Towing The Line

Alissa Cara; Wild Things

She - It is everywhere and is the only thing that is always and can be in two or more places at once…..

John Doe

A red furred tod stood pacing the floor as he waited. The rabbit next to him watched him as he kept nervously wringing his paws while he kept glancing at the clock. She giggled as he looked at her with a tipped brow. "First litter?"

He nodded as he sighed. "Time just seems to be crawling. I feel like I've been sitting here for days when it's only been a few hours."

"Here, to pass the time." The doe said as she handed him a small red book.

He looked at the little book and took it gratefully. She watched as he flipped it over. "Hounds of Hell and Angels of death?" he asked as she shrugged.

"It's a very old story. Common knowledge among bunnies because we have a tendency to study religion. Keep it, maybe it'll help you pass the time as you wait."

"I think I may have heard of it when I was younger. It's a book? A religious thing? I thought it was just a story to scare kits into going to bed. Wait, can I pay you for it? We…I mean foxes don't really take things and not give something in return."

The doe giggled as she looked back to the door and shrugged. "Yes, it is. Share it with others and learn something new. That will be enough of a payment, won't it?"

The tod smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He said as she got up and left him to the book. The pages opened and time passed quickly as he read the story. The last page turned and a faded parchment fell out as he looked down curiously. The fox picked it up and read through each line…

Darkness and light shall bear the color of life. The God of Mischief shall rise…. A higher breed of fox…. the father of the father who incites chaos shall find his place in Eternity….

He folded it over and stuck it back in the book before he placed it in his pocket. He rubbed his neck and sat back up, looking at the clock again as a rabbit came out of the side door. She bowed her head as he jumped from his seat. "Can I see them?"

"Mr. Eden. Perhaps you should sit down." When she shied her eyes from him and swallowed, he shook his head.

"Where are my mate and my kits?"

"There were complications. I'm sorry Mr. Eden, she didn't make it and only one kit survived."

"I need to see them." He said with heavy brows as she shook her head.

"Mr. Eden, I think it would be best if you only saw the …"

"Show me! You can't keep me from seeing them! It is a Primal Law for foxes!"

She dropped her head as she took a breath and led him into the back room where a body laid covered with a sheet. The Doe turned away as he pulled it back and cringed as he gagged and wretched through gasping breaths. "Uhhu. Gods! They're torn to shreds!" he cried as she cinched her shoulders. "How did this happen? It's unnatural and someone screwed up! What the hell happened?!"

The doe looked at the other door and watched as the doctor who'd delivered them stepped into the room. "You have one child that survived, Mr. Eden. Perhaps you should focus on him and not the loss."

The red fox swallowed as he stood, still stunned by everything as he followed him blindly. He stopped at a large window as the doctor motioned for the nurse in the nursery and another doe stepped out and lifted a bundle a bit larger than a fox kit should have been. The red fox blinked as they unwrapped the infant, showing him the black fur and elongated claws as the little tod lazily slept. He blinked as his eyes swelled over. "That's not my son… that's not my son! Get that demon away from me!" He backed away as his lips trembled and shook his head. The fox rushed through a door and was running down several sets of stairs before he burst into the night air and sobbed as he looked up at the sky. A bright orange moon hung as he pulled the book out and flipped through pages, before he looked back into the night sky. "A bad omen… Born under a full blood moon, the hound from hell will bring life's demon, unless the father of his blood strikes him in the mould of love. For if he knows of a dark heart, he shall tear the world apart. For if he follows a darkened path, no life will stand as he breathes his last. An angel of death will be his bride, and they shall bring forth the sire of Gods…. a fox who will father a higher breed, rebirthing the world with his seed…."

His ears flicked as he shook his head. Your son…. listen…. heart…. A voice barely whispered as his teeth ground together. He sucked back the tears and filled his heart with rage. Please…. heart…. blood…. family…. love…. the voice echoed again as he stiffened his back and curled his lip under, glaring back at the hospital.

"He killed my family. Tore his litter mates to shreds as he clawed his way from his mother's womb and took her, took them from me, everything I loved… he took my heart. I've brought a demon into this world. No matter what I have to do, I will make sure he doesn't destroy it..."

