TORIN YOUTH – CHAPTER 05: THE SCARLET VIXEN

Atreus lies unconscious in a dark, cramped space.

Slowly, he begins to awaken, a weak groan being the first indication.

His body shifts, soaked in a suspicious, thick liquid. His hands begin to feel out his surroundings—first the soft, wet surface that squishes beneath him.

“Wha—?” he utters.

His eyes creep open.

He barely has enough light to see the ridged, fleshy ceiling just above him. “Am I…”

He recognizes this environment, having been subjected to it before. He only has enough space to lift his head and look toward his feet.

In that direction, he sees even more darkness at the end of the muscle he’s lying on top of.

“In a mouth?” he thinks to himself, looking somewhat perplexed.

“How?” he wonders, thinking back on what took place before he blacked out.

He recalls a battle. “That’s right… we were fighting…” A memory of launching a lightning bolt from his bow comes back to him. “It was the Scarlet Vixen.”

He remembers seeing the hybrid fox giantess lunging at him with her mouth open, prepared to entrap him, undeterred by his attack. “She took our attacks head-on… and then everything went black.”

As he tries to use both his hands and feet to push against the roof of the giantess’ mouth above him in protest, he wonders, “But why hasn’t she swallowed me?”

“None of this makes any sense.”

With Atreus’ movements, the human boy’s captor becomes aware that he is conscious.

The ninety-nine-foot-tall Vixen moves swiftly on all fours across glittering hills. The trees are sparse here, allowing her to run without many obstacles.

Sparkling crystal formations of various sizes are scattered throughout, decorating the hills with a perpetual prismatic glow. Monoliths charged with the energy of the sun shine their stored light as natural lamps. They resonate and chime across the landscape in the wind.

Her eyes glance downward as she feels the pushing and kicking within her mouth.

She slows her pace.

In the near distance, she sees a village with tiny inhabitants.

The Vixen stops. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if we spoke before we reached the village,” she mumbles, the tiny boy still in her mouth.

She sits upright with her legs folded beneath her. Her three tails sway slowly behind her.

She brings her right hand up to her puckered lips and carefully lets him slip into her palm.

Atreus squints as his eyes adjust to the bright daylight outside.

The smile on the Vixen’s face is blurred to him.

“I can’t believe it,” the Vixen says in a soft, loving tone, still keeping her hand closed around his body, not giving him much room to move. “After twelve long years, I get to see your face again.”

His face shows confusion as he continues adjusting to the light.

“What are you talking about?” he asks in bewilderment. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

Tears well in the Vixen’s eyes.

She caresses him gently with her thumb, eliciting a disturbed expression from Atreus.

She sighs happily. “You’ve grown so much. You’re a man now.”

With her other hand, she runs her fingers beneath her eyes to wipe away the tears.

Atreus pulls one arm free and pushes gently against the Vixen’s thumb to stop her caressing him.

“Look… Scarlet Vixen… I really need to know what’s going on here,” he insists. “What do you want with me?”

The hybrid giantess bites her lip, struggling to work up the courage to say what’s on her mind.

“Atreus…” she starts.

The young man’s eyebrows furrow in suspicion.

“How do you know my name?” he asks sternly. “Did my mother tell you? Where is she?”

The Vixen speaks with apprehension, hoping she’ll be believed. “My son… she’s right here.” Her bright red, pointed ears lower submissively.

The words stagger Atreus. He doesn’t even know what to think.

He gazes into the giantess’ eyes, searching for truth—or deception.

“Put me down,” he demands.

“…Okay…” she hesitantly agrees. “Just promise me you won’t run away.”

Her hands gently set Atreus down on the grass.

He takes a deep breath and sighs heavily.

“Not a chance,” he says, bolting away from her.

“NO!” the Vixen cries out, lunging forward to catch him.

She falls flat on her belly and uses her arms to fence the tiny human in.

Atreus stops as her colossal arms surround him.

He stands face to face with her, his displeasure clearly visible to her oversized eyes.

“How dare you toy with me this way,” Atreus says, controlled fury in his voice.

The Vixen pleads tearfully, “I’m not lying. I am Cadmeia—your mother. Please, believe me.”

