Foxtrot (Tom Nook x Redd)

Chapter 2

It was the late afternoon and Tom was helping out someone moving it. "Here are the keys to the house and you're all set, Vic." Vic grabbed the keys and gave Tom an extremely firm handshake. "Thank you, I'm happy that Shadow talked me into living here, it seems quite peaceful, cud." The large bull grabbed his things and walked out the door. As he did Shadow was walking in. "Ah, Good Afternoon Shadow, how may I help you." He sat down across from Tom, "I was talking to Timmy and Tommy yesterday and they said there was a Fox that came to the store that creeped them out. I spoke to Orville and we no such visitor yesterday, or at all in that matter. "That is odd, I'll conduct an investigation on the matter to see if I can get a description on the Fox." Shadow smiled," Also I was talking to Poncho last night and he said he was a Boat near the back of the island, around the same time the Fox was spotted. Tom jotted some notes down and walked around the counter. "Alright then, leave this to me Shadow.

Tom decided to speak to everyone to see if he could get some sort of clue on who this fox maybe. He decided to visit Plucky first to see if she might know.

"Did you so happen to see a Fox around?" Plucky gasped," So I wasn't seeing things!" Tom raised a brow," What did you see?" "Well I was going to do some shopping at the able sisters last night, but I felt like I was being watched when I left my house so I decided not to go. And this wasn't just some normal 'I feel like I'm being watched', I felt like I was in danger somehow." "That sounds really bad, I'm sorry that you didn't feel safe." "Don't be, but if it helps I did someone snooping around with a bushy tail when It got late, I'm pretty sure it was the fox, there's no reason for any of us on the island to sneak around, they were around Leopold and Bea's house if that helps." Tom thanked Plucky as he decided to go visit Bea next to see if she could help him.

"Good afternoon Bea, mind, if I ask you a, could questions?" "Oh sure thing, come in.", She said. She pours him some tea as both discussed the matter. "I do remember last night I heard someone rustling in my bushes, but I shrugged it off thinking it was Filbert looking for bugs again. However after an hour passed and the rustling continued, and we all know Filbert he can't do the same task for more than 5 minutes. So I called him and he said he was home." "What did you do after that?", Tom asked taking a small sip of his tea. "Well I was a bit scared, but I went outside and saw someone messing around in my bushes, so I yelled. However, he ran away so fast and it was so dark out I wasn't able to get a good look." "Hmmm ok, do you think anyone else could've seen this Fox." Bea nodded," Leopold, I remember seeing him look out his window before I yelled." "Thank you, Bea, don't worry we'll find the troublesome Fox in no time." Bea smiled as she collected the empty teacups.

"Ah, Tom welcome to my humble abode, my magnum opus, My-." "I get it, Leopold, what can you tell me about the fox last night?" Leopold grumbled," That noisy thing ruined my beauty sleep, at first I thought it was Filbert in my bushes again, but the noise lasted for around an hour which is unlike Filbert to do a task that's more than 5 minutes. I went to my window and saw A fox digging through Bea's bushes, seconds later she came out and yelled at him." "Do you know where the Fox went next?" Leopold nodded," about 10 minutes or so, I heard Marcie yell, followed by Octavian."

Tom left Leopold's house and went to go interview Marcie and Octavian next. Lucky for him they were both outside. "Darn Fox was climbing my Cherry tree, making all this noise." He grumbled. "Yeah, I was outside fishing when I heard Octavian yelling. As I turned around to look, the fox ran past me almost knocking me into the river." "Oh my, this fox must be stopped, can you guys tell what he looked like?" "The Varmint was orange with brown fur on his snout." , Octavian said. "Yes yes, he also had a blue shirt and brown pants and an Apron that look like Timmy and Tommy's." As Tom skimmed through the description, his eyes widen. "No, it can't be." "Hmm, Something wrong Tom." Tom came back to and smiled," A-Ah yes I have to relay this information to Isabelle at once. Tom ran off quickly to see Isabelle. "He can't be here!".

Shadow was walking around the back of the island. "Hmm if what Poncho said is true then this seems like a good place to hide a boat." He walked further back until he found a small path. "Huh never been back here." He walked down the path until he made it to a small beach. He shuddered as he saw a small beaten up boat floating in the water. There was a large plank connecting the shore to the boat which didn't look too safe to walk across. "Well...maybe I should take a look-see." Shadow boarded the boat walking inside. It was dark and dank. The walls were rusty and bugs were crawling around what looked like a bathtub. "Well someone is living here, there's fresh soap and water in this tub." He looked around some more and found the cockpit which was littered with dirty clothes half-eaten food, books, and fur. "Someone is definitely living here." Shadow sighed and turned around and screamed in terror as a tall lanky fox was standing behind him. Shadow fell on the ground and looked up at the fox as he just stared at him. Seconds that felt like hours went and the fox grew a cherry grin. "Ah, a customer!" Shadow raised a brow. "Customer?". The fox grabbed Shadow's hand and yanked him off the ground dragging him to the bottom of the ship. "What's going on where are you taking me!?" In the bowels of the ship, Shadow saw several paintings and statues that look extremely well preserved. "Feast your eyes, young boy." The Fox showed a couple of statues in his possession. "Ah and this one is a beaut, it normally would cost 400,000 bells, but as an inhabitant on this island I'll sell it for 4,930 bells, do we have a deal!?" "What wait no, I'm not here to buy anything." "Then why are you on my boat.. unless *gasp* THIEF." The fox held one of his statuses tight around his arms. "Noo I'm not a thief, even if I was where could I go we're on an island..." "Oh yeah that's right, ok then human, why are you here." "Well for starters, you scared the two workers at the store on my island." "Oh come now, have they never seen a fox before?" "And second people saw you snooping around the island going through their bushes and trees." The Fox blushed a bit rubbing his hands together. "You've honestly been creeping out everyone out." Shadow watched as the fox stood there his ears droopy and his tail dragging on the floor. "I...I was hungry." "You were hungry?" The fox nodded," I haven't eaten in a couple of days so when I do happen to see your island and all this delicious fruit, I couldn't help myself." Shadow sighed while opening his backpack to pull out a bag of pears. "You don't have to creep around if you're hungry, I'm sure if you just asked someone would help you out." The Fox blushed as he grabbed the fruit from shadow. "T-Thank you." The Fox began to eat the pears while shadow looked around at The Fox's art pieces. "These look nice, did you make these?" As red gobbled down the last Pear he looked back at it. "Heavens no, I don't possess such talent, I've basically acquired these pieces through my travels, and nefarious means hehe." "What's was that last bit?" "Nothing, nothing, um do any piece interest you?" Shadow looked at each one carefully," This Famous painting looks nice, probably would look cool in the museum." "Oh ho ho, I'd normally charge 490,000 bells for this, but since we're practically cousins, I'll give you the cousins discount." "Cousins discount?" "Yes yes, your generous deed will not be forgotten, that's why I decided that were family now, so Cousin how does 4,930 bells sound." Shadow took one last look at the famous painting and the woman's weirdly arched eyebrows. "I trust you, sure thing." Shadow pulls out the bells to pay the Fox grabbed them quickly, counting them biting one to make sure they were real. "After I properly wrap and handle this, the piece will be shipped to your home." "Oh thank you um, I don't know your name." The fox smiled," My name hehe, It's Redd.