Maddox’s path arched to the right, the scent of fear and sea salt trailing away to soon be replaced by the aromantic wash of miscellaneous flora. Paws grazing the familiar ground, he bobbed and weaved through fallen oaks and bushels of briars and prickly shrubbery. Greens and browns blurred together, the fox’s ears pinning at the much-too-close thunderous roar of an oncoming leviathan. 

 Great, I get the big guy. Looking to his left, the vague blurs of Cherry’s pale fur and Sylvie’s cloak were long gone, but by the sounds of soldiers shouting orders, they hadn’t gotten away scott-free. 

 The crackle of roots being torn from the ground followed by a tree being hurled just a few yards in front of him was a quick reminder he had more important things to worry about. Most importantly some overgrown lizard throwing a tantrum and flinging his toys at an unsuspecting bystander. Alright, planning time. The last gaggle had taken them prisoner, and these guys already had a clowder of cats moping around in their dingy encampment. It’d be smart to lead this bumbling buffoon far enough he wouldn’t cause a problem with the girls, and it would be quite suspicious to turn himself in so willingly after making a big deal of not doing that. 

 Skirting around the thick oaks the dragon behind him easily tore from the soil, the fox’s head twisted around in search of a more enclosed space. Something he could get lost in, something that’d force the halfwit to actually put some effort in capturing him. He’d make a sharp turn, trying to slither his way into areas with dense foliage. A pleasant surprise was his… ‘armor’ wasn’t torn nor did it catch on the countless twigs and thorns he scraped by to escape his pursuer. Maybe it wasn’t that bad.

 Maddox heard an agitated growl echo behind him, the sound of deforestation fading away to be replaced by the hiss and shiver of leaves. His paws moved quickly underneath him, only catching a quick glance to spot talons break through the ceiling just to haphazardly step between the thick trunks. A maw poked down, pushing past leaves to scan the forest floor and make contact with the eensy form of a certain fleeing fox. Soon after the soldier pulled his head up, foreclaws left the forest floor. Focusing back on the path ahead, the nebulruff was still keeping an eye out for a possible hideout until snaps of branches echoed behind him. Before Maddox could look around to see what had happened a tremendous thud slammed down behind him as his feet momentarily left the ground. He fell forward, hitting the ground shoulder-first as the world spun in an unnecessarily violent tumble before ultimately smacking into a rosemary bush. The gnash of teeth clattered in his ears, a snout pushed against the ground before the leviathan lifted his head and spat out a wad of dirt.

 He couldn’t believe his eyes. Did this dingbat just try to pounce him? Wow, ha, funny, how ironic. Ooh, the leviathan was lucky he didn’t have his wyvern form on him-... he’d have an absolute field day knocking some sense into the slippery little eel. More pawsteps flying over the forest floor, more hops and bounds from a persistent leviathan, and the nebulruff still couldn’t lose the tail. 

 At least not until a furry blur darted out beside him and flung its glittery pelt down a burrow. The python constricting his heart would loosen its grip, Maddox immediately skidding against the ground to follow the rodent into its burrow. He leapt inside, paws scrabbling to dig into the warren. Dirt flicked out behind him, feeling the soil give underneath him and comfortably slithered down the tunnel. It led further down, a cough tearing through his throat as it tightened around him. It unsurprisingly reeked of the wet scent of dirt and stone, along with something else he really did not want to think about having to squeeze himself against the claustrophobic walls. His ‘armor’ brushing against the walls echoed, the fox growing somewhat uneasy at its refusal to pick up a single speck of grit or dust. Even with pinned ears growing clogged with mud, he could feel the thudding of the leviathan stomping above him. The longer it continued circling the area, the more his heartbeat picked up at the thought this currently-occupied warren would cave in and smother him. Just more of a reason to hurry up.

 Something bumped into his face, feeling whiskers tickle his nose before the overgrown lagomorph shimmied back around and was generous enough to kick a mouthful of dirt into his face as it skittered back into the abyss. Maddox coughed, spluttering as he wiped it away with a paw. This is getting absolutely ridiculous— The relief of dirt scraping against his head caught his attention, blinking hard in hopes of making out his surroundings. It wasn’t much, only a few more gaping maws of entrances leading further in or hopefully out of the warren. Dragging the rest of his body out from the tunnel, Maddox splayed his body out and pressed his chin against the cold soil. 

