storm damages many houses." Eve explained. "His mother and father were chieftains before him."

"He controls any contact with outsiders too..." Nethua added.

"Let's go." Tuyuklu abruptly rose and waved for everyone to follow. The other two adjusted their gear and we resumed the hunt. I observed the scenic hilly forest while we walked a great distance of twisting paths. There might just be a way out of here that I could find. However, that was much easier said than done. The trees were so dense and numerous in some places that I couldn't see more than a few yards in any direction. Moreover, the terrain was twice as tricky to traverse. The forested hills would've left me without direction from the start, and little fields would appear out of the thickest of undergrowth.

After what seemed to be a long journey, we ended up on a slope that dipped into a gulley. I stared ahead at the opposing steep slope, or rather green leaves and branches. The thick cluster of trees and underbrush his any evidence of the ground. One hundred Anthro warriors could've been hiding there, or one hundred deer. It was part of what made Domains so mysterious as well as scary. The wolf paused and raised his nose. He sniffed the air curiously.

"What's going on?" I asked

"I smell a deer." Tuyuklu whispered. Eve and Nethua nodded in agreement. "You two go on ahead." He waved them on. The fox and raccoon stealthily crept past the trees and down the slope.

"What do we do?"

"Wait." He sat down in an almost meditative position with the ready weapon in his hands. For such a tribal appearing people, the sleek metal of a powerful firearm stuck out glaringly.

"I'm surprised that you have guns like this." I observed the weapon. His brow arched at the comment. "Why do you bother using primitive weapons?" I nodded at the knife hanging on his waist. The wolf softly chuckled.

"Bullets and guns are very expensive for us, so we have to make every shot count." He explained. A loud noise halted our conversation as a herd of deer suddenly ran into view. Tuyuklu blinked and jumped to his feet. His trained eye stared through the scope but his finger failed to pull the trigger. "Grr!" Hs hackles rose in frustration as the deer left his sight. But two pursers weren't far behind. "Couldn't get a clean shot." He mumbled. The sound of running and crashing through the dead leaves thundered ahead of us. Noises became more distant before going silent altogether.

"Do you think they got it?" I managed to ask.

"I'm almost certain they did." He optimistically spoke. The minutes dragged by until a familiar figure appeared from around a tree.

"We got one!" Eve cheered and waved for us to come. We hurried and followed her across the slope and down to a more level spot. We approached a fox and fallen deer. Nethua triumphantly barked, and Eve made a cooing call. The excitement was contagious.

"Let's carry him back-" The happy mood was cut short as all three anthro pairs of ears shifted. The leaves rustled as a strong wind picked up. The sound of something in the air caught my ear. High above, it resembled a distant whirring noise. The tree limbs above and leaves twisted and turned as something passed overhead. I almost couldn't believe it, but when I glimpsed metal and a large propeller I knew what it was.

"It's a helicopter!" A rush of adrenaline consumed me. I could be rescued and brought home! The aircraft combed overhead and towards the village.

"A what?" The fox tilted his head.

"A helicopter!" I didn't brother explaining and ran after it.

"Wait! Matteo!" Tuyuklu called after me, but I disappeared through the trees. I chased down the slow moving noise, crashing through the forest. Twigs, branches, and leaves beat my body as I tore through the terrain. The loud whirring sound of the aircraft always seemed out of reach. I stumbled through a field and then a patch of undergrowth back into the woods.

'I'm in the forest!' The fact seemed insignificantly obvious, but easily made sense. Why would someone seeking to be rescue hide in the woods rather than be in the open fields. 'Of course I wouldn't be in the woods where the trees would hide me!' Something had been planned against my wishes. The forest suddenly thinned as I stumbled into the upper fields of the village. Two pups nearby shrieked and ran away at my sudden arrival. The helicopter disappeared from sight beyond the other side of the village and the dense forest. I paused to catch my breath, feeling the chance of civilization slip away.

'Why didn't anyone here try to find me?' I looked at the villagers read throughout the village performing their daily chores. I hurried to the chief's hut as fast as my legs could carry me. The anthro villagers looked on in confusion as I reached the stone hut. I burst into the humble abode where I found the chieftain seated on a cushion.

"Matteo?" He blinked in surprise. "I heard that you went hunting today."

"You hid me from sight so no one could find me!" I shouted angrily. "There was a helicopter! I could've been rescued!"

"Matteo-" He began, but I interrupted him.

"You've been asking villagers to keep me busy and out of sight!" I finished yelling. Tuyuklu suddenly entered the chief's hut behind me. The grey wolf held up his hand for him to sit by the entrance.

"Please have a seat too." The chieftain calmly spoke to me and motioned to a pelt. Still catching my breath, I sat down. We were mere inches apart, and I could make out the details of his facial fur down to each whisker in his muzzle. We resembled stark opposites of the other at that very moment. The cool and humble wolf never broke his gaze with mine. "Please understand, Matteo." The settlement's leader calmly began. "I don't hold any personal animosity against you, human, but you are a powerful bargaining piece to the entire village. We are always in need of supplies, and modern weapons to protect ourselves from potentially hostile neighbors over the west ridge and further south."

"I'm not a pawn in your schemes!"

"You're staying in our village, and will not be allowed to leave until I say so." He reaffirmed and nodded to the wolf. A hand rested on my shoulder, so I stood up and quickly left. The direct sunshine stung my eyes.

'Rotten luck!' Frustration coursed through my veins when I left the chief's hut. My momentary stay in the village was a ruse from the start. I had been kept here from the start, and something told me that he would back up his words. That made me uneasy and restless. Should I bother with escaping, or simply wait? I walked without looking where I was going and stumbled upon a small fire where a lioness was seated. She was topless, like many of the females I had seen, but had a loincloth of sewn long sleeve shirts. The middle aged female red panda beside her wore a simple tee shirt with a hole in the middle revealing plenty of dark, fluffy tummy fur.

"Sorry." I had nearly walked over them.

"You're Matteo, the human." The old feline spoke up. "Join us for a while." The elder female lioness offered the ground beside her.

"Thanks." I sat down beside the pair. I fully turned to face her and paused. One of her soft brown eyes was clouded with a thick white. 'A cataract.' I recognized the easily curable condition, but they didn't have the modern medicine like humans possessed. The lioness kindly smiled despite my stare, and looked back at her lap to fumble with the cloth. The female red panda didn't say anything at first, but broke the awkward silence.

"I'm May and this is Riga." She she motioned to the lioness.

"It's nice to meet you Matteo." The feline's gaze returned to mine. I simply nodded, still upset from the chieftain and my own rudeness. "You seem upset. What's wrong?" The old lioness consolingly reached out to me.

"Well..." I briefly looked away, unsure of how to tell the complete stranger. "I don't think I will be going home as I first planned." I carefully worded.

"Oh." Her ears fell back sympathetically for a moment. "I hope that you enjoy your stay here, however long it may be." She offered a welcoming smile.

"Thanks." I meekly answered.

"Mhm." The red panda agreed. "Our village is small and quiet. I think you'll like it." She cheerfully spoke. I hoped that she was right. I didn't want to stay in Katsurao Valley very long.

"What are you two doing?" I wanted to find something interesting to distract me.

"Cooking!" May happily flicked her tail at the fire. I hadn't even noticed that there was something cooking over the open flames.

"I'm sewing." The lioness held up a small patchwork of cloths sewn together. "My daughter recently gave birth, and I'm making this for her." A strong sense of pride was evident in her older motherly voice.

"Is it true that humans can't eat raw meat?" The red panda's eagerness to ask a question made her feline friend chuckle.

"Uh. Yes."

"We've heard a lot about you. I would've stopped by to visit but my paws were hurting that day, so I didn't want to walk all the way over there." The lioness huskily giggled.

"Mine were too." May smiled.

"What have you done since you came here?" Riga inquired. "Someone told me that you spent an entire day talking on a stump."

"I think I did." It was a little funny now.

"You must be a good storyteller."

"I don't know if I'm good at that..." I shrugged.

"My mate is back." May saw a male coyote and stood up. "It was nice talking to you. The food should be done." She said before leaving. I watched her sit down in the grass with the canine before my eyes settled on the fire. The alluring smell of freshly cooked meat made my stomach growl.

"Here." Riga plucked one of the skewered hunks of meat for me before picking one for herself.

"Thanks." I quickly took a bite. "Ah! Hot!" I lowered the skewer away from my face.

"Let it cool." She chuckled at my eagerness to eat. When the meat had cooled off enough for my patience, I was awarded with a tasty bite. Venison was very tasty. "I can hear that you like it." The lioness ginned. I merely nodded and gobbled down the meal. Good food was the last thing I expected in an Anthro Domain. I glanced back at May and her coyote mate. The red panda now had her back facing the male who was running something over her back.

"What are they doing?" I asked Riga. The lioness glanced at the pair without batting an eye.

"They're grooming, you know to keep their fur well kept and prevent matting." She explained. "Don't humans do that?" Her feline eyes looked at my hair.

"No." I shook my head. "Can't they do it themselves?"

"It's something mates do to each other, and of course parents groom their children. My fur isn't very long, but my mate and I always groomed each other after a bath. I always liked it." She briefly reminisced. "But he died years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She simply nodded and licked her fingers clean, revealing an impressive set of canine teeth. 'I'm glad you're not hungry for humans...' I silently thought.

***

The evening wore on and I idly chatted with Riga. May and her mate had left, and a person or two sat down to talk. With a splash of water, the once sizzling fire was doused completely into wet ashes.

"It's almost dark now." I noticed without the firelight and stood up. The green fields around me were nearly dark as shadows with the emerging moonlight.

"You can come and stay in my home for the night." The old lioness offered.

"Your home?" I thought I had misheard the lioness. The little primitive hut nearby was her humble abode.

"Is there something humans find funny about sleeping in someone else's home?" She giggled.

"No! It's just, I want to return to my hut for the night." I insisted.

"Okay. Sleep well." She stepped forward and hugged me.

"Uh thanks. You too." I briefly hugged the furry body. She patted my back before unwinding the hug and letting me go. I returned to my hut. It was dark and lonely. The crickets and frogs were the only noises to accompany me. I laid down on the deer pelt and stared at the empty hut's ceiling in silence.

'I just want to return to my home...' I closed my eyes in frustration.

Only two days passed before I decided to attempt an escape. It all began with a sudden rush into the woods when no one was around me, but the commotion likely alerted someone. I didn't have time to scold myself for a potentially bad decision if I could escape.

'Oh man...' My hand rested on the cool, damp bark. Half an hour might have passed, but I was already hot and starting to tire. The forest around me was a network of invisible trails hidden among the dense trees and undergrowth. Simply put, it was a lengthy maze. 'Where should I go?' My heart pounded. Every direction appeared the same with only minor variations. I scurried another short distance straight ahead, ducking under low lying limbs as I went. Running into two consecutive spider webs made me halt. It was a small Domain by comparison but the forests, hills, and fields resembled a complex network of impassable terrain. I approached several bushes growing next to a thicket in the patchy sunlight.

'Maybe I can hide here and think for a moment.' I needed to catch my breath. In the sudden rush if calm I noticed there were no birds chirping in the forest. I knew that I wasn't out of the woods yet, literally and figuratively, so something was amiss. Hopefully it was just from my running. Without looking around I broke through the rest of the underbrush. The sight of a fallen deer halted my steps.

'Crap!' I froze, realizing that I had stumbled into a hunting party. It was Eve, the raccoon, and Nethua, the red fox. The female raccoon was wearing her typical oversized grey bra along with a buckskin loincloth. The male fox and serval both used old long sleeved tee shirts as loincloths for clothing. They were accompanied by a male serval in similar garb.

"Hey, we always have good luck when we run into you!" The fox cheerfully waved. I noticed the freshly killed deer to the side that one of them was crouching over.

"What are you doing way out here, Matteo?" Eve asked.

'How do I get outta this?' I wondered but felt a sense of impending doom. The awkward silence didn't last long. The leaves rustled as a strong dark grey male wolf came into view. 'Tuyuklu...' I knew the gig was up.

"What's going on?" The fox asked while Tuyuklu approached me.

"You're coming with me." He grabbed my arm and led me away through the woods. Nethua ran up to follow us.

"At least tell us something." The red fox urged the wolf to speak.

"He tried escaping." He shortly answered.

"Escaping?" Nethua stopped and looked at me puzzled. I didn't have time to answer as I was taken away. Long reaching twigs and occasional brambles snared me.I was taken directly to the chieftain's dwelling. The grey wolf was seated inside, and he was quickly briefed on what I had attempted by the darker furred wolf.

"Well?" The chieftain asked me, but I remained silent. There simply wasn't anything for me to say. The canine sighed and cleared his throat. "If you try escaping again then I will have to maim your leg." His decree sent a cold chill down the length of my spine. The wolf let his words sink in for a moment before continuing. "I'll have someone stay with you too just to make sure you don't try this again. Also, you need to help around the village. Unless you find someone to help on your own, I'm going to ask around and see what needs to be done." I gawked at the chieftain, but he waved for the darker furred wolf to take me outside. A strong hand pulled me up by the arm until I stood up. The strong sunlight stung my eyes briefly back outside.

