The Dragon and the Fox

Kira watched the other kits play in the forest. Hide and Seek was a fox’s favorite game, partly because the hiders got to pounce on the seeker if they were found. But mostly because foxes loved to play clever games that showed off their wit and smarts.

“Ha!” one of them barked. “Found you, Reiy!” Another fox pounced on the first from inside a bush, and they tumbled over each other, laughing. A grey wolf followed the second fox, giggling and joining the tussle.

Kira’s eyes narrowed. Grey wolves were some of the best companions to have. They were big, strong, and loyal—the perfect elements that most foxes were missing. The one Kira saw wasn’t as big as normal, probably because it was just a cub at the moment. When it grew up, it would be a fearful opponent on the battlefield. Not that the kingdom of Cyalia had a battlefield.

Kira sighed deeply through her nostrils, as if she could expel her emotions with every breath. She still didn’t have a companion. She gazed up at the sky, hoping one of the dragons could come down and announce her lifelong partner—a lion, perhaps. Then her pack would all gather around her and praise how wonderful she was, and how they were all wrong about her and what her future would be like.

The white fox blinked and shook herself out of that daydream. She still remembered the day a few eclipses ago, when she was a younger kit. She had just turned six, the age where a kit could go out of the den on their own—and also the age where almost all kits received their companions. Her mother and aunts had dressed her up, brushed her fur neatly, and even put flowers in her hair. She had sat excitedly in the field, wagging her tail happily and lolling her tongue out as she waited for her companion.

But the hour never came.

She waited for the whole day, hoping and praying to the dragons that her companion would come. Finally, at high moonlight, she had limped back to the den, her heart completely crushed. From then on, she was avoided by everyone in the village. She could her their whispers and mutters behind her back. No fox in history had gone without a companion for this long.

Having a companion was essential in order to be successful in life. They fought with you, talked with you, and ensured that you were never alone. Animals were meant to be with one another.

There were different animals all over, but each territory had a dominant one. For instance, Kira was in Aya, the Fox Lands. They were bordered by Beyda, the Lion Lands, Canay, the Wolf Lands, and Avaye, the Bird Lands. Sometimes, a fox would be chosen to be someone else's companion and taken to a different part of Cyalia. Other animals were often brought in from other lands to be the companions of foxes. It was a fair trade that had gone back since the dawn of time.

Kira gazed back at the kits and their companions, playing with one another. It looked like fun, and her tail started wagging slightly.

“Hey,” she called, trotting over to the game. “Can I join?”

The other kits turned their heads to look at her.

“Umm...” They all gathered in a circle, whispering with one another. Kira waited under a tree, feeling impatient.

One of them broke out of the group and looked at Kira. “We don’t have enough time to spare in order to find an extra person,” he said, not making eye contact. His ear twitched nervously, and he spoke hesitantly. He was lying, obviously.

“Can’t you just play another game?” Kira asked. “One that I can play with you?”

The kit exchanged looks with his friends. “We...we want to play Hide and Seek right now. Come back later, maybe.”

“Fine.” Kira lifted her chin and stalked away haughtily, barely controlling her anger.

“Sorry!” one of them called, compassion in her voice. Her friend nudged her in the side reproachfully.

“Oh, it’s okay.” Kira turned back to her. “I wouldn’t want to spend time with your ugly face anyway!”

Her hurt expression gave Kira savage pleasure. They shunned her already. Why not get in a few licks?

She walked away, not looking back. They were a waste of her time, she reassured herself. She'd never play with them.

She walked purposefully towards her den, keeping her chin high and not making eye contact with anyone along the way. They were probably all sniffing disdainfully at her. Kira, the disgrace to the Fox Lands.

“Kira!” Her sister Ava tackled her at the entrance to their den, nipping her ear. Her older brother Evan joined in, growling and twisting.

“Mother!” Kira whined, trying to disentangle herself from the sibling pile. “They’re picking on me!”

“Stop picking on your sister,” Mother called from the “adult” half of the den.

The den was split into two halves: the “kit” half, where Kira and her siblings stayed, and the “adult” half, where Mother, Kira’s aunts and uncles, and Father slept and talked, along with their companions. The halves were divided by a giant leaf that hung from the ceiling of the den.

Ava sniffed disdainfully, stepping off of Kira’s chest. “Crybaby,” she whispered, smirking. Her companion, a mouse, scampered up on her shoulder and stuck his tongue out.

“Mother, Ava just called me crybaby!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Settle down and take a nap!” Mother snapped.

Kira swiped at Ava’s side, then ducked into her bed of torn leaves and feathers. Evan and Ava lay down next to her, kicking her aside to make room. Evan's companion, an eagle, snickered from its perch in a corner of the den.

Kira sighed and tried to close her eyes and shut out the kicks and shoves.

They hated her. They all hated her.