#thunderstroked

The fox clawed at the cage she’d gotten stuck inside. Heart beating fast, she repelled from the edges, as if the metal that touched her skin might somehow singe her fear. A low whine left her as she arched her back against the metal, claws piercing through the small holes of the man-made crate. It was on the smaller side, meant for something the size of a raccoon, maybe. She was going to die here, and it was that spellcaster in the wood’s fault. She’d never see Felix or Inge again, she’d never have her favorite wine– she’d never return the photography studio to Esther. She was done for. 

In her panic, she missed the exchange of words– the padding of footsteps. She was shaking violently within the small cage, doing her best to try and claw her way out. Another high pitched whine left her, this time reminiscent of a small child’s scream. Agony washed over her, and panic ensued. Her heart rate picked up and she shoved her shoulder into the opposite side of the cage, gaze leveling with that of a man after a few moments where she lowered herself to the ground, panting heavily. Was he here to kill her? She would burn him, if so. He would release her, and she would burn him, and she would run. She had to. She couldn’t die here. She refused to die here. 

—

Weird fox in one of the traps. That was the call Kaden got to animal control. He could only speculate what the fuck that meant in Wicked’s Rest. His questions were met with no real answers like information had been passed third hand to the hunter. Time to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. For all he knew, the fox was just a normal damn fox but was gray or maybe had mange. Hell, it could be a raccoon. Wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. Maybe it was even that fucker that had tormented and evaded him and Cortez a while back. Yeah, no way he’d get that lucky. Time to plan for a raiju. Kaden grabbed his rubber gloves along with the crate and snare from the back of the truck before trekking out into the woods to see what he would find. 

The closer he got to the spot in question, the more chills ran down his spine. Kaden furrowed his brows, checking that he was headed in the right direction. Sure was. Great. So he was walking directly towards a monster. Hopefully it was still in that cage. 

He spotted the glint of metal before he could see what was waiting for him across the way. Goosebumps covered his arms as he walked closer. Definitely something supernatural. Beast or shifter, surely. Whichever it was, it was panicked and whining. The sound pierced his ears and it was all he could do not to wince. Deep breath. Kaden crouched down to get a better look at the little fox. The little orange fox with a splash of blue fur and two tails. 

Yeah, not a fox, then. A kitsune. Kaden sighed, not sure if it was relief or something else that he was releasing. “Hey, hey, calm down,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender as he dropped down to one knee to try and meet the shifter eye to eye. “I know what you are, okay. You’re safe. I promise.” Slowly, he reached his hand out to the cage door, ready to open it. His fingers hesitated to grasp the handle while the kitsune was still so frightened. He knew that he wasn’t dealing with a wild animal, sure, but the same rules still applied. Frightened animals were dangerous to deal with. “You’re going to have to calm down, alright? I don’t want to deal with that fox fire shit today, got it?” 

—

I know what you are. 

The fox thought briefly to the moment she’d watched Twilight with Inge and the two of them had cackled at the scene splitting between Bella and Edmund– no, Edward. She pressed herself against the metal, ears pinned back as she glowered at the man who appeared. If he knew what she was, either it was by sight or by something else. 

His fingers hung around the lock of the cage and the fox watched intently, fur sticking through the holes in the cage as she backed up further. He was speaking to her, acknowledging that he knew what she could do to him– how did he know? Most would see two tails and equate it to something out of mythology, but this person knew past that. 

In response to his request, the fox let out another high pitched whine before relaxing slightly. If he tried anything, she would light him up and have no issue doing so– she was not a fighter in the slightest, but there were exceptions to that rule. The fox waited patiently for the door to drop open, and once it did, she rushed out, half-tempted to escape the man, but she turned at the last moment, studying his features. Could he help her if he knew what she was? 

—

The fox calmed down just enough that he risked opening the cage door. Kaden expected them to transform back right then and there. He waited and gave the fox a look. “Go on.You don’t have to hide it here. No one around, no cameras. You’re safe.” The kitsune just looked up at him with a blank stare and for a second, he questioned if he was wrong. No, those were two distinct tails. There was no way this was a normal fox. They were a kitsune. 

So why weren’t they turning back into a human form? Kaden furrowed his brows and double checked that they were alone. Yeah, very alone, no one else there. Were they shy? Could they not shift while someone was looking at them? Embarrassed? Maybe afraid to reveal their identity. 

“I mean it. You can shift back now. I promise, I’m not going to tell anyone or hurt you or anything. And it’s going to be easier to speak to each other, as cute as the fox form is.” 

Still, nothing. Was there something he was missing? 

Wait, did kitsune keep their clothes when shifting? Werewolves didn’t. Maybe they were worried about being naked in front of a stranger. Kaden shrugged off his jacket and placed it on the ground in front of the kitsune. “Here. I don’t know how much it’ll cover you up but it might help. If that’s the issue.” And if that wasn’t the issue, the ranger was officially at a loss. 

—

As much as the fox wanted to shift back and give her thanks and then be on her way, that wasn’t possible. Then again, that might have been stupid of her. What if this person was waiting for her to reveal what she truly looked like, and in turn use that against her? She wouldn’t have risked it, even if she were capable of returning to her human form. 

The fox huffed in response to the way he urged her to shift back. She attempted, but there was no puff of smoke, no reveal of who she was beneath the blue and orange fur. The scar that replicated itself in the patterns across her fur burned with frustration– something that typically happened when under duress. 

At his insinuation that she might be embarrassed due to the act of being naked, the fox cackled– or, rather, chirped. The idea that she would be embarrassed over her body was laughable, even in her current state. Had he only read about her kind in books? Did he have no idea that she’d keep her clothes? That her shifts weren’t as animalistic as others? 

The jacket was now on the ground, though, and the fox committed the scent to memory. She’d follow it after this was said and done and show her appreciation so that she wouldn’t have the guilt looming over her in the form of his help. Though, the only help he’d given her was getting her out of the cage. That was good enough, she decided. The fox watched the man intently before stepping atop his jacket, tails flicking in response to his words. She pawed at the jacket pocket where she felt the weight of a cell phone. Maybe she could use her nose to type something out? Sticks and scrawling words into the dirt hadn’t really helped her case before, but maybe this would work. 

—

Did the kitsune just laugh at him? Kaden’s mouth pulled into a thin line and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Couldn’t believe he just got laughed at by a fox. Sure, alright, they were a shifter but all the same. His brow raised as he watched them approach his jacket and… stand on top of it? That wasn’t going to help. What the hell were they doing? “Hey, careful,” he said as soon as she started pawing at it. “Don’t scratch the leather, alright?” As if the jacket wasn’t already well worn and scuffed and scratched in various places. It was the principle of the thing, though. 

When he looked down, he saw that the kitsune had wedged his phone out of the pocket. Right. Might have been a smart idea to take that out before handing it to them. Kaden reached down to grab it and looked at the device, unsure of the best way to go about this. It’s not like there was a fox to English translation app he could use. Even if there was, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to figure out how to get it without help from Alex or Mack or even Andy. 

It was clear from all the huffing and visible frustration from before that the kitsune wasn’t shifting there and then for whatever reason. But they hadn’t run away. Kaden eyed his phone again. Did they want to communicate? Well, probably, since their current back and forth left a lot to be desired. How were they going to do that with a phone? They still couldn’t talk. Maybe they wanted to call someone? And say what, exactly? He tried to wrap his head around it and remembered that incident at Masque of the Red Death when he was monochromatic and silent. What was her name, the mare, Inge? She’d mentioned using a phone to communicate when silent instead of the whiteboard. Honestly, shame he didn’t have that with him now, it would have helped. Still, maybe she was onto something. 

Kaden tapped through the lock screen and found an app that looked like it took notes or something. Either way, seemed like you could type on it. Though he wasn’t sure if the kitsune would have the dexterity with their paws or nose or hell, maybe their tails, to navigate it. He went to set it down but hesitated. He knew there was a way to make things bigger and the buttons larger, mostly because of the number of times he did it by accident. “One second, let me see if I can make this easier,” he said as he desperately flipped through various settings and options. He did what he could to make the text larger and the buttons bigger and hoped it would be enough before placing the phone back on his jacket facing the fox. “Hope this is what you wanted,” he told them as he waited for them to type away. 

—

The man took the phone away and the fox let out another annoyed huff. Then again, she wouldn’t be able to do much to unlock it. It wasn’t like she could press his thumb into the home button for him. She watched him expectantly as he seemingly threaded her silent request together. 

Just as he was about to return the phone to her, he was saying something else and the fox let out a whine, finally moving off of the man’s jacket. The last thing she wanted to do was scratch up the leather, it did smell authentic, and she knew how pricey they could be. She wouldn’t make much of a case for herself if she did tarnish something he clearly cared about. Finally, the phone was back within her reach and the fox was leaning down, amused by the way the buttons took up pretty much half of the screen. It would make things easier though, she had to admit that. 

Before moving to tap her nose against the screen, she rubbed it against her side at the risk of not wanting to get any dirt on his phone. She’d been traveling like this for awhile now, there was no telling what state she was actually in. Finally, she dipped down to tap her nose against the words S-T-U-C-K. Instead of spelling it outright, it said S-T-I-UU-C-JJ-K. Though, with the help of context clues, she was hopeful that he’d be able to understand what she was trying to say. She watched him carefully as she nudged the phone with her nose back towards him, a low whine building in her chest. 

—

Kaden had to admit, he was fascinated watching the fox trying to type on a touchscreen. Definitely not anything he would see in any nature documentary, that was for certain. He was glad he made the buttons bigger because even then, it was clear they were struggling to get the right letters. They’d managed to type something, though, which was honestly impressive all on its own.

He leaned down to get a look at the phone and read what they’d written. “Stiuucjjk,” was what was there on the phone screen. The creases in his forehead deepend as he tried to figure out what the hell they were trying to say. “Is this English?” he asked, looking back at them.

Right. A stupid question considering they’d demonstrated understanding of everything else he’d said prior to now. “Sorry, looked like it was Swedish or something.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over the letters one more time. What the hell was it? Sticky? No, that didn’t make sense. Their fur looked clean and so did their paws for the most part. At the very least, they didn’t look like they’d gotten doused in honey or something. Sick? Maybe, but they seemed mostly okay. But he figured it was a good idea to check. “Sick? Are you sick? Is that why you won’t change?” He tilted his head and tried one more time to sus out what the word translated to. He looked at the letters on the keyboard, trying to get an idea of what letters were next to each other, hoping it would clue him in on the mystery word.

“Stick?” he said out loud. Before he could get confirmation or denial, he reached down on the forest floor and grabbed a stick. “Would this help you type? This it?” 

—

The fox let out an annoyed huff as the man asked her if it was English. Couldn’t he read between the lines? She knew that she needed to be patient with him, but it was hard when she was the one stuck like this with no foreseeable way out of it. She was frustrated, to say the least. She hoped that because he seemed to know what she was, he would be able to help– that somewhere in some book there was an explanation of what was happening to her, but then she remembered the stupid spell and how this wasn’t natural to her kind at all. She was fucked. 

She watched in disbelief as the man ran through the words, not nearing what she’d actually been trying to say. She sat down, tails flicking in annoyance as he continued on. Sticky, sick, stick. She had half a mind to bite his hand, but he was the one trying to help her, wasn’t he? Or was this some kind of ploy? To keep her distracted for enough time for someone else to swoop in and steal her away? Her ears rotated slightly as she tried to welcome in any sounds around the perimeter, but aside from the sound of birds, they were alone. The fox exhaled, staring at the stick in the man’s hand. She grabbed it from him with her mouth and threw it at his feet before nodding towards the phone again, nose pressed against the deletion key. 

She attempted it again, this time carefully prodding her nose against the screen. S-T-Y-U-C-K. That was much better, she decided. She pawed at the side of the phone, urging him to take a look. This had to be easily decipherable– there was no way he wouldn’t understand what she was trying to get across now. 

—

When the fox took the stick from his hand, Kaden felt a small swell of pride for having cracked the code. It faded as soon as the stick hit his shoes. “Aright, fine, not a stick.” He grumbled and put the phone back down for the kitsune to type away again. He waited until she looked back up at him, pawing the phone to let him know the message was ready. 

