The Fox and The Puppies WIP - 1/7/20 (Patreon)

       “Faster! She’s gaining on us!” Kyu the white dog-boy shouted leading his two friends. “Why won’t she give up?” Panted Ju, doing his best to keep up. After emerging from the bushes Lu collapsed on his hands and knees. He was barely able to stand up as his legs shivered from exhaustion. “I can’t walk anymore... why won’t she just leave us alone?” He whimpered, tears welling up in his eyes, as Ju ran over to him pulling him back on his feet. “It can’t be much further now, come on we just need to get out of the forest! She won’t follow us any further than that!”

        Kyu, Ju, and Lu have been on the run together for almost a year since they escaped their orphanage. Stealing and causing mischief to get by, they rely on each other to survive and were practically like brothers. They were led by the white dog boy Kyu, who’s wits and priorities made him the sharpest one in their group. His eyes were cute but sharp, reflecting his personality, and his fur was short fur was snow white and very soft. Ju was the most sensible and responsible of their group. Sporting dark fur and husky like eyes, he was the smartest and most sensible among them always putting his friends before himself. He never talked about his past or upbringing, only mentioning that he doesn’t want to talk about it. Lu was the runt of their group, innocent and very sweet but helpless and afraid. He was abused quite badly before being put into an orphanage, and was very timid as a result. Plus due to years of neglect he suffered in his early life, he had no claws or developed jaw muscles to defend himself as his brothers did. His Fur was brown and a bit poofy,  but he had a talent for hiding in plain sight.

        For the past week they have been pursued by a strange woman, a fox rumored to be a witch. They heard stories that anyone who entered her forest would be snatched up and eaten alive like Hansel and Gretel. After stealing some apples from her, they thought they would be safe. But the woman has pursued them relentlessly, and made a point of not losing the trail of the three brothers. What’s worse, they haven’t even been able to escape her forest, it was as if they were going in circles. Weary and exhausted, they grew anxious and panicked. Ju bent down holding his hands behind his back for Lu.  “Quickly, get on! I’ll carry you the rest of the way!” He commanded, scanning for their pursuer. Lu was so tired he couldn’t stop panting. “I’ll only slow you down...” he said in defeat. “Just go ahead, maybe she’ll be satisfied if she just has me to eat.” Ju grabbed Lu’s  shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Don’t you even joke about that!” He growled, bearing his teeth at Lu. “If you’re not moving we’re not moving either!”

        Lu shook his head, as his friend's strict growl had scared some sense into him. But just as they were about to get their footing, Kyu’s ears stood up as he noticed something peculiar. “Wait...” he said holding his hand up towards his friends signaling them to stop. For a few brief moments they all remained silent, realizing that they could no longer hear the sound of rustling leaves behind them. “I don’t hear anything behind us now, I think we lost her.” Kyu stated, sighing as he relaxed his shoulders. Ju slumped down, placing his hands on his knees, his face awash with an anxious expression. Lu sat down on the ground to look at the clear sky while he caught his breath. “I don't think I can take much more of this…” Lu panted. "I agree.” Ju replied. “If we don't escape this forest soon we'll die of exhaustion before that woman even catches us.” The dark furred dog boy was normally so composed, but for the first time since they had known him, Ju looked somewhat frightened. Taking in large deep breath Kyu puffed out of his furry  chest I looked at his friends with the confidence smile. “Hey! We've had difficulties from a lot of adults in our life, and this woman definitely won't be the last. But common! She'll never catch us as long as we stick together!” He boasted.

---

        “There're he goes again…” Ju thought to himself taking a deep sigh. Lu however immediately got back on his feet putting on a reassured smile. “You're right! We've already come so far, it's only matter time before we get out of this forest! I bet that witch has already lost track of us.” He said enthusiastically holding his arms up to his chest. Kyu and Ju looked at him surprised, he assumed they were impressed with his unusual enthusiasm, but Lu quickly realized they were looking at something behind him. Kyu and Ju had speechless expressions on their face as they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Aproching Lu from behind was appeared to be a large pink heart shaped bubble. And before the brown furred boy could turn around, the squishy membrane pressed against his back as he sank into the soft squishy surface. With a sudden Floop! Lu found himself trapped in the heart bubble as everything took on a pink tint. The flustered dog frantically looked around him swiveling his head side to side trying to process what had just happened. The shape of the bubble allowed him to stand upright, as he immediately pressed his paws against his surroundings.

