Cloudpup

[🐾] Brightpup slipped through the entrance that led from camp to the rest of RumblePack territory. The trainee looked to have just woken up not long ago, still blinking sleep out of his eyes. His jaws parted in a massive yawn as he further woke himself up. He caught sight of a familiar gray fox close by. His green eyes lit up as the Pack vulpine made his way over to his friend. “Hey, Cloud,” he greeted, coming to a stop in front of the other. “Is everything okay?”

“Hey Brightpup,” they greeted in return. “I’m doing well. The curse hasn’t been around for a while, so I think I’m good as long as I’m near your camp.” They idly kicked at the dirt. “Though I’m still hoping I’m able to join. It’d help to have others around that can help keep this thing at bay.”

Cloud gave a weak smile at the other vulpine’s words, their tail flicking behind him. To finally be free of the curse that has plagued them… that would be amazing. Their ears lowered as they looked away, thinking about why they didn’t tell Brightpup.

“Well, it sounds a little crazy, doesn’t it? A murderous black fox that’s the manifestation of a curse placed on me ages ago. It’d probably sound like I went absolutely mad.” They let out a sigh, looking up at Brightpup again.

“Thank you. Just hearing that makes me feel at least a little better about this.”

[🐾] Brightpup couldn’t deny the fact that it would have sounded strange at first about hearing of a shadowy fox that was after them, but it seemed no stranger than a SpiritPack fox coming down from the sky, or a dark fox coming from Night Woods like he had heard in his mother’s stories. Besides, since he was more connected to the spiritual worlds than a normal trainee or soldier, he had a better time understanding and accepting what Cloud was dealing with.

The RumblePack vulpine gave them a reassuring smile as he nodded. He might not know how he was going to help them get rid of the murderous spirit, but he wasn’t about to sit by and allow this to continue to happen to the gray fox. It was his job to help others after all, no matter who or what they were. Because of that, he’d do everything in his power to help his new friend deal with this curse.

While he didn’t know it yet, he had a lot more in common with Cloud than he realized. Both were curses. Both were being hunted by a fox with the intention to kill them. If by those reasons alone, Brightpup and Cloud needed to stick together more than ever. They’d understand where each other were coming from and better be able to help one another deal with their problems.

They’d have a good amount of time to get to Rumblepack while it was healing, which took around an hour. Brightpup’s presence would also help keep it away for a little bit longer.

There wasn’t any, outside of a red mark around their neck. They let out a couple of coughs as they just lied down, needing to rest. They locked eyes with Brightpup, their own glowing a bright yellow, the same one as the darker fox. Though it quickly faded back to brown.

“That… That’s the reason I can’t be alone,” they answered, coughing. “I… I’m cursed… If I’m alone or only with another living being, then it’ll begin to manifest into that… Thing…” They looked at the tree they were thrown into, gently rubbing the bark. “I’ve been trying to find a way to break it, to get it to stop following me…”

“That’s why I wanted to hurry back to your Pack. It can’t follow me into a larger group.”

[🐾] Brightpup was relived to see that Cloud didn’t appear to be hurt aside from the red mark around their neck. The RumblePack trainee folded his ears back as he stared down at his friend. He flinched at seeing the glowing yellow eyes, though it turned back to brown fast enough. It still kept the vulpine on edge all the same.

He felt a wave of guilt wash over him at the gray fox’s words. They couldn’t be alone because of that shadow fox… If they had told him, then he would have taken them back to the Pack right away. Though he did understand the reason about keeping silence too. It wouldn’t be something that he’d want a random fox to know about neither. At least, not right away.

“Well, it sounds a little crazy, doesn’t it? A murderous black fox that’s the manifestation of a curse placed on me ages ago. It’d probably sound like I went absolutely mad.” They let out a sigh, looking up at Brightpup again.

The curse incarnation grinned before circling it’s chain around, the chain hitting, and phasing through Brightpup’s front paws harmlessly. Though there was a reason for it, and that reason became quickly apparent as ice immediately bound the fox’s paws to the frost-covered ground. “Stick around and find out, runt,” it answered, as though it read his mind.

It then turned it’s attention back to Cloud, who was recovering from the impact. The chain went around their throat again, and this time they had no intention to stop until the life was drained from the gray-furred fox. They gasped, trying to get air as their body began to slowly freeze, though they grapped the end of the chain in their mouth, binding it at the middle with a paw before they began tugging. Almost immediately, the darker fox began to yell out in pain.

With a finishing strike as their other paw came down, the chain snapped, freeing Cloud’s throat before it vanished. In response, the incarnation let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony as it vanished into a black and purple smoke. They then immediately collapsed, trying to regain their breath as they held their throat.

[🐾] Emerald eyes widened in surprise as the chain touched his paws. They phased through them harmlessly, though they sent a freezing chill up his legs, causing him to shiver. He tried to move his paws, but he found they were rooted to the ground, stuck there by the ghostly chain.

