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It was a very simple game. Befriend a domestic, get free food. Once they start feeling used, move one to another target. I had been doing it for years, it really wasn't hard. It worked best with dogs, they were often naive and trusted the ferals more than any other species. I had recently befriended my third feline. I figured past the first one it'd be harder to get close to the rest. They all talked... domestics were very communal. As for me, I barely knew any of the other foxes in the forest. We were just outside the community that the domestics and their human masters lived together.

They always seemed happy together. There was crime, but nothing compared to the forest. I had fought for my life several times in my relatively short life. Two years and I'd been in twelve life-or-death brawls. I'd always come out on top, never actually killing the other person but at least surviving myself. The food was decent, but scarce. I had to scavenge from the humans' trash from time to time which sometimes meant altercations with the local raccoons.

I knew I wanted to live as the humans did, but I couldn't even approach the wolves or ferrets who seemed to do so. The ferrets would be deadly afraid of me, the foxes were higher up on the food chain in the forest. The wolves, however, -I- was afraid to approach. I fought a wolf once, she almost killed me - I can't even remember how I got away. All I remember is waking up half a mile from my den in a puddle of my own blood feeling like my whole body was covered in fire ants and one of my ears was split in half. The pain went away in a few days and the ear healed without a mark in two months. Since then I haven't gotten near a wolf, their very smell keeps me from going into many parts of the forest.

I hadn't been in a fight in about half a year though. I felt like I had finally figured out how to run my world properly. I had moved my den as close to the end of the forest as I could without alerting the humans, but close enough I could still mooch human or pet food from the domestics I befriended. But if I had this section of the world in the palm of my paw, why couldn't I stop staring at her through the human's room window?

It was unfortunate, in a way. About a month ago, the last dog I befriended decided not to help feed me anymore. Her master didn't feed her much and I was eating more of her food than she was. Her "dad," as she called him, had anger issues, which I think made it easier to fool her into helping me out when she was the one who really needed it. I had no conscience back then. A lot has changed in a month.

I am very young still, a month is still a lot of time to me. I didn't believe I could change so much though, not even in another two years. The day after that dog would no longer call me her boyfriend, I met a very interesting cat girl. She was about half a year younger than me and I considered her more beautiful than any other creature I'd ever seen.

This could be a problem. Or so I told myself at the time. In a way, I was right. She'd have a hold over me, when a male really likes a female she'll be able to control him easily. Her name was Naomi, a pitch-black short-haired house-cat of some sort. She was a stray, though she knew a human who'd feed her every day I soon started to take advantage of that. She quickly became my first real friend... it worried me.

She knew other cats in the area, she was friends with a few of the domestics in the community. She had no doubt heard of me. I had tricked at least ten people she might know. It wasn't that big of a community, there was no way she didn't know someone I'd conned into.

One day she brought it up. I swear I must've turned as white as my grandmother (she was an arctic fox). I felt like I was going to vomit. I had never felt that way over someone else. I actually wanted her to like me.

"So... a few friends warned me about getting involved with you..." she said to me with that short, elegant feline muzzle of hers.

"What uh... what did they say?" I crossed my fingers and closed my eyes, hoping it was a stereotype of foxes or ferals and not specifically me.

"They told me you used them to get food and otherwise weren't really their friend like you led them to believe," she responded. I almost cried... How could I explain it to her? "They're not lying... are they?" she continued.

Was there a safe answer? I couldn't tell her they were right. She'd have left me and I'd be too crushed to ever return to the development to ever see her again. But if I said they were lying... She'd believe them over me any day. She knew them from far before we met. I had no idea what to say. There had never been a situation in my life where I truly couldn't think of a possible solution. I had come up with bad solutions before that sounded good at the time, but I always thought of something.

"Oh..." she said. "I still like you... but I need to know... why did you do it?"

"I didn't feel like I had a choice. I couldn't survive any other way. I wanted to eventually raise a family but couldn't even feed myself... but the humans... they feed their "pets" enough for a whole family of foxes... figured they wouldn't miss a little."

"How many?"

"How many what?" I was confused. I hated every single feeling I had at the time. I was scared, sure I couldn't get out of this without her hating me, and now I felt even more confused as I didn't know what she was asking.

"How many of them did you con?" she clarified.

"I dunno... maybe twelve," I replied, hoping she didn't think it was many, though I knew deep down there was no way she'd think that.

"Was I number thirteen then?" she asked, making my heart drop so low I was sure I'd need to dig a deeper den to retrieve it.

