Hi Everyone! Welcome back!

I am currently on vacation, so updates have slowed down a bit.

I'm going to go respond to a couple of reviews I got:

PanzerVor621: "I'm loving this story more and more. I won't lie when you used the word pleasure, it made it seem like he was showing other "pleasurable" things humans do."

RE: this ain't one of those stories, so that was not it's intention, haha! I decided to edit it to make it sound clearer hopefully.

Andreamassocco98: "Thanks for the answer. I understand. But if the kid passed out in the Woods, who brought him back at the house? I don't think Fink is strong enough...Can't wait to read more. See you soon.

RE: I tried to make it clear in the story that Terry (upon seeing Fink trying to help him) uses the last of his strength to get up and follow the fox to safety. I would imagine Roz's bungalow was a hundred yards away or something.

To answer some other questions, Brightbill and Roz will be in this story, albeit later. I have a whole plot thought out.

...

Chapter 7: The Wild

Fink and I left the shelter and were greeted by cloudy skies…but a nicer day than yesterday. This time, unlike the other instances, I would be able to actually communicate with everybody.

The language barrier is gone and now I can focus on making a better impression on the island. There were a few families of deer grazing between the pockets of snow that would most likely be completely gone by the afternoon.

They soon diverted their attention to see me walking by with the fox…waving as I do. The fawn of both families was more than curious and had walked up. The parents tried to stand their ground but the moment I opened my mouth they lowered their defenses.

"Hello" I greeted before they gasped.

"It speaks!" One of the fathers, who had an impressive set of antlers, said. Their child silently sniffed me, pulling away.

"Are you a robot-like Roz?"

I shake my head, smiling, "I'm like you."

"You're a deer?" One of the kids rolled their heads in confusion before the mother laughed, walking up, "no, honey, I think what they meant was they are an animal like we are."

"D-do you eat meat?" Another kid asked before the parents got nervous.

"He doessss" Fink said as if to stir the pot…sliding between my legs…giving off his signature mischievous grin, "but it's okay, I won't let him eat any of you unless you make me angry."

I facepalmed, deciding to take out a protein ration to show them, "don't listen to the fox. In situations such as this, this is my source of food."

Sure enough, they gathered…inspecting the bar-shaped food.

"Strange."

"It looks like poo!"

"That's…food?"

Fink slipped through…whispering in the ear of one of the kids, "don't ask 'em what's in that if I were you."

Either way, we said our goodbyes and pressed on: soon making our way through a waterfall and a ravine. We, again, ran into some creatures (raccoons and some other small critters) and he did the same thing with them.

Eventually, I look down toward the fox, who is strutting on all fours…sometimes climbing fallen logs and rocks. He still had that smug grin, half-lidded eyes…

"So, is this going to be a trend with you?" I said with my arms folded, looking down at him. Fink looked straight on, chuckling silently, "I don't know what you mean."

I slapped my arms against my sides, groaning loudly to get his attention, "I'm trying to ingratiate myself with the forest's inhabitants and you're NOT helping, Fink!"

"My dear human…" he gave a fake surprised gasp: sitting on his haunches and putting a paw to his mouth. Then he smirked at me…leaning towards me as I rolled my eyes at the fox, "I'm simply just trying to divulge information on your species. Plus…" he managed to jump on a downed tree that happened to be eye level with me. Fink sat down…crossing his arms and gave a toothy grin at me…straight in my face, "you humans eat deer…I can tell."

I narrowed my eyes at him in response, "and I'm about to eat a fox unless you cut it out, Fink!" I said in my high-pitched voice, pointing a finger at him.

"Ugh…fine…" Fink groaned loudly before jumping down to rejoin our walk, "sucking the joy out of my fun" he whispered to himself.

"How did Roz put up with you…" I muttered but thanks to his superior hearing he heard that. Yet, he found it more fun if I didn't know that.

Either way, we made it to a river with calm water and saw some fish swimming by. The red vulpine inspected the stream before looking up at me, "think you can catch those fish?"

I shake my head, "I don't really have anything to get them."

"No claws, no teeth…how DO you usually get them?"

"Fishing rods…usually."

"Uhh?" He just looked at me, all confused.

"I don't have one anyway, so catching fish will be out of the question…" suddenly, I had an idea, "what about that bear? They could help us!"

"Who…Thorn? He's hibernating."

"Right…" I sighed. Then another thought crossed me, "what if a bird got it for us?"

"Haha, good thinking, kid!" He shoved an arm against my side as a compliment. Silence prevailed until I muttered softly to him, "so...uh...do we just ask around?"

"I actually think there's someone who can help." The fox schemed.

