42Old Foxes
Epilogue: As Lost and Found
'Old foxes want no tutors.' – Thomas Fuller
I am alone.
For the first time in my life, I don't have Kemp and Reese by my side. The sounds of other foxes don't follow me as I walk slowly in the dark of the night. The forest that I love seems so much darker without the comfort of my family surrounding me.
I hunt alone.
Another first for me; I don't have Reese and Kemp to distract me from catching the juicy mouse, and I don't have either of them trying to take it after realizing it's the best catch in the immediate area. I don't have my brothers, I don't have my grandfather. I don't have my mother or father.
I am alone.
For days, I wander around, trying to somehow find the trail back to our dens, in hope that they might have returned after the humans left. I am in an unfamiliar part of the forest – I don't know how to get back home.
But, one day I find a trail. It was old – faint, but there. I can smell Kemp, Reese; I can smell my scent. I knew it must have been one of our hunting patrols. I take off down it, running as fast as I could, knowing it leads to our dens. But when I finally step back into the clearing I loved so much, I realize that there are no new scents – they were all gone.
I am still alone.
I wander aimlessly, trying to catch a glimpse or a whiff of anyone I know. I can't smell any foxes – it's as if I was the only one left in the forest. At night while I'm sleeping I have night scares, my mind conjuring images of the humans hurting my family with their loud sticks, the rock in the end piercing through the minds of my family and killing them. I wake up shaking, howling the names of my brothers.
Two seasons pass as I wander. The Hot Season blends into the Dying Season – it is my second one. How much as has changed since I last contemplated the beginning of this season. I do what we have always done, and begin a stock up on berries and leaves, so that I don't need to rely on prey that will be scarce in the Dead Season.
It gets cold. I long for the feeling of my brothers' fur pressed up against my own. I return to the clearing and walk into the all too familiar den, breathing in deeply as I settle down to sleep as to make me think that they are there with me. I get whiffs of Cathal, as well, and images of times when he would visit me in the night to tell me stories flash through my mind. Oh, how I wish that he could be with me, sharing stories now.
The Dead Season comes. I am cold. The white, fluffy water threatens to make its way into what is now only my den, and so every sun rise I must clear it out. I remember Cathal calling this 'snow', and remind myself of the name for it. The 'snow' is as cold as last years, and so I know that in four seasons it will be just as cold again.
Soon the Dead Season ends, though, and I set out to hunt for the returning mice. They will be thin and stocky, but hopefully will be able to satisfy the never-ending hunger of the Dead Season. With the beginning of the Growing Season comes berries, too, and I feast on them when I find a patch.
When I return to the den, I realize that something else has moved into it – I catch the scent of wolf. I freeze in terror, but also with anger. I know that I cannot fight off a wolf, though, and so instincts send me running back. In three days I find a new clearing, and I make a den underneath a fallen log. It is not as good or wind-resistant as the old one, but it is the best I have.
This is the first den I have ever made on my own.
It is while I am slumbering just outside of this den, though, that I am made aware of changes. I hear something coming towards me fast, and though usually this would have made me scatter in fear, and odd feeling of warmth stretches over me. The sun has been out all day, but even it has never made me feel this warm. I stand and stretch lazily, looking in the direction of the approaching sound.
To my wonder, a human-like being steps out; I know he is not human, knowing that he was approaching too fast for that. As I look into his eyes, the warmth envelopes my body again, and I feel content. More beings like him arrive, as well, and after words that I did not catch are spoken, the first one – the warm one – is in front of me, defending me. I know that I am safe with him, perhaps safer than I was with Kemp or Reese.
He lifts me. I feel contentment, safety… love? Yes, love. I know I love this man, even though I don't understand why. He is my mate. I rub my head into his chest, a low rumbling sound issuing from my chest. I remember this as the sound Caron made when Liam would lay with her – it means happiness. I know I am happy. I feel happy.
I no longer feel alone.
He leaves, but he says he'll be back, and so he is. I knew he would be. He lifts me up again, and when I am in his arms, the others return, as well. He begins to run – and he's much, much faster than the humans who woke us in the middle of the night two and a half seasons ago. Again, I realize he is not human.
I think about what Cathal had told me once, while he was teaching me the magic of shifting. 'I picked you, Bella, because I know that one day you will need to know how to shift.'
I don't know how my grandfather knew, but he was right; I know, as I lay in this man's arms, that I will be shifting soon – even if it was only to make him happy. I see what grandfather often described as a 'house', and the man steps out into the clearing with me. I turn slightly to look at the forest I love, and I remember my mother's milk, and the contentment and warmth it had given me. I smile in my thoughts, and also in my thoughts I say goodbye to my family, for I am certain now that they are gone. I say goodbye to hunting in the woods, I say goodbye to playing with my brothers, I say goodbye to hearing stories from my grandfather.
We enter the house, and I can no longer see my beloved forest.
I am not alone.
The ending. Just to let you know, I had this written before I even finished writing the second chapter. It just came to me, and I had to write it down. How's that for planning ahead? I know that some of it kind of counteracts with things I wrote after the second chapter, but this was my original vision of the ending chapter, and I'm keeping it this way. I apologize for how sad it was at the beginning, as well.
Well, how did you guys like the story? I'm looking forward to knowing your thoughts on it. This is the official ending for the Play the Fox cycle, parting from possible outtakes, of course. I may come up with an outtake or two for either the original story or this one, who knows.
If you haven't already, please head over to my profile and check out some of my other stories. I would appreciate it a lot.
Review, and remember me.