“St-yuck,” he said, pronouncing the word aloud exactly as written. Right, that sounded stupid, especially since he realized what it actually said before the second syllable left his lips. “Stuck. Okay, got it.” Well, at least that was solved. The fox was stuck.

Wait, what did that mean? Kaden’s brows furrowed as looked at the fox, back at the cage he had freed them from, and then over to the fox again. Stuck, how? They weren’t stuck anymore. “But you’re out of the cage, what do you mean stuck?”

He didn’t need to be an expert in animal behavior to sense the frustration coming from the tiny furry creature. Obviously the cage was not what they were talking about. “Right, not the cage. Clearly. Not stuck in the cage anymore but still stuck.” And not in place, either. “Stuck… as a fox?” It was said more like a question than a statement even though, in hindsight, that was clearly what they meant the whole time. 

“Okay, stuck as a fox. Can’t shift back, I take it. Right.” Kaden scratched at his beard before rubbing his palm down the rest of his face. “Not sure I know how to fix that.” The ranger searched his mind for anyone else who might be helpful. He knew a lot of undead, he knew werewolves, but that wasn’t going to do a kitsune a whole lot of good. “I can take you home or wherever you want to go and we can find someone who can, I guess.” It was the only solution he had at the moment. “Which, um, not sure how you want to direct me to wherever that is.” 

—

Finally, the fox thought– he got it. She watched his expression carefully, noting the way in which he seemed to work through the text she’d typed on the phone. Would he think it was something else? Look at her paws for a rock, maybe? She might have to bite him then, she thought. She stared at the man, ears drooping slightly as he came to the wrong conclusion. She had to keep in mind that he was doing most of the communicating, and he was only able to take cues away from her if she’d give them to him. 

Once he’d gotten it, the fox nodded. She wasn’t sure what he’d be able to do to help her, if anything, but at least somebody had gotten it right. Only, as soon as he’d come to the grand reveal, he was falling back on his heels. The fox let out a huff and laid down, paws outstretched in front of her. Out of everyone she’d run into today, he was the only one to really figure her out for what she was, and what was wrong with her. The idea of possibly directing him to Felix came to mind, but if he recognized her for what she was, who was to say that he wouldn’t recognize Felix? She couldn’t put them in any kind of harm’s way. 

Getting to her own home, and then finding Inge or Felix would be her only way, she thought. She looked at the phone in his hands and sighed, knowing that typing out her address would be one hell of a feat. But if that was her only way… 

She nodded towards the phone, snout pushing through the air as if to mimic the way she’d pushed her nose against the screen to spell out what was needed. 

—

“You want to try and type again?” Kaden wasn’t sure how well that was going to work out, given how long it took them to spell “stuck.” With typos. “I think it might be easier if you try to direct me once we’re in the car. I’m pretty sure we can find a way.” The ranger was about to turn and indicate for the fox to follow when he realized there was a lot of town out there and a lot of people, too. Wandering blindly with a fox to navigate probably wasn’t the best idea. “On second thought, give me a rough location or someone to head towards. Or a part of town at least. Then you can point the way from there.” 

He bent down to place the phone on the ground so they could press their snoot up against the glass to type out each character slowly and carefully. The device brushed the forest floor before Kaden yanked it back up. “Hold on, I have a better idea.” He may not have had those often, but he was pretty sure this was going to be easier than waiting for the fox to type. Not that he had anywhere better to be, sure, but he really didn’t want to get bitten by a frustrated kitsune today if he could avoid it.

Kaden opened up the map app on his phone and zoomed out to an overview map of the town before finally placing it on the ground. This time, however, the ranger stayed crouched next to it. “Okay, I’m going to hover my finger over the map. Yip or howl or whatever it is when I’m over the right place. I’ll zoom in. Same shit.” He went to start and realized he hadn’t figured out how they could tell him he was going the wrong direction. Or anything else but yes, really. “Uh, if I’m wrong, paw me or the phone or something. I guess. And, hmm…” He paused and scratched his beard as he pondered a little more. “Use your head to tell me which direction to go? Or point your paw? Something like that. Make it obvious.” He really hoped this would work. “Alright, ready?”

—

The fox stared up at him unblinking, waiting for the moment that the phone would hit the ground again. She wasn’t sure how directing him would do any good, mostly considering she had no idea where she was. She looked around them in an attempt to get a better idea of where she might’ve gotten herself trapped, but all she saw was underbrush and trees. She turned her attention back towards him as he went to put down the phone, ears flattening back as he scooped it back up within the time it took him to lean down to set it back down. She looked up at him as he explained, realizing that he’d finally come up with a good idea. 

At least this would be easier in the grand scheme of things. 

This was a better idea than simply getting into his truck and finding the way back home. She wasn’t even really sure if home was where she needed to go at this point– she needed to find Felix or Inge. Still, she was a little apprehensive about bringing somebody who seemed to know what she was right away to her friends who were… not quite human. 

At his instruction, the fox nodded, looking down at the phone. As he tapped around, she barked out the orders, scraping her paw through the dirt to the right– then the left. Finally, she saw the neighborhood that Felix lived in. She could figure it out from there, she thought. She stood up and pawed at the dirt in the direction of his truck, trotting over. Maybe he’d get the memo that’s where she wanted to go. 

Or, at least she hoped his braincells hadn’t deteriorated in that time. 

—

Scrolling through the map for the fox seemed to be working. Kaden was shocked he came up with it at all, to be honest. It was easier to understand than their typos, that was for sure. At one point during the whole thing, it hit him how ridiculous this had to look. There he was, kneeling in the dirt, swiping on a phone while a goddamn fox was giving him directions. It sounded like a bad punchline. 

But hey, it worked well enough. The area was easy enough to get to and he was pretty damn familiar with getting around the town by this point given his job. He nodded and followed the fox as they trotted to his truck. 

“Hop in the front,” he said as he swung the passenger side door open for the fox. Once they were in, door closed, he went round the front of the truck and slid into his own seat. “Okay, uh, let’s see. You can tap your paw on me to turn right, that’s easy enough. Uhhh… yip once to turn left? That work?” Kaden looked over at the kitsune and had to stifle a laugh. The whole thing had to look ridiculous. An animal control officer with a fox in the front seat playing navigator. This was going to be a wild ride, that was for sure.

Kaden was about to head off when he saw someone down the road, arms waving above their head, clearly trying to get his attention. His mouth pulled into a thin line as the woman approached the car. He couldn’t say what it was, but something felt off. “Get down,” he muttered to the fox, his eyes never leaving the woman as he spoke. “Hide yourself best you can.” There was a towel bunched up in between the seats that he grabbed and tossed in the fox’s direction. 

By now the woman was close enough that Kaden could see the weapons strapped to her: a crossbow, knives, what looked like a shotgun, among other things. She was well prepared for these woods by the looks of it. That didn’t mean she was a hunter, sure.

But it didn’t mean that she wasn’t one, either.

Kaden pulled up closer to her, car still running. He wasn’t going to risk putting it in park. Even so, he didn’t want his damn tires blown so he rolled the window down and gave her a small wave, half smile on his face. “Hey there. You need something? I’ve got to head out if–”

She didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Hey, sorry I just–” She was still catching her breath as she leaned on the side of the car, practically hanging in the window. Kaden noticed her eyes were darting back and forth, searching the interior of the truck. She was likely trying to be subtle but it didn’t work. “Sorry, I have a trap out here and I heard there was something found in it and–” It was clear she was frantic and having trouble choosing her words. “Well that’s my trap and if you picked anything up, it could be dangerous. Also it’s mine and, and…” 

Kaden’s gaze hardened the more she spoke. She was young, couldn’t be more than twenty-something, if that. “Calm down, breathe.” He tried to angle himself to block her view of the interior as he turned to her. “There wasn’t anything in that trap, sorry. Not sure where you heard that but I have to go, there’s an emergency at–”

“Bullshit,” she spat back at him, her friendly demeanor gone. “I know there was a ki– fox in there. I heard the call in to the station.” The confused look on Kaden’s face didn’t phase her. “Look, I tapped into the radio, whatever, sue me, I don’t care but I need to get that fox. Now. It’s dangerous. And sorry bud, but you definitely don’t know how to handle one like this. Just trust me. Please.”

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t sympathize with the kid. He knew that tone, he knew this song and dance well. It was normally him on the other side. Or it had been, when he thought the same as she did. Putain de merde. He didn’t have time for lessons in ethical beast hunting right now. Especially since he was pretty damn sure she wasn’t going to just listen to him. “Thanks for looking out for me but I promise you, I have it handled. I know a kitsune when I see one.” He didn’t wait for the shock to leave her face before he continued. “This was just a normal fox. Nothing more. And even if it wasn’t, I have it handled. Ranger.”

His heart was pounding in his chest as he waited for whatever came next. Kaden didn’t have a clue how this ranger would react or, worse, how the kitsune in the passenger seat would react. He hadn’t exactly told them he was a ranger. All he could do now was hope that they trusted him enough by now to know he wasn’t out to hurt them.

For one second, it looked like the kid was going to back away and Kaden was ready to take off, foot slowly lifting from the break. 

Not his luck, apparently. “Show me,” the ranger said, determination burning in her irises. One of her hands had slipped down out of sight and that could only mean one goddamn thing with a hunter. She had a weapon in hand. And he had a truck, sure, but he didn’t doubt that she knew damn well how to make sure the truck didn’t go too far if she wanted. “Show me the fox. And I’ll go.”

Putain de merde. Kaden’s eyes hovered towards the passenger seat for just a second, even though he didn’t mean to look their way even a little. He didn’t want to reveal them. He wasn’t going to give them up. But right now, they really needed a way out of this.

—

The fox considered turning her back on him in that moment, but he was the only way she’d get to either her apartment, or to Felix or somewhere in between, so that she wasn’t dragging somebody else into harm’s way. She looked at the door for a moment longer before finally deciding to oblige, hopping onto the front seat of the pick up. 

The sound of a second set of footsteps set her on edge. Ears rotating slightly, she looked towards the open window, eyes narrowing. The man at her side seemed to be on edge, and the words spoken sent her hackles upwards. The fox followed the orders given to her, slipping below the passenger seat, trying to ignore the way it felt like it was closing in on her. The woman could sense her, and the man could… tell? 

Ranger. 

The fox’s ears burned with the word. She’d anticipated this moment; realizing that the man who she’d hoped would help her had been on the wrong side. But he hadn’t tried to hurt her. She knew deep down that she couldn’t trust him, and her father’s words came to mind as she blinked up at the dashboard of the truck, head pulled back just enough so that the woman wouldn’t be able to see her if she peered in through the window. 

There was desperation in her voice, and it didn’t seem like the man she was with was willing to give her up that easily. She had two choices; believe in the one who had helped her to this moment, or allow her fight for survival to win. 

The former eclipsed, and the fox darted from beneath the seat, scrambling out of the passenger side window. In an attempt to trip up the woman before she could be followed in the direction she thought she was headed in, the fox slipped beneath the vehicle, teeth sinking into her ankle. It tasted bad; like dirt and bug spray. Then again, she never found human fun to bite, anyway. It felt primitive, in a way.

The woman shouted, swatting down at her, and the fox sent a orb of fox fire towards the opposite ankle, hopeful it’d deter her from being followed. 

She didn’t spare a glance backwards as she dashed back into the brush, avoiding the traps that had been clearly set for those like her. 

—

Kaden was just about to slam the gas pedal and get them the fuck out of there when he saw a flash of fur fling itself from the window. “Putain!” he shouted as he scrambled, trying to figure out what to do. Park. Put truck in park. That was step one. He threw the gear and tried to throw himself out of the car just as fast but he wasn’t quick enough. He heard the scream of pain from the ranger and turned just in time to see the fox dart into the distance. 

