Since that Sunday, many more Sundays have passed. Mochi wakes up late (as always), scavenges some berries or fruits or, rarely, nuts, gift some to the crows who like to gift something back (often nice shiny gems, sometimes other stuff) and then go hunt some small meat, leaving the leftovers for the scavengers to enjoy.

For Mochi, this is how it should always be. A nice and carefree life, with very little changing. Unfortunately for Mochi, there will always be outside forces that may intrude this ideal life. Mochi calls those days Monday.

It started as any other day; Mochi woke up in her little hole, giving it a standard "Good morning little hole! Oh, a bit cracked today, huh? Let's fix that up before the rain comes down later."

Peering outside, Mochi regards the dark cloudy skies as usual. She doesn't actually know when the rain will come, but it must be soon with such dark clouds and the smell of ozone. Then again, she said it'd come 'today' for the past few days, so maybe she's just wrong.

Either way, Mochi's first priority is getting a bit of food at least. "Can't work on an empty stomach!" She claims. Hopping out of the hole, Mochi searches around. Eventually, she comes across a basket of apples.

This is a problem, as baskets do not normally occur in nature. Either there's someone nearby, or someone left it here; either way, Mochi deems it not morally acceptable to take any apples from the baskets. She leaves, unaware of the crows watching her.

Normally, the crows would've taken the apples, as it is the fault of whoever left it there. However, they note the fox's refusal to take any with suspicion. The fox isn't one to decline free food, especially since the crows' edible gifts were accepted quite quickly. Therefore, there must be a significant reason why the fox didn't take any. Following her example, the crows leave the apples be.

While continuing with her search for an easy breakfast, Mochi notes something flying overhead. A pigeon? This confuses Mochi for a moment, as pigeons do not live in this forest. "Maybe they are migrating... do pigeons migrate?"

For a moment she is tempted to follow them, but is interrupted by a crow cawing nearby. Looking up, Mochi sees several crows sitting in the trees around her. Staring expectantly.

"Sorry everyone, I haven't gotten anything yet. Please be patient, I'll promise to get something soon!" Mochi says apologetically. Of course, from the crows perspective she just whined a bit with a somber look. The crows interpret it as the fox having a bad day.

Mochi runs away, continuing her search for breakfast. Eventually, she comes across a bush of blue starberries. Each one had six arms, equally spaced out and rigid, and nearly the size of her head. Mochi bites an arm and enjoys the mix of sour and sweet. Eating each arm, one by one, until only the center pit remains, she then buries it nearby, hoping it will grow eventually (even if she may never enjoy its fruits).

After getting her meal, Mochi pulls off another starberry, and runs to where she met the crows. Placing it down beneath the trees, she does her usual call of "Birdies! I have a gift for you!" And waits.

Yet there's no response. Not even a cheep. Listening carefully now, there's a rather dreadful silence among the forest. Following the forest's example, Mochi silences herself and slinks to nearby foliage to hide.

First comes a smell, unusual and unfamiliar. Metallic, and sweaty. Then came the sound of metal clicking against metal, of dull leather bouncing against chain. And then, two humanoids step into view.

Too armored to be hikers, too loud to be hunters, too maintained to be bandits. They each wear a metal helmet with three feathers on the left, red orange and white. Plate armor over leather padding, with a few unknown markings. One wields a machete, the other a spear, both carry bags of supplies.

Mochi silently curses. In her previous life she was a scholar of nature. Unfortunately, this meant she never bothered to remember anything about any kingdom's military; not that it mattered much when they kept on falling and appearing every year. Though at the very least, she wished she memorized the emblems of some of the bigger armies. Oh well, now's a terrible time to regret.

The two knights continue walking ahead without speaking, leaving Mochi without any trouble. She stays still and silent for a few extra minutes (or at least what felt like minutes), before finally emerging. Luckily, it seems the starberry wasn't noticed. She picks it up and runs back to her home.

Right as she reached the little hole, a drop of water lands directly on her nose. It's finally raining! Jumping inside, she tosses the starberry to the side and gets to work on repairing the cracked walls. Grabbing small clumps of dirt, she packs it into the cracks, and keeps pushing and packing it. After a while, enough dirt is packed together that the cracks are no longer visible. Hopefully, this will keep the water out.

