starving for a little glimmer // OPEN

[Allie ♥]

Tik Tok was hungry. In fact, he was starving. But it wasn't his flesh that craved food. No, it was his obsession. A rash had begun to spread over the fox's body, it's grasp spreading wide across his spine, down his tail, making his ears twitch, and his claws test the ground with greed. He wanted something shiny to satisfy this itch, this terrible hunger that could never be satisfied with food.

The fox was not one to talk to very many other foxes - or canines, nasty nasty canines - but when he had listened in on a conversation between a few canines off in the distance, he had heard the junkyard was a heaven for chews, food, and shelter. So he figured it must harbor a few shinies for his greedy claws to latch onto as well. His eyes ran over every inch of the floor, up the few piles that he was sure he could climb if need be, and even in the crevices that didn't allow any light in, but he still didn't see that glimmer he had hoped for when he came here. Maybe he wasn't much of a hunter after all if he couldn't even find one single shiny to collect. In the past few years he had found coins, cans, necklaces, and, one of his all time favorites, a gold, very shiny pocket watch complete with a long, dangling, slightly shiny chain to carry it by. It had been one of the few things Tik hadn't left behind when he traveled here in hopes of finding more treasure. Shinies were the best treasure, after all.

Flicking his ears softly, Tik Tok's orange eyes kept searching, but still he found no light. Until, just barely, he caught a glimpse of a shiny. His eyes rapidly moved back to where he had seen it and he stood frozen in time, his muscles still with tension. Had he really seen it or was the sun just playing tricks on him? The fox's eyes narrowed, a small growl about to leave his lips when he saw it again. A sudden thirst scratched at his throat, launching the fox forward to collect his prize. There - in between a rotten apple and a broken slab of wood - was a shiny! A magnificent shiny that shown when the sun touched it with it's beautiful sun-shiney fingers. He flattened his ears, making every attempt to wedge himself in between the wood and the stack up tires it leaned against without knocking the wood down.

His jaws parted and, finally, he felt his tongue taste the salty touch and the worn texture of a coin. Oh, it was a copper coin! What a find. It was tiny, he discovered, once he had set it down in the dirt to examine it, and yet it was such a victory the fox couldn't contain the smile that possessed his lips. He couldn't wait to see what else he could collect here, but first he had to find a place of safe keeping for his precious coin. "Don't worry, my precious dear. I will find someplace for you to hide out while I find you some company. I will protect you with all my strength and love you with all my heart. Don't worry, precious one." he said, comforting the coin as he picked it back up between his canines and set off for a safe place for the coin to reside.

[Deleted]

The junkyard. What a nasty place for a fox to hang out. But, here she was anyway, trotting around as though she owned the place. This time she wasn't alone though. One of her kits, the male one, lumbered lightly by her side. His dark, ashy coat resembled that of his fathers and he was tired as can be. His ears flicked, tail brushing the ground as he followed his mother swiftly through the yard. The piles of dirt were just what the two needed to get through all of this training, Jasper had spoken of. With a flick of her tail, she told the kit to wait, and she moved a little ways up on the pile of junk, then barking to the kit to follow her.

He seemed to have a bit of trouble at first, but his muscles were coming in strongly, and soon he stood beside his mother, pride beaming from his fur as he waited for the next challenge. The Swift Fox gave him a lick on the head in praise before she raced up and even thicker spot - filled with sharp objects and gunky stuff. It would be more of a challenge for the kit, but he didn't even seem fazed. Soon enough, he was back at his mothers side, standing at the very top of the junk pile. Another lick to his head and then came the even harder part - getting back down.

With small, steady, yet somehow quick steps, the mother vixen weaved her way down, paws quickly swerving the sharp and nasty parts, and soon she stood at the bottom, looking back up, expecting the kit to do the same. He started, thinking proud of himself and ended up stumbling - flying head first in somersaults down the pile. As though motherly instinct had kicked in, the vixen lept forward, sinking her teeth just tightly enough to pull her offspring from the ground. Her tail flicked and she set him down - cooing soft words and licking his head to calm him down.

It was at that moment she recognized another foxes scent in the air. This time is was a males and her fur bristled. She wrapped herself protectively around her kit, watching as the male carried some weird shiny thing to a spot, said something to it, then went back to the junk pile. Her ears twitched. Was he okay? But she didn't say anything, only stood sickly still, keeping her body around the black kit.

Words 415 Tags: Allie ♥ Notes: n/a

[Allie ♥]

Seeing as how the fox's life obsession required him to be quite in-tune with his environment, naturally Tik Tok picked up on the presence of other foxes quickly. He just hadn't figured out what to do with them, himself, or his coin quite yet. His golden eyes flickered to them, analyzing their bodies. It seemed as though the large mother was much more concerned with Tik Tok himself than his coin, though he wasn't sure. What interest would they be to him other than to find out if they were here for his coin and then continue on with his job. But, of course, they seemed to have little interest in his coin so Tik turned in their direction, his ears moving around in all directions while his eyes focused on the mountain the two had just descended.

