Change in Life

Chapter 28. Echos

Serenity...

Bliss...

Content...

Wary...

Isolated...

In but a few seconds, Blake's attitude towards the woods altered. He didn't think it would change that much. After all, only humans were walking through, occasionally shooting at things that breathed and moved. But the impact of just three days and nights of their presence was clear to him. Normally the woods sang with the noise of birds and creatures. It had once been a joy to carry his life onward through the enchanted surrounds. Now, despite all that seemed alike, it lay empty. Barren. The spirits of the trees themselves shuddered at the gluttonous violation. The sound of silence scared Blake beyond anything else. There was no smell of anything naturally bearing except for the faint scent of man and dog, and the odd whiff of decaying sawdust and wilting leaves. He was sure it was his mind playing games with his head, yet Blake was convinced he detected the hint if copper from unknown blood spills drifting through the air along the lonely trails the poor creature once walked.

The woods felt like no-man's-land. Anything caught would die. The constant tingle down his spine edged him closer to losing his cool. He did not want to be here. The courage of his task had been sapped within an instant. The thing keeping him moving forward was the little breathing gem hidden in a secret place, which he did not know how long would last. His tail swayed subtly to the motion of that cursed weight in his mind, created only for the purpose as a countdown of his arriving fatherhood. But as this trials continued on, that fictitious brass wight evolved to include his very sanity.

Blake had run directly forward once he fled from his home. Not long after Blake took off from his terrified mate, he stopped running and slowed to a trot. Not long after that, slowed again to a walk. He wanted to sprint as fast as he could. The sooner he got a stash of any description, the less likely it was that a dog would find his scent and catch him in the open. In an environment like this, the open was deadly. Too many things had to be accounted for now. He mulled long about what to do in a worst case scenario. He thought back to been chased through the woods by Cleo and Shadow. Out running Saint Bernard was easy. Although they had powerful noses, he could lose them in the vast woodland, buying enough time to have them called back. Those horrific barks then sounded sublime right now compared to this. There wasn't any talking out of a situation if another, more suitable canine found him.

During the fight with his father, not realizing it, Blake had shown him just how intelligent he was with his four legged form. What ticked his father into believing this fox was not normal was the over worldly feeling he got from him. It was a strange vibe that twisted his blood. Aside from that, the only thing that proved the fox was to be reckoned with was his fighting technique. No fox used kicks the way he did. Foxes never kicked to begin with. Blake mentally flogged himself for his shortsightedness. The humans after him knew of the skill he had so brazenly shown.

He quickened his step as much as he dared.

'Get food, now,' he uttered. His panicking heart making him pant uncontrollably. 'Then get home. Now!'

Determination more than fear pushed him forward. As he darted towards the fading sunset, chasing the precious diminishing glow, the raw strain of his lost sons tightened around him. He wish he was as strong as Jade when it came to coping with death as tragic as this. Before he could slip further down that decrepit path of depression again, he shook his head, throwing those thoughts to the strange air.

You can grieve properly later, he thought to himself.

He pushed himself back to thinking of the task at hand. The cliff was not too far away. But those ruminations of an abandoned family made him pick with paws up and move quicker. The second he did his foreleg got caught and he face planted hard in the mulch. He skidded a half a foot on his chin before his caught leg was jerked back and his body continued over from behind his head. With a heavy flop, and a restricting sting from just above his ankle, he moaned a daze away.