Loona and the Stolen Sense-Feather - Chapter 3
#3 of Loona and the Stolen Sense-Feather
Summary: Loona is tasked to retrieve an important magic item belonging to Stolas from Reynard the Trickster. She finds him in the misty woods of Limbo, where she is taught how agility and trickery can beat out brute force. However, this isn't the only lesson she learns...
I've been a writer for quite a few years, but this is the first story I've felt like I truly got right. If you enjoyed what you've read, it would mean the world to me if you would take the time to share it with one other person, and then ask them to do the same.
Chapter Notes: Reynard the Trickster was designed to fit into the Helluva Boss universe. He touts a "phantom thief" look, and a slightly posh and gentlemanly attitude. It's not mentioned in the story, but his eyes have a black sclera to contrast with Loona's red. Also, his laugh is inspired by the gekkering that foxes do.
I wanted to create an antagonist that would contrast with Loona's power, and a tricky fox being hunted by a hound of hell was a logical path. This dynamic allows for much of the upcoming events to fit naturally together, and I had a lot of fun writing him.
Chapter 3 - Meeting Reynard
As she rolls up to a fork in the rough, literally backwoods road, she leans out the window and sticks her nose up in the air. A deep inhale drags the misty air through her sinuses. The trail had been easy to follow until now, but the perpetual mist of the forest is causing some unexpected difficulties.
Making her best guess, she turns to the right and takes a sip from the soda she got with her burger, curling her tongue around the straw and drawing in a deep and frustrated swallow. At this point, she isn't even sure she isn't going in circles. Thinking it may be time to park and take to foot, she pulls off the road, sets the van to park, and hops out.
Opening up the back, she climbs inside and digs through the supplies. She grabs a coil of rope, and lacking a belt to secure it to, she throws it across her left shoulder. She also grabs a compass to help her find her way back to the van. She can easily come back if she needs anything else, but for now she plans to capture this fox and drag him back to face whatever creative punishment Stolas can come up with. Likely something worse than what simple displeasures she can dish out.
Her nostrils flare with another deep whiff, drawing in the scents around her, letting them swirl through the weaving passages of her inner sinuses. The mists are diluting his scent, but it can still be triangulated. She continues to sniff at the air, wiggling her nose in front of her, taking small steps this way and that. Shortly, she manages to find confidence in a direction and after checking her heading with her compass, begins to stride into the forest.
With each step, the moist grass and dirt of the forest floor tickles at her exposed toes. It's a pleasant feeling, though somewhat unfamiliar. There's parks in the city, but she isn't one to find herself at them more than once a blue moon. Looking up, she can only see small flickers of open sky between the dense canopy. The woods are halfway to being dark, compounded even further by the misty fog. Once away from the road, the branches hang so low that she often has to duck. She shifts her posture to a lower stance and stretches out her tail behind her.
The ground is uneven, with rolling hills and valleys filled more deeply with the mist. Occasional clearings exist, but it's only late morning and the sun's angle is not nearly as helpful as it could be. In the distance, she hears the echo of a chittery chuckle. "Kah-ha_haha, _ha-haha-kahah!" With less hesitation than is wise, her gait increases as she sweeps across the ground and towards the sound.
"What lovely prey to have entered into my lair, today! This is far beyond my expectations." A wispy, tenor voice echoes between the trees. She spins her body around, trying to pinpoint its direction. "Oh, the fun~ we're going to have! Kah-haha~h!" She can tell he's coming closer, but his voice manages to sound like it's all around her.
The next moment, she feels a tug on her tail. "Hello, there," a sassy voice comes from directly behind her, the wispy tone gone completely. Surprise sparks her nerves. Her legs coiled from her low stance, she leaps several feet into the air and bumps her head against a thick branch above her. Spinning around and refocusing her eyes, she takes in the sight before her.
