The Littlest Kumiho
Part One: Acts of Kindness
by neoraichu
All characters of The Littlest Pet Shop remain the property of Hasbro Inc and the show's creators.
...
"Isn't it just a nice day for a walk?" asked Blythe as she held on to the leashes of Zoe, Pepper, Penny and Minka.
"It's good to get away from the boys for a little while," agreed Zoe.
"Don't you think they'll get lonely back at the Littlest Pet Shop without us around?" asked Penny.
Zoe snorted before she replied, "It's not like we're going to be gone that long."
"I think we should go to the park," suggested Minka, "That place has the best trees to climb."
"Sure," agreed Blythe, "Let's find a place out of the way. It's inconvenient that every person that sees you in a tree thinks you've escaped from me and tries to call Animal Control on us."
"You'd think they'd know better by now," she replied.
"They just don't know you the way I do," answered Blythe cheerfully.
"No one does," said Pepper.
So they changed streets to travel in the direction of the City Park. A short montage of buildings, streets and people passed before they got their. She only stopped a couple of times to chat with passersby about her charges as well as get a few hot dogs. After all, hot dogs weren't good for animals, but she couldn't resist Zoe's begging eyes. She liked them as much as any other dog Blythe knew. Considering what was in most hot dogs, Blythe wondered if Zoe would still like them so much.
"Well here we are," said Blythe as they walked into the park. They made their way into the heart of the park to find the most secluded place they could find.
"It's lucky Sunil isn't here," muttered Pepper, "You know being anywhere even remotely wild... sends him climbing the trees!"
The others simply groaned at her attempted humor.
"What?!" she protested, "I thought that was pretty good!"
"Just keep working on that," muttered Zoe.
So they walked deeper into the park where they could soon leave the path. A place where they could get out of sight of the humans using the park. While they weren't supposed to leave the path, the city didn't really have enough people to keep people from leaving the marked paths.
"This looks like a good place to stay out of sight for a while," commented Blythe as she looked at the narrow copse of trees they had walked into.
"Wait," said Zoe, "I hear something. We're not alone."
"It's probably a rabbit or a squirrel," replied Minka.
"No," she replied, "It doesn't sound like one of those. The smell isn't right either."
"Where is it?" asked Blythe.
"I think it's just beyond those bushes over there," she said as she pointed with her nose.
As they drew closer, they could hear sounds of whimpering. It didn't quite sound right for any dog or cat that they had heard before.
"I better see what it is," said Zoe, "It might be something dangerous."
"Are you sure?" asked Blythe.
"I think I have the best chance to run and hide if I have to," she replied.
So Blythe let Zoe off the leash to go into the brush to see what was making the sounds.
"I hope she's okay," muttered Blythe.
"Wow, you really put your feet in that one," said Zoe from the other side of the bush.
"Come to mock my bad fortune?" asked a voice from the other side.
"Oh no," she replied, "I wouldn't wish that one any animal!"
"What's going on?!" asked Minka.
"It's some kind of fox," replied Zoe, "They're caught in a leg trap."
"What da what?!" asked Blythe, "This is a city park! Those are supposed to be illegal!"
"Stay back or I'll bite!" hissed the fox.
"I'm just here to help!" replied Zoe.
"Why would a pampered pet like you care about a wild animal like me?!"
Blythe pushed through the bushes with the others in tow. It was then that she saw a small fox with both front legs caught in a leg trap. While it was toothless, it was surely hurting the little animal with how tight it was.
"STAY BACK OR I'LL BITE!" cried the fox in distress. It tried to pull away against the leg trap, but the short chain anchored in the ground kept them in place.
"I'm not here to hurt you," said Blythe soothingly.
"Wait!" it replied, "You... understand me?"
"Sure I do," she replied softly.
"She understands all animals," said Zoe, "or at least most of them..."
"And she's about the kindest human you'll ever meet," added Penny.
"Oh you poor thing!" called Blythe, "How long have you been stuck like this?!"
The fox paused to think before answering, "Almost two days."
"You must be starving!"
"Oh, I've been through worse."
"Look," she replied as she fished around in her handbag, "I just want to give you some water and some treats I carry around for the pets. I promise they're okay."
