Chapter Five: Unexpected Consolation

Nearly a week has passed since David saw the vixen from the warm spring. And during this whole time he hasn’t taken a single step outside his cabin. He was terrified to do so much as look out the window, and always had the feeling that he was not alone. Once in a while, however, David would question whether this strange and mystical creature meant him any harm. Conflicted between the fact that it hadn’t even looked at all hostile, and that it seemed perfectly and fully capable of killing him.

Despite the truth that the cabin kept him safe from anything outside, David was anything but at peace and calm. Dreams similar to the one he had on his journey to the cabin were occurring every single night. They all were about, or at least involved, some huge unknown animal that was surely there, but David was never able to see it. Each one was more vivid and stronger than the last, making it harder and harder for David to tell whether he was awake or asleep.

To make matters even worse, rations were running low. There were less than enough meals to last him the next two days, which meant that David would eventually have to take his chances and leave the cabin to get more food if he didn’t want to starve to death, and soon.

David got up extra early up the next morning, hoping that the vixen was still asleep. He made sure to bring along one MRE in case he got too hungry before he found something that would make a decent meal. However, he didn’t dare head in the direction of the spring, knowing it was the best he could do to avoid his new ‘neighbor’. That was the last thing that he wanted.

Just like last time, David was only able to find little critters. But he was too desperate and hungry to be picky, so he decided that he would have to make do with small meals for now.

To David’s surprise, hunting was much harder in practice than he thought it would be. It took him a while to reach a level of marksmanship that was sufficient to make him a decent hunter. Lucky for him, he was eventually able to get the knack of it. In fact, he learned much faster than he predicted. David managed to get a couple of squirrels, but he knew that this wasn’t nearly enough for a filling meal. So he kept on searching.

When David had found a field covered with tall grass, he realized that it effectively concealed him. Surprised that he hadn’t thought of stealth as a huge benefactor before, David was a little disappointed in himself. But he managed to shake the feeling and stay focused on his goal. Taking out his binoculars, David looked in the distance for what he was seeking. And sure enough there was a deer in the distance. Hardly able to contain his excitement, David quietly hurried through the grass and stopped about a hundred feet away from his prey.

It was a beautiful animal, but there was no way in hell that David was going to pass up the opportunity to feast that night; he had grown very tired of MREs. Slowly and cautiously, David loaded his weapon, released the safety and took aim. When he was certain that he had a clear shot, he took it. The deer instantly fell to the ground. David ran to make sure it was dead; it was out cold. Hardly able to contain his excitement, David raised his rifle in the air and gave out a victory cry. He had never felt so alive and experienced such exhilaration.

Anxious to feast, David took out the hunting knife from his cabin and began to separate the meat from the bone, which didn’t disgust him in the slightest. His hunger kept him from caring if he got his hands dirty. After he finished gathering up enough to fill his leather meat bag and a little more, he made a clearing and started a fire; David wasn’t gonna wait to get back to his cabin to stuff his face.

He gathered some sticks to prop his meal over the fire. Oh, it smelled so good. When the meal was fully cooked he took a nice and long whiff and dug in. It was even better than he had expected, tender and juicy. Every bite felt like an exquisite delicacy prepared by a professional chef.

Finally stuffed, David decided to put out the fire and head back home, but not without feeling a little ashamed that he left behind so much meat on the deer. He figured that bears and wolves would eat the rest of it, so it wouldn’t completely go to waste. Having gathered all his possessions, David set out to return home.

What a day: finally getting to hunt, no longer having to eat crappy food, and best of all, he hadn’t come across any bears or wolves… or any mysterious and strange animals for that matter. David was really starting to feel like he belonged.

Over the next few days, finding and hunting down dinner became a regular and simple routine. David learned how to alternate between heavily populated areas. And he still hadn’t seen that vixen from the spring. He began to wonder if he had really scene it, if it was really there. Maybe he had really fallen asleep while floating in the spring. Yeah, that’s what happened. Anyways, if it really did happen, then there was no way that she would have left him alone, let alone for this long.

Eventually, all worries had begun to fade away. Even his dreams were beginning to fade away, giving him the chance to finally sleep peacefully and be at ease.