        “What is this? Why won’t it pop!?” Lu whimpered desperately pawing and rubbing at the membrane of his prison, but due to his lack of claws he couldn’t even put a dent on it. All he could do was stretch at the strange pink membrane, it felt like he was surrounded by some kind of soft plastic. Kyu and Ju just stood by, baffled by what had just transpired as Lu continued to fruitlessly paw at his prison. “Guys! I can’t get out!” he pleaded in a panic. The two dog boys quickly shook off their shock and walked over to him. “Don't worry! We'll get you out!” Kyu said, both bearing their claws. But then Lu began beating his hands on the walls of his bubble in a sudden outburst of panic. “Wait! Behind you!” he shouted. Before they could turn around, they both felt something soft pressing against their backs. Two more heart-shaped bubbles had crept up from behind them and began enveloping the two dog-boys. The soft permeable membranes warping and contorting around their bodies, squishing them from all sides as they sank into the squishy folds. It didn't feel unpleasant, on the country it felt like they were getting a comfy full-body hug. But they didn't even have time to react as the bubbles had caught them completely off guard. Before they even knew what happened, they both popped inside the bubbles with a soft Floop!

        Realizing what had just happened, they immediately began pushing at their elastic surroundings. “What are these things! Where the did they come from?” Kyu barked  frantically fumbling inside his prison. But then he noticed that his friends were acting strange. As their bubbles began to glow faintly. “Guys I feel weird...” Lu sniffed, his eyes tearing and body shivering. Ju began to hyper ventilate frantically and clumsily clawing at his bubble. While Lu had always been pretty timid, he had never seen Ju acting so hysterical. All of a sudden, Kyu felt his body throb from head to toe, causing him to lose focus for a brief moment. It felt strange, it came and went faster than one of his his frequent panic attacks. “Please, let me out...” Ju cried, curled up into a fetal position as he starred up at the sky. The black furred dog boy seemed to calm down a bit, but now he seemed almost exhausted, and overwhelmed.

        “Come on guys! We have to get out of these things.” He shouted, hoping to bring his friends back to their senses. “Oh you needn’t worry. These bubbles can most certainly be popped, but only by me." A soft gentle voice said from beyond the foliage. When Kyu looked to see who it was he saw a and saw a tall feminine figure emerging from the bushes. It was a fox woman, with light brown fur wearing beautiful purple dress with a long skirt and short sleeves.  She had large beautiful eyes, big but gentle looking paws with four digits. And lastly, a fluffy white mane around on her neck which puffed out of the collar of her dress, resting upon her chest as if it was a part of her outfit. Her fluffy Mane  looked very soft and well cared for, making Kyu wonder if she had a fluffy white underbelly As well. But she also had a long fluffy tail that held what looked like a curled up wooden staff behind her. It was the witch!

        Up till now Kyu had only seen small glimpses of her as they were focused on running away, but seeing her up close was almost breathtaking. Another throbbing sensation flowed through Kyus body upon seeing her, it felt like his heart just skipped a beat. Though he remained alert keeping his guard up. “You boys comfy?” she asked with a friendly smile. Puffing out his chest, Kyu placed his hands on the membrane of his prison. “Just let us go! All we did was take a couple of apples!” He said with a stern look on his face “Y-Yeah! You have plenty…” Lu followed up, his knees subtly shaking underneath him. "Oh it’s not about the food...  I just wanted to talk, but you kept running away from me.” she said approaching them. Her steps were subtle and elegant, placing one foot in front of the other. "Anyway what do you think of my magic? I designed and crafted these bubbles just for you. ♥️” she said gently placing her hand on Ju’s bubble. But then she was shocked to see how frightened the dark-furred boy was, he was whimpering under his breath, his eyes closed tightly as he curled up into a ball. “It's too small… please…” he shuddered. The fox then looked over to Lu, who began tearing up. “Don’t hurt us… ” his voice breaking in fear. “Oh my…” she said sounding surprised. 

        Wrapping her left arm underneath Ju’s bubble, it burst with the soft pop as landed into her embrace. He became motionless, resting his head against her shoulder and practically cradled by her left arm. Seeing is friend suddenly passed out in the arms of their captor, Lu pressed his back against his bubble feeling helpless and unable to escape as the fox woman approached his bubble. “Hey what are you doing? let them go...” Kyu attempting to shout, began feeling strange. There was a strange throbbing sensation in his chest the second he saw the woman holding Ju in her arms, on top of that begin feeling weaker. Granted he was exhausted after being in the forest for a week, but his fatigue felt emotional, unable to even raise his voice.

