Open Vulpinsula & Surroundings The Trenches The Challenge

[Silvertongue Songfox]

(Anyone can join)

The Trenches. It was kind of intimidating seeing such tall buildings. Tight, narrow streets. But none of it bothered Silvertongue. He felt as if he was soaring through the air. His heart swelled in his chest. He felt a song coming on! Well... he was a Songfox after all. Taking his lute, he started to pluck a lively tune as he walked, swaying back and forth and slipping past beasts who walked the busy road. The sound of his music- and the song- would reach it's intended destination far before he would. Silvertongue could throw his voice quite a ways away after all.

Skipping onto the sidewalk, Silvertongue stowed his lute away, taking out his locket and looking at his family portrait.

"Father, if you're listenin', doesn't this just blow your miiiiiiind?" He asked in his sing-songy voice.

"I was on a mission, this is what I'd have left behiiiiiiiind!" He placed the locket back in it's spot around his neck. "I'll miss you everday, but seek a little stranger than usual and you will find-"

Silvertongue walked past a vixen dragging three kits behind her. "Life, beyond all comprehension!"

Then, he walked past a vendor selling those wretched fish sticks. "A mess on multiple occasions!"

Silvertongue looked up at the sky. "A little unconventional, I knoooooooow!"

Silvertongue finally arrived at his destination. A little blacksmith's shop. And there. He could see Swifttail hard at work, lifting some boxes. He felt the warmth in his chest only grow hotter.

"But, Father, I'm hoooooooooome!" He called out, grabbing a pole and swinging about it. "I'm hoooooooome!"

Silvertongue sang out for Swifttail, for anybeast who would hear, for the whole world, for the Empress herself. He didn't care who listened. As his spinning came to a stop, he focused on Swifttail, leaning on the pole. "I'm home~"

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

The faint strains of music reached Swifttail long before the singer did. At first, he barely noticed, head bowed and shoulders tense beneath the weight of the crate in his paws. But as the tune grew louder, winding through the narrow streets, a warmth stirred in his chest. Familiar, almost dangerous in how it made his pulse quicken.

He hefted the crate onto a stack near the forge, brushing sawdust from his tunic as the song came closer still. And then, in the corner of his eye, he caught the bard. Silvertongue, swinging about a pole, voice spilling into every window and doorway as if the whole world were his stage.

Swifttail froze, ears flicking, and quickly glanced about for his employer. No sign. With a furtive breath, he set the crate aside and slipped from the shopfront, his steps lighter now, betraying the grin tugging at his muzzle.

"Silvie!" he blurted at last, tail twitching with contained energy. "It’s great seein’ ye’! What brings ye’ ‘round singin’ like a lark as ye are?"

His voice was bright, eager, though his body still carried that nervous lean, as if half-expecting to be caught slacking, or worse, caught openly welcoming the bard he’d thought of far too often since Urk.

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"What else but you, Swiftie? Just the mere thought of seeing you again caused a song to spill forth from my lips, like a babbling brook!" Silvertongue smiled warmly, pulling Swifttail suddenly into his arms and spinning him about. This was the first time he had seen his companion since departing from The Golden Hide, and the young bard fully intended to make up for lost time.

He leaned in and planted a kiss on Swifttails muzzle. He didn't care who saw, or protested. Who were they to say who he could and couldn't love? How he was supposed to love someone? They could go burn in Hellgates for all he cared.

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

The world blurred as Silvertongue swept him up, and Swifttail let out a half-laugh, half-gasp, paws instinctively clutching at the bard’s shoulders. For a heartbeat, he felt weightless. Then the kiss landed warm and sudden, with so much more feeling than he’d dared to imagine since they’d parted ways on the Golden Hide.

His heart soared. All those long days of menial labor just to rent that shabby little room upstairs felt worth it, if this was the moment waiting for him. The bard had come here, just to see him. To spin him about like some cherished prize, to kiss him in the open street without a care for who watched.

Swifttail leaned into it without hesitation, muzzle tingling, ears burning, a grin threatening to split his face in two.

And then the tiniest flicker of reality crept back in. His eyes darted, quick as a sparrow, to the forge’s doorway. Thankfully, no beast was there. He swallowed, tail twitching nervously, then pressed closer to Silvertongue as if that alone might hide him from the world.

“Silvie…” His voice was hushed, trembling with joy. “Ye’ don’t know what it means… seein’ ye’ here. I missed ye’ somethin’ awful.”

