"It filled my dreams, keeping me awake at night. That endless laughter.
It was horrid, grating, and yet, somewhat attractive.
My dreams. My night. I'm sorry, mommy. If you must punish anyone, please punish that endless laughter."
Chapter 1: Does the full moon laugh?
Tick, tick, tick, tick- The clock's second hand drew on and on. She couldn't sleep, she never could. The sound of laughter outside her window always kept her up at night. She didn't know what it was, and that drove her crazy. She tossed and turned, folding her pillow so it covered her head entirely, muffling out the sounds of the mysterious voices. It didn't help.
No matter how hard she strained her body, pushing the pillow harder and harder to envelope her ears, she could still hear it. Them. "Please…" she murmured under her breath, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. The nights have been hard recently. Her lack of sleep coupled with her work and abuse her mother gave her threatened to crumple her fragile mindset. Keekeke~ The laughter went on, almost mocking her for how she felt. Threatening her. I can't do this anymore- She thought, and gave in to desire to end the problem.
Claire straightened up slowly, careful to avoid making more noise than she had to on her creaky bed-frame. She moved her body and slid off of the mattress, staring at the dark opening of her doorway while she moved. She peered out into the wooden hallway, her mother's room lying just down the hall. Furthermore, she couldn't get outside without going past it, which frightened her more than she thought it should. I think I can do this… Claire thought to herself, pulling her pajamas slightly to cover the bottoms of her feet as she started to stalk into the dark hallway, the laughter slowly starting to fade into the background. She had been scared of getting socks in her dresser due to the old nature of her room, so pulling her pajamas around her feet seemed like the simplest solution for right now.
Creak- The floorboards went at the first sudden shift of weight. Claire shuddered and winced, closing her eyes so forcefully they started to pulse a low, throbbing pain to her head. She took another step again, and again, and again, until she finally stood in front of her mother's open door. Claire held her breath, standing as still as she could, focusing on her mother's breathing and the low hum of a fan blowing into her mother's face.
Claire lifted her right foot with as much grace as she could muster, placing it in front of her. She let out her breath with a phew- She was halfway across now, just a few more- creak- the floorboards went, and stiffened Claire again. However, her left hand twitched wildly, a sign of her doing something she know she shouldn't.
This time, her mother's rhythmic breathing stopped momentarily, and she heard rustling underneath the covers. Claire did the natural thing, and panicked. -! Claire thought, a feral terror running through her like a bolt of lightning. She ran with all of her power, not caring for all the noise she was making. Her bare feet tapped throughout the house, and her chest heaved quickly from the sudden exertion of her body and panic settling throughout her body. Creak, creak, creak- the floorboards laughed, mocking her. You know what will happen, surely. She could hear them inside of her head, doubting her.
Finally, she was there, her hand touching the doorknob. And then… she stopped, her hand limply sliding off of the knob. What am I doing? Why the heck didn't I just stay in my room? What if there isn't anything in the first place? Claire speculated, the guilt of disobeying her mother started to set in now. Any doubt was washed away when she heard a shrieking voice down the hallway, yelling her name. So, finding it the best course of action, Claire opened the door and ran, leaving her mother long behind her.
Chapter 2: The Lord King
Claire breathed in deeply, the cold wind of the night filling her small frame with refreshing air. She had long gotten used to the stifling, dead air of her own room, a feeble attempt to fight back from the dust creeping back into every nook and cranny of her room. Another rule reinforced on her by her mother through several days of punishment.
It didn't matter to her though. The girl had found herself adventuring outside for the first time in what felt like forever, the moon exaggerating the paleness of her skin, seeming to mock her for it. A sigh escaped her lips as she surveyed the area. There was, admittedly, nothing around where she lived. Her mother had chosen a far off cabin, miles away from the nearest town, in order to further Claire's studying, justifying it by saying it was to "get her away from distractions." It was all she knew, and now she was in unfamiliar territory. Even worse, a dense low fog had set in. Just the sight of it gave her a headache, and she couldn't explain why.
Looking down at her feet, she saw the muddy, bloody mess they had become from the stepping on sharp twigs and stones. Her eyes winced looking at them. She had run to the direction of the laughing, assumedly. Maybe she got lost when she was in a panic?
