The Last Rite of Passage 1992
Shinedown; How Did You Love
Thousand Foot Krutch; Be Somebody
Nicholas stumbled through the vixens and rushed down the hall, slamming into the bar across the door that led to a stairwell and stumbled down several steps as Rose turned to Clara. The older badger nodded as she took Nicky and they all watched as she rushed after her mate. Nicholas crumbled into a corner and slid to the floor, pulling one knee into his chest as he held a paw over his face, sobbing. Rose rushed through the door and ran down the stairs to him. He pushed her away as his lips trembled and sobbed as he started stuttering through each word he spoke.
"It's my fault! They're all gone because I started that park. Fayre, Vel, Thorn. Ross, and now Mum."
Rose grabbed his wrists and threw them aside, snarling in his face as his eyes grew wide. The vixen slammed her paws with each word she spoke and he sat stunned, sniffling when she bore her teeth at him. "IT IS THE PAST AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE IT! THEY LOVED YOU! I LOVE YOU!" Nicholas sat blinking tears away as Rose sat up on her knees in front of him. "Mom wanted us to be happy for as long as we could all be together. So we would have something normal, Nicholas. I knew this was coming and so did she. Now I can tell you the truth about everything because you aren't thinking clearly." The silver tod shook his head, curling his lips up and looked up sobbing again as she grabbed his muzzle growling.
"Adam lost his mate and his kits!" Nicholas blinked as Rose took a breath. Her eyes spilled over on her cheeks as she lifted her paws again. "Foxes can only live for a few years after they lose their mate, Nicholas. If they are lucky. Unless they find something to love as much as what they lost. Don't you understand? Adam lived for you, because of you! He wouldn't think he died for nothing knowing you lived, and neither would any of my family! Family is Eternal! No one can ever take it away!" He let his eyes fall and she grabbed him again, pulling his attention back to her paws. "Damn it, Nicholas! Everyone dies! It doesn't matter how they die! It only matters how they lived! The only thing anyone remembers is how they were loved! No one gets to judge you but YOU! You don't hold on to the rest of that shit! You hold onto the love they all had for you, the love you had for them and the good memories you made. That is what you remember! If that is not enough -YOU HOLD ON TO ME!" The silver fox blinked away another stream of tears and shook his head at her 'swearing' before he shot forward wrapping around her. He pulled her into the corner with him and they both held onto each other. Both rumbling lightly as they pressed their heads together, running their muzzles through the others and collecting each other's tears. Rose waited until he had calmed his breathing before she stood up and held his paw, pulling him back up the stairs. He kept his eyes locked on her as they walked to Clara and Richard.
Nicholas looked around and back to the old badger as he shook his head. "Mr. Hayward? Where did they go?"
Richard looked down the hall and shook his head. "The vixens? They said they needed to make some arrangements and thought you needed some time alone."
Nicholas nodded as he pulled his eyes back to the room Cassie was in. The door had been closed and he took a deep breath as Rose wrapped an arm around him with Nicky on her hip. "Do we need to..."
Rose shook her head as Nicholas looked back at her. The silver fox sniffled again as Nicky reached for him. Nicholas took him and he let his son curl under his chin as he pet his ears.
Rose smiled sadly. "He understands, Nicholas." She signed before she wrapped around him again.
Nicholas and Rose went home, leaving the rest of Cassie's affairs to the vixens in the Den until they were called to meet the council members at a large lake. Rose held Nicky as Nicholas let his eyes drop, unable to look at the vixen any longer. Cassie was laid out on a floating platform that held all the flowers sent by the foxes from the Den. There were very few in attendance and Nicholas was grateful Mr. and Mrs. Hayward, the Zerda's, the vixens from the council and a few others weren't crowding anything as Rose stayed curled around him with Nicky on his hip.
Madge stepped closer to the little barge Cassie was laying on and pushed it away from the dock. She turned in front of Nicholas, holding up the little torch that had been burning in the den for the last three days. "From the fires that we are born, we return to our mother as the ashes left behind." She held it in front of him and Nicholas closed his eyes as Rose took Nicky.
The silver fox sucked in a deep breath as Tracy brought him a bow and arrow, watching as the little barge Cassie laid on floated out into the water. The fabric from the ornate dress billowed in the wind like sails as Nicholas dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth as he pulled the bow back and knocked the arrow.
