A golden fox with a black tipped tail, black tipped ears, black paws, and a dull yellow belly ran as fast as her legs would. The sky was tinted red with flames from the ranch behind her, and sounds of sirens were going off, as well as people shouting out orders. The golden fox hid behind a tree, and sighed watching as a group looked around.
'Stupid Desian's, they'll never find me.' the golden fox thought as she looked from behind the tree.
People clad in red and silver armor were looking left and right, holding swords and she chuckled. They had no idea where she was; she turned around, only to gasp as she saw a Desian right in front of her.
"Die demon!" he shouted, and she growled.
She ducked to avoid a slash of the sword before doing a front flip, her tail hitting the guy hard in the jaw. She then went toward the tree, and rocketed off of it.
"Fox fire!" she shouted, nine blue flames forming and hitting the guy, killing him.
The flash of the fire caught the others attention of about 6 people, and they ran her way, making the fox run to get away. She ran as fast as she could, only hoping that the people she allowed to escape lived.
'I can't believe I was actually able to save them from that human ranch. Why did the Desian's even make it to begin with?' the fox thought, running; but she ignored it as she noticed they were catching up, and she growled.
"Faster..." she told herself as her paws began to get tired.
"Faster..." she told herself as she felt her body shaking.
She saw a thicket up ahead, and quickly jumped in it hiding herself. She saw them pass by, and once they were out of hearing range and when she could no longer smell them, she got out of the thicket, her strength slowly returning.
"Thank goodness." She said to herself.
She was about to walk away when the unsheathing of a sword reached her ears, making her gasp and turn around. She didn't have any time to react as the sword struck her, making her howl in pain. The sounds of footsteps, swords being unsheathed, yells of attack, howls and cries of pain were heard, and the last thing heard in that clearing was the vicious snarling of a demon.
Month later: The golden fox struggled as she walked. Cuts, scars, and blood covered her beautiful golden fur, her blood red eyes half-closed in pain, as she concentrated on just walking. She didn't know why her body wasn't healing as it usually did. Was it from the magic the Desian's, those half-elves used? She had a long gash on the right side of her body, going from her right shoulder to her right thigh. She suddenly collapsed on her left side, short, uneven breaths left her in small pants.
"Is this...the end?" she questioned herself, closing her eyes, unable to walk any further.
"I guess...it...is..." she slipped into unconsciousness, darkness taking over.
Elsewhere: A 12 year old boy who had spiky brown hair, brownish/red eyes, wearing a red outfit smiled as he strapped his swords to his side. A teal and white dog looked up at him, and the boy pat him on the head, before moving to the door.
"Going out for a bit dad!" the boy said to a dwarf, his adopted father.
"Alrighty Lloyd, but be careful. The monster out there are getting more vicious as days pass." the man said, and Lloyd laughed.
"Dad, this is me you're talking to; Lloyd Irving!" Lloyd said with a cocky smirk; and the dwarf scoffed.
"Right and me name ain't Dirk." The dwarf said sarcastically and Lloyd pouted.
"Aw dad, you're no fun." Lloyd complained but Dirk laughed.
"Yeah whatever son, but seriously be careful; and stay away for the ranch. Ye hear me?" Dirk said seriously, and Lloyd nodded leaving.
Lloyd was confused as he entered the forest, it was like everything was dead. Usually upon entering he found something to use in crafting or found something worth hunting, but not today it seemed. Suddenly the sounds of growling where heard and he headed toward the sound cautiously, only to see a group of monster gather around something.
"What is going on?" he asked himself.
He caught the sight of something yellow and red, and thought a person was hurt, and the monster were gonna finish it off.
"Oh no they don't." Lloyd said, and ran onto the scene pulling his swords out.
"Hold it right there!" Lloyd shouted, and the monsters looked at him, before roaring and attacking.
Lloyd fought back dealing with the monsters with ease. After he defeated them and the rest retreated, he looked at the thing they gathered around, only to see the wounded golden fox.
"Wh-?! Wait..." he knelt down to her, and placed his hand under her nose.
She was still breathing, that was good. He looked her over and saw all the wounds, taking note of both monster wounds as well as sword gashes and wondered what happened to get her in such condition.
"What happened to her, it looks like someone attacked her. What am I thinking?! I need to get her patched up." Lloyd said, and picked her up, before running off with her, maybe he could save her?!
Home: Lloyd walked in noticing how his father, Dirk, was gone and Noishe was gone as well. He looked around, and saw Noishe's bed, and walked over to it laying her down on the bed, and started to work on stopping her bleeding, and heal her up. It was an hour later after Lloyd made sure she was fine. He put the first aid kit away, and made sure she was comfortable. Her breathing had evened out but Lloyd soon noticed she was unconscious, and sighed. Suddenly the sound of feet caught his attention, and he saw his father and Noishe.