Fuck. Fuck. They were going to get themselves killed. He’d tried so damn hard to help and he couldn’t even–

His thoughts were cut short when he noticed the other hunter limping away, ready to take off after the fox. “Oh no you don’t,” he mumbled to himself. Kaden charged towards her and slammed his body into hers, pinning her to the ground. 

“What the hell?!” she shouted back at him, clearly confused as to why another ranger was going after her and not the shifter sprinting into the forest. She fought back, of course she did, but even with her own hunter strength, she couldn’t break free. She was no Keira, that was for sure. His sister would have managed to flip him over and knock the wind out of him with a kick to the gut for good measure by now. 

Right. Focus. He wouldn’t be able to keep her there forever and she would go after the kitsune. He had to give them a fighting chance – it was the least he could do. The ranger was young, eager, upholding what she believed to be her sworn duty. It was hard to hate her or even fault her. But he couldn’t just stand up and let her go, not at this point. “Sorry about this,” he said before he swung a fist at the side of her head. Her body went limp as her consciousness drifted away. Her heartbeat was still loud and clear, though. 

Kaden shoved down the guilt creeping up his throat as he dragged her body off to the side of the path. He’d call 911 for her. Anonymously. After he was a little ways away. 

All he could do now was hope that was enough for the kitsune to find a way to get unstuck. 

The fox clawed at the cage she’d gotten stuck inside. Heart beating fast, she repelled from the edges, as if the metal that touched her skin might somehow singe her fear. A low whine left her as she arched her back against the metal, claws piercing through the small holes of the man-made crate. It was on the smaller side, meant for something the size of a raccoon, maybe. She was going to die here, and it was that spellcaster in the wood’s fault. She’d never see Felix or Inge again, she’d never have her favorite wine– she’d never return the photography studio to Esther. She was done for. 

In her panic, she missed the exchange of words– the padding of footsteps. She was shaking violently within the small cage, doing her best to try and claw her way out. Another high pitched whine left her, this time reminiscent of a small child’s scream. Agony washed over her, and panic ensued. Her heart rate picked up and she shoved her shoulder into the opposite side of the cage, gaze leveling with that of a man after a few moments where she lowered herself to the ground, panting heavily. Was he here to kill her? She would burn him, if so. He would release her, and she would burn him, and she would run. She had to. She couldn’t die here. She refused to die here. 

—

Weird fox in one of the traps. That was the call Kaden got to animal control. He could only speculate what the fuck that meant in Wicked’s Rest. His questions were met with no real answers like information had been passed third hand to the hunter. Time to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. For all he knew, the fox was just a normal damn fox but was gray or maybe had mange. Hell, it could be a raccoon. Wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. Maybe it was even that fucker that had tormented and evaded him and Cortez a while back. Yeah, no way he’d get that lucky. Time to plan for a raiju. Kaden grabbed his rubber gloves along with the crate and snare from the back of the truck before trekking out into the woods to see what he would find. 

The closer he got to the spot in question, the more chills ran down his spine. Kaden furrowed his brows, checking that he was headed in the right direction. Sure was. Great. So he was walking directly towards a monster. Hopefully it was still in that cage. 

He spotted the glint of metal before he could see what was waiting for him across the way. Goosebumps covered his arms as he walked closer. Definitely something supernatural. Beast or shifter, surely. Whichever it was, it was panicked and whining. The sound pierced his ears and it was all he could do not to wince. Deep breath. Kaden crouched down to get a better look at the little fox. The little orange fox with a splash of blue fur and two tails. 

Yeah, not a fox, then. A kitsune. Kaden sighed, not sure if it was relief or something else that he was releasing. “Hey, hey, calm down,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender as he dropped down to one knee to try and meet the shifter eye to eye. “I know what you are, okay. You’re safe. I promise.” Slowly, he reached his hand out to the cage door, ready to open it. His fingers hesitated to grasp the handle while the kitsune was still so frightened. He knew that he wasn’t dealing with a wild animal, sure, but the same rules still applied. Frightened animals were dangerous to deal with. “You’re going to have to calm down, alright? I don’t want to deal with that fox fire shit today, got it?” 

—

I know what you are. 

The fox thought briefly to the moment she’d watched Twilight with Inge and the two of them had cackled at the scene splitting between Bella and Edmund– no, Edward. She pressed herself against the metal, ears pinned back as she glowered at the man who appeared. If he knew what she was, either it was by sight or by something else. 

His fingers hung around the lock of the cage and the fox watched intently, fur sticking through the holes in the cage as she backed up further. He was speaking to her, acknowledging that he knew what she could do to him– how did he know? Most would see two tails and equate it to something out of mythology, but this person knew past that. 

In response to his request, the fox let out another high pitched whine before relaxing slightly. If he tried anything, she would light him up and have no issue doing so– she was not a fighter in the slightest, but there were exceptions to that rule. The fox waited patiently for the door to drop open, and once it did, she rushed out, half-tempted to escape the man, but she turned at the last moment, studying his features. Could he help her if he knew what she was? 

—

The fox calmed down just enough that he risked opening the cage door. Kaden expected them to transform back right then and there. He waited and gave the fox a look. “Go on.You don’t have to hide it here. No one around, no cameras. You’re safe.” The kitsune just looked up at him with a blank stare and for a second, he questioned if he was wrong. No, those were two distinct tails. There was no way this was a normal fox. They were a kitsune. 

So why weren’t they turning back into a human form? Kaden furrowed his brows and double checked that they were alone. Yeah, very alone, no one else there. Were they shy? Could they not shift while someone was looking at them? Embarrassed? Maybe afraid to reveal their identity. 

“I mean it. You can shift back now. I promise, I’m not going to tell anyone or hurt you or anything. And it’s going to be easier to speak to each other, as cute as the fox form is.” 

Still, nothing. Was there something he was missing? 

Wait, did kitsune keep their clothes when shifting? Werewolves didn’t. Maybe they were worried about being naked in front of a stranger. Kaden shrugged off his jacket and placed it on the ground in front of the kitsune. “Here. I don’t know how much it’ll cover you up but it might help. If that’s the issue.” And if that wasn’t the issue, the ranger was officially at a loss. 

—

As much as the fox wanted to shift back and give her thanks and then be on her way, that wasn’t possible. Then again, that might have been stupid of her. What if this person was waiting for her to reveal what she truly looked like, and in turn use that against her? She wouldn’t have risked it, even if she were capable of returning to her human form. 

The fox huffed in response to the way he urged her to shift back. She attempted, but there was no puff of smoke, no reveal of who she was beneath the blue and orange fur. The scar that replicated itself in the patterns across her fur burned with frustration– something that typically happened when under duress. 

At his insinuation that she might be embarrassed due to the act of being naked, the fox cackled– or, rather, chirped. The idea that she would be embarrassed over her body was laughable, even in her current state. Had he only read about her kind in books? Did he have no idea that she’d keep her clothes? That her shifts weren’t as animalistic as others? 

The jacket was now on the ground, though, and the fox committed the scent to memory. She’d follow it after this was said and done and show her appreciation so that she wouldn’t have the guilt looming over her in the form of his help. Though, the only help he’d given her was getting her out of the cage. That was good enough, she decided. The fox watched the man intently before stepping atop his jacket, tails flicking in response to his words. She pawed at the jacket pocket where she felt the weight of a cell phone. Maybe she could use her nose to type something out? Sticks and scrawling words into the dirt hadn’t really helped her case before, but maybe this would work. 

—

Did the kitsune just laugh at him? Kaden’s mouth pulled into a thin line and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Couldn’t believe he just got laughed at by a fox. Sure, alright, they were a shifter but all the same. His brow raised as he watched them approach his jacket and… stand on top of it? That wasn’t going to help. What the hell were they doing? “Hey, careful,” he said as soon as she started pawing at it. “Don’t scratch the leather, alright?” As if the jacket wasn’t already well worn and scuffed and scratched in various places. It was the principle of the thing, though. 

When he looked down, he saw that the kitsune had wedged his phone out of the pocket. Right. Might have been a smart idea to take that out before handing it to them. Kaden reached down to grab it and looked at the device, unsure of the best way to go about this. It’s not like there was a fox to English translation app he could use. Even if there was, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to figure out how to get it without help from Alex or Mack or even Andy. 

It was clear from all the huffing and visible frustration from before that the kitsune wasn’t shifting there and then for whatever reason. But they hadn’t run away. Kaden eyed his phone again. Did they want to communicate? Well, probably, since their current back and forth left a lot to be desired. How were they going to do that with a phone? They still couldn’t talk. Maybe they wanted to call someone? And say what, exactly? He tried to wrap his head around it and remembered that incident at Masque of the Red Death when he was monochromatic and silent. What was her name, the mare, Inge? She’d mentioned using a phone to communicate when silent instead of the whiteboard. Honestly, shame he didn’t have that with him now, it would have helped. Still, maybe she was onto something. 

Kaden tapped through the lock screen and found an app that looked like it took notes or something. Either way, seemed like you could type on it. Though he wasn’t sure if the kitsune would have the dexterity with their paws or nose or hell, maybe their tails, to navigate it. He went to set it down but hesitated. He knew there was a way to make things bigger and the buttons larger, mostly because of the number of times he did it by accident. “One second, let me see if I can make this easier,” he said as he desperately flipped through various settings and options. He did what he could to make the text larger and the buttons bigger and hoped it would be enough before placing the phone back on his jacket facing the fox. “Hope this is what you wanted,” he told them as he waited for them to type away. 

—

The man took the phone away and the fox let out another annoyed huff. Then again, she wouldn’t be able to do much to unlock it. It wasn’t like she could press his thumb into the home button for him. She watched him expectantly as he seemingly threaded her silent request together. 

Just as he was about to return the phone to her, he was saying something else and the fox let out a whine, finally moving off of the man’s jacket. The last thing she wanted to do was scratch up the leather, it did smell authentic, and she knew how pricey they could be. She wouldn’t make much of a case for herself if she did tarnish something he clearly cared about. Finally, the phone was back within her reach and the fox was leaning down, amused by the way the buttons took up pretty much half of the screen. It would make things easier though, she had to admit that. 

Before moving to tap her nose against the screen, she rubbed it against her side at the risk of not wanting to get any dirt on his phone. She’d been traveling like this for awhile now, there was no telling what state she was actually in. Finally, she dipped down to tap her nose against the words S-T-U-C-K. Instead of spelling it outright, it said S-T-I-UU-C-JJ-K. Though, with the help of context clues, she was hopeful that he’d be able to understand what she was trying to say. She watched him carefully as she nudged the phone with her nose back towards him, a low whine building in her chest. 

—

Kaden had to admit, he was fascinated watching the fox trying to type on a touchscreen. Definitely not anything he would see in any nature documentary, that was for certain. He was glad he made the buttons bigger because even then, it was clear they were struggling to get the right letters. They’d managed to type something, though, which was honestly impressive all on its own.

He leaned down to get a look at the phone and read what they’d written. “Stiuucjjk,” was what was there on the phone screen. The creases in his forehead deepend as he tried to figure out what the hell they were trying to say. “Is this English?” he asked, looking back at them.

Right. A stupid question considering they’d demonstrated understanding of everything else he’d said prior to now. “Sorry, looked like it was Swedish or something.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over the letters one more time. What the hell was it? Sticky? No, that didn’t make sense. Their fur looked clean and so did their paws for the most part. At the very least, they didn’t look like they’d gotten doused in honey or something. Sick? Maybe, but they seemed mostly okay. But he figured it was a good idea to check. “Sick? Are you sick? Is that why you won’t change?” He tilted his head and tried one more time to sus out what the word translated to. He looked at the letters on the keyboard, trying to get an idea of what letters were next to each other, hoping it would clue him in on the mystery word.

“Stick?” he said out loud. Before he could get confirmation or denial, he reached down on the forest floor and grabbed a stick. “Would this help you type? This it?” 

—

The fox let out an annoyed huff as the man asked her if it was English. Couldn’t he read between the lines? She knew that she needed to be patient with him, but it was hard when she was the one stuck like this with no foreseeable way out of it. She was frustrated, to say the least. She hoped that because he seemed to know what she was, he would be able to help– that somewhere in some book there was an explanation of what was happening to her, but then she remembered the stupid spell and how this wasn’t natural to her kind at all. She was fucked. 

