Fox's Glade i'm sippin' on my syrup, movin' slow, but i'm still rushin

For @Harlyn and/or @Luke!

Tail found it difficult to slow down; she knew her goals, and wanted to waste no time in reaching them. It seemed there could be a place for her in the eastern Wilds, but her sister had told her of the great mountains that tore up through the earth. Before she settled on anything, the young Blackthorn at least wanted to see that — and not just in the distance, but up close and personal.

It was warmer than it had been the last few days, and humid; perhaps that was what caused the thick fog to roll in. It was patchy, only clinging to territories that had more to offer than flat grassland. As she angled her travels toward the west, Tail noted that a small forest ahead seemed a bit more foreboding than she imagined it usually did. Did autumn always steal light from the world like this? Make everything seem darker?

Oddly (or perhaps not), the yearling liked the way it made her guardhairs raise. She decided she could afford the small detour in the name of a good scare— she trusted that nothing truly bad could happen, and she didn't believe in ghosts like her more cloud-headed sister did— and entered the glade like she owned the place.

It was dark, the bright leaves blocking out the sun, and the fog kept the ground shrouded from sight. Still, Tail was not deterred, and she happily romped through the trees as mists swirled around her limbs. After a few moments of this, her neck tingling in a scary-but-nice sort of way, Tail suddenly felt her heart drop from her chest to belly.

Hundreds of glowing eyes were surrounding her, bright points in the mist. Dark shapes lay behind them, though she couldn't make out what sort of creatures they belonged to. Her body instantly tensed, ears going back, and lips peeled back over her teeth...