The words came out thick, sincere. He gave a breathless laugh, unable to stop smiling, even as his ears flicked toward the forge again. “But...Gates, if my master sees us…”

 

[Silvertongue and Greeneye]

"If your Master, sees, so what?" Silvertongue scoffed. "You're allowed to take a little break." He smiled. "If he wants to try and give you trouble. I'll just say I'm a customer. Doesn't mean I actually have to buy something. No policy against looky-loos, is there?"

"There ye are." A sudden voice butted into the conversation. A deep growl, as Greeneye rounded the corner.

"O-oh! Greeneye!" Silvertongue yelped, quickly stepping away from Swifttail. "I- uh- what are you doing here? I thought you were- you know- drinking all of our money away!" He laughed awkwardly. "I really wish you'd stop. Drinking booze."

"Don't try an' change the conversation." Greeneye sneered. "I know everyfink."

"Well, I have no idea what you could be possibly talking about." Silvertongue retorted.

Greeneye pointed to the amulet hanging around Swifttail's neck. "Ye've worn that stupid charm every day of yer life. I ain't ever seen ye take it off once- not even fer yer stinkin' daily baths, and suddenly he has it? I ain't STUPID, Silvertongue!" He snarled.

"N-now, Greeneye, let's be calm here!" Silvertongue held out his paws. This is exactly what he had feared. Greeneye had a temper just as bad as his father's.

"Calm? Calm?! Ye've been pretendin' ye still love me- while goin' and seein' yer new boyfriend behind me back! I SAVED YER LIFE!" Greeneye stepped forward. "I fought of a stark ravin' mad badger while you weeped and whined over yer dear daddy's dead body! I sailed across the seas fer years on end, wif me farder breathin' down me neck, fer yew!" Greeneye's chest heaved. He had sacrificed so much for Silvertongue, and now the bastard was tossing him aside like yesterday's trash.

"Of course, Greeneye, and I owe you my life! But- it's complicated- things change- we can still be friends-" Silvertongue stammered.

"Things change?! THINGS CHANGE?!" Greeneye bellowed. "We had dreams, didn't we?! What about 'em? We was gonna settle down, ye had it all planned out! We'd have a farm, grow our own food, trade and barter!" Greeneye said mockingly. "Does it all mean nofink now that some other fox bat his eyelashes at ye?!"

"You leave Swifttail out of this!" Silvertongue stepped forward. "I'm the one that came onto him first."

It was clear the two of them were going to keep bickering back and forth.

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s grin widened at Silvertongue’s scoff, a little laugh bubbling up despite himself. “Well then,” he teased, eyes glinting, “let me show ye’ my wares, then!”

The words had barely left his muzzle when the growl cut through the street.

Swift’s heart plummeted as Greeneye rounded the corner, and in a blink the warmth of the moment was swallowed by shouting. Silvertongue stepped forward, Greeneye bellowed, and suddenly it felt like the whole of Bully Harbor was watching. Swift stood frozen, ears flat, tail lashing, every muscle tight with the urge to melt into the cobbles.

“Gates, both o’ ye. Please!” he burst out at last, raising his paws in a vain attempt to calm the storm. “I ain’t lookin’ for beasts fightin’ in the street over me.”

His eyes flicked anxiously toward the smithy door. What if his master came out? But the sneer in Greeneye’s words struck deep, and before he could stop himself, Swift snapped back with a low mutter.

“An’ if ye’d treated him better… maybe he wouldn’t’ve come lookin’ fer me in the first place.”

The heat in his voice betrayed him, ears burning with equal parts shame and defiance. The words hung there, impossible to take back.

 

[Silvertongue and Greeneye]

Greeneye turned his ire towards Swifttail. "What was that?"

"Greeneye, enough." Silvertongue stepped in between the two of them.

Greeneye glared at Silvertongue. He stood in angry silence. "So, which one of us is it gonna be, huh? Me or him?"

Silvertongue grimaced. He stepped back and stood firmly by Swifttail, taking his paw and squeezing it.

Greeneye's eye twitched. "This ain't over." He pointed to Swifttail. "I challenge ye for Silvertongue's paw. In a weeks time, if'n 'e ain't changed his mind. Sword to sword combat. First to draw blood from the other wins."

"Excuse me. I'm right here!" Silvertongue exclaimed. "And perfectly capable of making my own decisions!"

"Silvertongue, do me a favor an' shut der Hells up." Greeneye snapped, before turning to Swifttail. "Do ye accept my challenge, or are ye a yellow-bellied coward?"