She watched in disbelief as the man ran through the words, not nearing what she’d actually been trying to say. She sat down, tails flicking in annoyance as he continued on. Sticky, sick, stick. She had half a mind to bite his hand, but he was the one trying to help her, wasn’t he? Or was this some kind of ploy? To keep her distracted for enough time for someone else to swoop in and steal her away? Her ears rotated slightly as she tried to welcome in any sounds around the perimeter, but aside from the sound of birds, they were alone. The fox exhaled, staring at the stick in the man’s hand. She grabbed it from him with her mouth and threw it at his feet before nodding towards the phone again, nose pressed against the deletion key. 

She attempted it again, this time carefully prodding her nose against the screen. S-T-Y-U-C-K. That was much better, she decided. She pawed at the side of the phone, urging him to take a look. This had to be easily decipherable– there was no way he wouldn’t understand what she was trying to get across now. 

—

When the fox took the stick from his hand, Kaden felt a small swell of pride for having cracked the code. It faded as soon as the stick hit his shoes. “Aright, fine, not a stick.” He grumbled and put the phone back down for the kitsune to type away again. He waited until she looked back up at him, pawing the phone to let him know the message was ready. 

“St-yuck,” he said, pronouncing the word aloud exactly as written. Right, that sounded stupid, especially since he realized what it actually said before the second syllable left his lips. “Stuck. Okay, got it.” Well, at least that was solved. The fox was stuck.

Wait, what did that mean? Kaden’s brows furrowed as looked at the fox, back at the cage he had freed them from, and then over to the fox again. Stuck, how? They weren’t stuck anymore. “But you’re out of the cage, what do you mean stuck?”

He didn’t need to be an expert in animal behavior to sense the frustration coming from the tiny furry creature. Obviously the cage was not what they were talking about. “Right, not the cage. Clearly. Not stuck in the cage anymore but still stuck.” And not in place, either. “Stuck… as a fox?” It was said more like a question than a statement even though, in hindsight, that was clearly what they meant the whole time. 

“Okay, stuck as a fox. Can’t shift back, I take it. Right.” Kaden scratched at his beard before rubbing his palm down the rest of his face. “Not sure I know how to fix that.” The ranger searched his mind for anyone else who might be helpful. He knew a lot of undead, he knew werewolves, but that wasn’t going to do a kitsune a whole lot of good. “I can take you home or wherever you want to go and we can find someone who can, I guess.” It was the only solution he had at the moment. “Which, um, not sure how you want to direct me to wherever that is.” 

—

Finally, the fox thought– he got it. She watched his expression carefully, noting the way in which he seemed to work through the text she’d typed on the phone. Would he think it was something else? Look at her paws for a rock, maybe? She might have to bite him then, she thought. She stared at the man, ears drooping slightly as he came to the wrong conclusion. She had to keep in mind that he was doing most of the communicating, and he was only able to take cues away from her if she’d give them to him. 

Once he’d gotten it, the fox nodded. She wasn’t sure what he’d be able to do to help her, if anything, but at least somebody had gotten it right. Only, as soon as he’d come to the grand reveal, he was falling back on his heels. The fox let out a huff and laid down, paws outstretched in front of her. Out of everyone she’d run into today, he was the only one to really figure her out for what she was, and what was wrong with her. The idea of possibly directing him to Felix came to mind, but if he recognized her for what she was, who was to say that he wouldn’t recognize Felix? She couldn’t put them in any kind of harm’s way. 

Getting to her own home, and then finding Inge or Felix would be her only way, she thought. She looked at the phone in his hands and sighed, knowing that typing out her address would be one hell of a feat. But if that was her only way… 

She nodded towards the phone, snout pushing through the air as if to mimic the way she’d pushed her nose against the screen to spell out what was needed. 

—

“You want to try and type again?” Kaden wasn’t sure how well that was going to work out, given how long it took them to spell “stuck.” With typos. “I think it might be easier if you try to direct me once we’re in the car. I’m pretty sure we can find a way.” The ranger was about to turn and indicate for the fox to follow when he realized there was a lot of town out there and a lot of people, too. Wandering blindly with a fox to navigate probably wasn’t the best idea. “On second thought, give me a rough location or someone to head towards. Or a part of town at least. Then you can point the way from there.” 

He bent down to place the phone on the ground so they could press their snoot up against the glass to type out each character slowly and carefully. The device brushed the forest floor before Kaden yanked it back up. “Hold on, I have a better idea.” He may not have had those often, but he was pretty sure this was going to be easier than waiting for the fox to type. Not that he had anywhere better to be, sure, but he really didn’t want to get bitten by a frustrated kitsune today if he could avoid it.

Kaden opened up the map app on his phone and zoomed out to an overview map of the town before finally placing it on the ground. This time, however, the ranger stayed crouched next to it. “Okay, I’m going to hover my finger over the map. Yip or howl or whatever it is when I’m over the right place. I’ll zoom in. Same shit.” He went to start and realized he hadn’t figured out how they could tell him he was going the wrong direction. Or anything else but yes, really. “Uh, if I’m wrong, paw me or the phone or something. I guess. And, hmm…” He paused and scratched his beard as he pondered a little more. “Use your head to tell me which direction to go? Or point your paw? Something like that. Make it obvious.” He really hoped this would work. “Alright, ready?”

—

The fox stared up at him unblinking, waiting for the moment that the phone would hit the ground again. She wasn’t sure how directing him would do any good, mostly considering she had no idea where she was. She looked around them in an attempt to get a better idea of where she might’ve gotten herself trapped, but all she saw was underbrush and trees. She turned her attention back towards him as he went to put down the phone, ears flattening back as he scooped it back up within the time it took him to lean down to set it back down. She looked up at him as he explained, realizing that he’d finally come up with a good idea. 

At least this would be easier in the grand scheme of things. 

This was a better idea than simply getting into his truck and finding the way back home. She wasn’t even really sure if home was where she needed to go at this point– she needed to find Felix or Inge. Still, she was a little apprehensive about bringing somebody who seemed to know what she was right away to her friends who were… not quite human. 

At his instruction, the fox nodded, looking down at the phone. As he tapped around, she barked out the orders, scraping her paw through the dirt to the right– then the left. Finally, she saw the neighborhood that Felix lived in. She could figure it out from there, she thought. She stood up and pawed at the dirt in the direction of his truck, trotting over. Maybe he’d get the memo that’s where she wanted to go. 

Or, at least she hoped his braincells hadn’t deteriorated in that time. 

—

Scrolling through the map for the fox seemed to be working. Kaden was shocked he came up with it at all, to be honest. It was easier to understand than their typos, that was for sure. At one point during the whole thing, it hit him how ridiculous this had to look. There he was, kneeling in the dirt, swiping on a phone while a goddamn fox was giving him directions. It sounded like a bad punchline. 

But hey, it worked well enough. The area was easy enough to get to and he was pretty damn familiar with getting around the town by this point given his job. He nodded and followed the fox as they trotted to his truck. 

“Hop in the front,” he said as he swung the passenger side door open for the fox. Once they were in, door closed, he went round the front of the truck and slid into his own seat. “Okay, uh, let’s see. You can tap your paw on me to turn right, that’s easy enough. Uhhh… yip once to turn left? That work?” Kaden looked over at the kitsune and had to stifle a laugh. The whole thing had to look ridiculous. An animal control officer with a fox in the front seat playing navigator. This was going to be a wild ride, that was for sure.

Kaden was about to head off when he saw someone down the road, arms waving above their head, clearly trying to get his attention. His mouth pulled into a thin line as the woman approached the car. He couldn’t say what it was, but something felt off. “Get down,” he muttered to the fox, his eyes never leaving the woman as he spoke. “Hide yourself best you can.” There was a towel bunched up in between the seats that he grabbed and tossed in the fox’s direction. 

By now the woman was close enough that Kaden could see the weapons strapped to her: a crossbow, knives, what looked like a shotgun, among other things. She was well prepared for these woods by the looks of it. That didn’t mean she was a hunter, sure.

But it didn’t mean that she wasn’t one, either.

Kaden pulled up closer to her, car still running. He wasn’t going to risk putting it in park. Even so, he didn’t want his damn tires blown so he rolled the window down and gave her a small wave, half smile on his face. “Hey there. You need something? I’ve got to head out if–”

She didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Hey, sorry I just–” She was still catching her breath as she leaned on the side of the car, practically hanging in the window. Kaden noticed her eyes were darting back and forth, searching the interior of the truck. She was likely trying to be subtle but it didn’t work. “Sorry, I have a trap out here and I heard there was something found in it and–” It was clear she was frantic and having trouble choosing her words. “Well that’s my trap and if you picked anything up, it could be dangerous. Also it’s mine and, and…” 

Kaden’s gaze hardened the more she spoke. She was young, couldn’t be more than twenty-something, if that. “Calm down, breathe.” He tried to angle himself to block her view of the interior as he turned to her. “There wasn’t anything in that trap, sorry. Not sure where you heard that but I have to go, there’s an emergency at–”

“Bullshit,” she spat back at him, her friendly demeanor gone. “I know there was a ki– fox in there. I heard the call in to the station.” The confused look on Kaden’s face didn’t phase her. “Look, I tapped into the radio, whatever, sue me, I don’t care but I need to get that fox. Now. It’s dangerous. And sorry bud, but you definitely don’t know how to handle one like this. Just trust me. Please.”

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t sympathize with the kid. He knew that tone, he knew this song and dance well. It was normally him on the other side. Or it had been, when he thought the same as she did. Putain de merde. He didn’t have time for lessons in ethical beast hunting right now. Especially since he was pretty damn sure she wasn’t going to just listen to him. “Thanks for looking out for me but I promise you, I have it handled. I know a kitsune when I see one.” He didn’t wait for the shock to leave her face before he continued. “This was just a normal fox. Nothing more. And even if it wasn’t, I have it handled. Ranger.”

His heart was pounding in his chest as he waited for whatever came next. Kaden didn’t have a clue how this ranger would react or, worse, how the kitsune in the passenger seat would react. He hadn’t exactly told them he was a ranger. All he could do now was hope that they trusted him enough by now to know he wasn’t out to hurt them.

For one second, it looked like the kid was going to back away and Kaden was ready to take off, foot slowly lifting from the break. 

Not his luck, apparently. “Show me,” the ranger said, determination burning in her irises. One of her hands had slipped down out of sight and that could only mean one goddamn thing with a hunter. She had a weapon in hand. And he had a truck, sure, but he didn’t doubt that she knew damn well how to make sure the truck didn’t go too far if she wanted. “Show me the fox. And I’ll go.”

Putain de merde. Kaden’s eyes hovered towards the passenger seat for just a second, even though he didn’t mean to look their way even a little. He didn’t want to reveal them. He wasn’t going to give them up. But right now, they really needed a way out of this.

—

The fox considered turning her back on him in that moment, but he was the only way she’d get to either her apartment, or to Felix or somewhere in between, so that she wasn’t dragging somebody else into harm’s way. She looked at the door for a moment longer before finally deciding to oblige, hopping onto the front seat of the pick up. 

The sound of a second set of footsteps set her on edge. Ears rotating slightly, she looked towards the open window, eyes narrowing. The man at her side seemed to be on edge, and the words spoken sent her hackles upwards. The fox followed the orders given to her, slipping below the passenger seat, trying to ignore the way it felt like it was closing in on her. The woman could sense her, and the man could… tell? 

Ranger. 

The fox’s ears burned with the word. She’d anticipated this moment; realizing that the man who she’d hoped would help her had been on the wrong side. But he hadn’t tried to hurt her. She knew deep down that she couldn’t trust him, and her father’s words came to mind as she blinked up at the dashboard of the truck, head pulled back just enough so that the woman wouldn’t be able to see her if she peered in through the window. 

There was desperation in her voice, and it didn’t seem like the man she was with was willing to give her up that easily. She had two choices; believe in the one who had helped her to this moment, or allow her fight for survival to win. 

