The early summer morning broke as peacefully as always upon the country land of White Deer Park. A strange grey-haird man with swirls down his pants walked the calm forest. His shirt almost looked like it bore a set of eyes, one on the bright pink-purple side and one on the left brown side. The bright pink that embellished the purple side glistened in the predawn atmosphere.
Eyes that were nearly catlike scanned the woods he strode calmly through the forest and down a row of trees as if he owned the place.
Despite the presence of this strange man, the woods lay at peace. A owl hooted softly some way off, the call of another answered followed by the rustle of branches in a nearby tree.
As the sun began to peak over the horizon, a set of boots could be heard pacing softly through the grassland. The faintest hint of purple and brown shone as the stranger found his way past the set of the Farthing Fox and his mate. Sheogorath smiled to himself as he lent down to poke the Wabbajack down the entrance of the set. After a moment he pulled the thing back out and looked at it.
"Do ye no work anymore?" He tapped a nearby tree with the Wabbajack only to witness a brief flash of light. He chuckled to himself but stopped as he spotted another figure. "An what pray are ye doin' here?"
"Me?" innocently asked the draconequus who just so happened to be hovering upside down on a cotton candy cloud in the middle of the small clearing.
"Na, I was talking tae that bunny way off yonder."
A light chuckle escaped Discord as he flicked his cloud into oblivion before he teleported to the crazy man's side.
"Well if you must know. I could detect some loverly chaos happening and had to check it out." Discord braninshed a top hat that had appeared in his paw as if he were a gentleman.
"Ye're a bit slow laddy. Ah've finished mah fun here. I can offer some chaos in Skyrim though."
Discord placed the top had upon his head and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I think that sounds like just the ticket after the day I've had."
A bright flash of light started the duo. "After our wedding I told you, no more galaxy hopping!" The brilliant white coat of Celestia shimmered with her wrath under the moonlight as she glared at the patchwork creature before her.
"But dearest, you know me. I couldn't resist." Discord's attempt at a smile turned dry as his wife continued to glare at him. "Okay. Okay, you win. Killjoy."
Sheogorath broke out into a fit of laughter, unable to believe such a chaotic bad guy had been apparently domesticated by a pony. Not just any pony either. This was the mighty cake eater, the one who had once been his enemy. "Shal ah go get the cane. I feel the need to join in this whippin'."
The glare from the once evil creature failed to deter the madman who continued to laugh.
Celestia's horn glowed for a moment as it ensnared the Draconequus. The pair disappeared before any protest could even make it out of Discord's mouth.
With a shrug and one brisk tap on the nearest tree from his Wabberjack, Sheogorath took a moment to enjoy the feel of his magic as it exited the tree and shot out across the peaceful park. With a delighted grin the crazy man departed, sure to return another time to enjoy the results of his Wabberjack's chaotic power.
The early summer morning broke as peacefully as always upon the country land of White Deer Park.
Vixen rolled over as her mind gradually returned from dreamland. She smiled as she felt the warmth of her mate against her back. One eye cracked open as she turned to admire the old fox before her.
Time froze like the pond in the middle of winter. This was not her Fox. This was a kit. A kit who reminded her of her first born, Bold. However, she could immediately tell that this was another youngster.
Another sensation washed over her as soon as the shockwaves stopped. Never mind the fox cub in front of her, she herself felt amazing! It felt like she could run forever. A boundless energy that only the young had. As she shifted her previously sore joints, she realised another thing. Her legs no longer had a stiffness to them. She felt brand new. Whatever did she eat or drink yesterday that caused her to feel so amazing?
Unsure over what was going on, Vixen shifted about to escape the young kits embrace. Instead of letting go, the young fox gave a cute little squeak and nuzzled into Vixen's neck. She felt the strangest sensation wash over her. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn it was her mate nuzzling her. His motions were that of Fox right down to the-
*Yawn* "good morning my dear."
On the other paw… he did look like she imagined her mate would as a youngster. What was going on?
Due to lack of reply, the kit forced open his eyes and stretched. "Vixen?"
The cute squeak in his surprised voice caused Vixen to giggle. It went well with the equally cute yet lost look upon his muzzle as he staggered to his feet in shock.
"Who are you? A-and what happened to Vixen?" The young fox asked.
The way the kit said vixen… it was clearly her name, not just a reference to her gender. "But I am Vixen… Who are you?"
