The Fox and the Hound

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The Fox and the Hound

This story, as the title suggests, is an adaptation of the Disney film, The Fox and the Hound. I had recently watched it, and wanted to replace the animal characters with humans, and tell it in the setting of a medieval kingdom. I'm sure it's been done before, but I WANNA DO IT TOO! So there. Not really sure what I'm doing, but it will happen.

I don't even know if anyone will read this. If you are reading, feel free to tell me so and/or comment HERE

 

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Prologue
A forgotten Encounter

The night was clear and cold, the cloudless sky sucking away any warmth from the torches and bonfires that dotted the crowded Bailey town. The streets were mostly empty, save the scattered latecomer heading home from a long day at the docks, or the mines, or the bakery, blacksmith, or carpenter's. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was safe, as the Bailey usually was. There was hardly any need for the Provost Guard to be out, though they kept a few officers out to patrol the streets. It was an easy job. Nothing went wrong in the Bailey.

Down the hill, past the Bailey gates, and past a few other quiet settlements, was another town, closer to the river. The housing there was more than a little less than luxurious, mostly built of the drift that washed through the river after a storm. Here, the streets were alive all hours of the day. While the sun was up, bustling business went about, a shanty of a market place bubbled with haggles and gossip. The docks were roiling with testosterone, river skips docking and pulling out, fish being carted from them, and barrels of supplies being carted back. It was just as loud there as it was in the market, shouts and calls, sailors looking for temporary work on an outgoing ship, not to mention the riverfront taverns strategically placed to lure in tired ship hands.

Indeed, Riverton was a bustling place during the day, but at night it was no less active. Shady dealings and street performers came out at night, using the dark to mask their sticky fingers and itching palms.

As the torches were being lit to keep the creeping darkness away, a detachment of Provost Guards came marching through the portcullis and through the main street, disrupting the night life's preparation for that night. However, they were not there to keep the pickpockets and swindlers from their gain. No, they were after a specific target. The whereabouts of a rather notorious thief had been uncovered. He was the guards' intended target; The Emerald Fox. Rumor was that the Emerald Fox never missed a mark, and was never caught. No one even knew who the Fox was. He was the quickest, cleverest, and stealthiest man alive, with the acrobatic skill that rivaled cats and mice. The only thing about the Fox that everyone knew, aside from his reputation, was that he had the most stunning green eyes anyone had ever seen, with flecks of coppery gold littered in them, as if someone had sprinkled stardust in his eyes when he was born. The guard passed through town, making their way to a group of houses overlooking the docks.

Inside one of the dockside apartments, a tired couple tended to an wailing infant. He had been sleeping soundly, his parents turning out the candles and adding some chips to the embers of the fire to keep the poorly insulated apartment warm. This was to be their last night in this rat hole. They were moving up to the Bailey to start a life as a blacksmith. The one there was getting on in years, and had no apprentice.

The infant began his fit, having woken from presumably a nightmare. His mother came and scooped him up, shushing him and rocking him gently, doing her best to calm the lad. The father went to the fire, a pot of milk in his hands and placed the pot on the embers, warming the milf to give to the child to save his wife's poor, sore breasts from another night of suckling. Their son was beginning to calm down.

A hard knock at the door startled them all, starting the child crying all over again. The mother looked at the door, her heart fluttering. She nodded to her husband, to which he stood and came to the door, opening it a crack, "Who comes to my door at this time?" He asked, peeking out. The door was rammed open, shoving him back. He was not a heavy man, slim and fit, lean as a cat. He certainly fit the build.

"Nathan Benbow, The Emerald Fox, you are under arrest for suspicion of grand larceny, breaking and entering, obstruction of the law and avoiding and resisting arrest on numerous accounts. You and your family are under arrest." Stated one of the four guards that had entered the room.

"What?!" Cried the accused, Nathan, "That's ridiculous! The Emerald Fox is a myth! You Dogs aught to know that!" He spat, using the common term for the Provost Guard. He away as the men approached. He glanced at his wife, clutching the whimpering baby in her arms. With a flick of his wrist, Nathan had a dagger in his hand, "Rebecca, run! Take Kale and Run!" He yelled and lunged at the men arresting them. There was a scuffle, odds were against Nathan, but Rebecca did as her husband had told her, clutching her baby closely, she jumped out of the window. She turned to run down the street, but the Dogs had seen that coming, and had posted someone at the window. This man was new to the force, but capable, and when he saw the woman come out of the window, he got his baton out. "Don't make this worse for yourself. Come quietly and you and your child will likely go free."

"You know nothing then!" Rebecca growled, knowing a truth the Dog obviously did not. "There is no mercy at the court." She lashed out with her own concealed dagger, cutting the lad above the eye,turning and running the other way, the young guard taking after her. She was fast, and weaved through the maze of alleys with ease. She obviously knew these back streets like her own house, so well so that the young pursuer was having trouble keeping up with her. She kept running, strait out of Riverton and up the hill to one of the smaller settlements below the Bailey.

The houses here were spread about, crops and animal pens taking up most of the space between housing. Rebecca was running out of breath. She had to stop. Looking behind her, she could hear the Hound on her tail. He was nothing if not diligent. Little Kale was still crying, and he was sure to give her away. She bundled him up and shushed him. It was the running. It was too much jostling for him to take. She had to set him down. A quick scan of the area and she knew what to do. Running into a carrot patch, she set her baby boy in the cover of the carrot tops, next to a fence post to mark where he was for when she came back for him. She refused to think that something would happen to prevent her from returning to him. She kissed his forehead, her emerald eyes glimmering with tears she refused to shed. He looked up at her, his eyes the same as hers. He had his mother's eyes, the brightest green anyone had ever seen, with a sprinkle of stardust.

She left him, and ran for the woods that surrounded the eastern side of the farming settlement, the Provost Dog catching sight of her and giving chase once more. Baby Kale lay bundled in his blanket at the bottom of that fence post, surrounded in the leafy greens of the carrot tops. His mother never returned.