# Chapter 4: The Vixen in the Northeast Wing

Author: HeatherOBunn
Tags: Buck, College, Dorm, Fear, Fox, Novel, Rabbit, Romance, Vixen

#4 of Flora: A Tale from Vulpineva

Pete spots Flora for the first time. This is the first Pete chapter. Most Pete chapters are short. This one is only a page.

Chapter 4: The Vixen in the Northeast Wing  
The first time Pete saw the vixen he had just returned from lunch after the Orientation  
Seminars Thursday morning. He stepped out of the Northeast stairwell of Hollow Oak Hall and  
almost leapt out of his skin as she and a beige tabby emerged from room 337, several doors  
down the hall on Pete's right. Pete quickly ducked into the bathroom on his left and only  
emerged when he heard the predator pair enter the stairwell themselves. Pete was a rabbit,  
Oryctolagus cuniculus, with crisp blue eyes and mostly black fur except for his white belly and  
spot over his nose and mouth.  
Pete was profoundly regretting his decision to attend the prestigious college. He had, of  
course, heard that there were many foxes at RCV, but his imagination had paled in comparison  
with reality: the campus was thick with them. Only on the prey side of the cafeteria, in his room,  
or occasionally, in the rabbit-sized section of his dorm did he ever feel sufficiently distant from  
the dangerous predators. Smaller predators made him nervous too, but at least those on the  
third floor of the dorm were at most twice his size, until now. The vixen wasn't very large for a  
fox, but she was still probably three times Pete's size. What would he do if she cornered him in  
the shower? The thought made Pete's heart leap into his throat, and he had to catch himself  
against the smooth marble wall whilst he recovered from the palpitations.  
Pete was aware his fear was greater than that of the typical prey, or at least, it seemed  
to be. His parents had taught him a brave front would discourage predators, but Pete was  
unable to overcome his timidity. Perhaps it was his heretofore sheltered life that had denied him  
the opportunity to learn to control his instincts. Homeschooled by his parents, Pete had only  
encountered predators when his family went out, and then he'd had his parents and littermates  
to protect him. There was safety in numbers, his mother had said.  
Now, he was on his own, and he didn't even know any of the other prey at the school.  
He'd tried to approach other rabbits in the cafeteria, but apparently, he'd gained a reputation  
that had rapidly spread. Other prey seemed embarrassed to associate with him or even treated  
him with cold disdain. Pete ate most of his meals alone. If feeling besieged by hungry predators  
wasn't bad enough, being isolated in his ordeal certainly made things worse. Mere days after  
arriving on campus, Pete was strongly considering transferring the next year--assuming he  
survived this one--but he held onto a tiny sliver of hope that, somehow, things might improve.  
Pete made it through the Northeast wing and into the central section where he was  
housed, room 328. There was a stairwell on each end of the building and between each section;  
Pete would no longer be using the one on the Northeast end. He breathed a sigh of relief as he  
shut the door of his room behind him. His roommate, a hare named Bill, wasn't present, a small  
mercy given that the hare mocked him whenever he found Pete in a frightened state. Bill may  
have been responsible for propagating Pete's reputation, but Pete suspected he would have  
denied it if asked. Whatever his responsibility for Pete's ostracization, the hare clearly didn't like  
him.  
Pete plugged his earbuds into his phone and reclined on his bed to listen to some  
relaxing Classical music, and before long, his unfortunate encounter with the vixen was  
mercifully swept from his mind.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/qmyN4DQn
Part of the series Flora: A Tale from Vulpineva
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