{"sf1_id":728874,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Discovery","author":"cnbfox","words":3713,"posted_at":"2014-07-10T23:28:00.000Z","tags":["Abuse","Cub","Fighting","Male","No Yiff","blood","kidnapping"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/728874-discovery","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/728874","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=728874\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"DiscoveryI was being chased through a hazy\nforest by hounds.  I ran as fast as I\ncould, jumping over fallen trees and over ditches.  I kept looking over my shoulder from time and\nreached the edge of a cliff, I was fixing to jump, when a large wall of fire\nappeared in-front of me. I woke up hearing the cell door open and was breathing\nheavily.  \"How many days do we have until\nwe reach shore?\" I asked the guardsman standing up and flicked my tail.  \"We've been at sea three days now.\" I started\nto undo the bandages around my paw and head. \nMy dizziness was finally gone, and my stomach felt empty from the lack\nof food, but my mind finally felt clear for the first time in a very long\ntime.  I also felt I could see clearer\nthan normal as I blinked my cadet blue eyes trying to see if I was dreaming or\nif I was awake.  I looked around me and\nrealized I was in the brig and for the first time, I felt regret...I flicked my tail and wrapped my\narms around me hiding in a garbage can trying to get warm.  \"I should have never run away from Mr.\nThompson's.\" I thought to myself as I looked at the icicles hanging from a\nsmall railing of an alleyway balcony.  I\nfelt my stomach growl and rumble as I slowly crawled out from my hiding\nspot.  Most of the carts that usually had\nfood were no longer on the streets due to winter, and it was during a harsh\nwinter too.  I made my to the street and\nlooked around as the wind started to pick up and blow against my small\nbody.  I started walking in the direction\nthe wind was blowing to see if it might show me a place to find food.  I walked by several townhouses and fought\nback tears seeing families eating a warm meal together.  I wanted a nice warm meal, and had a home,\nbut ran away when I felt like I was going to be given away.   I perked my ears hearing footsteps and felt\nmy eyes go wide in terror seeing Mr. Brinkley approach.  I didn't waste any time and did my best to\ntake off running, but my feet started slipping under me from the frozen\ncobblestone and my shoes lacked grip on the soles. I made my upstairs to the deck and\nthe main gallery where food was being served after returning to my cabin and\ncleaning from my sobering experience.  I\nknew better than to gorge myself to keep from getting sick and fixed up a small\nplate of bread, meat, vegetables, and fruit and grabbed a glass of water.  I sat down at a small table away from most of\nthe other passengers and glanced around dejectedly feeling remorse for being in\nexile.  I guess these long lost \"feelings\"\nwere just surfacing due to the lack of drugs in my system.  I glanced up a few times just to see if I might\nfind Mr. Thompson and speak to him once more, but failed to do so and ate my\nmeal in silence.  I sat there for several\nminutes before I went to get another glass of water and was roughly bumped into\nby a pompous female tabby cat.  \"Watch\nwhere you're going dog!\"  Judging by her\nyellow sundress and matching hat, I could only guess she was from New Britain\nand her accent was one I had never heard from before.  \"You must be from New Britain, the Southern\nLane area?\"  She looked at me and hissed\na little insulted.  \"I'm nowhere near\nthat those parts, I'm from Middleton.\"  I\nsmirked a little trying my best to be nice and respectful, but I couldn't allow\nmyself to get insulted by a feline.  \"Apparently\nyou are not familiar with foxes and other canines walking freely about without\na master holding their leash.\" She looked at me and narrowed her eyes in\nanger.  \"If I had my way dogs would be\nput down and cats would be left to rule.\" \nI felt my anger rise a little and flicked my tail.  \"Listen cat, I am not a dog, I am a fox.  I'm vicious, crafty, and I am not the fox you\nwant to cross.\"  She was surprised to\nhear a fox challenge her like that.  \"Please\nexcuse me.\" She said timidly and went to walk past me, but I was still angry\nand wanted her to know I wasn't one to cross as I put my foot out at the last\nminute forcing her to stumble a little. \nShe looked back and gulped deeply as I opened up my coat to reveal a\nsmall green, yellow, and black flag sewn in my coat.  \"Remember the Revolt.\"  I muttered to her and immediately felt the\nstares of other felines and some foxes come upon me.  