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s ears shot up at Greeneye’s words, the challenge ringing in his head like a hammer strike on iron. His first instinct was to shrink, to step back, to let Silvertongue’s bright voice carry the fight for him. But when Greeneye’s snarl cut across Silvie, something in Swift cracked.

He stepped forward before he knew what he was doing, eyes blazing.

“Don’t talk to him like that.”

His tail lashed, words spilling from him in a rush, hotter than he’d meant. “All I’ve ever seen is ye’ usin’ Silv like a dishrag. If’n you truly cared, ye’d not see him as a prize t’be won.”

The words hung in the air, daring Greeneye to deny them. Swift turned then, heart pounding, eyes finding Silvertongue’s. His breath caught in his throat. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want blood spilled over love. But the thought of backing down now felt worse.

“But if this is what it takes,” he breathed, the plea in his gaze for Silvie as much as the words were for Greeneye, “then yer on.”

Only when the words were out did the full weight of them crash down on him. His chest felt tight, paws trembling. Gates, what was he doing!?

 

[Silvertongue and Greeneye]

Greeneye grinned at the two of them. “Week’s time from today.” He repeated. “When der sun is in der middle of the sky. That’s when we’ll duel.” He said.

“Now, hold on-.” Silvertongue stepped forward. “Where would we even do it?! I’m almost certain fighting in the street would get us arrested!”

Greeneye laughed. “I’ll let yew two figure that out. I’m sure you’ll pass it along to me, Silvie.”

Greeneye turned and he sauntered away, the threat of the challenge hanging in the air like a storm cloud.

Silvertongue turned to Swifttail, taking his paws in his own. “Swifttail, I- I’m so sorry. About him, about everything.” His ears were flat against his head. “What are we going to do? Greeneye is such an experienced fighter…”

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s legs gave out the moment Greeneye’s back vanished down the street. He stumbled to the side, sinking against the wall of the smithy, paws trembling as if he’d just held hot iron too long. The fire in his eyes was gone, replaced by wide, frightened disbelief.

“Hells’ teeth…” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Silvie, what’ve I done? I can’t... Gates, I can’t fight him. I’ve swung a hammer, aye, but never a sword!”

He buried his face briefly in his paws, ears flat, tail curling tight against him.

“I don’t want t’lose ye,” he admitted in a rush, eyes glistening as he met Silvertongue’s. “But if this is how he means to take ye from me… I’m terrified, Silv. Terrified.”

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

“No, no.” Silvertongue got down on his knees, grabbing Swifttail and pulling him close, holding the fox against his chest. “Don’t be scared. That’s what he wants. He wants you to be so scared that you’ll give up. But you can’t.”

He hung his head in shame. “I enabled his behavior for far too long… but, at the time… we were living among pirates, he did everything to keep me safe. I’m not saying what he’s doing is right… I should have just spoken up sooner. I had never thought about it…”

A sudden realization seemed to strike Silvertongue. “Swifttail. You said you can’t fight. That’s not true. You have to fight. You might have to fight him alone, but I never heard him say you have to prepare for it by yourself.”

Silvertongue pulled Swifttail up. “We’ll need to train you to become an expert swordsbeast in a week’s time. And we’ll need a doctor on sight for the aftermath of the fight. We need allies. Friends, Swifttail.” Silvertongue smiled warmly. “We have friends that can help us.”

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s breath hitched as Silvertongue’s arms closed around him, pulling him against his warm neck fur. The trembling didn’t stop, but it eased just enough for him to unclench his paws from his muzzle and lean into the bard’s hold. The shame burned almost as hot as his fear.

“Silvie… I’m sorry,” he murmured, voice ragged. “Sorry I let him talk like ye’re some prize t’be fought over. That ain’t how I see ye. Not ever.”

His ears drooped, tail curling tight, the words tumbling out unbidden. “But Gates, I’m no swordsbeast… never been. If I step onto that street, he’ll carve me up. I can’t win.”

But Silvertongue’s words sank in, tugging him upright, bit by bit. He, for once, had friends he could fall back on in his time of need. Swift blinked, heart still hammering but a spark of hope cutting through the fog.

He swallowed hard, then nodded. “Yer right… Darragh’s a brawler. He knows how t’duck ‘n’ weave. An’ Kaii…” A flicker of respect colored his tone. “…Kaii comes from a line of weaponsmiths. He’d know how a blade’s meant t’be held.”

