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"And... finished!" The sweater nerd known as Cassie had spent ages working on her drawing, but it was worth it. She normally drew people transforming into a variety of things, but she decided to go a different route for this piece of art, not that she could explain why. She just felt a strong sensation to draw this one thing for her, as if it were fate itself telling her to do it, and nobody was paying her for it.

In front of her on a computer screen was a picture of a large fox, mostly orange with hints of yellow on the fox's chest, along with dark brown fur along the fox's legs. That fox was curled up next to a baby fox fast asleep. Cassie envied the innocence of the small fox kit and the big protective mother. Of course, once she finished the drawing she immediately saved it, though she wasn't able to upload it onto the internet, not where she was anyways.

Cassie put her tablet back into her backpack. "I guess I've been out here longer than I thought." She was not at home, but rather she had gone camping for a few days, and she was already getting bored. Today would be her last day and the sun was already setting. The entire trip had been a boring experience. She wasn't much of a survivalist, but she had hoped to see at least a few wild animals that weren't mosquitoes and ants.

With the drawing done, Cassie opened up her tent and decided to take a look at the sunset one more time in the wilderness before leaving. Watching the orange glow with only birds chirping overhead was nice. She had gone so deep in the forest to avoid cars, but left a trail and carried a compass with her to avoid getting lost. Deep down, she wished she could remain in this quiet wilderness forever. She wasn't able to blame any of the wild animals for not showing up, not after the things humans did to not just animals, but to one another.

Just as Cassie had such a thought about what humans were doing, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, something strange moving in the bushes. She swore something had been moving in there frequently since she had gone out camping alone, but she had never been able to confirm it. With a raised brow, she pulled out her phone. â€˜I'm not going to approach that, but I am curious what the heck it is. That's definitely a little too noisy for the wind.'

Cassie gave her phone a quick shake to activate the flashlight and shined it onto the bush. Her phone flashlight was hardly the best, but it was enough to illuminate the shaking bush, which came to a sudden stop when she put her light on it. "Okay, who's there?"

After a light amount of shaking, a paw stepped forward, followed by another, and then two more. A fox, a full grown large fox appeared from the bushes with yellow eyes directed right towards Cassie.

Cassie couldn't believe it. A fox! A big fox looked right at her! The fox kept its head low and stared at Cassie intently. She watched the fox's big bushy tail for any sign of danger or warnings the fox might give, yet it seemed normal, as if it were just naturally approaching her. "Um..." Cassie opened up her phone and set it on record. She was not going to miss this. Even if the fox ran away, getting five seconds of it on camera would be worth it! "Hello there. My name's Cassie. Who are you?" She stretched out her free hand.

The fox stepped forward and tilted its head. The creature moved closer and closer to Cassie until its nose pressed up against Cassie's open palm.

Cassie felt air push in and out of the fox nose, a small but funny feeling that made her smile some. She wasn't sure how foxes liked to greet each other, but maybe smell was part of it? That or the fox was just playing with her, but like a fox could do that. "Hah... do you want some food?" She turned back to her tent and wondered what the fox could eat. She didn't exactly pack any fruits or vegetables. Fresh produce on a camping trip was pretty crazy for a lot of people. "Um..." She slowly turned her hand around and raised it over the fox's head. She knew what she was doing, but had someone asked her why she was doing it, she'd have no response. She lowered her hand on top of the fox's head and felt its wonderful short fur. â€˜Wow. It feels so much better than a cat or a dog.'

The fox stood still while Cassie petted it. The furry creature's eyes barely blinked and its head remained still. At the mention of food however, the fox pulled back and immediately turned around. It began to walk away, but at a pace slow enough that it was easy for Cassie to go after it if she so desired. In fact, the fox paused after taking a few steps and turned its head, as if wondering if Cassie was going to pursue it.

â€˜Does he really want me to follow?' Cassie would have to figure out this fox's gender at some point if she was going to befriend it. Maybe it was a he, but the body type seemed to hint otherwise. Regardless, Cassie held onto her compass and phone and followed the fox. She was a little afraid of getting lost in the forest, but she hadn't gone that far out into the wilderness and took all the precautions necessary, including making sure she had a functional GPS. She'd follow the fox into the wild and watch her tent vanish behind her. "I hope you're taking me somewhere nice. If I start to see Narnia, I'm out."

After some time of traveling, a distance Cassie lost track of, the fox suddenly stopped in front of a cave. The fox turned around to Cassie and then turned its head to the cave before back to Cassie, and then to the cave once more.

"Okay, I get the point..." Cassie slowly approached the entrance to the cave nervously. The size of the cave was plenty big enough for her, though she feared the worst. â€˜A bear can't live here, but other animals can. Bats, wolves, mice, iguanas, anything.' She thought. She had a first aid kit, but that was back at the tent which was... she pulled out her phone and saw her GPS, but completely forgot to set the location of her camp. She might be able to get out of the forest, but she had no idea if she'd find her own camp again. With a deep breath, she got onto her knees and turned on the flashlight before she crawled into the cave. She wasn't sure why she was crawling into it when standing up was an option. She blamed trying to be stealthy, though her flashlight wouldn't be doing her any favors for that, either. "What am I looking for here? Or are you trying to block me in so you can eat me? You're not a monster in disguise are you?" She asked, though uncertain if the fox was listening, let alone following her as she got into the cave. "Or, you're not like one of those keaton tricksters?" She had recalled keatons and how they loved to play tricks, including transforming.

Cassie sighed, remembering the one image of a keaton transforming another person into an identical keaton. In truth, she had wished stuff like that happened in real life, it was one reason why she was so into it. A light bump on the palm of her hand as she crawled stopped her from her mental distraction. She glanced down to find...
"A blueberry?"

She raised her head and noticed she was already in the back of the cave! The cave must have measured a good twenty feet in length, not very deep at all. Moreover, there was an assortment of food set in the back, and even a makeshift bed made out of leaves. "Huh. You have a fancy place, mister fox." She turned with a smile, and immediately noticed the fox had not only followed her in, but tilted its head quizzically, as if questioning her statement. "I mean... misses fox?"

The fox let out a bark that sounded akin to that of a happy dog. The fox's tail wagged and it let loose it's tongue as if it were behaving just like a dog.

Cassie wasn't sure if that meant she was right or not. Sure, the fox gave off the signs that she was a happy dog, but did a happy dog and a happy fox mean the same thing? "Okay, I'll just call you Miss fox for now. Why did you bring me here Miss fox? Did you bring me for dinner, or to be dinner?"

