Author's Note: Ok, so here is the dealio everyone. For anyone who may stumble upon this be warned, it's completely made up and might sound very weird. I had started this a few months ago when I had a mini fox obsession, and decided to finish it and see what people thought. I'm sorry if anyone else has written something similar to this, but I didn't want to go into full detail about every little thing. I'm also just sort of winging it, and I rushed a little, so it may seem jumbled. Don't hate me :( And for anyone who knows me, don't be hating. I wrote awhile ago! I only posted this because I like it and worked to much on it. Hope you like this :D
Disclaimer: In fact for once, I do indeed own all of this, so no copying :P Is it called a claimer then? Hmm… confusing _ Ah just read.
Were-fox Tale
My ears twitched as I relaxed in the shade of the big oak tree. I was in my favorite meadow, right outside the city limits. I was in my fox form, as not to startle the wildlife. I was partly fox, but also human. A were-fox if you will. It may seem odd, but everyone was like that back home. Well, I was the only were-fox, but everyone I knew is also partly animal. My best friend Justin was a were-raccoon, and my parents were different then me. You see, we don't change into animals until we are at least five years old, so we can control ourselves around full humans. All the were-animals lived in private cities across the globe, but we would occasionally visit human cities in our regular forms. Anyway, when we become the right age to become an animal, our genes take over and we go through the transformation. It is painful, but worth it afterwards. The feeling of an animal is like no other experience, and each one of us is different. I love the feel of speed, but lightness on my feet. To be sly and cunning, and have an amazing sense of smell and eyesight. I could blend in as a normal fox, making it easy for me to hunt small animals if I was too far from home. Justin and I would go camping sometimes, giving ourselves away to our instincts and acting like true animals. We still had to attend school though, half for learning but also training to learn new skills.
Thinking about school reminded me that I had to get back home before school started. I stretched across the soft green grass, savoring the feeling of relaxation before I had to return. No one knew about my meadow except myself, even Justin was unaware of it. I loved watching the sunlight dance on the wildflowers and grass, how the woodland creatures would skip around it when I was in my animal form. I took one last look at the beautiful sight before me and then I was off in a sprint towards the school grounds. My backpack was right outside the building, and I changed into human form before grabbing it and heading towards school. Even though I looked human, I still kept my pointed ears and long fluffy tail.
Usually kids kept their ears and tails on so people would know what species they were. Although I had gone to the same school for a while now, it was still an amazing sight to see so many kids with animal parts. Some kids didn't have ears or tails, so they kept other things like wings and horns.
I saw Justin talking to his little brother Henry while they entered the school. Henry was a were-kangaroo, and his long brown ears and thick tail made him look anything but Justin's brother. Justin and I had similar ears and tails, except his were smaller (with him being a raccoon and all) and were a smoky gray, while mine were a stunningly bright orange. On the tip on his tail was a tuft of jet-black fur, like mine only I had snow white. "Hey, Justin!" I yelled, and ran over toward him. Henry and Justin turned toward me and smiled, then Henry went off to his own friends. "Hi Summer, where were you this morning?" He asked, giving me a skeptical look. "I thought you liked getting to school early on Mondays." I rolled my eyes, he knew I always slept in. "I was just off running around the forest. You know how most of the teachers are about us being animals in class." Normally the more academic classes forbidden us from changing too much into our animal forms, only some parts allowed.
The bell suddenly rung and we had to sprint off to class. Luckily we had homeroom together, so we could hang out. Mrs. Divitto was sitting at her desk, engrossed in some paperwork, while most of the class was walking to their seats, moods drifting from boredom for the day, to excitement, probably for later activities, like P.E. I groaned, we had P.E. today, and it was my least favorite part of the week. We had to be completely human, and although I was fast and swift like a fox, as a human I was a horrible athlete.
I was contemplating faking a sprained ankle when I saw my table partner. We had assigned seating in all classes because for some reason the teachers thought it would help us learn more if we were with an enemy animal, some junk about "teamwork". Next to me was Freddy, the were-grizzly bear. He was a total jerk, and since he had little in the ear and tail department he made up for it by always wearing a pointed set of claws and sharp teeth. It was rather sick if you ask me. I tried getting my paper on the seven deadly sins that was due today, but a dirty claw came close to my face and almost ripped the first page in half. "Oops." Was all Freddy said, but I could see the smug smirk on his face. On my other side Sasha, a shy little were-chipmunk. She was nicer then most of the kids here, but was still a little scared since she was one of the smallest animals, and usually got picked on. Justin was across the room in between a were-jaguar and a were-rabbit. Mrs. Divitto suddenly came up to the front of the room and ordered everyone to retrieve our reports. A few kids read theirs, and much to my amusement Freddy accidently clawed the corner off of his essay, and had to go reprint it.
