The Story of Our Golden Eyes is an adventure novel that I've been working on. It is told from the point of view of foxes, and -although it takes place in the real world- I use the folklore and mythology that I've been developing alongside the main story to aim for a "magical realism" feel.

This is the seventh chapter, the other chapters can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....r-Golden-Eyes/

The story so far:

Rikki, like all kits, dreams of one day earning his Golden Eyes, the mark of a true fox. However, his overambition puts him in conflict with his brother, El. On the day following his and his siblings' first solo hunt, their mother, Brenna falls ill with the mysterious and fatal Dark Stench. Remembering a dentime story about the Radiant Tear, a flower said to be able to restore a fox's health, Rikki sneaks out of the den at night in hopes of curing his mother and perhaps earning his Golden Eyes along the way.

I hope you enjoy it. Critiques are always welcome.

This story uses invented words and terms to maintain the fox perspective. For those coming in just now, I will provide meanings to the terms here:

Light-Sleep: Fox term for West
Great Light: The sun, and the fox's deity.


---


Story 7
Into the Night

Rikki never expected the forest to look so different at night. The ground and brushes appeared to move with the shifting shadows cast by the moonlight while the constant songs of crickets and frogs overwhelmed his ears. As he crept through the darkened land, the maple trees now resembled looming, multi-antlered apparitions watching his every move. Shaking himself to smooth down his bristling fur, the little fox resolved to keep his sight in front of him and off the imagined creatures.

Every so often, his legs grew heavy, as if rebelling against the rest of his body, trying to get him to return to the safety of the den. But Rikki refused to let fear win. Each time it tempted him with the cozy, warm safety of home, he forced his legs to continue onward, for there would be no comfort in watching his show-off brother taunt him with his Golden Eyes. The thought made his chest wriggle and burn so hot that the night felt like more of a den than the future that awaited him were he to turn back like a snowy-tail.

Balancing across a fallen log, the kit forced the buzzing from his pelt, thinking of how great it would be to rub something in El’s muzzle for once. His tail swished as he imagined his triumphant return with the Radiant Tear. Leaping from the log, he landed with a flourish, holding an imaginary flower in his teeth as he performed another imitation of his brother.

“Oh, Rikki. I cannot believe you cured Mother and have your Golden Eyes. I wish I could have helped, but I am too much of a coward. Oh, if only I were brave like you?”

His tail swayed on, the tugging in his legs vanishing more with each pawstep. Before long, he reached one of the denser parts of the forest. The brush and trees stood so close together that it resembled a waterfall of black, offering only glimpses of clarity through the many slender trunks. With one final shake, the kit raised a forepaw to resume his journey.

“Rikki!”

An all-to-familiar voice stopped Rikki in his tracks. Clicking his teeth, he looked behind him and saw –to his dread that his ears weren’t mistaken. El swiftly approached him like a wolf leading his skulk after a deer, for Rikki soon realized that his brother had brought his other siblings with him.

“What the skuzz are you doing here?” Rikki barked.

Twila closed in on him, running faster than Rikki had ever thought her capable. Her body shook, and her icy blue eyes resembled those of a serpent.

“What are we doing?” she whisper-shrieked, swiping at Rikki with her paw. “What in the name of the Great Light are you doing out here?”

The male kit dodged his sister with a deft swerve of his head. “Mom’s sick, so I’m getting the Radiant Tear to make her better.”

“Are you, crazy? Of all the fuzz-brained plans you’ve pulled, this is the fuzziest by far. What if you fell in a hole and broke your leg, or got eaten by a Two-Legs? How’d you expect to find food if you don’t even know how to hunt yet? Thank the Great Light that El got us to stop you before you ran into any trouble.”

Rikki glared at El, who currently filled Twila’s role of tending to a frightened Codi. Returning to his sister, he forced his tail to rise high. “Ha, of course I know how to hunt. Can’t be too different than yesterday.” He skirted around his sister to approach El. “But forget about that, how did you know I snuck out, Acorn-Head?”

El gave Codi over to Rio before answering. “It was quite easy, given the circumstances. Ms. Holly’ story gave me the idea as well, but I know you well enough to know that you would be foolish enough to attempt it. So, I pretended to sleep while simultaneously keeping an eye on you. I guess you could compare it to my ‘playing possum’ trick.”