"Y... yes..." I said to her, looking away, trying to hide my face as tears slowly slid down my face. I lost her... I might as well have told her she meant nothing to me. At first she didn't... but by then she was the most important person in my life. I value her life over my own. This was only about four days ago.

She held my muzzle with her beautiful paw and made me face her once more, my eyes still trying to hide from her beautiful green eyes which I imagined were then red with hate.

"Look at me..." she said. I couldn't refuse. I slowly turned my eyes to look at hers. She didn't seem angry. If anything, she seemed concerned.

"I don't wanna lose you," I said to her through a trembling jaw, more tears dripping from my cheeks than when I woke up that night half a year ago.

"Tell me you've changed... I know you didn't care for me when we first met, but tell me you're different," she said. "You don't have to care for me... just tell me you care about people other than yourself now."

I looked deep into those eyes and mustered up all the courage I could. I had to tell her how I truly felt... she'd probably leave me regardless, but at least this way I could hope there'd be an infinitesimal chance she wouldn't kill me right there.

"I love you Naomi."

For the first time since we started talking I felt happy. Before I knew it she had her lips to mine, a paw behind my head pulling me towards her.

We had never kissed before... I'd licked her cheek a few times, but never anything quite that definitive. I started to wonder if it was a dream. If she had mauled me and I was just waiting to die or if I passed out from holding my breath and was just hallucinating.

"I love you too," she said as she pulled away. I took her into my arms and cried on her shoulder. I couldn't tell if I was crying from joy or the initial fear I had of her leaving me. We stayed up talking the whole night. She told me I'd have to apologize to the people I'd conned and I agreed. I was willing to do anything for her. Past that day we went back to our normal lives, except instead of being just a friend, I was her boyfriend.

The next day I started speaking to some of her friends, the very ones who warned her about me. I had to hunt in the forest for hours to get everyone gifts for the apology. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I'd ever done. Not just the apologies, but also the fact that my territory had very little to hunt, so I had to hunt in a wolf pack's land.

They all said they forgave me, but most threatened to kill me if i hurt Naomi. I didn't think they really forgave me, honestly, but they liked Naomi enough to at least pretend.

And then it happened. "Hey..." my last mark (the dog girl) said to me. "For the record I still don't trust you, but Naomi asked me to tell you she's been adopted by a human. Her dad's keeping her inside 'til she can be vaccinated for a week. But she says she'll see you the second she can."

I thanked her and she left instantly, she didn't seem very comfortable in the forest or around me, so she was very quick to leave. It hurt me think of how I made her feel... all of them. Naomi had caused me to gain a conscience, which was something I'd never had, or at least listened to, before.

So there I was. Sitting outside my den, looking at the silhouette of the love of my life as she sat by the window in her new "dad's" house. I couldn't wait to see her again.

What followed was the worst week of my life. I tried my best to keep in touch with her through her friends, who clearly still hated me. They made it very clear to me every time we spoke that they'd tell Naomi my messages as a favor to her and not to me. The wolves also found out that I'd been hunting in their land and forced me to hunt for them the entirety of that week (or else they'd eat me).

As I was hunting for a whole wolf pack and myself, I found myself eating next to nothing and exercising more than usual. By the end of the week I was sure I'd look emaciated. I was worried Naomi wouldn't wanna see me. I found myself doing the very same thing every night that week. After getting home exhausted as the sun would go down behind me, I'd lie outside my den with my head resting on the bottom rung of the fence dividing the forest from the human community and staring at her new house. I had to see her... I just had to. She kept me going, I did it all for her. But most nights I simply found myself staring at nothing and imagining she were with me. If I was lucky I'd see her silhouette like I did the first night she spent there.

Falling asleep that night I thought about how many days it'd been since she moved in with the human. I had been hunting for seven days... which not only meant I had paid off my debt to the wolves, but that the next day I might be able to see Naomi finally. My heart raced as I saw her sitting on the window sill. She was pawing at the window as if she could see me and wanted to come by. If I was lucky I'd get to see her tomorrow... I prayed her dad hadn't changed his mind about us. "Hey," a familiar voice said to me from just below the hill I was lying on.

"OH JESUS!" I screamed as I jumped several feet in the air. It was the first dog I'd tried to get to help me speak with Naomi. Every day a different friend of her's came by, this was the first time I'd seen the same friend as before.

"Naomi asked me to tell you she wants you to see her tomorrow," she continued. "She wants you to talk to her dad." She then stared at me as I very slowly regained my senses. "You look terrible... you should probably groom yourself before you see her. Bye!"

