The Village Ch. 1
#1 of The Village
It was the most beautiful summer day ever. The sun was shining, the air was warm, the smell of fresh cut grass was everywhere. All of my favorite things were present, and I could'nt be happier. Which was why I, when I finally got out of my home and closed the door behind me, I was smiling. I didnt like what was ahead of me, but I would face that when the time came. Right then I was just really fucking happy. I carried a backpack on my shoulder, stuffed with random picnic foods and drinks. I had a pocket full of money and my dark sun glasses on. I had chose to wear my denim shorts with a light blue T-shirt. Not only because it matched, but because it contrasted with my fur. Yes, ladies and gentle man, I was a fox. And Im not tooting my own horn here (though I always found myself the good looking type), I was, quite literally, a fox. A fox morph to be more precise. I mean, I had seen pictures of our long dead ancestors: the foxes that didnt speak, walked on four legs, all that really weird shit. Animals back then were so weird, but thats because they had those.....whatchamacallems around......humans? Yeah, I think thats what they were called. But anyway, I turned to take one last look at my home and headed into the forest, finally able to be by myself.
You see, my audience, I had been living in an orphanage my whole life. Whenever someone hears that they instantly say "Oh! Thats so sad! You must be soooo sad about that!" Truthfully, I never knew my parents. I never felt the need to know them, either. And the orphanage took good care of me. But I had turned 18 the day before, and finally l was old enough to move out. I had been waiting for that day for a long time. And, accordance to the "Anthro Home Ordinance" I chose to live in the forest. I mean, who wants to live in some big, smelly city? I would much rather be sorrounded by trees and other plant life. Maybe settle down with another fox, have kids, something nice like that. My mind was already drawing up life plans, which is probably why I didnt see the rather large wolf infront of me.
I ran face first into this giant of a wolf. He glared down at me, the thick fur on his chest rustled with the slight wind. His eyes were a firey red and I could smell his last kill on him. I can admit it, I was scared of this particular gentle man. He leaned down real close to my muzzle, those firey eyes locked into my own dull brown ones. "Hi! My names Jeff! Are you a new resident to the forest??" I blinked once, suprised at the friendliness and...almost child like way his voice sounded. He stood up straight and helpd me up, beaming like little kid (though he was atleast a couple heads taller then me, and I was about 6'5") and held his paw out to shake. I stared at him for a moment, dumb founded, before taking his paw in mine and shaking. "Yeah....Hi Jeff, Im Zackary. Yes, Im going to be living in the forest" He smiled big to me, which I still found strange. "Well, Howdy Zack! Can I call you Zack? Thanks! Anyway, I live here in the forest, sorry I startled you there, I guess I wasnt watching where I was standing!" He laughed big, like the kind of laugh you might here from some one fat. One of those deep booming laughs. This wolf scared me, as friendly as he seemed. His mannerisms were off, like he was more then one furson jammed into that enormous wolf body.
After about 30 minutes of listening to this Jeff talk, I found out many usefull things. Like, in the forest, there was actually a village that many furres lived in. You had to make your own house, but that was something I expected when I decided living in the forest. He told me he was the elected "Mayor" of this village and usually could be found right where he was then, greeting newcomers to the forest and pointing them to the rapidly growing forest village. After saying goodbye to Jeff I headed in the direction he pointed me in, very curious about this village. It sounded nice: Deep in the forest, nice community, friendly furres, and not too big. That was one thing I always hated was alot of fursons, which was one of the reasons I didnt like the orphanage. I felt that, with less fursons, you could really get to know everyone better. You dont have to divide attention between more then one furson, you know? I dont know, maybe it was just me.
I gazed around at all the sights (making sure not to run into anyone or anything now) in pure awe. I had never been to the forest, so this was all so new to me. I had seen pictures of forests, but it was no where near the same as what I was experiencing right now. I shifted the backpack on my shoulders alittle, starting to feel the inevitable ache from carrying so much weight. I pondered stopping to take a rest, but Jeff told me it wasnt too far to the village, and a welcoming party always took good care of new residents. I started piecing together my own image of this town: A small collection of cabins all build it somewhat of a circle. Every morning fursons would all come outside and greet each other. There would be parties and everyone in the village would be invited. I could shack up with a female fox, or screw it, any species would do. I did have a thing for skunk women, or even a bunny.
I began to worry as the sky grew darker and the village was no where to be seen. Did I make a wrong turn? Impossible, I didnt turn at all. Maybe these forest furres have a diffrent view of how far exactly "far" is? In any case, I was tired. I found a nice rock to sit down on and took a sandwhich from my back pack. Ham and cheese, my favorite. I ate it slowly, making sure I didnt goble up all my food in one night, just incase this village thing didnt work out. I took a sip from my water bottle and stared off into the distance.
After I had finished the sandwhich I sat thinking. What if I did screw up somehow and went the wrong way? I mean, this village thing could be just what Im looking for and I blew it! My thoughts were cut off, however, by the sound of pawsteps behind me. Before I could turn around a paw was on my shoulder. I jumped and spun around, only to face perhaps the most beautiful female squirrel I had ever seen. Her tail was twitching behind her and she smiled to me, as if she was hapoy to see me. "Hey! Are you a new resident to the village?" She asked, her voice kinda high pitched. I realized that, over extended periods, her voice would become very annoying to me. "Wait, the village?" I asked, breaking my thoughts" Is it around here? I thought I was lost." She giggled "Yeah, its right over there." She pointed off to my left. I turned and realized there was a cabin just about 100 yards away. I couldnt believe how close I was.
"Follow me!" She said and ran towards the cabin. I ran after her, amazed at her speed. Soon, we came upon a large collection of oddly build cabins, with one large one in the center, it seemed. I was soon sorrounded by a collection of furs. I noticed a few foxes, but they were male. They all took turns introducing themselves to me. A couple I really liked were a female rabbit a male raccoon. The rabbits name was Jessie. She wore only a pair of really short denim shorts and a white tank top. She seemed like the motherly type, offered to cook for me if I needed and even invited me over her house for dinner. The male raccoon was Titus. He struck me as the kind of person who could joke around at one moment, then be really serious the next, which I liked. I felt it was important not only to have a sense of humor, but be able to carry on a serious conversation.
After they pointed out all the diffrent houses (by the way, the large one was the Mayor's, Remember him? Jeff?) they took me to a spot where I was told I could build my house. A few beavers offered to help me, but I told them that it was really something I should do on my own, and they understood.
And so, A year went by. I had built myself quite the cabin, I thought. It was two floors, and had 3 bedrooms. The stairs led up to a sort of over look of the downstairs and on the opposite wall were the doors to the bedrooms. The downstairs was one large room, with an ice box (ice curtosy of the beavers, which I could never understand how they froze it, and they never told me) and a wood stove in one end, a large table in the middle, and a book shelf with a few chairs and a couch on the other end. All in all, I was quite proud of it.
As I had suspected, me and Titus became good friends. As did me and Jessie (who I had sort of a crush on). They were both often at my home, or I at theirs. Jessie was an absolutely wonderful cook. She made me dinner whenever she could, so Titus, Jessie, and I were usually all in one place for dinner. Jessie providing the food, and Titus and I providing the company.
That was my first year in the forest