He straightened, still pale, still shaking, but trying. His paw tightened in Silvertongue’s.

“Aye, mate… I kin at least try.”

A sudden bang and the clatter of iron rang out from inside the smithy, snapping Swifttail’s ears upright. He flinched, heart lurching all over again. The one-eyed weasel was returning, his heavy pawsteps carrying toward the front.

Swift’s chest tightened. The warmth of Silvertongue’s embrace felt suddenly dangerous in the threat of his master’s glare. Reluctantly, he slipped back, paws trembling as he put space between them, though his eyes lingered on the bard.

“Where kin’ I find ye’ around sunset?” he whispered quickly, voice hoarse but urgent. “We must find our friends post-haste.”

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue sensed the fear, the worry. The urgency in his voice. Was this master of his really such a terrible beast? He would have to look into it later. He quickly pulled Swifttail to his feet. "There is an old fortune teller's shop. Called the Botanica Magica." Silvertongue explained. "I will be outside of that shop come sunset. I can draw you a quick map of how to get there." He pulled a piece of paper from his satchel, and a charcoal pencil, holding the paper flat against the wall and scribbling on it before handing it to Swifttail. "Now go. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me. Well... more trouble than what you're already in..."

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail’s ears drooped at Silvertongue’s parting words, shame pressing down harder than any weight he’d lifted that morning. “Aye, mate… see you then…” he whispered, the words thin, wilted.

The rest of the day ground him down like slag under hammer. Clinker took no mercy on his apprentice, barking at every hesitation, growling at each slip of paw or stutter of tongue. Swift’s mind was miles away, and the weasel knew it. Every strike of rebuke seemed meant to drive him deeper into the dirt. By the time dusk finally fell and the forge’s heat released him, Swift was a hollowed shell of himself, aching in body and spirit alike.

He trudged through the streets with the charcoal-scribbled map clutched in his paw, the promise of sunset long past. When at last he reached the old fortune-teller’s shop, the Botanica Magica, the horizon was washed in the last pale hues of pink and purple, stars beginning to prick the sky.

He stood there in the twilight, tunic soot-stained, fur mussed, stomach gnawing with hunger. More than anything, he looked like a scolded kit. Late, disheveled, and small beneath the weight of the day.

 

[Madame Lorelei]

Silvertongue was nowhere to be seen. But... he said he was going to be here. Come sunset. Those were his words. Sunset had come and gone, but wouldn't he had waited?

Swifttail's thoughts were interrupted as the door to the fortune teller's shop was thrown open. An elderly black vixen glared at Swifttail with one good eye, a glass eye glinting in the fading light. She wore an old white dress dotted with yellow stars and moons, covered with an orange shawl, and she leaned heavily on a cane adorned with feathers and other talismans.

"What are ye doin' out here? Ye look like ye crawled from the pits o' Hellgates itself! Get inside, afore ye catch yer death of cold!" She shook her cane threateningly at him, and motioned for him to come into her shop.

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail startled at the bang of the door, ears pinning back as the cane jabbed toward him. He shrank instinctively, tail curling close, eyes wide at the sight of the black vixen with her glinting glass eye. For a long moment he just stood there, chest tight, the weight of the day pressing down until it felt like his legs might give again.

Her words cut sharp, ordering him inside. Every instinct screamed to turn tail and flee... but then, through the fog, memory tugged at him. Silvie had spoken of this vixen before. His godmother!

Swift’s breath hitched, his shoulders loosening just slightly. If she was kin to Silvie, then she wasn’t a stranger to fear. She was family.

He dipped his head, voice rough and small. “Aye, ma’am… Silvie spoke of ye.”

With hesitant steps he shuffled forward, paws heavy, letting the strange-smelling warmth of the shop draw him in. If this was Silvie’s godmother, then he could trust her. He had to.

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"He did, did he?" The vixen asked with an eyebrow raised. "Then you should know that you are in the presence of the the marvelous, the magnificent, the magnanimous MADAME LORELEI!" She shouted, and held her paws up in the air, as if challenging the night itself to deny her claim. "Now, hurry, hurry. It's well beyond closing time." She placed a gnarled paw on his shirt and dragged him in, closing the door firmly behind her.