 It was so… so much easier a few years back, back when Percival was little, back when they could hop in and out of burrows in their erratic game of chase, and back before he had this stupid dress. How long has it been… since our last game? Six years? He winced, teeth slightly bared at the memory. He’d gotten too big, I’d gotten too… old. Percival’s reassurance flared up that old embarrassment, that crooked grin that screamed “I’m trying not to hurt your feelings”.

 I need that hat, and I need to smack some sense into that hyena. Who did he think he was anyway? Running at danger like that, knowing Percy would be right on his tail. It was all too familiar, a starry-eyed, horned nebulruff flashing in his thoughts. A breeze hit his gums, not even realizing he’d bared his teeth.

 Wait— a breeze?

 Snapping his jaw shut, Maddox pawed the dirt from his ears before flicking them forward. He held his breath, scooching closer toward one of the tunnels. A few seconds of silence… the faint echo of claws scrabbling dirt. No, not what he was looking for. He moved towards the next, straining his ears. Y’know, this was a good time to register the fact the bumbling oaf on the surface had gone silent, or hopefully went so far ahead he couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. Either way, it made listening for the whistle of air much, much easier. It tickled the fur inside his ears, lip twitching at the fluttering sensation. He made a soft right, once again having to squirm his way down the tunnel.

 Eventually it’d start to lighten up, able to make out his paws dragging him along the floor. Songbirds’ melodies sounded above him, the rustle of leaves not far behind. The fox’s paws dug deeper, more frantically clawing his way up the hill as color returned to his vision. He squinted, a light breeze twirling through his fur as the sun pierced through the trees. See? It wasn’t so bad. Just a little rolling around in the mud. The blazing orb hanging in the sky was a bit more intense than he’d like, but Maddox wouldn’t have to worry about that for long as a thunderous rumble shook through his bones and darkness re-engulfed his vision.

 The leviathan picked up his head, grimacing at the taste of earth melting onto his tongue. The protective layers of soil that had protected the warren had been scooped up, leaving a portion exposed to the outside world as its occupants scattered into the surrounding forest. He dipped his head under the treeline, glancing through the oaks in a half-hearted check for any possible associates before straightening his spine and heading back the way he’d come.

 Are you serious-... Are you serious!? A string of curses raced through his mind and out his snarled maw, a rank stench of fish assaulting his nostrils. He bit his tongue, nose scrunching up in disgust. Have these fishheads ever heard of dental hygiene? Maddox didn’t bother looking around his newest form of punishment, already expending the majority of his care in the warren. An ache would kick up, thrumming at the back of his skull. He pawed at his ear, an aggravated growl gurgling up his throat. It was the perfect time for a migraine.

 Even better once his capture started to shake his head, baring his teeth to sift out the mountain of dirt he scooped up and just to rile up the fox even further. Now that he could get a whiff of something other than salty, rotten sealife, the hum of voices and tall grass surrounded him. He’d get more comfortable with said grass, the leviathan shifting forms to a tall, frilled merruff wrapped his jaws around his midsection and lifted him up. Maddox blinked hard, yipping at a sharp jab in his hindleg only to whirl around and see a conch shell being poked into his skin. Blinded, covered in dirt, being stabbed, thank you, Mira, very cool. The secondary merruff sauntered off with the shell, side-eyeing the poofiness of his ‘armor’ with a poorly-hidden smirk. He didn’t have time to splutter a retort, the soldier padding into the bustling camp. It looked much bigger than it had from the outskirts of the field— Duh— being about the length of a ballpark.

 His captor was joined by an even taller merruff, thick whiskers trailing down far past his jaw with a similar pair growing from the top of his head. Almost like horns. Weird… fleshy… wriggling horns. Thank Augustus Trench did not have whatever that was growing from his face. What was wrong with merruffs anyway? At least nebulruffs and phoelines had gimmicks. These guys were just weird—

 “How did they manage to lose this little thing?” The merruff laughed, whiskers wiggling with the boisterous chuff. He raised a webbed paw, poking Maddox’s bow. “Throw him with the—”

 “D’ya think it's wyvern? Smells old.”

