Southern Gaul (Modern-day France), 59 BC. A year before Julius Caesar's conquest.
Veloces Anima (Swift Soul) sat atop a log and watched as in the distance about a hundred feet away, RedTallTrees cut down the last remaining tree of the forest meadow he and his litter mates had played in as kits. It had been their favourite play place, not far from the den, but far enough that they could seemingly get away with a lot of shenanigans. He sighed. He really loved those memories. And they were all being ripped apart by the TallTrees. It was widely apparent to him that the TallTree people had some very strange habits, one of which involved this stick thing with something shiny on the end. It seems that the biggest alphas of the TallTrees go out into the woods, taking their shiny end sticks with them, and then cut down many of the wood trees! And to what end? Oh, to cut them up into smaller pieces and make little shelter things, like burrows but above ground and obviously much bigger than a fox burrow. They take off all the branches and then take them back to their Wood Burrows or, in the case of the RedTallTrees (Roman soldiers), to their tiny triangle houses (tents). My younger brother, Flumen Tempastas (River Storm) once followed one of the RedTallTrees to their camp, with their noisy monsters and LOTS of RedTallTrees with their third skins off (armour). He saw the big Alpha RedTallTrees with their shiny end sticks go into a large building and chop the wood trees into smaller pieces. He got scared off by a RedTallTree so he didn't get to see what happened next, but it still baffled us. Why on Mother Spirit's Earth would the TallTrees, especially the RedTallTrees, chop the wood trees into smaller pieces? What for? Mother Spirit would be displeased. Véloces shook his head. TallTrees did silly things sometimes. Maybe they were just wondering how the wood trees grew? Véloces felt proud, for even he knew the answer; Mother Spirit pinched the tops of each tree and stretched them out slowly over time, moons and moons until they were tall enough that the forest animals would be sheltered from most of Mother Spirits tears that fell from above the wood trees. "Silly, ignorant TallTrees." He thought. "They just don't respect Mother Spirit."
Flumen came around a tree and sat next to Veloces on the log, his long fluffy steely-blue tail brushing across the ground and the trees like a gentle stream, caressing the earth like a paint brush. Vel snickered.
"Why are you back so early? Did the rabbits and mice get any from ya?" Flumen glared at him, then smiled sheepishly and sighed in frustration. "There wasn't anything around to get away from me in the first place. The RedTallTrees have scared them all off." He got quieter as he spoke, ashamed and worried.
Veloces was unpleasantly surprised at this news. He knew the RedTallTrees were rather destructive, blazing trails of chaos wherever they went. Avus Levipes (Grandfather Lightfoot) had even at one point been poked through with one of the RedTallTrees' pointy stick things they carried with them. He had died a few days later, but that was before Veloces was even born so it didn't really affect him at all. There were so many of them nowadays, those RedTallTrees; Avus' attack had been ultra rare, as the RedTallTrees were barely even a presence then, let alone trying to kill foxes. But this news that all the game was gone? New and impossible.
"There's no way all the rabbits and mice are gone! There's a whole colony of rabbits just up the west hill; did you even look there?" Veloces was a sceptic by nature. He never seemed to be able to trust anyone. He knew it was probably one of his greatest weaknesses but he embraced that. Probably why he was given charge of the burrow while Pater (Father) was gone looking for better hunting grounds. Of course, Flumen had been far than impressed at this as he was of the same litter as Veloces. He was a better hunter too.
"I'm telling you, there's no game! I looked over by the Rabbit's Burrow and there is none! All the scents indicate they left a whole day ago. All of them." Flumen shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense." Flumen, of the two, was a far more open-minded person, brimming with curiosity and wonder for the world beyond. He didn't like much confrontation, and tried at all times to keep good relations with everyone. He was a very likeable fox, and his handsome steely-blue fur coat just added to the charm.
Veloces just shook his head again in bewilderment. "This is crazy! They shouldn't be allowed to do such a thing."
The blue fox sitting next to him sighed again, shaking his head. "I know that Vel, but what can we do? They are bigger than us; they can kill us. We have to be wary, careful."
"Then let us pray to Mother Spirit that this destruction and unnecessary killing will cease. It has gone on for far too long."
"Yes, let's"
And together they gazed at the setting sun before them, the western sky over the TallTree city glowing in radiance and majesty. The two foxes prayed for deliverance, for safety, for reassurance. They didn't know what the future could hold, but they knew Mother Spirit had it all under control; they trusted her completely. And with a final yip as they ended their silent prayers to the sky, the sun dipped below the horizon, a foreboding warning that seemed only to indicate dark times ahead.