The former eclipsed, and the fox darted from beneath the seat, scrambling out of the passenger side window. In an attempt to trip up the woman before she could be followed in the direction she thought she was headed in, the fox slipped beneath the vehicle, teeth sinking into her ankle. It tasted bad; like dirt and bug spray. Then again, she never found human fun to bite, anyway. It felt primitive, in a way.

The woman shouted, swatting down at her, and the fox sent a orb of fox fire towards the opposite ankle, hopeful it’d deter her from being followed. 

She didn’t spare a glance backwards as she dashed back into the brush, avoiding the traps that had been clearly set for those like her. 

—

Kaden was just about to slam the gas pedal and get them the fuck out of there when he saw a flash of fur fling itself from the window. “Putain!” he shouted as he scrambled, trying to figure out what to do. Park. Put truck in park. That was step one. He threw the gear and tried to throw himself out of the car just as fast but he wasn’t quick enough. He heard the scream of pain from the ranger and turned just in time to see the fox dart into the distance. 

Fuck. Fuck. They were going to get themselves killed. He’d tried so damn hard to help and he couldn’t even–

His thoughts were cut short when he noticed the other hunter limping away, ready to take off after the fox. “Oh no you don’t,” he mumbled to himself. Kaden charged towards her and slammed his body into hers, pinning her to the ground. 

“What the hell?!” she shouted back at him, clearly confused as to why another ranger was going after her and not the shifter sprinting into the forest. She fought back, of course she did, but even with her own hunter strength, she couldn’t break free. She was no Keira, that was for sure. His sister would have managed to flip him over and knock the wind out of him with a kick to the gut for good measure by now. 

Right. Focus. He wouldn’t be able to keep her there forever and she would go after the kitsune. He had to give them a fighting chance – it was the least he could do. The ranger was young, eager, upholding what she believed to be her sworn duty. It was hard to hate her or even fault her. But he couldn’t just stand up and let her go, not at this point. “Sorry about this,” he said before he swung a fist at the side of her head. Her body went limp as her consciousness drifted away. Her heartbeat was still loud and clear, though. 

Kaden shoved down the guilt creeping up his throat as he dragged her body off to the side of the path. He’d call 911 for her. Anonymously. After he was a little ways away. 

The fox trotted along the path, vigilant in finding any traps before they could possibly find her. She’d been traversing the trails that most of the humans did in the hopes to avoid such things, but that also came with a risk. Lucky enough for her, most humans were loud in their footsteps which meant she could typically hear them before she’d even come into their view. Of course, that wasn’t always the case, but she could be quick when she wanted to be. It was unfortunate that her form was not reflective of a typical fox, but one that had seen some kind of tragic event, as one photographer put it. Becoming one of Wicked Rest’s new cryptids hadn’t been on the itinerary, but it had happened anyway. It was only a matter of time before the photos and word of where she was got back to her family, and she knew that, but for now, she would stay put. Until her sister knocked on her door, she would assume she was fine. 

Still, despite the measures to keep herself safe, the town had other plans. The sound of a twig snapping– the movement of leaves. The fox stayed put, gaze narrowing. She looked around slowly, yellow eyes scanning her surroundings. And then– the flash of a camera. The fox took off, sprinting in the opposite direction from which she’d come, crashing through brush and thorns. She could feel them on her coat and it hurt. She wanted to stop, wanted to find somewhere to check herself, but she could hear them behind her. 

And unfortunately for her, there was somebody in front of her, too. The fox skidded to a halt, hackles rising. 

As usual, Elias found himself letting off steam the best way he knew how; hiking. It had started as a rather uneventful hike, but he found that an uneventful hike turned out to be a good thing in a town like Wicked’s Rest. He was finally experiencing the changing of the seasons. Being from California, it was rare for him to see such sights. It was exhilarating. The changing of the leaves, the crispness that was often associated with autumn, he finally understood it. He took in a deep breath, smiling to himself. Then, a crunch of the leaves alerted his attention off to his right. He glanced over in the sound’s direction, suddenly alert. He learned not to brush off animal sounds in these woods anymore. One too many encounters with strange or dangerous creatures, thanks very much. He saw a fox. Nothing out of the ordinary–

That’s when he came face to face with a fox with a strange pattern and coloring to it. Blue and white mixed with the usual orange fur they were known for. It also stook up kind of funny, as if it were in a state of perpetual shock. He stuttered backward as the fox came skittering to a halt in front of him. He blinked. Once, twice. “Uh.” He uttered out, eyes darting back and forth as he tried to figure out what to do in this situation. “You look pretty cool…” He then added, deciding that the fox deserved a compliment. He stepped to the side, feeling bad for catching the fox unaware. “Wait a second…” Elias stared harder at the fox, he had seen this fox before. But where…? “Ohmygod,” Elias spoke in a rushed tone, suddenly excited beyond belief. “They labeled you a cryptid in town!” He exclaimed, quickly pulling his phone from his pocket as quickly as he could and pulled up the list of cryptids the club in town had compiled. A blurry picture of a fox running had been posted not too long ago. “Look!” He showed the phone to the fox, as if it could possibly be interested in what Elias was showing it. He felt a little silly, but for some reason, the fox wasn’t leaving. “I’m Elias! I’m a friend, I promise!” He exclaimed in a softer voice, trying to visibly calm himself down to not spook the creature any more than it already was.

He was talking, and he was complimenting her. If she weren’t so annoyed, she might be pleased with his words. If she hadn’t been running away from the very kind of person that he was turning out to be, she might have said something kind to him after shifting, explaining that oh, the fox disappeared. She could probably still do that, he seemed enamored with her memory, thanks to the blurry photo now displayed on his phone towards her. 

It was concerning that if she were any regular fox, that this person might think it’d be able to understand show and tell. A little funny, too. 

The fox backed up a few more steps, gaze sliding over the phone. Sure enough, there was a photo of her, blurry with her two tails nearly fading into each other to appear as one. If they were going to take photos of her, they could at least take better ones. Then again, she couldn’t take photos worth shit, either. 

He claimed he was a friend, and if she were fae, he would regret his promise. She would hold him to it. The fox glanced around, uneasy by the idea that she should put any kind of trust into somebody who might also be hunting her. Whether it was visually or physically, she couldn’t be sure without more information. 

However, before she could process much else, the sound of footsteps— loud, crunching forest debris, made her flinch in unison with the guttural growl that filled the air. Or perhaps growl was the wrong word, as it was more of a grunt than anything. The fox looked towards the noise, peering through blending foliage, trying to make sense of the yellows and greens to get a good look at what their new company might be. 

To say that Elias was shocked that the fox hadn’t run away yet would be a vast understatement. He put his phone back into his pocket, half afraid the fox would try and bite it or something of that nature. “Yeah, it’s not a great photo, but it’s a photo.” He muttered to himself, afraid to make sudden movements if he spooked the creature. He wasn’t one to take photos of things. He was more of a “live at the moment” guy.

As soon as he heard the loud crunch, Elias began to turn around. Once he heard the growl, his eyes went wide. Not again, he couldn’t help but think. Every time he tried to have a nice hike in the woods, something bad always happened. He loved hiking. He’d be damned if something else happened in the woods while he tried to have a good time, dammit. 

Then, he saw it. It was hairy, it was big, and it had giant feet. No, could it be…? Elias took a step back from the creature, afraid to say anything in case he ruined the moment. This was the apex of his life. Nothing got better after this.

“Bigfoot!” He hissed out in a quiet voice, pumping his fists in the air as if this were the most exciting moment of his life. 

The stranger pocketed his cellphone and the fox felt a pang of regret, mostly because she could have lunged at him and at least have broken it. Finding photos of herself on forums and poster boards was beginning to frustrate her, if only because the information might get back to her family. Wicked’s Rest was far away from Busan, but she couldn’t be too careful. 

Her concentration broken, the fox flipped her attention back to the noise that entered the clearing alongside them. As it came into view, even she had to admit, she hadn’t quite expected it. The stranger was pumping his fist into the air and exclaiming. Was he stupid? 

The fox backed up a few steps, hackles rising. Electricity bloomed over her fur, but to the stranger beside her, it’d come across as nothing more than static. She wasn’t sure who or what bigfoot was, but he did have big feet, and it looked like he could stomp on her if he really wanted to. 

The monstrous creature took another step forward and the ground shook beneath her, or maybe it was all placebo– the fox really couldn’t be sure at this point. Most of the time, she lacked the fight response– at least, not when it served her. The flight was strong, especially now, and the fox took another step away from the bigfoot, eager to put more distance between herself and it. The stranger was on his own. 

The fox had already been replaced with the biggest moment in Elias’s life. Bigfoot was bounding around in the forest and had the opportunity of a lifetime! With shaky hands, he pulled his phone back out of his pocket and attempted to snap a picture. He kept staring at the creature as it took notice of the pair. “Oh! Blurry.” He snarled to himself, then looked up to see Bigfoot himself heading straight for him. “Oh, shit.” He muttered before nearly dropping his phone. 

He took a step backward, then another. The fox had already started to run away, and Elias was obliged to follow in its very smart footsteps. He turned around, summoned all the training he had ever put into running and booked it as fast as he could as the Bigfoot bounded toward them. “This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me!” He shouted as he began to run at full speed away from the surprisingly fast Bigfoot. 

Out of all the things that could have been real, Bigfoot! While he should have been uniquely horrified in the situation he found himself in, he was over the moon. “I mean, actual Bigfoot! In Maine!” He shouted out as he continued to run, feeling the large footfalls of the beast becoming lesser and lesser. Thankfully, it seemed to not have that much interest in chasing after himself and the fox. The fox started to veer away from him, and he veered the other way. After running down the path for a considerable amount of time, he finally stopped after feeling confident enough that he was safe. 

Elias looked down at the blurry photo of the Bigfoot and smiled. It may be blurry, but he knew what it was. 

Mona sat beside Felix, hands folded in her lap. The musical was at intermission already– an hour and a half having flown by in the blink of an eye. As others began to get up from their seats, she turned to her friend. “What in the hell are we watching?” She’d won the tickets and had done hardly any research prior to arriving at the theater. Felix had graciously agreed to go with her, and while she felt Inge might’ve gotten a kick out of tonight, she figured that with everything going on, it might be better for the mare to stay settled. “I didn’t realize that one shrimp would explode.” 

—

Felix had never been to a musical before. Halfway through the shrimp musical Mona had somehow acquired tickets for, Felix still wasn’t sure they’d ever been to a musical before. The whole thing was… bizarre. Even for Felix. They couldn’t figure out the plot and, quite frankly, they weren’t even sure they knew which of the shrimps was the lead. What was more, the shrimps in question didn’t seem to be people in shrimp costumes; they seemed, as far as Felix could tell, to be actual real life shrimp. Which was weird! “You’re the one who got the tickets,” they said in a hushed tone, glancing nervously around the surprisingly crowded theater. “Are the blue shrimp and the red shrimp a couple?”

—

“Yes, I got the tickets, but I didn’t go seeking them out. They gave them to me as a prize for my mirror sweater.” It’d taken her awhile to finally find the energy to go and use them, but the moment she’d been given them, Mona knew that it would be Felix who’d accompany her. She stared at the stage as the red curtains closed them from watching the stagehands rearrange. “I don’t know, maybe? There is also a purple shrimp, so if they are following color theory…” Mona trailed off as she watched the people around them disperse into the lobby. She wondered how many would come back. “Why did they have to use real life smells? You can smell the brine from here too, can’t you?” She wrinkled her nose in distaste as she shifted in her seat, crossing her legs. “I cannot believe somebody brought their baby. What was that about a sacrifice?” 