Rio took it upon himself to fill Rikki in on the rest, acting out his speech in a performance that resembled the gyrations of a bird attracting a mate. Rikki would’ve found it humorous if his chest wasn’t full of bees.

“Yeah, then he woke us up, and when we saw you were gone, we nearly jumped out of our pelts. It was super tricky to get Codi to leave the den, so that gave you a head start, but you weren’t careful with where you left your tracks, so finding you was easy. Don’t feel too bad though, if El hadn’t thought so far ahead, we’d still be asleep like baby bunnies. Can’t believe you two had the same idea. I would’ve never thought of that flower at a moment like this. Right Codi?”

Codi lay flat on the ground, his tail between his legs. His eyes darted this way and that, the various sounds of the night wreaking havoc on his nerves. “C-c-can we j-just go b-b-b-back home now?”

Nova shared the runt’s sentiment. “Yes, for the love of the Great Light above. We shouldn’t even be out here in the first place.”

“Well, you can all go back to the den.” Rikki said, turning back to face the dense trees. “I’m not going back until I find that flower.”

He barely took a couple of paces forward before Twila barred his way, her arched body poised to strike.

“I’m warning you, take another pawstep and you’ll be explaining to Mom and Ms. Holly why you woke up with a longer tail and dirt and sticks on your belly.”

Rikki held his ground. So what if Twila was top kit? The inside of his ears pressed against the sides of his head, an action the cherry fox quickly mimicked.

“I know this whole thing with Mama is scary,” she said. “But you need to think for once in your life.”

Rikki held his position. “I am thinking. Ms. Holly said there isn’t a cure for that Dark Stench thing Mom has, so this flower is her only hope. If she d- is gone, then Ms. Holly and Bright’s Dad will have to take care of seven kits forever instead of just until I come back with the flower.”

Twila’s icy eyes stared him down, unconvinced. “Did you even think about how you were going to look for it?”

“Duh.” Rikki said. “It’s in Ms. Holly’s story. She said to travel towards Light-Sleep, where the Great Light sets. Now are you going to get out of my way? Because I’d hate to send you back to Bright looking like a bruised cherry.”
Rikki could swear he noticed a twitch in his sister’s eye in the instant before she lunged at him. He rose on his hind legs to meet her, and both foxes’ forepaws landed on the others’ shoulders, keeping the two upright. Their mouths gaped open, revealing their pointed teeth and releasing shrill, combative gekkering.

Codi whimpered at seeing his two siblings fight. He shut his eyes, speaking to nofox in particular. “Shouldn’t somefox st-stop them?”

“Why?” El said flatly. “If he is so set on this, why not let Twila knock that fuzz off his brain? It may help him think for once.”

Rikki’s hind-legs danced backwards, his sister’s heavier weight combined with her strength clearly gave her the advantage. He snapped his jaws, but Twila didn’t even flinch. He threw his own weight against her, but this merely resulted in her taking two pawsteps backwards before she resumed bearing down and pushing him over even further.

Rikki’s mind worked furiously. His quest, his Golden-Eyes, his mother, he refused to let everything slip away before he even had a chance. Pressing against Twila as hard as he could, he quickly removed his paws from her shoulders, falling forward just enough to bend his hind legs without the threat of being toppled. In the time is takes an acorn to fall from an oak tree, Rikki launched himself at his sister. As strong as she was, Twila couldn’t withstand the full force of his body falling upon her. The two of them fell to the ground with Rikki’s paws on his sister’s shoulders.

Twila stared up, open mouthed, at her brother. Her eyes blinked rapidly as the situation dawned on her. “Wha-but. No! No, you cheated!”

“There’s no cheating in a real fight,” Rikki said, smirking and resuming his walk towards the dense trees. “Now, if you excuse me, I have a flower to find.”

“Rikki, wait.”

The young fox clenched his teeth. He turned, ready to face El. Flipping his brother on his back would be no trouble if it came down to it. “Don’t try to stop me, Acorn-Head. You can’t boss me around this time.”

El’s expression remained flat. He neither approached Rikki nor adopted a fighting stance. Instead, he turned his head to the right, pointing his muzzle so that it ran perfectly alongside the thick range of trees. “Light-Sleep is that way.”