"Stay in the village for a while." The wolf told me. "Things should work themselves out." I could not tell if he was being genuine, but I certainly hoped that he was right. Without a word I slowly walked close to the stream and sat atop a large boulder overlooking part of the village. The illusion of a peaceful visit was dismembered.

"I'm really here as a prisoner." I told myself. It could've been much worse, and I was very thankful for that, but I wasn't completely free either. Was there anything that I could do? Should I just patiently wait?

I watched the simple village life from my lonely perch. Anthros were busy working the land as usual, regardless of age. Not too far from me, two females, an older topless cheetah and a thin calico cat were washing dishes in the stream. Downstream, a tiger kit was gathering silt from the stream into a cheap metal bucket. His arms were wet and his hands were wet and muddy from the nutrient rich earth. His little body strained to carry the heavy load uphill when he was finished. After a lot of effort he managed to climb the hill. One tiger adult, likely a parent, was busy in the distant fields. The echoing thud of someone chopping wood wasn't far away. An adolescent was carrying firewood to a hut with a thin trail of grey smoke wafting from its roof. A little more than an hour passed, but it felt like an eternity watching the slow and still life of the village and the valley.

"It's getting late." An older female voice remarked about the sun dipping below the tree line. I turned around and found the old lioness standing behind me.

"Oh, hey Riga." I looked back at the forested hills surrounding the village.

"Why are you out here by yourself?"

"I'm sure you already know why..." I mumbled. Her ears pricked the air for my quiet voice. "Can you show me a path out of here?" I asked. The lioness looked at me questioningly before shaking her head.

"I don't know of any paths that lead out of Katsurao." She admitted to my dismay. "Sorry."

"I wouldn't expect you to tell me even if you knew." I sighed.

"Do you want to stay at my home overnight for some company? You'll get cold out here."

"No thanks. I'm expecting someone at my hut." I explained.

"If you need anything, then ask around. We're more than willing to help." She grinned.

'Anything except help me return home.' I silently added.

"Sleep well human." The lioness gave me a hug. Her furry body felt reassuringly comforting to hold.

"Thanks, you too." I spoke and headed to my hut along the twisting paths within the village. Other villagers were returning home from their daily duties. I approached my little temporary home. "No one..." I half expected to see the dark furred wolf standing guard outside the hut. However, I noticed the glow of a fire inside. I knelt down and crept inside. I immediately noticed things had been disturbed. There were a few clothes stacked to the side that I hadn't noticed before. Beside them I noticed a body hunched over, and a fluffy reddish tail resting on the ground. Black tipped ears perked up and a pointy muzzle looked over at me. She was a slim vixen with a white and ruddy orange red coloration.

"Hello! You must be Matteo." She stood up and greeted me.

"Hey. I am Matteo... Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Karen." She introduced herself. "I'll be staying with you, if that's alright."

"Ok." I didn't feel too surprised about it. 'So this is who the chief sent.' I assumed. "I see you brought plenty of clothes." I noticed the stack of garments, tribal and modern, next to a few other personal items. I guess females whether human or anthro liked having plenty of clothes.

"Oh, I was about to change anyway." She mentioned and disrobed right in front of me to my surprise, revealing a beautiful body of orange and white. I averted my gaze from the pretty vixen, but I couldn't help myself entirely. Her small breasts were very human, but covered in white fur except for her tanned pink nipples. Her sex was mostly hidden, nestled in a fair amount of downer white fur. She knelt down and filed through the stack of clothing before retrieving an article. It was either an oversized tee shirt, or a sleeveless nightgown, but it was difficult for me to tell. The vixen didn't put on anything else to my surprise and simply standing before me. Her nipples clearly poked against the white cotton fabric. Both black tipped ears preened the silent air.

"Would you like to sit?" She motioned to two new deer pelts by the flickering fire.

"Oh. Sure. Thanks." I hastily sat down. "What are you making?" I noticed a steaming kettle over the low fire.

"It's a tea that we brew." She quickly knelt down by the flames and explained. "We use certain grasses and fresh pine needles to boil and make it."

"Pine needles?" I watched her pour me a cup. Luckily there weren't any in the drink I received. I waited for it to cool before taking a sip. 'Gah!' My body seized as I downed the liquid. It was almost enough to make me vomit.

"Do you like it?" She looked over and asked.

"Um... It's strong." I managed to say with a straight face and set my cup aside. Karen giggled and finished setting up her belongings. 'What the heck did she put in this?' I suspiciously looked at the dark liquid. The vixen soon joined me by the fire. She sat down daintily with her legs tucks to the side. A bright smile encompassed her muzzle, but an inquisitive set of vulpine eyes gazed at me.

"So what are human villages like?" Karen curiously asked. "I've only heard a little bit from what the others have told me."

"They're not exactly villages like Katsurao." I started. "There's buildings but they are much bigger and taller."

"How tall and how many?" She quickly interjected.

"Taller than the trees, and imagine this whole valley full of buildings. No trees, only brick, metal, stone, or wood." I explained. The fox blinked, not too sure what to say. I wondered if she could grasp what I had told her.

"That's a lot of people." She finally spoke. "Are they all humans like you?"

"Of course."

"Do any of them have more fur?" She eyed my hair.

"Well... Not exactly." I thought aloud. "Some might have a little on their chest or face, but little else."

"How do human females look with that fur?"

"Wait! No." I held back a laugh. "Only human males might have... a little fur there."

"Oh." She seemed unsure of what to say. "Do you farm back at your home? My family has always farmed."

"No, I don't do that."

"If you don't farm, do you hunt?"

"No. I work with GIS map systems." I thought about my day to day job of sitting in an office.

"What kind of maps?" Her ears swiveled.

"I'm not sure you'll understand but it's like a picture and you see in a book."

"A book?" She questioned.

"A book." I drew the rectangular shape in the ground. "And it shows you the surrounding land." She wiggled her nose in thought. I wondered if she truly understood what I was talking about.

"Do you have a mate?" She asked next.

"A mate?" I gave her a peculiar look.

"Someone that you live with and have kits together." She explained.

"Oh! Like a wife... I don't have one then." I answered. 'Not that anyone should be crazy enough to put themselves in this situation with me.' I thought to myself.

"Really?" She was surprised. "Why not?"

"I'm not the most exciting person I guess... I do boring work but I enjoy it. I like spending time in the woods and hiking too. That's something most women don't even bother with where in from."

"Boring work?" She tried not to giggle. "If I traveled to human lands, then I would never be called boring."

"Believe it or not, it can be boring." I thought about sitting a desk typing on a screen all day.

"You're not very old, are you?"

"Only twenty nine. How old are you?"

"Thirty two..." Her ears fell back a little as she looked at her paws a little embarrassed at the fact. "I'm the oldest person in the village without one. The other few are young adults."

"That's not old."

"It's not? But for someone without a mate-"

"You have plenty of time to figure stuff out like that." I reasoned. "Have you lived here your entire life?"

"Mmhm." She nodded. "Haven't you lived in your village your entire life?"

"No... I've lived in several places." Even though human territories were relatively smaller than Anthro Domains, they weren't isolated islands. Airplanes were commonly used to link what roads could not.

"Wow! What was that like?"

***

I didn't know how many questions I answered or how many I asked Karen, but the low fire told the lengthy details in short. A yawn interrupted me from finishing another answer.

"I guess it is getting late." Karen took note of the low fire and darkness outside.

"Where are you sleeping?" There wasn't much room for two people.

"I brought a deer pelt and a blanket with me." She pointed to the other side of the hut. The vixen was giving me plenty of space to adjust, and I was thankful for that. The vixen crept over and made herself comfortable. "Sleep well." She laid down in her makeshift bed.

"Goodnight." I stared outside the hut's entrance, but glanced back at the sleeping vixen's back. I wondered if it was really a good idea to try and escape when she was right there. My common sense blatantly told me no. 'This makes everything harder...' I laid down on my pelt and rolled over. I couldn't escape easily without the vixen knowing, and even if I could everyone else could smell my trail and pinpoint me wherever I ended up. The sounds of crickets and frogs preened the nighttime air unabashedly. I didn't have any quarrels with the villagers. They were nice and hospitable, but their chieftain irked me. My churning thoughts eventually found enough peace and quiet to sleep.

"Hmm... Hmm hmm." The sound of soft humming greeted my ears.

"Huh?" I slowly awoke in the deerskin bed. My eyes blinked and I looked around the oddly busy hut. The vixen was already awake, and still in her nightgown. She was tending to a low fire where the smell of food permeated into the air.

"I hear you're finally awake." Karen's ears shifted without her gaze shifting from the fire.

"You're cooking?" I sat up.

"You sound surprised." She grinned and wiggled her nose. "Come over here and eat." She flicked her tail. Enchanted by the savory aromas, I left the deer pelt and joined the vixen by the fire. Karen plucked some cooked cuts from the flames, and half of a potato. Both had evidence of herbs and possibly hints of other natural additives.

"Haven't you eaten?" I waited for the food to cool and noticed that there was nothing left for her.

"Yes, while you were sleeping." She nodded. I took a few testing bites and found everything to my taste.

"Mm. This is really good." I liked it.

"Thanks you. It's just venison." Her ears folded back bashfully. I sat by the fire and ate. The vixen watched me with a curious stare for a minute before rising to her paws. Black socked hands suddenly pulled the nightgown over her head. Despite being in front of me, Karen changed into an actual shirt and pair of shorts; a white tee with faded images of orchids and jean shorts with fraying threads and numerous rips. "Ready?" She knelt down beside me.

"Ready? Ready for what?" I questioned.

"I'm going to let you help my sister tend to her field. She's a very busy mother of two, and I think she'd appreciate it."

"Let me work?" I found her wording a little funny.

"Well, you're not going to sit here all day." She firmly nodded with a grin and stood up. "I can take you over there now." I chose to exit the hut with her rather than fight over being told to help someone. I was led across the village and over the bridge to several homes nestled nestled together. A few inhabitants were already outside and working. A skunk and raccoon couple were heading uphill with a garden hoe and rake in hand. A silver tabby feline was repairing part of the roof to her home. Two kits were bringing water up from the stream. Karen approached a male grey fox outside one of the huts. He wore a simple pair of old shorts and was tending to a few more garments hanging on a clothesline.

"Hey Todd. Where's my sister at?"

"Hi Karen. And hello to you too Matteo." He smiled at us.

"This is my sister's mate Todd." The vixen introduced the male fox.

"Hi."

"So where is my sister at?" Karen asked the male. "Are the kits with her?"

"Oh, she just headed out to our field. The kits just ran upriver. They always get into trouble together." He mused.

"Good. Matteo is going to help her today."

"Thank you!" Todd smiled gratefully. "We appreciate any help."

"You're welcome..." It wasn't exactly my idea, but I might as well follow through with it. I didn't want to be a burden on the villagers working every day for subsistence. Karen led me uphill through the rolling grasses. We passed two lower fields where others were working diligently. 'They work hard.' I noticed that a male and female leopard only had a simple hoe to till the ground with.

"Hey!" A vixen at the top of the hill waved.

"Hi!" Karen called up and powered up the hill with me behind. I reached the top and found myself staring at a look alike of Karen. The sister foxes were very strikingly similar in appearance. Both had their red fur coats with the middle white, and white tipped tails. The only way I could tell the difference was by their voices and dress, or possibly lack thereof. The sister vixen was wearing a pair of shorts that were likely once a pair of khaki pants. Numerous threads were frayed where the fabric cut off above her knees. However, that was the only garment that she wore unless one counted her braided bracelet, and two anklets. Her breasts hung freely with a fair amount of sag despite her youth. Thick tanned areolae and nipples were free of fur too.

"Hello. You must be Matteo." She smiled at me.

"Hi. I am."

"If you did not guess, this is my sister Beth." Karen explained.

"We look alike." Beth chuckled. "So what are you two doing here? To lend a hand, I wish."

"That's what he's here to do." Karen patted my back.

"Great!" The sister beamed a thrilled smile. I was surprised to watch Karen decide to walk away.

"Aren't you helping?" I asked her.

"No. Someone has to cook while you're busy." She swished her tail and left us to work.

"Don't worry, I won't let you do all of the work." Karen's sister patted my shoulder.

'That's good.' I felt a little relief before gazing at the large garden. There was a lot to tend to on the mostly flat surface. Fledgling plants were growing in plentiful rows, but there were even more little invaders in the worked soil. The vixen didn't waste any time and bent over to begin picking weeds. The motion her body took to pry the invasive plants caused her freely hanging breasts to shake and move as she did. My eyes were glued to what I saw as an erotic show to view.

"What?" The red vixen looked up and snapped my hypnotized stare.

"Uh... Shouldn't you be wearing a bra?" I could feel my face turned a little shade of red. The vixen's head turned slightly in confusion as if she had misheard.

"A what? Bra?" Her brow furrowed. Blushing profusely, I pointed to her chest before covering mine in demonstration. "Oh! A chest cloth." She stood up and gave a bubbly snort of laughter.

"Yes." I nodded. "Why aren't you? They're just hanging..." I wondered why some others didn't either. It was like no one seemed to care that they were half dressed in public. She burst into laughter.

