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Red stood beside her friend, Fang. Although he considered them only acquaintances, she was known for growing overly-attached to others much too quickly, and so considered most everyone her friend after only one meeting — provided said meeting went over well and didn’t end in fighting or running away in fear. The two of them were currently at the edge of Blackfoot Forest, and the eerie calls of the foxes who made this place their home were sending chills up the coywolf’s spine. Although wolves and foxes tended to leave each other alone, that didn’t mean that a whole mass of them all living in one place didn’t freak her out a little. Though, the more she thought about it, the less that reaction made sense. After all, wolves all lived together in one area, didn’t they? So why would Red get freaked out by foxes all living together in one area?
”Well, it’s not quite as inviting as your forest,” Fang said, breaking Red out of her thoughts. Being one of few words, all she did in response was give a chuff, and a wag of her tail. She was happy that Fang thought of Emberwood as inviting. That was certainly a word she would use, also. Longingly, she thought of its white-barked aspen trees and its lake and its birdcall and the rustle of prey animals in the underbrush. And the way the forest would soon turn ablaze in the autumn. It was here that she shook herself. She needed to concentrate on what was here now, in front of her.
Eagerly, she took a few steps forward, and then turned back to Fang, ears swiveling to the forest and then back to her friend, to say, Ready?
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Red didn’t mind it when Fang overtook her as they traveled through Blackfoot Forest. And when he drew nearer to her, she smiled. Was he being protective? She liked that. Although her initial awkwardness about possibly having a crush on him was now gone, that didn’t mean she had stopped enjoying his company. In fact, subconsciously, she still had a crush on him. Her conscious brain just hadn’t caught up with those feelings yet, and they remained only a tickle in the back of her mind for her to wonder about late at night.
Suddenly, a screaming noise filled the air, causing Red to jump and skitter right into Fang. He may have been a hybrid too, but he was slightly bigger than she was, so he didn’t even stumble when it happened. The coywolf didn’t notice what she had just done, either. She was too busy whipping her head around, trying to pinpoint the location of the screaming sound, which was soon joined by many other creepy sounds. Red pressed herself against Fang, her ears flat on her head, tail tucked and curled around a back leg. She whimpered, not knowing what the fuck those noises were, though it should have been obvious that they were foxes. What else could they be? Still, Red scared easily, and once she was afraid, her brain sort of turned off.
She whined again, glancing at Fang, and her message was clear: Can we go now?
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”But we can leave if you really want.”
Red was tempted — sorely tempted by these words to bolt. To run, flee, with her tail between her legs, ears flat on her head. Except… then she remembered that she had faced down Fox and her minions not but a few weeks before now. And she had — somehow — not been afraid then. So why be afraid now? The Swiftcurrent Alpha’s namesakes were most likely harmless. Generally wolves/coywolves and foxes left each other alone. They probably felt a little annoyed at having their forest barged into, but they’d get over it.
With a whoof, Red removed herself from Fang’s side and moved a few paced forward, farther into the forest. She turned to look back at Fang over her shoulder, to invite him along, and suddenly realized how close they had just been. She gave him a shy smile, tail wagging a little bit. She wasn’t always confident in exactly what emotion she felt around Fang. Sometimes it was friendship. Other times it felt more than that. He had not pushed her away from him, either, which made her curious, She did not think that maybe the reason he hadn’t pushed her away was because he was too busy being afraid. She didn’t think he could be afraid. He was always so relaxed about everything.
She shook her head, facing forward again. Now was not the time to figure out her emotional/relationship status with Fang. Now was the time for exploration. And she would keep it that way… as long as she made herself never look into his pretty, pretty golden eyes…
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The sound of the foxes died down over time as the two of them continued on through Blackfoot Forest. The coming sunset as the ball of fire lowered in the sky only made this place even creepier, though Red said nothing about it. Of course, she wouldn’t. Speech was not something she enjoyed, as had been made obvious countless times before. So, despite being a little nervous here still, she kept her mouth shut and simply padded along quietly beside Fang, whom she was still having conflicted emotions about.
