Transformations of a Fox
Continuation of a story for an old friend.
Tramsformation into a man
The trail was obvious to any with eyes to see it. The prints were ruby bright and wet as blood that had dripped from the animal pooled in the bottom of each impression. The canine looking prints led through the forest; splattering drops had fallen on leaves and twigs along with the small puddles in the imprinted mud. Nadi moved quickly pausing every so often to check the trail for signs of pursuit.
Her fingers were covered with the animal's blood. Nadi had tried to keep it off at first, but the harder she tried the more spread across her sky blue skirts. Her shoes were caked with bloodied mud but she could care less. She was no village girl; her father was the hunts-man of the two closely entwined villages of Emerald Square and Emerald Field. She'd been in the woods since she'd been able to walk.
Nadi's small medicine bag was strapped to her back and swung very little as she stalked the hurt animal. Those creatures could be the most dangerous; she knew this from personal experience. Several scars hidden under sheltering cloth attested to this.
Poor mongrel, musta been hurt by a predator or maybe a farmer. Those, people_shoot first and ask no question but to wonder the price of a fur._ Her own smoldering anger surprised her. She'd been the healer of those animals more than once and very few lived, which made her incredibly sad. Nadi moaned deep in her throat as she followed the trail. With this amount of blood it must be nearby or already, dead. Those bastards_don't even care if it's a mother looking for food for its young._ A growl echoed in the trees around her.
She froze looking into the darker shadows under the trees for the beast. There was nothing there and with a sigh she realized she'd been the animal to make the growl. She clicked her tongue exasperated at herself and continued on into the emerald maze of life.
The trees themselves were amazing. Huge natural towers of twisting wood all colored with green leaves from deep emerald to new leaves of bright green. The sight of a spring day would normally have taken her breath away, but now she focused on the trail and the dying animal bound to be at the end of it.
Through the trees the sound of water hit her ears and she started. The wounded animal had made it to nearly the center of the wood, bleeding heavily from some wound and maybe with an arrow still sticking out of it. Her steps hurried now, giving up stealth for speed.
She rushed headlong into the little clearing just ahead and saw it. The poor thing had collapsed not far from the water's edge. The Red-orange fur was matted on its hind quarters and a brown fletched arrow stuck out of it. The right leg had been pierced through cleanly but the animal had tried to dislodge it and in doing so had lodged it into the bone of its thigh. The huge fox twitched with every noise Nadi made. The jerks made the poor creature whimper in pain.
Nadi slowed her step using every bit of skill she had to sneak up to the beast; even if it knew she was there it would be less likely to try and run if she moved in an unthreatening way. She kept her hands in plain sight and tried to mimic the sounds a mother made when she comforted a young litter of pups. But the bleeding animal before her was no sightless pup and she was not its mother.
As Nadi moved closer she saw the animals sides heaving. It must have been exhausted after the hapless arrow then being hunted by her. She shook her head then knelt and scooted slowly closer to it. As she reached for her med kit the bleeding fox turned its eyes on her.
She gaspedand froze for a moment.It has green eyes! What kind of animal has eyes that color of green...? It must be some kind of... mutation? Her hands moved of themselves without thought feeling for the bandages and tinctures. The animal watched her closely, as she watched it in turn, Nadi noticed it had lost what fear of her she could see. In the world of animals this could mean many things, it was not afraid of her and could not move to intimidate her so was still, or it was wary of her and wasn't sure if she was a threat. But there were also things she could not understand nor even speculate on.
Nadi marveled at the large fox the closer she came to it; the animal would have been enormous beside others of its kin. Maybe it even matched the size of the smallish sized timber wolf. She touched the arrow gently, trying to jar it as little as possible. The wooden shaft didn't give at all, meaning she would have to realign it into the wound before removing it.
Nadi slid her arms under it as gently as she could manage and groaned as she lifted the animal off the leaf strewn ground, with a grunt of exertion. She pulled it to her chest and could smell the earthy nutty aroma that surrounded the animal. The woodsy scent of it was... oddly pleasant. The forester's daughter turned slowly and followed the animals trail back the way she'd come.
Sweat had beaded on her brow and her hands were wet with it. The heat of the summer and the added fur made her palms damp. "You're a heavy pup." Her voice was near panting as she made her way home. The small gate was left open and the dirt cart track that led to the barn was well worn and cleared. The little house was a simple four roomed structure on one level; Nadi walked across the small yard to the door and pushed it open with her hip while lifting the latch.