The five other kits looked at him, dumbfounded.

“What are you talking about?” Rikki demanded.

“Light-Sleep is that way,” El repeated. “Were you to continue this way, you would have likely wandered for cycles without coming anywhere near a Radiant Tear.”

Rio’s burst of laughter burned Rikki’s face. Silencing his brother with a glare, the humiliated fox faked a raised tail.

“Oh, and how would you know which way is Light-Sleep?”

The stoic kit pointed his muzzle to the night sky, specifically to a group of lesser lights vaguely resembling a creature standing on two legs. “That is Curved-Branch. See, those are his hind legs, his body, and those lesser lights arranged in a claw formation is the branch he used to throw giant quills at his prey. While you were speaking with Mother, Bright’s father told me the story. It was quite intriguing, his horrendous singing voice aside. But that is not important. The fact is, since Curved-Branch always tries to hunt the Great Light, we can use him to find the Radiant Tear for Mother.”

Rikki’s mouth opened to protest, but his sister voiced her disapproval faster than he could.

“El, are you crazy?”

“I have thought it through, and Rikki is correct, the Radiant Tear is the only hope that Mother has,” El said. “Ms. Holly will not be able to care for us and Bright at the same time. It is the only choice that is best for all of us.”

Rio jumped up and down at the prospect of adventure. “You mean we get to save Mom and see the magic flower? Great Light above, I wouldn’t miss this for all the squirrels in the trees, or all the skimmers in the sky, or-”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Twila interrupted. “Do you have any idea how upset Mama will be? She’ll be worried si-” Her voice died mid-speak. She hung her head, her whimpers joining with the cricket songs.

“She’s already sick, Twila!” Nova argued back. “Or did you not realize that?”

“I know,” Twila choked out.

The surly kit’s expression softened. He approached her and –hesitantly- licked her on the cheek. “Um…don’t worry, sis. El’s going to be with us, and Rikki. And if anything gets in our way, I’ll just knock it over. We’ll be back with that Radiant whatever-it-is before the leaves turn orange.”

Rikki broke Nova’s rare tender moment with his grievances. “’We?’ What do you mean ‘we’? I don’t remember inviting you.”

“It is the best way to ensure we find the flower,” El said. “’It is harder to hunt a flock of crows than one’ as they say.”
Rio piped up, simplifying what El had just said, though with a lot more speech. “Yeah, come on Rikki, I don’t know what crows gotta do with this, but six kits are way better than one. It’ll be safer, easier, together-ier, and just funner that way. Maybe, we’ll even all get our Golden Eyes from this adventure, and then we can show Mom, and she’ll get better, and she’ll be so happy, and she’ll be so proud, and, and, and-”

“Okay, okay. Sweeps!” Rikki said, irritation flowing from his mouth like freshy popped blueberries. How dare El ruin his quest! Now, his hopes of getting his Golden Eyes before him were cracked and shattered like thin ice over a river. Should he just go back to the den? But what would he do there, watch his mother waste away until El returned to hold the flower and his Golden Eyes under his muzzle for the rest of his life? He’d rather have a beehive stuck on his tail.

“If it will let me go find that flower, fine. But I’m the one to give it to Mom, since it was my idea.”

Soft barks came from Rio and Nova. Twila’s tail swished to and fro, and even El’s face seemed to show a hint of satisfaction. The only one who didn’t celebrate was Codi, who had been laying just behind El, scrunched up and shaking inside a hollow log. Twila took notice of her brother’s tail barely sticking out of his hiding place.

“Codi? What’s the matter, you should be happy? There’s a way to make Mama better, and-”

“I’m n-n-n-n-not g-going.”

Twila’s tail drooped as the rest of the kits gathered around the log. “Codi, I know you’re scared, but-”

The runt interrupted his sister in a voice so much above his normal volume that it nearly knocked Twila on her rump in surprise. “I’m n-n-not going! I wanna g-g-go home! I know, we c-c-can g-get Ms. Holly to find the flower, or m-m-maybe Bright’s dad. I d-d-don’t want to go! P-p-p-please!”

El wasted no moments in tearing Codi’s argument to shreds. “Bright’s father has an injured hip, I doubt that he would be able to make it far in his condition. Now, let us say that Ms. Holly goes to search for the Golden Tear. Surely you can see why that is a bad idea, leaving her injured dog to hunt for eight foxes.”