I looked at my paws and tail, they were filthy and the fur had no sheen at all. I lied back down and waved at her, she was still at the window looking at me. Just seeing her made me happy. But why would she still want me? I couldn't provide for her like her dad did. At most I could hunt for her and starve myself. My den was nothing compared to the house she lived in now. After some time, she waved at me and disappeared into the room again.

I want into my den and fell asleep instantly, I was still very tired from the day. In the morning, I awoke early. I wanted to see her as soon as I could. After a nice morning stretch I crawled out, getting a nice sniff of the nice forest smell. It was wonderful... I loved the smell of the forest. But there was something else. I sniffed a few more times, trying to find out exactly what the smell was. And then I realized what it was. My eyes opened so wide I was worried they'd fall out as I realized what the smell was. It smelled like a mob of dogs and cats who I'd wronged before. I looked around and slowly stepped back into my den as I realized there were twelve animals arranged in a circle ready to kill me.

Then I was lifted by the scruff by a German shepherd behind me. "You're not going anywhere," he said. "Your kitty friend wants you to talk to her dad. We all know why and figured we'd join you to see if he wants to hear a few other opinions and see what you have to say. I really wanted to get her new dad's blessing. She must've really liked the guy if she was willing to be his pet. "Let's go," he said after letting me go and we slowly walked to her house. I felt like a prisoner being escorted to his own execution. If I had known I'd just get killed by her friends in the end I'd have saved myself the trouble and let the wolves eat me.

"Oh hello guys," the human said after opening the door. "Come on in."

We all sat down on various couches and chairs. Naomi and I sat across from each other on the ground. It was the closest we could be without actually touching... I would have been so tempted to hug her if it wasn't for the fact that I was sure her friends would kill me for trying. It was really nice inside. Her house wasn't as hot as it was outside and the carpet felt like grass.

"Sir," I said to the human. "I really like your daughter and would love to go out with her... still."

"Yes, she's told me you two were going out before I took her in and she has made you sound like a wonderful guy," he continues. "However, I recently head from all these guys and gals that you used to be a dirt bag."

"He's changed daddy!" Naomi said.

"I know you think so honey," he replied. "But I need to be sure myself before making any decisions."

"Well," the girl dog I had seen the day before spoke up. "He apologized to all of us and got us gifts."

Holy crap! She was defending me. I couldn't believe it. "Don't get me wrong," she continued. "He didn't deserve another chance in my eyes. But Naomi asked for it so I gave him a chance."

We talked for about an hour, which I had only ever done with Naomi before. I just wasn't the type to talk that much, even with the people I conned into thinking I was their friend. Afterwards, I felt like the only person in that room who wanted me in it was Naomi, but they all were willing to put up with me to please her.

"You two can be friends all you want," her dad said to me. "But I don't want her going into the forest, it's dangerous out there."

"You're telling me..." I said without thinking.

"So, if you're gonna be coming down without getting taken away by animal control, you're gonna need an owner." He said like it was a normal thing. A fox with an owner? I couldn't make sense of it, there was no way a human would want a feral living with them, especially with no emotional connection. I was just in it to be with Naomi, no human would be willing to be used like that.

"How would you like to live in the same house as Naomi?" he asked while holding up a collar. My eyes opened wide once more as I realized he'd clearly planned this. However, he hadn't told anyone of this as every single animal in the house had a look of surprise on their faces.

"Say yes..." my dream girl whispered to me. Good thing she did too, I didn't honestly know what to say but I trusted her with life.

"Yes..." I said without thinking.

He instantly put the collar on me, which had a tiny tag in the shape of a cat. "You have to wear this from now on. It'll keep the cops from hassling you and lets the others know you're not just a random fox. Don't take it off unless it gets stuck to something or you're taking a bath," he said before leading me upstairs. "You're welcome to sleep in your room or at the foot of our bed if no one else is there. Now, you should meet your new roommates. Jake! Carol, Mark!"

After a few seconds a clearly excitable dog and two ferrets came running up the stairs. Would I be like that in the future? I feared I might eventually like a human to the point that I'd worship the very ground he stood on like they seemed to. "Guys," he continued. "This is James. Go out and introduce him to the locals."

I was quickly dragged out by Naomi and the other fifteen animals in the house. It was a fun day. I felt a lot closer to everyone that day and we set back home once the sun almost set. "We're home!" the other three pets of the house yelled as we went in through the front door. After thinking about it for a bit, I realized they clearly must be happy, or else they simply didn't mind it to be so well taken care of. Personally, I knew I would be the same way eventually, but I didn't mind solely 'cause it meant I could stay with the love of my life. Still, it scared me a little bit.

