A Deal with the Dealmaster

I was watching Once upon a Time and saw Rmplestiltskin and had some ideas, then I went to bed and holy smokes, had a dream that I happened to write down! I dont know if this will be a long story or a short one. I do not own Once upon a time or The Hungry Fox and the Boastful Suitor, those belong to their rightful owners. I only own Inola, my oc.

The young fox ran as fast as her little paws could carry her; her blue eyes wide with fear as she heard the stomping hooves of her pursuiter. Why? Why did she have to be so cocky?! Damn her hunger and damn her nature to play tricks!

Earlier that day:

She had wandered through the woods earlier that day, hungrier than a bear after hibernation, searching for food. Then she saw a heron feather jutting up behind some bushes a few feet from where she was standing. She had crouched down, thinking it was a nice and plump heron that she could catch and feed herself with. But then she heard a booming voice singing a boastful song from where the feather was rising. Her blue eyes widened as she saw a Iroquois man dressed in fine clothes and saddled upon a strong pinto horse. Forget ever being hungry again! If that man sees her she will be the one hunted herself! Iroquois are known for hunting foxes for their pelts and hers happened to be a unique color. She backpedaled into the bushes behind her, crouching down low to the ground, praying to the higher beings that he did not see her cowering in the bushes. Her pelt was a shimmering blue black with crimson red tips on her ears and a curious crescent moon shape on her large and fluffy tail, which was crimson as well. She also has a red crescent moon on her brow as well. She was a unique prize indeed, and she had spent her lifetime running from hunters who wanted her for that reason as well. She was snapped out of her reverie when the horse walked right past her hiding spot with its rider boastfully singing a song about himself. "No one is braver than Heron Feather, and I should know that for I am he! No one wears finer clothing. No one is a better fisherman. If you doubt this, look and see," sang the young man.

He was on his way to the lodge of a young woman he had been watching for some time. He was going to try to impress her and her mother so that the girl would ask him to marry her. His song and his fine clothing were part of the plan. The young fox gave a snort of amusement at this young man's naivety and watched him and his horse walk on as the man continued to sing. She was no longer paying attention to Heron Feather's song nor his fine clothes, her attention went to what she was smelling. Fish! Her mouth watered as her stomach gave a growl of protest. There was a large bag hanging from the young man's blanket roll full of fish! It had been such a long time since she has had the taste of fish. Her fears left her. The young man on the horse passed her by, but her thoughts were far ahead. She will have those fish! She darted through the underbrush as fast as a hare till she was ahead of the man around the bend. She laid herself down flat and tilted her head to the side, her tongue rolling out as if she were dead. Soon she began to hear Heron Feather's boasting song. She stilled her breath and acted like she were days old meat. The young man was so intent in his singing that he rode on past her without taking notice. Till, that is, he noticed her out of the corner of his eye. His horse came to a halt as the man turned to get a better look. "Enh," he said, "what is this?"

He climbed down from his horse, "Kweh, a dead fox?"

Picking up a long stick he carefully prodded the side of the animal. It did not move.

"Nyoh," he said, "it is surely dead."

He bent down and looked at it closely. It was skinny, but the pelt was in fine condition. He picked it up by the tail.

"Hmm," Heron Feather said, "maybe I should skin it now."

The young fox flinched and she fought the instinct to run and keep the act in place.

"Neh," he went on, "I should not skin it now. If I do I may dirty my fine new clothes. I will just take her with me."

He walked back to his horse and began to unlace the bag full of fish.

"Weh-yoh," he smiled, "when Swaying Reed's mother sees this beautiful fox I caught she will know I am a great hunter. Then she will surely allow her daughter to bring me marriage bread."

He dropped the fox in with his fish, laced the bag shut and climbed back on his horse. Soon he was singing again. This time it was a song about how great a hunter Heron Feather was. In the bag, the fox was still for a minute before she began to eat the fish. Then she began to gnaw on the side of the bag to create a hole that she could jump out of. She leapt out of the bag to her freedom. Too busy with his singing, Heron Feather did not even notice. He rode all the way to the village where Swaying Reed lived. He stopped in front of her mother's lodge and sat there on his horse, singing till many people had gathered around. He sang of his beautiful clothes, of the many fish he caught (he actually had traded his mother's beaded moccasins for them), of all the animals he hunted and trapped. Swaying Reed and her mother came out of the lodge and watched as he reached back for his bag. Now he would show them what a good provider he was! When he held up the bag and saw that it was empty with a hole in the bottom he stopped singing. Turning around, he rode silently away. He fumed in rage, for he had been made a fool of infront of everyone in the village by a fox! He will hunt that vixen down!

