Jane slowly opened her eyes. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out but she felt completely rejuvenated. She started to proper herself up as she felt a sudden pain. “Ouch! What was tha…” somehow she’d completely forgotten she was now an anthro-fox complete with a tail! “I guess I need some time to get use to my new appendage!” She laughed as she moved the tail so she could stand. She shook herself to get the foliage and dirt off her fur.
It was just about then that she realized she knew what was around her. There was a squirrel in a tree to her right, a mouse not too far away in a bush, some hints at a fox in the area where the fox had been. She took another few sniffs and realized it was her nose picking up all the smells with the assistance of the fox’s mind helping her to identify what different smells were!
“Well I am a fox… mostly!” She joked to herself. She wasn’t sure what that meant but she knew she couldn’t stay out here too long. If she’d been out for a day her parents would have already called the police. It wouldn’t take them long to look here and there was no way to explain her current form to anyone. “Guess I’ll have to try being a ‘fox’ some other time,” she added as she picked up her cloths and started heading toward the town’s vet which wasn’t too far from the forest’s edge, maybe a quarter mile, she wasn’t too far into the forest either but she’d have to be careful not to be seen.
As she dodged between bushes she couldn’t help but grin. Her feet allowed her to be much more agile and the fact that she was on her actual paws – not shoe covered feet – meant she could feel what she was stepping on and get a better feel for how to push off. Her fur offered her protection from anything that might try to cut her and, as the sun was beginning to set, kept her warm from the chilly wind which was developing. The coming night was also helpful in that no one seemed to be in the forest with her, instead probably getting warm in their houses.
The trek through the woods, though uneventful, was truly exhilarating but sadly was now at an end. Jane stopped in the thick foliage just before the break into civilization and focused on separating from the fox. She felt warmth overtake her as she once more seemed to fall into nothing. Everything went dark until suddenly she felt herself whole again. She looked down and saw the fox, broken leg and all, staring at her.
“Thank you little guy. Being a fox is amazing and I’d like to join you again sometime but let’s get you fixed up!” Jane quickly dressed herself, shivering and wishing she still had a fur coat, and used her jacket to carefully wrap the fox. The jacket offered two benefits, it would keep him warm and it would protect her from his bites. Steeling herself for the cold walk ahead she walked out of the forest and back into her mundane little town.
It took her all of five minutes to get to the vet’s office which was still open – now that she could see the sun she was guessing it was around four in the afternoon - she’d been out for a few hours she guessed now. As she entered the receptionist looked up and smiled as she said, “Hey Jane! Missy sick?”
“No my cat’s fine. Actually this is a charity favor I have for you guys…” Jane started to unwrap her jacket, “I found this little fox while I was walking through the forest.”
“Oh no!” The receptionist jumped out of her seat and gazed on at the fox. “Poor little guy!” She apparently wanted to pet the fox so bad but resisted the urge.
“And what do we have here?” Said a deep welcoming voice, “A vixen? Looks like… well… could either be a break or a sprain. In either case bring her back here and we’ll get her into a better place than your jacket. Not that it’s a bad place, but I can see you’re cold Jane.” Dr. Braugon said with a chuckle. You did well bringing him in and a good idea to use your jacket to protect you from his bites.
After she had her jacket back and was on her way with a wave to the vet and receptionist, Jane felt content knowing she’d saved that fox’s life.