 The question pierced through his mind, immediately snapping his head to a pair of armored merruffs sitting beside a tent. They were sitting beside a barrel, noses twitching as they hovered over a hat. A frog hat.

 “Of course it is, you ninny! The general said so himself, if you had listened instead of stuffing your gob with crustaceans, you would’ve known that.”

 “Maybe he shouldn’t have gathered everyone during lunch! Last time I left my rations someone took like… all of it.” 

 “I think that was for the better.”

 “You’re lucky your mother would miss you—”

 Zip, zilch, zero, that was all he needed to hear. By the sounds of it, it was obvious they didn’t catch the boys, even better: They hadn’t a single clue who that ‘wyvern’ actually was. Glancing off to the side, the tent they sat beside was chock-full of wooden boxes, a trail of merruffs periodically carrying a crate over to an awaiting knucker dragon. It was a pair lying together, their long, delicate necks reaching miles into the sky. By their moving jaws, they were having a conversation. As a large pile of crates were collected at the foot of one, a winged merruff hopped up into the sky and began their tasking flight towards them. 

 “... Put him beside the others… by himself.”

 The merruff carrying him nodded, momentarily shaking Maddox from his staring before he was enraptured right back in. The merruff landed, the knucker dragon having gotten some message and paused their conversation to slink its head down. His eyes trailed its path, brows flying up as the dragon shoveled the collection into its jaws and swallowed. It wasn’t a mystery as to why, finally snapping over to the… glass that took up a majority of the knucker’s stomach. Said crates tumbled in, a mountainous pile already having been collected and being saved for… something. After collecting the cache, it lifted its head back up and continued their conversation as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

 How am I supposed to even unpack that—? Fabric surrounded him as he was carried to a tent, two guards standing on either side. The merruff set him down, backing up before making a series of clicks to one of the guards and disappearing somewhere further in the encampment.

 Maddox perked his head up, quickly glancing around his small cut of the outside world for that recognizable green cap. On the good end, it was in clear view, right across the camp in fact. On the bad end, it was right across the camp, across the massive sea of open plain. A dark, land-dwelling fox traversing through crowds of brightly-colored, armored merruffs during daylight hours. That would go well.

 Well— it wasn’t daylight hours, the sun beginning to dip further past the horizon  and casting a dark orange, almost red hue. Perhaps he could’ve gotten away hopping from tent to tent, but it could take hours going the long route and held too many risks. Maddox looked along the fabric of the tent, feeling for any tears or weathered areas he could scratch through. A growl sent a shiver down his spine, whipping his head around to the oncoming foe. 

 The guard opened her maw, teeth bared as he sharply inhaled before letting out a long, drawn-out yawn. Her tongue ran over her snout, lifting a delicate claw to pick at her teeth.

 Oh. 

 Turning back to his short investigation, he crept as close behind one of the guards as he felt comfortable and gave a small sniff at the edge of the tent. Pushing his nose against the tarp, there was something hard on the other side, a flat surface with sharp edges. It stunk of finishing wax. According to Percy’s documentation, it was of poor quality.

 Padding along the edge, not a single inch of the tent was ripped, there was no dip that he could squeeze underneath, it almost seemed like his entire cell was surrounded by what he assumed were more wooden crates. Nothing can be easy, can it? Fine, he’d use the insect. Widening his stance, the fox backed up to the very end of the tent. His focus flickered between the guards, ensuring they wouldn’t look before squeezing his eyes shut and changing form.

 —and changing form. Come on. Change. Maddox looked around, for once agitated he wasn't growing any smaller. He should be sitting on a blade of grass or flapping his paper-thin wings and fluttering his way over to Kip’s hat. He raised a paw to stamp it only to quickly settle it back down. Right, guards. There wasn’t a single reason he shouldn’t have a face full of fuzz and quirked antennae sticking out of his head. At least… not if he hadn’t been tampered with. Trench had said something about being poked at during their jailbreak. Finding himself unable to use his form when he’d needed it. That conch… Unless they measured doses, which he was positive they didn’t, it would be an indefinite amount of time before he could use his single form again. 