Mrs. Hayward placed a paw on her mates' arm as she watched Nicholas' arms and paws trembling. Rose watched her hold her arms out and she nodded as she handed her Nicky, turning and stepping behind her mate. She lowered behind Nicholas, resting her head on his shoulder as she reached around and steadied his paws. Madge held the flame in front of him waiting. Nicholas felt Rose's paw over his and her other on his arm as it braced the bow. He tipped forward, grabbing the flame and lighting the arrow tip, closing his eyes in one last moment trying to calm everything. Rose held around him as he tipped the arrow into the air, holding him steady as he opened his eyes and aimed. "Let the flames fly true and return her fire to her so she can rejoin her mother."
Nicholas' ears tipped at a screech sounded and looked up blinking as a falcon flew overhead. The fox held his breath as he returned his attention to the billowing fabric flowing around the flowered barge, and let loose. He held his breath as two black fledglings flew with the falcon, swirling around the flaming arrow until it hit its mark. The birds flew off as he took a relieved breath, watching the little barge light up. Rose curled around his back and he turned rumbling, wiping her tears away as Nicky was handed back to them. They curled around each other as Madge stepped to both of them with a small urn. Nicholas and Rose placed the ribbons that had been cut from Cassie's dress inside it before she turned to Nicky. Nicky clutched his looking back at the fire on the water and sniffled as he ran his muzzle along it. He handed it to Madge before she used the same torch to set its contents on fire. It was buried later in the cemetery of Happy Town after the flames died. The torch was let go into the same lake, and every fire that had started in Zootopia from the fire she created was put out as word spread the mourning period was over.
The day of the 'funeral' there had been a large group of mammals that dropped by the Den who and brought food for the family. Nicholas and Rose were both struggling to get everything back home when it was all said and done. Richard and Clara brought some things back in their car that wouldn't fit in the Wilde's. Rose took Nicky inside as Nicholas was unpacking everything. Lee and Anna parked on the curb and were wrestling with car seats. They hadn't gone to the service with their kts being so young. Once they had all the kits in the house, Lee helped Nicholas grabbed what was left in the car and carried it inside. Rose was shuffling things in the refrigerator and Anna let the kits out to crawl around on the floor. Nicky had taken to the same little spot he usually sat in with a book as Bradly toddled to him. The red fox kit dropped his head and sniffled as Bradley tilted his head.
Rose closed the refrigerator and watched the little fox pull the book away from Nicky. He dropped it as he let his head fall. Bradly plopped in front of him and grabbed his muzzle, running his face along little Nicky muzzle as he wrapped around him. She stood there teary eyed as Anna and Lee smiled. Nicholas carried the last bit of food into the kitchen and sat it on the table. He caught Rose wiping her face off and curled around her before they all gathered in the living room talking. Lee sat up looking at the wall and shook his head. "Damn," the little tod almost whispered as Nicholas tipped his ears towards him. "Didn't know you guys were related to Ol' Robin Hood."
Nicholas looked at Rose with a tipped brow and shook his head as she laughed. Rose started signing and he was relaying the message as she sat in his lap. "Oh, I've heard that most of my life. It's just a rumor. No one knows what his name was and for some reason a lot of people who see that think that but it's not true."
Lee shrugged as Anna looked it over. "Well it ain't exactly the same crest, is it?" The small fox shrugged as Anna sat back with him. "It's kind of neat they're similar though."
Rose sighed as she leaned her head into Nicholas' shoulder. The silver fox looked back at it with a tipped brow. "I'm pretty sure Robin Hood is just.. a story. Similar?" he asked as Lee nodded.
"Yeah, but it's like one whole section of its missing. His was actually in the shape of a robin. Looks like somebody cut the head off."
Nicholas shrugged as Rose curled under his chin. "Mum never wanted anyone to see it, thought it might cause us problems. We always took it down when we had company but I forgot about it earlier. To be honest, I have to agree with her if anyone thought that. The last thing we need is a lot of attention on our family." The silver fox sighed as he leaned back and wrapped his arms around Rose.
"Lee?" Anna poked him and he nodded.
"Yeah, if you need anything just let us know, we should get home though." Lee picked up two kits and got them into their seats as Anna grabbed two others. Nicholas snickered as Lee picked up Bradley and got him in his seat watching Nicky crawl over to the smallest of them and stuck his face in to say goodbye. The Silver fox closed the door after they left and flopped in his chair, feeling every bit of tired. Rose picked up Nicky after he held his arms up. The little red fox curled under her chin and Nicholas put the rest of the food away after they went upstairs. Once he finished getting everything put away, he walked upstairs watching Rose help Nicky into his pajamas.
