Warm breezes blew through the evergreens and slender birch trees that grew as far as they eye could see in every direction. Overhead, a blue sky, dotted with white clouds, held a golden sun, ripe with the promise of energy and life. Timothy and Saul stared at the world that appeared around them, dumbstruck by its sudden appearance.
"Saul," said Timothy after a few moments, "I ... I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."
The sound of the fox's voice seemed to shake Saul out of his reverie. "'Not in Kansas'?" he repeated. "Trust you, Tim, to make a Judy Garland reference in the middle of a crisis!" Saul looked around and scratched at the collar of his shirt. "Geezus, where are we?" he asked, looking around.
Timothy inhaled through his nostrils, long and deep. He could smell the verdant green ... the living world around him in an intensity that he'd never known before. No matter which way he pointed his vulpine muzzle, he couldn't smell any signs of the salvage yard, pollution or civilization. "I don't know," he replied after a few moments, "but where ever we are, it's a long way from home..."
Saul looked around himself, almost as if he expected to see a sign or map or something. "Well, we can't just *stay* out here in the middle of no-where..."
Timothy looked around, the full scope of the situation dawning on him. "I don't think we'll have much of a choice; the Chest is gone."
"Chest? What Chest?"
Quickly, Timothy explained about his find, how it had changed him and -then- seemingly transported the two of them, here. All the while, Saul kept itching at his clothing, feeling strange and ... tingly.
"The thing is," Timothy explained, "I never did find out much more about the Chest; I really don't know what it was capable of..."
Suddenly, Saul bent double, holding his stomach in pain. "Aaarrgh!" he moaned, dropping to his knees.
"Saul?!!" Alarmed, Timothy sprang to his former lover's side. "Saul, what's wrong?"
"Gods ... insides; on ... fire!"
Timothy reached to put his paw on Saul's shoulder, but stopped. A slow, creeping trail of fur had covered Saul's neck and face. The fox swallowed hard. In the process of sending them here, the Chest had instigated a delayed metamorphosis in Saul...