Mrs. Divitto was a were-zebra, but she didn't show any tail or ears. Most adults kept human form in public, since it was more of a child thing. They still used their animal forms daily, but for more then just recreational reasons. I began to doodle in my notebook while the teacher lectured us, and all too soon the bell rung telling us it was time for a fifteen-minute break before math. Math. Oh joy. Math was almost as bad as P.E. Don't get me wrong, I was a great student, but the class itself was incredibly boring.
I slumped out of my seat and met Justin at the door, a cheerful look on his face. "Why are you so happy? Math is next." I questioned him bitterly. He just chuckled at my expression. "Well, unlike you, I have science before math." I had forgotten that Justin and I had different schedules. I gave a dramatic sigh before we headed to the field where most kids hung out at breaks. "I'll race you around the field!" I declared before shifting into a full fox. Justin was caught off guard but quickly shifted into a raccoon. I knew it was unfair, since my legs were longer, but he always made fun of me when I was human for being slow. Justin and I were about to start off when a few other kids joined in; luckily for me they had rather pathetic animals. I had to say that I sometimes felt bad for kids with animals like these. One boy made a show of shifting from human to… a turtle? That was to be that saddest animal ever. After he was shifted fully into a… turtle, he smirked at us, like he thought he would win. A girl next to him with thick makeup caked onto her face shifted next, into a pig. I tried to hide my laughter as a coughing fit when the girl let out an oink. The least boy had already become a giant panda. I couldn't help but pity the kids next to me; surely being a were-turtle isn't very fun. Some more decant animals joined in and a small mouse climbed on top of a branch.
"Ready…" she called out, and everyone scrapped his or her claws, hooves or paws into the dirt. "Get set…" I heard a small snarl from next to me, but it sounded off, like a puppy growl. I peeked down to see the turtle baring his teeth; I chuckled to myself and almost missed the "GO!" The animals sprinted as fast as they could, well except for a few with less energy. The turtle was hiding in his shell avoiding being trampled by a large bull. I knew I couldn't win, I was right behind a horse, bull, lion, and wolf. Hmm, a were-wolf. Very stereotypical. Whenever regular humans thought of half human and half animal creatures, were-wolves were all they ever thought about. What about were-foxes? Or were-raccoons? Or even the were-turtle and were-pig? I was pondering all the other were-animals when I heard a neigh and saw the horse prancing around merrily at the end of the field. I looked and saw that the turtle was still a few feet from the starting line. I shifted back to human form, keeping my ears and tail of coarse, like the other animals. Justin caught up to me, human as well, and pointed toward the school building. I huffed in aggravation; math was next. We walked at human speed, and then parted to our respective classes.
The rest of school passed by, and Justin and I said goodbye and left. I shifted to fox and trotted home, enjoying the warm spring day. The feeling of warm sun on my silky fur, hearing the sounds of nature around the small city, all of it was exquisite. I arrived home in a matter of minutes, and was greeted by my parents.
Although I was their daughter, there is only one of each animal in the town, me being the only fox. My mother was a were-moose, and although she stays all human most of the time, at a younger age she would show off her great wooden antlers. My father was a were-giraffe, smaller horns but his height was incredible. When I had been born, my parents were sure that the genes for hooves and antlers or horns would be passed down, and I would become a were-deer or a were-gazelle. Although all these animals sounded nice, I was still glad for my becoming a fox. I was fast and stealthy, a unique canine who could fight but flee at any moment. Being an herbivore would limit me from playful fighting with other animals, and I enjoyed my sharp teeth.
I returned to human form and picked up my backpack from the floor, where I had dropped it off at lunch so I could run home. While walking forward to my room, I pulled out my math homework, the one of the only classes that gave us academic homework. After slaving away for twenty minutes on the difficult problems, it was time for my other homework. I quickly became a fox once again and practiced new skills, such as pouncing and sneaking up on stray birds from the yard. Once the sky had turned dark, I trotted back to he house and ate a fast dinner before bed. It was a regular day for me, school then homework, practice then bed. Only on weekends did my schedule change, but it was almost similar.
The rest of the week passed in a blur, same as always. I woke up on Saturday to something wet and cold pressing against my arm. I sleepily peered over to find Justin nudging me with a gray raccoon snout. I was greeted by a "Morning," but I just groaned and checked my clock. It was six o'clock. Six in the freaking morning. I should have been sound asleep, but Justin kept nudging me. In a minute I gave up, and quickly shifted into a fox before heading with him to my living room, then out the front door.