And now, Mochi waits. Outside, the drips grow to a drizzle, then a sprinkle, and then a full shower. As the rain grows to a relentless storm, there is a flash of lighting in the distance. "One. Two. Three..." Mochi counts, bracing her ears. After 15 agonizing seconds, a roar echoes into her home. "At least it's far away..."

Leaving the entrance room, Mochi delves down deeper into her den. She dug out about 4 rooms over a few months, but most are rarely used. The first is the entrance 'room', though it's only purpose is to store the hole's coverings.

"Oh right, almost forgot!" Returning to that room, she picks out a specially designed leafy covering. It took days to weave it all together, but hopefully it'll be worth it, preventing any water from leaking in. She drags it to the now-wet entrance and places it into position, adding a stick to hold it in place.

Anyways, she delves back down. The second room was supposed to be a bedroom, but its angle caused the night winds to sometimes blow in, directly on Mochi's face. Now, it's been relegated to storage of random sticks and stones and stuff. There's even a spider's nest in the corner, though Mochi has never seen any spider so far.

Continuing on, there is a split path. The left is 'special storage' where some more interesting objects are kept, though for now it's mostly stuff the crows gift her; some fancy glowy gems, a few bits of metallic ore, a shiny blue pinecone, and a piece of amber with a snail shell inside.

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Mochi instead goes to the right. A smaller room packed tightly with soft grass, shed fur, and spare feathers. The warmest, most comfortable bed a fox could make. And a perfect place to wait out the rain.

Lying down, Mochi contemplates on the knights she saw. The three feather pattern bothered her, as if she remembered hearing about something similar before. Maybe it was a minor kingdom? Sighing, she decides to ignore it for now. Closing her eyes, the sound of rain drifts her to sleep, dreaming of magical poison apples and greedy kids.

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Wisteria watches from the shadows of her Oclid tree. The rain makes it slightly harder to see, but it isn't a problem for her in particular. Wisteria keeps one eye on that fox, mostly out of curiosity, and two eyes on the knights.

They entered the forest about two days ago, and have been steadily making their way to the opposite side. Annoyingly, they almost ran into the fox earlier today, but luckily the fox noticed in time and hid away. The other beasts of the forest weren't so smart or lucky.

For now, it seems the two have set up some sort of tent for shelter against the rain. Wisteria laughs to herself, as the knights have set up next to a river; a good water source in any other circumstance, but a terrible flood risk today. Of course, if they get swept away that'd make things a lot easier for her.

Changing her focus, she glances back at the fox's den. There is a woven leaf covering keeping water out, a surprising sign of higher intelligence from the fox. Unfortunately, this meant she can't spy on the fox today. How unfortunate, she thought they were quite cute when they slept. Especially in such a comfortable looking bed.

"Lily, Asparagus, you've returned early. What important information do you have for me?" Wisteria doesn't even look as two crows land haphazardly on the wet branches. Oclid trees are particularly slippery when wet, and it didn't help that the two were in a hurry.

"Yes. Apples. Poisoned." Lily says without bowing. Lily, still very young among the flying crows, is only just barely able to speak. If not for the fact that she is a direct descendant of Wisteria, she would've still been in the nursery.

Asparagus, on the other hand, gives a low bow of respect, before clarifying Lily's report, "The basket of apples were contaminated by blue scorpion venom. It was hidden quite deep, so likely an intentional contamination. We had to break one open to detect it..."

Initially, Wisteria is uninterested in the report. While the circumstances are strange, after a hundred years you stop caring about every unusual event. It'll be enough to tell the crows not to eat any apples. For a moment she considers warning the fox as well.

And then she realizes something. The fox already encountered the basket of apples. However, they seemingly ignored it. At the time, Wisteria assumed it was preference; the fox only ever ate fruits it personally collected as its first meal. Wisteria used to do something similar, only eating nuts for her breakfasts.

However, given the new detail of the apples being contaminated, Wisteria reconsiders the fox's intentions. There may be a small possibility that the fox noticed something wrong with the apples... yet, if Lily had to have one broken open to detect the poison, then the fox's method of detection would have to be a higher tier. This is very unlikely.

"...spread the news not to eat any of the apples to everyone else. Thank you for the information." Wisteria gives a nod to the two crows, signaling them away. Then, she focuses all three eyes on searching for anything unusual. Whoever left those apples behind is likely still within the forest.