The fox walked up to Cassie and nudged the blueberry on the ground towards Cassie using her nose. The fox let out a soft bark and wagged her tail, nudging the blueberry next with her dark paw.

"You really want me to eat this?" Maybe it was a gesture of friendship. Blueberries weren't that hard to find in the wild after all, or at a grocery store most of the time. With a shrug, she popped it into her mouth. What harm might one single berry do? If it were poisonous, only eating one should barely impact her body negatively. Then again, what a fox could eat should be fine for a human... right? So long as it wasn't raw meat. Rather than savor the taste of the blueberry in her mouth, she'd quickly swallow it whole as if taking a pill.

"Thank you for trusting me. You won't regret it." A woman's voice spoke up from the direction of the fox. "I've been watching you from afar for quite some time and I must say, you are a better human than most."

"Huh?" Cassie turned to the fox immediately and then looked behind the creature. What was that noise? Maybe she was hearing things. It was late in the night and she figured it was fatigue getting to her. "I must be crazy. Here I thought you were talking to me."

"I was talking to you." The voice replies. The fox's mouth opened and closed. The beast was speaking! "I can tell you are very stressed about your life. About many things. Yet, you are a friendly person, you don't deserve what you're going through, what you've been through. I wish to help remedy your situation."

Cassie stood up and put her back against the cave. She stepped on a small pile of blueberries the fox had set aside, but her attention glued against the furry creature. "No. There's no way you can talk! No way!" Her heart pounded quickly. She put her palms up against the back of the bumpy cave in hopes of trying to find a way out behind her as the fox stood in front. The moon lit the fox brightly, leaving a much larger shadow on the ground. Her ears began to feel funny, and as she reached up to feel them, they weren't where they should be. "H-huh? What are you doing to me?"

"I'm changing you. You don't like your human life, I can sense it. I'm going to give you a new one, a much better one. Just sit back and relax, your old life will wash away like a river." The fox stepped forward gingerly. "Now, about your clothes..."

Cassie didn't want to hear it. No, this fox was insane. She was insane! Whatever was happening couldn't be real, yet she felt her furry fox ears. Her heart pounded heavily and she began to breathe just as hard. She had to get out of here, and now. With a sudden burst of energy, she rushed out of the cave as far away from the fox as she could be. Whatever was going on, she wanted no part of it!

Cassie heard the fox call out to her, but she had no idea what it was speaking. Her heart pounded so heavily she heard that ringing in her ears instead of anything else. No, what the fox said didn't matter. She didn't care what the fox had to say. She'd race back to her tent fast and hard. Actually, screw her tent. She'd just go straight home. It was extremely late, but she had the energy and stamina to get all the way back home! She kept her eyes peeled ahead of her so as not to run into any trees.

After what felt like hours, Cassie stumbled forward and slowed her pace. One glance back and she confirmed the fox wasn't following her. Foxes couldn't run as fast as humans, could they? She'd have to look it up in... "My phone!" She was half ready to curse her luck as her phone was likely long gone, but she reached into her pocket and she managed to pull it out. "Okay. Great! I have my phone and it has a GPS and everything. Now I just have to... confirm... my... location."

Cassie found that while she was able to figure out where she was on the map, it did not give the location of her tent on the map. "Go figure." She muttered. She could get back on the road, but getting back home without all of her stuff would be a monumental loss. "I just have to find where I camped." She knew where to find her car, but even then she didn't have her keys, they were at the campsite!

"Let's just... Let's just try to find that campsite and go from there." With the fox not following her, Cassie felt more at ease, though the fox ears on her head that twitched made her feel uncomfortable. The ears had to be fake. The phone showed her a time of two in the morning. She must have been fatigued, that's all there is to it. She was tired and needed rest at her campsite. If the fox came back she'd... she'd... well the only thing she brought for defense was bear mace and that probably didn't work on a fox. She'd give the girl a bapping of a lifetime with a newspaper!

Cassie turned left at one point, then left again, then a right, and then continued to walk around. She couldn't explain where she was going, she had an instinct that told her to go in this direction. She recalled foxes had an excellent way of figuring out where to go, but she wasn't sure how they knew. Maybe if she had asked that one female fox she could learn, but she had no intention of being around a freaky talking fox, hallucination or not. She was better off trying to get some rest and sleep off the night.

Whether through luck or an unforeseen force that had nothing to do with chance, Cassie found her old campsite! With little hesitation, she rushed into her tent and sealed the flap shut, not that a tent was secure, but she felt better inside of it than being out in the wilderness. "Okay, just relax Cassie. You're just tired. Your fox ears aren't really there, the fox didn't talk, and the tail wagging behind you is also nothing." She paused. Tail? She turned and saw it, a fully grown fluffy red fox tail with a black tip wagging behind her as happy as a dog's own. A tail, she had grown a tail! She took a deep breath and let out a scream so loud that it undoubtedly startled the majority of wildlife near her.

Cassie stopped screaming so loudly, but only to catch her breath. She had a tail, a fox tail! This tail had to be real. She felt the fluffiness and had she not been so terrified, the fluffy fur would have soothed her feelings. "Okay, forget sleeping. I'm getting out of this forest and I'm getting out of here NOW!"

Cassie didn't even bother packing up her tent. No, she'd just leave it there for the next person. She grabbed her car keys and proceeded to go to her car, only to find that it was nowhere near the tent. Of course, at the campsite she had to park her car in the parking lot a good... where was it again? She checked her phone for her GPS and saw her location, but the phone was giving an error and not showing where the road was. "Figures." Her heart pounded fast and hard as adrenaline rushed through her body, but she had to take her time. Panicking solved little, as much as she wanted to do it. Her tail continued to swish behind her and while she tried to tell herself it wasn't real, the feeling of air on her back said otherwise.

"Okay, let's just find my way back to my car." She held onto her keys with one hand while her free one held onto her pants. Her clothing was starting to feel uncomfortable on her body, far too large for her, but she continued to blame her tiredness for her confusion. She'd walk through the forest and find her car much easier than it was to find her campsite, but as she reached up to dismiss the alarm on her car and unlock the doors with a push of a button, her keys fell from her hand onto the dirt below. â€˜Okay, I'm just being clumsy at this point. God, my heart's still beating a mile a minute. Calm down Cassie. Nobody's chasing you anymore.'

