The Fishermans Little Fox (for Iz The Panda)

[cp 2000]

The village of Crescentport was no stranger to fishermen. If one was to take a leisurely stroll along the bending dock, they would be sure to see at least a dozen boats out on the water, with their crews either hard at work searching for the next big haul or else looking for a place to spend the night in one of the inns around the harbour. Despite the numerous fishermen who visited Crescentport, only one had decided to make a home for himself here, a somewhat cantankerous character who lived in a small cottage on the edge of the village that sat at the top of steep hill with a cobblestone road leading up to it. Whilst the fisherman was quite a private person, it was known by the residents of Crescentport that his name was Henry Oakley, though that was all most people knew about him given his notorious preference for short conversations over long-winded waffling that he considered a pointless waste of time.

Henry was a tall man with broad shoulders and large calloused hands, his years spent as a fisherman having granted him a strong build for a man in his early forties. He had reddish brown hair that had started greying along the temples, with flecks of grey also visible in the short stubble on his face, and was usually seen dressed in a dark blue wooden sweater and a pair of black boots that looked as if they had been with him from the very start of his career. Usually, the residents of Crescentport would see him fishing on the edge of the harbour, or else out in his rowboat that he had refused to name despite owning it for close to twenty years now.

Today however, Henry had decided to have to himself, given that the haul he had brought in the day before had given him enough to tide him over for the next week or so at least given the modest way he lived. As such, he was currently sat in his living room armchair beside the fireplace, flicking through todays newspaper which he had gone into town to collect earlier that day, though it had taken nearly ten minutes before Mrs Adler had finally let him leave given the womans bothersome interest in his own personal well-being. Having skipped the first few articles, Henry was currently reading a report on a fire that had broken out in Elderwood Forest, a woodland area about a hundred miles from Crescentport that was famous for having a high population of Hybrids, humanoid animal creatures who usually made their homes in the various forests and meadows scattered around the country. According to the article, members of the Hybrid Preservation Society were already on the scene trying to find new homes for the hybrid children who had been left orphaned by the fire. Letting out a small grunt, Henry turned the page and moved onto the next story, as nothing irritated him more than stories about self-righteous do-gooders patting themselves on the back for their own deeds.

Making it through another two articles, he was just about to start on a third when he heard a brisk knock at his front door, causing him to look up with a mixture of surprise and confusion as it was rare for him to ever receive visitors, not that he minded of course. Hearing the knock again, his confusion turned to annoyance and he scowled, getting to his feet and leaving the paper in his armchair before pocketing his reading glasses and striding to the front door, being far from pleased that he was being disturbed on his day off.

At the door stood the very cause of Henry's annoyance, a member of the HPS with a clipboard in her hand and a quick smile forcing on to her slightly exhausted face. "Mr. Oakley, I presume,' the skinny, dark-haired woman started, extending a hand to the man. "The pleasure is mine. My name is Heather Stitley from the Hybrid Preservation Society. I'm sure you heard about the recent tragedy that took place in Elderwood Forest," she stated, not giving Henry a real chance to respond.

"The fact of the matter is with all of the orphans left behind from the tragedy, we've been looking for suitable TEMPORARY homes for them to stay in," she said, emphasizing temporary to sweeten the offer. "We're aware that you live alone with a sustainable income and we're curious if you would be kind enough to take one of these poor children if only for a little bi-"

"Ooooo! Is that fish!?' a small and loud voice came from the car parked near the end of the driveway, a small head silver head poking out from it, belonging to a child fox anthro, no more than the age of six.

The HPS member let out a little huff but still kept her smile. "That's Tilly, one of the orphans I had mentioned. She is rather energetic as you can tell, but she is very kind and can be well-behaved once she knows the rules, Mr. Oakley."

[cp 2000]

Given that he was a little caught off guard to find a representative from the Hybrid Preservation Society on his doorstep, Henry found he could only stand there in stunned silence as the woman bombarded him with her spiel, sounding a lot like a salesman trying to get him to buy a faulty product.

Just as he was about to cut her off when she began asking him if he'd be willing to house one of the orphaned hybrid children from Elderwood Forest, he suddenly heard a small voice pipe up from behind the woman, prompting him to peer over her shoulder where he could see a little silver furred fox girl sitting in the front passenger seat of a black car parked out front, her small head poking out of the window as she sniffed the air excitedly seeing how she'd apparently picked up the smell of fish when Henry had first opened his door.

"Right" Henry said in a low burr, sounding less than pleased and convinced with what the representative had pitched him, "well, I'm afraid I can't help you, I don't know the first thing about kids and I'm not all that fond of them either to be honest. Isn't there anyone else in the village you can put her with?".