"Now come, child, sit. You must tell Madame Lorelei of your troubles. Since Silvertongue refuses to. He's a good boy, he 'doesn't want to worry an old vixen like me with such things', he says." The eldery vixen hobbled along, pulling Swifttail past shelves of knick-knacks, trinkets, and curios. Talismans and wards of the supernatural nature. Herbs hung from hooks and pots on the ceiling. She guided him to a table sitting near the back wall. With some effort, she lifted up a large crystal ball and moved it aside. "Take a seat, please." She said, before slipping into a back room. A moment later, she returned with a tray with a tea pot and some cups. She sat the tray down and started to pour tea, first for him, then herself. "This is a herbal remedy, it will not only warm your body, but it will soothe your spirit and mind."

Madame Lorelei sat down, with a wince- her old bones betraying her. She looked Swifttail up and down. He was a damned mess. But most importantly....

"That amulet. I gave that amulet to Silvertongue on the day he was born. Little more than a sniveling, mewling babe. His parents were worried sick he might choke himself, but I wouldn't let them take it. I wanted my godson to be safe from malicious spirits." Madame Lorelei leaned close, squinting. "You must mean the world to him if he gave it to you."

@SwifttailTheFox

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail startled as her gnarled paw hooked his collar, tugging him inside with surprising strength. He stumbled after her, ears pinned tight as she marched him past shelves of talismans and herbs, through air thick with incense and old dust. His muzzle opened when she asked of Silvertongue, but the words stuck fast.

Only once she’d sat him down at the small table, the steam of tea curling between them, did his shoulders sag. He cradled the cup between trembling paws. Her sharp eye caught him again, and when she spoke of the amulet, his gaze dropped to it at once.

“Aye… he gave it to me for protection,” Swift admitted softly. “Said it should guard me the same as it did him. I...I didn’t feel worthy, Marm, but I’ve worn it every day since.”

The words came halting at first, then tumbled faster, heavier.

“Silvie an’ me… we were aboard the Imperium’s ship, The Golden Hide. Out there he told me… told me he felt somethin’ fer me. An’ I...I felt the same. But he weren’t alone. He’s got a...a tod-friend already. A rat named Greeneye.”

Swift’s ears flattened further, voice trembling now with rising anger. “He treats Silvie like dirt. Always throwin’ it in his face how he saved ‘im, how Silvie owes ‘im. Usin’ that to chain him down, t’keep him from leavin’. An’ the bastard gambles off all their coin on top o’ it!”

He stopped, breath sharp, paws tightening around the teacup as though it were threatening to shatter it. He forced himself to steady, to breathe. His eyes glistened when he finally lifted them back to hers.

“I just want him t’be happy, Marm. T’be free of such horrible abuse… But Greeneye’s put it on me now. He means t’duel me fer Silvie’s paw. Sword to sword.” His throat tightened, but the words came anyway. “An’ I ain’t no fighter. How’m I supposed t’stand a chance against him?”

 

[Madame Lorelei]

Madame Lorelei squinted. Standing up, she walked over and looked Swifttail over once more. "So, it seems he got sick of that rat... good riddance, I say. Far too much like his father for my liking."

She prodded Swiftttail with her cane, poking his arms repeatedly. "You say you aren't a fighter, but it sounds to me you're gonna have to learn fast. Or will you just give up- just like that?" She leaned forward. "You may have to fight that Greeneye, but you'll have to work much harder for my approval, too. I won't have some weakling who can't protect him as his lover. If you want to be by his side, prove it. Get stronger. Learn to fight. Win that duel. You understand me?"

 

[SwifttailTheFox]

Swifttail squirmed under the old vixen’s squint, ears flattening as he nodded. Then she began poking him. At first he just endured it, shoulders hunched, but when the jabs seemed to not be letting up, he snapped, batting the stick aside with a paw.

“’Ey, quit it!” he blurted, sharper than he’d meant, tail lashing before curling tight again. His voice dropped, hoarse, his eyes still fixed on the floor. “I ain’t refusin’ t’fight… an' it’s only t’first blood. I don’t need t’gut him, just… just not be gutted meself.”

He swallowed, ears twitching with unease. “But a week, Marm? Gates, that’s no time at all. I ain’t got the skill, nor the training. Maybe… maybe Darragh could show me how t’duck an’ weave. An’ Kaii... aye, he knows weapons better’n most. They might help me find me paws quick enough.”

His paw curled tighter around the warm cup, the heat soaking into his trembling pads. Finally he looked up, eyes raw with fear and shame.

“I’ll try. I swear I’ll try. But I’m scared, Marm. Scared o’ lettin’ Silvie down… scared o’ lettin’ you down. An’ scared o’ facin’ him.”