Cassie leaned down to grab her keys, but she found that she couldn't! Her fingers didn't bend and twist the way they normally should have. Normally, it would have been hard to see in the darkness. Clouds began to cover the moon in a shroud, yet she was able to see just fine. "What's going on?" She looked down at her fingers and saw dark brown fur. Moreover, she was missing her thumb, both thumbs on each hand! "My hands? You've got to be kidding me!" Not just the tail and her ears, but now her hands. She still had her fingers, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't split them apart. "No. No, no, no!" She clasped her hands together and noticed that above the fur she had small little paw digits on each finger and on her palm too. Moreover, her hands were getting much smaller. Foxes don't have paws this small, do they? That mother fox was pretty huge. Or... female fox? Whatever that fox was. I can't be this tired.' She tried to grab the keys with both of her paws, but to no avail.

"Are you having difficulties, my child? You are in no place for a young kit. Humans roam this part of the land and they could take a vulnerable little child such as yourself. Come back with me into the den."

Cassie knew that voice all too well. As the fox spoke, she slowly turned her head with her body shaking. "I um... I ah..." Why did that voice sound so soothing and calm? It was as if she heard the voice for years. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do. You're a very nice fox, but I can't stay here. I have to go." She grabbed the keys with both of her paws and lifted up her keys, but she was unable to press the button. Moreover, her pants were getting far too big. She had to drop her keys just before her pants fell. She noticed the fox out of the corner of her eye, but didn't want to turn all the way to face her.

The fox "Are you sure? You are so scared, young kit. I know life can be very intimidating for young kits, but that's because you do not know much about the world. If we turn around and go back to the den now, we will be fine. We will probably be fine staying here at night too, but when the sun rises, humans will wake up from their tents and we could be in great danger."

â€˜Why does she keep calling me young kit? I'm not... I'm not a fox. No, there's no way.' Cassie put her paws up against her head where her ears once were. She fell down in order to keep her pants on her body, but even if they had fallen her shirt would have covered everything with how big that was getting too. "I'm not a little fox. I'm a human! I do..." Cassie paused. What did humans do? They woke up, they drove in cars, they went to work, they came home, and then they slept. Rinse and repeat for 60 years. "I do human things!" She shouted with uncertainty. "Like, I have human clothes!" She had to admit that her clothing was not only way too large, but also getting very warm and itchy.

"You stole them like the clever fox you want to be." The fox mother said in a lighthearted voice and a hint of a giggle. "I can see you struggling to even get your feet out of those pants. Come on, crawl out of those clothes and let's go back home. We have to rebuild my blueberry stash. A human stepped on a bunch of them."

â€˜A human stepped on your blueberry stash? That's horrible! Wait, did I go in there and stepped on them with my... shoes?' Cassie just now realized that she wasn't wearing shoes, or socks for that matter! When did she become barefoot? Then again, why did she remember not being barefoot in the first place? She scratched her head in confusion as she saw her brown furry fox feet. "Um... you're doing something to me and to my head and I don't like it. Just let me go home! To my home! To my human home!" It was a struggle to see her feet too, she had to raise up her pant leg just to see her paws.

"You're being silly, my little kit. You don't have a human home." The fox walked closer to Cassie and grabbed the hem of her pants. With a light growl, she began to pull. "Let's get these things off."

Cassie quickly tried to grab her pants, but grabbing things with her paws was impossible. She briefly thought about using her mouth, but she wasn't a fox! No way! This fox was just messing with her and transforming her somehow. No, she couldn't trust this fox no matter how sweet and soothing she sounded. "I'm a human! Not a fox!"

With a hard yank, the big fox yanked Cassie's pants off. Underneath her pants, Cassie was covered with fox fur from her new paw fox feet to her waist. "Are you a human? Are you a happy human?"

"Yes I'm a human!" Cassie shouted without hesitation. Despite the fact that the moment she saw her legs she saw fox legs, legs half the size of the ones she used to know. Her feet arched much bigger than she remembered with more muscle on her thighs than any part of those legs. She then had to think briefly about the happy part. Was she a happy human? She knew human life, but was it a happy one? She wished she could remember her human life in better detail. No doubt the fox toyed with her mentally.

"But is it a joyful human life?" The fox nudged Cassie. Cassie's body was continuing to shrink down, little by little. Her muscles reshaped along with the bones underneath with fur covering more of her skin. "Were you having fun as a human? Were you having a good life?"

Good life was debatable as a human. Some humans lived in luxury while others... Cassie knew she was the latter, but just because she wasn't in the luxurious lifestyle didn't mean she had a bad life! She just wished she could remember most of it before the fox played her own games on her. "If you're transforming me like this, then you should know." She crossed her arms with a humph. She was ready to bite this fox, but her teeth were transforming too. How they were changing she couldn't tell, but the loud cracking inside of her mouth told her something was going on in there.

"I do have a few ideas, yes." The fox said with a nod. "Humans have a lot to worry about in life, but the most worrisome thing a human has to be concerned about are... other humans. Theft, deception, so much of it takes place with humanity, don't you think? Some obvious, others not so much. There's simply too much wrong with humans to go into great detail about what's wrong with them, but you know what I am getting at. And then, at your job when you've tried your best and failed at your task because you were never told how to do it... you're put at fault for it."

Now the fox was getting oddly specific. What applied to her and what didn't? She didn't even know anymore. She rubbed her head in confusion while looking at the fox, her clothing getting bigger by the second. She could use that shirt as a blanket by this point! Humans weren't perfect, but there were nice ones out there! She just... didn't know of many nice ones that actually got to be in charge or had superiority. "I uh... I don't know." She admitted with uncertainty. She didn't know a lot of things she liked about being human, but she knew one thing. "I like being out here!"

"Of course you like being out here. Out here you're far away from humans. Away from the anger, the hatred. Here you have nothing but the sound of running water and happy birds to listen to. Who wouldn't want that? You have no worries, no responsibilities. The most you have to be concerned with is food, but if you have a hefty supply of it then there's nothing to fear even about that. Speaking of which, I know I said it before, but would you like to aid me in collecting blueberries? You can eat some more of them if you'd like. One berry for our food supply, and one for your little furry tummy."

Cassie glanced down at her hands, rather her paws. She couldn't even find her thumb anymore with her furry little digits. She recalled the fox mentioning about a human stepping on her food, and it made her wonder if she was the one that did it. The large fox creature was very intimidating, as gentle as she tried to sound to Cassie, but Cassie gaining more and more fox traits around this creature wasn't exactly helping her feel at ease. "I guess I owe you..." She said quietly. What time was it? Ah, who cared. The moon was up, most creatures would be asleep now anyways. "But how can I with hands like these?" She raised up her furry paws.