The dark shadow that had been whispering on the wind hung her head as her attempts to sway him were ignored. She left shaking her head as she dove back into the shadows, knowing her pleas fell on deaf ears and a path had been set that she couldn't change as he twisted her words to what he wanted them to fit. All she couldn't see was all there was as she set about trying to lead those who needed to be one together again. She came out of the shadows in a darkened nursery where a tiny black furred kit slept snugly in a swaddled blanket. "Every child born to this world is mine to keep. I can give you only this as you make your way in the world. I will hide you in the darkness, protect you from as much as I can. You must be only what you are and will become. A fox. You will find your way through lies and betrayal, and you'll find your opposite. Each of you will represent the only things that can save this world. Gods are made of nothing more than what is belief. I will stay with you and keep you hidden for as long as I can. Believe little one, and you shall become…. Nicholas." The figure fled into a corner under a counter ledge as the door opened and a light flicked on. Several rabbits poured into the room as she narrowed her hollow eyes.

"Lilith," an older doe hissed as the younger picked up the little bundle and turned, showing him off as she smiled. The doe raised her head as she pulled the bundle apart, showing off the black furred fox in her arms. "What makes you think this one is any different than the others? We've been spreading these stories and rumors for centuries to find the ones who will bring this to pass and still have failed in all our attempts. The foxes never believe these stories and he still has a family out there."

Lilith smirked as she looked at the little fox she bounced in her arm. "Well mother, this one is different. When the doctor called me in a panic because he screwed up trying to deliver them, I got here and found this little guy was the only one still living. I took the time to talk to the father, since we're out here in an obscure district away from anything civilized, he'd never heard the stories. He left in a huff not long ago. Heartbroken guy." She snickered as she bounced her eyes between the rabbits in the room.

The eldest of them stepped forward and narrowed her eyes. "That changes nothing, Lilith! He could change his mind, come back for him. If he does and you've convinced him the child is a demon, he may kill it which would lead to an investigation we can't afford! Then what good would any of this do? Like I said before, how is he any different than the others?"

The younger doe bounced her arm again as the little black fox curled into a ball. "Do you think I have not thought this through, Mother? It just so happens that I got a report from another rabbit in the City of Roses. It seems there's a vixen there who had an odd anomaly with one of her tests. One in the litter she's having is a vixen, an albino vixen."

All the does in the room gaped as Lilith smiled. "Born at the same time?!" the older doe asked as she ticked her eyes between her daughter and the kit she was holding.

"Well, within a few months yes."

"Lilith, even if there has never been an albino vixen and an extra silver tod living at the same time, that's the point- they never live long enough to start school and how would we get to her? The foxes don't believe these stories."

Lilith smirked as she rocked back and forth looking him over again. "We can't get to her, it seems her mother's in a very high position and not even the little hints that were dropped through the hospital swayed her thinking about keeping the little girl when she knew she'd be born deaf and likely not live long."

"What position?" the older doe asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"I believe she's on the council there, but it really doesn't matter does it? We don't need to get to her, if we can get him…to her."

"How do you plan on doing that?" the older doe asked as she tipped her head to one side.

"Well, if the father comes back. I'll simply tell him I'm a concerned guardian here and am looking out for this kit. He doesn't know I work here, will never know what really happened, and if he decides to take the child, I'll convince him it would be better to leave him at an orphanage, a place where he can look in on him if he needs to."

"They don't usually live long after they lose a mate Lilith and how would we be…. You intend on having him leave the child at one of our orphanages?" Her mother growled as the doe smirked again.

"If they have something to love they can live, like a child that's left behind that needs them, or something they hate more than all they loved and lost. It won't be that difficult to create this little John Doe will it? Not if he's in our care and we have sway over his father to guide him where he needs to be, when I've already planted the seed in his father's mind?"

The does in the room all looked to the eldest there as her brows rose. "My goodness, Lilith. You have been a busy bunny tonight, and exactly how do you plan on keeping this all-in place, and that fox on track in order to stay in line with the scrolls?"

"Oh, he has the scrolls already mother. I slipped a copy of them into the book I gave him with a few …minor changes to the wording. As for keeping him in line, do you think he'd oppose the fox council if he believed they were the ones trying to catch the fox God and make sure his children were the ones who were next in line to rule the world? A higher breed of fox. He's not going to understand it anyway. Every fox we've read it to, sees it as something else and we know what we're after. All I need are the resources from the rabbit council to make sure he's well-funded, and driven into hate. Everything happens for a reason, so I believe this vixen will live and they're meant to meet."

The older doe blinked as she looked back at her daughter, while the other does sported nasty grins. "Aren't you a chip off the old block?" one of the elders snickered as her mother raised her head.

"Indeed, she is. I'll give you all the resources you need, Lilith. So long as I believe you have this under control and aren't trying to shove me off my seat."

Lilith giggled as she rewrapped the little fox and laid him back in the nursery bed. "Oh, I intend to get your seat mother, it's my birth right but I want Nine to rule them all more than anything else…."

