CinderWereFox (Chapter 2)
#4 of CinderWereFox
Cinderwerefox!
By (in alphabetical order)
Sami Deveraux, (Vulpine)
And SilverDragon, (SilverDragon)
Chapter 2:
"Who's there?" Fox cries out.
"I... am your fairy god-fox," a gentle voice speaks back at him.
"I don't understand..."
"I am here because of your little fox friend when you were a child. He prayed to me for you every day, and now that he is gone, I am here to answer his prayers... to help you." The voice still gentle as she moves forward into the light so Fox can see her face.
The figure has silver eyes, like the moon at midnight, and only stands about five feet tall. Her face was that of a vulpine, with large cone ears, perking up, brushing back the silky gray cloak she wears, which shrouds her shape.
"Wait.. you said.. prayed..?" Fox was still catching up with what she had just said, ".... Gone?"
She lifted a paw, covering her muzzle as she saw the youth's eyes widen, his muzzle begin to tremble.
And she sighs and nods slowly, "Yes.. he died last night, when the moon hung high over the green woodlands. He breathed his last, hoping you happiness."
"No..! I can't believe this.. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.." That's all Fox can get out before he bursts into tears.
"It's all right Fox, he will always be with you in your heart. His dying wish was for me to help you--" But the werefox's sobs were too strong for her to speak, and so the fairy came close and hugged him tightly. She stayed there for several minutes, and as his sobs began to finally quiet, the sky outside the window was already a deep shade of purple.
The fairy looked pained, and began to shake slightly, pulling free of Fox. "I .. I have .. t-to .. go," she stammered, then dashed to the window, throwing it open, and leaping through. There was a scrabbling sound on the roof, and Fox's first visitor since he came to stay with his Stepmother was gone as suddenly as she had appeared.
The odd vinegary scent lingered on even after she was gone, and tickled the werefox's nose. But he knew his eyes watered only because of the loss of his friend. He slowly slipped out of his special clothes, and hid them in the dresser once more. Then, he blew out the candle, and sat down on the edge of the bed to wait, the light outside growing and growing as every minute passed.
As the sun's first rays shine through his window, he couldn't keep from crying out softly as his fur starts to dissappear, and his shape to change once more. He closed his eyes tightly, and it was soon over. Then, he slipped back into his normal clothes, and lay down and closed his eyes, hoping to get a little rest before Lady Lovelace calls him for the morning chores.
It's not long before she does call him.. at least he got a few minutes of rest - and he knows that she won't have much sympathy for him, so he kept his head lowered slightly, hiding his reddened eyes, and keeping the sad news from her.
"It has nothing to do with them anyway" he thinks to himself before he hears footsteps closing in on him and after a moment there's a knock on his door.
"Fox, are you in there?"
"Yes Lady Lovelace, I'll be out in a minute"
The rest of the week went by in a blur of chores and tears. Fox didn't want to leave his room at night, in case he would miss the fairy godfox, but there was no sign of her anywhere. And the only vinegar he could smell was the one Lady Lovelace gave him to clean with.
He heard his stepsister and stepbrother laughing to themselves sometimes as they gossiped about the current word around the city. Apparently, the prince hadn't bothered to appear to his own ball that week, having remained in his own quarters throughout the event. The discussion went between whether it was a matter of the prince's health, or of his disposition. As the Crown kept a tight control on what was allowed outside the palace, there was little fuel for the rumors that sparked about the area, and the topic was soon eclipsed by other ones.
The week drew on and on, and soon it was nearly a month since Fox had seen the fairy who came to visit him that night. The circle of topics had returned to the Castle, for there was another ball coming soon, and a foreign party of dignitaries expected to visit from a land far to the west. Everyone wanted to attend and see them, but as always passage to the castle ball was by invitation only, and those were few and far between.
Even with all of Lady Lovelace's power and influence, she had only been given one invitation to attend, and Fox had to listen to his stepbrother and sister arguing over who would get to go for more than a week before it was finally settled, Lovelace returning from a meeting with a tall and curiously pale gentleman in a white cloak with two more gold and silver tickets.
There wasn't one for Fox, but she said he wouldn't be interested in going.
And the day of the ball finally arrived.
Fox had finished his chores, and Lady Lovelace once more locked him in his room. He heard her steps retreat, the sounds of his stepbrother and sister laughing, then arguing, then the voices got fainter, and the thunk of the heavy front door closing had him alone in the house.
He sat on the edge of his bed, eyes closed, and hands folded in his lap. And that icy touch of the curse came, and he ground his fangs together slightly as it overtook him. He opened his eyes and looked at the grayish-gray fur that covered the backs of his paws. And then, suddenly, there was another paw that reached down to touch his.
He looked up.
"Fox,"
The fairy stood, once more, in before him, her sad scent and comforting tone a doleful accompaniment to the feeling of hope that sprung up inside him when he saw her.
"I don't have much time..." she went on, apologizing, and pressed something into his paws.
"The little fox sends his love," she continued, and patted Fox on the back when a sob escaped him. "and he wants you to have this."
"He knows that you were good friends, and he wants you to take this," she said, and Fox looked down.
In his paws was a small rectangular card, engraved in gold leaf and stamped with the seal of the king.
"... A ticket?" he said, confused, "... to the ball? Tonight?"
"Yes, yes," the fairy god-fox continued.
"But I'm not a person. How could I go? Can you change me into a boy again?"
She bit her muzzle slightly.
"There are ..." she shook her head slowly, "... many things I wish that I could do. But I can not," and then the fairy went on quickly. "But with this ticket, you can go anyway. It's good for the admission of one, without any restrictions, see?"
And Fox looked, and saw.
"You'd best leave soon if you're going to be there on time." And she slowly moved away from the bedside towards the window.
"Wait!" The fox-boy said.
"I can't--" the fairy said, and started to step through the window. Fox ran up to her, and grabbed her wrist.
"The little fox ... tell him ... thank you."
The fairy ran her long tongue across her nose, and nodded, then jumped through the window, and vanished, dissolving into the moonlight like a dusting of sugar cast into a cup of fresh tea.
Fox ran over to his dresser and opened it.
A few minutes later, fully clad in his only suit, he slipped through the window too, and ran across the rooftops towards the castle, his sandals only making the faintest of scrapes on the tiled roofs, for he was light, and lighter on his paws.
The guards at the castle were very surprised when the hooded figure leapt down from above, landing at the gate in front of them silently. But they were well trained, and both had their hands on their swords, and both had them partly drawn, before Fox could produce the card from his shirt, and offer it to them in a slightly shaking paw.
Fox had hidden above, and waited until the crowd of hopefuls had dispersed before he showed himself, for he still felt shameful of his appearance, and did not like to be stared at.
"Hmm," the guards said, and looked the card over carefully, then the fox-boy over just as thoroughly. It took their trained eyes only a moment under the torchlight to see that he wasn't armed, and his light build could hardly be a threat, and both relaxed, then waved him through the gate.
"Maybe he is one of the visitors from the west," they said, after he was gone.
"I heard there are many magical and wondrous things there," the other guard replied, "But I had never heard of a Fox that could talk, or walk on two legs instead of four."
"You see something new every day," the first stretched, then yawned, then went back to staring into the darkness.
"Mmm." the other agreed, and they went back to protecting the gate.