"They're supposed to hang!" The vixen had a tough time holding back her giggles. "I don't need to wear one. They don't get in my way, so why should I?" She placed her hands on her hips firmly. The red vixen's simple answer baffled me.

"Well... You, uh..." I couldn't form a rebuttal with my eyes staring at her white furred chest. The female vulpine, and everyone else in anthro domains, grew up without seeing breasts as something erotic. It was just a regular part of anatomy in their eyes. The realization made me quiet.

"Now come on and help me pick weeds." She swished her tail and resumed plucking the fertile ground. Without a word, I stooped down to assist her. My hands plucked the weeds away alongside hers.

***

Few clouds and a warm day created a hot sun to work under. By the afternoon, with only one break to eat and rest, I was exhausted. Beth, however, wasn't even breaking a sweat!

"I think we're finally done." Beth smiled with freshly pulled weeds in her hands. The entire plot had been painstakingly weeded. I was kneeling down in the dirt in front of the squatting vixen. Sweat covered my entire body.

"Thank goodness..." I rose to my feet only for a wave of dizziness to unsteady me.

"You alright?" She briskly rose to her feet to help. A hand caught my arm just in case.

"Yeah I'm fine." I steadied myself. "I haven't worked outside like this in a long time." Working inside my entire adult life put my body in a much weaker position than any anthro in any Domain. She didn't let go until I had regained my bearings.

"Do you tend to a farm where you're from?" Beth asked.

"No." I shook my head. "No one in my family does."

"You did alright for your first days work in a field." She encouragingly patted my back. It was hard not to feel a sense of accomplishment when a topless lady was praising you. "Karen wouldn't send you out here if you couldn't do the work." I silently hoped that she was right. Another hour could've killed me!

"Mom! Mom!" Two little figures were running uphill.

"Who are they?" I looked at the two fox kits, one grey and one red, bounding towards us. They wore buckskin loincloths, and the grey one also wore a white tee shirt with several holes.

"Hi mom!" Both kits ran up to the topless vixen. I watched them share a brief hug.

"How are you two doing?" She asked sweetly.

"Fine!"

"These are my kits, Roland and Lilly." She proudly introduced them to me. "They're both seven springs old."

"We saw the human before." Lilly spoke.

"Uh huh." Her brother agreed.

"Well then, what did you two do today?"

"We played upstream with Pyrrhus."

"That's good. I've been working here since morning."

"You worked all day?" Roland leaned on Beth as if the words made him tired. It reminded me that kits worked almost as much as their parents. Playtime was only an brief occurrence.

"Thank you, mom." They said in unison.

"Thank him too." Beth looked at me. "If he didn't help me, then both of you would've been out here working with me all day."

"Thank you! Thank you!" They practically bounced as they talked.

"It's fine. You're welcome." I was still catching my breath. "I'll head back to the hut if that's alright."

"Sure! Tomorrow, we can plow up the rest of the field together." She offered. "I have two hoes that we can use."

"Thank. I'll uh, think about that." I waved a final time before heading down the hill. My muscles were already becoming tender and sore with every step. 'How do they farm and hunt all day?' I could see others still outside, busy as the morning. I only paused at the stream to have a drink of fresh water before trekking up to the hut. I crept inside and found Karen tending to a low fire, cooking something alongside that kettle of strong tea. Her ears perked up.

"You're back." She turned around and grinned.

"Yeah. Barely..." I sighed. Her black nose sniffed the air before wrinkling.

"You smell terrible!" She pinched her nose to my surprise. "Everyone bathes, but you don't."

"Bathe? There aren't any showers around here!" I pointed out. The vixen tilted her head curiously.

"We don't have whatever those are, but everyone uses the river. Why don't you go like everyone else?" She challenged.

"In the open?" I cringed at the thought.

"Wherever you can wash yourself." She shrugged. "My nose can smell you from over here." Virtually kicked out, I backed out of the hut and stood on the hillside. I looked around the quaint village, scanning the area for anyone within sight. A few farmers were visible in the distance, but none were too close. Those back towards the huts were busy with other tasks as well. I walked down the winding path to the wide stream. The twisting waterway was nestled between the base of the two small hills that the village rested on. I walked downstream to the end of the open hills. The waterway was wider downstream and bordered by clumps of reeds, but I didn't want to give Karen or any other villager an excuse to go searching for me. After checking the surrounding area a few times, I quickly disrobed and waded into the stream. I clenched my teeth from the sudden shock. The water was cool, but not unbearable in the warm sun.

"It's deep enough..." I waded to the center before sitting down. A brief chill ran up my spine again, but I was "covered" below my chest. I splashed water on my face and settled onto the cool silt and pebbles. A sigh blew past my lips as the water helped me unwind physically and mentally from the strenuous day. Without any air conditioning, the chilly water felt amazing "Better than a hot shower-"

"Matteo!" I blinked hearing a familiar voice. I looked over my shoulder and my jaw dropped seeing Karen walking downhill towards me. The vixen paused by my pile of clothes.

"Hey." She called out and took her pants off.

"What are you doing here?!" I turned my back to the bottomless vixen.

"I'm not an idiot. I know you can't wash your own back." She held up the small rag.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I looked away and mumbled. The heat rising on my face reddened hearing her wade into the water towards me. 'What do I do?' I covered myself out of instinct despite being underwater. The splashing footsteps grew closer before suddenly stopping. I peeked over my shoulder. The vixen was standing behind me, but still wearing her shirt. I whipped my head around as she knelt down behind me with a quiet splash. Is this really happening?' I froze when a wet rag cleaned my skin. Both padded hands touched me next.

"Your skin is smooth." Karen rubbed over my upper back curiously. My cheeks warmed as she cleaned over my entire back. Her touch wasn't intimate, but I couldn't deny liking it.

"Hmm." I mumbled to myself. The pads on her hands felt divinely soothing. She relieved me of any tender soreness developing beneath my skin. I heard her start to speak, but was nearly lulled asleep.

"Matteo?"

"H-huh?" I stammered.

"I said, would you like me to wash your sides too?" Her hands rested under my arms. I blinked and stared at the water in front of me. She took my silence as confirmation of a yes. I jumped when her hands dipped underwater and touched my hips.

"Karen!" I lunged away from her and spun around. The vixen blankly stared at me. "Yes? I mean no! No." I made up my mind. The vixen looked at me in irked confusion before standing up.

"Alright. That's fine." She plainly spoke and left. I collected my thoughts as she waded back to shore. Embarrassment flashed through me like a wave of heat.

'Should I wait for her to leave?' I feared being naked in front of her, and I wouldn't be able to dry off without her seeing me. Agonizing minutes passed as I quickly finished washing myself. The quiet sound of splashing water behind soon caught my attention. I looked over my shoulder to see what the vixen was doing. I was shocked to see her washing my clothes in the stream by hand.

"Hey! Stop!" I jumped up and ran towards her only to realize that I was completely naked. I halted and covered myself. The vixen looked up at me blankly.

"What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?!" I could hardly believe her. "You're throwing my clothes into the stream!"

"I'm washing them." She explained and returned to cleaning them the best way she knew how. "They smell bad." I watched in disbelief as she held up my wet shirt. I walked to shore and found that she had already "washed" all of my other garments.

"How am I going to wear them?" I frowned.

"When they're dry." She walked over and hung them to out on a nearby tree limb. I felt my anger from the past few days boil over.

"Alright! I give up!" I plopped down in the mossy clover and didn't bother covering my nakedness anymore. I was angry about everything, and tired of worrying about something that they didn't care about. 'She's even bottomless.' My eyes peeked at the vixen. Karen shook her head in bewilderment at my actions. The fox sat down beside me and stretched out her wet legs to dry. With silence between us and a moment to reflect, I knew how stupidly I had acted towards her. It was not her fault for trying to help me. We were practically from two different worlds despite living only two dozen miles apart. The vixen's ears were stiffly splayed, and her face harbored a frown

Staring at the bright greenery around the two of us calmed me down. The oaks, maples, elms, tufts of grass along the bank, wild spring flowers, green fields, and bubbling stream were very picturesque. None of it was disturbed from the century of warfare so long ago. The few amount of forests from my hometown were nowhere near as beautiful as Katsurao.

"I know this will sound odd, but it's so beautiful here." I remarked.

"I love my village." Karen softly spoke. "It's very beautiful in the spring, summer, and fall." A little bit of extra guilt washed over me.

"I'm uh, sorry for yelling so much at you." I quietly apologized. "It's not your fault that I'm stuck here for now. I'm frustrated." Her ears flickered and her expression softened.

"I understand." She admitted and accepted my answer. "I can't even imagine what kind of life you live compared to us." That was something to dwell on. Imagining a vixen in a big city of people wasn't easy.

"Just let me know if I'm acting stupid."

"Sure." She giggled. "It happens to everyone once in a while."

"Thanks." I felt a little better. Karen stared at the stream a d fluffed her drying fur some. "Hey, I noticed that there aren't a lot of older villagers here."

"When I was young, there was a terrible conflict with another tribe to the south. A lot of people were killed. Both of my parents were too."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine." She softly spoke. "We're usually too busy to reflect about something sad from long ago.

"Yeah. I never worked so hard farming before." I sighed.

"Haha!" She laughed. "My sister and her mate work really hard to support their family."

"No kidding. I could hardly stand after helping her. She had to hold my arm."

"You're okay now, right?" She asked.

"I think so." I stood up and felt my body resist a little. "I'll be stuck in bed for a while." I guessed. She found that amusing to hear. "Are my clothes done drying?" I approached the lithe branch they were hanging from.

"They will take some time." She curled up a leg and spoke. I was disappointed to find out she was correct. "Are you dry already?" She looked up at me in mild surprise. "My fur is still damp."

"Yes."

"Oh." She observed my still damp hair. "Your skin dried very fast." I simply nodded. The constant reminder that I was naked didn't help. "What's that garment for?" Karen pointed at the pair of underwear on the limb. "I've never seen it before."

"Oh... Uh. It holds everything together..." I lamely answered.

"Oh! For running." She presumed. "Like the bra Eve wears for hunting."

"Err... Yeah." I nodded. 'Also for decency.' I silently added. A brief silence passed and I noticed her gaze was looking me over.

"You look handsome." A little grin emerged on her muzzle.

"Oh... Uh. Thanks." I didn't expect a complement from her, and turned a little to hide from her curious eyes.

"How much longer will these need to dry?" I asked again.

"It'll take some time." She reassured me. I wasn't too thrilled to hear that. The vixen wiggled her nose, as if she could smell my discomfort. "I'll get you something to wear." She offered and quickly stood up.

"Thank you." A little relief passed through me. 'At least I won't have to wait the rest of the day to wear something.' I thought. The half naked vixen departed and returned with garments in her arms. I skeptically arched my brow when she revealed them to me. White linen pants with several scuffs and small tears; and a light brown linen shirt in similar condition among others.

"We don't have any garments like that one." She pointed at my underwear hanging on the tree limb.

"Thanks, Karen." I took my best option, the linen clothes, and put them on anyway. It was better than wearing nothing.

"We can go back to the hut now," she took a few steps, "my fur is mostly dry, and I cooked some venison." Below the vixen's waist her fur needed to be groomed. My stomach growled at the news of food. I stared at my drying garments for a moment, not wanting to risk leaving them yet. "Don't worry, they won't go anywhere." She waited for me.

"Alright." I followed her upstream. I noticed our bare dirt pathway in the grass, but also two narrower dirt trails beside the middle path. "Why are there two more trails here?"

"A few times each season someone will travel with a cart of supplies to trade with us from a village to the south."

"A whole cartload of what?"

"Supplies. Maybe extra food, but usually it's plastic piping, bullets, tools, nails, and other things."

"Oh..." I thought about how it would work. We spotted two felines bathing. The male was naked and only ankle deep in the water, but faced us and kindly waved anyway. Karen's tail swished contently as we began walking uphill.

"There's a little celebration the entire village takes part in that's coming up in a few days." She happily mentioned.

"A celebration?"

"Mmhm. There's painting, running to the river, and then we dance at sunset." It sounded really bizarre, but just as interesting to me.

The days passed by easier as Karen lived with me. I adjusted easily to living with her int the little hut. Even though I had to work in the fields with her sister every other day, it was good to have her company when I returned to the hut. I became used to the closeness and mingling of privacy, and Karen did too. The vixen was more open, almost in a literal sense. She would forgo her nightgown by night and sleep in her fur, and we exchanged stories by the fire on two occasions. She was also a very good cook, which was something to value where food was either raw or cooked over an open fire. It was almost like staying with a friend.

"Ready?" I asked by the now dormant fire pit.

"Mmhm!" The vixen was all smiles as we prepared to partake in the village's annual festival. From what I gathered it was a simple celebration for a good spring season, hoping for a mild summer, and life itself. Karen held her muzzle to stop herself from laughing.

"What's so funny?" I dared to ask.

"I still can't help but laugh about what you told Beth." Karen giggled. "They're hanging!" The vixen cackled to herself much to my embarrassment. She brought it up every day since she heard what I had said.

