Rainbow's Stand

Chapter 4 - Dawnlight

"...And that's how I think I would live as a fish!" I finish with a rueful smile on my face. I pause, waiting for some sign of applause from Fox, but all I hear is a small snore. I let out an amused huff and look down at where it's wrapped tightly around my neck.

I haven't realized how dark it is, the sky painted midnight as a few emerging stars twinkle back at me. Pulling on the reins gently, I guide Queen over to a bald patch of grass nearby, then hop off (less clumsily than I'd gotten on).

Fox startles awake at my sudden movement and leaps off in a flash, hackles rising as it surveys its surroundings warily. It calms down once it realizes we're alone.

"It's okay, Fox," I reassure, crouching down to pat it on the head. It gives an indignant huff, almost like a human child, which only makes me laugh and pat it harder. "You're very cautious, aren't you?"

Fox trots away, presumably to check our area, and I unload the saddle packs from Queen's back, as well as my arrow bag and bow. I should practice bowing tomorrow- I haven't touched a bow since Gold became Queen.

Would it be too risky to lit a fire? I think to myself. It should be fine, right? There's particularly nobody here, and it would help scare off any wild animals too. ...Right?

Reaching into the saddlebags, I search for the survival manual.

Step 1: gather a pile of dried leaves or grass.

Something rustles nearby, and I startle into standing, but it's just Fox, carefully carrying a mouthful of dried branches between its teeth.

"Good boy! ...Girl? Good fox?" I frown. "Fox, can I ask for your pronouns? I'm she/her."

Fox blinks, then barks at me.

"Oh, yeah, I totally understand that." Fox glares at me, and I quickly say, "okay, how about this? I'll list a bunch of pronouns out, and you just bark whenever you feel like it fits you, okay?"

Fox raises its eyebrows at me. Is it ridiculous to be asking a fox for its pronouns? Probably. Dear Lord, I'm going insane already and it hasn't even been a day.

Refusing to back down, I continue, "she/her?" No barks. "He/him? They/them?" Fox stares up at me, head tilted, and I sigh. "Alright, any pronouns then."

Fox helps me light the fire, waving his sassy paws around furiously as I scramble around, trying to follow the manual as well as Fox's instructions. Finally, our fire—albeit tiny and weak—is lit, and Fox is crouched on my lap, cleaning his wounds— I'm surprised to see them scabbed over already, as if the wounds were magically healed.

We eat a painfully tasteless dinner of toasted bread, washed down with water, as I explain the delicacies of s'mores to Fox. (Oh, what I wouldn't give for some s'mores right now.)

"Speaking of, would you like s'more bread, Foxy?" I ask, and Fox wrinkles his nose—at both my pun and the bread.

。。。

I wake up gasping the next morning, Fox's tail suffocating me. He leaps off gracefully as I rise up, gulping in the fresh morning air.

"Thank you for that lovely wake-up, Fox," I mutter darkly, as Fox nudges a few big rocks on our fire, snuffing it out. "Ready for a breakfast of delicious—you guessed it!—bread?"

Fox actually gags, before swiftly turning around and trotting away.

I shrug. Okay, well, more bread for me. I do need to scavenge for more food though- I can't survive on just bread alone. Surely there are some edible plants or fungi around here.

I grab the magical scroll Lunar gave me, and I already see a message waiting for me:

Where are you? Are you safe??

Oops. I definitely forgot to check in with them last night. Quickly, I scribble back a message. As soon as my quill touches the scroll, my sisters' message disappears. Wow, magic.

Fox has reappeared, his fur wet, and he stares curiously at the scroll as I scribble on it. As soon as I've finished my message, it immediately disappears and is replaced by a new one:

Rainbow! Don't you ever go that long without checking in again! I almost sent a whole army after you to fetch you.

I wince. I can almost feel the ferocity of Gold's glare. I can understand where she's coming from though—heck, I would've uprooted the whole Krewdom if one of my sisters disappeared—but it still makes me feel a little useless. Why can't Gold trust me to be on my own? Do they really think I'm that weak?

I shake my head in frustration and stand up, snatching up the bow and arrow. My actions will prove my worth, once I've caught Gravia and her crew.

After finally getting an arrow hooked up in the bow, I aim at my mark—a tree trunk a few feet away from me. I pull back the bow (was it always this tight?) and release it, expecting the arrow to at least fly a few feet, but it drops on the ground beside my feet.

Lovely.

After a few more tries, I finally manage to shoot an arrow a few feet in the air. I pump my fists up in celebration, but Fox's mocking gaze finds mine, seemingly to say, The enemy would've killed you ten times over before you even launched the arrow.

I sigh. "You're right. I need more practice."

I try for a few more hours, stopping when my arrows can successfully reach the trunk (actually sticking into the tree though, that's a different story). Fox weaves around my legs, urging me to follow him. I do, and he leads me to a patch of brightly-coloured fungi nearby.

"Are these edible?" I ask, riffling through the survival manual.

HIGHLY POISONOUS, the ominous red text blinks back at me. Yikes. "These are highly poisonous, Fox. These are not fungi, they're more like not-fun-guy."

Fox paws at the page, at a small string of text underneath the poisonous label.

Dawnlight is highly poisonous. Small doses can cause body paralysis, seizures, and foaming. High doses can cause comas or even death. The only cure for these is drinking a Magic's blood.

Body paralysis, huh? Interesting. I carefully pack a bundle of dawnlight in my bag, then arrive back at camp and pack up the rest of my stuff.

We covered ample ground yesterday, so we should reach the edge of the forest by today. From there on out, it's anyone's guess as to where Gravia and her friends have headed.

"Alright, Foxy, let's continue on our journey."