"I'm-" the young tod froze in shock as his mind processed the words Vixen spoke.
Yep, whoever this was, he sure was a cute kit. But it could not be her Fox, that would be impossible. Her fox had entered his twilight years just as she had. Plenty of life left sure, but this youngster may as well be her grandchild or even great grandchild…
Vixen was broken out of her thoughts as the tiny tod found his voice once more."B-but it can't be. My mate must be at least eighteen seasons older than you are…"
"Excuse me!" Vixen exclaimed before she could stop herself.
"What? She is. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. We met long ago in a forest far from here. She chose to be my mate after I rescued her from a group of- You know… you really look like I imagine she would as a kit."
Vixen gawped, unable to believe her ears. "Yo-you're Fox? My Farthing Wood Fox?" Her voice broke into a surprised squeak as she continued to eye the shocked kit who now stood a cubs length away, seemly unable to move.
"I… Am." It was then that Fox realised that his voice had lost its depth. He sounded like a cub again. Wait, what?! "You're… you're so young… Where's my Vixen gone?"
Vixen could not believe her ears, "b-but if you are- and I am…? Then-"
"Wait… you really are my Vixen?"
"Yes…" Vixen trailed off as she turned to examine her body and froze in shock at how small it looked. No wonder she felt so amazing when she awoke. "But… But…" the young vixen's head swam as she tried to figure out how such a change in their ages could have happened. "What-"
"Happened?" Fox finished the sentence for his young mate. "I really have no idea. But sitting here wondering about it won't help us."
"Always the leader I see," Vixen smiled, glad that her young Fox was still the same creature she had long since fell in love with.
The young female smiled as her pint-sized mate scratched himself then did a massive stretch and yawn. "Awwww… you look so cute Fox."
"You should see yourself. I cant believe I missed out on seeing you like this before. You look adorable." He giggled back, "I feel like a new fox though. It's like…" Fox turned his gaze upon his now youthful body and froze stiff as a board, sure that his eyes were deceiving him. Soon enough, he found his voice, "no more back pain, my paws don't hurt… I feel like I could run forever again. I can't believe it!"
"Want to try it out?" Vixen smiled as she stood with a stretch.
"What?" Fox cocked his head, unable to stop himself as he continued to admire his young mate.
"A run. Here, I'll race you!" With a light tap to her mate's side she raced past him and out of the den.
"You're on!" Fox shouted eagerly as his cub side, a side long forgotten, took over.
The pair of youthful lovers raced out of their set and along the soft turf that led to the pond. With gleeful laughter and much bouncing around, the duo raced between trees.
Fox skidded to a halt as rounded a bush and rammed straight into the surprisingly large side of Hurkle.
"Woah there! Slow down youngsters, no need to go crashing into everyone." The middle-aged badger did a double take, "I cant recall seeing you two before. Where are your parents?"
"Hello Hurkle," Fox sprung forward, eager to greet his friend.
The kind creature was taken aback by the youngsters greeting. "Do I know you?"
"Yes," Vixen said. "I'm Vixen and this is Fox."
"A lot of fine fox and vixens around here," replied the badger with a smile.
"She means we are the Farthing Wood Fox and Vixen. We just don't know what happened to us that made us young again." Fox spoke up.
The badger chucked. "Really?
"Yes. We don't know how, but we woke up feeling young again." At Fox's words, his young mate eagerly nodded in confirmation.
"I see the farthing Fox has found another fan then," replied the bemused creature.
"No! I mean we are the real Farthing Fox and Vixen," insisted the young tod.
The kind badger gazed at the couple in shock for a few moments. Hurkle was unsure of what kind of game the youngsters must be playing, he couldn't help but wonder however… were they really being serious? They did smell an awful lot like those they claimed to be and his nose never lied.
No of course not. But at the same time, it couldn't hut to humour them could it? After all… if they were fans of the legendary couple, the youngsters wold be ecstatic if they met their heroes. Realising he likely had held his silence too long the badger finally found his voice. "Really? I've never heard of creatures becoming young again."
"Neither have we. Yet here we are," Fox bounced up and down energetically. "Wow… i really do feel amazing," he commented to himself.
"Do you mind if we head back to Fox and Vixen's den then?" Hurkle asked.
"Not at all," replied the young tod.
As Hurkle passed the pair, Fox couldn't resist the opportunity to gaze lovingly at his young mate. He grinned broadly when he realised she had just caught him checking her out.