'I'll never live that down.' I thought. Karen exited the hut before me still in her typical nightgown with nothing under it. I had an eyeful covered by a mere white tipped tail. "You're not getting dressed into something else?" I asked as we left the hut.

"No." She giggled. I was surprised that the entire village population wasn't walking around in their bare fur considering how they openly bathed and half dressed.

'Huh?' I blinked, spotting two villagers walking ahead of us in their bare fur. I thought it was just a coincidence, but within sight of village's center I came to a different realization. "What's going on Karen?" I paused. In the center of the village, everyone was gathering to celebrate. However, everyone was naked or at least shedding out of any remaining clothes.

"The celebration." Karen tugged my arm.

"A celebration of being naked?!" I fretted.

"No." She eyed me curiously for the assumption. "You have to so your fur can be painted." She simply explained.

"Hey Karen! Hey Matteo!" A few villagers waved seeing us approached. One of them was Eve, the female raccoon who regularly hunted. Her grey furred body was naked revealing a modest pair of breasts and still youthful figure. Her tummy had an array of straight yellow lines that curled wherever they reached. Both breasts had swirl patterns of blue paint. Beside her, a male coyote was being painted by Riga the old lioness.

"Hi!" Karen cheerfully greeted them. "We made it just in time."

"Just waiting for the chief to announce everything." Riga spoke as she painted the male coyote's legs a bright orange.

"Thanks Riga." The coyote smiled and left when she finished. His upper body had various colors in wavy and straight lines.

"Are you getting painted Matteo?" Eve looked at my clothes curiously. I protectively kept my hands by my sides.

"I'll paint a nice design on you." Riga purred.

"Uh..." I looked at Karen worriedly.

"Matteo is watching us for now." The vixen explained as she pulled up and discarded her long nightgown.

"Then I'll just have to paint you instead Karen." The lioness chuckled and dipped her fingers into green paint by her paws. I watched her draw lines on Karen's cheeks and neck before trailing down her sternum. Her other hand dipped into blue paint to draw a swirl on her breasts.

"Do I have to you know... Get painted?" I whispered.

"You don't have to participate if you don't want to."

'Thank goodness.' I watched the vixen widen her stance as the downy fur around her groin and legs was painted with black lines next.

"Go talk to everyone." She encouraged me. "It's supposed to be fun."

"Alright..." I walked through the crown of naked villagers. 'This is the oddest celebration that I've ever seen.' I looked around the area as if I had entered Katsurao Valley for the first time all over again. Many others were already naked and painted or being painted. A grey she wolf had her muzzle, ear tips, and both of her nipples painted purple. A male cougar had an intricate design of X marks over his body . Even the youngest villagers had little simple designs on their fur. Swirls on breasts and handprints on rears appeared commonplace and popular designs among the walking works of art. Everyone was happily socializing as if they weren't even nude in the slightest. Two older villagers laughed over an old story. Two pups dashed by me, playing a game with a ball. 'Imagine all this back home.' I half joked to myself at stricter human standards.

"Hello Matteo." A familiar voice caught my attention. I was met with a naked male red fox. White belly and chest fur were painted with green. Black "socked" arms and legs were covered in white dots. The male was quite a sight to see up close. A muzzle with some facial paint happily looked at me.

"Hey Nethua. I almost didn't recognize you." That made the vulpine laugh.

"Aren't you getting painted?"

"No. I'm fine." I glanced at his nakedness.

"I heard... Well, everyone has heard that you tried running away a few days ago." He told me.

"I'm not surprised. It's a small village and everyone has good ears."

"We're sure that some of your time here has been rough, but I wanted to let you know that every villager is happy that you're here with us, however long that may be."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Sure. At least get your face painted." He patted my shoulder before joining up with a few others. I spotted May and her male coyote mate talking while they painted each other.

"Hey Matteo." The red panda saw me and smiled.

"Hello." I sat down with them.

"Do you want us to paint you?" May asked.

"Oh uh, no thanks."

"You're not running to the river?" The male inquired.

"No, I'm just watching everyone else." I shrugged. "Is everyone getting painted?"

"Of course!" May piped up. "It's fun!" The female proudly showed off her colored fur to me.

"What kind of celebrations do humans have, Matteo?" The male coyote asked.

"Nothing like this." I admitted, earning a laugh from him. "I don't exactly understand the village celebration either."

"It's a simple celebration." The old canine insisted. "Being thankful for a good spring to sew crops, looking forward to a mild summer, and being happy about life."

"Where does the nudity, painting, and running into a river make sense of that?"

"Everyone is always naked under their clothes, but today we embrace having a body. Running into the water signals a shift from spring and planting to summer and maintaining the fields. The painting is for fun though." He grinned. "Our chief can explain it better if you want to talk to him."

"I think I understand." I scratched my head. 'Celebrating life and having fun...' I guessed and looked around the naked bodies.

"Aroooo!" A sudden loud howl caught everyone's attention. The crowd of villager's hushed to where I could hear a fly buzzing nearby.

"The chieftain is finally ready." May said aloud. I noticed the male wolf standing above the crowd with the aid of well placed stump. His visible body was painted with yellow lines and a circle over his heart. He held up a staff with an antler tied to its top.

"If everyone is ready," he began with a deep voice, "let's go down to the stream!" The canine declared. The naked villagers dashed down to the water in a happy frenzy. Elders and mothers carrying infants took an easier walk along pathways. Playful cries and howls erupted as the first wave reached the water. The first dashed into the middle and crunched down to splash water on themselves. Mothers and fathers stood and watched their children try swimming where the water was at its deepest. The last to reach the calm stream's waters simply sat down in the shallow silt. Many stayed in the little river to wash their body paint off, some laid out in the grass to dry off, and the rest began the slower climb uphill.

"This is the strangest thing I have seen." I looked around. The once crowded village was now completely empty. I was the only one standing uphill watching the wild painted run all unfold.

"Hey Matteo!" Karen's sister approached me. She was soaked, and her fur was dripping wet. The painted yellow lines and blue swirls on her body appeared half melted from her run through the river.

"Hello Beth."

"Are you enjoying the day?" She happily asked.

"I guess." I shrugged, not sure what to make of the odd celebration. A wet hand slapped my arm and startled me.

"You guess? Go jump in the stream then!" She laughed and placed her hands on her hips. That was the last thing I planned on doing. "Is Karen with you?" The vixen looked around.

"I think she already ran down." I looked, but couldn't make anyone out in the crowd of more than one hundred painted anthros. Others returning uphill had similar spiky wet fur, or at least shook themselves until they were. Beth's grey fox mate and two kits approached us from downhill. All three were naked and their fur was spiked wet with only traces of paint remaining in their fur. The two kits were bouncing with infinite energy alongside their father before suddenly dashing off to play with a cheetah kit their age.

"Hey Matteo." Todd placed an arm around his wife. "Why aren't you wet?" The male grey fox teased. "Don't you want to go down and jump into the stream?"

"No thanks. I'm fine." I turned down the generous offer.

"Where did they run off to?" Beth asked.

"To play with Dolios's son." He pointed. A familiar vixen appeared and joined us. Karen's fur was wet and spiky, glued to her body and accentuating her lean form.

"I made it back up!" She cheerfully declared.

"You usually play in the water longer." Beth tapped her younger sister with her wet tail.

"Blah." She stuck her tongue out briefly and giggled. "Having fun observing us Matteo?" Karen brushed across my side leaving a few damp stains on my clothes.

"Yeah... What else is going to happen?" I noticed a few still nude villagers clearing a fire out in the village's center and bringing sticks for firewood.

"Aren't you going to participate in the rest of the celebration?" Beth asked. I blinked in surprise.

"The celebrating doesn't end until the night." Karen grinned.

"There's more?"

"Of course." She smiled and grabbed my hand. "C'mon! Let's gather some firewood together."

***

I didn't know what to expect for the evening, but I doubted that anything else could surprise me. Plenty of food was cooked and the entire village ate together, sharing stories, singing songs, and playing games. By sunset a large bonfire was built and set ablaze. The normally quiet village became loud. Dozens danced at intervals while family and friends cheered, laughed, and made music. Their music was anything but organized. Howls, yowls, and shouts were the chorus of many voices. Instruments were limited to hand drums of buckskin and drumsticks were actual sticks or even glass bottles. Their naked bodies moved however they pleased in an odd spectacle of free dancing. It was enough to make someone from a stricter background a little envious.

Even though I was watching a bunch of naked anthros dance and yell to their hearts' content, it was fun. Karen's sister returned to the log and took a seat beside me. She was out of breath and panting, but wore a wide smile.

"Haven't you danced yet?" Beth asked and sat down between me and her mate.

"No." I shook my head.

"Go dance with Karen." She pointed to the red vixen towards the bonfire. "She dances really well, and looks beautiful in the firelight."

"She is." I watched the vixen happily dance beside the fire. She hopped on one foot and then the other. Before I made a decision to get up or stay seated, Karen stopped and came towards us. She returned to the log and I scooted over to make room for her. The vixen have me a peculiar grin and didn't sit down.

"Come on and dance, Matteo." She held her hand out. I stared at the black padded palm, and then her smiling face without a word.

"Uh... I don't want to dance around naked." I meekly replied.

"You can keep them on." She encouraged me to get up.

"I don't dance." I held up my hands innocently, but the vixen wasn't accepting that answer.

"Everyone dances." Another mentioned.

"All you need to do is move!" Karen tugged on my arm. Other hands nudged my back in encouragement.

"Go dance Matteo!" Beth insisted. Her mate and those sitting around us agreed. I nervously rose to my feet and was pulled towards the tall flames. Karen did not need an excuse and began moving around. In the midst of the active crowd I clammed up and idly stood before the vixen.

'This is embarrassing!' I wished I could've avoided the whole celebration.

"Why aren't you moving?" She sweetly asked.

"I-I umm."

"Just start hopping and moving!" She grabbed my hands and forced me to move. After a minute she let go and I continued dancing around freely with her, simply jumping around a fire like everyone else. "Now you've got it!" Karen barked excitedly. I wasn't going to admit it that night, but I was having a ton of fun.

"Aaahh!" A sharp female cry pierced the air.

"Who's that?" I awoke and jumped up at the noise. It was still pitch dark outside. The last of the anthro celebration had come to its conclusion before midnight. Sunrise was less than two hours away. 'Was it all just me?' I listened to the near silent drizzle of rain outside. A moment passed and I almost went back to sleep. A second, more muffled screen, told me that it wasn't just my imagination. I crawled across the do floor to Karen's bedding. The vixen was still on her side and sound asleep. "Karen. Karen!" I shook the vixen from her sleep.

"Huh? What?" She yawned awake.

"I heard someone scream."

"I'll get the flashlight." She rose and crawled to the entrance with me. With a click we had a beam of light search the dark. It was lightly drizzling outside, but otherwise there was nothing but mysterious silence. Karen pointed the flashlight around only to reveal rain dappled grass. The vixen sighed and grumbled something inaudible.

"Stop!" A female voice pitifully whined. Without hesitating Karen and I ran to a nearby hut.

"Hello?" We looked around until our light caught a figure on the ground. It was the female border collie who I had seen before, during my first days in the village. She was softly sobbing and covering her face.

"Are you alright?" I knelt down. In the glare of the light I could see that the collie had a stain of crimson red along the side of her head. It was no accident.

"I'm getting the doctor!" A voice called out from somewhere behind us.

"Who did this to you?" I asked but the only answer I received was a painful whimper. I glanced up and noticed a pair of brown paws in the grass a mere two or three yards away from me. Mostly hidden by the darkness, I could make out the features of a male cougar idly standing by. The dark stare of his facial features made the hair on my arms rise. "Did you do this to her?" I stood up. He turned and walked away without a word, leaving the canine female in the wet grass with us. "Hey-!"

"Let's go." Karen grabbed my arm.

"Go? We can't just-ouch!" Claws dug into my skin roughly.

"Come on." She half pulled me back to the hut.

"What's going on? Why couldn't we help her?" I asked as soon as we were back inside.

"He's the son of a neighboring clan that borders our village to the southwest. The marriage is a symbol of peace and we can't afford to be on bad relations with his clan."

"But she's hurt!"

"The doctor is taking care of her wound."

"The whole thing is wrong." It made me physically sick to the stomach, but the sickening sensation didn't resolve. "Uh oh." I leaned forward. A nasty gurgle cramped through me.

"What's wrong?" Karen held my arm. I groaned feeling the pain in my abdomen become excruciating. I started to sweat when I realized what was going on.

"I need to go outside." I huffed and rose to my feet.

"But it's raining, Matteo." Karen tried stopping me.

"My stomach! I need to go." I hurried into the dark drizzling rain. Karen hesitantly followed.

"Matteo... Matteo?" The vixen found me sitting on a recently felled log. I had food poisoning twice before in my life. There was nothing pleasant about it, and this time was no different. I felt miserable. Karen faithfully stood by to comfort me through the rain in nothing but her nightgown. She helped walk me back to the hut. I laid on the pelt completely exhausted until sunrise. Sleep only briefly met me and Karen was almost constantly by my side to watch over me.

"Ugh." I finally rose from the hut's floor.

