Fenneck's Epiphany

Life, Supernatural

Fenneck experiences his epiphany and decides to go home and face his past.

Fenneck was lying in his bed, sharpening his swords, preparing to go out into the forest to collect firewood for the next few months before it got too cold. "Hey! No! I told you no," he scolded the little fox in the corner of the cave who was pawing at the frozen meat. "Poro! Come here!" he patted his bed for the snowy fox to come sit. The fox gekkered loudly at him before rolling onto his back and swishing his fluffy tail around. Fenneck sighed, set his sword down and got up to walk over to the little fox. Porosha looked up at him with his excited black eyes and made an excited squeal as Fenneck leaned down and tickled his little companion. Fenneck giggled and picked the fox up, much to the fox's annoyance and carried him over to their bed. "Hush!" he told the fox as he settled back into their cozy furs. Porosha gekkered at him annoyingly for a while before curling up in a snow-white puff against Fenneck's leg. Fenneck smiled at the little fox and went back to working on his sword. The wind started to howl outside, prompting Fenneck to sigh in irritation at having chosen to make this journey today. He forced himself to get up and put his things on and Porosha ran up behind him to follow him out into the mountains. "Ready?" Fenneck asked his little friend who made an annoyed gekker to him. Fenneck smiled and led the way out into the cold mountains. They traveled through the harsh terrain until they managed to make their way into the pass toward the forest in the Vallee. Fenneck slipped his ring on and vanished from sight causing Poro to look around in confusion. "I'm right here, bud," Fenneck called out to him before gently petting the startled fox on the head. The fox made a funny noise and darted off into the forest. Fenneck cocked his head and followed the animal, wondering if he was just startled by Fenneck disappearing or something else entirely. Fenneck drew his bow as he entered the creepy, dead forest. It was dark out and he suddenly saw movement by one of the trees. Remembering he was invisible, he slowly and quietly crept forward, careful not to let his light feet crunch in the snow. He saw two wood elves talking, a male and a female. The female had brown hair and a soft face and was clutching a baby to her chest while the male had bright, blood-red hair and sharper, more elegant features. They kissed each other lovingly before they were suddenly joined by a male human who seemed to walk out of the tree. They looked to be farmers and behind the human walked Erikur. Fenneck's heart stopped at the sight of his beautiful friend and he felt relief wash over him seeing him alive. He moved to go to him before stepping on a branch and stopping as he remembered he was hiding. The group turned and looked into the forest and Poro ran up to Erikur and started sniffing his leg. "Hey, little guy," Erikur said sweetly, leaning down to greet the overly friendly fox. Fenneck felt tears well up in his eyes as he heard Erikur's voice again for the first time in two years. Erikur looked up and seemed to look right at Fenneck before shrugging in confusion. He stood and turned to the woman who was holding the baby and gently took and bounced it in his arms as the baby cooed happily. "She's absolutely precious!" he told the couple who smiled happily. "Isn't she?" the father said proudly. Fenneck felt tears start to slip down his face. That could have been him. That should have been him. He thought about how wonderful it felt when his little boy kicked his hand through Evelyn's belly and he felt a jarring stab of pain shoot through his chest. "Kapelya is her name?" Erikur asked them as he admired the little bundle. The father nodded. "Yes," he told Erikur. "The start of spring," Erikur mused. "I always loved that word, kapel, the day water starts to drip from the ice sickles. It's a beautiful name," he said thoughtfully before gently handing the baby back to the woman. "We think so too," the father said happily. "Hopefully that day comes soon," he said, sounding a bit somber. Erikur nodded sadly. "Thanks for meeting. I know things have seemed to stagnate recently but... Baegla and I are trying to figure it out. Be safe on your way home," he told them. They nodded and the three farmers started walking toward the Vallee. Poro was still sniffing Erikur's feet and he leaned down again and scratched the fox's head. "You're awfully friendly," he mused. Fenneck slowly started to walk forward as Erikur stood back up and looked around the forest thoughtfully. "Where are you, Fen?" he asked the wilderness woefully. Fenneck went to remove his ring but as he did Erikur vanished in a pop. Fenneck grasped at the air where Erikur had just been before collapsing into the snow next to Porosha. He quickly put the ring back on as he heard the farmer's voices up ahead and Porosha sniffed him thoughtfully before perking his ears up as another snow white fox appeared in the clearing in front of them. Fenneck watched Porosha gekker to the new fox who cautiously walked over and the two foxes started sniffing each other excitedly. Fenneck stood up and moved away from them as they started to nuzzle each other and Fenneck realized what they were about to start doing. He smiled thoughtfully as his little friend glanced back toward him before following the other fox into the forest. "Guess you found your thiramin," Fenneck mused under his breath. Fenneck suddenly felt extremely lonely and started to wander through the forest aimlessly. He was tired and sad and all he really wanted was to go home, take a clean bath and curl up on the couch with Evelyn and a nice pot of stew. He stumbled around until he found a nice tree stump to sit on and rest his legs for a bit. He looked around the dead forest that was illuminated by a bright crescent moon, its light bouncing off the snow casting a beautiful, haunting glow over the forest. He watched a couple blue birds who were darting around an icy berry bush. Their beautiful little chirps were so pretty and peaceful to listen to and as Fenneck watched their bright blue bodies fly around the perfect snow and moonlight together he felt it. Everything suddenly started to make sense. The good and evil in the universe. The reason for living. The beauty of simplicity and life. He sat there for a long time processing these things and he realized he'd been running for long enough: That the point of life was to try and put more good into the world than you take. He realized why his parents and Erikur believed what they did. That it was enough to fight, even if they would never defeat the evil they were after. They fought. They tried. They helped others. Maybe in vain, but they always chose good. Of course the world was a dark, evil, awful place but that didn't mean it had to be. The belief that it can be better and the willingness to stand up for that belief was enough. Fenneck stood up and looked toward the mountains before he turned back to the Vallee and started making his way home.