And in order to prove to himself that he had nothing to fear this entire time, David decided to return to the spring. And as he expected there was no vixen, humanoid or normal.

Tired from hunting for the past few days, David relaxed by the spring and soaked his feet in the warm water, laid back and closed his eyes. The breeze helped him relax too. It seemed that nothing could go wrong. His life was perfect being away from other people and living alone. He was completely independent and free of worry.

After a while, David heard some rustling in the leaves. He sat up to see what it was; he froze. The fox had returned, but in it’s animal form. David didn’t know what to expect. He then remembered that he had drawn a sketch of it the day before he took a dip, which was back at the cabin. So there was no denying that this was real. Reassuring himself that that was all there was to it, David calmed down.

However, what convinced David most was that the vixen completely ignored him, with the exception of a quick glance; it then turned around and left him alone. David gave out a little chuckle, completely sure that everything was just fine.

Although it was getting late, David didn’t want to leave the spring. It was just to damn relaxing. But he ultimately chose to get home and to bed. On his way, David took his sweet time, enjoying his surroundings. But dear god was he thirsty. When he had reached his cabin he quickly gathered his canteen and some water purification tablets and headed out for the river that was close by.

When he had enough water, he went back and got ready for bed. As he was, he heard a scratching at the door. The vixen had followed him all the way here; it looked hungry. So David, found some left over meat and placed it on the porch, expecting it to eat and go back to it’s home or den or whatever you call it. Instead it had grabbed the peace of meat and entered the cabin and took a seat next to the fireplace.

“What the hell are you doing,” said David, pointing at the doorway “go on, shoo, get out of here.” But just like back at the spring, the vixen ignored him and finished eating. Once it was full it climbed on David’s bed, curled up and fell asleep.

‘Oh, why the hell not?’ David thought. He got into bed and fell asleep.

The Next morning, the vixen’s whining woke up David.

“What is it now?” David groaned. Realizing that it wanted out, he got ready and went outside, followed by his new friend. It then looked at David as if to say ‘see you later’ and ran back inside the cabin where it would wait for him to return.

David decided that he didn’t feel like hunting today. So he just took his last MRE and set out to just explore the land, using his binoculars to observe any animals from a distance. There was so much to see with such a vast landscape. Nothing man made in sight, nothing that didn’t belong.

David’s mind turned to wonder who did all this for him. He deeply desired to find out and meet this person and thank them for giving him a new life. But why would they do this for him and not reveal themselves to him? David knew that if he ever did something like this for someone, then he’d want to introduce himself to the one he helped. Maybe it was more than one person. Maybe a bunch of people grouped together and randomly decided to do something great for another. If that was the case, then why him? What made him stand out from everyone else who had a crummy life? David began to think that he would never find out, but it strangely didn’t bother him. Ultimately deciding to just accept that things were going well for him, David headed back home to relax and return to his furry little friend.

As he was approaching, David could tell from the moving shadows that something was inside. Not something, someone. Quietly approaching the window, David took a peek. What he saw was in no way a person, but rather the vixen. And not only that, but it was the one he had seen in his dream back at the spring. Immediately he knew that he was so wrong; it hadn’t been a dream, it was reality. David noticed that it was rummaging around, looking curiously at his things. She paused for a moment and David saw that it was looking at his sketch.

Wanting to get a better look, David shifted his weight and stepped on a twig, causing it to snap.

‘Oh, shit.’ David ducked down hoping that the creature inside his cabin hadn’t noticed. After waiting for a while he thought it safe to look again. When he looked through the crack in the boarded window again he was looking at pair of golden eyes looking right back at his.

David began to panic, but he quickly came to his senses and ran for cover and hid behind some bushes. He didn’t dare make a sound or do anything that might give away his position. This proved to be very difficult; his heart was racing and his hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush.

David tried to listen for any sounds; there was nothing but the thumping of his pulse. Deciding not to poke his head out again, he looked through the leaves that were his cover. There was nothing. He turned back around to see the vixen in its animal form standing in front of him.

Getting up faster than he thought physically possible, he made a B line for the door, slamming and locking it behind him. As he leaned against the door, he heard scratching. David stepped as far away from the door as he could.

“What do you want,” David demanded, “why can’t you just leave me alone?” The scratching continued for quite a while.