"How do you feel?" Karen returned from the fire pit and felt my forehead. "You don't have a fever or sweat."

"Just weak and... empty."

"I need to get you to the doctor's hut.

"No..." I didn't want anything to do with a doctor that licked wounds!

"You need to go." She firmly declared. With a little effort I followed her to the aforementioned hut. I was secretly afraid that if something became worse, then the lack of modern medicine would spell the end for me. We went inside and I still felt some relief that the wolf was there.

"Hello." He briefly grinned, noting my less than happy expression. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"His stomach gave him a lot of pain last night." Karen began. "It lasted a long time and it smelled vile."

"You can sit or lay down." He directed me to a designated pelt.

"I must have eaten something spoiled." I thought back to the celebration and how I ate a lot of different foods.

"You ate something bad last night..." He paused to think for a moment. The wolf crept over and dug through a few small baskets and sealed jars. His ears stood straight when he found what he was looking for. "Eat this." He handed me a few leaves.

"I eat them?" I stared at the green pieces in my palm.

"Yes. It's mint. It will help your stomach feel better. Just chew the leaves if you don't want to eat them."

"Will he feel better soon?" Karen asked.

"He should be fine in a day." The wolf reassured her. "He will need to eat light, maybe a broth, and a few other things like mint. I don't have any honey right now. The closest beehive that we know of is a fair distance away." His jaws opened in a lengthy yawn. The mouthful of teeth an Anthro possessed never made me feel at ease.

"Tired?" I knew the feeling to well at the moment.

"I've had a rough night too." The doctor wolf sighed as he sat down. "Someone alerted me about Martha and her mate again."

"That's happened before?" I couldn't believe that anyone would tolerate an abusive marriage in the small valley community. The two Anthros quietly nodded.

"It's complex, but their marriage put an end to hostilities between their village and ours years ago. We help take care of her when he leaves to visit his family. No one likes it, but it is better than the alternative of renewed hostilities." The doctor admitted. My lips pursed shut. I knew it wasn't any of my business, but it still felt wrong just to let it happen. It could've been commonplace for all I knew throughout Anthro Domains. Peace and order may never exist so easily outside of human territory. I could've put the entire village in a bad situation had Karen not stopped me last night. The doctor wolf stood up and headed for the entrance.

"Where are you going?"

"To forage for more mint. Rest here for the morning." He advised. "I'll return in a while... Make sure that he rests." I heard the doctor whisper to Karen as he left. His tail disappeared around the corner. I looked at Karen who had gone through everything with me. The vixen was still in her nightgown.

"You don't have to stay here Karen. You've helped me a lot already."

"I'm fine." She yawned. "At least you'll be alright." We both laid back almost against each other. I was too tired to argue with her, not that it would matter. Karen was something else.

***

Later in the afternoon the thick cloud cover rolled in. I was back in my hut for the time being. Karen had cooked a rich broth and was cleaning a few items in the stream. I was feeling a lot better now, almost to my usual self. I left the hut and decided to pay Martha a visit.

'I hope Karen doesn't mind.' I walked along the grass. The cloudy promise of rain was cooler than the hot days I spent in the fields with Beth. Closer to the woods a group of adolescents were practicing archery with a few older training bows and practice arrows. Half of them would probably go on to become hunters as adults while the rest would likely become farmers. I went along the grass and came upon the mother. The border collie was seated in the clover, near where she had been laying in the ground. A little pup was playing in the lush green near her. She wore a simple green shirt and shorts that had seen better days.

"H-Hello." She quietly greeted me. Her ears fell flat against her head.

"Hi." I sat down beside her. "I heard about you... and your mate." I began. The border collie looked away without a word. I reached out and held her hand. It was covered in white fur but equally human in shape. It was a hand that I had expected to be at my throat when I first stumbled into the valley. She looked back at me with misty eyes. The pain was more visible than her fur. "Is your cut ok?" I couldn't tell through her thick fur.

"Mhm." She nodded. "The doctor looked at it earlier and said that it should heal soon."

"That's good." I nodded and watched the infant pup curiously stare at a honey bee. A little hand tried reaching out but the insect buzzed away. The pup was completely innocent of the difficult situation he had been placed in. "Where is... he now?" I didn't like calling him her mate.

"He's visiting his home village for several days... I don't know when he will return. Once he vanished for nearly a whole season when I was pregnant."

"Are you going to live this way for the rest of your life?"

"I don't know what to do." She whimpered. "I just want my son to grow up happy and healthy." I felt awful for her. Being forced to marry someone abusive was a terrible fate to play out.

"If I'm able to make another escape attempt, you should come with me." The collie's eyes widened and ears perked up in surprise.

"Escape?" Her voice was hushed despite us being alone. "But how?"

"Do you know a path that safely leads out of the valley?"

"No." She shook her head. "I don't know of any."

"We'll just have to find one then I guess." I already knew how hard that would be, but I didn't see any other way out of the valley unless someone told us. That was unlikely though. A soft patter broke my thoughts. "It's starting to rain." Droplets were falling around us. The infant squealed excitedly at the phenomenon.

"Come here." Martha went over and gathered her pup into her arms.

"I'll let you know when I'm going to leave. Take care."

"Thank you." She said before turning to her home. The rainfall began in earnest and villagers were running for cover from the sudden shower. I spotted Karen running uphill with a few bowls in her shirt.

"Hey! What were you doing outside?" She asked between breaths as we ducked inside.

"Visiting Martha."

"You didn't..."

"Her mate wasn't home." I explained. She dumped the bowls out of her shirt and sighed with visible relief. We settled down in the dry hut while the rain poured loudly. A distinct dripping sound caught my ear. "The roof is leaking." I could see a line of water landing on the ground below.

"Where?" Her ears dialed to find the source. Before I could point, the vixen jumped over to her bedding. A little shriek of surprise pierced the air.

"Aww! The whole pelt is wet!" She held up the soggy animal skin. I tied one of the plastic pipes to the ceiling and led the other end outside. At least that solved the leak, but the ground and pelt would need to dry on their own. Karen set the deer pelt by the hut's entrance. She angrily disrobed from her own rain spotted clothes. "Where should I sleep?" She asked.

"There's room beside me." I pointed to the little bit of space next to my bedding. "I have a second pelt, so if you want to... you can sleep here."

"Thanks, Matteo." Karen briefly grinned and approached the dryer side of the hut. She sat down with me and hunched forward, resting her muzzle in her hands. There the vixen was, clad only in her pretty fur coat in front of me. The redness of her back fur was obvious up close but I hardly batted an eye. Was I becoming accustomed to their behavior? It should've worried me but I was concerned with making Karen feel better.

'How to cheer her up?' I looked around and noticed the brush Karen used to groom herself was within arms reach. I looked over the simple tool before gently gliding it down her back.

"Hm?" A sweet audible rumble warmed the air. The fox sat up straight and her ears immediately perked up. I scooted closer and continued the simple motion. Karen closed her eyes and sat still for me. The hut softly rumbled with her warm throaty hums and the subtle noise of the brush. I groomed the fur on her back, sides, and shoulders until she looked sleek and neat.

"There." I set the brush aside.

"Thank you." She looked over her shoulder at me and softly spoke. The lovely look in her vulpine eyes made me speechless for a long moment.

"Y-you're welcome." I quickly said.

"Ready to sleep?" She asked.

"Uh... Sure." It wasn't completely dark yet, but last night was rough. I could use the extra sleep. I took my shirt off, since it was warm enough to do so. Karen simply laid down and I gradually joined her. Back to back, we had enough room on the two deer pelts. I could feel her body heat against my back, and the vixen's soft fur against my skin. We didn't say anything except exchange good-nights. Her legs curled up, letting the leathery paws rest on the back of my legs. It was odd sleeping so close to her, but it was nice to have that physical presence that I wasn't alone. Sleep came much more quickly than I would've expected.

The soft crunching of leaves beneath my steps and three others softly echoed. The misty clouds of morning fog were long gone and so were the prospects of a successful hunt. Spending the entire morning and noon stalking the woods led to no catch. The afternoon was warm with a stray cloud, but otherwise mild. Ahead of me, Eve the raccoon carried a quiver over her back and a bow in hand. A sheathed knife bobbed along her hip. Nethua the male red fox carried a hatchet and a knife of his own. A male serval by the name of Fentu carried a sniper's rifle over his shoulder. Precious extra round of ammunition were carried in a small sack by his waist.

"Mm. Smell that pine." Nethua remarked with a deep breath as we walked. The strong scent didn't register in my olfactory until we were beside two green conifers. We climbed over a fallen tree and continued along a little trail.

"You definitely have more energy than the first time we hunted together." Eve remarked.

"I've been sleeping well, I guess."

"Should I thank Karen for that?" She teased. I didn't have a smart retort for that. We emerged from the forest were the sun shined brightly on the grassy fields. It was nice not needing to constantly duck or jump for the rest of the day.

"Back without a bite to eat." Nethua stretched before sitting down in the thick grass.

"There's always another day to hunt." Eve reminded him and slipped off her loincloth. The female raccoon stood in front of the seated red fox and widened her stance. Nethua began combing through the fur on her legs and backside without pause.

"But still, I would've preferred catching something."

"You and me both!" She laughed.

'How odd...' I thought to myself at the odd behavior. It struck me as bizarre, but the ritual of checking someone else for parasites and other entangling debris was a commonplace act of kindness. I personally didn't care for the intimate etiquette. A hand lightly smacked my shoulder.

"Check me for ticks." Fentu, the serval took his loincloth of buckskin off. I begrudgingly obliged and sat down behind him. The feline simply widened his stance and talked while I combed through the fur on his legs, plucking an occasional sticking seed.

'Too casual...' I thought and avoided looking at the hanging pair of fur beside my hands. Eve and Nethua had swapped places by the time I finished. "There. You're all good." I stood up and stretched.

"Do you need me to check you?" He offered and dressed himself. "It shouldn't take me long."

"Ah, no thanks. I'll be fine."

"Are you hunting tomorrow morning?" Eve asked while her hands furrowed around the base of Nethua's tail.

"Yeah. It will be Eve, me, and Tuyuklu." The red fox added.

"Sorry, but I'll be working with Karen's sister in the field again." I told them.

"You can hunt a deer with a rake!" Eve laughed as I departed. I trotted downhill by the fields and scattered huts to the bridge.

"Hello Matteo!" A female German Shepherd barked welcomingly at me. She was busily folding laundry from a clothesline between her family's hut and an oak tree. The loose fitting linen nightgown that the canine wore told she had the busy life of a housewife. Although, the absence of her pups meant that it would be a quiet day for her.

"Hi Tonya." I waved and continued along my path. Down by the bridge, three youngsters were splashing around in the water, although the strewn empty pails and clothes told me that they were supposed to be taking a short bath.

"Hi human!" They shouted. A male cheetah kit splashed through the water and climbed onto the bridge.

"Can you play with us?" He stood before me, dripping wet.

"Sorry, but I don't think I can." I disliked being nude in the open, and I needed a rest from hiking and hunting for hours.

"Aww..." He pouted only for a hand to reach up and tug on his tail.

"Come back down here Pyrrhus!" A grey tabby kit laughed as the third youngster splashed her back. The little feline jumped down and collided with the other two in a big splash. I dodged the spray of water and went on my way. At the hut I found Karen seated inside. She was setting the proper amount of firewood in the hut's center pit for later.

"I'm back." I sat down beside her, content to relax. The vixen smiled at me.

"How did the hunt go?" She asked.

"We hiked a long time, but we didn't catch anything." I sat down beside her. "But it was still fun."

"That's good to hear."

"I had to check Fentu the serval for ticks though..." I muttered only to realize what she would ask me in return. 'Crap!' I scolded myself.

"Did someone check you for ticks?" She asked.

"Well, uh..." I hesitated knowing that I was doomed. I was a terrible liar, and she picked up on it immediately.

"Here. Let me check you." She turned around. I instinctively leaned away. That meant disrobing and touching, a commonality of village life in the Domain that I would never become accustomed to. I would bathe when she demanded it, so the nudity was not much of a problem as the touching part.

"No, no, no. I'm fine."

"No, you're not." She frowned.

"I did not feel any crawling on me, honestly!" I defended myself. The vixen sat up straight and stared me down.

"I am not sleeping beside someone who has ticks." She firmly declared and pointed at the ground for me to stand. That either meant I could sleep outside or inside depending on my answer. After some grumbling and fussing, I yielded.

"Don't take too long." I turned around and disrobed. 'At least I'm inside.' I thought.

"You hardly have any fur, Matteo." That didn't make me feel any better about standing naked in front of the seated female. I tensed feeling padded hands and claws touch me.

"Just don't touch too close..." I spoke. She rolled her eyes and delicately felt over my skin. I did my best to keep still but the constant sensation of padded digits and claws examining over my body kept me on guard.

"I found one already." I heard her say as a claw dug over a spot on the back of my leg. She rekindled the fire to burn the little parasite. Not a moment passed before she claimed to find another one.

"Are you sure you're not seeing dirt or something?" I looked over my shoulder. The vixen looked up at me and tilted her head curiously. Her hands were firmly resting on my rear.