Vixen sidled up beside her lifelong companion. "Pervert. You should have your paws tied up for looking at a kit that way."
"But you're such beautiful as a cub," insisted Fox. "Besides, I'm your age remember."
With a coy smile stamped across her muzzle, Vixen whipped her lover's muzzle with her tail as she passed him.
"You're going to get it for that, Vixen!" announced Fox as he dashed off after his mate.
The young tod caught his companion with a leap. As he crashed into her, he managed to grasp her hindquarters. The pair tumbled about, unused to such dexterity yet loving the rediscovered energy of youth. Tails and limbs flew every which way as the pair quickly turned into a cute ball of fox cub. They promptly rolled down a small hill together, trailed all the way by the sound of laughter and shrieks of joy.
The pair came to a sudden stop in a small hollow. "Pinned Ya," giggled Vixen in victory.
Fox smiled back at the kit on top, "yes dear. Now, get off me."
With a swipe of his paw, Fox dislodged his companions hold. Taken by surprise Vixen collapsed upon him. The pair tussled around for a few moments before coming to a halt, Vixen once again on top. More laughter brightened the morning air as the duo lay there, unable to believe they were playing together as cubs.
"I don't know what happened to us, but at the moment, I don't care. This feels amazing, it feels like a dream." Fox confessed, his voice rich with joy.
"It reminds me of when we first met," Vixem smiled softly. "Although you were so exhausted."
"I was, yes." Fox conceded. "But now-"
"Young ones?" The voice of their now-elder brought the pair out of their own world. "Are you two coming? Or shall I leave you to play? I would hate to break up your playtime."
"No no. We are coming," confirmed Fox. "Whenever my loverly mate gets off me."
That got a odd look from the badger who chose to say nothing about what it meant to take a mate.
Two kits waited impatiently outside the set of the legendary Farthing Fox and his Vixen. Their older badger friend had entered to wake the couple up so that they could meet the two youngsters outside. The very two animals who were supposed to be sleeping were in fact the pair of youngsters waiting.
Fox nuzzled Vixen lovingly while they waited. With a cheeky nibble to his ear Vixen turned the loving nuzzle into a playful tussle. Unused to the small size of the bodies, they soon lay ungainly together in a two fox pile. Vixen, the top fox gave her mate a lick on the muzzle. Upon receiving the kiss, Fox's smile turned lovestruck and his eyes gleamed with joy.
The badger who had emerged just in time to witness the tail end show of affection broke the pair's moment, "This is most odd, the Farthing Fox and his Vixen do not appear to be at home. I am sorry, but it looks like I cant help you two."
Fox sighed, "But I am Fox and this is my mate, Vixen." He nuzzled her chin with a pup like vigour that still managed to carry years worth of love behind it.
"But… how is this possible?" Hurkle gazed down at the pair in shock. If the playful pair really were telling the truth, then his nose would indeed be correct. As impossible as it appeared, they must be the old couple.
"We don't know," admitted Fox softly.
"I- we must tell the others. Your children… your grandchildren.. what will they think?"
"You did this!" A young weasels shrill voice pierced the morning air. "Come back here you measily twerp! Ill get you!" Clido and Fido rushed after the younger pair weasels who looked like tiny versions of their parents.
"What just happened?" Fox asked, stunned.
"That sounded like Weasel.. Just, younger like us." Vixen replied, shocked that there were others who had been transformed as well.
"Oh no…" Fox cringed, "I do hope we haven't lost all our older animals to whatever this is."
The now young leader turned to the stunned badger. "Hurkle, would you mind rounding everyone up? I'm afraid the others might also not regonise us."
That broke the badger out of his stupor, "I'm on it. You can count on me, I'm kind." he hunkered off in search of the other animals dens.
Fox turned to admire his mate but found her gaze already upon himself. When caught looking, her gaze snapped up and away in embarrassment.
Laughter escaped the young again kit before he nuzzled his mate. "We are still mates. No need to be embarrassed just because we are youngsters again."
"It's just… It feels strange. Ive not looked at any other fox ever since I met you. But now… I'm seeing a younger you and my older self cant help but feel a bit lost." Vixen admitted softly as her gaze landed upon the ground in front of her in shame.
"Oh Vixen, come here." Fox playfully grabbed his mate's ear and dragged her down with him as he fell to the soft grass. She flopped easily down upon his tummy and giggled as his nose brushed up against her own.