The room she entered was small and cozy. The main room of the cottage was empty of anything that might provide clutter, and everything else was kept meticulously clean. There were two comfortable looking chairs and a small table situated by the hearth. The walls were whitewashed to make the small room seem larger and to help the light shine in the depths of winter. Two doors on either side of the hearth led to her room and her father's, another led into the store room. Cooking was done at the hearth, except in the heat of the summer when it was much easier to make a fire outside.
Nadi laid the fox down on the chair by the fire and rose knuckling her back. She stretched tired muscles then hurried to the storeroom and returned with a large roll of bandage cloth. With her burden of clean bandages and additional medicine she left the house the unconscious fox resting behind her. She walked into the barn; its rear walls had been dug into the soil making the floor slope in that direction. A tired looking mule peered up at her then down at the straw strewn floor, its long ears drooping as it returned to its disturbed sleep. In the opposite corner of the structure was a small enclosure. This was specifically meant, though not yet used, for dangerous predators. It could be closed off from the rest of the barn and there was a hatch that led outside on the outer wall. Nadi left food and water here for her former wards.
She knelt inside it and made sure she had cleaned it after the last use. The straw on the floor was fresh, and the small dish of water left for former visitors was filled with clear liquid unclouded by dirt. Sometimes she even saw some of her animals around the barn a flash of color rushing into the trees. Her Father kept no fowl or game birds; he raised no flocks and tended no herds. He was the warden of the woods guide and hunter. Every winter the people would bring foodstuffs and fabrics to trade for the furs he gathered throughout the year.
The trading for those furs was what had earned him the scorn and respect of every man in the two villages. He was off now searching for a few children who had wandered off on a dare. By the time he returned Nadi would have the animal ensconced in her little care area. Her father was too in tune with the life of the forest to kill anything without reason, so in the end he would allow the animal to stay as long as it wasn't a nuisance.
She finished the small preparations and hurried back to the house. The door was still open so she walked in and moved to her chair the fox rested on. She'd slid her arms under the animals prone form before she realized it was no longer sleeping. For a moment she thought about removing her arms, but the hurt creature was bleeding through the bandage around its thigh. With a sigh she prepared herself for a bite at the least. Nadi moved to stand, the fox winced and moaned loudly but didn't attack. The herb was wearing off much sooner than she could have wished. Nadi gently picked up the large male fox still marveling at its size somewhere in the back of her mind, as she carried it to the barn as gently as she could while hurrying. As she made it halfway to the barn she felt the fox stir against her body.
The animal wiggled a little, the muscles of its limbs twitching oddly, and then it growled. The utterance was low and would have been missed had Nadi not been listening for it. The vibrations in the fox's chest entered her arms, but soon as it started it was over. The moan that came next was loud and pained.
Nadi stood still, not sure what she should do. She had no wish to be mauled by something she was trying to help, but there was nothing to do but wait to see what would happen. But did she did not want to just let it run off to die in the bushes and be eaten by lesser predators.
Her mind worked at lightning speed. As soon as she'd asked whether she could let the animal go to die she had her answer. With a deep and rumbling sigh she tried to comfort the animal as she moved nearer the barn, her steps light as if she were stalking. "It's gonna be okay pup. I'm gonna put you somewhere safe and fix you up."Her hands stroked the fur they could reach. At least until she nearly tripped over a stone that should not have been half buried in the dirt where her toe found it. She stumbled but kept on whispering words she didn't even listen to. Although her tone was a one soothing and slowly the fox lay back into her arms. As she entered the barn she moved to the small area set aside for her 'pets'. She knelt and left the fox on the fresh hay.
It turned its green eyes on her with a wavering head, blood loss making it weaker by the second. As Nadi moved to grab her bag from the floor where she'd left it, the fox let his head fall back into the green-yellow hay. Its green eyes stayed on her; the fear that should have been there was not. Nadi readied everything she'd need, the cloth and a large amount of herb tea in a water skin. The tea was slightly bitter, but the herb in it made pain melt away.
Her hands were nearly cleaned with almost no blood left on them. She looked at her nails with a bit of a grimace for the dried red-brown under each one, the blood from the trail and carrying the fox was still crusted on and under her nails. Her dress was now a ruined mass of quickly drying blood. The clean blue of the morning sky had been tainted with virulent rust red.