"I'm very certain." She flashed a grin before returning her gaze to my posterior.

'Sheesh...' I stared forward, waiting for her to finish. The vixen meticulously searched her way lower. An innocent touch made me flinch. "Okay... That's close." I felt the back of her hand brushing against my intimates.

"Either you hold them up, or I will." She poked me for good measure. "But I'll have to look over them as well." Her words sent a chill up my back. It was the last place I wanted a tick to be, but would I need her to check? A subtle noise at the hut's entrance caught my attention.

"Hello?" A figure suddenly appeared at the hut's entrance, peering inside. It was a female calico cat. I hastily covered myself and bent my knees, but I instantly regretted the knee jerk reaction. I distinctly felt my privates rest on the bridge of Karen's muzzle.

"AAAHH!" I jumped forward startling everyone. In a frenzy I reached for my clothes.

"What's gotten into you Matteo!?" Karen barked.

"It's not my fault!" I pleaded and put on my pants. The vixen huffed and crept to the entrance where the startled feline was.

"Is everything alright?" The female calico cat nervously asked. Karen looked over her shoulder and saw that I was fully dressed.

"It's ok, you can come inside." Karen told the visitor. The feline came inside as I sat down and situated myself.

"Hello." Her cat eyes found me. A grin formed along the corners of her mouth. "I'm Flavia." The female introduced herself as she sat down beside me.

***

I didn't see anything odd with the time that the calico spent in the hut with us, but Karen seemed agitated. The normally social and amiable vixen kept to herself while we talked about a host of things.

"It's getting late." The feline suddenly realized. "It was nice talking with you." The calico leaned towards me.

"Thanks for stopping BY!" My voice rose as the calico licked my cheek. Karen frowned and we both watched the feline depart. "She... licked me?" What the heck did that mean? The vixen leaned closer to me and licked my other cheek. "Hey! What was that for?" I wiped my cheek.

"Don't you understand anything?" The vixen looked at me sternly.

"Understand what?" My cluelessness made the vulpine shake her head.

"She tried courting you."

"Courting me?"

"You know, become your mate. Catch your interest..."

"That's ridiculous." I muttered.

"She was stuck to your side like bark on a tree!" The vixen startled me.

"I don't think she was interested." I found the idea a little funny. Karen wiggled her nose and pointed at my cheek.

"She licked your cheek. That's an easy sign."

"Well I am not interested in her."

"Others might."

"Others?"

"Our chief is likely responsible." She admitted. "He might want you to become mated so you'll stay here."

"What?!" It seemed the chieftain had a tenacity to keep me in the village as much as I wanted to leave. "How many females are there without mates?"

"Of age?" She wondered aloud. "Maybe four. Five if you include me." A little grin curled onto the edge of her foxy muzzle.

I could see Karen's tail in the hut's entryway along with one of her black socked legs. There was also a pair of orange legs with black stripes partially visible as well. A twirling long tail told me that there was a tigress outside. I held my breath as the two ladies outside talked. The tigress suddenly bent over, revealing a bulky character.

"Where is Matteo at?" She tried peeking inside, but Karen stood firm.

"Sorry, but the human is not feeling well." I heard her speak. After a few more moments, I could finally release a sigh of relief.

'That tigress is scary.' I watched her twisting tail disappear from sight with relief. She was my fourth potential suitor, and hopefully the last. Karen crouched down and crept back inside.

"Thanks." I flashed a grin. "If you weren't here then she would've pinned me." She laughed away my fears and sat down beside me.

"Sh!" She played along. "You're supposed to be sick, remember?" The vixen cutely stuck her tongue out at me.

"Thankfully I'm not." Her hand rested over my forehead as if testing to see if I had a fever.

"I'll let you go to Beth and help her in the field in a little bit." She concluded. "Be back by the evening.

"I'll go now." I offered and sat up. "I want to see how Martha is doing first." Karen nodded understandingly before I prepared to leave. Outside, it was a nice sunny day with a few stray clouds in the blue sky. I took a left and in a short walk found myself at Martha's home. The hut was quiet outside so I crouched down and peeked inside. I found Martha the border collie seated by a low fire. Her gaze was fixated on her sleeping infant son, laying on an animal pelt beside her.

"Hey!" I whispered. "Can I come in?" Her head snapped up and saw me.

"Oh! Hello Matteo. You can come inside." She motioned. I crawled into the little home and sat before her. "I just finished nursing him." A little grin emerged in her muzzle. "He was fussy, but now it seems like he tuckered himself out."

"He's a cute little fella." I watched the border collie pup peacefully sleep. "How's everything been? Your fur looks well groomed."

"Thank you. I'm alright..." She quietly answered. "My mate hasn't been back from his home village yet.

"That's good." I felt some relief hearing that. There was nothing either of us could do if he was here. Martha looked at me intently.

"Matteo..." Her eyes were serious and concerned. "D-did you mean it when you said we could escape together?"

"Yes, of course." I did not hesitate to answer. "I'll let you know beforehand. Do you know when he will be back?"

"No." She shook her head. That added a second problem. I would not only have to plan my escape, but hers as well.

"If there's anything that I can do, let me know."

"I will." She mustered a grin.

"Take care." I squeezed her hand reassuringly before leaving. Truthfully I had not planned anything out in the recent weeks. Spending most of my time with Karen or working with her sister left me little chances to plot. I crossed the bridge and began climbing the village's hills. The only people who I passed were two adolescents with a big basket of freshly picked wild strawberries. Other villagers and their families were busily tending to their fields for the day if all other work was done. Some waved as I walked by to Beth's field. I had helped Karen's sister on the farm for nearly an entire season, and the hard work showed. Tall green and leafy stalks of growing corn plants were visible from a distance. Towards the other end radishes and onions were also in abundance and vibrantly healthy to the naked eye. The topless vixen was already in the section of growing corn plants. A gentle breeze ruffled her fur and tail.

"Beth!" I called out. The vixen turned to face me. I noticed thin cords tied around her upper arms, holding small clumps of grass.

"Hey! Glad to see you made it here." Beth walked over and greeted me. A strong hand patted my shoulder and back. I returned the friendly gesture with less force.

"What's with the grass?"

"Oh, it's lemongrass. I have it to help keep the gnats away. Did you need some?"

"No. I think I'll be fine if I stay next to you." I mused.

"So how have you been? It's been a few days since you've come by to help." She mentioned.

"Alright, I suppose."

"I heard that you haven't been feeling well." She spoke. "Is this true?"

"Well... Sort of..." I dodged a solid answer.

"What does that mean?" She found it funny.

"I'll try to explain. What are we doing out here?" I looked around the growing stalks of corn.

"Brushing off any bugs that want to have a snack. I already chased away a few deer this morning, and the crows try to search around as well." We went around and inspected each stalk while I told the vixen about how a few females suddenly had their "interest" with me.

"The last one went away this morning after Karen told her I was sick."

"Sounds like my little sister is being protective of you." She chuckled.

"I'm glad that she is, or I would've been torn apart by that tigress." I made Beth laugh.

"My sister talks about you." The red vixen mentioned as she felt over a green leaf.

"She does?"

"A lot." She admitted with a smile and flick of her tail. "Do you like living with her?" She asked.

"Of course." I didn't hesitate to answer. "I'm glad that Karen is with me."

"That's good." Beth happily smiled. "She's a great person."

It didn't take long for us to comb over the growing crop for signs of pesky bugs. There was plenty of time to tend to a few minor weeds and scaring away a flock of crows. Beth told me stories of the mischief she and her sister would get into as kits, and then the hardships they faced after losing their parents at a young age. After all the work, we ended up sitting in the grass just talking about anything.

"I've been able to spend more time with my family thanks to you." She mentioned. "And I mean together as a family, not working our tails bare." She chuckled. I peered down where her hut was and noticed her mate bringing a load of firewood inside. Both kits were helping out by picking up what had been dropped. I could see Beth watching too, but with a strong sense of pride and love for her family. In a minute the hut had smoke emerging from its top. Several other huts had thin streams of smoke leaving their roofs.

"It is getting late." I noticed the sun didn't have more than an hour and a half before it would finish its daily arc across the sky.

"You are right." She nodded. We stood up and quickly stretched. "Why don't you stay over for the night and eat with us?" She offered. "My kits shouldn't be too rambunctious at the end of the day." We both laughed at that.

"Karen told me to be back by evening." I knew how much time I had stretched out already. "I'm sure she's cooking something she doesn't want spoiled."

"Good point. Thanks again for all of your help, Matteo." She hugged me. "And especially for digging trenches with me during the rain several days ago." Last week there was a heavy rain and I had to help Beth and her mate channel the excess water away. I could still remember the feeling of being soaking wet, but accomplished.

"You're welcome." I patted her back. "The crop looks great." The vixen flashed a toothy smile.

"Come visit anytime. We like to look up at the stars in the early night." She offered. "Have Karen come too."

"Sure. I'll let her know." I waved and left. The wind gently swept over the village as I trekked down the grassy path. The summer weather was beautiful, and Katsurao Valley was no exception. I paused and looked around. 'I'll look around.' I took a detour back to the hut after crossing the bridge. I went downstream a short distance before climbing uphill. The tall grasses parted as I walked through. Ferns bordered the wild grasses and beds of leaves. The forest bordering the edge of the village to my right was growing dark from the evening. It had that same mysterious beauty that drew me to visit the valley's edge numerous times. I leisurely watched, enjoying the natural abundance of lush flora that Katsurao Valley possessed. However, something caught my eye. There was a gap between two particularly large oaks where there were no leaves that led straight into the forest.

'A path!' My eyes stared at the worn trail that was a mere few inches wide between the large ferns and two trees. I had never noticed it before. I couldn't see far into the woods, but best of all it led eastward. That was the same direction where I had fallen into the valley. I looked around. No one else was nearby, and I was already out of sight. 'I could make a run for it.' The thought of a potential escape weighed heavily on my thoughts. It was still the evening. Everyone would be busy from hunters to farmers for at least another hour. If I could find a good hiding spot, then darkness would aid my escape. Despite the prospect, my legs didn't budge. I knew the odds of success were low, but how many times would I get a chance like this again? It would only take me a moment to reach Martha's hut. My thoughts turned to Karen who was waiting for me at the hut.

'Why should I feel guilty about leaving her and the village?' The thought bothered me. There was also the possibility that the chieftain of Katsurao would punish me severely. That made my stomach uneasy, but I had to make a decision...

***

The soft sounds of a fire crackling permeated the warm air inside a particular hut. Karen plucked the end of a skewer where cooked venison was kept hot. A bowl of edible vegetables she had planned in sharing sat idle on the ground.

"Where could he be?" The vixen talked to herself as she glanced over her shoulder, stirring the kettle of tea. Beyond the hut's entrance outside I peeked around and saw Karen sitting inside. I took a deep breath and crept through. Once inside, her ears detected my presence. "There you are!" She beamed a smile as I sat down beside her. "You were gone for a long time today. It's already late."

"Yeah... I took a longer walk back."

"You've done a lot of work for a longer walk." She tapped my front teasingly. "You should sleep in tomorrow."

"I like the sound of that." The vixen grinned.

"Did my sister talk about anything?"

"We talked a lot." I recalled. "She told me how you two would get into trouble as kits."

"Really? What did she say?" Karen looked at me curiously.

"The first story was about how you and Beth ran away into the woods, and it took half of the village to find you two."

"Oh! That..." Her ear fell back shyly. "We were little and crazy."

"She also told me that her family likes to look at the stars a while at the beginning of night."

"Mmhm." She nodded. "Beth always loves staring up at the night sky."

"She said that we can come up and join them."

"Do you want to?" She turned to face me again. I felt like I was being put on the spot

"If you do..."

***

I found myself crossing the village bridge in an hour during dusk alongside Karen. It was nice and cool, a great relief from the daytime heat. The rest of the village was preparing to sleep and few were still mulling about outside their homes. We trekked uphill and spotted Beth's family. Todd was sitting in the grass while Roland and Lilly jumped around catching lightning bugs. Tonya, the German shepherd female that lived in the neighboring hut was outside with them too.

"Hello." The grey fox called out.

"Hey." Karen and I joined the group.

"Karen! Human!" The kits ran up and hugged us. "We've been catching lightning bugs."

"I can see them." Karen watched Lilly release one.

"Did you get one too Roland?" I knelt down and asked.

"Uh huh." He showed me the bug in his hands before closing them again. In mere seconds the two kits were running around to catch more.

"Hello there." I waved at the seated shepherd lady.

"Hi." Tonya smiled. The middle aged canine had her legs crossed and wore a nightgown similar to Karen's. She was a close friend of the family. Beth emerged from the hut, topless as always. The vixen waved seeing us approach.

"Glad that you two could show up." She came over and hugged us both at once. "Let's sit down." Her tail flicked towards her mate and Tonya. "Everyone has been on their paws all day." Karen and Beth sat around Todd, and I ended up beside the German Shepherd lady.

"I see you walking to and from Beth's field all the time but we never stopped to talk to each other." The dark furred canine mused.

"She tends to work me hard." I joked.

"Look what I got Tonya!" Lilly suddenly barked and hopped over to the seated German shepherd.