We were quickly greeted by the human, who the other pets knew as "dad," or "Dave," as some other animals and humans would call him. "James," he said as he approached the five of us, giving each what was later described to me as a "welcome home pet." Apparently, he liked to pet his pets when they returned home. The weird thing was that it actually felt good. I wanted more in fact. Then it hit me. I liked it. I really did. I started to feel like a pet already. It felt incredibly weird.

"I've cleaned up what'll be your new room," dad continued. "We'll all go to your den and get your stuff so you can move in fully." Even though I wouldn't have felt the need to go anyway, I felt it was... holy crap! Did I just call him dad? I really was a pet fox. "You okay there James?"

"Huh?" was all I could think to say. I hadn't realized how quickly dad had grown on me and clearly I showed it by just standing there not saying anything.

"C'mon, let's go to your den," he said.

"Why?" I replied, clearly not having paid enough attention earlier.

"To get your stuff of course," he continued. "This way you'll feel nice and comfy in your new room."

"Um..." I didn't really know how to say it. "I sleep on a bunch of leaves in a hole on the ground with a small hole filled with water to drink from. "I don't really have any stuff."

"Oh..." he replied, clearly not having expected me to say that. "There's already a nice bed for you. Anything else I can get you to make you more comfortable then?"

"A water bowl?" I replied. I didn't really need anything more than a bed a water source.

"That sounds fine..." dad said to me. I think he was expecting something grander.

That night I slept in the most comfortable bed I ever had. Dad had put in a bowl of water in my room which was nice. The water tasted a bit weird, it clearly wasn't from the river near my den. Then again, this wasn't my den either. Although, dad had hung a sign on my room door (over the pet door at least) that said "James' Den." The whole night I dreamt of the day before and of being with Naomi.

The next several days were really great. My other roommates were awesome and we played a lot of weird games I had never heard of. Playing with ferals wasn't much of an option, ferals simply weren't that friendly in the wild. It was a week before I realized that I had completely gotten used to being a house pet and was clearly enjoying it a lot. It didn't feel like a real home still, but it sure was nice.

One night after watching a movie with everyone in the house (Naomi was in my arms the whole time) Naomi had gone to bed and I got a sudden thought. She knew I loved her. She clearly loved me. As I sat there with my paw on the tiny scale pet door to my "den," I wondered if I could get away with it. I slowly pulled my paw away from the door and turned to face Naomi's room.

I walked over to her room and slowly pushed open the door. She was lying in her bed facing away from me. One of her ears turned to face me as I slowly walked into the room. After a few seconds she turned to face me and smiled. We didn't say a word to each other, we just stood there and smiled for several seconds.

I reached behind me and slowly undid the metal clasp on my collar then dropped it on the ground next to me. She looked down at the collar then back up at me, a soft smile still on her beautiful face. I slowly approached her and kneeled in front of her bed, putting my face only a few inches in front of her's. She licked my nose (which made me blush a deeper red than my fur) and reached behind her neck, slowly removing her collar and dropping it beside her bed.

Her tail began to twitch happily as my heart raced. I was trying my best to control my tail. All I could do was make it wag slowly rather than incredibly fast as it would otherwise be. She scooted back in her bed, leaving a nice spot open for me, before patting it down as if asking me to join her. I started to crawl into the bed with her and she turned around. I wrapped my arms around her tummy and instantly felt her purring happily as she often would when I'd hold her.

It was the best night of my life. She was warm and I loved nothing more than holding her all night long as she purred in my arms. If it were up to me, I'd hold her every night. I didn't fall asleep for a good hour. I was pretty sure she hadn't either, I figured she'd stop purring once she fell asleep and she'd been purring the whole time. Then I heard the door knob move.

One of my ears turned to face behind me as one of my kitty girl's did the same. The door softly creaked open behind us so we both turned to face it. It was dad. It made sense, if it was a pet they'd have gone in through the pet door. "Naomi," he said. "James isn't in his room and he didn't say... oh..."

We froze. I continued to hold her in my arms and simply hoped he wouldn't throw me out or shoot me. "Just be sure you've got your collars on if you go out. James, Naomi, we'll talk about moving all your things into one room tomorrow then," he said. "And, I guess we'll get a bunny or something for the empty room. G'night you two lovebirds."

Now it felt like a home.

Written by Pedro "Reynard" Loustaunau, July 25th, 2011. Original characters and story © Pedro "Reynard" Loustaunau. All other characters and elements © Rick Griffin.