“HOW?” Atreus demands. “My mother was human!”

“Come with me to the village,” she replies. “There are witnesses there. I promise you—I’ll explain everything if you’ll just come with me.”

Atreus turns slightly away, distrustful. He takes a deep breath to steady himself.

“Okay,” he agrees. “Start explaining on the way.”

“Thank you,” she sighs.

She presents a hand for him to climb onto.

He settles upon it.

Using her three tails for balance, the Vixen carefully stands and cradles Atreus with both hands as she walks toward the village.

As she walks, she begins to speak.

“As our history teachers have told us, the Torinian humans and giant harpies had been at war with their enemies, the giant sphinxes, for over a century.

Eventually, the sphinxes found allies in the elves of the Valley of Atomata, and they made their homes with them.

This left the inu people of the Laiko Nation without a powerful ally of their own.

As long as the Torinians and the Atomatans were at war with each other, however, the Laikos could withstand any aggression from either side.

With rumors of a peace agreement between the Torinians and the Atomatans being within reach, the Laikos foresaw dire consequences for themselves.

If, according to the agreement, the Torinian harpies were forbidden to prey upon the elves, they would naturally seek out another source of food: the Laikos.

Making matters worse, both the Torinian humans and the Atomatan elves coveted the Laikos’ resource-rich land. This meant both would unite in their efforts to claim it.

Foreseeing the destruction of their people, the Laikos cried out to their Great Nature Spirit, Utalle. Her two eyes, they said, were the sun and the moon.

A great tempest fell upon Crystal Island.

Following that tempest, the Scarlet Vixen appeared.

The Laikos said she had eyes like Utalle, and it was proclaimed that the Great Spirit Utalle had visited them in bodily form, which they named the Great Protectoress.

To others, she became known as the Scarlet Vixen.

Utalle, in this form, began afflicting the enemies of the Laiko people, sabotaging peace efforts as well as attempts to seize land that did not belong to them.

I was twenty-five years old when I was assigned by Legate Phoebus Taiyo to gain intelligence on her.

I spied on her for a year.

I was sent to learn about a monster. What I discovered was a mother.

The Laikos were her children, and she was only doing what any loving mother would do by protecting her family.

I tried to explain this to Legate Taiyo and Aello. They wouldn’t listen. Taiyo removed me from the assignment and forbade me from going anywhere near the Vixen again.

I only wanted us to give dialogue with the Vixen a chance. We could have come to an understanding.

After being reassigned, I learned that the Torinians did not intend merely to force the sphinxes out of the Valley of Atomata—they were going to displace the elves as well.

Utalle must have known their intentions and was displeased. Thus, she appeared at the Battle of Atomata.

She wasn’t protecting only the Laikos—she was ensuring that we could all have a place to call home on this island. I was filled with admiration for her.

So much so that I did something foolish.

I left behind my beloved son and husband to take a chance at stopping a battle.

I stood in the line of fire. I thought I could win by showing compassion.

I was wrong.

The next time I opened my eyes… everything was different. My body. My size. Everything.

I heard Utalle’s voice in my head, and I could see her spirit in my mind. She told me that she couldn’t save my human body, but she could save my life by transferring it into the body of the Scarlet Vixen.

I was alive. But was I still myself?

I lost everything. It was so hard, and I cried so much.

Early on, Utalle was there to help me while I adjusted to this giant form.

She even took control when I was overwhelmed or in danger.

As the years passed, Utalle spoke less until she finally went silent. I was left alone in this body…

…left alone to sort out where the Scarlet Vixen ends and Cadmeia begins.

The instincts and the appetites of this body—the cravings that once mortified me—are starting to feel like my own...

And that terrifies me."

They arrive at a village nestled in the foothills of the Rainbow Hills. There are found many tents, large and small, where the people live.

Atreus is somber after listening to her story.

“I want to believe you,” he sighs. “I truly do.”

“I understand,” the Vixen says softly. “It’s a lot to ask.”

An inu villager approaches them. He appears middle-aged, though his hair is entirely silver, blending with the black-and-white fur of his wolf-like, pointed ears. His grey eyes stand out against his light brown skin.