Nadi opened and poured a small bottle of vinegary wine on her hands and then rubbed them together as her father had said. She had been taught that if certain rituals were forgotten the person being healed might just die from that missed step. This was just one of them. Her hands smelling of the pungent wine she took the small stone vial with the sleeping scent, held her breath and wafted the vial under the fox's nose.
The animal's eyes looked up at hers and its ribs stilled. Nadi looked from the fox's eyes to the vial as she moved the scent, trying not to breathe in. Nadi's cheeks turned red and her lungs called for fresh air. She put the stopper back on and tried to disperse some of the scent before letting herself breathe in.
"What..." She paused looking into those green so-very-human-looking eyes. "What are you...?" She didn't expect a response but the fox lifted its head from the hay to look her in the eye as it gave a pained smile. She shrunk back, "You understand me?" her voice quivered, but she wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement she felt.
The animal lay as if unaware of her confusion. It nodded once and the smiling grimace turned into a shuddering moan. It let its head fall back to the hay heavily.
"You-you've lost a lot of blood, I wouldn't be surprised if you died." She paused, looking into those too human eyes. "I'll try and remove the arrow. But even with it out of your leg the most I can do is stitch it and wait for it to heal. So... you'll have to trust me to care for you for a while, okay?" She stood and moved closer to the fox, offering her hand for it to smell. "I won't hurt you... not any more than I need to, to heal you."
The fox slept deeply, its head resting on the hay beside Nadi as she held the wounded leg aloft. The brown fletched arrow was already broken and ready to be forced through the rest of the way. Nadi wiped a sudden sweat from her forehead and nodded grabbing a large pair of tongs from the remaining embers of the fire.
Her hands shook a little as she placed them on the shaft; after a deep breath to steady herself she drove the shaft through the flesh. The arrow had been realigned at least part of the way so it wouldn't scrape the bone. The arrowhead pierced the rest of its leg with a jerk and an odd popping sound.
She looked down at the sleeping animal and spoke to it even though it was deeply asleep. "This'll hurt pup, not as much as the arrow, but it'll hurt." With hands as steady as she could make them she pierced the flesh of the fox's outer thigh and then the other side pulling to the end of the thread and making a knot to hold the thread in place. With careful tugs the first stitch was competed and now Nadi continued with the rest.
Sweat covered her brow like a beaded headpiece, little specks that could have been crystals swelling as more joined them. Her hands tingled with the strain she'd placed on her fingers, throbbing with the extra blood flow. The threaded needle was sitting in a dish with more vinegary wine beside her. A spent spool lay beside the still fully unconscious animal. Nadi rose slowly and had to sit back down. Her legs were numbly asleep. She turned to the doorway and realized the brightness of the light she had been working in was from the sun's glow falling directly onto her and the little work area. The sun was nearly set and Nadi was close to exhausted.
The perils of the day had worn her reserves of strength and she assessed her remaining energy. She had spent four hours tracking the hurt animal in the forest and bringing him back, another two hours working on the poor creature's injury, all of that was after walking to the village of Emerald Square and back, and she'd woken at two hours before dawn to make the village at a reasonable hour. Nadi was fair useless, her muscles cried for sleep, trembling with weakness and her mind told her how soft the hay would be and how few pricklings she would get from the new hay.
Before long she was face down in the hay and no thoughts stirred her. The lids of her eyes pulled closed and she curled on her side her long skirt covering her feet as well as a cloak or a blanket could have. The cooler air of night drifted in mixing with the warmer air of the stable. Sleepily Nadi tucked her hands under her arms and drifted off into the deep and dark of a sound sleep.
Nadi woke with the dawn's light warming the skin on her cheek just shy of falling into her unprotected eyes. She was much warmer than she should have been even with the heat of the day lingering into the night. Nadi rolled to the side and heard a loud groan of pain. Eyes suddenly wide, she jerked her head around to find the fox curled around her body. It's warm fur had kept what chill there was from her.
"What's going on here?" The harsh whisper from behind her made the large fox jump, followed by a large moan ending in a growl. Nadi turned to see her father blocking the dawn's light from falling on her. "That's a wild animal, move away Nadi, slowly now, if it tries to bite you I'll... just move away."
The girl's mind rushed in five different directions at once. Arguments thrown out and plans tossed aside in haste. All of this happened in the space of three seconds and Nadi stared blankly at her father.
Nadi was taken by surprise again when the fox moved to her side and lay nuzzling her hand like a cat. Nadi's father halted a foot away and his head fell to the side his eyes losing their dangerous sheen. "So... so it's your pet?" His voice was question but he still sounded a bit wary. "How long have you been hiding this little..." Her father looked at the fox and he changed what he'd been going to say. "this big fellow?"
