"Where are your supplies? What?! You don't have any! That is not possible." The fox-man looked thoroughly confused. Danielle looked at him pitifully.
"Please, I just... I need to get to civilization..." Tears again welled up in her eyes as she realized that she had no idea what she needed to do. The fox-man, concerned, got off of his horse and took her hand in his. Danielle was too worried about other things to be wierded out by being treated like a woman.
"Madam, if there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it. My name's Richard - everyone calls me Rick - Jefferson, and I was already on my way back to my city. I can take you along, if you like, and I've got supplies for both of us," he said, worry written across his face. Here was a woman, out in the middle of nowhere, vulnerable to every marauding pack of bandits. It would be murder if he left her!Danielle momentarily forgot her situation, throwing her arms around Rick in a massive hug.
"Thank you, thank you so much, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Eventually, Rick managed to pry her off of him, and asked her how on Earth she got so far from civilization without any supplies, yet no sign of hunger, thirst, or fatigue. He explained that magic was ubiquitous and that he'd seen dozens of weird things in his travels, and was prepared to believe anything. Danielle considered for a while, and finally decided that if she was going to trust this guy with her own well-being, she might as well trust him with the truth. So, she told him the whole story, except for the part where her gender was changed.
After she'd finished, Rick sat in thought. "Well, I've seen weirder, I suppose, but you've got a mighty cruel sister there, miss. I do wonder, though - why didn't you mention that she changed your sex?" He laughed when he saw the shocked look in Danielle's eyes. "Miss, I don't mean to be rude, but you've been actin' like you've never seen a dress, let alone worn one, and, quite frankly, you keeping touching and playing with your, ah, chest. I've seen transformation magic, before."
Danielle was, of course, extremely embarrassed, and burst into a fit of hysterical giggling. "Yeah... sorry... I guess I thought that you wouldn't believe me, though that is pretty stupid. Oh, I never even told you my name," she said, changing the subject,"I'm Dan... well... I guess now I'm Danielle." Reminding herself of her predicament sent her into another near-depression. Rick looked at her. She was truly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen - it was hard to believe that she used to be male.
"Well, Miss Danielle, I suppose we'd better get going. I think we can make a few miles of distance before nightfall. And, by the way, I wouldn't go getting too mad at your sister. You're awful pretty, but anger isn't." He smiled and held out his hand to help her up. Danielle smiled back and took it; even though she tried not to show it, inwardly she was, for some reason, beaming at the compliment. It was very genuine and honest, not like the innuendoes she used to make as a guy. Besides, just being with this Rick guy lifted her mood. She wasn't becoming... attracted to him, was she? She forced the thought out of her mind as she sat close behind him on the horse. Very close.
As they rode, Rick was explaining where they were, what his city was like, and how the world worked. Danielle found his company to be very enjoyable, but nightfall came soon.
"Well, Miss, looks like we're making camp here for the night," said Rick. Soon, a large tent was set up, with a dividing curtain of heavy material for Danielle's sake, and there was a merrily crackling fire a few feet away, with the scent of cooking meat rising from a pan on top.