The stranger had travelled for a while. Jace couldn’t track how far they had run. Every step from the stranger was a leap sending them metres forward. They ducked and dodged through branches with Jace, occasionally getting a face full of wet leaves.

“Can we stop?” Jace spoke between bounces. He was not feeling well continuingly having his stomach pressed.

The stranger stopped near a large rock surrounded by old growth. “Well, this is a good place to stop, anyway.” She put Jace down onto his haunches and stood back up, crossing their arms under the voluminous cloak she wore. The forest lit up with fireflies and luminous fungus as the sun set.

Jace tilted his head up and blinked at the figure. His saviour wore a dull grey cloak. The cowling hid her face except for a single glowing sapphire coloured eye. But because of the lack of light, Jace could not make out much else.

They stared at Jace as if to pierce right through him. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“What?!” Jace leant back, alarmed.

“Why were you out here? Where are your parents, pup?” The sapphire light seemed to narrow. “Why were you so far into the Deep Weald?”

Jace felt he was locking up at the rapid questioning. Being put on the spot was disconcerting. “I.. uhh… I.”

The sapphire light momentarily disappeared, and an audible sigh came from the mysterious stranger. “Fine, one thing at a time, then. Where are your parents?”

“C-c-certainly not here.”

“Do not play coy with me.” The stranger leant back, looking Jace up and down. She muttered something Jace couldn’t quite hear. He tilted his head and ears forward to listen. “Why are you here in the deep weald?” her cowl shifted imperceptibly.

Jace looked at the forest floor and rubbed his forepaws against the soil. “I was in a library, and everything went dark…”

“Go on.”

Jace gulped and let out a small whine. “Then I wake up here in this forest, looking like this,” He wondered what the stranger was thinking. Because of the lack of light, Jace couldn’t tell what his saviour looked like, and it was frightening him.

“Library huh?” Evaliena thought the strange spat the words out. “Did you read something you shouldn’t have and ended up here?”

“No, I had barely started reading…” Jace paused as a thought struck him as he sat there. “I’m no longer in my world, am I?”

The figure paced impatiently, or maybe it was thoughtfully, back and forth before Jace. “Pup, could you please release your glamour. I’m not going to continue this conversation looking down at you.”

“I don… What’s a glamour?” Jace tilted his head back to look at the stranger.

“I said don’t play coy with me. You should know perfectly what glamour is. Your parents should have taught you.” The stranger growled.

“A-a-as I told you, I woke up like this. I wasn’t originally a fox!” He struggled to put the words together.

“You must have hit your head pretty hard back there when you tripped.” The stranger grumbled. “Bloody ki… Wait, you said you weren’t originally a fox?” The stranger stopped in her pacing.

“Yes!” Jace said with a smile.

“A fox… Not a Reynard?” The stranger clarified.

“Yes! Wait what?” Jace became confused.

The stranger shrugged, having made up their mind, walked away from Jace. “This was a damnable waste of my time.”

“Hey, no wait!” Jace dashed over in front of the stranger, stopping her in her tracks. For a moment, he thought he saw the outline of a tail tenting the back of the cloak the stranger wore.

“Pup, if you know what’s good for you.” The stranger twisted and a brown furred hand emerged from the cloak to hold up two fingers. “You will either, Leave! And find a way out of this forest.” One finger curled down. “Curl up and die like you are supposed to!” The other finger curled down. “I do not have the patience to play childish games.”

“But, I’m not playing games.” Jace stood on all fours and shouted up at the stranger. “I was human! I was in a library! And I don’t know why I’m here!”

“Human, not Hume, not Kith?” The stranger muttered. She halted. The slight movement of the cloaked figure suggested to Jace that they were thinking. “Tell me everything.” The sudden change in personality was jarring. But told his story to the stranger.

----------------------------------------

The stranger was pacing back and forth again. She was trying to digest the information Jace had told her.

Part of her cloak pressed up against the high collared section. As if one was holding their hand up and rubbing one’s chin. This exposed the legs slightly, despite the lack of light. He could see furred paws? Or were they walking on their toes?

Jace was sitting there watching this and was coming uncomfortable. He hadn’t had a chance to relieve himself since waking up in the forest. And the idea of doing so in this four-legged form was… disconcerting.

The stranger stopped. “You’re squirming about. What is it?”

“I need the toilet…” Jace muttered.

“Speak plainly.”