I made my way outside of the gallery and to a\nsmall bar area and sat down reaching into my coat and took out a small silver\ncase and opened it removing a cigarette and put it to my lips. I closed the\ncase and returned it to my coat when I looked at the calendar and smiled as I took\na book of matches and lit one placing it to the cigarette and as the smoke\ncleared, I felt I was back in London...I was carried inside the gates of a\nworkhouse roughly by Mr. Brinkley and even though I kept trying to get free, he\nstill wouldn't let go.  \"Oy, look at te\nlittle runaway.\"  Some of the older and\nwretched associates said to me as Mr. Brinkley returned me to the textile\nfloor.  \"Welcome back you pathetic dog!\"  A rather large mastiff said wearing a pair of\nblack pants and a plaid shirt with red suspenders and had a cigar hanging out\nof his mouth. \"Back to Work you 'ittle runt!\" Mr. Brinkley said as he tried to\nkick me, but I quickly moved out of the way and hurried over to a weaving\nmachine that threaded the silk and other types of material to make fabric that\nwas to be sold to merchants and dress makers. No sooner did I start working\nthat a loud cry pierced my ears forcing me to lower flatten my ears as turned\nmy head and winced seeing a young coyote holding a crushed and bleeding paw and\ncried loudly.  I knew the dangers of\nworking in a workhouse, there were accidents waiting to happen especially with\nso many children working around large machines and some not having experience\nat all handling the equipment. Fortunately I had a general idea from understanding\ngears, levers, and pulleys from my school lessons and Saturday tutoring\nsessions and was able to keep my limbs intact while other children weren't so\nfortunate.My shift must have just started as\na whistle sounded signaling an end to it.  It might have been warmer inside the factory,\nbut I would have rather faced the cold harsh winds and weather than the cruel\nand horrible treatment that went on inside these stone walls.  I had escaped this place once before and I knew\nhow the systems worked, to a point I could easily find an escape route before\nanyone knew I was missing. As my shift made our way to the rest hall, I spotted\na nearby laundry chute and ran as hard as I could to it before the foreman\ncould catch me.  I climbed in quickly and\nslid all the way down to the bottom and instead of landing on soft laundry, I was\nforced to land on concrete floor, fortunately I had the wits about me to land\non my feet since it was only a small three foot drop to the floor.  I quickly hurried over to a window in the\nbasement and grabbed a small piece of wood proceeding to break it, and no\nsooner had I broke the window, I felt a hand grab me from behind and cover my\nmuzzle.  \"Shh, you're okay lad, I'll help\nyou escape.\"  It was Ray and I was so\nhappy to see him.  \"What are you doing\nhere?\"  I run an underground escape\nsystem from workhouses, and I normally frequent the laundry section since that's\nwhere most runaways can be found.\"  I\nwrapped my arms around him, pleading with him. \n\"Get me out of here!\"  I cried\ninto his coat as he held me close.  He\npicked me up without any issue and quickly carried me outside to a waiting\ncarriage.  \"Take him to Lord and Lady\nWilkins's, he'll be safe there.\"  I had\nno idea who they were, and watched in horror as Mr. Brinkley and two other men\nwere fixing to attack Ray and he didn't have much hope as two of them grabbed\nhis arms preventing him from fighting back. \nNo sooner did the carriage start down the road; I jumped off spotting a\nlead pipe lying by a gutter and grabbed it. \nI hurried over to one of his attackers and clocked him in the side of\nthe knee as hard as I could.  He let out\ngo of Ray immediately as I readied myself for another strike, but was caught\nwith a strong kick to the side of the head, knocking me to the cold ground and\nhit my head on the icy cobblestone splitting my head open.  I did the best I could to stay conscious, but\nfelt a kick to my side taking the air out of my lungs as I slid across the ice\nand hit the iron bars of the gate knocking me out cold.I finished my cigarette and\nscratched the back of my head thinking about my past and how alone and cold I was\nat times.  I smirked as my ears perked up\nhearing someone start to play on the grand piano in a nearby room.  I couldn't help but smile to myself and stood\nup making my way to where the music was coming from and to my surprise, Mr.\nThompson was sitting there playing a very lovely melody.  I took a nearby seat and proceeded to light\nanother cigarette as he continued to play and the melody seemed to be doing a\nnumber on my mind as I could have sworn my mind was drifting off into a\nforgotten dream of warmth and love. \nMusic was a definite way for my mind to gain clarity and I could feel an\naura surround me and take my mind off my trouble as I listened to Mr. Thompson\nplay the melody and I soon felt my tail sway to the tune relaxing my body in\nthe process.I slowly started to wake up and let\nout a small groan of discomfort as I turned my head slightly and opened my eyes\nto the sound of an unfamiliar yet soothing voice, \"Rest easy my child, you've\nhad a rather rough few nights.