The female fox giggled. She stepped forward and delicately placed her paw on top of Cassie's shirt. "You don't need hands when you have this. Step out of this human clothing, grab the small end, and drag it along with you. We can put food on this and carry it back home together. In fact, I bet that tent the human had will have all sorts of things we can use to carry food in, as well as protection from the cold weather! Don't you hate it when it gets so chilly? It makes sleeping with your mother wrapped around you so much more comfortable, but getting up is just so hard."

Cassie immediately pictured the female fox in snowy weather inside of the cave they were just in. She imagined the fox with her eyes closed and curled in a little fuzzy ball with her tail tucked in. She also saw a much smaller fox, a kit fast asleep curled up inside of the ball the larger fox rolled herself into. She saw them both sleeping soundly during a massive blizzard just beyond the cave entrance. A human would loathe that blizzard. A human would have to shovel their way out and get in a car and go to a soul crushing job, quite possibly risking their very life if the roads were bad enough! Meanwhile the two foxes could simply... lie there and watch the snow pile up. As she pictured the big fox and the young kit she had a realization that she was picturing herself not as an outsider, but as the kit, fast asleep in her mother's embrace.

"You can see it too, can't you? The hard life of a human versus the easy life of a kit. Come." The female fox turned and signaled Cassie to move by tilting her head. "Let's go. Grab that shirt with your teeth and we'll get some more food before going to sleep for the night. Does that sound good?"

Cassie hesitated to follow the fox. Something about the fox still didn't feel right. She crawled out from the shirt on her hands and,,, feet? She turned around to see that she was on all fours, just like her... mother? â€˜No. Why am I seeing her as my mother? My mom is... she was human, wasn't she? But if she was human, why would I be covered in fur? Ugh. I'm so confused.'
She wanted to argue with this fox, but what was there to complain about? It was late, she was tired. If this fox would let her sleep with her, who was she to turn it down? Even if she was human, would a human ever turn down a chance to sleep with friendly wildlife? She grabbed the shirt with her little teeth and pulled it along the ground, following the big fox with her furry tail wagging.

Cassie followed the bigger fox, although she was rather clumsy in her steps. She swore she used to walk on two legs, but any attempt to do so merely resulted in her falling forward on all fours again. She gave up after the third attempt and kept following the big fox, knowing the female fox ahead of her was slowing down and waiting patiently for her. That female fox was so nice and... bigger than Cassie too! Her fox muzzle held onto the article of clothing while she dragged it along, eventually seeing the female fox in front of her stop next to a bush filled with berries. Cassie dropped the shirt and her tail wagged. "Are these the berries mo...mo...um... ma'am?"

"Yes they are the right berries." The larger fox reached out and using only her lips she plucked one berry and dropped it onto the shirt Cassie brought. "Come little one, grab the smaller ones and put them on the shirt. We'll use it to carry a small haul back to the den."

Cassie watched the female fox pluck blueberries delicately with her mouth, not even using her teeth to penetrate the soft fruit. She tried to mimic her, but her mouth was too small. She crossed her eyes and looked at her black muzzle. She swore it was something else once, and that part of her felt really sad about seeing her face like this, but another part was excited. She was experiencing new adventures! Well, every adventure was new when you were a kit. Cassie wasn't a kit though, was she? Her fox ears flickered as she heard a rustle. Her head shot up to see that it came from her mot... ma'am, pulling off a blueberry with a bit more force. Cassie tried to do the same, but wound up biting into one and squirting blue juice all over her muzzle. She turned up to the female fox with red on her cheeks and blue on her lips.

The big fox chuckled at Cassie. She leaned down, parted her mouth, and licked her face clean. After a few more berries onto the shirt, she nodded to Cassie. "Let's go, Cassie. Let's go store these away and get to sleep. It's way past your bedtime."

Cassie let out a yawn as the fox said that. She grabbed the shirt and began to pull, but the big fox stopped her. She didn't bother questioning how the fox knew her name. Did she tell the fox her name before? It then hit her that the fox named her Cassie, of course she'd know her name! But... well that probably did sound like a fox name. Her mind was getting distracted, just like a young child's would. "Why are you stopping me?"

"Fold it up like this." The big fox grabbed the other end of the shirt and gave it to Cassie. "Hold this part and the part you have in your mouth. The berries will stay in there while you pull it along."

Cassie pulled the now folded up shirt behind the fox. She noticed the fox's pace was slow, likely to make up for the small Cassie and how she was struggling to pull this food along. Did her moth...moth... ma'am always do this? While her little sharp teeth bit on the oversized article of clothing humans wore to pull it along, her yellow eyes fixated on the fox in front of her. She saw the massive fluffy tail, and her tail wagged behind her. Why did she keep calling this female fox as something else? The more she looked at this fox, the more she got an instinct that this fox was more than a regular creature, but something far more caring, loving. â€˜She's my... mother. Isn't she?' Cassie pondered, so distracted she didn't even realize they made it back to the den until the big fox pointed it out!

The fox went into the back of the den and signaled Cassie to follow. "Come along dear. Drop off the berries anywhere and curl up next to mom." She'd let out a yawn and then laid down on the floor. "Mph... we'll get the rest of those human's belongings tomorrow if they haven't returned before then."

Cassie held back her own yawn until she brought in the berries. Once inside the den, she rushed over to her mother with a smile on her face and a "Yip yap!" before she found herself tripping over her own brown paws. Walking on four legs was still such a challenge, but this big fox, her mother, was willing to teach her everything. How to walk, how to hunt, she was still so confused, but the look, smell, and hearing her own mother nearby put Cassie at ease. Yes, this was her mother. She was foolish not to have realized it earlier. Maybe back then it was just a crazy dream.

The fox mother giggled. Cassie tripped close enough that she was able to grab Cassie with a paw and pull her close, pulling her right up next to her warm fuzzy body. She then curled up into an O shape with her tail tucked in and Cassie lying right in the middle. "Good night my dear young kit. Sleep well."

Cassie couldn't believe how comfortable this was! She had considered using the human's article of clothing to sleep on, or maybe use as a blanket, but surrounded by fox fur and hearing the soft beating of her mother's heart in her triangular ears was the most comfortable she felt in... ever! Did this happen every night? Her memory must have been terrible! With a yawn herself, she closed her eyes and nestled her head deep into her mother's furry body. Yes... maybe she thought she was a human at first, but humans didn't have great lives. Here all she needed was food, water, and her mother. She drifted to sleep in the embrace of her mother, eager to awaken tomorrow for a new beginning.