"Actually, sir, you're the last person on our list that can provide actual housing and food for the orphans, and sadly, we still have a lot more left after Tilly ther-"

As Miss Stitley was talking, the young fox girl managed to wriggle her way out of the car and bound up the driveway, practically slamming into the back of the HPS members leg, hopping up and down in place as she looked up to Henry with bright blue eyes.

"Can I have some fish, Mister! Pweasssseeee!" she begged in a rather cheery tone, her little tail wagging so fierce that her bottom shook.

[cp 2000]

Despite being unsure how he was even on the HPS's list of potential temporary homes, as well as his overall unwillingness to act as one of these temporary homes, Henry had to admit that the woman on his doorstep was certainly determined if nothing else, as it was clear to him that she was willing to say anything to get him to agree to take the little fox girl in.

Speaking of, the representatives pitch was once again cut off when the hybrid child she had brought with her collided with the back of her legs, before stepping out from behind her and hopping up and down as she happily asked Henry for some fish.

Looking down at the kit with an eyebrow raised, Henry could see that the HPS had done their best to make the girl look presentable, dressing her up in a little pale blue short-sleeved dress as well as tying a matching bow behind her left ear. However, all of the fox's fidgeting had loosened the bow, making it look considerably less neat as her wagging tail raised the back of her dress up, though she either didn't notice or didn't care.

Seeing no way to get the two of these nuisances to leave without receiving the guilt trip of the century, Henry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in disbelief over what he was about to say before returning his attention to the woman in front of him. "When you say temporary" he said after a moments pause, "how long are we talking about exactly?".

The HPS rep. beamed happily at the fisherman's question, leaning down and putting a hand on the fox girls head to steady her. "Only for a few weeks, Mr. Oakley, until we find her a more permanent place to stay."

Tilly let off a little pout as she was told silently to settle down, puffing her cheeks out and folding her little arms across her chest.

"Does that mean you will do it, sir?" Heather asked hopefully.

[cp 2000]

Whilst he wasn't at all happy about how this conversation had panned out, Henry could also see that he was no longer in a position to refuse the womans request, much to his frustration and annoyance.

"...Fine" he said after another brief moment of silence, "if it's only for a few weeks, and no more than a few weeks...then I suppose she can stay here for the time being". Folding his arms across his chest, Henry looked down at the little fox girl by the HPS reps side, noticing to his surprise that she was doing the same thing as she seemed visibly irked that Miss Stitley had stopped her from bouncing on the spot.

"You will?! Oh, that is great news!" Heather said, reaching down into the messenger bag draped around her body as she fished out a clipboard with multiple papers tied to it. "Now, let's see here..." she mumbled, searching through all the pages of each orphan for Tilly's.

As she did this, the little fox girl glanced up at Henry as he looked down at her, letting off a little smirk as their eyes met. She didn't particularly seem happy that she had found a home, more so one that had fish in it. Her smirk soon turned to a grin and her tail began to wag again.

"Ah! Here it is!" the HPS member said, flipping to a page with Tilly's name and photo on it. "If you could just sign at the blanks," she said, handing the fisherman the clipboard and a pen. "Thank you again so much."

[cp 2000]

Taking the clipboard and pen that the HPS rep offered him, Henry grumbled irritably to himself as he signed his name in the areas that the woman had indicated, passing them both back to her after he'd finished and once again folding his arms across his chest.

"Right" he said, briefly looking back down at the little fox girl before quickly returning his attention to Heather as he spoke, "so, did you bring anything with you that she might need? I'm not going to need to go out and buy her a whole new wardrobe am I?".

It was quite clear that despite agreeing to house the young kit for a while, Henry was far from comfortable with the situation, given how he still hadn't said so much as one word to the child by Miss Stitleys side.

The little fox quickly chimed in as the HPS Rep began to speak. "Nope! I have my own stuff and clothes and stuff, Mister!" Tilly said excitedly, tugging on Heather's leg. "Open the trunk, open the trunk, open the trunk!" the child repeated over and over again.

"Yes, yes, one second, Tilly," Heather responded, taking out the keys for the car and pressing a button, the trunk of the car popping open. The fox quickly sped off without another word, attempting to pull her suitcases out from the car.

"She has enough clothes to get by, sir. Hygiene shouldn't be a concern either since she has her own shampoo and toothbrush, etc., although you made need to remind her to do those things. She has a habit of trying to go to bed without them. All that's really necessary is that she's fed, safe, and keeping out of trouble. We'll try to find a more permanent residence soon."

Soon, after all the paperwork had been settled and Miss Stitely was saying her goodbyes, Tilly and Henry stood at the doorstep together, the little fox waving goodbye to the agent who said she would return/call with any updates. The car soon began to pull out of the driveway and the little fox looked up to Henry, her smirk returning. She suddenly clamped onto his leg with a hug and stared up at him with bright eyes. "Sooo.... fish?" she asked playfully, her tail shaking again.