For the trope mash up game, how about a 25. Fairy Tale AU and 39. Survival/Wilderness Fic?
interesting !!!! let's see, let's see !!
okay. hear me out. HEAR ME OUT FOR JUST A SECOND. you're a little village person, okay ? you work in an inn for your aunt; helping make food for patrons, cleaning the rooms, dealing with bards and other entertainment, making sure everything runs smoothly.
and one day, while you're in the kitchens cooking up a stew for dinner, this little — fox comes squirreling through the backdoor.
you're stunned. mostly because you've only known them to be rather evasive beasties, but also because it looks like a devilish little thing, inflicted with some illness, maybe, that has given it red eyes and a frightening aggression. it doesn't bite you or anything, but it cowers in the corner of the kitchen, baring its little teeth when you try to shoo it back out with the broom.
you smack it once on the head, effectively making it a little dizzy and then —
"knock it off!"
it speaks.
you nearly faint, watching with wide eyes as he shakes his little head, glaring at you in the best way an animal can. you keep the broom tight to your chest, holding it now like a shield instead of a sword, as he trots around the kitchen in search of — something.
the little fox sniffs here and there, digs in between two sacks of potatoes, even peeks his head out the door into the rest of the inn before turning to face you. he looks exasperated — as exasperated as an animal can — and sits down politely, as if he were a perfect gentleman and not a rabid animal.
you still don't know what to say.
""m lookin' for a shitty wizard," he growls, his fluffy tail coming to curl around his body like a cat. "looks like he's made of clouds."
you think maybe you're going insane.
all you can do is blink at him once again, the rough, raspy tone of his voice rattling around in your brain. the words he's saying are clear, perfectly understandable, and yet — you can't seem to make sense of them. of him.
the fox simply growls at you again before moving on, jumping onto one of the shelves as he trots up to the open window, peering out as if he's expecting some enemy to come chasing in after him.
wizard made of clouds. wizard made of clouds. talking fox looking for wizard made of clouds. you're trying to be helpful, but it's really a lot to process.
as would any animal, his nose twitches as he gets closer to the stew, interest in the outside world lost, and he even jumps from the ledge to trot on up to your boiling pot over the fire. you have half a mind to whack him again, but you're not sure you want him to talk to you anymore.
regardless, he turns to you and barks, "hey! i haven't eaten in days!"
and because you ARE insane and too committed to your job as a worker in the inn, you almost immediately turn to find a bowl to place on the floor for him when the backdoor comes flinging open. and in floats purple clouds in the shape of a wizard.
the little fox bares his teeth in an instant and lunges for him, and then —
you're being dropped a few feet in the air into the middle of a thick, dense, and dark forest. you're still not making sense of — anything, but you feel little paws bounding over your back before you roll over, the sound of his gnashing teeth echoing in the wildlife-sounds around you.
"god damn it!" the fox howls. "'m gonna kill that no good, shitty, portal bastard, piece of—"
he starts digging at the ground suddenly, like he's got to do something to get his little frustrations out, and he makes a decent size hole before he's running off again. jumping left and right. crouching down with his back arched, like he's ready to fight thin air.
it's the final straw; you roll over the forest floor once again, clutching your belly as you laugh out loud into the trees. it's high-pitched and ugly, a sound derived from madness, and tears spring to your eyes as a headache develops behind them; your brain is working too hard to make sense of what's going on.
then little teeth dig into the fabric at your shoulder, and you swat at the fox when it starts to tear.
"hey!"
"no, you hey!" he argues, jumping on your chest as he bares his teeth at you. "i gotta catch the son of a bitch so i can get my goddamn body back, and you gotta help me!" you start to crack up again, driven completely insane, and he yips loudly at you. "'m fuckin' serious! this ain't a joke, we're in the middle of a goddamn forest and i'm stuck as a fox!"
you giggle and wipe the tears from your eyes. "and what are you normally stuck as?"
"'m not stuck as anything, brat," and then he leans his little face down until his wet nose is pressing against yours, eyes red and furious. "'m a fuckin' knight, 'n i gotta get back to that damn idiot half 'n half prince."
something about his answer finally sobers you, the weight of it, maybe, to think of someone so close to royalty. you blink at him twice, and it's not until you nod that he finally leans back, tongue darting out to lick over his nose.
you ask, "how did you get like this, then?"
and he rolls his eyes, disturbingly human, before hopping off you and trotting ahead into the trees, calling out, "c'mon, and i'll tell you the whole shitty thing."
you've no choice but to follow.
✨️ trope game ! ✨️
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