Now completely frozen like a deer in headlights, Lu just stared at the witch as if his life was flashing before his eyes. Using her tail, she poked the bubble with the end of her staff, popping it as Lu fell to the ground on his rump. Kyu expected him to run as fast as he could and never look back, but to his surprise Lu  just sat there looking unusually calm. No longer shivering, the brown furred dog boy just stared at her, his eye’s tearing up with a mesmerized look on his face. “Don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you.” the fox said reaching her arm out to him with a warm smile. “come here.” she cooed. With that, Lu slowly stood up and walked over to her. “Lu... what are you doing?” Kyu asked with a weak voice. Baffled, he watched his friend stumble onto the foxes welcoming embrace, picking him up with her right arm. It was like Lu was entranced, he looked like he was half asleep.

        Now cradled in the witches arm, she nuzzled him up to her shoulder as he rested his head next to her fuffy mane. Looking calm and relaxed, Lu closed his eyes as he slowly nodded off into a quiet sleep. Kyu’s heart sank as he felt another throbbing sensation through his body. Both his friends were now captured, and all he could do was watch,  his chest growing heavy with grief. With both of the dog boys fast asleep in her arms, the witch turned around walking back into the deep dark forest.“H-Hey...” Kyu whimpered, placing his hands against the walls of his bubble. The witch looked back at him, staring into his widened puppy dog eyes with a smile.“Don’t worry, I’ll be back for you as soon as I bring these boys home.” she winked before disappearing into the dark bushes. Kyu slumped back against his bubble, his chest aching as he was left all alone in his heart shaped prison. It was just like the orphanage, watching his friends being taken away one-by-one, as he was left all alone. Now here he was, once again isolated as all his memories from the orphanage came for flooding back. For months, adults would come and go adopting other kids, and he would wait patiently for someone to take him in, but he would never be chosen. The boy had only found companionship in Ju and Lu, who had  both also lost all hope in being adopted. After escaping they relied only on each other, stealing, scavenging, and looking out for  another like family. But now, they were also gone, taking away in the comfy arms of the fox witch.

        The way she held them, it looked so gentle and soothing. Despite how big her arms were, she had a gentle demeanor about her, just thinking about it made him feel somewhat fuzzy inside. But then another throbbing sensation struck his body, increasing the weight of his heavy heart...  reminding him that he was all alone. “Why didn’t she take me with them?” he thought to himself. Staring up at the sky, he reran the memory of his friends been taking away again and again as if I loop, tears running down his cheeks.  This went on for minutes, Kyu didn’t understand why the witch had chased them, or even why she had trapped them and took then away, all he could think about was how he was left behind. “Maybe... she didn’t want me either...” he whimpered. 

        “Oh don’t say that...” the fox said in her soft voice. Kyu opened his eyes in surprise as he saw her walking out from the dark bushes, and his heart skipped a beat as she approached him. The foxes large fluffy tail elegantly swayed side to side while holding her staff, her fluffy mane standing out among her alluring features, and her large gleaming eyes which looked right at him a company by a warm welcoming smile. It was like her mere presence calmed him, all of his worries and thoughts just washed away as he lost himself in her gaze. But suddenly, his heart throbbed once again. “Ahh!” he whimpered with a hint of pain in his voice. If felt like one of his panic attacks but slightly stronger and then the last. “What... what is this thing doing to me?” he gasped. “Oh your bubble?” she giggled innocently. “Don't worry it's harmless, all it does is free your emotions. I thought it would calm you down." Standing in front of his bubble, the woman kneeled down to look at him, tilting her head curiously. “So how do you feel?” Kyu didn’t answer, his breathing grew heavy, and his eyes closed as he grasped at his throbbing chest, and began feeling dizzy. “I can’t think straight… what’s happening?” he whimpered weakly slumped to the bottom of his bubble. A concerned look appeared on the fox's face, as her smile slowly faded. “Oh dear…"