“Welcome to the village of Arimas Piinu, son of the Will of Utalle,” the inu man says. “I am Sophean.”

Atreus is lowered to the ground to meet him.

“…Thank you?” Atreus replies hesitantly.

He tries to correct the man. “Excuse me, my name is Atreus.”

Sophean continues as if he did not hear him. “Come, son of the Will. Enjoy our hospitality.”

The man leads him toward a large communal tent covered in the hide of a giant creature.

Atreus suddenly remembers his teammates, left behind in the wilderness.

“Wait—my friends. They need me,” he says.

Cadmeia speaks gently. “Don’t worry, son. A friend of mine will look after your companions—the same friend who told me I would be able to find you today.”

Atreus raises an eyebrow at the cryptic remark before disappearing into the tent.

“This is all too much,” he says, resting a hand on his head.

Inside the tent are about thirty other inus.

“Meet my family, son of the Will,” Sophean says.

Almost immediately, they begin stripping Atreus of his gear and clothing.

“HEY—HEY—HEY! What is this?” he protests.

“Feel free to be as nature intended while you are here,” Sophean says. “We will wash your clothes while you rest.”

Atreus clings to his clothing, blushing profusely.

“No, I’m fine, really. I’d rather keep them on,” he insists.

Sophean relents and waves his family away. “As you wish, son of the Will.”

They return his belongings.

Atreus notices inus of many generations—some young, some ancient with eyes that have seen many years pass.

And some naked.

He keeps his eyes to himself as he moves about the tent.

“Why do you call that giantess ‘the Will’?” he asks.

“It is because she lives by the will of Utalle,” Sophean explains, gesturing for Atreus to sit beside him on a large circular rug.

Sophean studies the young Torinian’s troubled face.

“I can see you are in great pain, son of… Cadmeia,” he says quietly. “What she told you is true. Your mother now lives in the body of the Great Protectoress, created by Utalle herself.”

“All my life, I believed my mother was a traitor,” Atreus says. “That she abandoned me. That I needed to kill the Scarlet Vixen to lift the reproach she brought upon our family.”

Tears escape his eyes.

“Her explanation doesn’t change a thing.”

Sophean sighs.

“Your mother did not abandon you. She answered a higher calling.”

“Doesn’t change how it feels,” Atreus replies.

“Time will,” Sophean assures him. “For now, rest, and let us clean you up.”

Atreus pauses, then yields to their care.

Later that day, Laiko inus tend their trained taurogryphs—massive bull-and-eagle hybrids nearly sixty feet tall.

Others play a sport involving a throwing disk they catch with their teeth.

Atreus emerges from the tent wearing traditional inu clothing, his own garments being cleaned by Sophean's relatives.

Sophean steps out beside him.

The sun hangs low over the sparkling crystal-strewn hills.

“Not many 'bird people' have enjoyed this view,” Sophean says. “You all could—if you learned to live in harmony with the land instead of trying to dominate it.”

Nearby, tattooed inu men dance around a large fire.

“What’s going on?” Atreus asks.

“They bear the Markings of Devotion,” Sophean explains. “They offer themselves to the Great Protectoress in gratitude.”

Atreus hesitates. “Offer? As in… food?”

“Yes,” Sophean replies. “It is a great honor for those bearing the markings to give their lives for her.”

“That’s some devotion,” Atreus says quietly.

“Your people don’t hate predators?” he asks.

“Fear them? Yes. Hate them? Never,” Sophean answers. “Every creature has its place on nature’s great tree.”

He looks toward Cadmeia, kneeling in the distance.

“She still struggles to make peace with hers.”

On a hill overlooking the village, Cadmeia weeps at the burial site of her former body.

“I must fix this,” she whispers.

A small voice calls out to her.

“Great Protectoress.”

The giantess turns to see Sophean bowing as he approaches.

“Is he coming here?” she asks.

“No. His mind is clouded,” Sophean says. “And his heart, heavy.”

He removes his top, revealing the Markings of Devotion.

“Will you tell him of the plan to restore your humanity?”

Cadmeia breathes deeply, steadying herself.

“Only what he needs to know,” she says firmly.

(NEXT CHAPTER)