"What do you have there? Is it another lightning bug?" The canine peered at the pup's closed hands.

"Uh huh!" Lilly opened her palms and revealed two of the luminescent insects that promptly flew away.

"When will the stars come out, mom?" Roland looked up at the sky.

"They're starting to right now." She pointed at the faint twinkling sources of light above.

"Do you two want to hear the story about the moon and the bandits?" Todd offered and tried capturing his two kits.

"You always tell that story, dad."

"And we're always the bandits." Lilly jumped away from her dad's hands.

"The moon and the bandits?"

"It's a little story," Karen explained, "where the moonlight reveals a few bandits from one village who are trying to steal from another.

"Come here you." Beth managed to snatch Roland by the leg. The fox kit squealed as he was drawn into his mother's lap. "I have you now my prey." Beth played along and nibbled her son's ear. He laughed and giggled. "Get Lilly for me, please."

"I will." Tonya sat up and faced the other fox kit rolling over the grass. The female German shepherd chased her down before managing to scoop the rambunctious kit into her arms. "I found one fox kit." She chuckled with her tongue lolling out.

"Ahaha! Put me down Tonya!" The kit laughed.

"You can sit right here." The middle aged canine sat down with the kit on her lap. Lilly ended up stretching her legs across me. The seven of us were like an extended family spending time together.

"No clouds." Todd spoke up. "This is a good night to watch the sky."

"Mmhm." Karen agreed. "It's harder to see the night sky from across the stream. Our hut is nestled close to the woods."

"How's the leak in your home holding up?" Beth asked.

"It hasn't leaked since we patched it together." I answered.

"That's good to hear."

"So Tonya, how long have you known Beth and Karen?"

"Since they were born." She grinned. "I helped take care of them after their parents passed away. You know," Tonya looked at me, "I had to help Beth nurse Lilly and Roland when they were born, and again when they were older."

"Older? How old were they?"

"Four. We weaned them by five."

"It feels much longer than two years ago." Karen spoke up.

"Don't you remember, Lilly?" Tonya trailed her hand over the kit's tummy.

"I don't remember." She giggled.

"I will for you." The German shepherd grinned and rubbed the top of the fox kit's muzzle. "You've bitten me by accident plenty of times."

"Isn't five... old for that?"

"That's The appropriate time." Tonya nodded. "How many years do humans nurse their pups?"

"Years... Uh, maybe a few months at most." I guessed. In my human territory, breasts were taboo to be seen in public, which made nursing equally taboo.

"You mean a season or two? Do humans grow quickly?" She was surprised.

"Most don't nurse at all. Bottles are used. Doesn't it hurt?"

"It's much easier before they teethe, but when they're a little older you can tell them if they need to adjust their bite." The female canine giggled. "Otherwise, it usually feels nice."

"Hey, Matteo." Beth called from the end of the other row. "Do humans love the sounds of crickets and frogs too?" She asked.

"Hmm. I'm not sure." I stared at the nighttime sky.

"Do you?"

"I think so." My answer made her chuckle. I liked the musical tones that the crickets created. Everyone chatted at intervals, but there were periods of silence where everyone watched the twinkling stars above. It was serene and peaceful laying under the open night sky with good company, but most of all it felt normal. It was that normalcy I hadn't felt in however long I had been in Katsurao Valley. I would've missed it had I ran away into the woods.

"Beth..." Todd slowly rose to his paws with a little bundle in his arms. "Roland has been asleep for a while." He whispered to Beth. "I'll put him to bed."

"We're going in too." Beth sat up and stole a quick kiss on her mate's muzzle. Everyone else began to sit up.

"What's going on dad?" The other kit mumbled.

"We're going to sleep." Todd whispered to Lilly and headed into the hut.

"But I'm not... tired." She was interrupted by a prolonged yawn.

"Come on. We'll say bye first." Tonya stood up with the sleepy kit.

"It was nice seeing you two." The German shepherd hugged me first with an arm, then Karen.

"Thanks for being here. I never had the chance to talk to you."

"Bye..." Lilly hugged my waist before sliding down to the ground.

"I got you." Tonya scooped the kit into her arms.

"Bye Lilly." Karen and I wished her a good night's sleep.

"Here. I'll get you two a lantern." Beth rose up and went to her home before coming back with a metal lantern.

"It's not completely dark." Her sister swished her tail.

"I know, but you should anyway."

"Always looking out for your little sister." Karen grinned.

"Our field is doing pretty well thanks to someone." Beth lightly elbowed me. "You two can relax together for a couple of days."

"Good. I wanted him to sleep in tonight." Karen chuckled.

"I'll let you two know when I need help again. Take care and sleep well tonight."

"Thanks." We bade her goodnight and headed back to our hut with the lantern lighting the path. Once we crept inside, we prepared for bed.

"I like Tonya's nightgown. It looks really colorful in the sunlight." Karen discarded her clothes completely for bed without bothering with her nightgown. Compared to the spring, the nighttime summer warmth was more than enough for a full fur coat. I stripped down too, albeit only to my underwear. We laid down shoulder to shoulder on the deer pelts. The old leak on the other side of the hut had been repaired a while ago, but the vixen felt at home sleeping beside me. Aside from an occasionally entangled limb or two, I never complained about our sleeping arrangement. We were always in the hut together, so it naturally made sense that we slept close together. I felt like I was married to her.

"Hey. Are you asleep?" A voice pricked my senses.

"Huh? Asleep?" I blinked at the dark ceiling. The vixen rolled onto her side facing me. She was practically looming over me, and I could feel her soft fur along my arm and side. There was also a distinct sensation of a breast resting below my shoulder. I could feel her breathing on me too.

"You were chatty like a chirping bird earlier. Now you're quiet."

"Shouldn't we be sleeping?" I mused.

"I'd believe you if you already were." She caught me. "Now tell me what are your thoughts."

"I don't know... I'm just thinking." I muttered. Truthfully, there was so much on my mind at the moment.

"Can you tell me?" She kindly asked. At first I hesitated.

"Well... I mean it's just everything. Your sister's family, the village, and you..."

"Me?" The vixen curiosity leaned a little closer.

"Your whiskers are itchy." I covered my cheek.

"Sorry." Her neck leaned away but her body compensated by snuggling closer. My entire side was in touch with fur. Even her fleshy paw pads were resting atop my foot.

"We can talk more in the morning." I offered.

"Ok... Goodnight."She didn't roll over and remained snuggled facing me. A hand rested on my arm. The warm palm felt nice to the touch.

"Night." The intimate position was comfortable, and I secretly liked it. That's what had been on my mind for a while. We're we practically mates already?

It was a warm cloudy day in the Katsurao Valley. A strong breeze and thickening cloud cover forebode of an approaching storm, but Karen and I were oblivious as we lazily walked across a field. The pretty vixen was wearing a simple pair of shorts and a white work shirt, although it was left parted because all of the buttons were missing. This left her virtually topless when a breeze blew the garment around like a cape, giving me plenty to see. It was incredibly sexy, and it made me wonder if she wore it with that intention. Regardless of the outfit, I enjoyed spending time with her.

"This entire field looks as if someone dusted it with gold." I looked around the countless buttercups growing along the field.

"Mmhm. Do human lands have many flowers?"

"No, they usually don't." I remembered the largely barren fields outside of the city I lived near. "One of the reasons I ventured to the Valley's border was because I loved how beautiful the land was."

"It is very beautiful here." Karen agreed.

"Beautiful..." I whispered while looking at her. I stepped a little too close and bumped into her. "Sorry-" I barely spoke before she bumped me in return. She giggled and brushed against my side more gently. I could feel the softness of her fur, and its lingering sensations as we continued walking.

"My sister told me that she's expecting a good harvest."

"She's put a lot of hard work into the land."

"You have too." She acknowledged. "I think you've earned a few days of rest." I was very happy to hear that! It was nice just having a single day to relax after physically working hard for many weeks. We continued walking through the golden dusted field until a soft pattering began. Something wet landed on my head.

"Uh oh." Karen looked up as more droplets were on their way.

"Rain!" We said in unison and ran to the closest tree as an afternoon shower enveloped the area. We sat under a large oak tree together while the stray showers passed through the hilly valley. A distant rumble of thunder rolled across the valley. "Sounds like the worst is downstream, and we barely got wet." Karen smiled and let her open shirt rest by her sides. The vixen was a very beautiful sight.

"We made it here just in time." I ruffled my hair.

"If it wasn't thundering then I'd consider jumping through the stream." She admitted.

"Bathing in the rain?" I found it a little funny.

"Beth and I used to do it all the time when we were kits. Since you're already wet, you can enjoy it in the rain too. My sister hasn't done it since she started a family, and I only do it once or twice in the summer. Maybe we can during the next rain." Her voice sounded very hopeful. "It's a lot of fun." She promised. I didn't say anything but took her word for it. I didn't want her to actually plan that out, but part of me did.

"Karen..." I paused, detecting a mild spicy scent that warmed my nose. 'It's Karen.' I could smell her. It was a lightly pungent odor that reminded me of cinnamon, but it was completely hers. I wasn't sure why I could smell her at all right now, but I liked it.

"What?" She noticed my blank stare.

"I can smell you. It's... Spicy."

"All females smell different." She giggled at my sudden recognition of the fact.

"Well, I can smell you." I confirmed. Her tail swished playfully and the grin on her muzzle grew. My heart beat with a stronger skip. The sudden thought of her leaning back naked, legs spread out while the rain soaked her fur made my mouth dry. Was I attracted to her? I pushed the image out of my mind, but the excitement lingered.

"I like the rain." I barely heard Karen speak up through the weather's serene hiss.

"Yeah... It's nice." It felt relaxing. The vixen peeked at me, but didn't quite lock her gaze upon me.

"You know..." She bashfully looked at the grass, twirling a clawed finger through the soft green blades, "I always thought that rain was peaceful to hear, and romantic."

"R-romantic?" I blinked. Karen scooted a little closer to me. We were barely inches apart now. Her vulpine eyes stared at me half lidded, full of desire. Our eyes locked, I couldn't move as her neck craned closer. My heart thundered excitedly. The short fussy fur of her chin brushed across my skin as our lips touched. Her hot breath wafted over me like an odorless perfume. For a brief moment we kissed in a delicate smooch. My emotions suddenly yielded, and my mind filled itself with conflicting doubts.

"No, this isn't right..." I broke away from her suddenly.

"What's wrong?" The vixen asked. I couldn't say as my face contorted in confusion and discomfort. Emotions inside me battled for a decision. "Stay right beside me." Her voice yearned sweetly, but I hastily stood up and looked away shamefully. I couldn't believe that the thought had aroused me. Was it her scent, or did I really like her? My thoughts and feelings bubbled in conflict. Karen stood up.

"No! Stop." I defensively spoke.

"What's gotten into you, Matteo?" She crossly asked. "I love-"

"Don't say that! I'm a human!" I cried out. "And you're a..."

"A what?" She frowned and swished her tail in agitation. "A plaything because I have fur and a tail?" Her voice rose.

"No." I looked away. "But we're different. It doesn't feel right." Words failed to form the true thoughts inside my head.

"I have just as much feelings as you do!" She yelled at me. Too conflicted, I turned away and left the base of the tree. I didn't want to look back as my legs carried me through the rain down to the bridge. I returned to the hut, wet and miserable. A wrenching pit of guilt formed inside my stomach. She was the closest person to me in the village. At first it was only an order to watch after and care for me, but then she offered to stay and keep me company. I pulled my damp shirt off and balled it up before sitting down on the deer pelts. Frustration coursed through my veins like liquid metal.

'What's wrong with me?' I didn't belong here! I was being kept in an Anthro Domain against my will. 'I should be worried about escaping, not love!' I knew the emotion would make me less likely to leave, exactly what the chieftain wanted. But I felt guilty anyway. Was it wrong to feel some happiness despite being stuck somewhere away from home?

Shortly after the rain stopped falling I heard someone step inside. I glanced up, knowing that it was her. The red vixen's fur was a little wet, triangular ears flat against her skull, a scowl in her muzzle, but the angry look in her eyes was more meaningful than any words. Words hung in my throat as she stood by the fire pit. She took her wet shirt off and hung it up to dry. Her pants were soon off as well before she chose to air dry her fur at the other end of the hut. I shamefully stared at the ground.

"Karen." My voice was barely audible. "I'm sorry for what I said back at the tree." I apologized. The long silence resumed, or maybe the world stopped for me to recognize my mistakes.

"You've said sorry before." She stared at the ground and kept her back turned. I fell back onto the pelt, closed and covered my eyes, wanting to cry. Nothing seemed fair. I was a virtual prisoner in an Anthro Domain with no idea if any federal authority was negotiating my release, and now I was living in the same home with someone who had every right to hate me. I didn't know how long I laid there covering my face like a scared child in the dark. When I removed my hands and opened my eyes, a figure was looking at me. Karen was sitting on the deer pelt beside me, legs tucked neatly underneath her and tail by her side. Her face harbored a look of mild discontent, but still angry. Before I could say anything the vixen laid down, back facing me. I stared at her features through the darkening light. The short distance felt immense. I scooted closer to her until my face was a mere inch from her. I breathed in her scent silently. She did smell nice. As if tranced, my hands reached out and started petting her back. I knew i had hurt her, but I wanted to mkae her feel better. Karen didn't move or say anything. A long moment passed while I petted her. At her lower back, I brushed across the base of her tail.

