Fox Slave

Chapter 1 ~Rough beginnings~

It was a cold and dark night. I can barely think straight. The darkness and death was biting at my back as I fled for my life. The forest floor under my feet like it was pulling me down harder and harder with each step I took. My breath was heavy, my eyes had turned a ghastly grey, my clothes and face torn up by branches, twigs, and thorns from trees and bushes. If I were to be caught, I'm sure to be beaten again. Only this time, I'm not sure if they would be as forgiving. I can hear them shouting for me to come back, calling me by the names they gave me. Slave, fox boy, pet. All these names nowhere near close enough to my actual name. Rugun.

Let's back this up a little. I am seventeen. My mother was born into slavery and so was I. Neither of us knew our father and she didn't know her mother. Me and my mother were the best on the farm we worked. Best of the best, the ones on top, whatever you call it. We were inseparable. She was always there when I needed her. That is, until they took her away when I was five. I haven't seen her since. I have prayed and prayed day after day that I would get my mother back one day.

My mother. The last place I could find peace. My mother was the last I knew of "our kind" as they would call us. We were anthros. My mother was an arctic fox. Thin, tall, loving, and she knew so much about parenthood even though she never had any parents. She knew how to take care of me and my brother.

My brother was 12 when he disappeared. Yesterday would have been his 18th birthday. I know he's still alive, I can feel it. We have some kind of link between each other. As children, we were inseparable. Everywhere I went, he came too. Everywhere he went, I went too. We got into so much trouble by our mother, but she would always forgive us in a little bit.

I was ten and he was eleven when we lost our mother. We were never actually happy after that day. We were asleep when someone came in and took her by the scruff on the back of her neck. She tried to fight back only to be hit over and over. When she gave up, she was being dragged out of the home. She left us with one last smile and cried out before we were locked away in the place we slept,"Everything's gonna be ok boys. Be strong. I promise I'll be back for you two."

But since they both disappeared, I have lost everything I lived for. I almost killed myself. But moments before I did I realized that the things I love, I have to work for. I have to work hard if I'm gonna get my mother and brother back. And I swear to myself, I will get them back together and we will live as a family again. We will be one again. The gaping hole in my life will be filled.

As I was running, I found a small bush, just big enough for me to curl up in and hide. I hid and curled into such a small ball, I could have been around the root. I hear footsteps run by and and disappear into the night. I was alone again. I lost them. I wait a couple more minutes before I uncurl. It was so dark, I could barely see my paw waving in front of my face. I start running and there are more bushes and trees as I get more and more torn up. There was this scent, this feeling, that I should run in this direction.

This was a scent I have known since I started working at that dreaded farm. It was the scent of a friend that had run away and escaped. She had been helping other anthros, one by one, escape from slavery and start a new life as a new anthro. Her name was Dara. A sweet, tall, strong build, and strong willed dragon.

She had been my friend since I was five. She had already run away, but we would meet on the property line every friday night just to talk. She would tell me stories of the world outside of the slave life. Out in the real world. It sounded beautiful. Leaves so green, it was like I was looking at an emerald, people so nice to us. Or at least better than what it was here. She told me it was a wonderful, carefree, peaceful place. The outside world sounded amazing compared to where I was forced to live. I would stay for hours with her, she would promise me one day she would help me escape that wretched place. And I already had started. I lost my pursuers and was finding the spot she said we would meet if I successfully lost them. It was a hill atop a clearing looking down over it all. The farm, the fields, the barn, my home. The only place I knew as a home. It was gorgeous at night.