Flying Fox

Chapter 1

Footsteps.

I heard footsteps.

'Have they come back?'

'Are they here to let me out?'

'I hope so.'

My ears swivelled in the direction of the noise and I sniffed the air, picking up an unfamiliar yet comforting scent.
I began to whine and howl while scratching on the cage floor to get their attention and only became more desperate as they got closer until the footsteps stopped directly in front of the cage.

I cracked my eyes open slightly and saw a human shaped blur with red things behind their back. I tried to stand to get closer but immediately fell back on my side due to the pain in my legs,  yelping quietly as my body came in contact with the cold metal floor of the cramped cage.

I whined quietly and used my back legs to slide myself closer to the front of the cage, and closer to the human
"Hey there little guy" a soft voice said, sounding slightly sad for some reason.

My tail began to wag slightly at the kind sounding voice that came from, who I now know is a man, in front of me. I whined again and pressed my snout against the front of the cage, licking my nose and sniffing desperately at the man in front of me as he picked up the clipboard attached to the front of the cage.

I stuck my uninjured front paw through the gap between the wire as he flicked through the information
"Viridian." I heard him mumble my name and my ears shot towards him and I looked in the direction I guessed his eyes were as my tail thumped on the floor behind me.

Suddenly I felt something make contact with my paw and yelped in surprise before retreating to the blanket at the back of my cage
"Hey, shh its alright" the man spoke again before I heard the familiar noise of the cage being unlocked.

My breathing picked up and I grabbed my blanket for comfort and growled slightly when I saw the blurry shape of his hand reaching into the cage.

He didn't touch me though, and stopped a little in front of me allowing me to sniff his hand 'doesn't smell dangerous.' I licked the tips of his fingers and relaxed when I heard him chuckle, since that usually means I did something right.

He slowly began to reach towards me again but this time I didn't stop him, the second his hand made contact with my dirty, matted fur my tail started to wag and I tried to push myself further into his gentle hand
"You're so thin" he whispered breathlessly before lifting his hand and stepping away from my cage while pulling something out of his pocket.

I whined at the loss of contact and let out a quiet howl as I shuffled towards the front of the cage again, this time bringing the blanket with me. I stared longingly at the man as he talked to himself, he seemed to be asking questions something about a 'vet' and 'foxes' even though I'm the only fox here since the others were already taken.

Eventually he put the item back in his pocket and walked back over to me, causing my tail to wag excitedly again when he began to run a hand along my back
"Okay, I'm going to pick you up now so I can take you to get better, please don't bite me foxy."

He slowly slid his hands underneath me and I went limp as he picked me up, until I realised that I'd left my blanket behind. I started yipping and stared at the blanket as he held me in his arms like a baby, I was surprised when I saw a piece of red come from the red behind him and bring the blanket towards me.

"Is this what you wanted?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his gentle voice as I grabbed the blanket in my jaws and settled down the second I was holding it. He chuckled quietly and I relaxed in his arms as he carried me out of the warehouse and into the afternoon light.

He brought me over to a car with a man who he greeted as 'Tsukauchi' stood outside of it.
"You know Hawks, last time I checked I was a police officer, not a taxi." Tsukauchi said with his arms crossed

"Yeah, but a taxi would take too long." The man who was holding me, I'm assuming his name is Hawks, said shrugging. He then walked to the side of the car and used more red to open the door before sitting inside with me on his lap.

I noticed that my vision seemed less blurry in the light so decided to take in my rescuer's appearance now that I had the chance. While he was talking to Tsukauchi he was absentmindedly running his hands through my tangled fur as my eyes ran over his features.

The very first thing I noticed was that the red things behind him were, in fact wings of a beautiful vermillion colour and contrasted with his dirty-blonde hair and stunning golden eyes. He looked down at me and my heart almost exploded when we locked eyes and he smiled.

He moved from petting my side and back to scratching behind my ears and I leaned into his gentle touch. I didn't even notice that we had stopped moving until Hawks scooped me up into his arms again and we went into another building, which was much more well lit than the warehouse.