She had given him a bath and Nicholas was looking out the window in his little room waiting for them. He turned when he heard Rose tap the doorknob and sat on the bed, chuckling as Nicky crawled over his lap to get to the top of the bed. Nicky jumped under the blankets and snuggled into the pillow as Nicholas held a book out. The young tod flicked his eyes to it and sighed. "Where's my books?"
Rose giggled as Nicholas smirked. "All these are from Grandma." Nicky sat up looking at the picture and twisted his neck as Nicholas smiled. "This is the story if Kitsukune. The fox spirit of fire who guided the God of Mischief." Nicholas sucked back his tears as Nicky crawled into his lap. He opened the book as Rose sat behind him, curling her arms around them as her head fell over his shoulder. "Once upon a time there was a fox. She was a beautiful creature that all the other animals were jealous of because she could move with the fires and dance through the flames. She is the flame that turns death into life by burning away all the old things and allowing new things to grow in their place. She was worshipped for taking the dead away, and bringing warmth to those who were cold. She would leave them food on a window or straw to start their fires if they wished her well. But some were envious of her beauty and power, they wanted to be able to move like she did, through the fire. They thought it unfair she would leave things for those who thought her beautiful." Nicholas turned the page and Nicky let his head fall into his chest.
"The God of Mischief watched this fox for a long time. He knew the world would be cruel to her, so he asked his mate what she thought they should do to keep her safe. Sigyn told him that there was nothing they could do in the mortal world. That the animals there had to make their own choices. The animals of the world were angry and decided to get rid of the fox Kitsukune because if she would not share her gifts with all of them, she didn't deserve to have them either. But when Sigyn saw what they were doing to the fox after they stole her fire, she told the God of Mischief to make her one of the Guardians of Asgard. The God of Mischief came to the world as a storm that put out all the fires she had created to keep them warm. He appeared as a ball of flames, glowing in front of Kitsukune as she lay dying. In order to keep her forever he gave her part of his fire and pulled her soul into his body, where all the good she had done would stay in the world forever. The mammals of the world would always keep her fire because he kept her flame alive inside himself. But she had such a strong heart that the God of Mischief was overwhelmed by her. Sigyn saw her mate struggling to contain something so pure and told him the only way to keep her was to let her have something that would keep her from taking over. The God of Mischief thought on this for many days and asked Kitsukune what she wanted."
He turned the page again as Nicky pointed to the picture. "She was a fox?"
Nicholas chuckled as he squeezed him closer. "She was fire, born to the same lineage of the foxes who tried to put the sun back in the sky and stole the fire from the fireflies. Each of those foxes swallowed fire trying to help others. When she was born, she had part of the sun's fire inside her and part of the firefly fire. Kitsukune told the God of Mischief she wanted to free those who were trapped like she was. The God of Mischief didn't understand what she meant, but he told her that for a few hours each day he would let her take over and she would go off freeing those who were trapped. The fox God would wake feeling tired and not remember what had happened while she was doing her tasks. But he grew worried after a time because she seemed to be going less and less often. So, he asked her again, 'What is it you wanted, what have you been doing?' The spirit of Kitsukune appeared in his paws as a dancing flame. She swayed and moved in a way that had the God of Mischief mesmerized as she spoke. 'I cannot free all the spirits. I cannot complete my task unless I am more than just a part of you.'"
"The God of Mischief shook his head. 'How can you be more than just a part of me? I was born of fire, created from creation. From the birth of the Earth and Moon. You are just the spirit of fire I have kept. Kitsukune swayed in front of him as she kept dancing as a flame. 'You were born from chaos. The catastrophe that created a single world. From that world life sprang forward. The only way the world could be as it is, is because the moon tore it apart and both planets merged together. Your flames are red. My flames are white, blue and yellow. I am not enough to change the way of all that is. I will give you all my power, all my flames if you never partake of the fruit or wines made from Asgard's trees again. You will have to eat mortal foods to sustain the fire, for that which grows in Asgard is not meant to sustain life as it has been for so long."
"Why?" Loki asked as she turned and danced in his paw.
"The energy that grows life in Asgard is stolen from others who do not know their worth. They are broken souls cast from where they belong. At some point they must be returned. I will give you my flames, they will always burn so long as you feed them. But I will leave you as the heat that rises through the air from the flames, if you agree never to partake of Asgard again. You will become the spirit of fire, a force that can destroy and renew all."