Anxiety welled up inside of his chest as he looked at the two foxes. He willed his feet to move, but to no avail. He was as good as stuck. Brightpup watched as the darker vulpine wrapped the chain tighter around Cloud’s neck, not bothering to stop at all until it choked them to death.

Before that could happen though, the lighter fox wasn’t going to stand for that. They attacked the chain, making the shadow fox shriek in pain, before it snapped, and the darker-furred vulpine let out the most chilling scream the trainee had ever heard, before disappearing in a cloud of black-and-purple smoke.

Once he was free, Brightpup stumbled over to Cloud, trying to warm his paws up from the numbness from the chilly chain. He wore a concerned expression as he looked down at the light gray fox.

"That... That's the reason I can't be alone," they answered, coughing. "I... I'm cursed... If I'm alone or only with another living being, then it'll begin to manifest into that... Thing..." They looked at the tree they were thrown into, gently rubbing the bark. "I've been trying to find a way to break it, to get it to stop following me..."

“Marigold? I think I’ve seen that plant before. It looks like an orange ball.” They began looking around the area for one, somewhat anxious to get away from the shadow, especially considering it could-. Before Cloud could finish their thought, it wrapped the chain around their throat before tossing them into a tree.

It’d be revealing it’s existence to the other fox, but what difference would it make, it thought. The chain partially froze Cloud’s fur on their neck. “Tick tock, little foxes~” it said to the two of them, it’s voice slowly being able to be heard as it began giggling maniacally. “Better get moving. Your time is running out~”

[🐾] His ears perked up at that. There was relief in him that Cloud knew what he was looking for. It made things a lot easier for the both of them. They could get it and head back to RumblePack much more quickly this way. He needed to get back as soon as he could too. Honeypool was waiting for him to bring the marigold to her so they could help Briarfoot.

However, things quickly went downhill when he saw the light gray fox being flung into a tree. Green eyes widened as the dark vulpine appeared before him, a chain wrapped around Cloud’s neck. Brightpup’s fur bristled, puffed up to the point that he looked like a fluffy orange ball as he moved back a few pawsteps.

What in the name of SpiritPack was that? Some fox from Night Woods? It clearly looked like it could belong there. What was it doing here and what did it went with his friend? To add to that, what did they mean? What time was running out? What did they know?

It then turned it’s attention back to Cloud, who was recovering from the impact. The chain went around their throat again, and this time they had no intention to stop until the life was drained from the gray-furred fox. They gasped, trying to get air as their body began to slowly freeze, though they grapped the end of the chain in their mouth, binding it at the middle with a paw before they began tugging. Almost immediately, the darker fox began to yell out in pain.

“Thank you, Brightpup,” Cloud answered, looking between him and the hallucination, the ground beginning to frost from it’s presence. A bit of sweat beaded on their forehead as they felt the air chill, unconsciously moving their leg to try and escape the imaginary chain wrapped around it. They had a secret to keep, and it’s best that Brightpup doesn’t know about it yet.

“What things do we need? I can help you look.” Truthfully, the sooner they went back to his Pack, the better. After all, it was only a matter of time before it began attacking them again, and they didn’t want Brightpup in the crossfire, even though it could only touch Cloud.

[🐾] The little trainee nodded. He was happy to help out any fox that was in need. He wasn’t about to turn away his new friend like that. As a curer, he had to help any fox, dog, or wolf that wandered into RumblePack territory. He knew that his mothers wouldn’t turn them away neither.

“Brightpup..” They echoed, before attempting a smile. … It somewhat worked, but at least they tried. “That’s a pretty nice name… My name’s… Wait I already said that…” It appeared that they were still out of it to some degree, the daydream the shadow had trapped them in having done a number on them.

They went to look around and shivered, suddenly feeling the freezing cold chain wrapped around their leg, even though nothing was there. The frigid air quickly returned, the shadow fox appearing in front of a bush, a grin on it’s face. As long as other living things were around, it couldn’t hear Cloudpup, and they couldn’t hear it 

“… Say, do you know of somewhere I can stay for a while…? I’m being chased, and I kinda need somewhere I can blend in…”

[🐾] The young trainee gave a smile of his own back at Cloud. Their name was pretty nice too. It suited them being a light gray color. Their fur looked like a slight gray storm cloud. Perhaps if his mother allowed them to stay in RumblePack, maybe their name could be Cloudstorm once they were a soldier. …If they wanted to stay that long. A part of him hoped so. He had no idea why, but he already liked having the outsider around. Plus, if they were in the Pack, they’d have a better chance at fighting off whatever was after them.

Brightpup’s ears folded back slightly at the news. Given how the other vulpine acted earlier, he could see that being the case. That did make the little healer wonder who or what was after them though. However, the trainee wasn’t going to pry into Cloud’s personal life. That was their business, not his. Still, it was something that Snowspirit was going to have to know about.

