1 The Fox

Light creeped out of a small shabby house that sat in the darkness. A barn that was once bright red sat near it, but in the darkness no human could make out the coloring. Or really anything for that matter. From the house one couldn't even see the woods that stood silently at the edge of the pastures and gardens.

The small crescent moon's light could barely reach the bottom of the thick forest. Where a pair of pale green eyes peaked at the farm from under a bush. The eyes stayed glued on the small house behind the barbed wire fences. The layers of fencing was meant to keep the creatures of the forest out, but this wasn't just any fox. She understood the human world in a way that most woodland animals would never understand.

Eventually the lights went out in the little house and the fox made its move. She creeped out from the forest with a stick in her mouth. The stick was forked at one end and was as long as she was tall. Quietly she approached the fence and using the forked end of the stick she propped the barbed wire up so that it gave her a good amount of space to crawl under.

Her red coat could almost be made out in the dull moonlight as she soundlessly moved closer to the garden. The fence had a complicated latch that she carefully undid, she soundlessly pushed it open. Entering the garden she snagged small berries and little barely ripe vegetables. Never making a noise or hurting the rest of the plant, her sharp teeth separated her snack from the plant with a clean cut. She tried not to pick anything that would be noticed in the morning. Then she came to what she really wanted, a potato plant stuck out of the ground. Gently she pulled it from the dirt and tried to cover the hole back up. Turning around she made her way back out but as soon as she got to the gate a blue string appeared out of thin air. It glowed in the darkness as it wrapped itself around the terrified fox.

Cursing herself internally at her own stupidity. She didn't check for a magic trap. They were rare this far from a village but she should have been more careful.

'Dammit, Sionnach your smarter than this!' The fox chided at herself while the glowing blue strands entangle her small body. Knowing right well there was no use in fighting it she instead closed her pail green eyes and focused on letting her body change. Trying to let her human form take back over. Her whole body started to grow and change, her muscles broke her bones as they moved under her skin. Her ligaments tore and found new holds in her body. The fur disappeared along her body exposing her pale skin. The fur around her head grew long and curly until it covered her body like a curtain. Her teeth and jaw broke and readjusted in her mouth. Her paws grew until they were small hands.

It was an incredibly painful as every cell of her body reshaped itself. Nevertheless for Sionna it came as natural as breathing and her ability to heal quickly helps. The blue cords strained against her changing form some snapped and turned to dust others were able to grow with her body.

The women who took the foxes place had bright red hair and pale skin that glowed under the weak moonlight. The few blue cords that wrapped around her illuminated her naked body. She was stuck on her hands and knees, her thick curling hair covered most of torso. Only her wrists and ankles were bound by the blue magic.

Her eyes snapped open now a deep green. She pulled meekly at the cords, remaining calm as she tested them.

Suddenly a light came on inside the house.

"The alarm was tripped, I think we caught a thief!" A voice said excitedly, there was commotion as if the voice was struggling to get dressed.

"I hope it's a rabbit I could do with some soup." Another voice mumbled as if half asleep.

The girl with the red hair kept her eyes on the house this time and quickly shifted back into a fox. She did it so quickly that the cords didn't react in time. She gracefully slipped through their grasp and ran out of the garden. Then under the barbed wire and pulled the stick out to hide her strategy. As the door opened to the house she had already disappeared back into the forest.

The man who opened the door was not pleased by the sight in front of him.

A single potato plant sat in the dirt where his magical trap should have help the culprit. The gate to his garden was open but their appeared to be nothing in sight. He help up his lantern and peered into the darkness. Closing the gate he walked along his pastures and fields looking for something that could've caused the magic trap to activate. He saw the blue light through the window. He knew there was something in it, but after searching his property to find nothing he grumbled to himself while heading back inside. On his way back in her looked at the plant laying in the dirt, he picked it up and saw the small canine bite marks on it. It looked like it came from a fox, but what fox eats potatoes?

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Meanwhile in the forest, a fox scrambled through the underbrush. It stopped above a hole in the ground, Sionna scanned the area around before disappearing into her den.

The den was big enough for a bear even though the opening could only fit a fox. Inside was a makeshift human bed on the dirt floor on one side. The other side of the den had a fireplace that was carved into the dirt and surrounded by stones. Near the fireplace was a pit and a few cooking utensils sitting on a large flat stone. Around the den away from the fireplace various plants and herbs hung upside down from a string drying out. Two holes were placed on each side of the den both were just the right size for a fox. Wooden beams helped support the den that a women was now standing in.

The den was completely dark as she got dressed in a unflattering brown dress. Then sat down in front of the fire place to light a fire. She sighed as she stared into it. Her stomach was not satisfied by what she ate tonight, her sad dark green eyes glowed in the fire light.

Her hair was a fiery red and that draped down her shoulders and back almost touching the dirt floor. It was made of tight messy curls that hid her slim figure. The brown dress was nothing special made from simple fabric and simply stitch. Yet the woman staring at the fire was undeniably beautiful.

She was a wild untamed kind of beautiful, like a frozen mountain towering into the sky or a river roaring over boulders carving them to its will.

Eventually the women quietly rose from her place at the fire, she put a small caldron full of water over the fire. She added a few of the drying herbs to the water. Taking her dress back off she placed it on her bed and turned into a fox once more and disappeared into the darkness.