Something stood in her vision. Well, multiple things. Eyes, if she could call them that, like silver marbles, were poking out of the foliage. Eight of them in total. They watched her, and naturally, she watched them back. All of them were unmoving. Claire had noticed them when she stopped in this clearing, yet refused to make any sudden movements out of fear of startling whatever, or whoever, was staring at her.
As if reading her mind, one pair of eyes stepped out of the foliage, the others following behind them, seemingly tired of the endless waiting. What stood in front of her was one, two, no… four foxes. Three of them were identical, but the one in the middle was different, not only in its pattern, sporting a dark circle of fur on its mostly orange coat on top of its head, but she felt it had a certain aura around itself. One that she couldn't quite find the words for. Ignoring her skeptical opinion of the situation, Claire rallied,
"Hello." She spoke in a soft voice, too quiet for anyone with a human set of ears even a few feet away to hear.
"Hello, my dear." The center fox spoke.
…The center fox spoke?
…The center fox spoke!
Claire took one step backwards, but quickly changed her mind, rescinding it. The palm of her hands started to sweat, and her eyes focused on the fox's maw. She wondered if it could notice her anxiety. Thoughts swam in her head, enough to fill an entire library, enough to drive someone to insanity, enough to-
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, my dear." He spoke again, in such a voice that you would think his breath smelled of chocolates. The tone made Claire more interested than she should have been. She stood still, examining the situation as calmly as she could, ignoring her quickening heart. The center fox now circled Claire, eyeing every inch of her body. The aforementioned mist made her eyes watery, like someone had been cutting onions right next to her. Everything felt distorted, like it shouldn't be this way. Her head throbbed with a low hum.
"Titles!" It said, interrupting her from speculating more on the strange fog, and the other three foxes jumped to attention, speaking in unison. Their feminine voices blended together, saying,
"You are now in the presence of Lord King Foxxington Foconus Fenecian Fíotorez XVII, Protector of the Peace, Shield-er of the Ursuns, Deliverer of Justice, The Prophet, The Heir to the Redwood Throne, Defender of the last Phalanx, The Keeper of Treaties, Ethereal Sword master, Perfected Weapon smith, The Eternal Scavenger, The Lonesome Orphan, Orphan of the Birch, The Crying Wildfire, Quell-er of Rage, Profound Messiah, and The True King! Rejoice, for He is in your presence!"
Claire struggled to respond. "I'll just call you Mr. Fox then…. if that's okay." All the them, including Lord King Foxxington, went complete still, staring wide-eyed at her. It felt like an eternity, only broken by the sudden laughter of the Lord King.
"I like this one!" He spoke to the ones positioned behind him, turning to meet them in the eyes. "This one will be a fine retainer~!" All of the females started to talk to Mr. Fox in unison almost instantly. Where they having a debate? Deciding what to do with me? Why can they speak English, but I can't understand them now? Claire stared at them for a long moment. As many questions as she had, she stood silent, resolute. The others, sensing something was amiss, quieted their chatter until nothing but the soft rustling of leaves could be heard.
"I don't have anywhere else to go, I don't think," breaking the long silence, her voice barely a whisper. "I don't know what you mean by being a retainer, especially to a fox… but I'm willing to do what I can. I don't want her to find me again, I don't-"
"Let who find you?" All of the female foxes spoke, cutting her off. Claire looked back to them. "My, uh, mom. She lives over there." Claire pointed to the East, prompting a response from Mr Fox.
"Hiding from your mother, my dear? Why? Parenthood is something to be celebrated! Why, if it not for parenthood, I wouldn't be here, nor you! My dear, I feel like throwing a feast now that you have reminded me of my own cherished existence!" Mr. Fox proclaimed, and Claire stood quietly. Seeing something was amiss, Mr Fox bowed softly. "I apologize, my dear. Come with us, we have a haven for someone of your species, albeit you are the first of your kind to come here willingly."
Mr. Fox and his retinue bowed, turning around before walking into an under-bush. Claire looked back momentarily towards the East again, her left hand twitching wildly as she turned back and followed the foxes.