---

        Using her tail, the fox woman gently tapped the top of his bubble with her staff, causing is bubble to burst with a soft pop. Suddenly free from his prison, he plopped on the soft ground beneath him landing on his rump. No longer disoriented, the throbbing pain in Kyu’s his chest had completely disappeared. He felt different, it was like nothing had happened at all. But then, he could suddenly feel tears began pouring from his eyes. “H-Huh?” confused, he places paws on his face feeling the tears roll down his cheeks. Kyu didn't understand why he was crying, but he couldn't stop himself. When he suddenly felt a tightening sensation in his chest, it became hard to breathe, he couldn't speak and began choking up. Before he knew it, Kyu was wailing uncontrollably. Tears streaming down his face, his nose watering like a loose faucet, it felt something I just broken inside him. Placing his paws over his eyes, he tried to stop the tears but it felt like placing his finger over a broken faucet. The matter how hard he tried to hold back, he just kept wailing. 

        Kyu didn't understand was happening to him, covering his face with his arms as if shamed by his vulnerable state. The boy had never cried for as long as he could remember, up till now whenever he felt sad or things got hard, he would just tough it out. Now, he couldn't think, as he could barely breathe while choking on his own tears, he couldn't speak, as his constant sobbing overpowered his own voice, and he couldn’t even stand up as he had no energy left. He was just so tired, tired of running, tired of surviving, tired of hiding. It felt like his entire life was hitting him at once, now all he could do was sob uncontrollably. “Poor thing… come here.” the fox woman whisper softly, picking him up by the shoulders. Kyu didn’t resist or fuss, he was just so tired that he didn’t even care. Gently lifting him up, the fox woman took him into her ams, resting his head on her left shoulder. “There, There…” she cooed patting his back. Though still crying uncontrollably, Kyu found it easier to breathe, her soft voice and gentle hug calming him down. The boy's chest feeling lighter, replaced with a warm fuzzy sensation that he had never felt before. With the fox's fluffy mane cushioning his chest, and her large soft arms gently wraparound him, he felt strangely secure and safe. Without realizing it, the boy wrapped his arms around her, as if accepting her comforting embrace. The fox woman continued to cradle him in her arms, swaying back and forth hoping to settle him down a little. Unfortunately, letter how much she comforted him, he just couldn't stop the tears from pouring out. Eventually his throat grew sore, and the last thing he could remember was choking on his own tears, before crying himself to sleep. 

        Later Kyu woke up to the comforting sent of flowery candles, feeling warm and cozy. “Mh…mmm.” he whimpered. Like the exhausted puppy he was Kyu then let out a satisfying high-pitched yawn, impulsively nuzzling the soft surface next him. "Oh? You're awake." a warm voice said happily. Recognizing the voice, he opened his eyes to find himself cradled in the fox woman’s left arm.  Holding a book in her right hand, she sat in a wooden rocking chair surrounded by warm candles, as she looked down at him with her warm and alluring smile. Kyu gasped in shock, before he could crawl away the fox woman took him in another hug, squeezing him against her soft fluffy mane. “Shhhh shhhh shhh… It’s ok I won’t hurt you.” she cooed. Kyu immediately settled down, comforted by the expanse of warm fluff that buried his face. Taking a deep breath, he was met with the calming sent of fresh lavenders. The foxes chest was like a massive pillow, supporting and enveloping his head in its warmth, making him feel safe and secure. Excepting her embrace, he nuzzled himself further into her fluff putting a warm smile on the foxes face. “How do you feel?” she giggled. Kyu looked back up at the fox woman, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of of her large gleaming eyes. Making eye contact with her was like seeing stars in the night sky, it left him nearly breathless. "I… what happened?” he asked nervously. "You cried yourself to sleep. You were sobbing so much I thought you were going to suffocate.” she said stroking the back of his Head. Kyu blushed as she petted him, and was gently nuzzled back into her fluffy mane. "Poor thing… You must've had so much pain bottled up.” 

        After letting himself get comfortable in her hug, he looked up at her. “What... did you do to my friends?” Kyu asked nervously with a concerned expression. “Oh.” the woman giggled, putting her book down. Pointing to her left, Kyu turned his head around to see both Ju and Lu completely asleep in a comfy looking queen size bed. Ju was curled up laying on his left with his paws balled up to his face, and Lu was laying on his back with both of his arms to his sides. “You boys must be exhausted, you've been out like this for the past hour.” she said petting the back of his head. “You can go back to sleep if you'd like, I'll be here when you wake up.” with her gentle whisper she eased him back onto her fluffy chest. Realizing he was in no danger, the boy finally felt at ease.