—

“You’re the one who decided to use them, though!” As if Felix had hesitated at all when Mona asked them to accompany her. This was hardly their idea of fun, but hanging out with Mona was always worlds better than hanging out at home alone, even if it did come with a shrimp play. “You mean… You don’t think…” Felix squinted at the stage, trying to determine whether or not they liked the implication that the purple shrimp was some lovechild of the two main characters. (Or, he thought they were the main characters. It was a little hard to tell. The play’s dialogue was in a language Felix didn’t recognize.) “I don’t know. The smells are… a lot.” Felix was glad they weren’t shifted at all; they could only imagine how bad the smells would have been to the jaguar’s nose. “The sounds are weird, too. Why do their feet squelch so much? How are they so wet when they’ve been on stage in the open air for this long? They shouldn’t still be dripping.” Felix glanced down a few rows to where someone was holding an infant up to see the stage. “Do you think there’s supposed to be… audience participation?” They felt a little concerned for the baby now.

—

“Yes, and?” Mona piqued a brow before turning her attention back to the velvet red curtains, as if willing them to open on command to continue the play. At Felix’s comment, she nodded. “It smells like something washed up on shore, yes.” It smelled like when she’d fallen off the dock, thus creating the second time that Felix had saved her from herself. She looked over at him, shaking her head. “Maybe they are wearing special shoes to create the sound?” She didn’t think that was it, but it never hurt to throw a guess out into the open. “I hope not. I’m not interested in watching a shrimp kill a child. Maybe the other way around. Shrimp are delicious.” Probably not these shrimp, but still. Mona clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she considered what they’d seen on stage so far. “Do you think the shrimp with the beret will come back out? It sounded like they said its name was Liz, but I’m not sure.” 

—

“Okay, fair.” If Felix got free tickets to a show, they’d probably use them, too. Even if the show was… shrimp. Felix flipped through the playbill again, as if willing it to contain more information than it previously had. No new words magically appeared on the page; in fact, the only thing on the page at all was a series of photos of shrimp, increasingly close up until the final page, where the shrimp was evidently so close to the camera that red was the only thing you could see. On the back of the playbill, there was an advertisement that was no less confusing than the playbill itself. Felix was beginning to wonder about the validity of this theatre. “You don’t think — I mean, they wouldn’t serve shrimp to the audience after this. Right?” Their stomach rumbled a little in anticipation. A woman in the row ahead of them turned, shooting them a dirty look. Felix ducked his head. “I don’t know. It, uh… was kind of weird to see it in the striped shirt, wasn’t it?” Shrimp wearing hats were strange enough, but shirts? There had to be lines. “Do you think that other one is going to… keep eating eggs? I’m not really sure what the, um, point of that is. I think it was looking right at me when it slurped up the sixth egg. It was kind of weird.”

—

“I really hope not.” Mona’s expression twisted at the thought. She didn’t particularly feel like being fed the shrimp that were on stage. She kept an ear out for any screaming from backstage, but there wasn’t anything wrong that she could tell. “Were they trying to make us think it was a mime? It was talking, or whatever it was doing. Was that talking?” She couldn’t be too sure– it sounded like a series of squeaks and words strewn together. Come to think of it, maybe that was just the way that they sang. She noticed the way Felix ducked into their seat and she turned to look at the woman that was giving them the eye. She raised a brow and shooed her away before turning her attention back to her friend. “Maybe he knew you were hungry. I’m not sure why they’d choose eggs. Eggs aren’t even that good.” Mona frowned as she leaned into her chair. “I really hope that the second half isn’t as long as the first… I don’t know how many more times I can see them impersonating a wet cat.” 

—

“I think it was supposed to be talking,” Felix agreed though, in truth, they weren’t sure. They hadn’t understood a single aspect of the play so far. What made even less sense was the audience’s reaction. No one else seemed nearly as confused as Felix and Mona were. In fact, at one point, they’d heard several sniffles throughout the seats around them despite the fact that they couldn’t figure out what was happening on the stage at all, much less the emotions that should have been associated with it. “I am pretty hungry.” Not so hungry that their appetite increased at the sight of a shrimp in a wig slurping eggs on stage, though. Mona was right — eggs really weren’t all that. “Wait, was that what it was supposed to be? A cat? I thought it was a dog. I’m — I think I’m offended.” Shrimp, Felix thought adamantly, shouldn’t pretend to be cats. There was something not right about it. “What about the one in the cowboy hat? How’d they find a cowboy hat that fits the shape of a shrimp’s head? Do you think they had it custom made?”

—

“Was it? Seriously?” Mona wasn’t sure if Felix was right, or if they were grasping at their own straws. Probably the latter. She fiddled with the edge of her arm rest, pulling at the loose velvet-y fabric. “We can get something after this. I’m unsure about shellfish, though.” She may not be eating it for a while, anyway. The smell was abhorrent. “It was most definitely feline in nature.” She wasn’t only saying that because she wasn’t of that family. “Maybe it’s something about reversing the food chain…?” She eyed Felix, twisting fully towards them now. “How many shrimp have you eaten in your lifetime, Felix?” Would they remember? Probably not. Mona considered their question before nodding. “That, as well as the assless chaps… I didn’t realize shrimp had asses. I’ve never thought of it before.” She made a face before pulling on Felix’s sleeve. “Is that–” She pointed up towards the ceiling where it looked like one of the shrimp performers was gearing up for some kind of aerial performance. “Don’t tell me it’s going to go over our heads?” She looked around for something to cover her head with, “I do not want shrimp juice in my hair.” 

—

Felix only shrugged. They couldn’t be certain if the sounds coming from the shrimp on stage were intended to be dialogue or not, but that was the only thing that made sense, wasn’t it? Plays had dialogue and this was, allegedly, a play. Maybe Felix and Mona just… weren’t the intended audience. After all, presumably everyone else in the crowd had purchased their tickets while Mona had been given hers without much of a clue as to what the play was about. “Yeah, I think… no shellfish. Or any kind of seafood, really. I might be a vegetarian now.” Was that a thing they were allowed to be? The jaguar was still going to eat meat, no matter how much Felix might try to stop him. Did being a vegetarian count if you shared your body with an apex predator? How did that work? Uncomfortably, Felix squirmed in their seat. “I’m not sure I like that,” they admitted. They tried to think about how many shrimp they’d eaten, but they only knew that the answer was a lot. “You don’t think they brought us here to…” They lowered their voice, “eat us, do you? I don’t want to be eaten by a shrimp, Mona.” They followed her gaze up into the ceiling, blinking before looking back to stage. One of the performers peeked out from behind the curtain, and Felix caught a glimpse of wings retrofitted to their back. “Uh…” They were definitely gearing up for an aerial performance. “Maybe they won’t drip?”

—

“Don’t go that far. Spare ribs are too good to pass up. Though, I guess they are on land.” She didn’t think there were any rib-like creatures in the sea, but she could be wrong. She didn’t want to think about it for that long, mostly because the squelching sounds were making her stomach churn. Mona folded her hands in her lap, thumbs pressed into her knees as she observed their surroundings. “To eat us? How would they eat us? We’d be able to eat them. We have sharp teeth when we need to.” The idea of shifting to defend themselves was feasible, but would Felix be able to keep themself from hurting others? She wasn’t so sure. “Or maybe I should do the eating…” She reached over to pat their shoulder with a sour expression. “Listen, if they do drip, I think I might ask for some kind of compensation. Forget the fact these were given to me.” Mona sighed, watching as the curtains began to peel open. “What do you think they’re going to do first?” It hadn’t occurred to Mona, but most of the people who’d left at intermission hadn’t come back. There were only a handful of people still in their seats. “Felix.. maybe we should have left.” 

—

Okay, so they hadn’t considered spare ribs in the equation when pledging themself to vegetarianism. Mona, as always, made a very good point. “We can still eat ribs,” they said, unsure if the ‘we’ in the sentence was themself and Mona or themself and the jaguar. If it was the latter, it was probably unnecessary. Felix knew the jaguar would do what the jaguar wanted to do, despite Felix’s protests. “I don’t know! They’re really big shrimp. They might have really sharp teeth, too.” The last thing Felix wanted was to shift in a theatre full of people, though they’d do it if it meant keeping themself and Mona from being eaten by giant shrimp. “Could you eat that many on your own? That’s a lot of shrimp.” And she’d just said she never wanted to eat shrimp again. “I think… I might already want compensation. That green shrimp has human feet, Mona. Human feet! I don’t want to see that.” They really didn’t want to see any of this. A saner person might have just left the play, but it felt rude. Felix didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings; not even a giant shrimp with human feet. It seemed most of the rest of the audience had other ideas, though. The theatre wasn’t exactly filling back up. “I mean… I’m sure they worked hard on this. The shrimp, I mean. It’s probably not easy to put on a whole play, especially when you’re… you know… a shrimp. We should stick it through to the end, right?”

—

“We can,” Mona echoed, nodding her head in agreement, unaware of Felix’s inner deliberation. “Do shrimp have teeth? If that’s the case, I absolutely want nothing to do with them.” A shiver ran down her spine as her gaze wandered around the venue. She was half-expecting a bucket of krill to fall over their heads, or maybe something worse– what did shrimp eat? Algae? Would algae fall over them? Mona wasn’t keen on being covered in algae. “I could do whatever I wanted, but if they have teeth, then those are all on you.” Mona grimaced at the thought before shaking her head as if to physically dislodge the thoughts from her mind. “Okay, I do not think we’ll need to eat our way out of this. I think we should be okay. Our mind–” Cut off by Felix’s outburst, Mona’s brows shot up before she was leaning forward, hands pressed firmly against the seat in front of her to get a better look at the aforementioned foot having shrimp. “Are these costumes? They don’t seem like costumes. Should I push you into one of them and you can try and rip it off?” No, that wouldn’t work, not with how they were seated and the shrimp were far away from them. Mona flexed her fingers against the seat, digits digging into velvet. “I’m not sure… if they have human feet, then really…” She gave him a look that said do we owe them anything? “But if they are this… shrimp-human hybrid, as shifters, I believe we have a duty to support them.” The grimace stayed intact as she settled back into her seat. 

—

“I mean, they must, right? Everything has teeth. Geese have teeth.” Was a shrimp like a goose? Felix supposed they had some similarities, if you really thought about it. They didn’t know what shrimp ate — or what geese ate, for that matter. Were teeth necessary for their mealtimes? They hummed as Mona continued, sounding a little uncertain. “I don’t want to eat them if they have teeth, either. What if they bite back? I don’t know how sharp their teeth are. Maybe we should just, you know, make a break for it. Like with the snowperson.” Though that had seemed an easy situation in comparison to the hypothetical they were dancing with now. Snow was easily defeated — you just had to melt it. A giant shrimp with teeth was a far harder foe to best. Especially the one with human feet. Felix wrinkled their nose as Mona leaned forward for a better look, closing their eyes. They’d seen enough, really. They didn’t want to look any more. “I don’t know. They look wet. Costumes can’t look wet like that, can they?” If they were costumes, they were realistic ones. Not made of fabric or rubber; even from a distance, Felix was sure of that. “I don’t want to rip it off. If they are costumes, people might be naked under them. Right? And they might taste bad. And if they’re not costumes…” Felix didn’t want to touch them. Mona brought up a good point, of course; there was a chance that these were shifters of some kind. And if that was the case… “We should have solidarity.” They sounded mournful at the thought, shaking their head. “We have to stay.”

—

Mona shuddered at the thought, sinking further into her seat. Maybe leaving wasn’t such a bad idea, even if they didn’t necessarily have confirmation that they’d be forced to eat the shrimp. It seemed a little odd that the theater company would treat their cast as expendable, but it wouldn’t be the first time, would it? “I do not think this is like the snow person at all.” These could probably fight back in a way that the snow person couldn’t, and there were no hot tubs to boil the shrimp alive. What if they were already boiled, and that was how they came to be? Did they need to be frozen? Mona watched the curtains carefully, looking for any sign that they might open soon. “Stage makeup is an incredible thing, Felix.” She actually had no clue, but she figured it was. Felix did have a point, Mona didn’t feel like seeing any naked people tonight. She didn’t think shrimp shifters were a thing that existed– the closest that she’d gotten was a krill nymph years ago, but even then… 

Her gaze lingered on the curtains, and she noticed a shrimp head pop out from the other end, telling somebody in the orchestra something in its native language. Mona leaned forward to try and listen in, but it was a series of vowels she didn’t understand. The lights began to dim again and Mona looked back to Felix. Then, the shrimp that’d been buckling into the harness above them swung from their perch, shrimpy arms extended as they belted out a song. The curtains opened with ferocity and the shrimps that’d been onstage beforehand were now dressed in suits and tophats, kicking their shrimp legs forward as they linked arms. The theming of the musical seemed to have drastically changed, and Mona was a little grateful– it was better than whatever was happening before… until it wasn’t. 

