Foreign shores
Zac Brown Band; Knee Deep
Ross looked out over the gardens as his daughter stood beside him. "You sure he's the one?" The older fox laughed as she glared at him and nodded as he sighed. "I'll have the boys get our part done. You better tell your mother so she can arrange some things." The vixen hopped up and down and he laughed as she kissed his cheek before she ran back to the truck. Ross motioned to his sons, waiting until they were all standing in front of him before he smiled and squared his shoulders. "Boys, there's a young silver fox on the other side of town that needs some introductions. I'm sure your mother will have her paws full arranging things too."
Fayre looked back to the truck and blinked as Tranquility bit her lip grinning. All three of the tods glanced at each other before they laughed and rushed to the truck. The white furred vixen giggled as her brothers jumped in and she was signing frantically as they asked her exactly what all she wanted done. All three young tods smiled and narrowed their eyes as she raised her brows. "You want us to do that with him?! He's a city boy, right? I mean, a real city boy? Big City?" Fayre asked and laughed as she nodded.
Thorn and Vel looked in from the back window and snickered. "You think he can run that fast?" Thorn asked as she looked at him and shrugged.
Vel hissed as he threw his hat in the bed of the truck and rolled up his sleeves. "He better, or he'll get squashed." He chirped as they all ticked their eyes between each other. The white furred vixen crinkled her nose as Fayre put the truck in drive and they all laughed as he hit the gas. Ross stood there watching and shook his head as they peeled out of the driveway….
Adam lifted his head as several foxes came to the gates and grabbed a few bracelets before trying to hand them to the three tods standing in front of him. They all looked at each other grinning and shook their heads as the older fox raised a brow. "Where's John?" The older red fox looked behind them seeing the Albino vixen covering her mouth and his eyes lit up knowing what they were doing. Fayre cleared his throat as Adam looked back to them glowing.
"I won't tell him. He may not know how it works, but I do." They all nodded as he stepped away and came back a few minutes later with a curious silver fox. They all grinned maliciously as he tipped a brow at them, he looked back to Adam and the older fox snickered as he leaned over the front of the booth. "Have fun."
"Have fun? I can't leave! This place is busier than it's ever been and- BAH!" He yelled in shock and was wrestling as a burlap bag was thrown over him. He was hefted up by several paws and blinking through the confusion as several tods were laughing and hauling him off the ground. Nicholas was yelling and screaming as he heard Adam laughing and his eyes grew as they were swinging him back and forth when he felt them let go.
"I'll take care of everything, John! Nobody will even know you're gone, so they won't miss you!" he heard Adam yelling as his eyes grew wider.
He gasped as he was lifted into the air and landed with a thump, cringing before he felt the soft materials under him and scrambled out of the cover he'd been encased in. The silver fox glanced around blinking. His ears flipped back as he looked up to see Tranquility sitting in the back of the truck, one arm slung over the outside of the bed as her nose curled up at him. Vel and Thorn were laughing as they jumped over the side of the truck bed and shoved him in her direction. Fayre threw the truck in gear, making him fall back as she laughed at him. He crawled to the opposite corner shaking his head as her brothers kept snickering. "I thought you weren't supposed to come see me?" he asked as she slipped over to his side of the truck and curled her knees next to him. His ears dipped back and flushed as her head landed on his shoulder.
He swallowed as he looked back and saw her brothers watching with raised brows as she started rumbling lightly. The first time she'd done it since they'd met, sending him into a nervous frenzy as he tried to sit up straighter and get some distance between them so her brothers wouldn't kill him. The silver fox looked down at her wide eyed as her brothers started laughing, and the vixen stuck her nose against his as she wrinkled her muzzle again. "OK? I'm lost. You're all going to have to explain this to me."
"Soon enough, John." Fayre shouted through the open back window. He sighed as he threw one arm over the side of the truck bed, settling as the vixen curled into his side and smirking down at her as their fingers wound together. Nicholas was so enthralled listening to the sound she was making he barely noticed the truck stopping. He looked up jolting as Cassie stood at the side of the vehicle with a mischievous look on her face as her eyes narrowed on her daughter. The white furred vixen shied her eyes as her mother raised a brow and Nicholas cleared his throat as he tried to unwind their paws. Vel helped her stand as Thorn helped her crawl out of the truck.
The red tod still in the bed shoved Nicholas back to the floor as he tried to stand and shook his finger at him. "Not you, you're coming with us today, John." Vel smirked as Nicholas watched Thorn crawling back into the truck. Fayre put it back in gear as Cassie stood watching Tranquility signing. He still didn't know what she signed meant even though they'd been seeing each other for several months, not that it would have done much good as she seemed to be hiding what she was saying. All he'd managed to do was get a simple grip on the alphabet as she had kept showing him how to do it while writing him little notes when they talked. Cassie dropped her head in shock before she was grinning and ticked her eyes to the silver fox as they pulled away from her home. Nicholas looked around wondering what they were doing as Fayre pulled into a station and dipped his ears back as the fox came back out placing several boxes of alcohol in the back with him and his brothers. Vel grabbed one handing it to Thorn and Nicholas shook his head as they both curled their brows at him. "Just beer, John. It won't kill you."
