High in a tree with the moon at his back, the white fox watched the odd collection of woodland animals sleeping below. Most were curled up inside a large hollow log. Two others were snuggled up in a stolen human's carseat nearby. The night was cool and cobalt blue. Aside from the low murmurs of neighborhood television sets and far-off cars, the small patch of forest was silent.
The fox sighed.
'So many at once. How am I gonna pull this off?'
He was proud of his duty. He was proud of all the other assignments he'd completed successfully. Most of them were groups too, yes. But eleven was the largest number of Chosen he'd been assigned so far, and he usually worked with _much_ smaller mammals. In this case though, the squirrel was the most petite among them. Not counting the porcupine children, who posed their own set of problems. Pointy ones.
Still, the very fact that he'd been given this assignment showed how much faith the others had in him. If they weren't absolutely certain he could do this, they never would have asked him. Simple as that. The fox drew confidence from that thought.
He'd watched this group long enough. He knew plenty about them. They called themselves a family, and their actions showed this was true. That was a big reason they'd been chosen. They hadn't performed many world-saving heroic feats, but that had never been the point anyway. They were animals of all different species who were willing to risk their lives for one another. This level of loyalty and love was what had earned them the reward he'd been assigned to give them.
'If only delivering the gift was simple,' he mused.
Curling his tail around his nose, the white fox went to sleep. He would introduce himself to them in the morning.