Description
"And... finished!" The sweater nerd known as Cassie had spent ages working on her drawing, but it was worth it. She normally drew people transforming into a variety of things, but she decided to go a different route for this piece of art, not that she could explain why. She just felt a strong sensation to draw this one thing for her, as if it were fate itself telling her to do it, and nobody was paying her for it.

In front of her on a computer screen was a picture of a large fox, mostly orange with hints of yellow on the fox's chest, along with dark brown fur along the fox's legs. That fox was curled up next to a baby fox fast asleep. Cassie envied the innocence of the small fox kit and the big protective mother. Of course, once she finished the drawing she immediately saved it, though she wasn't able to upload it onto the internet, not where she was anyways.

Cassie put her tablet back into her backpack. "I guess I've been out here longer than I thought." She was not at home, but rather she had gone camping for a few days, and she was already getting bored. Today would be her last day and the sun was already setting. The entire trip had been a boring experience. She wasn't much of a survivalist, but she had hoped to see at least a few wild animals that weren't mosquitoes and ants.

With the drawing done, Cassie opened up her tent and decided to take a look at the sunset one more time in the wilderness before leaving. Watching the orange glow with only birds chirping overhead was nice. She had gone so deep in the forest to avoid cars, but left a trail and carried a compass with her to avoid getting lost. Deep down, she wished she could remain in this quiet wilderness forever. She wasn't able to blame any of the wild animals for not showing up, not after the things humans did to not just animals, but to one another.

Just as Cassie had such a thought about what humans were doing, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, something strange moving in the bushes. She swore something had been moving in there frequently since she had gone out camping alone, but she had never been able to confirm it. With a raised brow, she pulled out her phone. â€˜I'm not going to approach that, but I am curious what the heck it is. That's definitely a little too noisy for the wind.'

Cassie gave her phone a quick shake to activate the flashlight and shined it onto the bush. Her phone flashlight was hardly the best, but it was enough to illuminate the shaking bush, which came to a sudden stop when she put her light on it. "Okay, who's there?"

After a light amount of shaking, a paw stepped forward, followed by another, and then two more. A fox, a full grown large fox appeared from the bushes with yellow eyes directed right towards Cassie.

Cassie couldn't believe it. A fox! A big fox looked right at her! The fox kept its head low and stared at Cassie intently. She watched the fox's big bushy tail for any sign of danger or warnings the fox might give, yet it seemed normal, as if it were just naturally approaching her. "Um..." Cassie opened up her phone and set it on record. She was not going to miss this. Even if the fox ran away, getting five seconds of it on camera would be worth it! "Hello there. My name's Cassie. Who are you?" She stretched out her free hand.

The fox stepped forward and tilted its head. The creature moved closer and closer to Cassie until its nose pressed up against Cassie's open palm.

Cassie felt air push in and out of the fox nose, a small but funny feeling that made her smile some. She wasn't sure how foxes liked to greet each other, but maybe smell was part of it? That or the fox was just playing with her, but like a fox could do that. "Hah... do you want some food?" She turned back to her tent and wondered what the fox could eat. She didn't exactly pack any fruits or vegetables. Fresh produce on a camping trip was pretty crazy for a lot of people. "Um..." She slowly turned her hand around and raised it over the fox's head. She knew what she was doing, but had someone asked her why she was doing it, she'd have no response. She lowered her hand on top of the fox's head and felt its wonderful short fur. â€˜Wow. It feels so much better than a cat or a dog.'

The fox stood still while Cassie petted it. The furry creature's eyes barely blinked and its head remained still. At the mention of food however, the fox pulled back and immediately turned around. It began to walk away, but at a pace slow enough that it was easy for Cassie to go after it if she so desired. In fact, the fox paused after taking a few steps and turned its head, as if wondering if Cassie was going to pursue it.

â€˜Does he really want me to follow?' Cassie would have to figure out this fox's gender at some point if she was going to befriend it. Maybe it was a he, but the body type seemed to hint otherwise. Regardless, Cassie held onto her compass and phone and followed the fox. She was a little afraid of getting lost in the forest, but she hadn't gone that far out into the wilderness and took all the precautions necessary, including making sure she had a functional GPS. She'd follow the fox into the wild and watch her tent vanish behind her. "I hope you're taking me somewhere nice. If I start to see Narnia, I'm out."

After some time of traveling, a distance Cassie lost track of, the fox suddenly stopped in front of a cave. The fox turned around to Cassie and then turned its head to the cave before back to Cassie, and then to the cave once more.

"Okay, I get the point..." Cassie slowly approached the entrance to the cave nervously. The size of the cave was plenty big enough for her, though she feared the worst. â€˜A bear can't live here, but other animals can. Bats, wolves, mice, iguanas, anything.' She thought. She had a first aid kit, but that was back at the tent which was... she pulled out her phone and saw her GPS, but completely forgot to set the location of her camp. She might be able to get out of the forest, but she had no idea if she'd find her own camp again. With a deep breath, she got onto her knees and turned on the flashlight before she crawled into the cave. She wasn't sure why she was crawling into it when standing up was an option. She blamed trying to be stealthy, though her flashlight wouldn't be doing her any favors for that, either. "What am I looking for here? Or are you trying to block me in so you can eat me? You're not a monster in disguise are you?" She asked, though uncertain if the fox was listening, let alone following her as she got into the cave. "Or, you're not like one of those keaton tricksters?" She had recalled keatons and how they loved to play tricks, including transforming.

Cassie sighed, remembering the one image of a keaton transforming another person into an identical keaton. In truth, she had wished stuff like that happened in real life, it was one reason why she was so into it. A light bump on the palm of her hand as she crawled stopped her from her mental distraction. She glanced down to find...
"A blueberry?"

She raised her head and noticed she was already in the back of the cave! The cave must have measured a good twenty feet in length, not very deep at all. Moreover, there was an assortment of food set in the back, and even a makeshift bed made out of leaves. "Huh. You have a fancy place, mister fox." She turned with a smile, and immediately noticed the fox had not only followed her in, but tilted its head quizzically, as if questioning her statement. "I mean... misses fox?"

The fox let out a bark that sounded akin to that of a happy dog. The fox's tail wagged and it let loose it's tongue as if it were behaving just like a dog.

Cassie wasn't sure if that meant she was right or not. Sure, the fox gave off the signs that she was a happy dog, but did a happy dog and a happy fox mean the same thing? "Okay, I'll just call you Miss fox for now. Why did you bring me here Miss fox? Did you bring me for dinner, or to be dinner?"