\"  It was\nan older red fox vixen with bright scarlet red fur wearing a sparkling white\ndress and a diamond necklace around her neck. \"W-where am I?\" I groaned out and\ntried to sit-up as she put a paw on my shoulder trying to get me to lie back\ndown.  \"You're in Berkshire, home of your\nUncle Edgar Wilkins and I'm your Aunt Margaret.\" She smiled warmly to me as she\ngrabbed a cold damp cloth and wiped my face with it.  \"You are very, very fortunate to be alive\nlittle one, that knock on your head almost cracked your skull.\"  I was a little dazed and glanced around the\nroom.  \"The medicine will wear off in a\nlittle bit, but right now you need to stay awake.\"  She said as she slowly undid the bandage, and\nremoved the gauze.  I let out a few small\ngroans and cries of discomfort from feeling dried blood and fur stick to the\nbandage.  \"Oww, ungh, please stop!\"  She grabbed the cloth again and dipped it\ninto a small bowl of water proceeding to clean the wound and examined it for a\nmoment.  \"You have quite a few stitches,\nbut with your heritage, you should heal up quickly.\"  I looked at her a little confused.  \"What do you mean heritage?\"  I asked my voice cracking a little from being\nso tired.  \"Your parents never told you\nabout being able to heal your own wounds or recover from injuries?\"  I shook my head.  \"All Wilkins have a regenerative ability on\ntop of other skills.  Some have fast\nreflexes, others are excellent marksmen and horsemen, and there are a few who\nalso have the ability to use magick.\"  I\nlooked at her as I yawned and closed my eyes before she put the cold cloth on\nmy neck making me open them.  \"What's\nma-jeeck? You mean like magicians?\"  She\nsmiled and rinsed the cloth off in the bowl and proceeded to use wipe my\nforehead getting the dried blood out of my fur. \n\"Not like magicians, they use magic. \nMagick is used by mages, like the story of Merlin.\"  I looked at her blinking a little.  \"I thought he was a wizard.\"  She took a clean bandage and some gauze and\nwrapped my wound and head.  \"Wizards,\nwitches, and mages could all be called the same thing.  Some mages use their powers for good, others\nfor evil.\"  It was a bit much for me to take in\nat the moment as my Aunt Margaret went into great detail explaining how witches\nand wizards were burned at the stake for using dark or black magic, as she\ncalled it, by mages who opposed the use of black magic and preferred white\nmagic such as medicine and potions.  I wanted\nto close my eyes and drift off to sleep, but each time I did she would put a\ncold cloth on the back of neck to keep me awake.  \"I'm sorry, little one, but I can't let you\nfall asleep.\"  She frowned as I started\nto struggle a few times to lie down and fall asleep.  \"I'm tired though.\"  I whined and let out a few whimpers.  \"Whimpering is not going to help you; I'm not\ngoing to let you fall asleep until the doctor sees you.\"  I let out a small growl and was met with a\nquick pop on my nose by her paw.  \"Don't\nyou growl at me young man, you might be injured, but I expect you to show me\nrespect, is that understood?\"  I nodded\nto her as she frowned at me. \"I asked you a question young man, you may be\ninjured, but I'm not afraid to take you over my lap, is that understood.\"  I replied dejected and defeated, \"Yes ma'am.\"\n After our small argument, she went back\nto explaining how some Wilkins were able to use chemistry to make potions and\nother curatives while others were able to craft weapons and items using\nalchemy.  \"What's the most powerful type\nof mage?\"  I asked as I started to come\naround a little bit, the medicine was starting to wear off as I felt my head\nstart to ache a little bit.  \"The red\nmage is the most powerful type.  They are\nbalanced not just in one ability or skill, but several and there a few red\nmages who can perform powerful magick spells and summon great beasts to aid\nthem if necessary.\"  Mr. Thompson stopped playing the\npiano and I applauded him as did other passengers when he stood up and took a\nbow before glancing at me and motioned for me to play on the piano.  \"Care to entertain us Alexzander? There was a\ntime when you played the piano masterfully and even created your own\ncompositions.\"  I closed my eyes and\nextinguished my cigarette, how I longed to play the piano, but there was an\nache in my heart that kept from moving in my seat, and I frowned deeply knowing\nthat I wanted to play, but my heart was keeping me at bay.  \"Music soothes the savage beast, and heals\nthe wounded heart.  A simple melody makes\nall the difference in an individual's mood and behavior.\"  Mr. Thompson walked over and sat down next to\nme as I sighed and stood up and made my way over to the piano giving to his words\nand request.  \"I cannot deny a request to\nplay one of my compositions.