 Already having to flee through the forest, slither through a warren, getting chomped on by some fish-breath, and now he couldn’t use his form. It was a miracle he wasn’t popping a blood vessel by now. The temptation was there, but for once he’d control that agitation and let it steam inside his mind. Impulsivity wouldn’t get him anywhere, and it definitely wouldn’t get him that hat.

 The ‘armor’ was perfectly fine though, silky fabric glittering and just as bouncy as ever. Not a single stain or tear, even the thin lace looked fresh off the press. Fleck… she picked it out. She hadn’t said anything, poor thing. However, something else was definitely up with her, given time to pause there was finally a chance to ponder. The ‘armor’ should have been destroyed by now, at the very least the pale-colored fabric should be black with muck and grit. Sylvie has that enchanted silk, did Fleck do the same for me? That would be the most thoughtful thing anyone did for him, so surely that wasn’t the case. Perhaps it was just the textile, but that wouldn’t fly for the cloth constantly smudging dirt with each pawstep. Even if she did… What did that even save me? Doing laundry?

 “Oh my great Augustus!!” A shrill voice shrieked, the guards snapping their heads up. A short merruff bounced towards them, round eyes locked onto Maddox as a squeaky giggle escaped him. Their armor clattered as they dashed into his tent, the fox instinctively pushing himself into the ground in a harsh cower. He giggled again, the guards quickly following him into the tent.

 “Vera! What do you think you’re doing—” The male guard snorted, lifting a paw only for Vera to grab him by the shoulders in a violent shake.

 “It's another fan!” Shoving him away, the merruff sat on his hindlegs and grabbed Maddox under his arms. His feet left the ground, unable to even snap a word out before he too was ragdolled around. “Shellback Mysteria!”

 “Shellback—” The other guard stepped up, squinting at the fox through her helm before her eyes snapped open. “My whiskers! It is!”

 Vera gasped, twisting his head over as the two stared at each other before falling into a fit of squeals. “Oh my goodness! You never told me you were a Shellback Mysteria fan!”

 “You think I could just admit that in front of the entire platoon like that?” They shared more laughs, hopping on the tips of their feet. “I still have all my figures—”

 “In the package, mint quality?”

 “Mint quality!” Another cackle, playfully shoving and pawing at each other in spiked, hazardous armor. Vera set a sickened Maddox down, pulling and fidgeting with the lace and silk of his much more friendly ‘armor’. “It’s soooo pretty!” He pursed his lip. “Are we keeping this one? I can’t just let another fan go to waste like this.” He jabbed the nebulruff’s stomach, knocking him over. “It’s even a land-lover! You never see a land-lover showing their Mysteria pride like this.”

 “You don’t, you don’t!” The tertiary guard took his place back near the entrance, periodically glancing at the two in serious concern. The female guard scooped him back up, grinning widely as those large fangs that protruded from her yawning jaw were shoved into his spinning visual. “It even looks custom fit, you must be some super fan or something! Tell me, what is your favorite act?”

 “Uh—...”

 “It’s gotta be when she used her magic bow to summon her super-ultra-mega-radioactive-glitterstorm broadsword to send her arch-nemesis into the Penumbra Realm! The actor’s were so expressive, and the actress for Shadow Shellback Mysteria even broke her arm just to sell the shot-... It was the act to play in Mira’s summer palace for its very first showing— and she loved it, I know she did!”

 “Yeah, that one.”

 His ears pinned at the piercing squeal that followed, Maddox wincing until giving a loud “Oomph!” as he was dropped to the ground. The pair’s chatter felt endless, momentarily breaking to look at Maddox hopefully only to fall into another fit of glee whenever he nodded or shook his head. He glanced around the tent, now these two were just dragging along this whole escaping process— and he was positive it would end terribly if they discovered he hadn’t a single clue what they were gnashing their teeth about. 