"Lloyd, your back already? Hm, what have you got there?" Dirk asked, standing by him while Noishe sat beside him.
"A monster?" Dirk asked, and Lloyd looked at him curiously.
"You mean she's not a pet or an animal?" Lloyd questioned, and Dirk nodded.
"Defiantly a monster Lloyd; let her rest up, she seems harmless." Dirk said, and began to craft again while Lloyd tended to her.
A while later, a knock came at the temple door, and Lloyd opened it, only to see Genis and Colette.
"Hey Lloyd!" Genis said in greeting, a smile on his face.
"Hi Lloyd. We saw you bring someone to the temple, and decided to come here later after a while. We also brought something to eat. How is the person you brought?" Colette asked, and Lloyd chuckled.
"Actually, you guys...it isn't a person." Lloyd said, bringing them in, only to show a wrapped up golden fox, still out cold.
"Holy crap! She's really hurt!" Genis said, shocked.
"Oh, she's not a person. Defiantly a fox." Colette said, a big shocked.
"Yeah, I hope she gets better." Lloyd said, patting her head gently.
Genis and Colette left after a while but promised to visit every now and then to check up on the fox. Days passed by, even weeks, and she still wouldn't awaken, but her breathing showed she was still alive. It was the fifth week, when she finally began to stir. Lloyd was working on a bracelet for Colette, since her birthday was coming up, he thought of making a bracelet. He stopped long enough to look at the fox, only to see she was stirring. Lloyd internally gasped and stopped what he was doing, watching her in anticipation. He felt like he had done this before, watching and waiting for her to move; and when she looked at him with red eyes, he felt himself stop breathing…they were so familiar and gentle. She looked around as she slowly lifted her head, taking her surroundings in. She wasn't in the forest anymore. Did someone save her?
"You alright now?" Lloyd asked, and she slowly looked at him, only to see him looking at her in concern.
Unable to speak she nodded her head slowly, before laying in back down, and wrapping her tail around her to stay warm. Lloyd noticed the slight chill and grabbed a blanket, laying it over her. Even though it was spring, cold breeze's still came in every now and then. He began crafting again, a bit closer to her to keep an eye on her. She soon lost interest in looking around, and watched him craft, finding it interesting. Lloyd looked at her and smiled, showing her the incomplete bracelet. She smiled back if only a little, and he began working again. A few more days passed by, and Genis with Colette hadn't stopped by, worrying Lloyd a little bit, but Raine assured him everything was fine.
"I wish you could speak girl. I'd like to know if you had a name or something." Lloyd asked the fox a day after Raine spoke to him.
"It's be interesting if you could speak. There'd be so much to talk about. Oh what am I saying?! You're a fox, and monsters or animals don't talk." Lloyd said, sighing in defeat.
"Though it would be interesting, sadly though we don't understand your language." Lloyd said with a wistful smile, and the fox smirked…oh what a surprise this would be.
"D-don't...be so...sure of yourself." the fox said, opening her mouth like a human.
Lloyd dropped the necklace he was working on; looking at her in shock, his mouth worked a few times but no voice escaped. Eventually he jerked back as if he remembered something, brown eyes wide in wonder.
"D-did you just talk?!" he shouted, and she winced at the loud sound, still trying to get used to loud sounds.
"Yes. I am a monster, a gifted monster actually. I...have the ability...to speak...like you human's do." the fox said, her voice hoarse.
Lloyd left to grab a bucket, and quickly returned with water, and knelt down, helping her drink.
"So then...do you have a name?" Lloyd asked, and the fox nodded.
"Yes. My name is Keaton, the golden fox. I taught myself to speak to help out travelers seeing as man got lost on their way." the golden fox, Keaton, stated, before looking at her side.
"It would seem though the Desian's thought differently." Keaton lied slightly, yet Lloyd didn't notice it.
His eyes widened in rage and anger as he heard the truth about her wounds. The Desian's did that to her?!
"What the hell?! Why did the Desian's attack you?!" Lloyd shouted, anger obvious in her voice; but he tried to keep his voice low.
"I attacked their ranch to try and help human's escape…I believe I failed though." Keaton said with a sad sigh and Lloyd sighed as he collected himself and rubbed her head.
"Hey it's okay, we all make mistakes sometimes; but you obviously have guts." Lloyd said trying to cheer her up and Keaton smiled at him.
"Thank you Lloyd." Keaton said and licked his cheek and he chuckled.
Keaton had finally meet someone she felt she knew, someone she was certain she could trust but only time would tell how far they would go. Time would only tell how close they'd get, and how strong their bond would be. Soon, everything would be known, but Keaton knew she had found family within the boy and she was certain she'd come to know his friends and see them as family.