"Why should I trust you, human?"
"I don't see you having much choice fox," muttered Zoe.
"How do I know this stuff isn't poisonous?!"
"Look, if you're that suspicious, I'll drink and eat some first just to show you I'd trust Blythe with my life!"
"Okay..." replied Blythe. So she poured some water in a small bowl she carried in her bag and let Zoe lap up some. Then she offered her a treat that she eagerly devoured. Once the fox was sure she was sincere, she placed water and some more treats down on the ground within reach of the fox. While sniffing cautiously at first, she was soon drinking and eating eagerly.
"See?" asked Penny, "Blythe cares about all animals."
"You aren't a local fox, are you?" asked Blythe.
"What makes you say that?" asked the fox as she paused drinking.
"There's something... off about your accent..."
"The humans where I live," replied the fox, "They call it 'Ko-ree-ah'."
"Ah!" said Blythe, "That's where Youngmee is from!" She paused before she added, "That's a long way from home. How'd you get all the way over here."
"I didn't want to be here. Humans stole me from my parents and stuffed me in a box. It was small, hot and uncomfortable. I was bounced around and left without food for a good day or so. Then they feed me some... junk food... and stuffed me into another vehicle. Somehow, I managed to escape the truck and slipped into the park... but I got caught in this trap because... because... I was so hungry!"
"If you promise not to bite, I promise I'll get you out of that trap."
"Why do you care so much?"
"I... just do."
The fox paused before replying, "I promise not to bite as long as you don't hurt me first."
"Well... that's good enough," she replied as she moved closer. She put her hands on the jaws of the trap and began to pry it open. Fortunately, it was no bear trap or she would surely have not been strong enough to do so. Once out, the fox tried to spring away only to fall onto it's side in pain.
"AH!" moaned the fox, "That hurts!"
Looking at it's forelegs, Blythe could see blood from the fox's efforts to get loose in the places the leg trap was holding it.
"Look," she said, "There's no way you're getting home like this. You're hurt and there's not much in the way of hunting around here. If you let me take you back to the Littlest Pet Shop, I'm sure we'll get you fixed up properly. I swear we'll find a way to get you back to Korea and back to your parents."
"I'm not a pet!"
"I promise I'll keep you hidden from the other humans until you get better. No one will treat you like a pet. They won't even know you're here... well not until you're fit to be sent back home."
The fox paused for a moment before replying, "Alright... I'll trust you."
"Okay," she replied as she drew closer, "Now I need to treat you legs. Lucky I keep emergency supplies in my bag just in case... Oh, and you can call me Blythe. What's your name?"
"I'm a wild fox," replied the fox, "I have no need of names!"
She began to get medical supplies from her bag as she looked at the foxes forelegs. Then she took some antiseptic wipes from her bag as she said, "This might sting just a little, but I promise it won't last."
"It can't hurt any more than..." said the fox as Blythe started to clean its forelegs, "YIPE!"
"It's okay!" said Zoe, "It's been done to my boo-boos before!"
"Me too!" added Minka.
But the fox rolled onto it's back as Blythe continued to treat the forelegs.
"Oh," she mused, "You're a vixen aren't you?"
"What does that matter?" asked the fox.
"Oh, nothing important," she replied as she removed a roll of bandages. Then Blythe began wrapping the forelegs in clean gauze tape. It soon seemed like her forelegs were becoming mummified.
"How can I walk like this?"
"Oh yeah," muttered Pepper, "You were walking really good before..."
The fox growled.
"But how can you sneak a fox into the Pet Shop?" asked Penny.
"Oh that's not hard," said Blythe, "If you don't mind being carried in my handbag for a little while."
"All right," she replied, "but I'm still no one's pet!"
"Understood," she said as she wrapped the fox in a blanket and slipped her into her bag. There was a rustling in the bag.
"Hey!" said Zoe, "Is she eating our treats?!"
"Don't worry," said Blythe as she started walking home, "There's plenty more where that came from." Then she paused to say, "Sorry about cutting our time in the park short."
"Oh, we understand," said Minka.
"But I don't think Russel will understand," muttered Pepper.
"That we have more treats?"
"No, that we're bringing a fox back to the Littlest Pet Shop."
"Oh..."