 “I have got to tell Pep— he is going to freak out!” Vera was quickly tailed by the other, the guard only hesitating as he bounded out to the middle of the encampment. He looked around, wagging tail and wide grin slowly beginning to falter. He took a few steps in one direction, glancing around before trying to pad over somewhere else. The female guard paused, her own brows furrowing.

 “What’s wrong?” She shouted, her companion seeing mostly unbothered. Probably just tuned them out by now—

 “He’s not anywhere near his usual post, he’s always sitting by the medical tent for his shift.”

  After a long beat, the guard’s voice pitched to something more thoughtful. “Maybe he went out hunting for those prisoners? I think I saw him with two others—”

 “Pyxis! General! General!” A voice echoed to his left, somewhere far within the bounds of his tent vision. The whiskered merruff immediately flew by the tent, waking the dozing guard while the other gaze a frightened yelp. He was tailed by a small party, weaponry secured by their sides ready for action.

 “That sounded like him—!” Vera was already chasing after them, the female guard giving a quick shove of the other before following him.

 The guard scoffed, glaring at her for a solid ten seconds before fixing his crooked helmet and staring off into the camp. The outburst had caught attention, nearly half of the patrolling merrs starting to collect near the edge of the camp while others stayed by their posts or continued their mundane tasks. Now would be the perfect time to act, if only he had a single inkling on what to act upon. Those merruffs tossing him around had not helped his migraine, swearing stars were still swirling over his head. Maddox scooched forward, trying to peek at the bumbling commotion that only seemed to grow until pawsteps grew louder and he ducked back into the shadow. 

 A stocky merruff walked past his tent, a harness tied around his chest and abdomen. He dragged a shabby raft behind him, walking beside the tent and out of his vision. A strain grunt sounded, the thud of wood careening down and being dropped on top of eachother bringing Maddox closer. He sat close to the wall, careful not to brush against the fabric as the merruff stocked up his make-shift sled. The shadow outlined in the fabric grew smaller, small bits of metal clinking together and the moving blur of the merruff moved away.  The nebulruff followed as much as he could, still keeping himself firmly planted behind his dedicated captor who’d begun to doze off once again. The merruff dragged it over to the supply tent, unhooking himself from the raft to start picking crates up by thick leather handles and stacking them on top of eachother. He’d brush past the barrel holding Kip’s hat, Maddox’s ears shivering. That could be it, that could be his way out of here— at least his way to the hat. To the only clue to his son’s whereabouts.

 Now all he needed to do was figure out how.

 The nebulruff quickly moved back towards the wall, paws moving along the dirt until he felt the hard, packed texture soften. Anywhere would work, but this would make it easier. He glanced behind him, ensuring no one was watching before starting to scrap his paws against the ground. He had a short amount of time before everyone pooled back into the camp, and even then, all it took was the one guard watching him to ruin everything. He pushed scoops behind him, paws delicate in their movement as they created a small burrow. A small breath of wind hit his moving paws, Maddox checking over his shoulder once more before shoving his nose underneath the flap. His nose twitched, hickory and wax stronger until the side of his snout bumped into a wooden surface. Perfect. 

 Pulling back, he pushed more dirt out of the way, periodically squeezing his head to see how far he had left to dig. These guards are absolutely pathetic… Seriously, did they know nothing about the cunning fox? A puff of pride laced with cockiness warmed his chest, growing a bit more forceful with his scrapping pawfuls until his head and ears could peek out from under the tent. Flattening out his body, he squirmed and writhed until his shoulders squeezed under. Using his forepaws to drag himself out, the fabric of the ‘armor’ would only let out a small hiss as it brushed against the tent. 

 He shook his pelt out, giving a quick scan of his surroundings. To his left, a field that led to tall grass before a harsh cut of forestry. Standing in front of and behind him were shabby tents, their contents unknown and honestly not his problem. To the right, jackpot. Stacks of crates were built high, Maddox started to hop from crate to crate in search of an opening. They were all nailed shut, any scraps or dents not severe enough for a fox to take advantage of. At least not in the time restraint he was currently working with. Peeking over the edge, the stocky merruff had dropped off his final box and was beginning to latch himself back up to the raft.