"I like your tail." I whispered. Her ear flickered at the sound of my close voice.

"I know you do." Her voice reassured me despite how stern she sounded. I held her shoulders and didn't let go of her the whole night. I was too afraid that she would leave me.

The soft patter of an early morning rain filled the little tribal home. I stirred from a night of peaceful sleep. The coarse deer pelt below was normal, but something was amiss. My hand was resting on something furry, but it was slowly moving too. I focused my eyes and found white and red tinted orange fur before me. The early riser was still in bed beside me! The red vixen was sprawled out on her back, completely naked. Her eyes gleamed at me lovingly with a big smile. She placed a hand over mine and lightly ruffled my palm through her white tummy fur. 'How did my hand get there?' I asked myself. Something leathery started rubbing my shoulder. I blinked and suddenly realized that her other hand was resting on my shoulder.

"Karen..." I whispered as all the painful memories of last evening returned to me.

"Sh." The vixen softly hushed my concerns. It was a new day, a new start for something better. She scooted closer. The vixen's fur and my skin touched. My instinct was to hold and embrace the female. She was very warm and soft. Our eyes didn't waver from each other. The moment could've lasted a sublime eternity, and neither of us would let go. Karen didn't say or do anything but softly grin at me. She was expecting me to start. I ventured first. It was only a small start, but I craned my neck forward and kissed her black nose. I backed a little. Her tongue flicked out and managed to swipe over my lip.

"Shy." She grinned and scooted closer to me. The hot kiss of her naked sex pressed against my leg as her limbs wrapped around me. The downy fur around her nether region was equally warm. It distracted me long enough for her to grab my cheeks and pull me into a stronger kiss. Her tongue pressed at my lips, seeking entrance. I yielded for her and our tongues drew over each other. The vixen's muzzle and pointy teeth made it difficult to lock lips, but we were more than willing to try. We hummed emphatically. Our hands began exploring, intimately discovering the other. I furrowed through her luscious fur and found a firm nipple. Her hips grinded against me as I tugged and rubbed the spout of sensitive flesh. She reached down and touched me. Rather than close my legs, I hastily tugged off my pants and underwear, and opened up to her. My arousal easily came forth with the aid of her warm hand. Her fleshy padded hand lightly stroked me, easily earned a shuddering moan from me. I feared a preemptive release but Karen suddenly let go and rolled onto her back.

"Please..." She softly whined and spread her legs. Every fiber within me desired to fulfill her needs, no, our needs. It was simple: I wanted to love her. I rose and loomed over the gorgeous vixen. Her legs crossed behind me, and arms held me as I entered her warm vice. Warmth and love radiated and mingled between us. The only thing on our minds was each other. The passion that I had bottled for the past days found its release. We made the sweetest love with the intent of making it last forever. A shudder, a moan, a heated sigh... With a final crescendo it was complete. The softest of panting echoed inside the little home as man and fox snuggled together for the rainy morning.

***

A little later in the morning we sat at the entrance of the home together. Karen brewed a tea for us to sip while I watched the rain. No clothes on my body let the coolness of the wet air touch my skin. The vixen joined me by the hut's entrance with the tea. We took a moment to sip the hot beverage and enjoy the peaceful rain. Even though I was sitting naked together with a vixen, under the rainy roof of a primitive hut where living was subsistent... I was happy. The feeling inside me was impossible to miss, swelling within my heart.

"I'm starting to believe you about the rain being romantic." I spoke aloud. The vixen merely smiled and continued watching. She curled her fluffy tail around herself.

"You know... I always thought you wanted to have kits with me." She admitted.

"Really? Why did you think that?" I found that amusing.

"Yes." She softly grinned. "Because you stared at my chest so much."

"Oh..." I glanced down at her modest breasts. Karen lightly shook her chest and giggled as I watched.

"No one stares at them like you do." She proudly smiled.

"It's more of a human thing then." I half grinned. "Humans don't see breasts often, and it's uh... kind of inappropriate where I'm from."

"Inappropriate?" She tilted her head. "How?"

"Like mating in the open." My answer made the vixen chuckle.

"Mating? I doubt any female would think that." She found the human point of view so odd. "Mothers nurse, and you dress how you want... They're normal to see." The red vixen elaborated. I wouldn't have believed her when I first arrived in the village, and it was still difficult to grasp. I simply smiled and looked outside at the rain shower. The Anthro way of life was very different and downright confusing at times: the affinity to partial nudity, odd celebrations, mix of simplistic and tribal lifestyles, but I admired all of that. Then there was the breathtaking sights within the valley itself. Despite my love of the Domain's nature, I still yearned to return home.

"Now would be a good time to escape." I spoke aloud. The rain would hide my scent, and no one would be out except near the fields.

"Escape?" Karen eyed me suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"I still plan on returning to my home."

"Please stay here!" She grasped my hand. "We can raise a family together in this beautiful valley."

"I can't." I turned down the tempting offer. "I just can't."

"But our chieftain will cut your leg if you try to escape again. You can't run." She held my hand to her body. The fur warmed away any doubts about my feelings for her, but it hardened my resolve.

"I know Karen."

"Please stay here." The fox insisted. "This is a nice village. No one wants to see you leave."

"Everyone here is kind to me, considerate, hard working, and happy. I would love to enjoy every day here spending time with you..."

"Then why do you want to leave?" She couldn't understand.

"Because this isn't my home Karen. I am being kept here against my will. I have my friends and family too who have no idea what had happened to me." The vixen looked away sullenly, as if I had slapped her. "Martha needs to leave too. She's been abused and no one can do anything about it because her mate's clan is powerful." I added. Karen nodded.

"I know..." She whispered.

"I'm sorry." I took a deep breath and sighed. "But I'll have to leave eventually. I've stayed so long." I couldn't even remember how many weeks had passed since my fall into Katsurao Valley.

"Then I want to go with you." She stated to my surprise.

"You do?" There was a gleam in her eye that I couldn't place as she looked at me.

"I want to see the world that you live in." Karen crept closer to me. "We can be mates in human lands, correct?"

"Well... Sure." I didn't know how my parents, relatives, and friends would react but it was still possible. The authorities wouldn't need a lot of time to figure out that Karen and Martha were harmless. I would report all of the information that I learned about the area to them, and that would settle everything. Of course, I still had to actually escape with Karen and Martha. I blinked and the pretty fox was sitting beside me.

"How's your shoulder?" She placed a hand on my arm. The vixen had accidentally raked my skin during our love making.

"It's fine." I reassured her despite noticing a dull sting. Her nose wiggled at the scent of blood.

"I'm sorry." She apologized and started licking the wound.

"You shouldn't be." I grinned. She happily hummed and licked my wound to her satisfaction. The gliding of her smooth tongue felt nice against my skin.

"There." She smiled and wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled my cheek. "All better." I reciprocated. We simply sat together in each other's arms, listening to the rain and relishing the intimate bond we had forged. It was a wonderful feeling, emotionally and physically. Her body was incredibly warm against my naked skin, not to mention soft. I slowly trailed my hand over her front. The downy white fur was thick and soft, a pleasure to feel. Karen rested a furry cheek on my scratched shoulder, enjoying the sensual dance of my gentle touch. When my hand reached up and rubbed over a breast, she softly sighed.

"I finally found someone to love, who also loves me," Karen softly spoke. "And I'm not letting go." Her words warmed my soul. I felt truly happy for the first time in my life.

"I love you Karen." I planted a firm kiss on the end of her muzzle.

"Mmm." She hummed and kindly nibbled my lip in return. "I want to mate with you again." She whispered into my ear. The short fuzzy fur of her lips tickled my skin. I glanced outside and then the bed.

"Maybe until the rain stops." I kissed and nuzzled the vixen much to her enjoyment. We gradually made our way from the entryway to the bedding. The rains didn't seem likely to stop for the rest of the morning, but we wouldn't mind enduring the dreary weather intimately together.

The darkness of night had settled in hours ago, but the full moon above gave its blessing to see by. Karen stealthily walked in front of me, taking the lead into the woods. We both carried a small pack of supplies to aid us. Martha was behind me, carrying her infant. I took what would hopefully be the last glimpse of the village as a prisoner. Nestled in the moonlight, the fields and huts appeared silvery in the subtle glow. I really wish I had brought my camera after spending so much time here. I didn't blame the village chieftain for all of my own self created misfortunes. Admittedly, I respected him for how much he loved his people and cared for their well being.

I came to Katsurao Valley, better known as Corridor Region Valley A to humans, on my own free will and sheer curiosity of the area. They accepted me, but would humans accept them? Maybe we could establish better relations with Anthros. We had to start somewhere. It wasn't easy for Karen to leave her sister and friends, even more so to leave a way of life behind.

"You coming?" Karen whispered back at me. I realized that Martha had paced me and the two females were a short distance ahead already.

"Yes!" I hurried to them.

"Don't tell me you're the one having second thoughts." The vixen playfully chastised me. Her tail tapped my leg.

"Hardly." I trekked with them uphill and the village disappeared from view behind the cover of darkness and the forest itself.

"Be careful so we don't stumble on any bears."

"There are bears out here?" I nervously swallowed. This whole time I could've been attacked by a real wild animal.

"Possibly..." I knew that she was grinning in the darkness. "I haven't heard anybody see one since I was a kit." I audibly sighed relief to her amusement.

***

In two hours, the sun rose. That was the minimum time between the three of us and anyone else in the village who might be searching for us. We broke away from the furthest extent of the trail without rest and traveled along the hilly forest. We ate lightly while we hiked. The higher we went, the more I realized how lucky I was to not have seriously injured myself during my initial fall. We thankfully didn't have to worry about being silent anymore, because the little collie pup became restless and noisy.

"Hold on. I have to stop." Martha spoke up. The whining infant in her arms was more than enough to let us know.

"Are we almost there?" I asked Karen.

"I think so." The vixen hesitantly nodded and glanced over her shoulder. We were pretty far from the village by now, and this was our first break after hiking since the middle of the night.

"Sh. Sh." The black and white collie hushed her whining son. The fuss didn't die down completely until she removed her shirt and brought his muzzle to a breast. His little hands grabbed her fur. The only thing to listen to among the chirping birds and breeze was the soft sounds of suckling. I rubbed Karen's back while we watched Martha coddle and nurse her child. The strong bond between mother and child could be felt through sight alone.

"Nervous?" The vixen softly asked.

"No." I looked at her. "It fees nice rubbing your back."

"It does." She grinned and sat up straight.

"All done?" Martha smiled and nuzzled her pup. She stood up and looked at us expectedly. "Are we continuing?"

"You can't leave your shirt. They'll catch our scent easily." Karen pointed at the garment. I picked up the garment for the mother's full arms.

"I'll keep it off if he becomes hungry again." She offered. I tossed it into our pack. "I know I should've asked this already," Martha spoke, "but where will I live in human territory." Her question drew silence out of me. Karen looked at me expectedly.

"You can stay with us as long as you need to." I reassured the nervous mother.

"Thank you." She felt relieved. We resumed our trek uphill. The trees began to thin out, and the sunshine became a regular presence in the normally thick forest. After one final climb up a muddy hill, the ground became completely flat. It was a sensation marked by relief. I stepped forward, missing the sensation of flat ground beneath me. The thick forest gave way to something entirely different. I could see a far distance ahead, at least a mile. It was empty except for a very distant chain of mountains, and meadows full of tall dull grasses. The last line of defense between us and human territory was a fence, two of them. The first was barbed wire, and the second a simple wooden one worn with age. Several buildings were further ahead. Most of them were likely run down and not in use, but one was clearly an active military base. The flag of my country was flying proudly in the stiff breeze.

"We made it!" I smiled in disbelief. We walked through the lingering tall grass and approached the barbed wire fence. Karen eagerly climbed over, but Martha was hesitant to do the same. "I'll hold him." I outstretched my hands. She nodded and carefully handed her son over. I held the babbling infant pup securely. The collie held her breasts with an arm to avoid any unnecessary cuts and climbed over. We climbed over both fences as a team, exchanging her son safely. All barriers past, we walked together towards the base. I imagined the smell of freshly brewed coffee, modern music, electricity, fresh laundry, and so much more at my daily disposal. I glanced over my shoulder at the trees becoming more distant. Despite my journey, I wasn't sick of the wilderness yet.

"What's wrong?" Karen looked at me and then back to the Valley as if someone was ready to capture us.

"Nothing." I answered, but she wasn't satisfied with that answer. "I want to visit Katsurao some time in the future." I spoke up. "But as a guest instead of a prisoner." Her triangular ears perked up at the prospect.

"Mm. I like that idea." She smiled and swished her tail. We held hands the rest of the walk. I was finally going to return home, but a different feeling formed inside me. One journey was over, but another one was about to begin. I didn't feel any fear. As long as I was holding Karen's hand, anywhere could become home.

End