The gray fox finally managed to fully stand, looking at into the other’s green eyes. They felt sorry for the other, especially given that they’d clearly spooked him. Slowly padding forward, making sure that they wouldn’t fall over, they held out a paw to him.

“That’s good to hear at least… My name is Cloud…” They looked down, letting out a sigh. “S.. sorry if I’m intruding on your territory, being here…”

[🐾] Curious eyes watched the other vulpine pad towards him. Despite the rather sudden spook, if they were hurt, he’d help them in anyway that he could. It seemed as though the newcomer was alright enough to walk. That was a bit of a relief for the young trainee. He placed his paw on the other’s after they held it out to him.

They went to look around and shivered, suddenly feeling the freezing cold chain wrapped around their leg, even though nothing was there. The frigid air quickly returned, the shadow fox appearing in front of a bush, a grin on it’s face. As long as other living things were around, it couldn’t hear Cloudpup, and they couldn’t hear it 

Cloudpup’s eyes were glazed over, as though they were in a dream, however, in an instant, they snapped back to reality, seemingly from the fox’s presence. Their instincts kicked in, thinking that Brightpup was the shadow figure from before. “Stop following me,” they shouted, wildly swiping at the air. Though they couldn’t hide the tail between their own legs, truthfully very scared at the moment.

After a moment, they regained their senses, looking at Brightpup with an embarrassed expression. Their ears immediately folded back as they looked at the ground. “Sorry… I..” They paused, taking a sharp breath. “I thought you were someone else…” They scratched their cheek lightly, their muzzle showing signs of red. They did give off a pretty bad first impression: trying to attack. Hopefully he wasn’t too startled.

[🐾] Green eyes widened in surprise at the sudden shout and swipe of a paw. He backed off from the other fox, ears resting against his skull. His heart beat against his rib-cage so fiercely he thought it must burst. Whoever this stranger was, they no doubt mistook him for some other fox. He had never seen them before in his life, so that had to be the case, right?

Brightpup was quiet for a few heartbeats, unsure of what to say. It was clear that they hadn’t meant to do that. They seemed really sorry about the ordeal. Not only that, but the gray fox had seemed out of it, in a daze perhaps. He wondered if they were sick too.

[✯] Suihei perked up when she spotted her friend. The teenager was glad to see them again. It had been awhile seen the Keyblade wielder had seen the fox-eared human. She was pleased to see that they appeared to be well and nothing bad had happened from the look of things.

“I’ve been good,” she replied. “How about you? How have things been with you?”

Cloudpup: “Thanks. Just let me grab some stuff before I go.” And with that they were off, running back a few minutes later with a large backpack as well as some supplies and an odd green book that seemed to have a magical aura around it.

[✯] Sui watched as Cloudpup ran off to gather whatever they thought they were going to need on their quest. While the fox-eared human was off getting ready, it gave the Keyblade wielder some time to think. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen a single Heartless since she touched down onto this world. That would make this the first world she ever went to that didn’t have the creatures roaming around. It was strange in a way.

It almost felt wrong to her. She had gotten so used to fighting Heartless that not seeing any just felt alien to her. But in a way, she was happy all the same. It meant that her new friend’s world wasn’t at risk of falling into the darkness. At least, not right now. She hoped it stayed that way too.

She was snapped out of her train of thought when she saw Cloudpup make their way back over to her a few minutes later, carrying a large backpack and a book that was green in color. It also seemed to give off a magical aura. Well, they were certainly coming prepared.

Cloudpup: They quickly faced the other, quite surprised at the Keyblade wielder’s offer. The opportunity to go to other worlds? It would definitely be pretty awesome to be able to do that. “Alright, but can I bring Lilith along?” They smiled, leaning against a tree. “She’s quite a bit tougher than she looks.”

[✯] She knew that she shouldn’t have suggested that. It was rare for beings from other worlds to travel with her to different worlds unless they became a ‘summon’ that she could call on and aid her in battle. But if she was being honest, she didn’t see any harm in Cloudpup and Lilith joining her, Baxter, Roren, and Nimbus on their quest to save the worlds from the darkness.

Cloudpup: “Yea. Well, I’ve had the hypothesis for ages. I always felt there had to be more places than just worlds like the Nether or the Twilight Forest.” They looked up at the sky. “Heck, I’ve even had plans to explore other planets. There’s a lot I want to explore.” They closed their eyes slowly, hand closing into a fist. “Sides, I’m going to need to be as powerful as I can get if I’m going to tear that guy limb from limb.”

[✯] The teenager paused as she thought over her new friend’s words. They wanted to explore other worlds? To see what it had to offer? Sui could relate to that. At one point, she had been like that too. Now she got her chance and she wouldn’t change it for anything.