Reynard the Trickster, fox of mischief and trickery, is dressed in a black mantle that encompasses a tuxedo suit. Well-toned limbs, fur a reddish orange, ending in a black that makes them all but disappear when his cloak closes. Behind him, exposed from between the mantle's twin tails, is his own golden-red tail, dipped in white. Moving up, a narrow snout of the same coloration grins a toothy grin in her direction.
Atop his head is a black top hat, with a white ribbon band that pairs with the accents of his suit. The sides of the hat host curved indentations, within each of which rest his especially large ears, backed in black like the rest of his limbs and fronts a puff of white. Tucked into that white band is an object of grey, and the very thing she's been sent to fetch. The Sense-Feather. His whole figure, including his ears, only comes up to her neck, with the feather reaching just past that. "Boo," he says with a calm tease.
Her first reaction is to try to reach out and grab his neck. A quick strike. Lift him off the ground, cut off his escape, and then tie him up... Her arm comes up and he instantly leans back and pushes away with his legs, springing backwards almost like a rabbit. "Not even a hello in return? I'm hurt." The voice fades back into the mist, regaining its wispy qualities. "One would think a lady as lovely as you would have better manners than that."
Spinning around again, Loona shouts out to the mists, "Get back here, you smarmy little bastard." She sniffs in the direction he retreated, but it's useless. The scent is all around her now, and it won't be any use. Instead, she focuses on her hearing, swiveling her ears left and right, searching for any unnatural sounds.
"Can't we at least introduce ourselves before we break into violence?" His voice calls out. From the left, maybe? She advances a few steps in that direction, her ears scraping against a branch above her, and causing her to curse the thickness of the mist here in the lower valley.
"No," she says flatly. She refuses to play any of his games. She'll grab this clown, claim her prize, and head straight back. A crack of a branch, ahead of her and to her right. She thrusts out her hand and... "Oww!!" What she tried to grab was a tree trunk, and she didn't even do a good job of that. She takes a swipe at it, shredding some of its bark in frustration.
"I am Reynard the Fox, master thief and trickster extraordinaire." He continues the conversation anyways, knowing full well that he has the upper hand. The echoing voice continues, "Rumors do have a tendency of spreading far and wide. I had heard that Stolas' little pet had a pet of his own, but I wasn't expecting such beauty. The shine of your fur is admirable, really it is."
A low growl rumbles in her throat as she turns again towards the voice. "I'm no one's pet, do you hear me? Call me that again and I'll be taking you back in a bloody sack." Her eyes scan the mist, looking for even a small sign of movement. His black outfit and markings afford him far better camouflage than she was anticipating. But there, a flicker of white to the left. She gives chase and then hears another crunch behind her and to her right.
"Oh, forgive me, dear lady. Of course, that much is clear. If I may, your name, please? It would make our little dance much more palatable for the both of us, you know." The voice comes closer again, and something touches her right ear, near the base of it. A wave of calm washes over her, alongside a memory of her mother soothing her, stroking her head. It's a memory she hasn't thought of in... well, a long time.
He has a point, she thinks to herself. It beats being insulted. "It's Loona. I'm here for the feather. I take it you're not going to make this easy?" She looks around slowly, her mood much calmer now, her underlying irritation faded.
"Now see, that wasn't so hard, was it?" The fox plops down from the trees, landing directly in front of her. With his cane latched to his waist, he takes a flourished bow, removing the top hat as he does so. "It's nice to meet you, dear Loona. With our introductions finally out of the way, how about we begin this little hunt right proper-like." He returns the hat to between his ears, and plucks the feather from its band. "If you want the feather back, you must catch me. Simple as that." With those words, he brandishes the feather like a rapier and takes a fighting stance.
This guy's got some skills, she thinks to herself. Stealth for sure, and good reflexes. This may actually be fun. Cracking her toes, the hellhound dips down to a lower stance, and grins in anticipation. "Works for me. You've even got me looking forward to it." She puts a hand to the coil of rope and begins to think of how good it'll feel when she catches him.