"Let me tell you a secret," with a huge smile, Fox leaned closer to his mate's ear.
Vixen tensed with a mixture of suspense and eagerness.
"The younger me had absolutely no idea what to do around girls. In fact there were no other young foxes my age at all where I grew up." With a shy grin, Fox kissed his young lover. His tongue traveled down the side of her muzzle as he held onto the sweet action for as long as possible.
As contact broke, Fox contented himself with simply gazing into his partner's captivating eyes. If it weren't for his many seasons experience with her, he was sure he would have been absolutely lost by now.
"Well… since we are young again, would you like to play with me?" Asked Vixen.
A soft pitter-patter was heard as the tod's tail wagged briskly. "Oh boy, would I ever," Fox grinned up at his mate.
The peaceful morning exploded into noise as the shouts of an angry young weasel once again invaded the duo's senses. The weasel in the lead dashed straight into the pair of young lovers.
"What-?" Fox managed before he was cut off by a high pitched shriek. The young female had caught her companion
"Ha! Gotcha you measly little twerp. Now what did you do this time?"
"Me? Nothing! I've already told you, this wasn't me!" the young male weasel wined desperately.
"Measly? Weasel? Is that you?" Vixen cut into the heated, one-sided exchange that had run into them.
"Yes, of course its us. Now, who are you?" A highly irate Weasel shot back.
"We are the Farthing Fox and Vixen," replied Fox, already tired of needing to tell others who he was.
"Pull the other one," laughed Weasel. "You two look more like-"
"Weasel!" Fox's sharp tone shut the bossy creature up.
"There you are!" Fido exclaimed.
The nearly fully grown weasels cautiously approached their patents. It was clear they were expecting the troublesome couple to attempt another escape.
"This is going to be a long day," Fox sighed as he sighted an unwelcome addition to the already unbelievable day.
Plucky and Dash loped along rather ungainly compared to their usual speedy grace. As they drew near, Fox realised why. His grandson towered above him, nearly the height of two fully grown foxes. The hare next to the young leader appeared to have suffered an even greater growth spurt. Her ears alone were longer than Fox from nose to tail.
Hollow flew in with an owl young enough to be his daughter. However, the young owl looked all too like the sage-like bag of feathers herself. Hurkle brought up the rear with a distressed look upon his muzzle.
"Fox! Where is my granddad Fox?" franticly asked Plucky as he came to a halt before the cubs.
"I'm afraid those two youngsters are your grandparents Plucky," Hurkle informed the giant fox.
"What?" Shock overcame distress for a moment as the young adult attempted to process the bizarre information.
"Oi! I demand to know what is going on!" Piped up a highly indignant young Weasel.
Weasel lost her audience as the familiar sound of Whistler rent the morning air. It rapidly grew in volume till the heron and his mate came into view. However, something was very off about the pair. Even from a distance the small ground bound group could see that their friend was a lot bigger than normal.
The flight of the surprisingly large heron with a bullet hole in one wing failed to take away from his smaller, normal sized companion. Speedy looked like she had several buckets of paint thrown at her. The bright pink and purple female heron stood out in the blue sky.
"Incoming!"
With an almighty crash, Whistler landed with less than his usual grace upon the lone badger in the group completely smothering the beast.
"Oh no…" groaned Fox softly.
"This really is going to be a long day," Vixen finished for her mate.
Chaos.
Chaos is here at White Deer Park :)
Good ol' chaos.
Discord missed out on the action for now.
Sheogorath is likely to be back and possibly Discord too :p in this crazy tale of animals growing younger/larger/more colourful and more. Of course I'm open to suggestions on what the crazies can do to the Park residents as I want to make this both cute and insane. I thought it would be a fun, random way to take the Animals of Farthing Wood away from the norm. This came from me seeing a super cute pic of Fox and Vixen playing together as kits and I decided I just had to find a way to make a story about them together as youngsters even though they meet as adults. That pic was just too cute :)
More is sure to come. I just really like my AFOW stories for some reason...
On a side note, I love how this old series is FINALLY getting a DVD of all 3 seasons. FINALLY! I got super excited when I saw that Amazon and one other site will be selling the DVDS :)
I'm so gonna be buying it. Finally able to replace my tape rips on my mac with something a little more high quality :)
Anyways, I'm gonna be working on other stories for a bit, but hopefully around new years I'll have some more for this story. It depends on how well this is received.