Wait, WHAT?? I never posted my fursona story??

Brand-new in the world and with eyes still adjusting to the light, I felt my father's warm, gentle mouth wrap around the center of my back, and hoist me high above my two brothers. My mother licked me with rain coming from her eyes--rain? Why rain?--and said in Vulpish, "be safe, baby. Please, just be safe..." I licked her back, and didn't even have time to say "goodbye" to my worried brothers before I was flying through the forest, carried in my father's strong jaws.

My father's fast and worried breath came over me in rhythm to his long strides. I'd never seen the vibrant green of the forest before, and now it was whizzing past me. And to add to the chaos, I heard a scary roaring behind us, but I couldn't turn my head completely to see who it--

AHHH

A BIG GREY HAIRY FOX
like my father but scary, with big dripping teeth and wild blood-red eyes

ALMOST GOT ME.

My father kicked him and ran the other way, climbing up and hiding in a tree.

"What was that, Father??" I cried. Rain came from MY eyes.

My father responded with a gentle "shhh", in between his still fast and hot breath. Looking down, I could see three, no five, no, eight more of those monsters plowing away below, wailing and roaring and making me very afraid.

"Those are wolves," Father explained. His voice was kind as I'd ever known, but afraid, like me. I'd never heard him afraid before. "They're looking for you."

When I cried more, he added more softly, "But don't worry. Your father's stealthy, like our kin of old, before the white tails--I'll never let them find you. Never, never, never."

When the time was right, and the wolves were gone, he jumped down from the tree and ran again, calmer than before.

"Why do they want me, Father?" I asked.
"You remember how Mother got really sick?" I nodded. "The wolves did that to her. They want our forest, so they put sickly flowers in it to kill us from a distance. She's better now because of you. We're all better because of you."

"Really??" I shouted excitedly. "I wanna be a Gamma one day, like you, Father!!"

He laughed his soft, strong laugh. "I love your gift for medicine, but I believe you're better suited as an Alpha! But...." he snuck around a strange, unfamiliar rock. His breath was moistening my fur. "Your medicine didn't save the Pack. Your blood did. Remember how we bit off your thumb?" "Not really." "No, you wouldn't. You were half your current size. But you see, you're what's called, 'immune'. It means you can't get sick from those flowers. And you've made us all healthy, too."

I felt very proud of myself knowing that, but the feeling waned when the smells and sounds of the forest grew strange, and the colors turned from darker green to almost yellow.

"Where are we going, Father?"
"Somewhere the wolves will never find you," he answered with a grave, low voice.
He added, "Because you're immune to their flower-sickness, they want to kill you. So, the only way to keep you safe is to take you far, far away..." his soft voice broke into pieces and he stopped talking.


In the evening we arrived at a suddenly pungent place--like cats, but not the kind I was used to. The sun was setting behind us. I wondered how it followed us here.

My father set me down, letting the cool air wash over my wet fur, and walked a short way off. It took me a minute for my tiny legs to turn me enough to see what he was doing. He scratched claw markings in all the trees I could see--all pointing back away from this spot. He came back to me, and his eyes were raining. He sat down beside me and licked me, and tried to speak again, but his voice was still in pieces.

"I'm sorry I can't bring you further," he choked, licking me almost constantly. "I'm afraid....I have to go home, but you can't come with me."

Now the rain came to me. I grabbed his nose, but my shaky legs could barely hold on. "No....no, Father, no, Father, no...."

"I have to. It's not safe for you there, and not safe for me here. If I go any further, these cats will kill me."

"Don't leave," I cried, my own voice also in pieces. "Don't leave..."

"Listen," he crowed and cracked quietly, raining all over me, full of sorrow.
"Go straight into the smelly forest. It's like a circle. If you stay in the circle, the cats will find you and take care of you. Tell them in Felish, 'Hello, I'm a fox, would you take care of me anyway?' "

He made me repeat it back to him. My Felish came from living in an alliance with cats. I was young and it was still rusty.

"Now," he added, still shaky, "When they find you and look after you, you'll be alright. When you're older, and you have strong legs, you can come back immediately, or you can stay. Look for these scratched trees at the edge of the smelly circle and keep walking straight in the direction they point you. Remember--come back whenever you're ready. I'll be here for you."

We both cried. The whole forest was wet with our rain. When I finally said, "Yes, Father," he backed away. "Remember," he called one more time. "Into the smelly circle! Tell them, 'I'm a fox, take care of me anyway'! I love you, Sweetwater. I'll be home for you!"

And he ran away.

---

I wandered inside the smelly circle so long, I stopped smelling it. That worried me because now I couldn't tell where it stopped and where it started anymore. I called out for help, but I heard no answer. I even spoke in my broken Felish, "I'm a fox, will you take care of me anyway?" Like I was told. I kept wandering in tiny circles with my stubby, sore legs. I held off the worry as long as I could, and I did very well. But it soon came back, bathed in the cold light of the rising moon.
It was night, and freezing, and I was still not with the cats.

I looked behind me and soon found my way back where I started--the scratched trees. I stared at the moon rising between them. The forest seemed so huge, so cold...I'd wandered all night. My legs were surely stronger from all the walking. Surely, surely.


"Father," I cried, raining all over, moving slowly in the direction the scratches pointed me.


"I'm ready to come home!!"


I got so, so lost.
I moved in a straight line, but I was full of doubt. I walked til the moon was straight above me, but the forest still didn't turn back green. I was numb to everything--the cold, the hunger, the sore feet. Finally I just found a tiny hole that smelled of kitten, and spent the night. I went to sleep wondering how I would ever get home.

I was surely dead, you understand. I still didn't eat meat. Even if I survived this night, the next day I would surely be dead.

If not for my sister.