Nadi turned to look at the animal curling playfully around her his tail lashing idly and said the first thing that came to mind. "A month or two, I-I've been training him." She turned back to her father and saw him look inquiringly at the bandages, the lie burning her tongue. "... H-he was out hunting and a farmer shot him I guess; I heard the fool bragging about it so I ran looking for him. There aren't t-too many foxes of his size, so it could only have been him." She smiled up at her father wondering if he could hear her heart beating in her throat.
"Well love, I'll leave you to it..." He eyed the fox once more as if trying to assess its mood. "Just yell out if you need me though, you know wild animals are never truly tamed." He swooped in to kiss her lightly on the forehead and left shaking his head.
Over the next few weeks Nadi and her father grew to appreciate having the fox around. He, for without a doubt he was male, was a key to something they had never been able to agree on. The one point in both their lives they could both understand the motives of the other. Nadi fed and dressed the foxes wounds while her father hunted and fed them all. Each day they grew more in tune and eventually after a month had passed daughter and father both found they had no wish for any other way of life.
Nadi walked into the house carrying the dry clothes she'd left in the sun. The fox rested his eyes closed to her as she poked him on the top of the head. "Wake up, it's time to eat." She stopped for a second and looked down at him as he stood slowly. "Maybe we should give you a name, I am a little tired of just calling you fox. Would that be okay?"
Nadi waited for a response as she had seen evidence of the animal's intelligence. As the fox got onto his three working legs he looked up at her with his green eyes and nodded once. Taking that as a nod she smiled and led the way into one of the other rooms.
The meal consisted of rabbit stewed with potatoes and some very tasty greens. The fox ate like Nadi and her father, lapping the stew from a wooden bowl. Nadi's father reclined against on wall in a straight backed chair tiled on two legs, "You'll like today's meal foxy. I found a nice little rabbit plump and from what I can tell he had no mate. So along with the left over game hen from yesterday we will have an extravagant meal."
Nadi smiled at her father then rolled her eyes as he tried to speak to the fox as if it were a human; but under his speech was a slight mocking tone she didn't approve of. "Anyway I am going to name him so we don't have to call him that anymore." She raised her hand and poked the wooden spoon in the foxes direction for emphasis.
"I was thinking... maybe something fun. Like... Mounce, it's like... bounce but not." She smiled at her father then bent to pour some stew into Mounce's bowl. "Here you go..." she turned just in time to see someone entering through the outer door and into the living area.
"Benjamin! Get out here now!" The angry voice form the outer room made Mounce jump. "I got somethin to say and you are gunna hear it!" The burly man dressed in filthy clothes and with the stench of unwashed flesh stomped into the room with bare and filthy feet.
Nadi's father rose and a hand slid behind his back and to the sheath that hung there. The large knife in the sheath could be used to cut up small wood and hack meat, as Nadi knew from a few hunting expeditions she'd had with her father. "Simon Get out of my house... now before I decide to make you." The quiet menace in his voice made Nadi turn and stare.
The man took a few steps back from the hinter as if something he saw scared him. "That big rodent you been keeping has been over my place stealing chickens! My own brother did see it!" The back woods man took a step forward unwilling to be made a fool. "I know'd it did I and I want it's hide!" From behind his back he pulled his own weapon. A rusty but still sharp looking kitchen knife.
With a indrawn breath the big man dashed forward. Nadi's father removed the knife from its sheath and flowed to the side grabbing the bigger man's arm then wrenching it till the rusty blade fell at his feet. The big man grunted and tried to pull free but couldn't.
Simon growled and when he couldn't pull free stood still waiting for his arm to be released. When Her father finally did let the man go he stumbled back rubbing his arm absently. "I'll get you back for this Benjamin... my family has lived in this land for five generations!"
"And has a line so inbred you couldn't tell you brother from your father no doubt. Get out of my house Simon, and if you come back... I won't hesitate to use this..." With his menacing voice he hefted his knife once more. Nadi stared at her father's back and felt her mouth hanging open in a silent 'o'.
As the man stumbled back Benjamin slid the rusted knife across the floor under his boot. He turned with the man still retreating. Nadi saw the twisted look of hatred on the man's face.
A shiver ran down her spine as she watched the man backing out of the door clutching his arm. "I... I don't like that man."