“I need to pee,” Jace clarified.

“Then go piss then. I’m not holding you here against your will.” The figure shrugged. “If you’re concerned, if I care, do not be.” She paused. “And no, I’m not going to help you either. I’m not your mother, Pup.”

Jace guessed he didn’t have to worry about being stared at and wandered a short way from where the stranger stood, who continued to pace back and forth. The process was embarrassing. He felt like an animal. For all he knew, he probably was an animal, considering he walked on all fours and had a tail. He was not entirely comfortable knowing he was naked. And it did not take him long before he was back in the same spot with the stranger. The bitter smell was not helping either. Having a good nose may not be that much of a perk.

“I haven’t asked for your name.” The stranger asked Jace upon his return.

“And I haven’t seen your face,” Jace retorted. A light grunt of amusement came from the stranger, with that blue glowing eye staring at him again.

“Fair, tell me your name first. Then maybe I’ll tell you mine, since you clearly are not from around here.” She whispered.

“It’s Jace… Jace Carr.” He answered.

“Well, that’s not a Therian name.” The stranger stated. “Not that I was expecting one. How old are you, pup?”

“Hey one thing for another.” Jace felt cheated.

“You’re not the one in control here.” She spoke flatly. Jace rolled his eyes.

“I’m about fifteen years old…” Jace answered again. He could hear the stranger’s mouth move and then a slight curse.

“I guess a trade is a trade.” She conceded. Using her brown furred hands, she turned down the high collar, and pulled back the cowl, releasing large pointed ears that were black and tipped with brown. Her face was vulpine. A pointed muzzle tipped a dark nose. The yellow cheeks were fluffy. The top half of her head was yellow that blurred into a red mane that loosely hung down the back of her cloak. She had expressive blue sapphire eyes that glowed with otherworldly power. “I’m Evaliena Sandalwood.” She smiled softly.

“Y-y-your a Fox!” Jace exclaimed.

Evaliena rolled her eyes and leant against a tree. “I’m a Reynard, you’re a Reynard too. Remember that.” She pointed to herself and then pointed to Jace. “But I’m–” “You’re not human anymore.” She said firmly.

Jace sat there silently, looking at the floor again. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t have my books, so it’s hard to explain to you the situation you’re in.” Evaliena told him. “That’s if you can read our script at all, that is.”

“So now what? What should I–?” Jace turned his head to the vixen for answers, only to notice the cloak had parted. Her belly and chest have white fur, with the sides being yellow. She planted her hand, covered in brown fur, on her hip. That was about as much as he took in before he noticed she lacked clothing. Jace immediately looked away as embarrassment filled his mind.

Evaliena let out a mocking laugh. “What pup? never seen a woman before?”

“What kind of a question is that?” Jace shielded the side of his head. “Who walks around naked?”

“Oh, you’re one to talk,” Evaliena countered. “Well. Boy, you’re going to have to get used to it. There aren’t many clothes that fit well over fur. Especially when winter is around the corner.” “I may have something. Give me a moment.” Jace could hear a rummaging sound, then the rubbing of fabrics. “You can turn your gaze upon me if you want, or keep staring out into the woods.”

Jace reluctantly turned his head back. The vixen was wearing a skirt? “Where’d you get the skirt from?”

“That’s a secret for later.” She smiled. “Let’s get out of the forest, then.”

Jace’s belly growled loudly.

“And I guess you haven’t eaten at all.”

Jace gently nodded.

“Then we’ll take a shortcut. Come here.” Evaliena patted at the side of her thigh.

“Why do I need to be near you?” Jace creeped on over to Evaliena’s leg. The Vixen had the most intoxicating scent…

Jace yelped as Evaliena scooped him up with one yellow and brown arm. “Because I can not bring you through the shortcut if I’m not in contact with you.”

“This is teleportation?” Jace asked innocently.

Evaliena then stepped. The world went sideways and turned a spectral cerulean blue.

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When reality snapped back into place. Jace squirmed out of Evaliena’s grasp and emptied his stomach across the mossy wet rock the pair appeared on. A hand patted along his upper back as he kept gagging.

“Taking the first step usually ends up like this. You’ll get used to it.” Evaliena spoke warmly as Jace slowly recovered himself. “I would say clean yourself up, but you don’t have any hands for that.”

