Vixen525

Alex ran his fingers over the scruff on his chin as he walked deeper and deeper into the remote woods. It was a shame he couldn’t grow a full goatee, but at least this looked good on him. You’d think he’d be more hairy, considering his natural form was an enormous wolf, but magic worked in mysterious ways. At least he had a human form… his grandfather and grand uncle did not. It was convenient for travel, meant human hunters wouldn’t mistake him for a dangerous animal, nor at full size see him as some horrible monster. Sure he could shrug off gunshots, but they still hurt.  He continued through the woods, looking at the lush plant life around him. Once he passed into her territory, the plants always seemed more vibrant. He liked it, he was glad his little sister was flourishing way out here. She had gotten too overwhelmed in the city, too overwhelmed by the social behaviors of the werewolves he worked with. Made sense, foxes didn’t live in large packs like wolves. That had been the

Patience… as exciting as it was that the forest bison herd was passing through on migration, he didn’t want to rush the hunt. He would be eating good, so might as well target some real good ones. A couple of the young males… best to leave the cows to make more so there would be good hunting next season. Fortunately forest bison females were different enough from males to usually tell the difference. Occasionally would accidentally get a female with unusually large horns and thicker fur, but not common enough to worry about.  He licked his lips. Best to get two or three of them. He could fill his jerky rack at home, and have a nice full belly. Meat to last… that was rare. His claws flexed, the ones on his toes gripping the ground so he would be ready to move with speed.  He shot off in a burst of speed, the bison taking off in a panic to flee a predator. A flash of claws and the first target was down, collapsing on the ground. He could see the largest male of the herd in reach, but

Since what happened with the thieves, Barrett did not like being away from camp for long. He didn’t like the idea of Hope being vulnerable or at risk, but taking care of her during her illness hadn’t let him hunt as frequently as usual. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but she also clearly didn’t like seeing when he ate humans, and he suspected she would react similarly to seeing him eat any other sort of small folk. But he needed food, and going hungry longer than usual meant he couldn’t afford to be picky. Which unfortunately meant leaving Hope at camp and hoping the smell of a syor living there would scare off most things. At least today had been a good hunt. A nice moose was caught, not a common find, and large enough to be rather filling. He paused on his walk back and his ears flicked as he heard an unfamiliar male voice. And he dropped his catch and charged forward. He flicked up the tertiary eyelid organ to see past the trees…something larger than Hope was at their camp. His

The voice on the radio had been a comfort since the new radio station started broadcasting in the small town a couple years ago. Nobody was sure where it was set up, although some rumors the host took over a nearby abandoned military site. Nobody could really get access there so that’s where everyone decided it must be. The station called itself Haze Radio, so when the host allowed call-ins, people just assumed that was the person’s name. The friendly voice had accepted that as a nickname for themself. People wanted to send gifts to the host so a drop box was set up. Nobody saw anyone take from it, but it was emptied when locals checked so they knew the gifts must be retrieved somehow. So while the host, Haze, remained a mystery, the whole town grew fond of the voice. The voice reported on the annual scarecrow festival and complimented the ragtag art around the town. They gave reminders of when hunting season started and what areas hunters are allowed in and where not to go. A

Upon leaving town, Barrett paused to look around, flicking up the tertiary eyelid to check for signs of life. Good. No other syor or their minions had noticed Hope and followed. No partner harpies scouting the area. He tensed his stomach, the motions of regurgitation becoming more familiar. It was still annoying to release a human. But for Hope it was worth it. He felt her on his tongue again after bringing her up. While the weight in his stomach had been nice while he had been back in the syor town, he had missed seeing her and missed her scent. Back to the uncomfortable woods, away from his fine house… for her sake. He would eventually have to find a more permanent solution. Meanwhile he plucked her from his mouth, using a cloth to wipe her off a bit. A fresh one he had retrieved from his house, softer and cleaner, and with a nicer pattern than the handkerchief he had been using before. Laying it over her shoulders to protect from any chilling breezes. “There we are little one.

Juniper had been a bit hesitant to sign up to try the service at first. But the ad had free trials because the company wanted to use them to test things while they worked out everything before marketing it further. Some sort of magic crystal equivalent of pen pals. The crystal let you talk instead of just writing. She was curious about how they differed from normal communication magic. Apparently these were designed to only connect to a specific other crystal. This service they were testing was supposed to take your interests as a way to match you with a potential friend. She really didn’t have friends, so… it seemed worth a try. So she filled out the form. She wrote about her interest in books, including which types were her favorites, then about how she enjoyed exploring hard to access areas in the deep woods, and even loved flying along the bluffs south of the barrier. She wrote down that she could sing, and someday wanted to learn magic. She wrote down she liked nature and biology,

“You’re going to get in trouble.” He told her, her back turned turned to him. Freya didn’t respond. She worked quietly, eyes shrouded under her hood as delicate hands teased wires and tightened bolts. “You’re that determined to get this thing working?” He pressed, glancing over his shoulder at the engineer behind him. “Yes, Dale. We’re entitled to know what’s going on in our own world.” Freya said as she held up her creation; a metal gauntlet fitted with radio controls, with an earpiece to match. “I suppose you’re going to go test it now.” Dale scoffed as Freya pushed past him, stowing her device under her cloak as she exited the building. Guards patrolled the streets in gleaming silver armor, though their focus was not on her. Not yet. “Yes. I need to test the range. Keep the channel open, I’m heading out to the plains.” Freya said as she dipped out of sight. Dale watched her go and sighed deeply, eyeing the armored guards warily. Freya slipped out of town with ease. As a

She did look back. It was difficult not to, when his footsteps shook the ground under her as he turned to leave. Freya struggled to hold back tears, suddenly. Was it the way the Slayer dismissed her as a delinquent? Or was she crying because she realized her insignificance as a human in the face of unfathomable power? Either way, it was foolish of her to expect that she could be friends with a massive murderer. “For once, you were right.” She grumbled, stumbling through Dale’s doorway. Her friend rushed to her side, wide-eyed and flighty. “What the hell happened?” He exclaimed, grabbing Freya’s shoulders. “I, uh.” She sucked air through her teeth to hide the way her lips quivered. “I need to make some tweaks to this thing.” Dale hovered behind Freya as she worked. She was tight-lipped, silent determination set in her face as she tinkered with her device. When she didn’t say anything to him, Dale grew more anxious. He walked to the side and stared out the window, towards the