The fox walked up to Cassie and nudged the blueberry on the ground towards Cassie using her nose. The fox let out a soft bark and wagged her tail, nudging the blueberry next with her dark paw.

"You really want me to eat this?" Maybe it was a gesture of friendship. Blueberries weren't that hard to find in the wild after all, or at a grocery store most of the time. With a shrug, she popped it into her mouth. What harm might one single berry do? If it were poisonous, only eating one should barely impact her body negatively. Then again, what a fox could eat should be fine for a human... right? So long as it wasn't raw meat. Rather than savor the taste of the blueberry in her mouth, she'd quickly swallow it whole as if taking a pill.

"Thank you for trusting me. You won't regret it." A woman's voice spoke up from the direction of the fox. "I've been watching you from afar for quite some time and I must say, you are a better human than most."

"Huh?" Cassie turned to the fox immediately and then looked behind the creature. What was that noise? Maybe she was hearing things. It was late in the night and she figured it was fatigue getting to her. "I must be crazy. Here I thought you were talking to me."

"I was talking to you." The voice replies. The fox's mouth opened and closed. The beast was speaking! "I can tell you are very stressed about your life. About many things. Yet, you are a friendly person, you don't deserve what you're going through, what you've been through. I wish to help remedy your situation."

Cassie stood up and put her back against the cave. She stepped on a small pile of blueberries the fox had set aside, but her attention glued against the furry creature. "No. There's no way you can talk! No way!" Her heart pounded quickly. She put her palms up against the back of the bumpy cave in hopes of trying to find a way out behind her as the fox stood in front. The moon lit the fox brightly, leaving a much larger shadow on the ground. Her ears began to feel funny, and as she reached up to feel them, they weren't where they should be. "H-huh? What are you doing to me?"

"I'm changing you. You don't like your human life, I can sense it. I'm going to give you a new one, a much better one. Just sit back and relax, your old life will wash away like a river." The fox stepped forward gingerly. "Now, about your clothes..."

Cassie didn't want to hear it. No, this fox was insane. She was insane! Whatever was happening couldn't be real, yet she felt her furry fox ears. Her heart pounded heavily and she began to breathe just as hard. She had to get out of here, and now. With a sudden burst of energy, she rushed out of the cave as far away from the fox as she could be. Whatever was going on, she wanted no part of it!

Cassie heard the fox call out to her, but she had no idea what it was speaking. Her heart pounded so heavily she heard that ringing in her ears instead of anything else. No, what the fox said didn't matter. She didn't care what the fox had to say. She'd race back to her tent fast and hard. Actually, screw her tent. She'd just go straight home. It was extremely late, but she had the energy and stamina to get all the way back home! She kept her eyes peeled ahead of her so as not to run into any trees.

After what felt like hours, Cassie stumbled forward and slowed her pace. One glance back and she confirmed the fox wasn't following her. Foxes couldn't run as fast as humans, could they? She'd have to look it up in... "My phone!" She was half ready to curse her luck as her phone was likely long gone, but she reached into her pocket and she managed to pull it out. "Okay. Great! I have my phone and it has a GPS and everything. Now I just have to... confirm... my... location."

Cassie found that while she was able to figure out where she was on the map, it did not give the location of her tent on the map. "Go figure." She muttered. She could get back on the road, but getting back home without all of her stuff would be a monumental loss. "I just have to find where I camped." She knew where to find her car, but even then she didn't have her keys, they were at the campsite!

"Let's just... Let's just try to find that campsite and go from there." With the fox not following her, Cassie felt more at ease, though the fox ears on her head that twitched made her feel uncomfortable. The ears had to be fake. The phone showed her a time of two in the morning. She must have been fatigued, that's all there is to it. She was tired and needed rest at her campsite. If the fox came back she'd... she'd... well the only thing she brought for defense was bear mace and that probably didn't work on a fox. She'd give the girl a bapping of a lifetime with a newspaper!

Cassie turned left at one point, then left again, then a right, and then continued to walk around. She couldn't explain where she was going, she had an instinct that told her to go in this direction. She recalled foxes had an excellent way of figuring out where to go, but she wasn't sure how they knew. Maybe if she had asked that one female fox she could learn, but she had no intention of being around a freaky talking fox, hallucination or not. She was better off trying to get some rest and sleep off the night.

Whether through luck or an unforeseen force that had nothing to do with chance, Cassie found her old campsite! With little hesitation, she rushed into her tent and sealed the flap shut, not that a tent was secure, but she felt better inside of it than being out in the wilderness. "Okay, just relax Cassie. You're just tired. Your fox ears aren't really there, the fox didn't talk, and the tail wagging behind you is also nothing." She paused. Tail? She turned and saw it, a fully grown fluffy red fox tail with a black tip wagging behind her as happy as a dog's own. A tail, she had grown a tail! She took a deep breath and let out a scream so loud that it undoubtedly startled the majority of wildlife near her.

Cassie stopped screaming so loudly, but only to catch her breath. She had a tail, a fox tail! This tail had to be real. She felt the fluffiness and had she not been so terrified, the fluffy fur would have soothed her feelings. "Okay, forget sleeping. I'm getting out of this forest and I'm getting out of here NOW!"

Cassie didn't even bother packing up her tent. No, she'd just leave it there for the next person. She grabbed her car keys and proceeded to go to her car, only to find that it was nowhere near the tent. Of course, at the campsite she had to park her car in the parking lot a good... where was it again? She checked her phone for her GPS and saw her location, but the phone was giving an error and not showing where the road was. "Figures." Her heart pounded fast and hard as adrenaline rushed through her body, but she had to take her time. Panicking solved little, as much as she wanted to do it. Her tail continued to swish behind her and while she tried to tell herself it wasn't real, the feeling of air on her back said otherwise.

"Okay, let's just find my way back to my car." She held onto her keys with one hand while her free one held onto her pants. Her clothing was starting to feel uncomfortable on her body, far too large for her, but she continued to blame her tiredness for her confusion. She'd walk through the forest and find her car much easier than it was to find her campsite, but as she reached up to dismiss the alarm on her car and unlock the doors with a push of a button, her keys fell from her hand onto the dirt below. â€˜Okay, I'm just being clumsy at this point. God, my heart's still beating a mile a minute. Calm down Cassie. Nobody's chasing you anymore.'