“Very funny.” a bit of acid dripping in his voice. He shook his head vigorously and licked his muzzle. His tongue carried a lingering, disgusting taste. Wind was blowing hard in his ears. Jace looked around. All he saw was rock and a structure? “Where are we?” Then he saw the forest below, lit up by a moon’s pale light with the reddish glow of a setting sun. He skittered back. “We’re so high up!”

“Welcome to my home.” Evaliena raises an arm towards the structure. “Come along.” She stood up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I… nevermind.” Jace looked around the area one more time. He saw the top of the mountain he was standing on. It was snow capped, but Jace could judge he wasn’t all that high up. “Who would build on the side of a mountain?” he mumbled to himself.

Jace quickly ran up along Evaliena as she walked up the rocky path. The ground sodden and the wind was harsh with a distinct smell Jace couldn’t put his tongue on. He looked upon the building, with it so windy he couldn’t quite see the outline. “It looks like a ruin?”

“Oh, this old place used to be a watch keep a very long time ago,” Evaliena told Jace as they continued walking. “Such a long, long time ago. But it’s good enough of a shelter for a few.”

A question popped into Jace’s head. “May I ask how old you are?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Evaliena waved away the question.

“I could guess?”

“You’ll never get close to an answer.”

Jace decided on a wild answer. “Seven hundred years.” He said proudly.

Evaliena was silent for a while. “You have the correct number of numbers.”

“You can’t possibly be over a hundred years old…” Jace couldn’t quite believe it. She had to be pulling his leg. “Not that you don’t look more than… thirty?”

“I’ll humour you, so you stop guessing, pup.” Evaliena sounded miffed. “Six hundred and sixty-two .”

Jace stopped. “You can not be that old…”

“I assure you, Jace.” Evaliena addressed Jace as she was still walking. “There are going to be a lot of things your weak stomach and soft mind are going to find rather uncomfortable.” Jace started walking again, coming back up alongside Evaliena. “Let’s just get inside from this wind.”

The gate of the keep as they approached was missing and looked as if it had not been there for a very long time. Whatever hinges the door had were little more than rust spots on the stones. Evaliena was right that the place was old, parts of the masonry had collapsed in places around the outside. Jace wondered if the place was safe.

The pair pass through the stone archway into the keep’s courtyard. The inside was mostly gravel and cobblestone paths, with a large garden and greenhouse tucked away in the corner. Along with what appeared to be several large wooden compost bins and a pair of collapsing outhouses. Jace even spotted a few beehives.

Evaliena guided Jace to the main building, a large circular structure that stood several stories tall. Made of the same stone as the decaying curtain walls attached to it, and he could feel the weathered gravel crunching beneath his feet as they walked through the courtyard. The building was in surprisingly good condition on the outside and he could smell, among other things, the burnt wood scent of tar.

“Does anyone live with you?” Jace asked as they came up to the wooden door of the keep.

“Oh, there are spiders, worms, maggots, other critters, a cat, a few ravens and some owls.” Evaliena stated in a deadpan tone. Jace had second thoughts about going inside the keep now, taking several steps back. Evaliena shrugged vainly and shook her head. “Oh, little lordling, I’m sorry if my home isn’t up to your cleanliness standards.” Moments passed. “I bathe every week and use cleaning spells.”

Jace let out a sigh, but his head popped up at the statement. “Every week?” Jace didn’t even register the idea of cleaning spells.

“So soft. So, so, so soft,” Evaliena mused as she pushed the door of her home open. “In you go. It’s getting dark and the mountain side gets chilly at night.”

Between exposure and a nice warm bed offered by a total stranger, Jace braved going inside.

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Jace didn’t know what to expect upon entering the building. It was so much darker inside than out, with only the light of the doorway and what was creeping through boarded up arrow slits. Evaliena clicked her fingers. Crystals that hung from the walls lit up with a soft yellow glow.

Jace looked around in awe. It was like clapping to activate the lights. And suspected electricity did not power those.

“Done gawking at the lights?” Evaliena closed the door, then slipped the latch to block it. Jace shook his head and looked at Evaliena. “If you have nothing to say, head up the stairs and curl up next to the hearth.” She gestured at the wooden staircase. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Jace nodded to Evaliena and climbed the stairs up to the second floor. The boards creaked with his steps. While the ground floor had a few doors, burlap sacks, wooden barrels and a bare central pillar. The second floor was more expansive with many homely things. Chairs, skin rugs, cabinets, trunks, workstations. A hearth with a grilling rack and so many pots, pans, and cooking utensils. There was garlic, onion, herbs, and what looked like carrots hanging from the vent. So many scents and textures.