Current time:

So that is what happened, thus her position right now, running for her life as the suitor chases her on his steed. She could hear his angry curses and his vows to skin her alive make her shiver in fear. Why did she have to think with her stomach and not her head?! She rushed ahead, zipping inbetween trees and bushes gaining some headway from her hunter. She ran as fast as her paws could carry her until she burst through a clearing. In the clearing she saw a man, a slightly impish man standing there with a cane standing in the middle with a smirk on his face. She paused, her breath coming in heavy pants as she looked behind her and infront of her frantically. Where should she go? She was inbetween an unknown man and a man who is desperate to kill her. Then man infront of her chuckled gleefully as he swung his staff in a swirl. She watched him curiously as he walked towards her smirking.

"Seems like you got yourself into a bit of a pickle, my dear," he chortled as he stood infront of her.

She tilted her head to the side and spoke in her language, "who are you? I've never seen a man like you before."

He tilted his head to the side like he understood her, " My name is Rumpelstiltskin, and I have a proposition for you, dearie."

She bit back her surprise as she looked up at the man, he was handsome, she supposed, for a human. He wore a black coat and suit with a red bow tie, his hair was well groomed and his skin a fair tan. He looked like one of those nobles that lived over the seas.

"What is it? As you can see I am currently being hunted by a rather...upset man," she stated nervously as she looked behind her with fear at the sound of thundering hooves heading this way.

"What I propose dearie, is that I will help you escape from the hunter but at a price," he stated holding his hands flat together in a thoughtful expression.

She stared at him, "you're magic aren't you? I can smell it, it makes the fur on the back of my neck bristle with an electric tingle. If you help me...does it involve magic?"

He grinned at her, "I like you! You're smarter than you look! To answer your question, yes! All magic comes at a price!"

She stared at him for a second before she jumped, hearing the hunter near even closer. She jumped again hearing Rumpelstiltskin tsk behind her.

"I would hurry dear, this deal has a time limit. And time is running out, tick tock tick tock," he sneered at her as he counted down.

She panted in nervousness as the hunter grew closer and closer. She looked around and looked up at him, "what is it you want in return?"

"Hm, I don't know yet...let me think about it! Now dear, deal or no deal?" he asked as she stared helplessly at the man.

She yelped as Haron Feather burst through the trees, a tomahawk in his hand, rage in his eyes as he spotted her and gave a yell and charged towards her. She backed away in fear and realized Rumpelstiltskin was nowhere to be found. She cried out in pain and fear when Haron Feather grabbed her by the nape of her neck holding her up close to his face.

"At last I have you! Little trickster who embarressed me infront of the whole village! You made a fool of me, now I shall make a pelt of you," he stated proudly as he raised his tomahawk.

The young fox looked at him in fear and screamed out at the top of her lungs, praying the magic man could hear her, "DEAL!"

The wind started to howl and she heard Rumpelstiltskin's voice in the breeze chuckling, "I am glad you saw things my way, dearie."

Suddenly she felt a tingling sensation throughout her whole body and he heard Haron Feather cry out in surprise as she was dropped to the ground. The fall was surprisingly short for a fox. She looked down at her hands and saw a human's hands with sharp nails and pale skin. She cried out in surprise. She was human! This. Is. Not. What. She. Asked . For! She turned around to give the imp a piece of her mind when she saw Haron Feather staring at her in horror.

"A...d-demon! It's a demon! Run," he stumbled out as he backed away and turned tail and ran.

The fox stared after him with surprise, "well...that worked out better than I had thought."

She jumped in surprise at her own voice, it coming out smooth like a human's, instead of yips and growls like a fox. She jumped again when she heard Rumpelstiltskin's voice behind her.

"Satisfied dearie?"

She turned around, a slight growl in her voice, "what have you done to my beautiful self?"

Rumpelstiltskin faked hurt in his voice, "I saved your little foxy life, dearie. But don't worry, I know foxes love their forms so I made this a temporary change. You can change back to your little vixen self anytime you wish! Just think of your fox form in that pretty little head of yours, and poof! You'll be a fox again! Hehe."

She stared at him in surprise, "so I can change at will? Will I be able to turn into a human again after this time?"