This happened every weekend. Justin was an early bird, and I was a night owl, so every Saturday he would wake me up to go camping, and I would bug him all night so he'd stay up. We made this rule in fourth grade, when we first started our weekly camping trips. Justin was now running at full speed, so I totted along until we made it to the woods. Now you may be wondering, where is our food? Our cell phones? Camping tents? Shouldn't we at least tell our parents? Nope, nah uh, wrong and not likely. Part of being an animal is acting like one most of the time. For food, instead of bringing along some old granola bars, we hunt. Live pray. It seems gruesome at first, but hunting is one of the only times we can act like savages, and completely give over to our instincts. I normally hunt small rodents like squirrels or chipmunks, while Justin went for large bugs or a mouse if he could catch it. As a law, we must say hello to our prey first, in case they are part human. It seems so silly, saying hi to the baby rabbit that you are about to devour. And yet, you never know when your next meal might be your neighbor. There have been a few accidents in this town from hunting, but only the fatal ones get arrested. Although it completely ruins the element of surprise, my older cousin was killed because someone thought he was a real beaver, so I am always extra cautious. So bottom line, we hunt for food. In case of emergency, instead of cell phones we just run home. The forest is close enough that as long as you can walk, you can get in the city in a few minutes. Justin and I prefered to sleep under the stars, or in a burrow we find. Since kids would probably end up sneaking out and causing trouble, parents are always cool about us heading out. It might cause a problem if all the kids snuck out, considering we have animal senses.
I was right about to break into the trees of the forest, with Justin at my side, when there was rustling in the bushes. We paused, hoping if anyone wanted trick us by jumping out we would be ready. But the sound faded away, so Justin scurried into the forest, me trotting close behind. Guessing it was probably just a bird or something, I shrugged it off after spotting a few napping bunnies hidden in the grass.
When hunting was over, Justin and I simply sprinted around the forest, having fun like the giddy children we were. It was getting dark, about dusk at the moment, when we decided to sleep in a hollow tree where an owl once lived. The tree was enormous, so we both could fit in while in animal form. I soon drifted off to a peaceful sleep, up until the dream.
It was at first just a dream about me in my meadow, resting in the inviting sunshine. It sparkled across my fur, until I looked almost neon orange. All was right in the world… but then there was… snickering? I lifted my head up from the soft grass, in the direction of the muffled cackles. It got louder before drifting away completely. What the heck? I began to get up, wanting to high tail it out of my haven before someone saw me. The odd snickering returned at that moment, only it got louder and louder until…
"Ah!" I gasped out, waking Justin. "What? Is someone there?" He asked, and I saw that it was morning. I was about to explain myself when there was a sound. Muffled snickering. Justin and I glanced at each other but before we knew it, there were two sneering animals advancing towards our tree. One was some sort of jungle cat, although I couldn't name what kind. The other was a hyena, and although much smaller then the great size of the cat, he was much bigger then me.
All Justin could get out was "Who-" before they pounced. The hyena easily pinned him down, continuing to snicker. Justin could have turned human to push the hyena off, but that would make a harder get away. The jungle cat simply jumped onto my back to hold me down, barely allowing me to breath. I couldn't turn human; it would do me no good against such a strong animal. This was getting annoying, but there was suddenly something red on the ground. I looked up to see Justin thrashing around, blood dripping from his small, gray body. I waited to see if he was all right, and was relieved to see it was just a couple cuts from the thrashing. As if trying to make us feel any better, the hyena reassured us something that made my heart skip a beat "Now now, little raccoon, no need to struggle, we won't hurt you, but I can't say the same for your friend." I gasped when this fully sunk in, and was half happy, half frightened. They weren't going to hurt Justin, probably let him go. But my future wasn't looking too bright. I heard a sickening snap, then screamed in agony when I felt the searing pain in my leg. Hesitantly, I peeked down to see my leg was in an odd angle, blood beginning to spill out. As if my pain weren't enough already, I heard then felt another snap, this time on my front leg, then another on my ear. The pain was overwhelming, and all I remember was hearing "Get her in the ally." Before I blacked out.
My eyes slowly opened, but my vision was blurred. When I was fully awaked, the pain returned full force, causing a list of profanities to whisper from my mouth. I quickly shifted my eyes to the sides in search of Justin, but he was nowhere to be found. I knew that he wouldn't leave me here, so those awful animals must've taken him. I began to stand up, but my leg was in far too much pain so I fell back down. I knew that if I stayed here then someone would smell my blood and hunt me, there being no proof that I wasn't just any other fox. Shifting would hurt too much, so I began limping in a random direction.