Nadi's father sighed heavily and sheathed his knife taking his seat. He and his family are the worst kind. They live out alone in their huts and hovels and when anyone wrongs them, even if it's just their own idea of being wronged... they go a little crazy." he paused and reclined his chair again a slight look of worry on his face. "But they know better than to dabble in my territory. I who saved their flocks from wolves bears and other predators. And if he'd looked at the fox for one second he'd have seen the fellow wouldn't have made it the three miles to his farm and back before half a day was out. No... I have no doubt it was his brother who stole those damned chickens." He lay his head back against the wall, "I'm more worried about how he'd found out about our little friend... But don't worry he's one of us now...I won't let anything happen to him." With that Nadi felt a knot she'd not realized was there disappear.
The sound of some heavy booted foot smashing open the wooden door made Nadi sit straight up; staring around herself in fright. There was someone stomping around in the main room and things were being thrown about. Nadi took the small knife her father had given her from out of her clothes chest and moved to the door. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she reached a hand toward the latch. The fox rose from its place beside the bed and hobbled to her side. The knife shook in her fist as her other hand lifted the latch and pulled the door to.
The living area was a wreak. Two men lay bleeding on the floor, both dressed in ragged clothing and covered in dirt and filth. Sounds from the yard filled the darkened room.
Nadi moved slowly around the prone men and when she reached the door he throat closed as if a tight fist were strangling her. Her father confronted several filthy men and boys, in his hands he held his hunting bow with an arrow knocked. his hunting knife was clenched in his teeth by the handle.
"I told you to leave my home and you come back with these fools?" Benjamin's voice was muffled by the wooden handle. "I spared your life and you try to take mine? More fool you then..." Nadi could see he was shaken but he wouldn't back down from them.
The fox shifted at her side and slowly she realized it was shifting from left to right, as a human would when they were trying to make an important decision but couldn't commit fully. Nadi ignored this and left her home walking as straight backed and regal as she could make herself in her loose fitting shirt that fell below her knees. She walked slowly to her father's side and hoped no one could see her knees shaking.
"Go back inside and block the doors with furniture..." Her father didn't talk very loudly but she ignored it as if she'd not heard. She raised her knife in trembling hands and stood ready to fight with him.
From the rear she heard the steps of Mounce as he stepped before them. She felt her heart bulge then shrivel as she imagined the animal fighting for them. She took a step forward to protect him when suddenly there was some exterior purple light. Mist drifted from him as he stood unsteadily on his hind legs and shifted.
The image of the fox changed slowly. Fur reversed its growth and sank into the flesh and the muscles plumped and spread. The vulpine snout shrunk until a human's face was left.
"Leave this place." The voice that left his lips was cracked and weak sounding but it resonated. The men assembled took a step back and gasped. Words filled the night air soon after. 'Demon' 'Monster' Mounce took one step forward and the men retreated.
Nadi and her father stood frozen as their pet, moved forward again and raised his arms. "Be gone unless you'd like to live out your days as a toad!" At this threat the men screamed and turned racing away from the three assembled to protect the little house.
Benjamin placed himself in front of his daughter and aimed at the fox-man. "What are you...?"
Mounce turned with a sigh. He was little more than a boy, his body was thin but well muscled. his face was still a little gaunt from malnourishment but his green eyes were strong and bright in the little light from the moon. "I'm... I'm a man, I can just... shift." his harsh voice was weak and cracked often, as if he'd not used it in a very long time. "I'm still human but I just... take that form to be free." He took a limping step forward and Benjamin retreated. "P-please don't... I want you to like me, like before... I'm still me." Nadi shook her head as if clearing it and nodded once before moving around her father.
"I still love you Mounce, or whatever your real name is. I knew you were special from the beginning." She smiled and then realized he was nude and raced back into the house avoiding the unconscious men to retrieve one of her father's freshly cleaned shirts. She handed it to him and turned. "I want you to stay here... with me."
She gave him time to dress and turned. What she saw made her stop again. Mounce stood clutching the shirt to his chest and smiling as tears dripped down his cheeks. Benjamin at a loss for words just coughed a little embarrassed and got about removing the men from his living space. "You can stay just... put some clothes on," His head reappeared around the edge of the door. "And no more sleeping in Nadi's room!"
Mounce nodded once and as he turned his eyes back to Nadi he smiled wider. "This is the first place I have ever been truly welcome. Thank you..." More tears fell from his eyes as he rushed forward and hugged Nadi.