Rumpelstiltskin inclined his head at her while motioning towards a pond at the edge of the clearing. She walked over to the pond, albeit shakely, and peered into the water. She yipped in surprise at her reflexion. What stared back at her was a human with bright blue eyes and a small nose with petite lips the color of pink rose petals. Her fur or hair as the humans call it on her head was surprisingly a dusty blonde with copper and brown highlights. But on top of her head was two large fox ears, black as night with crimson tips, they twitched as she ran her fingers over them. She noticed behind her was her large black fox tail with a red crescent moon towards the tip, the tail was 24 inches long and was very fluffy. She noticed her human form was a tad curvy, like she has been well fed her whole life. Wide hips with thick thighs with long calfs, her stomach slightly extended with large breasts that were a little bit over a handful and slightly wide shoulders. She had the definate hour glass figure. She noticed she was definitely naked without her fur infront of a male, she blushed a dark shade of red and moved her tail to cover her private parts and crossed her arms over her chest shyly. Rumpelstiltskin smirked down at her and snapped his fingers, using his magic to clothe her in a moccasin dress with multi colored beads and fringe at the ends and feathers. She nodded gratefully and stood up shakely, noting she was a few inches shorter than the imp. He gave her a once over, slowly circling her, his hand ghosting over her tail. She yipped in surprise, pulling her tail closer to her body. He made a noise in the back of his throat, a pleased sound. "Yes! This will do nicely! Well, aside from the ears and tail, you look like a perfect human girl. Well, woman to be exact. How old are you dearie?" he asked her, resting his hands on his staff.

"I am two years old in fox years," she stated proudly, raising her chin defiantly.

Rumpel nodded to himself, "That would make you nineteen in human years, a young woman. Just out of the cradle."

She gasped in outrage, "I am not a kit! I am of mating age I'll have you know!"

The imp got a dark look on his face at that statement as he stepped closer to her intimidatingly, "oh I know that very well dearie. Very well indeed."

She backed away slightly nervous at this new side to the imp she made a deal with. He made a funny gleefull sound in the back of his throat as he raised his hands in the air.

"I know what I want now," he stated happily as he looked at her smirking.

She felt her chest tighten in apprehension as Rumpelstiltskin leered at her, "w-what is it?"

He grabbed her by the collar and yanked her toward him, holding her against his body, she felt the muscle behind the clothing he wore. She let out a shakey breath as she felt his warm exhale on her face as she looked up at him with her bright fox eyes, a slight quiver to her lips. She looked up into his dark golden-brown eyes, waiting anxiously for his desire.

"What I want is for you to be my pet, my companion of sorts. You have to remain by my side forever and you must obey what ever I say, as long as it doesn't involve you harming yourself. That, my dear, is my end of the bargain. A life for a life," he stated solemnly, his gold eyes flashing with his power.

She quivered under his gaze, her hackles tingling with his power. She bowed her head in submission, "a fox's word is its life. I will not go against our bargain, you have my word. I shall be your companion, forever."

"Then let us shake on it, sealing the deal," he stated with an amused smile.

The young fox nodded in agreement and held out her pale hand with long elegant fingers with sharp but long nails upon her finger tips. Rumpelstiltskin grasped her hand in his and gave it one firm shake. As the hand shake was finished, she felt a strong tingle crawl up her arm to her shoulder and then to her neck, she felt something cool settle around her throat. She reached up and felt a cool leather like collar around her neck, she peered into the water and saw a deep red collar with a snake skin pattern resting upon her neck with a crescent moon dangling from a clasp on the collar. She reached up and ran her fingers over the leather as she peered back at her new master.

"What is your name dearie, it would only be fitting to have a name for such a pretty pet as you," he asked as he looked over at her with a smile.

The young fox thought to herself and looked at her master, "I...do not have one. Foxes usually have no need for such things."

Rumpel walked over to her and raised a hand to softly pet her hair, avoiding her sensitive ears, "then I shall name you myself."

She perked up in surprise, tilting her head to the side in what some would say in a cute way. He chuckled as he thought to himself before he gave a cry of accomplishment, a grin on his face as he twirled his staff.

"I shall name you Inola, the black fox," he stated proudly.

She smiled and asked, "Inola? It is pretty, but what does it mean exactly?"

"It means "Black Fox" in Cherokee, and since you are a fox who happens to be black, I thought it would be fitting," he stated while leaning forward on his cane.

She smiled and tried the word out, "Inola...Inola...I like it. Thank you master."

She inclined her head as her master pat her head in praise, before he walked ahead towards the woods. She followed him, still tripping over her feet, still not yet used to walking on two legs. That was how she become the pet or companion of Rumpelstiltskin. And how they became citizens in a town called StoryBrooke a few years later. Only Rumpelstiltskin and the queen remembered who they really are, and ofcourse herself, since she is protected by Rumpelstiltskin's magic. She still served Rumpelstiltskin loyally and no one knows, all they see is his pet fox that he sometimes takes on walks around the town. This is her story.