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The prime wolf disliked rain. It dulled their sense of smell and drowned out any sounds. Being wet felt just a little heavier, and a lot colder. In general, hunting was significantly harder when it's raining.

However, there's something even more annoying than rain right now. Currently, there are two knights in his territory. If it was any other day, the prime wolf would've hunted them down already. However, he's getting hungry, and rain means less meat for the next few days. It'd be a terrible idea to get into any fights when food is going to be an issue.

Therefore, reluctantly, the prime wolf will leave the trespassers alone for now. However, that doesn't mean he won't do anything to them. The prime wolf had learned the concept of stealing thanks to the crows long ago, and now is an ideal time to steal.

Keeping a low stance, the prime wolf lurks around where the smell of metal is strongest. However, a strange sweet smell interrupts his plans.

Apples? There shouldn't be any apples around here? Unless someone dropped one, but a smell this strong must mean there's several apples. Following the smell, the prime wolf comes across a basket of apples, left unattended.

Are these the knights'? Unlikely, abandoning food is a terrible idea, and if it's for later then you normally hide it. Bait for a trap? The prime wolf looks around, testing the trees, checking the leaves, he even grabs a stick nearby to toss into the basket. Nothing, no visible traps.

Cautiously, the prime wolf approaches the basket. No pitfalls. He tips the basket a bit, checking beneath it. Nothing but dirt. No one is around either. Is it really not bait? Just in case, the Prime wolf circles around so that his own shadow is behind him. Then, with one quick dash, he grabs the basket and runs away.

...Still nothing happens. Just in case, the prime wolf runs a good distance away from where the knights should be, before finally slowing down. Placing the basket down, he hides nearby in the shadows of a bush. While the chances are low, there may be a possibility of it being used to track whoever takes it.

The prime wolf sits there, waiting. He can afford it, especially if he proves to be wrong. One hour, nothing. Two hours, still nothing. After three hours of paranoid waiting, the prime wolf is left with little reason to suspect the apples anymore.

Seeing as he's a bit hungry right now, the prime wolf decides to eat one of the apples before bringing it back home. Unfortunately, the prime wolf's suspicions are vindicated, as a bitter, sour taste burns down his mouth.

"Ah. This is what regret tastes like."

Quickly, his mind attempts to find a way out. The taste isn't a familiar poison, but he can guess that it's unlikely to be deadly. His head stiffens, jaws frozen in place. So it's a fast acting paralytic poison. while unsure for how long it will last, he suspects it'll remain in his blood for a long time. In that case, there's one possible option. Quickly loosing feeling in his legs, he attempts to scratch and make small cuts. Hopefully, bleeding out some of the poison will reduce its duration.

Finally, his legs lock up. The prime wolf falls, completely unable to move or even feel anything. It's in this position that he smells a mistake. Blood, too much blood. It's not a lethal amount, but the wound he made is a lot worse than intended.

At this point, the prime wolf can only hope. Hope that the bleeding stops before becoming lethal, hope that the paralysis goes away soon, hope that, should he survive all of that, the wound won't get infected. And most of all, hope no one finds him.

In the forest, a single mistake is all it takes.

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Mochi wakes up to a perfectly dry home. The sound of rain outside still continues, almost hypnotizing Mochi back to sleep. But her growling stomach tells her to at least eat something. It's a good thing she brought that starberry in!

Grabbing it from the entrance room, she brings it to the bedroom to eat. It's the warmest room, and is worth the few extra steps. Biting one arm at a time, she's careful not to accidentally bite the core. At some point, among the droning rain and sweet fruit, she starts talking to ease her mind.

"I wonder if the crows are alright. Maybe they found the apples. That's easy food for them... unless someone else gets to it first."

Finishing most of the starberry, Mochi pauses and considers whether or not to finish it. Reluctantly, she keeps one last arm for later, in case the rain lasts all of tomorrow. Then, she spins around on her bed looking for the warmest spot, and lies down for more sleep.

Reflecting on the day's events, she sighs in discontentment. Today was a Monday, and a surprisingly full one at that. A basket of apples, two knights, and rain. A not so ideal day for a normal fox. That is, after all, all Mochi is.

"Thanks Mr. Narrator. Good night. See you next time?"