Chapter 3: The Forest Folk, and the Primate
Crunch, snap, crunch, snap, the breaking and twisting of twigs and leaves went, filling the silence between Claire and her new-found quadrupedal friends.
Mr. Fox had given her no hints to a clear direction of where they were heading, only that she would "be able to meet a lot more people like her." Claire didn't mind the trip, but the constant rubbing of leaves and insects attacking her legs made her start to itch. They walked in an awkward silence.
The rest of the forest started to blend together after a while, a mix of green, brown and black filling the night sky. By now, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, though she had to thank the constant fireflies for giving her at least some guiding light.
At last, they reached their destination. Claire said nothing, attempting to not show any emotion on her face; though this time, it had spectacularly failed. Her mouth hung open at the sudden sight before her, like she had read in her fairy tales when she was little. A bustling city of animals, of all shapes and sizes, running atop the tree branches, on the ground, and soaring through the air. It utterly baffled her.
"What… is this place? Why have I never heard of it before? Surely someone would have seen, or heard of something like this!" Claire asked, flinging her arms in the air. Turning away from the sight to look at Mr. Fox, she expected some sort of detailed answer from him.
Because you didn't care to see it, my dear. You would be surprised to see how much you miss, should you not know of it's existence. Mr. Fox said soundly.
Claire ignored the seemingly obvious comment and turned towards the spectacular sight again. Tens of animals (maybe hundreds?) were carrying about their business, stringing firefly jars from hanging tree branches, bringing food from place to place, whether that be via their own mouth, or various makeshift wheelbarrows for the smaller creatures. She saw many of them wearing makeshift clothes and jewelry, made out of several leafs and glass fixtures, at least, that's what they seemed like. Thinking about animals somehow procuring these type of items hurt her brain more than she'd like to admit.
Glaucomys volans, Sciurus aberti, Cervus elaphus, Odocoileus virginianus, Castor canadensis (Strangely enough), and Plecotus auritus1. Claire thought, dutifully noting a great amount of the variety of creatures.
The fog was notably thicker than she first came here, but before she could think about it further, someone(?), cut her off. A portly Sciurus aberti ran up quickly to the group, directing a bow towards Mr. Fox, its small hat placed on it's head tilting slightly. Speaking quickly, its high pitched voice grated Claire's ears, furthering the headache the increasing fog gave her.
"Now, Now, Lord King Foxxington, who may this be? Another Hume? You remember what happened to-"
"Quiet yourself, Pendle." Mr Fox quickly cut him off. "You may be an active leader of this community we have, but do not get ahead of yourself, my friend." He raised his voice slightly, tactfully holding onto the cool edge of his words. "Show her around, and meet me there for a feast of epic proportions! We must welcome my new retainer with honor, as my father did his, my friend. Claire could see Mr. Fox show a slight baring of his teeth, causing Pendle to step back quickly from him.
"Why, of course, our Lord King! Come, my child, come! I must show you around the markets, the housing, the coliseum, the…." Pendle turned away from them, scurrying down the dirt path, its voice trailing off as it scurried away from them. Unable to process the situation clearly, Claire took a lot back to the foxes… but they too were gone. Huh.
I guess I should have expected them to leave me at some point, but still… I never realized they were that quiet. The quick departure of her newfound guardians hurt, but she pushed that aside. She turned back around and Pendle… was also completely gone. It seemed it had not waited for her either. Crap. Claire thought, shaking her head as she started walking in the direction Pendle had set off in.
Finally being able to fully take in the scenery around her on her own, Claire wondered, Even if they are different species, how can they understand each other? What do they primarily eat, if not for meat? Is there some form of currency they use? How long has this place been here? Were there really other humans here before me? And if so… what happened to them?
Before Claire could go further down in her self-made rabbit hole, she felt a small bump against her foot. Looking down, she saw several Scarabaeus viettei2 rolling balls of dung to some unknown destination, easily triple their size. Can they even see that well? I mean, they are completely enveloped in the fog. But still, gross.
She realized now she seemed to had brought herself into some type of market for these creatures. There were rows of stalls lined up, big and small in order to fit their desired patrons, complete with miniature light fixtures and makeshift signs with unidentifiable writing.