The shrimp began to huddle together, arms raised, objects that Mona could not identify falling from the ceiling overtop of them. Screams filled the room and the smell of cooked shrimp reached Mona’s nose. “What– Felix, what is–” hot water poured down onto the shrimp as they ceremoniously chanted. 

—

“No, I guess it’s pretty different.” The shrimp, at least, seemed less… angry than the snowperson had been. They weren’t actively trying to kill anyone, nor were they chasing anyone across the stage. They were just… putting on a play. And it wasn’t a particularly good play, in Felix’s opinion, but it wasn’t dangerous, either. “I don’t know. I mean, I saw a production of Cats once, and the makeup was kind of bad. The whiskers looked really fake. It was almost offensive. This would be — I mean, this is pretty intense for stage makeup.” Wasn’t this a community theater? Felix wondered absently what the play’s budget was. The set decoration was pretty extensive, and it all looked a lot more expensive than what one might expect from a community theater production. Maybe Mona was right — maybe there was just some really impressive stage makeup going on here.

The lights began to dim and Felix, never one to be disruptive, straightened in their seat, jaw tightening as they snapped their mouth shut. They hadn’t been enjoying the play, but that didn’t mean they’d talk during the performance. It was clear that the actors — the shrimp — the shractors? had put a lot of work into this, and that ought to be appreciated. Even if it was… very odd. Felix blinked as the line of dancing shrimp came out on stage, all kicking along to whatever the one in the harness flying above them was meant to be singing. The beat was nice, even if Felix couldn’t understand the words. They found themself nodding along absently. 

But then… the mood shifted. Something fell from the ceiling, the audience screamed, the theatre smelled — delicious. Something smacked Felix on the head, and they blinked as they picked it out of their hair. It was a piece of cooked shrimp, but it was… moving. There was a strange sound coming from it. Felix brought it to his ear hesitantly, shifting just enough to make out the sound and regretting it shortly after. The shrimp was singing. Singing along to the music still coming from the stage. Felix tossed it, making a face and grabbing Mona by the arm. “I think we need to get out of here now. I think — Mona, this is some weird shrimp thing that I’m not comfortable with anymore.”

—

Mona leaned forward, picking up a piece of shrimp from the floor. Just like Felix’s piece, it was singing. She stared down at it, then looked back over to her friend. The distraught expression that peeled over their features told Mona it was time to go, even if he was also verbalizing it. She nodded and grabbed his arm, pulling him up with her. There were a few other people who had the same idea– namely the woman who had been staring at Felix earlier. 

As she directed him towards the back doors that’d open up to the lobby, a large– shrimp man–? Stepped forward, a bat in his hand. He slapped it against his hand menacingly, making some kind of sound. Mona took it as an authoritative one, mostly due to the expression on his face. She looked back over at Felix before turning back to face the man– shrimp, thing. 

“My friend is allergic to shellfish, they are having an allergic reaction. Aren’t you?” She turned back to face Felix, nodding at him to start a coughing fit, or to maybe start wheezing. Hopefully he wouldn’t feel bad about lying here, especially since he’d been the one to want to go. 

The shrimp bouncer stared at them, bat slapping in his hand– squelching, more like, Mona realized. She winced, tugging Felix to the side so that they could maybe climb over the one row of seats preventing them from leaving the theater. 

—

There was a rushing relief when Mona seemed to agree that they ought to leave the theatre, and Felix wasted no time in allowing her to drag them along. They practically tripped over their own two feet in their haste to get to the top of the stairs, trying to avoid being trampled by the rest of the crowd who had, evidently, also decided it was time to go. Freedom was in sight in the form of the door at the top of the stairs, and Felix rushed towards it along with Mona, faltering when it opened to reveal a security guard. A shrimp security guard. A shrimpurity guard? 

Whatever the correct term for the creature was didn’t seem to matter much. It was there, it was big, it was holding a — was that a giant stick of butter molded into the shape of a baton? Felix let out a small sound of distress, tugging at Mona’s arm desperately. It seemed she had a plan, and it seemed that plan involved… Felix feigning a shellfish allergy.

Okay. They could do this.

Bringing a hand up to their mouth, they forced out a fake cough which, in their stress, didn’t sound particularly realistic. The shrimpurity guard’s expression didn’t change; Felix wasn’t sure it was capable of changing its expression. But it did stare at him, slowly outstretching its hand until the butter baton was inches from Felix’s nose. There was something expectant in the way it stared, and Felix didn’t know what do do beyond stare back.

There was a beat. Felix looked to Mona, and then to the butter. Slowly, they stepped to the side. “I, um… I’m also lactose intolerant,” they said.

The shrimpurity guard swung the butter baton at their head.

—

The butter baton was extended towards them and Mona tilted her head away, stomach grumbling as both the smells of now cooked shrimp and butter filled the air. Maybe they hadn’t planned on paying those who performed in the play– maybe they counted on the audience to eat them that way they wouldn’t have to dish out expenses? Whatever it was, it was messed up, and Mona could not wait to get the hell out of here. 

Felix was a terrible actor and that didn’t surprise Mona, but the words that came out of their mouth and the action that followed had her dragging him to the side, the butter baton smacking her across the shoulder. The shirt she was wearing (in her opinion) was already ruined, so it didn’t matter that now there was a smear of butter across it. 

“That hurt! What the hell is wrong with you!” It didn’t actually hurt, not in the way one would expect being hit with a baton would feel like, but the words left her anyway. She lifted her hand, an orb of blue fire shooting from it towards the baton, immediately beginning to melt the butter stick in his hand. The expression on the shrimp guard’s face went unchanged, but it was obvious he was displeased by the development. 

“Felix, get OUT!” She shoved her friend towards the seats to their right, urging them to climb over them. The guard was trying to pick up the melted butter baton off of the ground now as it slipped from his hands, only his shrim-like-human fingers slid through the butter. The singing ensued, even as Mona managed to spill into the lobby after Felix. 

She could still hear the screaming from the shrimp musical even after the doors were closed, but there was nobody else in the lobby with them. At least, until she heard the quiet squeaking of a voice at the till. She turned around, gaze narrowing in on the small shrimp that held up a knife. The knife was bigger than it was, but– really, Mona wasn’t sure what she was seeing anymore. “Let’s go,” she groaned, leading the way to the door, pushing it open. 

The rush of fresh air was welcomed, and she turned to face Felix. “I’m never taking you to a musical again.” 

—

Felix let out a loud yelp as the butter baton came towards them, half surprise and half anticipatory. But there was no butter smacking across their shirt; instead, Mona took the blow for them. She said it hurt, and Felix stared at her with wide eyes. The baton was half-melted and didn’t seem like much of a threat, but had they miscalculated? Were they going to suffer a very literal death by butter here?

Not if Mona had anything to say about it, it seemed. She held up a hand, melting the baton with her foxfire and earning them what, in Felix’s opinion, was meant to be a stern look from the shrimpurity guard. Mona shoved Felix towards the seats and, without really knowing why, Felix shouted a quick, “I’m sorry!” at the guard before following her direction, climbing over the backs of the seats to get around the guard.

The pair scrambled out towards the door, the guard no longer showing any interest in them. It was still trying to revive its butter baton, pressing buttery fingers together with an air of what Felix could only describe as intense concentration on its strange, expressionless face. The face didn’t change, but the vibes did. The posture, the stance. The guard was clearly distraught about the butter baton, and Felix, in spite of everything, felt a little bad.

Just… not quite bad enough to stop. 

Out in the lobby, Felix glanced around. None of the crowd that had been following them had made it out yet, and Felix wondered if they ought to be concerned about that. Were those people going to be okay? There was little time to worry about it in earnest, given the whole… shrimp knife situation. Felix let out another squeak, allowing Mona to shove them through the door and out into the streets.

Outside, it didn’t smell like melted butter or shrimp. It smelled the way Wicked’s Rest usually smelled — ever so faintly off. Usually, Felix wasn’t a fan, but right now? It was the best thing they’d ever smelled in their life. They turned towards Mona, blinking owlishly. “Yeah,” they agreed, “I don’t think I’m a musical person. Even Cats was better than that.” They paused, taking a few steps away from the theatre door and tugging Mona along with them, but whatever shrimp monsters had wanted to keep them within the walls of the theatre seemed to have no interest in pursuing them outside of it. There was a beat of quiet, the calmness outside the building providing a stark contrast to the chaos within. 

When they’d finally caught their breath, Felix sighed. They paused a moment, chewing their lip. Then, in a tone that was almost apologetic… “Do you want to get some lunch?”

—

Mona cast a glance over her shoulder back into the venue, squinting past the tempered glass to see if anybody was following them outside. Instead, a giant CLOSED sign slapped itself against the window. That wasn’t great! But what did it matter? Both she and Felix were outside now, free to exist from the confines of shrimp… hell? 

“I think your jaguar would be upset if you complimented Cats like that.” She shot him a glance, expression seemingly playful considering what they’d just witnessed. Mona followed after Felix easily, glad to put the theater behind them. She didn’t think she’d ever go to another musical again, especially not here. To say she was scarred was an understatement. 

As they walked, Mona’s stomach grumbled, but before she could approach the subject of maybe getting something to eat, Felix was beating her to it. She considered his question, wondering if they shouldn’t feel hungry after what they had just witnessed, but that didn’t make sense– it was normal, what with the smells that had filled the air. 

In truth, Charlie wasn’t a big fan of seafood. But the people who worked at Rock Lobstah had been rather insistent that he stop by, and who was he to turn someone down who was genuinely excited by his presence? It was rock and roll themed, which of course tickled him. He’d decided to place an online order and pick it up, happily waiting around as the food was still being prepared, so he stood off to the side, and kept getting a really weird feeling from the Billy Bass on the wall. 

Deciding to ignore it for now, Charlie began to walk at all of the strange memorabilia they had around the place, like Bob Dylan’s toothbrush. Charlie pulled a face, reminding himself to be careful about throwing things out around here, he didn’t want to end up with a used tissue of his in a fucking frame. He turned away from the toothbrush and squinted at the frame of Eddie Van Halen’s hair clippings. What the fuck? He decided that it was better to stop looking around and just wait for the food, hoping it was as good as the reviews boasted.

Charlie looked around idly, making eye contact with another customer and nodding their head with a thin, but polite smile before turning away, and continuing to wait around. Then, Billy Bass started singing a very cursed tune in a language that felt unknowable. Charlie looked over to it, and swore that its eyes were glowing red. “Well that can’t be good,” he muttered aloud as he felt himself move closer to the mounted fish. 

__

Before inadvertently inhaling pollen that stuck her in fox form for a few months, Mona had sworn to never look at a shrimp again. After the copious amounts of squirrels and rabbits (sorry Frederick) she had to survive off of, shrimp– or any underwater creature sounded absolutely delightful. It was what brought her to Rock Lobstah. It wasn’t her normal spot, but the kid on the edge of the sidewalk waving around a piece of cardboard with a number of different deals on it had her intrigued. 

The brine and fishy aspect to the restaurant was apparent before she even walked through the door. It was better than pollen, she supposed. God forbid inhaling salt water would turn her into some kind of sea creature. Then again, in this town, anything was possible. 

She watched customers and waiters from the corner of her eye, all the while head trained down on her cell phone as she caught up on requests from while she was gone. A slew of apologies were sent out, begging for the chance to reschedule. The couple she had been photographing that day had luckily brought her camera to the shop, but it then got stolen since it was sitting out for too long. Esther was sure to have a field day once arriving back in town about that one. 

