"You know… for a beast so severely damaged, you shouldn't be moving around so much," uttered a feminine voice nearby.
Only now realizing that he was not alone, Calhoun turned his head to the cage beside his. A small, delicate fawn sat inside it, staring at him with open curiosity.
"So I was right," her ears perked up. "You are a beast, just like me. How did you end up here? Did you lose your momma?"
The fawn's sudden yap immediately annoyed Calhoun. He could tell from the air surrounding the fawn that she was a low-ranked beast, but from the deer clan. She was small, yet still bigger than him in his current state. A soft coat of warm, dappled brown covered her body, speckled with faint white spots that made her look as though sunlight had been scattered across her back.
Tiny, budding antlers peeked through her hair, delicate and ghost-pale, giving her an almost fragile appearance.
Her eyes were large and clear, and they gleamed with a childlike curiosity.
Calhoun couldn't fathom what the annoying fawn found so amusing. They were both caged like livestocks awaiting slaughter, yet her eyes held an unbearable glimmer. There was no reason to be that enthusiastic about anything, and it irritated him to no end.
However, the deer clans are also quite easy to manipulate. If he didn't get out of this cage soon, he would be skinned alive. Whether he liked it or not, the fawn might prove useful since she has more energy in comparison to what he possessed.
Settling against the cold iron bar, he asked, "Do they know what you are?"
"Of course not," the fawn replied easily. "They think I'm just a rare forest deer. But… you're a fox." She tilted her head slightly, studying him with renewed curiosity. "How are you here? Aren't fox clans supposed to be living in a different realm? What brings someone like you to the human world? Oh! Are you also here to visit the animal shelter?"
The young deer was too lost in trying to guess his reasons that she did not notice the irritated flick of his tail.
How foolish, the fox thought.
The only reason she couldn't discern what he truly was… was because he allowed it. His aura was tightly suppressed and sealed beneath layers of control honed far beyond his current state. There was no chance he'd reveal that he was a demon to anyone, so he chose to let her remain ignorant.
"You seem awfully calm about your predicament," he noted before asking, "Where exactly are we headed?"
The fawn blinked and replied, "the animal shelter, I mentioned it before."
She then proceeded to explain, almost eagerly, how the humans have been gathering injured animals, freeing them from traps. In her mind, it was obvious that they were being taken somewhere to get treatment, like an animal shelter. She also expressed how she felt bad for most of the injured animals, and how she heard that the shelter was a nice place.
The longer she spoke, the more Calhoun's irritation grew.
This one was definitely foolish.
Painfully so.
And yet she kept going, her voice brightening with each word, as if relieved– no, happy– to finally have someone to talk to. This fawn was in fact, a child. It showed in her naivety, and in the way she spoke about kindness.
Whoever had let her wander alone in a word like this was a fool.
A far greater fool than she was.
But… at least he could benefit from their foolishness.
He couldn't pretend that a part of him did not feel a bit of empathy for the fawn. There had to be a reason she was seeking acceptance from humans, of all species she could have probably considered.
"You really believe they're taking you to a shelter?" he said. "You saw the humans who captured you, and that was the first thought your little fawn brain could come up with? Do you lack even the most basic survival instincts of a deer?"
The fawn's ears twitched at his words, her expression faltering for the first time.
"What do you mean?"
Calhoun didn't answer immediately.
He let the silence stretch thin and suffocating, watching as uncertainty slowly crept into her gaze. Only when he got his desired reaction did he finally speak again.
"You said they think you're a rare deer. Then you're valuable, but not in the ways you are expecting, young fawn."
His tail flicked once before going still.
"They don't kill valuable things quickly," he continued, sounding almost detached. "They study them first. Cut them open. See what makes them… what makes YOU so… different. Sometimes they don't even bother waiting until it's dead."
A faint, humorless curve touched his lips.
"Is that what you call a shelter?"
The fawn went completely still at the question. "...That's not–"
"I've seen it before," he cut in quietly. "They'll separate us soon. The moment I was caught, I heard them talking about their plans to skin a fawn for she has really good fur. And from what I'm seeing, you're the only fawn here. Trust me when I say, you won't know when it's coming. The shelter may exist, but these people won't lead you there. Their idea of a shelter clearly differs far from yours."
The fawn's ears dipped slightly, her thoughts visibly turning now. Her hooves shifted against the floor of her cage with a soft scrape, like she was still in denial. It seemed like a part of her already knew the truth too.
Calhoun realized how difficult it was to convince someone so naive, and while he was just about to try another approach, the cart lurched to a stop.
Both of them went still.
Heavy footsteps made their way to the second cart, the sound accompanied by the faint jingle of metal. One of the men had come for the cages in the next cart, and when Calhoun strained his ears, he could hear voices in front, striking a bargain.
"Have you seen a girl about this height, injured and drenched to her feet, running around in this forest?" the warden asked, while his men stepped forward with three cages containing fat, trembling hares huddled together. The hunter he was speaking to was immediately interested. "If you can tell me where she went, I shall reward you with these."
Calhoun frowned slightly as he contemplated the bargain happening at front. Clearly, these men weren't interested in hunting animals, but something else, someone, rather. He wondered how unfortunate the girl was to have men like these combing through the forest in search of her.
Either way, it was not his concern.
The cart had stopped, and the men were distracted. While he was wracking his brain for another way out, a sharp snap cut through the air.
He turned just in time to see the young deer drive her hind legs forward, opening the door with a dull clank.
For a moment, he simply stared.
"They're selling us off," the fawn, having realized that the fox was right, had reacted the only way she could. But there was still tremor in her voice.
She moved quickly to his cage, her teeth working at the latch. The door creaked open, and Calhoun stepped out. The both of them glanced at the rest of the cages in the other cart and decided to free the other animals as well. Calhoun simply agreed to help because this would serve as the beginning of his payback to these wannabe huntsmen.
After freeing the rest of the animals, Calhoun sat back and watched the chaos unfold. The animals did not hesitate. They surged forward as one, tearing through the fragile order the hunters had built.
The clearing was filled with shouts and screams, men scrambling and tripping over themselves in their desperate attempt to flee. But the chaos did not last long, to Calhoun's disappointment.
When it finally ended, he jumped down from the cart and noticed how they ran, leaving their cart as well as everything else behind. He trusted the fawn was capable, and she proved him right.
"Little fawn," he called, turning to the young deer as she hopped down from another cart. "What are your plans from here on out?"
The fawn blinked and was once again brimming with enthusiasm. "Finding the shelter, of course! Thanks to you, I wasn't turned into deer meat!"
Calhoun's expression cooled slightly.
"You are too young to be roaming the forest alone," he cautioned gently. "Go home. Back to your people."
The fawn tilted her head at him.
"But you're just a cub as well," she pointed out, puzzled. "Are you not? You shouldn't be out here either."
Calhoun almost retaliated. Then he realized that the child was only pointing out what she saw and what he wanted her to see. He exhaled and simply turned the other way. His job here was done anyway, and he certainly didn't need a shelter.
"Stay safe, young fawn," he said, before disappearing into the tree line.
Little did Calhoun know that he was about to encounter his first potential human.