Her eyes drifted from the strange writing to the patrons surrounding the market. All of them wore some type of makeshift clothes, and some even wore armor, assumedly. There was jewelry made out of plastics and glass, and the clothes were made out of various types of leaves crudely strewn together by some sort of thread.
Maybe some type of animal's silk? Claire thought before moving on. Despite the time of night, quite a number of creatures were out in this area, buying food for each other, purchasing more of the makeshift clothes, or discussing other things in the mysterious language. She had noticed they used a variety of berries and nuts as the supposed transaction method, but the worth of each one wasn't discernible.
Something bumped into her, a large Cervus elaphus snorted in what could only have been seen as a sign of disgust. "My, watch where you're going, young Hume!" It spoke, its imposing frame seeming larger than it should have normally. It stepped closer to her, snorting again at her offense, causing Claire to back away, stuttering with her words.
"I-I'm sorry, please, I-" She couldn't find the words to continue. Was it going to hurt her? Should she try talking to it more? What if she angered it more? Going down this train of thought, Claire noted its antlers, their rough quality and tall edges scared her, more than she would have thought they did.
"My, What would you have done if you had dirtied my clothes? What if I were to accidentally break one of these stalls because of your mishap, what would you have done then, little Hume?" It snorted at her once more, getting further in her face. Other onlookers stared at her from a safe distance, afraid of interfering with the dispute. Why won't they help me? All I did was stand here- This thought was broken by a Squish- underneath her, causing her to slip and land with a loud crack-. Pain shot up her back, her hand twisting under her body weight.
You fool! Look at what you have done! Fist, you crush a precious dung pile, and now a market stand. We should have put you with the others!" It bleated at her, rearing on its two legs. This gesture brought the attention of other creatures, various flying ones watched her from branches, and a small crowd started to form around them. Claire looked down at her right foot, seeing that it was covered in dung from one of the Scarabaeus viettei that passed her earlier. Even worse, she felt a small splinter in her back. She had indeed landed on one of the creature's stands, crushing it entirely.
She heard a squeak behind her, a Sciurus aberti ran up to her left arm and bit it hard, drawing a small amount of blood. Every creature nearby was now screaming at her, bleating, screeching. She couldn't identify any sentence fully, only hearing small tidbits of them. "She's showing her true colors! How many more…","Oh, quiet! She's just a small girl, she couldn't…","…should send her with the others! Make an example…", …the Lord King! The Lord King!","…many times have we told him not to do this?! It's insufferable!","You all mustn't blame…","…who else's fault should it be, clearly not…"
Her head was swimming.
Tears were welling in her eyes, burning wildly.
It kept gnawing at her arm.
Her left hand twitched wildly.
"What will we…run, run, and keep…punishments, and more punishments…and how many times have we done this…and how many more times?" "Shewillbeforgotten!"
They spoke in unison. Claire screamed and forced herself up. She grabbed the animal biting her, tearing it off of in a panic as it bit deeply into her hand, causing it to squeal. Claire crawled, reduced to a sniveling mess of tears, blood and mud covering her red pajamas. She stumbled up, pushing her way past the creatures before she tore off into a sprint, leaving the screaming creatures behind her as she tore off into the dark night.
Closure: The Red Wedding
Claire dashed through the forest, the world a thick blur as endless dark colors blended in with one another. Her chest heaved heavily, begging her to stop running and rest. She wouldn't stop until something forced her, and that's exactly what happened. Her right foot snagged onto a loose tree root peeking out of the ground, suddenly directing her momentum to the floor. She hit the ground with a dull thud, her head hitting a large rock to further the impact. Blood trickled down onto the soil.
Not being able to control herself anymore, she sobbed uncontrollably. Rolling onto her back, she moved her arms and clutched her throbbing forehead. The mix of the trauma the rock gave her, mixed with her throbbing headache and experience with the creatures finally broke her spirits. She wailed, begged and pleaded. Regret filled her body, and now she asked her for forgiveness.
"M-mommy! Please I-I'm sorry, mommy!" Her voice filled the night sky, lines of spit and snot ran down her lips on to the foliage beneath her. Her voice carried on through the night, but no one came for her. Whenever she had called for her mother, she had never came to her. Only whenever she did wrong, always when she did wrong.