Mona looked up from her phone momentarily to make eye contact with another customer waiting in line. She offered a polite, half-assed smile back to him before realigning her gaze with the feed of the online forum, parsing out what she missed out on after having been gone for so long. However, she was interrupted by that same customer’s voice– and an eerie tune falling from the mouth of the electronic bass that was mounted on the wall. “You’re going near it? After saying it can’t be good? Do you not have any self preservation?” 

__

As soon as the other customer’s voice cut through his trance, Charlie took a step away from the thing, frowning. “I couldn’t control it,” he admitted with a worried glance in the other’s direction. “I mean. It started talking and then, I felt like I was being pulled into it.” He realized that didn’t make any sense, but he was quickly coming to learn that nothing in this town really did make any sense anyway.

The fish started singing again, though it was more of a chant than a song. It spoke as if the words were backward, and it was enough to make Charlie’s hair stand on end and take a large step away from it, this time not stuck in a trance that seemed to pull him inward. “Yeah, I fucking hate that.” Charlie decided, looking at Mona with an uneasy expression on his face. “Thanks for the save there.” He spoke, shoving his hands into his pockets before going back to waiting for his food, trying his damndest to ignore the cursed Billy Bass on the wall.

The funny thing about Charlie being at this place was that he was allergic to shellfish. But again, the people who worked there had been so insistent. He didn’t plan on eating it for himself, he would either give it to Finn or Wyatt, whoever he saw first. They’d eat it. The place had good reviews for their food, so he was sure it would be nice for them. And it wasn’t like these people were letting him pay for his food either. Instead, they were whispering to each other and glancing in Charlie’s direction. It caused him to purse his lips and pretend he didn’t see it. 

__

“You couldn’t?” Well, that certainly did not sound good, or right by all standards of electronic singing fish. Mona took a small step back from it, eyes narrowed. The last thing she needed was to be sucked up through its mouth and to live in the dread fish’s belly. In this town, that might as well happen. The fish started to sing again, and this time her company at least had sound mind to take a step away rather than towards it. 

Mona did her best to not only to both ignore the fish, but pay attention to it at the same time. While her attention was trained on the wait staff running from corner to corner, plates of hot food burning their palms, she was trying to figure out exactly what it was the bass was singing. It was not a song she understood, but it seemed to be in reverse. If only it were in slowed reverb, then maybe she could… 

The amount of attention she seemed to be giving it was enough, because the desire to walk forward and outstretch a hand was overwhelming. Foxfire began to glow in the palm of Mona’s hand, and though the heat of it did not bother her, it was enough to pull her from the trance. She shook her head, grateful that something inside of her seemed to have its head on straight. She looked around quickly to see if anyone had noticed, shoving her hand into her pocket to reveal a lighter. “I sometimes forget it’s not polite to not use it indoors.” She offered a smile to the person ahead of her, then glanced behind her as a giant wheel of lobster fortune was set beside her. “Want a chance at 10% off?” The girl work a broad smile, and Mona turned her attention forward. “He was ahead of me. You can go first.” She had no intention of spinning the wheel. The other options were… was that a dunk tank with lobsters? What in the world could anyone want with that? 

__

He looked over to the girl as light appeared, but shrugged it off as she produced a lighter, as if it explained everything perfectly. He went back to tapping at his phone when the worker asked the girl if she wanted to spin the wheel. When it was passed over to Charlie, he frowned and looked at his options. “I’m… allergic.” He finally admitted, holding up his hands in surrender. “Not enough to kill me, obviously but… enough to make me uncomfortable for a while. I’m just picking up for someone, thanks.” Charlie tried to go back to his phone, but the worker was insistent. 

“Come on, if it’s something shellfish related, we’ll send someone in your stead. Poor Johnny on the grill could use a break and have some fun for once.” Charlie blinked, suddenly feeling bad that Johnny seemed to be the one who would take his place if the wheel spun unfavorably. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the wheel and spun in, looking back at Mona with a ‘well here goes nothing’ look in his eyes before turning back to the wheel, seeing it land on ‘Lobster Claw!’ What the fuck did lobster claw mean? What? 

Charlie turned to the worker to see that they had produced a comically large lobster claw. “What… am I meant to do with this?” He asked, putting his hands up as if in surrender. “Do I have to?” He then asked as a follow-up. “Johnny!” The woman shouted and a very haggard, very skinny-looking redhead came out of the back with a frown. “What?!” He shouted, only to see the lobster claw and frown. “Johnny here has to complete his kitchen duties with it on!” She announced with a clap of her hands. Charlie frowned, shaking his head. “Sorry, man…” He spoke, voice trailing off as he watched Johnny yank the lobster claw away and grumble something about ‘stupid shellfish allergies’ under his breath and went back to work. “Hate that…” He decided, taking a step back. “One spin is enough, I’m content to wait for my food.” He decided, wincing as he heard Johnny start shouting a string of expletives after something clattered to the ground. 

The Billy Bass began to sing again, lulling and melodic as it seemed to want to pull people into its thrall again. Charlie frowned, trying his hardest to resist, continuing to remind himself that there was something wrong with it, that it was cursed. He watched as a customer walked up to the bass and then… gone. He was gone, just like that. Charlie took a step backward, shaking his head. “I want my food so I can go now!” He decided, giving a nervous glance in the worker’s direction, who looked completely unphased. “Please, spin the wheel!” She then spoke as if someone hadn’t just been vaporized by the Billy Mouth Bass. 

__

Mona watched with mild interest as Charlie spun the wheel. She craned her neck slightly, watching as the arrow landed on lobster claw with the kind of finality that could only mean one thing; that things were about to get far more strange than before. She watched as one of the women brought out a lobster claw, and then called for a skinny looking redhead from the back. He looked at the lobster claw, then at the two of them, back to the lobster claw, and pathetically crawled his way back to the kitchen, fitting the claw over his right hand. It was none of her business, and she knew it. She should just keep her mouth shut. She averted her gaze, only for it to swivel back up to the wall as the bass started to sing once more. 

Before Mona could insist on the customer moving back, they were gone. She nearly jumped out of her skin, stumbling backwards, far enough from the bass. So she’d been right– being sucked up into the fish was what would happen. Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be? She had half a mind to melt it off the wall right there and then, but there was no telling if the rest of the place would go up in flames. 

“Me?” She turned to look at the woman who was pushing the wheel of misfortune into her face. “I would rather not, actually. I do not believe I want your food enough to take that chance.” Mona tried to take a step back, but a man with a bib on came to stand at her side, grabbing her elbow. “Please spin.” Mona looked to Charlie, eyebrows furrowed, then back to the wheel. “If it’s bad, I refuse.” She spun the wheel, watching in muted horror as it slowly landed on pearl. Before Mona could ask what it could possibly mean, the woman with the wheel was digging into the pouch at her side and began to throw small pearlescent rocks at her face. “You’ve just been pearl’d! Congratulations. If you gather them within the time limit, you get them for free. Time starts…” Mona dropped to her knees, not wanting to think about what could happen if she didn’t collect them in time. She gathered them up haphazardly, shoving them into the hand tucked to her chest. There were only about eight. One was at Charlie’s foot. “Excuse me, can I please have that?” God, she hated it here. 

__

In a moment between the guy getting zapped to nothing and the girl being forced into spinning the wheel, Charlie decided he was in a death trap. Not only because of his stupid shellfish allergy but because everyone here was clearly on something. He let out a noise of frustration as the guy with a bib on seemed to beg at the stranger to spin the wheel. Then, she did. Well, no going back now, he supposed. Charlie watched as the wheel spun and landed on pearl. Ominous, wasn’t it? 

Charlie watched as the woman gifted the stranger a pearl, then watched as she started scattering to pick them all up. As she neared Charlie’s foot, he quickly stepped away from it to give her access to the small pearl. He then started looking around to help her find more, but the bibbed man put a hand onto Charlie’s shoulder and shook his head silently. No, he wasn’t to help her. This was a mission she had to impart on her own. Charlie frowned, how was he able to figure that out from a simple shake of one’s head? This place was bizarre. The more he stayed, the more he wanted to leave. 

He watched as the customer scattered about the place, picking up pearls with wild abandon. Then, it was over. Time was up and she’d gathered all the pearls. “Congratulations, you get to keep your pearls!” Consider it a gift from us at Rock Lobstah to you.” The woman behind the counter gave such a sweet smile that it almost felt sinister. What was this place? Charlie was never coming back, that was for sure. He rubbed at the back of his neck, eager to get the food and get the fuck out of dodge.

He almost cried with relief when a bag was brought out and his name was called, and Charlie accepted it gratefully, nodding his head as if his salvation was in the bag, because it was. He wouldn’t have to wait in this weird fucking allergen hell any longer. “Thanks.” He said, trying to grab it, only to be met with resistance. “We must ask you to perform here, just once.” The man pleaded, and Charlie hesitated. “I dunno man, I’m still figuring out my new career.” He tried to say, but only got met with the most pathetic puppy eyes he’d ever seen from a grown man.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Charlie nodded his head. “I’ll talk to my team, they’ll be in contact. How about that?” He offered, which seemed to be enough for the stranger who released the bag and allowed Charlie to leave with his food. He looked at Mona and frowned. “You want me to wait until you get your food? Buddy system and all that.” He asked, not really wanting to leave someone who seemed as normal as he was alone in a den of weirdos.

__

Mona contemplated for a very short moment falling away in a plume of gumiho colored smoke to evade whatever misfortune might befall her for not finding all of the pearls, but by the time the buzzer sounded and she was pushing her palms full of pearls into the woman’s view, she was told that she had won. The longer she looked at the pearls, the more convinced she was that they were real. Fake pearls weren’t this light. Weren’t these expensive? 

She looked down at her collection, suddenly feeling the weight of the waning much like her dignity as she shoved them into her jacket pocket. After this, she might just never leave her house again. Inge and Felix would need to start making house calls. Anyone who wanted to schedule an appointment would need to do so through an online forum. Mona would shoot them through a hole in five feet of glass and edit out the glare, need be. This town was hell, and the more she stayed in it, the more she regretted it. Still, she couldn’t leave. Either from Wicked’s Rest, or the restaurant, because Charlie was being pleaded with by the waitstaff. 

So this guy was a musician? He looked the part. Mona had guessed he was trying to recreate something out of his look– it was very 80’s. She remembered that era well, and the kinds of guys this one was were a dime a dozen. Not that she ever kept an eye on them for very long. Men weren’t much of her thing. “Oh, right. The food.” She frowned, then looked over to the hostess that looked like she was waiting for somebody to say something. 

She hadn’t even ordered yet, but suddenly, Mona grew afraid that if she remained in the establishment, they would take her pearls away. “You know, I’m suddenly not feeling very hungry. It must’ve been the…” She looked around them, then pointed to the bass hanging on the wall, “the fish.” This was a restaurant dedicated to seafood, so that didn’t make much sense. “The shrimp I’ve had a run in with before, they wouldn’t be happy I was here. I was doing it out of spite. I apologize.” She had nothing to apologize for. God, Felix must’ve been rubbing off on her. She exchanged a quick glance with her neighbor, giving him a curt nod, “we should go before we’re both made to stand the test of time in the belly of Billy.” The fish was starting to sing again, and it was better that they left before something else happened. 

Mona led the way out, pocket heavy with the spoils she’d made, meanwhile the smell of the individual’s food next to her had her stomach growling. “You have a shellfish allergy. Why are you here? Why did you buy their food?” 

__

Charlie couldn’t help but snort at the stranger’s realization that she hadn’t even ordered. That was fair enough, given everything that had happened in this place in such a short amount of time. He nodded his head slowly, keeping the food at arm’s length. “I, uh. Got it because the staff kept begging me to stop in. They wouldn’t leave me alone.” He admitted, making sure his voice was quiet enough to not let the hostess hear. If she did hear him, she didn’t make any indication that she had.

“I’ll give it to a friend, it’s no big deal. Unless you want it?” Charlie offered it over, blinking. “They told me it was a lobster roll and a side of fries.” Charlie wasn’t sure why he bothered offering, as the very idea seemed to make the stranger look ill at the very suggestion. “Right.” He decided, pointing toward the door and holding it open for the two of them to leave.