They all turned as a nurse rushed into the room. "The father is back! He says he's taking him home with him!"

Lilith smiled as she straightened her shirt. "You should all make yourselves scarce. This needs a delicate touch." They all chuckled as she opened the door and turned as she motioned to the nurse. "By the way, take those claw extensions off of him, will you? We don't want the little guy hurting himself now do we?"

Her mother shook her head grinning as the nurse left to grab something to get them off with. "You're calling him John Doe? A little John Doe...You are a wicked little thing, aren't you?" she asked as all the does around them giggled.

"It seems appropriate and I do try, Mother." Lilith ushered the other rabbits from the room and turned the light off, her ears ticking back as she heard a low growl from in the room. The doe stuck her head back in, looking around before she shook it off as she closed the door behind her.

Grace slipped from the shadows, curling over the little tod again as she pulled a piece of her darkness from her own form and laid it on the little fox's fur, watching it place a sheen on him that darkened his fur even more as she growled at the door. "I will hide you in your darkest moments, I will be with you in every step you take until the day comes when we must part ways. I will be your shadow, and that rabbit should hope she never finds herself in mine, for I've never known mercy…"

A few months later;

Tranquility

Grace flew through the night, curling around all the living plants that grew in the forests, in her wake she left a trail of death, nothing but darkened ashes remained as the life she collected swirled around her until she could no longer gather anymore. She set her ears as she heard a soft sobbing and dove into the shadows.

Cassie ground her teeth together watching them feverishly working on the little vixen she'd been told would likely not live long. She buried her face in her mate's chest as the tod curled around her, all their sons already taken care of and greeted before the white furred vixen had been born. She felt her mate's tears dripping onto her shoulder as she lost the ability to keep her breaths still and shuttered as he wrapped her more tightly in his arms. The vixen's head shot up as the lights went out and the doctors were all scrambling to get emergency lights up as they continued to work on the little vixen who was losing her heartbeat. The shadows danced on the walls and sent confusion into the room as Cassie and Ross fought to see through the maze of mammals who were still scrambling around their newborn daughter.

Grace fled under the little vixen and curled around her as the doctor grabbed a small set of paddles. "I will give you the one thing I have never given anyone. I have stolen life for you, so that one day you can bring it forth. I will give you, time." She unwound all the life force she'd collected from the forest as she poured it into the little vixen's mouth.

"CLEAR!"

Grace was thrown away as the spark from the charge to her little heart set the life she'd collected into motion within the tiny albino fox. Cassie jumped, sobbing as Ross curled around her trying to keep her from seeing what was happening. The vixen shoved him away as the doctor and nurses who'd been around her all stepped back in shock as the tiny vixen screamed. All of them blinked in shock as the tiny fox's arms and legs kicked out and thrashed in all directions before they were scrambling around her again.

Several hours later Cassie and Ross sat looking over their sons and tipped their ears as the doctor came back in with a bundle. The vixen burst into tears as they laid her daughter in her arms. Her mate pressed his head to hers and closed his eyes sobbing as the little vixen cooed in her arms.

"She's about as healthy as they get."

Cassie laughed through her own tears as she looked over her daughter, examining all her little fingers and toes as her mate looked over her shoulder.

The little vixen opened her eyes and both foxes looked to each other blinking as she looked around. The doctor chuckled as he stood watching. "Damndest thing anyone here has ever seen. All kits are born with blue eyes, hers are such a bright green if I didn't know any better, I'd think they weren't real."

"She got your eyes, Cassie." Ross sighed and bit back his tears again as the vixen sniffled.

"No Ross, she got the Wild eyes. Just like her ancestor…Marion."

"She's awfully peaceful for everything that happened, isn't she?" he asked as he looked her over and ran a finger over her ears, chuckling as they flicked several times. "Tranquility Marion Wild. Like the white roses that I grow with eyes as green as the stems and leaves on them…"

Notes; John Doe - A fox with that name would be a dead giveaway regarding his life to all foxes in fox culture. He's not one of the souls Grace moved around. She has to wait until everything lines up to set everyone in place. Mr. Eden is Nicholas' father. His first true name was Adam. Lilith is the bunny running the top of the rabbit council. (Adam believes she's running the fox council) Evelyn is the mother of the kits he took in and the one who helped him nearly kill Nicholas as he tried to tear him and Rose apart to get their paws on young Nicky in Think Like A fox. Lilith calling him Little John Doe is a reference to Robin Hood. Grace telling him she will be his shadow is a reference to Peter Pan.

Tranquility's (Rose's) eyes being so green is a direct result of Grace pulling life from the Earth to give her life and Time.