 How delightful— Cutting his own complaint short, the nebulruff tried to speed up the process, staying on the opposite end of the pile as the merruff began his trek back. His claws scratched against the wooden, vainfully hoping something would give, that a single one of these stupid boxes would just have another loose nail. Maddox pushed and shoved, not even moving any of them a single inch in hopes of creating a spontaneous den. He managed to squish his shoulders between two crates at the back of the pile, but the crinoline of his ‘armor’ stuck out like a sore thumb. Backing up, he peeked over the crates once again. The merr had made it a third of the way across. 

 The lethality of running across an open field while a majority of the merruffs armed to the teeth would absolutely be able to see shiny pink fabric in the growing darkness was looking more and more appetizing. Maybe he could just wait this round, hide back in his cell and give himself more time to make a more thorough plan now that he knew what was around him.

 At least, that's what he was thinking before he tried to wriggle back under the tent. His snout pushed the fabric but came to an abrupt stop as his head tried to move under. No matter how much he nudged or tried to manhandle his own skull underneath the thin opening, he couldn’t get back inside. The fluttery, sharp drop of anxiety stabbing through his chest gave rise to the rhythmic thump of his heartbeat in his ears.  He couldn’t get in a crate, he couldn’t get back into the safety of the tent, and he—... He’d have to run. He had to run and hope he could sneak back in to get that hat even if that. They knew Percival was with Kip, that was the only reason his scent was on it! If they could read the scent, then it had to have dropped only a few days before they got here, right? Yeah, yeah they were close enough and he could figure it out. They’d just have to travel faster, Trench and Sylvie wouldn’t mind, it was just… her… that would whine and complain about it. But that was three versus one, so it was fine. It was all fine. 

 Maddox took a few bounds before looking at the ‘armor’ strapped around him, this—... this was the root of his problem. That idiotic little girl had set him up for failure knowingly,just to make fun of him. It was her fault, if she’d just left him alone it would be fine, he’d be out by now with the hat. He fixed his teeth around one of the gloves, ripping his head back to tear it off. It was more durable than he was expecting, the fabric standing strong as his teeth gnashed and chewed. Ok, fine, maybe those were meant to deal with all the terrain he would be walking through. Twisting his head back, the nebulruff tumbled and writhed along the ground, squirming against the ground as he bit and pawed at anything he could reach. The ‘armor’ was persistent, unyielding no matter how many times he tore his head back trying to just make a single rip. In the small flash of the innards of the camp as he chased his own tail, the merruff had made it another third, one more and Maddox would be kaput. It only made his snarling and bites more erratic, more frantic with dirt being flicked into the air. It’s even worse than a wire-trap! He’d rather deal with the constricting pain of steel around his throat than this stupid, dingy, well-made ‘armor’ making everything so much harder for him. Inspired, Maddox’s paw dug into the collar as he stretched his head up in some attempt to do… something. Get out of the ‘armor’, but it wasn’t doing much. 

 “Is someone there?” A foreign rumble sent a cold shudder down his spine, pawsteps growing more frequent as the merruff picked up the pace. More and more pairs thrummed in his ears like drums of war, voices starting to pick up as the curious merruffs pooled back into the encampment.

 Maddox slithered back into the shadows, desperately pawing at his neck. He tugged at the silk ribbons of the bows that ran down his chest, the scent of saltwater hitting his nose while another “Hey-...” sounded closer. His paw ran over the small, pink bow at the forefront, pressing down to grab it— 

 Glitter fell to the ground, disappearing into the soil as the cold touch of grass sent shivers up his stomach. He felt… compressed, looking around with a few extra inches of height. He looked down at his paws, or, the severe lack of them. His heart twisted, fur standing on end while he tried to get a single glimpse of his own body. The cold against his stomach would never leave, even when he tried to stand it was ever persistent. The merruff came into view, eyes washing over him with a raised brow. The soldier brushed past him, looking behind the tents and giving a quick glance to the open field before shrugging. “Eh, must’ve been the wind or somethin’.”

