In another world...

Archibald Rightsbeast was running as fast as he could. Fenrix Hesley ran out of bullets by now, but so had he. He needed to complete his objective differently this time. Push him off this ledge, or kick him in the way of an uncoming car, or just scratch him with my claws until he bleeds out, he thought. The two failed attempts have already brought down Archibald's valuation a fair bit, and he couldn't let that streak of bad luck continue.

And then he slipped on the wet stone ground. He turned his foot to regain ground, but it just fell through. The fox was falling back-first onto the rocky outcropping below, and before he could do anything about it the worst pain ever shot through him. His senses were all dull for a few seconds, only aware that there was something pushing through his chest. That his spine was bent and his ribs were cracked.

Who hired you!, the wolf investigator yelled when he reached the place where he fell.

The fox wasn't going to answer him, not unless he could somehow save him maybe. And then he would need to pay for the damages.

You aren't going to survive that Archy! It's over! Who hired you!, Fenrix was insistent.

He barely even heard him, but he could see him. His face was the only thing Archibald Rightsbeast could see as he slowly went unconscious.

---

In mythris...

A little fox kit opened its eyes a little, moved its ears around, huddled under a berry bush. It was scared, it felt like it woke up from a terrible nightmare, even if it didn't know any of those words. Only thing it knew was to huddle up here, where it felt safe, and do nothing. It could see that there was a world beyond the shade of this bush, but... but he didn't want to go there. Not yet. Not unless it absolutely had to.

---

Private thread between Firethorn and Vasili.

Just when the fox decided to call this bush his home, he heard loud fuds. Something big was approaching. His ears were pirked, his eyes were wide open even if they were still getting used to seeing, and his nose picked up a scent. To the little beast, all scents but the scents of his fur and home were foreign to him, but the ones he could feel made him especially afraid. Finally, he was face to face with the giant that peaked into his den. He lay still, silent, huddled up as if he could vanish if he became small enough. He soon learned that it wasn't a reliable tactic. When he heard the rumbling growls of the words he didn't understand, he tried to look pleadingly up at the wolf, and put his paws forward. They had little claws on them. Not a thread to anyone right now, but they were going to grow and sharpen, if he lived to see it. The fox pulled the claws back and forth, and finally could retract them in. He finally calmed down, continuing the staring contest with the canine.

There were two wolves now. The new one was smaller but appeared more aggressive than the older one, but they were all equally terrifying to the tiny fox. He didn't understand the words they were saying, but he knew it had to do with him and his fate. He didn't move one bit, he just kept looking between the two larger canines and let out faint whimpers. He wished if they would just leave him alone. He did nothing wrong, they have come here to bother him for no reason. But he had to ask them nicely to leave him alone since they were much stronger than him, and his fate was in their claws.

The fox only saw the oncoming paw when it was just a hair's length away from him, and that wasn't enough for a good dodge. He tried however, but bumped into the thick green wall of his enclosure and yelped, either because of the branches pricking him, or the wolf paw touching him. At least the paw didn't linger long, the smaller wolf quickly pulled it back as if regretting the attempt. The foxkit didn't know its name, but it knew it was going to survive another day and it could stop big wolves from touching him thanks to his firey fur. But the question was, who he was going to spend the next day with?

the bigger, older wolf was gesturing to wards himself. It clearly wanted the fox to follow him. And the fox couldn't help but do so. These wolves didn't seem to mean any harm to him, just made strange growls that almost sounded like words. Where did he hear of words before? Firethorn didn't ask himself. He just stepped out of his bush and next to Vasili, dragging his little snout along his side and front leg.