"Rrragh!" She verbalized in frustration, balling her fists as she kicked and pounded the earth with them. Her tantrum continued on for long seconds, stretching into minutes. She slammed her fist down again, causing a small twig to lodge into her hand, piercing her delicate skin by a few centimeters. Claire winced as she pulled out the small wooden thing, staring at her palm above her face as her breathing steadied. She willed herself to sit up to observe herself better.
I'm a mess… My body can't take much more of this.Mother's bruises had faded by now, cleaving Claire with only herself to blame with the state of her body. Her fingernails were longer, she noticed. Sharper. And my hair… She felt behind her, gripping her hair. It reached to her lower back now, which surprised her, as she usually kept it close to her shoulders, so this drastic change in such an amount of time wasn't possible, but still it happened.
She stood up now, choosing to sit next to a large tree near her, resting her back to it. Admittedly, Claire felt the fatigue starting to set in from the eventful night, causing her to close her eyes as she sat in the calming atmosphere. Mother…/ The word filled her head as she slowly drifted off, drowning out the voice calling out for her not even 50 feet away.
-
Claire awoke in a rather surprising way. Even surprising compared to everything else, she thought as a hot bucket of water had been dumped over her head, causing her to gasp, her eyes fluttering open in the process. She was in some sort of tub now. The hot water made her naked skin throb inside of it, but Claire knew she would at least have less of a risk of infection if she was clean, so she painstakingly remained in there.
She heard another snort beside her, causing her to jump. Turning, she noticed a juvenile Ursus arctos3 clumsily holding the large bucket that (presumably) held the water that was poured over her. It was rather cute, Claire figured, but it was still a bear at the end of the day, and an unpredictable one at that, given her experiences with the others.
She would have turned away from the creature to get her distance from it, but she found the bath she was in was only a few feet around, being carved out of a rather large tree stump in the middle of a large room she couldn't identify. Had there been any houses when I was over in the city? And.. wasn't one of Lord Foxxingtin's titles about Ursuns?
Then why is that thing here? Cutting her off, a wooden door opened somewhere within the room she was in, drawing the attention of both the Ursun and herself. In finally walked Lord Foxxington, and Claire was more than annoyed at him for leaving her all on her lonesome. She stood up in the bath, the water dripping off of her onto wooden the floor as she stepped out. The cold air bit at her skin as she walked over to the Lord King. Kneeling down, she spoke to him. "Where did you go?! You left me, you know. I could have died out there!"
"Now, my dear. Calm yourself. There was no need to worry. My subjects wouldn't have done anything to you, my dear. However, they have been punished accordingly for scaring my new retainer, as has that man Pendle. While he did tell me of you.. predicament, it is on his head that you were left alone. I sincerely apologize, my dear. She heard a slight softness to his voice when he addressed her; a stark difference to his regal tone that he showed before.
"It's… It was just really hard, okay?" She knelt down, a look of sadness on her face. "It's just with my mom and all, I'm not used to being left alone like that in a place where there's a bunch of… people I don't know. Do you understand?" She spoke gently, choosing her words carefully. She stood up again, glancing down at the Ursun. It held a small orange cloak for her naked form, prompting a response from Lord Foxxington.
"Get dressed, my dear. We have a lot to attend, and people for you to meet, including your other fellow retainers.. They have much to teach you, should you stay here. But I am inclined to believe, my dear, that you will find it most enjoyable. Now come."
He left out of the open door. Claire followed him. Despite her general sadness at the events that took place, she was curious to see more of what he had in store for her. Pushing the thoughts of her mother and home to the back of her mind, she held the cloak to her body and stared out into the grand hall awaiting her. Everything had a reason. She always believed this. She hadn't found the reason she was here yet, the reason she was going to stay. And yet, regardless of the answer, she did it anyways.
She spoke for a final time, a noticeable shift in her previously quiet voice. Her left hand twitched softly, but ended as soon as it started.
That voice.
That sharp toothed mouth.
She could feel Mr. Fox sneer as she responded.
"Yes, Lord King."