“So, uhh…” he began, and the coywolf could hear the awkwardness in his voice. I thought this would be a nicer place, you know, like your woods. Sorry to drag you along…"
She smiled in amusement as he sighed. Though she didn’t plan on answering him with words, she appreciated his attempt at conversation nevertheless. She walked a bit closer to him, nudging his shoulder with her snout in goodwill. He had said “your woods”, as though Emberwood belonged to her. In a way, it sort of did. She had been the one to discover it, after all. And the longer she was away from it, the more she missed it. But she did not say this out loud. She was still trying to sort out her emotions about wanting to leave the Sunspire, and she didn’t want to drag Fang into it.
Instead, she looked around, noticing the eerie quiet that had overtaken the forest. There was a particular sound that had gone missing quite a while ago. She stopped, whining at her friend and looking around. Her body language asked the question: Where did all the foxes go?
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”Clearly they are afraid of a dashingly powerful male like myself!”
Red stared at Fang for a few long seconds, watching him go through the motions of realizing his words and shaking his head at them. She continued staring for a few more seconds, and then quite suddenly burst into giggles, which was an odd thing for her to do. She didn’t normally giggle. She didn’t normally laugh, either. Most often, her show of amusement was a wag of the tail or a smile. Giggles were rather unusual. However, she found that once she started, she couldn’t stop. She tried in vain to catch her breath, but with every intake of air, another fit of the giggles would burst forth from her and cause to lose all the oxygen she had just sucked in.
She looked briefly at Fang, trying to convey with her eyes that she was sorry for laughing so much. Her stomach began to hurt from it, and that was when she decided she’d had enough. She sucked in a big breath and held it for a moment or two, and then slowly let it out. By the time she was done blowing the air from her chest, her giggles had receded completely and she was back to a relatively normal state of being.
Her ears went back against her head, tail remaining low, but wagging slightly, to convey the meaning: Sorry. Wasn’t laughing at you. Don’t know why I was laughing.
Awkwardly, she cleared her throat. Hopefully, he’d understand and wouldn’t be offended at her sudden outburst. After all, it had surprised her just as much as it had probably surprised him.
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Red was glad when Fang’s laughter joined her own. It made her feel less awkward. The forest now seemed much less scary and she wouldn’t mind if they stayed for a while longer yet. The foxes could do whatever they wanted for all she cared. When he looked at her after they were done with their giggling fit, she felt herself melting on the inside. His golden eyes were staring into hers, and they were gorgeous. He had never looked at her that way before — at least, not that she knew of.
”Red, I really want to know… something — anything about you. Tell me something.”
Aaaaand her good feelings came crashing back down to the forest floor. Of course he wanted to know something about her. And it wasn’t as though she minded sharing. It was just that… there was nothing to share. She didn’t remember anything about herself outside of her time in the Teekon Wilds. Nothing at all. Not a wisp or a speck of information. So what would she say to him?
Red sighed, looking down, her ears going back against her head. I don’t… know what to tell you. I’m an amnesiac. Who you see now is who I’ve been for as long as I can remember, which hasn’t been for much longer than a few months. I woke up one day at Duck Lake in Rising Sun Valley with no memory of who or where I was before. I can’t tell you anything else.
She kept her head down after this. It was the first time she had ever admitted to anyone that she had amnesia. She wondered how he would take it. Would he give her pity? She didn’t want it if he did. She just wanted to lead as normal a life as she could.
Sighing again, she awaited his response.
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Red smiled at Fang’s words. Somehow he always managed to figure out how to make her feel better, and she appreciated him for it. Then she sort of laughed when he mentioned her not remembering what she was afraid of. I do know one thing I’m afraid of,
she said softly. And it has nothing to do with foxes.
Here, she laughed again before continuing. I’m afraid of thunderstorms. Deathly afraid. I start running around like crazy until I find somewhere to shove my head into. I hate the sound. It’s too loud and I can’t handle it…
The coywolf glanced at Fang before looking away again, giving an absentminded smile as she looked around at the forest. We should get going, I think. It’s getting dark and I would much rather be back at the Sunspire than here with the foxes tonight. Even if you’re with me.
She paused to let him give his two cents, and then turned and began to trot away back to the mountain.
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