 Maddox felt another spike of horror as the soldier bee-lined towards him, opening his maw and taking a hold of his scruff. He thumped against the other’s chest, carried until he was dropped off on the raft. His muscles bunched, immediately making an attempt to run, but he was frozen in place. Even as the merruff stacked more and more crates and that fear melted into confusion, he couldn’t move. What…? The thud of wood above him made him twist his head up, looking at the underside of a wooden crate that should be currently crushing him to death. It didn’t, sitting neatly above him while another pile was created. Beside him were even more, fitting like a perfect puzzle piece on the makeshift raft surrounded by boxes and merruffs who would most definitely be seeing him by now.

 After a few more beats, the merruff hooked himself back up and began to drag them through the encampment. Merrs of all shapes and sizes walked past them, not even giving Maddox a passing glance as he was brought to the supply tent. On the way, the familiar sight of Vera being followed by the female guard came into view as they broke from the slew of merruffs returning to their posts. They split off, the guard trotting over to the holding tent and shaking the other awake. She must’ve said something, the other nodding as he puffed his chest out and took a more professional stance. The guard pulled away, running to beat his carrier to the supply tent and meeting the one currently taking post. 

 His carrier reached there just a few moments after, starting to unload crates. The female guard made a series of clicks, the other nodded and raised to their paws. He grabbed his pike, walking off elsewhere while she switched places and settled beside the barrel holding Kip’s hat. She was just a little in front of it, thankfully. It wouldn’t be hard to just yoink it from the top and slither away, Maddox knew he had the paws to do the job. 

 His carrier grabbed his scruff, reaching up to settle him at the top of a pile before turning around to grab another. Okay… maybe that girl isn’t as stupid as I said… but couldn’t she make the ‘armor’ more… practical? There was no other explanation for it, someway, somehow, he’d been turned into a crate. The cramped feeling, that had to be some form of… shielding? Cloaking? There was absolutely the question exactly how this all worked and why on earth Fleck nor Lily had said anything, but again, that could be pondered later. It took much longer that he hoped for the guard to unload all the crates, taking his sweet time latching the harness back up and making his way back towards the diminishing pile. 

 Now… how do I turn back— As soon as the thought was uttered, another puff of glitter surrounded him and disappeared just a few seconds after. He could finally look down to see his paws, the rough texture of wood against his paws with his tail brushing against more crates behind him. Maddox slinked down the crates, sticking to the shadows while he padded along the wall of the tent and reached the barrel. The frog hat had been through it, stained with muck, one of the eyes having been chewed through. Straw stabbed into the fabric, giving it a prickly look as darkness finally began to swallow the encampment. Good, now was his best chance to run. His eyes fixed on the back of the guard's head, her finned tail curling around the bottom edge of the barrel. Keeping his steps light, careful not to brush against the grass in high steps, Maddox set a paw against the barrel and craned his neck up. The taste of mud hit his tongue, nipping the remaining eye of the hat and slowly dragging it from the barrel. As soon as the majority had been successfully removed, he gave a quick push off the barrel and balanced on his hindlegs. Waddling back, Maddox pulled himself back up the pile of crates and crawled to the very back of the tent. A thin strip of land was all he had to work with, it was all he needed. Dropping down, his ear strained for any breathing or pawsteps nearby. 

 …

 There was nothing, things were finally looking up. This time he wouldn’t have to worry about it being a one-way street, easily digging underneath the tent and dragging both himself and the hat out into the field. Yellow, piercing eyes shone through the dark, carrying the frog hat between his jaws while the fox darted for the tall grass. Looking over his back, excitement tingled his paws at the oblivious fishheads behind him. They’d trail over to a knucker dragon spreading its wings, the other of the pair he’d seen earlier. In its container… phoelines. His paws skidded against the ground, Maddox stopping just before the grass raised high over his head. He turned to face them, spacedust growing softly in a conglomerate of colors. Phoelines of all shapes, colors, and ages. Kittens latching onto the adults, withered elders laying flat against the surface of the glass. Muzzles were strapped over their faces, the nebulruffs eyes widening as he made eye contact with one of the adults. Her entire body had a dim glow, stars littering her pelt with just the tip of her nose being covered in fur. She stared into his soul, face jaunty with bones peeking out from her cheeks.

 Maddox backed up, at a loss for words before whirling around and making a mad dash into the grass and soon enough, the forest.