text: (WP) The Little Fox and the Drums of War The fox had heard stories of the city her whole life, despite living in the wood since she was born. Being the oldest of all the kits, though, gave her an advantage over her brothers and sisters. Only her eyes gave her away as something not quite human, but with all the noise, she couldn’t really think of stealth. The wood was full of noises too, but nothing this harsh or loud. Her stomach grumbled, but she resisted returning to her animal form. She might not be human, but now was the perfect opportunity to act like it. She followed her nose deeper into town, her mouth watering at the savory scents of chili and garlic. Her father had warned her that she only had a few hours in her human form before she had to return to the forest, and she was feeling high on the sensation of it. She wasn’t here for pleasure, but none of the guards were with her and no one would be reporting back to her parents. She found a restaurant and sat down, ordering food for herself: hot and spicy ramen, soft boiled eggs with yolks like miniature suns, noodles covered in chili oil. She ate every bite slowly, savoring it. This was certainly different from hunting a woodland creature, but no less pleasant. As soon as she was finished with her food, she left money on the table, thinking about why she’d been allowed to go into the city for the first time. She was to spy on the humans who her kind despised; they consumed endlessly, violating the land and the natural laws that governed the world. She hadn’t wanted to, but her father insisted that she be the one to scout for the humans’ plans. After all, of all of his children, she was the only one gifted with such immense power. “*The gods gave us these powers for a reason, little one. These humans, they are a disease, a pestilence that must be erased from the earth. Only then can the world regain balance.”* But, try as she might, the little fox just couldn’t hate humans. What her parents said was true: they did consume, and burn, and rage, and hate, but they didn’t deserve to be eliminated completely. They were also kind, and good, and loving, and damn it all, they tried to make the world a better place. She changed back into a fox and headed into an abandoned building; she could hear the boom of voices bouncing off of the walls, though the humans were just whispering. She hid in the shadows, knowing that she only had a little bit of time left before she had to return home. “There’s a rumor that there are shifter families in the woods, the most prominent being a family of foxes. We have to burn the forest to the ground. How else will we prevent them from meddling with our plans?” The little fox didn’t need to hear anymore; she slunk out of the building to report back to her family. War was coming, and she had to stop it.