No more words were uttered, as I was guided to the back of the caravan. Climbing in was fairly easy in itself, due to me being a bit larger than the Fox-shifters. Once piled in the back with Tiara and all the food that was packed the night before, Kyumi called one last goodbye as the caravan took a small lurch forward. And at this point we were off to Rivoston.

“Don’t even think about eating it all.” I tapped Tiara on the beak before she could bite any of the food. Settling in I leaned my arm on my bent knee.

-----

We had left Sanoul behind and were now out in the forest. Despite the fact that I had only been here for a few days it felt like it had been much longer. The ride was smooth, minus some bumps here and there. The next thing I knew a few hours had passed since we left and I was beginning to feel bored.

“Kyumi~~~” I sang hoping to get her attention, popping my head through the front curtain, “do I have to stay back here?” I could see her ears beginning to pull back. “Can I come sit in front with you?” Her ears were now flat. “Please? I can keep you company!”

“For crying out loud! Fine!” Kyumi snapped, “If you can stay quiet go ahead, climb out.” She never turned to look at me, nor move a muscle in my direction. Well other than her ears here and there.

Not waiting for her to change her mind, I climbed out to take the seat next to her. Looking ahead I could see Spits keeping a steady pace. Then I realised he didn’t have a tail. Deciding to look at him more closely, I could see that he also had longer legs for what I considered to be proper proportions. Pulling my eyes away to look at Kyumi, I saw she had a bow and quiver, full of arrows with her, just resting off to the side. ‘Wonder why she has those?’ Suddenly something ran by the caravan, Kyumi’s hand flying to grab the bow as she pulled Spits to a stop.

“Afternoon!” A small raspy voice rang beside Spits. “Doing deliveries for Lillianne again?” Wondering where this voice was and how they knew of Lillianne began to concern me but Kyumi relaxed.

“Haha, out for a stroll are we Gramps?” Kyumi responded with a big smile. “Pardon my rudeness but I’m on a schedule right now. Don’t want to make Aunt Lily angry!” Without saying more she made a click with her tongue and Spits took off at a faster pace than before, the caravan jerking forward. Peaking around the side of the caravan, and looking behind us, I saw an old man standing in the middle of the road. Then before my eyes he transformed into a fox turning around and running off in the direction of Sanoul.

“Are all foxes that fast? Who was he? Why did you call him Gramps? Why did you lie to him?” Turning to look at Kyumi I could see she was starting to get annoyed with all my questions, I myself was surprised at how comfortable I was becoming. Deciding she wasn’t going to answer them, I made sure to face forward and close my mouth. Then one last question got in my head and I had to blurt it out. “If foxes go that fast why do you have the deer or caravans?!” covering my mouth with my hands I got ready to jump into the back again.

“Do you ever shut up?!?” Kyumi yelled, making the birds who perched in the trees fly away squawking. “I get that you don’t know this world, but you’re asking so many questions. I'd think you were a toddler!” Feeling bad I could feel my eyes begin to burn with tears. “No, sorry, that’s not what I meant…” She wrapped her tail around me gently to try and comfort me. “Sigh~” Her shoulders dropped as she seemed to give up and, for the first time with this whole ordeal, looked stressed. “I can’t answer all your questions, but all I can say is he was one of the elders where I live. He, and everyone there, know Aunt Lily. She doesn’t just run the inn but also sends goods around, though it’s been a while since we’ve gone this direction for deliveries.” Finally she slowed Spits down to a walk. “I won’t get into the other details but a fox can’t exactly pull a caravan can it?” She turned to me and smiled, the soft smile I was starting to get used to.

The rest of the day went by fairly fast and quietly. The next thing I knew it was getting dark. We had snacked on foods that were quick to grab and eat. Tiara would jump off the caravan and fly around our heads every now and again, she was clearly getting bored as well.

“I think this is a good place to stop for the night.” Kyumi stopped the caravan. At this point I had gone back to being inside the back. “Climb out the back to leave. I’ll be propping up the front, but it won't be solid.” With that I heard her jump down and begin untying Spits.

Deciding I needed to stretch my legs I left the caravan, being sure to leave from the back like she told me to. Walking around to the front I decided to properly meet Spits. I could see Kyumi taking the harness off of him, I decided to come try and help, but looking at the contraption I quickly opted out of it.

“Spits seems friendlier than I had pictured him.” I whispered out loud walking towards him ever so slowly, still unsure about his name. “So why is he named Spits?” I asked, putting my hand out to touch his side.

“Because he comes from a line of deer bread for night travel.” Kyumi answered, finally freeing the animal. “But that’s not the reason he’s named that, it;’s just the name Aunt Lily settled on.” He turned to face her leaning his head on her. But I was confused about what she said.

“So if he’s made for night travel why are we going by day?” I just examined the beautiful deer, wondering what made him so special. Turning his attention to me, he came sniffing my face. “Hi buddy.” I brought my hands to touch his face, rubbing his jaw slowly. He was smaller than a horse, not that I knew the real size of a horse since I never left the city where I lived. Just the size felt it had to be smaller since the rest of the things around the Fox-shifters were smaller.

“Well, it’s almost night, so soon you’ll see why.” She smiled at me stretching her arms above her head, “Seems like all the animals in this world like you.” Then she walked off to the caravan.

Feeling comfortable enough to sit next to Spits, I stayed near the tree he was attached to as he just grazed on the grass. Tiara, enjoying being out, was running around chasing leaves or anything that moved. I just sat watching Kyumi start a fire and begin to cook some of the food from the caravan. Watching her showed me just how little I knew about survival, my life in the city proving to have been very easy. The light began to fade, leaving me now in the firelight from a distance away. Suddenly Spits started to shimmer. Jumping back, I ran to Kyumi.

“What?!” She yelled as I grabbed her by surprise, her tail slightly fluffed. Pointing to Spits, she started to laugh and relax. “I told you he was special.” Taking a closer look at him he had a faint glow to him. Turning his head he a spot on his back and the spot was a bit brighter, then he shook his body and a dust of light seemed to float off of him. Where he had no tail was now illuminated with light like a small blue flame. “He’s from a line found by Aunt Lily. I don’t know the whole story but she found his parents in a part of the forest nobody goes. She’s bread them with others but they are never as bright.” She then handed me a plate with food. And as usual Tiara was there ready for scraps.

“Just how far away is this Riverstone or whatever?” I asked while stuffing my face. “Also I still don’t get why Spits is named Spits.” I continued to eat without thinking about what I was saying at this point. Looking up at Kyumi, I felt myself shrink away.

“Alright, look here you. First off it’s Rivoston. Second: this is the last set of questions I answer for you.” She looked annoyed but sympathetic. “If we go through the forest and don’t stop to cook food we can get there in one and a half days.. Since I don’t trust where we are going it might take longer.” Wondering why she didn’t trust where we were going, but decided it’s best to keep quiet after the warning she gave me. “Also, Spits got his name because, if you paid attention you would’ve seen that, his saliva helps make him glow a bit brighter.” Thinking back I realised I had in fact seen this happen. “Now rest up, I don’t plan on stopping tomorrow, being out makes me uncomfortable.” She said in a way that shut off any further remarks. Getting the hint, I curled up on the floor. ‘God I really miss my nice apartment…’ Even so, I found myself getting used to these uncomfortable places to sleep, that or I was just extremely tired and didn’t care. Finally I let myself drift into much needed sleep.