Codi sniffled, turning around to face his siblings. “I c-c-could stay b-behind and help t-t-take care of m-m-Mama.”

Rikki let out a laugh. “You, take care of Mom? I don’t think so. Not when you’ve been too much of a baby to learn anything she taught you. No, if you want to help Mom, you can finally get some orange on that snowy tail of yours and come with us. I mean, everyone else is barging in on this so you might as well join in.”

Rio, as usual, added his own voice to the matter. He jumped on Codi’s hiding place -nearly falling flat on his belly doing so¬- and stuck his head through an opening at the top. “Listen to Rikki. This is your chance to show Mom you’re brave. Besides, you’re the fastest out of all of us, so with you, we’ll find that magic flower super quick.”
Silence answered back.

Twila stuck her head inside the log and gave her brother a soft nuzzle. She gently looked into his pleading, sky-blue eyes. “Please, do it for Mama.”

Codi whimpered, his eyes darting back and forth. His mind raced with myriads of possible dangers: eagles, wolves, Two-legs. Each made his heart race, but what scared him more than all those things was the thought of losing his mother to the Dark Stench.

“Ok-k-kay, I’ll g-g-go.” He said, emboldening himself with a few shakes of his tail, before leaving his log and stepping into the happy tongues of Twila and Rio.

Rikki huffed, more out of relief than irritation. Sure, it bit quills that he had to share his adventure with his siblings, but he was glad to finally be past all the hassle. “Well, now that Codi’s here, can we get going? I want to make some paw prints before the Great Light wakes.”

“Just one last thing,” Twila said. “Codi was right about one thing. One of us needs to stay behind and help Ms. Holly take care of Mama, and I think that I should be the one to do it. After all, you need El with you, and, no offense, but I don’t like the idea of any of you dogs looking after her.”

Rikki felt his tail fall as the reality of separation finally dawned on him. Keeping his ears upright, the young fox forced himself over to give his sister a lick on the cheek.

“Good idea. Don’t worry, I’ll show Codi and the others how to get their Golden Eyes, and we’ll be back with the flower before you know it.”

Before Twila could return her brother’s affection, a light bop on her snout stopped her in her tracks. She recoiled, looking at him in bewilderment as he gave her a wink.

“Just don’t get too fuzzy, having Bright all to yourself.” He said. “Remember, you have a mom to take care of.”

“That’s not why- I don’t mean-” Twila didn’t get a chance to finish being embarrassed before her siblings surrounded her in a mass of nuzzles and licks, each fox exchanging their farewells.

“B-b-bye T-twila, I’ll m-m-miss you. Take g-good care of M-m-mamma.”

“See you soon, Sis. Remember, before the leaves turn orange.”

“Bye, Twila. Wish you coulda come with us, but I guess somefox needs to let Mom know where we are. Wow, I don’t think she’ll like that you let us go at all. You’re gonna be in soooo much trouble, I’d hate to be you when she wakes up.”

Twila forced her flattened ears to stand as she giggled at Rio’s careless blathering. “It’s going to be so quiet without you, Rio, without all of you. I hope I don’t go crazy from all the silence.”
She looked over at, El, who’d positioned himself a good foxlength from the huddle of good byes. She broke from the group to briefly rub her head against his cheek, giving him a warm farewell as El nodded out his own speechless goodbye. She didn’t mind her brother’s silence this time. She knew it was best they get going sooner rather than later if she were to return to the den before morning.

With their sendoffs completed, Twila reluctantly started her journey back home. She only went a few fox lengths before turning back for one last look at her brothers. She savored that glance in her mind as she whispered a prayer to the Great Light, hoping he’d be able to hear her even while asleep.

“Mr. Great Light, shine on the path for my brothers and keep them warm and safe. Have Mama’s light and Ms. Holly be enough to keep her alive until they return with the Radiant Tear. Oh, and keep El and Rikki from biting each other’s tail off.”

Rikki and his brothers watched their sister grow smaller and smaller until she vanished into the deep indigo night. No sense in going back now. Twila would never let him live it down if he turned tail, not to mention El. And so, with El leading the way, he forced his legs to join the rest in taking their first steps into the unknown.