I had been going for about ten minutes, dragging one leg while holding up the opposite paw, and cocking my head to an angle so my ear wouldn't hang limply. I was so happy when I saw lights up ahead. That meant the city was near. I was nearly to the edge when something moved in the bushes. I froze in place. What if it was predators looking for easy pray? I was just an injured fox, killing me would be no problem. What if it was the hyena, or jungle cat? I was still sickened that they would take Justin. I was about to turn around when more pain came to the back of my head, and I once again was out cold.
I could hear before I could see. Sounds came from wherever I was, and luckily they were a murmur a voices, so someone had found me. I opened my eyes, expecting the pain to come back, and yet it was dull, like a healing wound. Once I had fully awaken, the scene in front of me was unfamiliar. Pastel colored walls bordered a small room containing three beds, not including the one I appeared to be resting on. Realization dawned on me when I tried moving my leg, only to be stopped by a thick cast. I was in a hospital. But, how? I was still in fox form, so I knew that I hadn't shifted before fainting. To anyone else, I was just an injured animal roaming the woods. Something was off, and I was going to find out before returning to the forest.
A young man walked through the door wearing a white coat and scarily big grin, looking falsely chipper and overly happy, and I got the impression that he was hired to make patients feel better. Immediately I was annoyed, who the heck was this guy? "Good afternoon, my name is Doctor Smiles!" Screamed the too-happy-for-my-liking man. I realized that I had been assigned a child doctor. How old did they think I was? Oh wait, they don't. I was still in my fox form, and there where no adult records of a were-fox in the town, I could be three and they would never know.
After me staring blankly at "Doctor Smiles" for a moment, his smile faded then he asked me "Ok just checking, how old are you? I know your not six, you were out in the woods." I rolled my eyes before answering, "I'm twelve, so you can stop the happy act. Now what happened?" He smiled slightly before answering, "Someone called the police saying they found a dead fox in an ally. The police came by and when they saw you were alive, you were brought here, since no wild animals would just wander into the city," He was filling out a sheet on a clipboard, then glanced at me before continuing. "You have a broken leg, a broken arm, and you seemed to have fractured your ear. Luckily once you your bones have healed enough to let you shift, you will be able to leave, since animals heal faster." I nodded and asked a few more questions about my condition and when I could go, then the doctor left and tried to remember how I ended up here. The doctor had said I was in an ally, but how? I didn't remember being in the city at all. I was with Justin out in the woods…
Justin.
Suddenly, my memories came flooding back in a rush. The jungle cat and the hyena, holding Justin down, making him helpless as deer in headlights. My odd dream, the snickering that I realized was only partly imagined; the laughter had interfered with my peaceful slumber. Justin was with them somewhere, and I wasn't able to stop it. It was my entire fault, what if they decided to hurt him? What if they already had? Would it be worse then my injuries? Would a doctor get there in time? What if…
What if they killed him?
A few guilty sobs raked my body and then I tried to concentrate on details, anything that might help to get my best friend back. I remembered their cocky sneers, arrogant and confident, like they had done this before. Giving a mental shudder at the thought, I recalled something one of them said…
"Get her in the ally". Oh. Oh. Oh god, what was going on? Why had these people, whoever they were, take Justin? It just didn't add up. I didn't know what they wanted with him, but how did I fit into this? If they only wanted Justin, then it didn't make sense as to why they hadn't just killed me, and why I was left with so broken bones. Stalling? I wasn't sure, but keeping me alive seemed to be in their interests, so I was not all too frightened.
One thought kept bugging me. Why not me, instead of Justin? A girl would be easier to kidnap then a boy, and there would be more… reason to. I began to tremble, as selfish as it was, that I hadn't been taken. The deep voices of those animals meant men, and I wouldn't be able to stand the anxiety. Could it be for our coats? No, foxes were rare in these woods but not raccoons, and my fur was so much for expensive. Justin was also lower class then I, so ransom didn't seem likely.
I continued with my jumbled thoughts and some more guilt until the window crashed, accompanying a loud smash. Shards of glass flew in every direction, and I whimpered when some pieces got through my fur and pierced the skin. I yelped in pain when a large chunk of the glass slammed into my cheek, and began hyperventilating when blood rushed down my neck. I screamed in fright when in front of my bed, stood a large buffalo. A note card was thrown onto my lap, and just as suddenly as he came, the buffalo was gone. Doctors were rushing into the room then, some sweeping up the glass and a few were removing glass from my skin. My paw pushed the card up to my face, and after reading it, I fainted once again.
Please review! I'm sorry for spelling mistakes . I bad at those. I think I'll post a twilight story this weekend so no one thinks I'm mentally challenged at writing anything. I didn't finish this cuz it's silly to finish something no one will read, so let me know if it's good enough for me to grace you with. Also, I used my name for the main character because I didn't want to accidently use an awful name. It's not actually me though.
PS. If you were half animal, what animal would it be? No choosing Fox!