He trundled around the donut shaped room and found several bookcases that caught his eye. Some had crystal windowed doors for each shelf of the case all the way to the floor. Others had full wooden doors. Many of the shelves contained books of different sizes and colours in good condition, while the remaining shelves held odds and ends. If Jace had hands, he’d want to take one and look at it, if he could. He was sure he couldn’t read any of them.

“Do you enjoy reading?” Evaliena spoke from behind Jace.

He bounced nearly five feet into the air. “Ahh!” “How did you creep up on me so easily?!”

Evaliena put a finger to her muzzle. “That’s a trade secret. And hush, pup, there are others sleeping.”

“You said nothing about other people being here.” Jace spoke in a hushed, annoyed tone.

“Well, there is. I just didn’t want you to run into any of them yet. Especially if you’re stuck.” Evaliena gestured to Jace’s form. “Anyway, do you enjoy reading?” Evaliena walked up to a bookcase.

Jace watched. “I do. It’s one of my favourite pastimes. Though it’s mostly fantasy books.”

Evaliena opened a case, the door creaking on its hinges. She crooned as she tapped along the spines of the books. “Hmmm, there it is.” She pulled a folio from the shelf.

“What’s in there?” Jace tilted his head.

Evaliena turned around, holding the book to her body. “Oh, it might help you, if you could read it?” She leant down on one knee. She opened the cover and showed Jace the title.

Jace squinted at the ‘lettering’. it was a series of illegible squiggles to him, there was a certain pattern to them. He shook his head. “No, I can not read it.”

Evaliena frowned slightly. “Well, that will be an issue. Can you count?”

Jace thought for a moment. He covered this in his classes. “I can tell you the angles of a triangle if you give me the lengths.”

“I guess you’re not all that helpless.” Evaliena got to her feet. She clicked her fingers once more. The hearth roared to life. Filling the room with heat and dancing light. “I’ll make us some supper. You can tell me about your world, and maybe a bit about yourself.” She carried the book with her to the side of the room with the hearth.

“What about my condition? Me being stuck like this?” Jace asked as he followed the vixen.

“That can wait until tomorrow. Some preparations need to be made first so I can help you. If only for you to stand on two legs again.” She put the book down on a table before opening the lid of a trunk. The smell of raw meat permeated the air.

“And sending me home?”

“I can not help you with that.” Evaliena said flatly. “Frankly, I don’t know if anyone can help you with that.” She pulled out a slab of meat from the trunk and dropped it onto a cutting board with a wet slap. It looked chilled.

“This place is a house of wonder and horrors.” Jace commented.

Evaliena reached for a knife and steel and began honing the knife’s blade. Each movement scratching metal on metal. “Oh, it is my suspicion that we will horrify and awe each other in equal measure.” She told Jace with amusement. “I’m taking my travel cloak off. Would you mind?”

“I, uh… It’s your home, not mine…” Jace conceded. Being told that wearing clothes was an issue with fur, and now that there was a fire going, any mask of decency was going out the window. He knew someone like himself was going to have… issues.

Evaliena put the knife and steel down. She grabbed her cloak, pulling it off completely and hung it on a rack attached to the wall alongside the others that hung there. Luckily, she had the skirt on. The tail she was hiding under the cloak was large, yellow, bushy and tipped with brown. Draped over her shoulders was a kind of patterned tippet or shawl? It came down to her elbows and mostly just covered her… Jace became embarrassed again and looked at the fire, which was warm and comforting. He could feel his heart rate rise slightly.

“Trust me pup, it is not going to get any better.” She chuckled softly. She tilted the knife towards Jace, then to the cloak on the rack. “Most Therians would at least be expected to wear that travel cloak. What I’m wearing now is usual for a fully grown woman of the clans.” She began cutting away the slab of meat.

“No underpants are all?” Jace asked innocently as he curled up with his head towards the fire. The position felt oddly natural.

“Well, if I was planning on visiting a Kith city, I’ll wear undergarments and more covering clothing out of courtesy or they have a hissy fit about us being uncivilised and indecent. Most Mer look down on us anyway, so we don’t bother.” Evaliena spoke casually. Jace didn’t understand any of the distinctions. What are Kith? What are Mer? Therians were apparently people like Evaliena. She stopped chopping. “Sorry, you probably didn’t understand any of that… But you will in time,” a sympathetic tone in her voice said.

