A Talking Fox?

"Before we leave, Roy, do you see anything around us worth mentioning?" Emile asked as he approached the snow filled tunnel.

"No."

With that, Emile, Willow, and Roy returned to the entrance to the ravine. As they left the dilapidated tree and crazed creatures grave, the temperature rose and the ice decreased.

Arriving at their original entrance, Emile stared up at the ceiling above them. It was slanted heavily and at one side the ceiling disappeared, revealing a break in the stone that led higher towards the surface.

Without needing a prompt, Willow grabbed the backs of the two boys and launched herself into the air. Wind rushed past Emile's face as they soared higher and higher.

Eventually, Willow hit the first wall and her shoes sank into the stone, shattering the wall they made contact with. Willow jumped again, ricocheting off the wall and exploding out of the top of the ravine.

She gently landed on the surface and released Emile and Roy, a proud smirk etched into her face. Then, the three sprinted through the miasma some more until they arrived at the dense red wall that stood between the canyon and the greater forest.

One by one they passed through the wall and emerged in the clean air once more. Emile purified both of them just in case before they began traveling towards Blood and the metal wall.

Not long after, they saw Blood's silhouette in the distance; he sat on the ground opposite the wall, his back leaned against the stone and one of his legs raised before him.

Noticing their return, Blood stood up and waited for them to arrive completely.

***

"How's the door?" Emile asked upon arrival.

"Solid," Blood replied, "did you find that creature?"

"Willow killed it. It was trapped beneath a tree just like last time," Emile informed.

"Weird," Blood commented.

"Yeah," Emile agreed, "well come on, we wanna make it back before dark."

"Wait!" Blood shouted.

"What's up?" Emile asked.

"I can't go."

"What do you mean you can't go?"

"I sort of promised someone I'd be here when they get back…" Blood scratched the back of his head.

"You met someone out here?" Emile asked, concern flashed across his face.

He rushed to Blood's side and immediately grabbed his arm. Then he activated his Gift and poured essence into Blood, only then did Emile let go and look at Blood once more.

"They didn't do anything to me, you moron!" Blood shouted in protest while Emile held onto his arm.

"There could be illusions, trackers, you could be brainwashed for all we know!" Emile argued.

"Just let me finish telling you what happened!" Blood roared.

"Fine!" Emile yelled back.

"Okay but no interruptions!" Blood demanded.

"What do you mean no interruptions?"

"No interruptions!" Blood yelled.

"Fine!"

"Okay. A fox named Milo came and —"

"A fox?" Emile interrupted, "Named Milo?"

"I said no interruptions!"

"Ignoring the fact that we've been here for months and haven't seen any type of life, now you're saying you saw a fox that speaks?" Emile said.

"I did!" Blood shouted, "And it did talk!"

"Roy, is there anything wrong with his temperature?" Emile turned to Roy.

"Not that I can see."

"What color was this fox?" Emile asked.

"Reddish orange with black ears and white trim!" Blood responded enthusiastically.

"You had that ready, that's not fair. You knew I would ask that," Emile quickly dismissed the question.

"That's just what he looked like!"

"Okay, let's say you really did see a fox named Milo, what did you talk about?"

Blood opened his mouth and looked around sporadically, it was clear he had a lot to say, but was flustered in the moment:

"He said that we can't open the door because the flower is extinct —" Blood pointed towards the metal wall, "and that this wall or door or whatever leads down underneath where Milo and his other fox friends live!"

"There are more talking foxes?" Emile asked.

"Willow!" Blood turned to the giant woman, "You know about the beast people, don't you?"

"There are certainly legends of a man and beast hybrid, but their tales describe humans with beast-like attributes. You're talking about normal animals that possess human intellect. The two are clearly different," Willow concluded.

"Blood," Emile said gently, "I think it would be best for all of us to go back to camp and get some rest. Who knows what long term effects the miasma has on us."

"I'm not crazy," Blood said calmly.

"Nobody said you were crazy," Emile said.

"You're treating me like I'm crazy and lying about it," Blood shot back.

Emile didn't respond immediately. He looked around at the members of his cohort, Willow could easily overpower Blood and forcefully take him back, but that was terrible for morale.

Not to mention that Blood is Emile's original plus one. Having such a strong divide or something that's seemingly so childish is a bad look for both of them.

But they had to go back. Staying in this forest, even if it's within the protection of the canyon, is not an option.

Emile looked into Blood's eyes. For quite a bit of time nobody said a word, the two boys simply stared at one another waiting for the other to concede.

"Willow —" Emile began speaking without taking his eyes off Blood.

"Blood the human!" A new voice entered the fray from above, "I have returned with news!"