When it had stopped, David began to slowly approach the door, and looked through the peek hole. He couldn’t see anything. Believing that it had finally left David opened the door. The vixen had backed off the porch, holding a dead rabbit in its mouth, offering it to him. ‘Well, this is unheard of: an animal having to gain the trust of a human,’ thought David, ‘usually it’s the other way around.’

“Uh, there’s no way I’m getting any closer to you.”

She then dropped the rabbit and backed away about thirty feet, as if to say, “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just want to be friends.”

David slowly approached the rabbit, picked it up and pointed towards the cabin and reluctantly said, “Go on ahead.”

She went back inside. David followed her and closed the door behind him. As he was turning back around to face is surprise guest, his face bumped into a furry bosom; she had once again morphed.

“Oh, come on,” exclaimed David, “would you please make up you mind and stay in one form or the other. It’s straining my freaking nerves.”

The vixen backed off in response to David’s frustration.

“Sorry for snapping like that, but you have to understand that this is anything but normal for me. I mean, why would I expect to come across a being such as you?” She then nodded to show that she understood where he was coming from.

“Wait,” said David, shocked from her gesture, “can you understand what I’m saying?” She nodded again.

This somewhat reminded him of the she-wolf from the orphanage… but he could actually communicate with this animal, or person. However, whether or not she could vocally respond was still unclear. But in all honesty, David wanted her to feel comfortable enough to talk to him, if she could, when she wanted to. David sat down on his cot and took a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s start over here. You’ve been watching me ever since you first saw me, and I’ve been avoiding you since then.” Crossing her arms, she gave David a suspicious glance.

“Don’t look at me like that, what would you do if you came across another mystical being that was likely fully capable of overpowering you? You can’t tell me that you would act any different than I did.” She looked away, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

David decided to go to introductions. “Any way, my name is David Hemming. And I see that you’ve seen my drawing of you from back at the spring.” He handed it to her.

“You can keep it if you want. I’ll likely be making many more like it.” She took it and stared at it for a good while, as if she had never seen anything like it.

What she did next kind of caught David off guard; the vixen got up and sat down next to him.

“So, I guess you like it huh?” Once again she nodded and gave him a rub on the shoulder. “Glad to hear it, so to speak.” They both sat there for a good few minutes, absorbing the moment. David took a moment to get a nice look at her features. It was obvious from the first time David has seen her that she was taller than him, at least an entire foot taller than him, maybe even more. She had long thick hair, in which there were a few long and thick braids. Her bosom was fairly ample, though not exceedingly, but still well sized. However, of all her features, it was her eyes that he found to be the most amazing. They were such a bright and beautiful gold.

“You know,” said David, snapping himself out of his little trance and breaking the silence, “I’ve got to say that you remind me of an old friend. She was a wolf.” This made the vixen turn her head to face him.

“She gave her life to save me. She would still be alive if it wasn’t for me.” David looked down at his lap. “Someone who I used to live with wanted to blow my head off because I wouldn’t call her out to her death.” David’s eyes began to water.

“I am so happy to have known her, but at the same time I wish that I hadn’t. It’s just; I’ve lost everyone who I’ve ever grown attached to in any way. Like the grim reaper touches anything that has brought me joy, but leaves alone what causes my misery.” Tears of compassion began to form in the vixen’s eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned to accept anything good that crosses my path and enjoy it for as long as I can. And I’ll take any friendship with open arms. But I’m afraid that by just trying to be my friend I’ve doomed you.

“It makes me wonder, if that is the reason my mother abandoned me at an orphanage so very long ago. Maybe I was, and maybe am still, naturally a burden.” Even though he didn’t want to, David felt a sense of embarrassment and turned his head the other way to wipe his tears.

It had become obvious to David’s new friend that he was in great emotional pain. Trying to comfort him, she put her hand on his cheek to turn his head to face her. She looked deep into his eyes, and shook her head as if to tell him that he is anything but a curse or a burden. She wanted him to know that he is a genuinely good person and is glad to have met him.

Just to make more of an impact, she put her arms around him and brought him in for an embrace. She then began to rub his back and rock him back and forward.

Unable to hide his emotions any longer, David began to weep.