\"  I had\ncreated many in my young lifetime, I was in my early twenties, and lived a\nrather adventurous life while in England and faced death numerous times.  I flicked my tail and sat down as I started\nto play a unique variation of Moonlight Sonata and Fur Elise at the same time\nthat created a rather melancholy tune and an upbeat tempo.\"What is your ability Aunt\nMargaret?\"  I asked as I sat up and\nleaned back against the headboard of the bed I was in.  \"I use music to soothe a person's mind and\nbody.  Music is very vital to a person,\nwithout it a person cannot dance nor feel the effects of the melody and the\nlyrics won't reach a person's heart.\" \nShe looked at me and flicked her tail smiling warmly as I felt very safe\naround her.  \"Do you know how to play any\ninstrument or sing?\"  I shook my head. \"No\nma'am, I don't know how to sing nor play an instrument.\"  She leaned down and kissed my forehead as I let\nout a small moan feeling my head start to hurt a little bit.  \"Could I get some medicine for pain?  My head is starting to hurt.\"  She frowned and sighed deeply getting a small\nvial that contained a bright purple liquid. \n\"I do have a potion, that might help with your pain and heal your wound,\nbut I don't know how much to give you and I don't want to give you too much\nthat might do more harm than good.\"  Just\nthen the door to the bedroom opened and a very tall and large red fox walked in\nwearing a black and white tuxedo with a top hat and held a cane in his paw as\nhe walked over to my Aunt Margaret.  \"Glad\nto see you awake; you gave us quite a fright.\" \nHis voice was very deep and booming I felt my fur go on end from fear\nand gulped.  \"H-how do you do sir, I'm\nAlexzander Monroe.\"  I said very\nnervously and started to cower under the sheets.  My father was a rather tall individual, but\nhe was also very lanky, this gentleman was tall, large and had a voice that\nsounded like an oboe.  He walked over and\nvery gently patted my shoulder.  \"I'm\nwell aware of who you are nephew.\"  He\nsmiled warmly to me and knelt down looking me in my eyes.  \"I'm going to do everything I can to protect\nyou and keep you safe.  I'm also going to\nwarn you that I am going to be firm with you, but fair.  I won't hesitate to switch you or punish you\nshould you misbehave, but your Aunt and I are also going to spoil you rotten\nand introduce you to some very powerful people and family members.\"  I smiled warmly hearing that and leaned my\nhead against his paw as he gently rubbed behind my right ear.  \"Let me give you a potion, and see how your\nbody reacts to it.\"  He took the vial\nfrom my aunt and took the top off before holding my nose and very lightly\ntilted the vial to where two drops landed on my tongue and I had no choice but\nto swallow and scrunched my cheeks closing my eyes at the bitter tasting\nfluid.  \"Now let's see the results.\"  He put the top back on the vial and smiled as\nI felt my headache go away and started to rub at my wound and lick my lips \"Could\nI get something to drink to get this taste out of my mouth?\"  My aunt proceeded to remove the bandage and\ngauze to look at the wound and watched as the smaller parts of the cut started\nto heal instantly while my uncle handed me a small glass of water.  \"Seven stitches,\" my uncle said as he looked\nat the wound and frowned.  \"I hope you\nlearned a lesson young man, don't ever interfere with a grown man's fight, and\ndon't ever put yourself in a situation that you could get hurt.  Accidents are one thing, but foolish heroics\nare another.\" He rubbed my shoulder as he said that.  \"You should be back on your feet by tomorrow.\"I finished my song and the audience's\nresponses were a look of amazement and wonder as the applauded me.  I had changed before their eyes from a\ncriminal, to a musician.  Mr. Thompson\nwalked over to me and smiled warmly seeing the audience's response.  \"It's amazing how all you needed to do was\nsober up and let people see the real you.\" \nHe smiled warmly to me, and I smiled back weakly to him.  \"Sorry about last night.\"  I said almost shocked that I had said that\nand he looked at me just as shocked as he flicked his tail and smiled as we\nleft the piano room and walked out to the deck. \n\"It's funny how all it takes is one little slip and everything comes\ncrashing down.\"  He smiled at me as he\nleaned over the rail.  \"I know what you\nmean by that.\"  He looked at me let out a\nsmall chuckle.  \"I'm actually glad you\nleft my care, you wouldn't have had any sense knocked into you had you stayed.\"  I wanted to say something, but was completely\ncaught off guard by his comment, and let out a small chuckle myself, but as\nwith anything in my life our laughter didn't last long as we heard a loud bell\ntoll on the ship and my heart sank as I watched him remove his hat and lowered\nhis head in silence.  It was the sound I heard\nfar too often in my life and it was the sound that brought back very painful\nmemories..."}