It seemed like a large enough mountain of junk and crap for the female to scale easily, but for the kit that stood timidly at her side it seemed a little risky. Sure, Tik was okay with taking risks if it meant he would be rewarded with a shiny, but he couldn't imagine his mother - the weird old woman she was - taking such a risk with him. Even if she was there to catch him if he slipped. The fox shook his memories from his spine, trying to avoid getting sucked into meaningless memories. All they did was bring him heaviness in his spine, anyway. Like he should feel something when they came to him, but he couldn't feel anything but the drive to find himself another shiny treasure.

Turning his attention back to the small kit, he analyzed his tiny frame. He was probably just a few weeks and having to learn the tricks and trades of being a fox, hence the insane gesture of learning to climb that junk pile. His fur was a dark volcanic black with faint oranges and yellows popping out behind them. He was like a walking lava kit. How marvelous. Tik Tok couldn't imagine what a spectacle his fur would be when he grew up. If only he could be the foxes heir... The fox had thought about den robbing a kit before, but he had always gotten a sour taste in his mouth like if the kit were to ever find out he would highly disapprove and refuse to continue the fox's life work. So he'd settled with finding a willing apprentice or just having kits of his own to produce an heir which was what he was currently seeking.

The fox's eyes turned back to the mother and her dainty form. She looked somewhat skinny, probably from feeding the kit no doubt, but relatively healthy. Oh how kits could wreck havoc on a female's body. She could go from being a beautiful specimen to just another bred vixen and Tik was going to have none of it. His heirs wouldn't come from someone else's left overs. His heirs would come from a vixen who was beautiful with a shiny pelt and shiny eyes and who had the figure of an unbred vixen. Another reason why Tik had little to no interest in this new vixen and her offspring.

He lowered his head gently, placing the coin on the ground carefully, trying not to scratch the shiny away, and shoveling it with his nose a little before stepping onto it, covering it from the foxes' views. Lifting his nose to the two before him once more, he sat and watched the vixen for just a moment before breaking the tension with his voice, "Vixen, kit. What brings you here today?" He spoke with precision and bluntness. Tik Tok never saw the need for all the soft crap canines tended to throw in there like their names and what not. He was likely to never see these two foxes again in his life, so what would possibly drive him to hand his name out to them? "I trust you won't be getting in my way? I can't have anyone standing in my way. I have a task to complete. I'm sure you understand. Just as you wouldn't want me to mess with your kit." he said, his eyes turning back to the dark kit once more. My, what a treasure he would be to possess if there wasn't the unpleasantness to deal with if he took that road. It was very tempting, indeed.

@athena

[Deleted]

Her eyes skimmed the male, alert and ready to defend her yearling kit as though her life depended on it. For a long while, the male just studied them, making the vixen uncomfortable and she let a low warning growl escape her throat. Her bushy, bright orange tail wrapped protectively around her kit, though he wasn't too much smaller than her - pulling him closer to her side as the male fox approached them. She noticed as the male kept glancing toward her son and she once again, snarled. Eventually, he seemed to break the awkward silence.

But, first, he dropped that strange shiny thing at his paws, standing on it as though he were hiding it from them. The vixen cocked her head in confusion, but she made no comment, seeing that he was obviously as possessive of it as she was of her kit. Instead, she raised her head high, standing dominantly over her kit, who was the first to speak. "My ma is teaching me how to climb. A whole year old now, so I need to learn how to climb and build muscle on my bones. Soon, i'll be hunting almost as good as her, too!" The kit barked and his mother shot him a warning look, then turned her attention back to the other fox.

"We won't mess with you unless you mess with us." She spoke, her voice calm but strong - meaning every word that had left her mouth. "I just want the hill to train my ki-" She was cut off by her son "I'm not a kit mom, I'm almost full grown!" A snarl from his mother shut him up. "My son so that he can work on climbing rocky and sharp cliff-like edges. We all have to do it at some point - as I'm sure you know." She spoke, her voice edged as she looked once again down at the kit. "I don't want whatever that shiny thing is either, so you don't have to fret about it." Her voice softening as though the male had a kit of his own beside him and he was defending it. 

Lowering her muzzle, she licked at the black kits head as he did his best to squirm away from her. "So, what are you doing here?" She asked, once again, leaning to lick the mud and garbage stains from the yearlings ashy colored coat - ignoring all the squirming and dramatic whining he was doing. 

Words: 410 Tags: Allie ♥ Notes: n/a