Sure enough, they enlisted the help of the island's fastest raptor bird: Thunderbolt. The bird themselves didn't catch the first, but knew birds on the island who did. So, it was a bit of in-between with the birds until finally Thunderbolt managed to snag a decently sized fish for us!

"Thanks Thunder!" The vulpine said as the raptor flew off, "anything for my friends!"

Fink turned around and sat...eyeing me, "soooo" he wiggled his paws around…waiting for me to do something. Sure enough, it got awkward and I just stared blankly at him. He gestured the fish with his nose and I soon understood, "I...can't eat this raw…"

"Sure you can, kid!"

"No, I mean...humans aren't meant to eat things raw. I'll cook it later."

"Uh…cook?" The fox raised an eyebrow as I nodded, "we'll just put it over a fire and burn it to a crisp" I laughed at my statement.

"After all that work we put our avian friends through, you want to waste our food?"

"Trust me, Fink, you'll like it." I put it away for safe keeping. We'll definitely have it once we get back to the cabin.

He decided to trust my intuition, since the fox (above all else) was always curious about civilization and its culture since he met Rozzum 7134. Besides, he's had cooked food before...just not fish, so this should be interesting.

Either way, we ran into more animals in our short travels such as the beaver by his pond. Paddler noticed us approaching and (like every other animal) was pleasantly surprised that I could now understand them.

"No hard feelings for slapping you around, mate?" The large rodent asked, "it's all good, I understand. You were just frightened. I heard from Fink that you helped save the forest by cutting down its largest tree."

"You bet! It took months to chip away and it was all worth it, now I'm living the easy life!"

"Looks like it. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Paddler. Good day" I waved before Fink and I moved on.

"Same to you!" Their echoed from behind us.

As we ventured into another trail, we heard some noises in the trees...giggles, laughter, which is obviously directed toward us. Sure enough we saw them: a gang of squirrels that had ran up and sat on the branches above Fink and I. They look like they're trouble.

"What do we have here?"

"Two mammals that don't belong on this island!"

"Every time weird stuff happens around here, it's because of Fink!"

Speaking of them, the fox stepped forward with a growl, "what now…"

"Are you THAT lonely that you had to go and bring more freaks to the island?" One gray squirrel chattered before I also moved forward, shaking my head, "why so hostile?"

"Ask your little friend next to you...he DESTROYED our food supply for the winter...now we're here trying to find what we can to make it through Spring!"

I look down toward Fink who suddenly put on a guilty face...his ears folded as he lowered his narrow head toward the ground. He soon scoffed...taking another route to leave the squirrel pack alone before I follow from behind.

"That's right, stay out of our territory if you know what's good for you!"

"Tell your freak show he ain't welcome either!"

Not too long after that, we decided to rest. There was a landmark we came across that I hadn't seen yet: a runway.

It's the same one that Rozzum 7134 made to help Brightbill fly...I had seen it in her recorded video she had downloaded for "Rummage." It's certainly been a while since she had made it because now moss and grass was steadily growing on the runway.

Fink sat down by the edge overlooking the ocean before I do the same...joining him. That encounter put him in a sour mood...he seemed to be ignoring my gaze entirely.

I wanted to try and lighten the mood, "...destroying their food supply huh? What did they do to make you mad?" I chuckled, leaning in toward him, but the fox kept his face tense. Sure enough I fell into silence before I looked back at him, "what is the reason you did it?"

"I'm a fox...I do...foxy things...it's in my nature…"

I nodded back, "you can't help it, huh?" I looked toward the horizon as he started softening up...lying down...crossing his arms, "I can most of the time...it's just...I can't help it, they're meant to be prey and it's just difficult sometimes to work around that after Roz came to our island."

I nodded in understanding, looking toward his smaller form, "she really did a lot for you guys…"

"She did..."

"You...miss her."

"I miss Brightbill too…"

Things were starting to unravel at that point...I referenced the statement that the squirrel made during our encounter: lonely...Fink was lonely.

"You feel alone…"

"Not as much anymore." He shook his head slightly, wincing a bit, "B-but...I have a family now and I miss them...they left so soon...I don't even know if we'll ever see Roz again…I don't even know if Brightbill will survive this current migration or not. I guess I was heading back to my old self for a while before you came..."

I just listened to what he had to say. I guess it all made perfect sense: meeting me, showing me around, trying his best to ingratiate me into the forest, it was all because he wanted companionship again.

"You...remind me of Brightbill…"

"He does appear to be very in-tune with Roz and the outside world" I laughed a bit, showing my missing tooth before he rolled his eyes at me.

He stood up, shaking himself, "let's get going, kid."

I just stood there and looked on...thinking to myself, Fink's done a lot for me. I suppose I should do something in return.

With that, a smile ran up my face as I nodded to myself, I'll get up bright n early tomorrow...I'm going to do it!