"I've seen and heard different." He said as he shook his head.
Vel and Thorn looked at each other and chuckled as they shoved one in his paws. Nicholas looked it over cringing and Thorn sighed as he shook his head. "It's fox brew. Made of special grain that won't screw us up like other alcohol will, John. We don't dance with the devil and this is made just for foxes by foxes. It won't hurt you. They make all kinds of the stuff, use wooden barrels to age the good ones." Nicholas nodded as he popped the tab and sniffed it before taking a sip and laying back against the truck bed, drinking with her brothers until Fayre pulled into a sandy grove. He looked around when they all jumped out of the truck and climbed over the side as they reached in and grabbed the brew before he followed them down to a low beach where a small boat and several chairs sat.
He took a seat after Fayre motioned to one of them and watched the water splashing closer to his toes. They pulled a small boat from the reeds and hollered at him to join them before he stood up, wading out to his knees as he looked around.
"Geronimo!" Nicholas looked up wide eyed as Thorn swung out on a rope and splashed into the water in front of him. He sucked in a breath as Vel jumped on his shoulders and was pulled into the water with the weight of the other fox as he tumbled over his head. He came back up sputtering as Fayre laughed and jumped in with them. The silver fox looked at the boat and shook the water from his ears as he pointed, with a confused curled lip. Vel grabbed it and pulled it out with them. "It's just for the beer, John." He spent several hours goofing off with her brothers and drinking before he was feeling giddy and lightheaded as he refused another drink. They sat on the beach, watching the horizon turn a bright red as the sun lowered in the sky. He jumped as the chair he was sitting in was kicked out from below him, looking back at Fayre who seemed to be nodding his approval as Thorn and Vel chuckled.
Nicholas sighed as he shook his head. "You still haven't explained what this is about."
"Soon enough, John." Fayre repeated as he started gathering the empty cans and boxes. Vel and Thorn pulled the boat back into the reeds and tied it to a small anchor at the shore. They made their way back to the truck and Nicholas turned his head several times as they pulled into a large area with fresh short grass. "Come on, John. There's something we think you might like."
Nicholas jumped from the truck and looked around as the three tods took a stand around him. He shook his head ticking his eyes between them as Vel pointed. "This is the Grazers meadow. Those are the Grazers. The city hires them to keep the grass out here short so the tourists can see the mountains better outside the gardens. They get to eat for free and a lot of them just stay out here when it's warm like this. They tend to fall asleep where they're standing."
"OK?" Nicholas asked, shaking his head. "Why are we here?" Fayre chuckled as he dipped his ears back and Nicholas curled his brow as they all set sneaky smiles on their faces and urged him to follow them. He was watching every step he took and flipping his ears back and forth as the tods kept their voices low.
"That one, right there." Vel whispered as he pointed. Fayre nodded as Thorn motioned to Nicholas with a tipped head and he followed them until they were standing right next to a huge sleeping bull.
"What are we doing?" Nicholas asked as he kept his voice low, looking between all the tods who'd curled their muzzles up into what he considered sinister grins.
"Cow mudding." Fayre whispered before he shoved the bull over. Nicholas' eyes went wide as the massive mammal fell over, its legs flying into the air as it rolled. He stood gawking as a pair of dark brown eyes landed on him, bellowing out a sound he'd never heard before. "RUN!" Fayre screamed as they all laughed and shot back towards the truck. The silver fox's jaw hung open slightly as everything around him shifted, every cow and bull that had been slumbering in the summer night shot their eyes open and turned, before they were all glaring at him.
"Oh shit." He mumbled as the bull scrambled to all four hooves and stomped a hoof into the ground, shaking its head as its nostrils flared. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He took off screaming with a herd of cattle chasing after him and barely jumped into the bed of the truck as Fayre stuck it in gear and peeled the tires through the grass, throwing mud in every direction as his heart pounded in his chest.
"WILD'S!" The bull screamed as he kept charging after the truck. Fayre yanked the wheel, laughing hysterically as his brothers and Nicholas were tossed around in the back of the truck, sending another wave of mud flying over several of the cows who either became infuriated, chasing them harder or stopped as they shook their heads, grumbling and walked away. Nicholas peeked over the bed as the truck veered again, wide eyed as the bull nearly clipped the rear end. Vel and Thorn were both laughing, catching him when he nearly fell out and braced his paws against the roll bar as he looked around stunned.
"HANG ON!"
Nicholas grasped the roll bar like his life depended on it as the truck spun in circles, the other foxes laughing hysterically as he was screaming at the top of his lungs. The bull that had been chasing them stopped and narrowed his eyes, listening to the silver fox screaming and sighed as he shook his head before he was chuckling. "Wild Foxes," he spat before he bellowed out another sound that had several of the cattle around him stop dead as they all lifted their ears. "Get em boys, there's a new one with em tonight."
