Everything burned.
Pillars of fire writhed through the ruins of a once great structure. Great, infernal tongues devoured everything, licked the night sky and belched smoke until even the stars faded away, seemingly snuffed out by the choking ash.
The mighty blaze lit up the surrounding area for quite a distance, revealing a flat, dusty, featureless landscape, only broken up by the occasional rock or dead weed.
Some distance away, just barely within the circle of light, something disturbed the dry dirt from below. Previously hidden below the soil, a thin metal door flew open in a plume of dust. A figure sprung out, took two steps, then froze.
Firelight danced over thick, red fur; short, triangular, black tipped ears; a long, narrow snout punctuated by a dark canine nose; and finally, a long, luxuriously fluffy tail. It was a fox, long and narrow, standing on two legs and dressed in loose robes. Wide, green eyes stared blankly at the distant destruction, while everything else seemed to fall limp against his frame: his ears; his jaw; his arms; his tail. Even the pistol in his right paw hung nervelessly from clawed fingers.
Signs of a recent fight were obvious, even in the unsteady light. The knuckles of his left paw were split. The fur under his left eye was matted with blood and his cheek was beginning to swell.
A moment later, another figure emerged from the hidden passage before coming to a stop just behind the fox's left side. This creature was much shorter than the first, only coming up to his chest, if you didn't count her long, rounded ears. The differences only continued from there: short, gray fur; a stubby snout with a little, pink nose; and a short puff of a tail, good for distracting and not much more. Even her robes were different, tighter, showing off a shorter, rounder frame. She clutched a spear as long as she was tall with both paws. The tip was a four inch metal blade, shiny with fresh blood.
For an instant, the rabbit froze in her tracks as the fox did, violet eyes dazzled by the blaze, but only for an instant. Shaking off the spell, the doe turned to her companion and spoke urgently.
"Nick, c'mon. We have to go."
She couldn't see his face from that angle, so the only reason she knew the fox heard her was a slight twitch of the ear. Nothing else happened for a long moment. Eventually, he did respond, though his voice was faint and distant.
"...go?"
It was a good thing her ears were so large, or the rabbit might not have heard him over the distant thunderous roar of the fire. Noting the strange tone, her brow pinched with concern. Taking one paw off her spear, she reached out and touched his arm.
"Nick?"
Whatever she did, it seemed to work. The fugue that held the fox in place visibly lifted as his ears and tail rose back up and his jaw clicked shut. The rabbit's pinched brow smoothed as her partner pulled himself back together.
In the distance, the sign that bore the name of the once great structure caught ablaze. Just before it was consumed completely, it read: WILD TIMES.
On the fox's other side and unseen to her, the paw holding the gun clenched around the grip, the pressure slowly increasing until his whole arm shook.
"Right. Yeah, we should go," he said, voice a little rough, but steady.
"Alright." Nodding decisively, the rabbit turned to do just that.
"One thing, first."
Brought up short, the rabbit turned back to her partner. Her brow pinched again, this time in consternation as she wondered what could possibly be important enough to delay their escape.
That pinched brow rose in shock when a warm gun barrel pressed against it. Wide, violet eyes stared up at the pistol in shock.
Nick's voice drew her gaze. Frozen emeralds bore into the rabbit with such intensity she actually shivered from the chill. "Now, Carrots," he pulled the hammer back with an ominous click, "tell me why I shouldn't kill you."
Author's Notes: Yeah, yeah, I know I promised more EEE, but work related shenanigans ate up all my time, so you're going to have to live with this. Updates are on Saturdays, if at all.
Big thanks to Cimar of Turalis and especially she_dies_at_the_end(aka ClassyRogue) for some really great feedback, it really helped me form this story into what it is going to be.
P.S. I really am working on EEE, but the chapters are longer and more complicated and this one in particular is shaping up to be an ass kicker. I'll get it out as soon as I can.