"The God of Mischief thought this a fine agreement, to become the spirit of all fire flames. He agreed and Kitsukune left him as he took the flames back into his own fire, growing more powerful than he had already been. But when he returned to Asgard the other Gods were angry when he sat with them to eat. He refused the food that was served, refused the wine they drank that kept them all young. Yet he did not age, did not weaken over time and had no sign of growing weary. When his brother asked him how this was so, he held up a paw and began to glow. His whole body caught fire as his tails lashed around behind him. They all stepped away from him, for he had the power of a natural element no one should be able to hold or control. Some of his brothers and sisters could make things happen with elements, control them for a brief time, but none could create or become one like he did. He became Fire. That's how Kitsukune became part of the God of Mischief. That's the reason foxes are always warm under their fur."
Nicholas dipped his head down smiling at Nicky as he fell asleep and closed his eyes as he kissed his son's head. Rose took the book and put it back on the shelf as he laid the little tod down and covered him before they left for their own room. He sat on the bed after he had pulled on some pajama pants and stared off blankly as Rose sat beside him. The vixen wrapped her fingers around his and he sighed as he looked back at her. "They might send someone to the Den now that one of the Elders here has passed, Rose."
Rose pulled her paws away so she could talk. "Then we should ask for an appeal." The silver fox looked off again and let his head fall as he leaned forward.
"Everyone knows me here, Rose. If they come looking around and see me, they'll know you're here."
Rose tapped his shoulder and he looked back at her as she shook her head. "I don't think it matters, Nicholas. I've only been to the Den here a pawful of times and I'm a red fox here. They're still foxes. They aren't going to tell anyone anything if we ask them not to."
"Is that what you want to do Rose? You want to stay here? We could move again." She lifted a brow and glared at him as he put a paw up. "OK, not an option."
"Nicky starts preschool in a few more months Nicholas. We've started a life here. This is where we belong." She signed as he nodded.
The silver fox huffed as he stood and picked up the phone. Rose tipped her head as she watched him and smiled as he spoke. "Earl. Yes. We did, and thank you for that but I need to tell you that Rose and I are…" he ticked his eyes to the vixen and closed them as he let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I'm glad you understand. Thank you." He hung up and sat next to Rose again as she folded her paw over the top of his. "We're out. No questions asked or anything. It's almost like he expected it." Rose pulled him into the bed and he laid with her as she pressed her head to his. The silver fox sighed as she pushed her head under his chin and rolled her scent along his jaw and cheek. She pulled back and tipped a brow as he stiffened. His ears pointed as he turned in the bed. Rose sat up and smiled as Nicky curled around his father's tail sniffling.
Nicholas picked him up and he curled around his father's neck as he turned in the bed. Rose pet his head and Nicky turned with a trembling lip as she signed out a question. "Does my little prince need some extra attention tonight? Remember what Grandma said?" she asked as he pulled away from his father patting on his chest.
Nicholas scrunched his nose. "That's right. She's right there. In your heart. But it's ok if you still need to hug someone." Nicky clutched around his neck as Nicholas laid down again. He turned the light off and Rose curled up with them, both foxes rumbling lightly as they comforted each other and their son….
Notes; Rattling the stars is a reference to Treasure Planet. Something better growing after fire is a reference to the Lion King. Cassie; "The world and everything in it can go crazy and we are left wondering about the land…. = Wonderland. An explanation for Fairy Dust- Rabbit religion believes that once something is something it can never be nothing again- It may change into something else, but it will always be something once it has existed. This ties in with the lost pieces of souls Odin has been collecting and Loki mentioning fireflies. He told Heimdall about this in Asgard while he was holding the 'creature'. Fireflies are what a soul who has decided to become one with the spark of creation become in their last visit to the mortal world. From dust to dust. From ashes to ashes. Everything returns to what it once was and where it came from. In Peter Pan, fairy dust is something that is cast away from the fairies when they fly and the dust enables others to fly. It's a missing piece of fairies. No one can fly without it if they don't believe. Peter Pan actually steals it from Tinkerbell when he uses it on Wendy and her brothers. Even though it's not a whole fairy- it's still significant and holds a great deal of power. I can only imagine if it were a real thing and someone collected a lot of it or misused it, that it would be extremely dangerous.