Nicholas was clutching the bar as the truck turned again, his eyes shot open when the massive bull they'd knocked over charged again. He shook his head when instead of trying to ram the truck, it seemed to jump into the mud they'd created and sent a wave over the vehicle that had him with a perplexed look on his face as the truck came to a stop. He was left completely covered in mud as he tried to shake his head and get some of it out of his face. He opened his eyes again and they seemed to be facing off with the whole herd as the other foxes cackled. All their ears pinned back in an ornery face that had his eye twitching when Fayre revved the motor several times. He looked down and saw the tod in the cab grinning ear to ear as he grabbed the clutch and stomped his foot to the floor, barely managing to catch himself as they shot forward with him screaming again. "AHHHHH!"
After his heart had been racing through his chest and panic had caused him to curl his eyes closed as the cattle charged, he gasped as the tires spun. The truck seemed to be driving right towards certain death and he opened his eyes as they started spinning around again. Blinking as the cattle around them were all bellowing in a high laughter as they each threw themselves into the mud with each turn the truck took, throwing muddy insults at the foxes who seemed to be doing the same in return. It only took him a minute to figure out they were all friends and this was some sort of game they were all familiar with before he was laughing. He caught his balance as they threw him another beer…
Tranquility sat with her mother and Cassie smiled as she looked up and found Ross standing at the door. "He has an awful lot to learn Honey, and you're moving pretty fast here." Cassie said as she leaned back in her chair. The white vixen's paws were in a rush and her father chuckled as he shook his head. "I didn't say that, Tranquility. If he's the one you want, I'll introduce him for you." The white vixen jumped and curled around her mother after the long conversation they had and turned as her mother's ears perked. The lights from the truck pulling into the driveway, flashed through the window and she shot from the couch as her father walked out the door with her mother. Both older foxes tilted their heads as they watched their sons helping a very drunk silver tod who was laughing as he slid around the mud trying to get out of the back of the truck.
They watched their daughter cupping both paws over her muzzle before her maw split into an elated giggle as Nicholas fell over laughing. He rolled onto his back on the ground, with her brothers all looking down at him chuckling. "He can't hold his liquor, Dad!" Ross snickered as he walked over and looked down.
The silver fox's eyes shifted as the white furred vixen tipped over him and she yelped as he grabbed her, shaking her head as the mud he was covered in drenched her dress and fur when he pulled her to the ground and rolled over her. Her brothers were all laughing as he looked down at her with lazy eyes and a goofy smile. "Hello, Beautiful. I thought I lost you. The ocean isn't half as much paradise as you are." Her eyes shot open as he tipped lower and ran his muddy muzzle along her chin as her father's jaw fell. Her brothers all laughed as a jet of water sprayed over them and sent him rolling away with a yelp as their sister sat up teary eyed.
Cassie kept the hose crimped tight as she bit her own smile and looked at her sons sternly. "Cow mudding?"
They all shrugged and pointed at the younger vixen. "It was her idea!" Thorn shot as they all laughed at the fox Cassie was spraying down with a hose.
The older vixen giggled as the silver fox kept putting his paws up and shook her head. "Fayre, since you're the only one not covered in mud, go get the truck cleaned up, you two, get in line."
"Aww Mom, that water's cold!" Vel protested before she narrowed her eyes on him. The tod bit his tongue as Fayre took off out the driveway to go to the carwash. He stepped in front of her sighing as Nicholas wiped his face off and looked up at her giggling.
"Beautiful must run in the family." Cassie halted and nearly dropped the hose as her sons and mate all snickered. Ross helped Tranquility up and motioned to the house, telling her to go get cleaned up before she looked back and saw her mother shaking her head as she started cleaning the rest of the mud off the young silver fox.
"Extra silver fur, figures he has a silver tongue too." She giggled as her daughter laughed and turned to go inside. Cassie cleaned him the best she could and turned her attention to her sons with the hose, laughing as both of them were nearly hopping around under the cold spray.
Fayre helped his brothers get the stumbling fox into the truck after Fayre returned, and Adam met them at the gates. Laughing silently as Nicholas' feet drug the ground while Thorn and Vel had each of his arms draped over their shoulders, clutching his wrists.
"Musty have been one hell of a party." Adam asked as he looked him over.
Nicholas let his head drop to one side and laughed. "Party! What the hell are we having a party for?"
Adam raised a brow as they all followed him to the little building he stayed in and got him into his bed. "You didn't tell him?"
Thorn and Vel looked back at the silver fox grinning as Nicholas' eyes closed and a light snoring rounded through the room as Fayre shrugged. "She didn't want us to explain it. She said she wanted it to be a surprise. He'll figure it out after she asks him. Bachelor parties are always a bit of a surprise anyway."
Adam nodded as he motioned back to the door. "What did you do? When's she going to ask him?"
"A family thing. Tomorrow, I think. Mom said there was one more thing they had to do first. Wants to introduce him to the council here."
Adam smiled as he watched them leaving. The door closed and he looked back at the slumbering silver fox and narrowed his eyes. "I'll be damned."