Cassie leaned down to grab her keys, but she found that she couldn't! Her fingers didn't bend and twist the way they normally should have. Normally, it would have been hard to see in the darkness. Clouds began to cover the moon in a shroud, yet she was able to see just fine. "What's going on?" She looked down at her fingers and saw dark brown fur. Moreover, she was missing her thumb, both thumbs on each hand! "My hands? You've got to be kidding me!" Not just the tail and her ears, but now her hands. She still had her fingers, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't split them apart. "No. No, no, no!" She clasped her hands together and noticed that above the fur she had small little paw digits on each finger and on her palm too. Moreover, her hands were getting much smaller. Foxes don't have paws this small, do they? That mother fox was pretty huge. Or... female fox? Whatever that fox was. I can't be this tired.' She tried to grab the keys with both of her paws, but to no avail.

"Are you having difficulties, my child? You are in no place for a young kit. Humans roam this part of the land and they could take a vulnerable little child such as yourself. Come back with me into the den."

Cassie knew that voice all too well. As the fox spoke, she slowly turned her head with her body shaking. "I um... I ah..." Why did that voice sound so soothing and calm? It was as if she heard the voice for years. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do. You're a very nice fox, but I can't stay here. I have to go." She grabbed the keys with both of her paws and lifted up her keys, but she was unable to press the button. Moreover, her pants were getting far too big. She had to drop her keys just before her pants fell. She noticed the fox out of the corner of her eye, but didn't want to turn all the way to face her.

The fox "Are you sure? You are so scared, young kit. I know life can be very intimidating for young kits, but that's because you do not know much about the world. If we turn around and go back to the den now, we will be fine. We will probably be fine staying here at night too, but when the sun rises, humans will wake up from their tents and we could be in great danger."

â€˜Why does she keep calling me young kit? I'm not... I'm not a fox. No, there's no way.' Cassie put her paws up against her head where her ears once were. She fell down in order to keep her pants on her body, but even if they had fallen her shirt would have covered everything with how big that was getting too. "I'm not a little fox. I'm a human! I do..." Cassie paused. What did humans do? They woke up, they drove in cars, they went to work, they came home, and then they slept. Rinse and repeat for 60 years. "I do human things!" She shouted with uncertainty. "Like, I have human clothes!" She had to admit that her clothing was not only way too large, but also getting very warm and itchy.

"You stole them like the clever fox you want to be." The fox mother said in a lighthearted voice and a hint of a giggle. "I can see you struggling to even get your feet out of those pants. Come on, crawl out of those clothes and let's go back home. We have to rebuild my blueberry stash. A human stepped on a bunch of them."

â€˜A human stepped on your blueberry stash? That's horrible! Wait, did I go in there and stepped on them with my... shoes?' Cassie just now realized that she wasn't wearing shoes, or socks for that matter! When did she become barefoot? Then again, why did she remember not being barefoot in the first place? She scratched her head in confusion as she saw her brown furry fox feet. "Um... you're doing something to me and to my head and I don't like it. Just let me go home! To my home! To my human home!" It was a struggle to see her feet too, she had to raise up her pant leg just to see her paws.

"You're being silly, my little kit. You don't have a human home." The fox walked closer to Cassie and grabbed the hem of her pants. With a light growl, she began to pull. "Let's get these things off."

Cassie quickly tried to grab her pants, but grabbing things with her paws was impossible. She briefly thought about using her mouth, but she wasn't a fox! No way! This fox was just messing with her and transforming her somehow. No, she couldn't trust this fox no matter how sweet and soothing she sounded. "I'm a human! Not a fox!"

With a hard yank, the big fox yanked Cassie's pants off. Underneath her pants, Cassie was covered with fox fur from her new paw fox feet to her waist. "Are you a human? Are you a happy human?"

"Yes I'm a human!" Cassie shouted without hesitation. Despite the fact that the moment she saw her legs she saw fox legs, legs half the size of the ones she used to know. Her feet arched much bigger than she remembered with more muscle on her thighs than any part of those legs. She then had to think briefly about the happy part. Was she a happy human? She knew human life, but was it a happy one? She wished she could remember her human life in better detail. No doubt the fox toyed with her mentally.

"But is it a joyful human life?" The fox nudged Cassie. Cassie's body was continuing to shrink down, little by little. Her muscles reshaped along with the bones underneath with fur covering more of her skin. "Were you having fun as a human? Were you having a good life?"

Good life was debatable as a human. Some humans lived in luxury while others... Cassie knew she was the latter, but just because she wasn't in the luxurious lifestyle didn't mean she had a bad life! She just wished she could remember most of it before the fox played her own games on her. "If you're transforming me like this, then you should know." She crossed her arms with a humph. She was ready to bite this fox, but her teeth were transforming too. How they were changing she couldn't tell, but the loud cracking inside of her mouth told her something was going on in there.

"I do have a few ideas, yes." The fox said with a nod. "Humans have a lot to worry about in life, but the most worrisome thing a human has to be concerned about are... other humans. Theft, deception, so much of it takes place with humanity, don't you think? Some obvious, others not so much. There's simply too much wrong with humans to go into great detail about what's wrong with them, but you know what I am getting at. And then, at your job when you've tried your best and failed at your task because you were never told how to do it... you're put at fault for it."

Now the fox was getting oddly specific. What applied to her and what didn't? She didn't even know anymore. She rubbed her head in confusion while looking at the fox, her clothing getting bigger by the second. She could use that shirt as a blanket by this point! Humans weren't perfect, but there were nice ones out there! She just... didn't know of many nice ones that actually got to be in charge or had superiority. "I uh... I don't know." She admitted with uncertainty. She didn't know a lot of things she liked about being human, but she knew one thing. "I like being out here!"

"Of course you like being out here. Out here you're far away from humans. Away from the anger, the hatred. Here you have nothing but the sound of running water and happy birds to listen to. Who wouldn't want that? You have no worries, no responsibilities. The most you have to be concerned with is food, but if you have a hefty supply of it then there's nothing to fear even about that. Speaking of which, I know I said it before, but would you like to aid me in collecting blueberries? You can eat some more of them if you'd like. One berry for our food supply, and one for your little furry tummy."

Cassie glanced down at her hands, rather her paws. She couldn't even find her thumb anymore with her furry little digits. She recalled the fox mentioning about a human stepping on her food, and it made her wonder if she was the one that did it. The large fox creature was very intimidating, as gentle as she tried to sound to Cassie, but Cassie gaining more and more fox traits around this creature wasn't exactly helping her feel at ease. "I guess I owe you..." She said quietly. What time was it? Ah, who cared. The moon was up, most creatures would be asleep now anyways. "But how can I with hands like these?" She raised up her furry paws.