“What are Therian children expected to wear then?”

Evaliena was doing something to the meat. He could hear salt and pepper cracking and the rustle of leaves as they snapped off the stem. “Ponchos, cloaks, smocks. Their coats aren’t thick enough for the winters just yet.” Jace still couldn’t believe a group of people could wear so little.

“What about pockets?” Jace probed.

“We have bags, satchels and sashes.” Evaliena finished her preparation of the meat and carried the board to the Hearth. She reached up for a skillet and rested it on the grill. “You’ve got your questions, pup, now answer mine.” Jace could smell butter. Where did the butter come from? What do your people look like?”

Jace thought for a while about how to answer. Evaliena threw a pad of butter into the metal skillet. It sped around the pan with a crackle and hiss. “We don’t have fur. It’s considered rude to walk around nude. We have a mop of hair. We don’t walk on our toes. There are girls and boys…” Jace rattled off the descriptors. Tossed into the pan, the meat sizzled, filling the air with an aroma of pepper, butter, thyme and gamey fat.

“That sounds awfully a lot like the Humes Kith.” Evaliena interjected. “But I guess they are not the same temperament as your people.”

“Why do you say that?” Jace looked at the vixen, then immediately looked back at the fire.

“Tell me more first. Of your world.”

----------------------------------------

The meat was… Honestly, the best meat Jace had ever tasted. His tongue drenched in the flavour of carefully seasoned meat, the chew, the juice, how each bite slid down his throat was heavenly. The smell was incredible. It was certainly better than what his family cooked and definitely better than the fast-food places. And he whimpered as the experience ended all too soon.

Jace had answered Evaliena’s questions about his home. The technological wonders she could glean from Jace’s inadequate explanations. Intrigued and sometimes took her aback by what she heard. He guessed that a smartphone in one’s pocket was a curse as well as a blessing. In hindsight, the suggestion that hundreds of thousands could be watching your every move like capricious gods was frightening to consider. It just never really crossed his mind. Then he asked. “So, what is this world like?”

“It’s better if you saw the world with your own eyes,” the vixen answered sincerely. “My account wouldn’t prepare you for the shock you’d encounter.”

“I think being turned into a fox and chased across the forest by, whatever that was. Is shock enough.” Jace grumbled. “Why do you have to lie and keep secrets?”

“Depends. You’re still young. We tell lies to children so as they age we can peel them so they can understand why we told them those lies.” Evaliena continued. Then she laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“The amount of knowledge crammed into that head of yours. I’ve never met a child like you.” Her tone changed to a more serious one. “It’s also very dangerous.”

“Is.. is schooling not normal here?” Jace glanced to his side only to see Evaliena’s yellow furred knee. He kept his head looking at the fire, slowly dying with cracking logs and fizzling embers. Cogs clicked in Jace’s mind as the realisation slowly came to the fore of his mind.

“Outside of letters and simple counting?” Evaliena answered. “You’ll be hard pressed to find a scholar or a journeyman outside of a monarch’s court, a city or monastery. Less you visit the Mer, in which case they’re a dozen a bronze piece. The point I’m getting too is, most people aren’t going to engage with the level of conversation you’re capable of, nor will they care to.”

“So most people are stupid?” Jace assumed.

“Lack of education doesn’t equal stupidity. Pup.” Evaliena growled at the comment. “Some of the wisdom they have to say can surprise you. Many have loose lips and love to gossip. It would be advantageous to keep an end open.” Evaliena patted Jace’s back. “But for the time being, keep your own mouth shut. For your own safety.”

Jace yawned widely and licked around his mouth. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now. The boards creaked as Evaliena stood up. “Where are you going?” Jace tiredly asked.

“To get you some water and a basket to sleep in.” She replied.

“I’m not a dog,” Jace barked unhappily.

“And yet you have no choice in the matter, unless you wish to sleep on the floor tonight?”

“Why can’t I sleep with you?”

He could feel Evaliena’s eyes burn a hole in the back of his head. “Because I don’t want your stench in my bed and I don’t trust you not to wet yourself either.” Jace became silent after that. “Try to sleep. I’ll tuck you in, carry you up and keep you close by. You are safe here.”