The female fox giggled. She stepped forward and delicately placed her paw on top of Cassie's shirt. "You don't need hands when you have this. Step out of this human clothing, grab the small end, and drag it along with you. We can put food on this and carry it back home together. In fact, I bet that tent the human had will have all sorts of things we can use to carry food in, as well as protection from the cold weather! Don't you hate it when it gets so chilly? It makes sleeping with your mother wrapped around you so much more comfortable, but getting up is just so hard."

Cassie immediately pictured the female fox in snowy weather inside of the cave they were just in. She imagined the fox with her eyes closed and curled in a little fuzzy ball with her tail tucked in. She also saw a much smaller fox, a kit fast asleep curled up inside of the ball the larger fox rolled herself into. She saw them both sleeping soundly during a massive blizzard just beyond the cave entrance. A human would loathe that blizzard. A human would have to shovel their way out and get in a car and go to a soul crushing job, quite possibly risking their very life if the roads were bad enough! Meanwhile the two foxes could simply... lie there and watch the snow pile up. As she pictured the big fox and the young kit she had a realization that she was picturing herself not as an outsider, but as the kit, fast asleep in her mother's embrace.

"You can see it too, can't you? The hard life of a human versus the easy life of a kit. Come." The female fox turned and signaled Cassie to move by tilting her head. "Let's go. Grab that shirt with your teeth and we'll get some more food before going to sleep for the night. Does that sound good?"

Cassie hesitated to follow the fox. Something about the fox still didn't feel right. She crawled out from the shirt on her hands and,,, feet? She turned around to see that she was on all fours, just like her... mother? â€˜No. Why am I seeing her as my mother? My mom is... she was human, wasn't she? But if she was human, why would I be covered in fur? Ugh. I'm so confused.'
She wanted to argue with this fox, but what was there to complain about? It was late, she was tired. If this fox would let her sleep with her, who was she to turn it down? Even if she was human, would a human ever turn down a chance to sleep with friendly wildlife? She grabbed the shirt with her little teeth and pulled it along the ground, following the big fox with her furry tail wagging.

Cassie followed the bigger fox, although she was rather clumsy in her steps. She swore she used to walk on two legs, but any attempt to do so merely resulted in her falling forward on all fours again. She gave up after the third attempt and kept following the big fox, knowing the female fox ahead of her was slowing down and waiting patiently for her. That female fox was so nice and... bigger than Cassie too! Her fox muzzle held onto the article of clothing while she dragged it along, eventually seeing the female fox in front of her stop next to a bush filled with berries. Cassie dropped the shirt and her tail wagged. "Are these the berries mo...mo...um... ma'am?"

"Yes they are the right berries." The larger fox reached out and using only her lips she plucked one berry and dropped it onto the shirt Cassie brought. "Come little one, grab the smaller ones and put them on the shirt. We'll use it to carry a small haul back to the den."

Cassie watched the female fox pluck blueberries delicately with her mouth, not even using her teeth to penetrate the soft fruit. She tried to mimic her, but her mouth was too small. She crossed her eyes and looked at her black muzzle. She swore it was something else once, and that part of her felt really sad about seeing her face like this, but another part was excited. She was experiencing new adventures! Well, every adventure was new when you were a kit. Cassie wasn't a kit though, was she? Her fox ears flickered as she heard a rustle. Her head shot up to see that it came from her mot... ma'am, pulling off a blueberry with a bit more force. Cassie tried to do the same, but wound up biting into one and squirting blue juice all over her muzzle. She turned up to the female fox with red on her cheeks and blue on her lips.

The big fox chuckled at Cassie. She leaned down, parted her mouth, and licked her face clean. After a few more berries onto the shirt, she nodded to Cassie. "Let's go, Cassie. Let's go store these away and get to sleep. It's way past your bedtime."

Cassie let out a yawn as the fox said that. She grabbed the shirt and began to pull, but the big fox stopped her. She didn't bother questioning how the fox knew her name. Did she tell the fox her name before? It then hit her that the fox named her Cassie, of course she'd know her name! But... well that probably did sound like a fox name. Her mind was getting distracted, just like a young child's would. "Why are you stopping me?"

"Fold it up like this." The big fox grabbed the other end of the shirt and gave it to Cassie. "Hold this part and the part you have in your mouth. The berries will stay in there while you pull it along."

Cassie pulled the now folded up shirt behind the fox. She noticed the fox's pace was slow, likely to make up for the small Cassie and how she was struggling to pull this food along. Did her moth...moth... ma'am always do this? While her little sharp teeth bit on the oversized article of clothing humans wore to pull it along, her yellow eyes fixated on the fox in front of her. She saw the massive fluffy tail, and her tail wagged behind her. Why did she keep calling this female fox as something else? The more she looked at this fox, the more she got an instinct that this fox was more than a regular creature, but something far more caring, loving. â€˜She's my... mother. Isn't she?' Cassie pondered, so distracted she didn't even realize they made it back to the den until the big fox pointed it out!

The fox went into the back of the den and signaled Cassie to follow. "Come along dear. Drop off the berries anywhere and curl up next to mom." She'd let out a yawn and then laid down on the floor. "Mph... we'll get the rest of those human's belongings tomorrow if they haven't returned before then."

Cassie held back her own yawn until she brought in the berries. Once inside the den, she rushed over to her mother with a smile on her face and a "Yip yap!" before she found herself tripping over her own brown paws. Walking on four legs was still such a challenge, but this big fox, her mother, was willing to teach her everything. How to walk, how to hunt, she was still so confused, but the look, smell, and hearing her own mother nearby put Cassie at ease. Yes, this was her mother. She was foolish not to have realized it earlier. Maybe back then it was just a crazy dream.

The fox mother giggled. Cassie tripped close enough that she was able to grab Cassie with a paw and pull her close, pulling her right up next to her warm fuzzy body. She then curled up into an O shape with her tail tucked in and Cassie lying right in the middle. "Good night my dear young kit. Sleep well."

Cassie couldn't believe how comfortable this was! She had considered using the human's article of clothing to sleep on, or maybe use as a blanket, but surrounded by fox fur and hearing the soft beating of her mother's heart in her triangular ears was the most comfortable she felt in... ever! Did this happen every night? Her memory must have been terrible! With a yawn herself, she closed her eyes and nestled her head deep into her mother's furry body. Yes... maybe she thought she was a human at first, but humans didn't have great lives. Here all she needed was food, water, and her mother. She drifted to sleep in the embrace of her mother, eager to awaken tomorrow for a new beginning.