blue feathers

"And then, the bunny met an Enfield-"
"What is an Enfield?"
"A creature that has the head of a fox, forelegs like an eagle's talons, the chest of a greyhound, the body of a lion and hindquarters and tail of a wolf."
"That's a lot of creatures! Does an Enfield also have wings?" Sunny asked curiously. I thought about it. I have only ever heard this one story in which an Enfield appeared. I did not even know if they existed.
"I don't know, but if you want to let it have some, then sure, it can have wings." I said with a smile. Sunny enthusiastically picked up a stick and tried to draw a creature on the ground with it. With a lot of imagination, it might resemble a fox with wings and claws.
"What do you think? Does it look like an Enfield?" Sunny asked, admiring her drawing proudly. I tilted my head and put on a thoughtful expression.
"More like a fox with wings." I said truthfully.
"Well, wolves and foxes look very alike and I have never seen a lion, so I don't know how that would look like, so I think it is easier to think of it as a fox with wings and eagle claws."
 I chuckled at her explanation. That was typically Sunny. "So a fox with wings, hmm? If wou want it to be able to fly, it still needs tail feathers though."
"What? Why? Aren't wings enough?" Sunny asked disappointed, since she did not want to change her drawing.
"Have you ever seen a bird without tail feathers? They need them to steer, otherwise they couldn't control where they are flying."
"Oh, so the Enfield needs tail feathers after all." Sunny said and picked up the stick again to add them to her drawing. I had to give her credit for being able to draw something recognizable at all with holding a stick in her mouth and drawing it over the ground, so it was not really her fault, that the drawing just become more unrecognizable by the minute. She eventually spit the stick out again. "So, now it has tail feathers and even long tail feathers like the one we have seen at this one bird once."
"How exotic. Great idea! Then which color should the feathers have? Red like a fox's fur?"
"Blue! And he shouldn't have fur but be covered in feathers instead. That would really make it a bird fox, right?" She grinned.
"Why blue though?"
"Because that's a very nice color and I like blue birds." She picked up the stick again and drew a feather that had some lines as markings on it. "Those are the feathers on the neck! You know, like a bird's feathers are different on its neck sometimes, like a duck's and they always are very nice and shimmery. So they are on the fox's neck and the rest of the feathers should just be dark blue. Oh, and those neck feathers have bright blue stripes and..."
I listened to her vivid descriptions of the enfield for a while and smiled. She was so imaginative, creating a whole new creature than the one it was before. In the end, it was almost nothing like an Enfield anymore. She just called it a feathered fox and I went along with that too since, frankly, that was what it was.
"And when it is in danger, it cries out like a bird, so his friends can come and help him. And he plucks a feather out from his neck and leaves it for his friends to find when he wants to warn them of danger. And they keep the feathers because they are beautiful!" Sunny ended her long explanation eventually and smiled proudly. I smiled back. I really had a very creative little sister.
"Do you think you could change into that feathered fox, Hayden?" she asked then with an excited smile, to which I replied with an unsure look. Her ears dropped. "You can't." she said with a sigh, clearly disappointed.
"I didn't say that. I'm just not sure. I never turned into an imaginary creature before. I don't know if that would even work." I explained.
"Please try it! It would be so awesome!" She said with excitement once again, having that hopeful gleam in her eyes that I couldn't say 'no' to. I bit my lip.
"Well, I guess I can try at least." I said a little shyly to which Sunny hugged me with a giggle.
"That is so cool! Thank you!" she said but suddenly raised her head and perked her ears. "I think Klementine is calling, I shouldn't worry her." she said and stood up.Then she grinned at me again. "Let's meet at noon at the big oak tree on the hill tomorrow! And if you can't transform into a feathered fox, then just a normal fox, okay?" she asked and galopped away at the last part. I just smiled as I watched her run through the woods back to her caretaker. It was hard to believe that it has been half a year already since she has found out about me being a changeling and she has already grown so much in that short time.

----

I have never changed into a creature that I have not seen with my very own eyes. To be honest, I only figured through Sunny's inquisitive questions, that I was able to transform into something else than an equine too. In the last moons I have managed to take the form of a raven, a stag and a snake, while all of them were black of color. For some reason I prefered that, since even when I had thought to be a normal horse, I have had a black coat. But I have seen those animals in person and copied them through observing them for a long while. I still laid on the ground and looked at Sunny's drawing of the feathered fox. I was not the best artist, but I drew a try of my own next to it, finding out that I was probably a worse artist than Sunny was.
"Pondering over playing the babysitter?" A voice from above suddenly asked me, which startled me, since usually no one ever talked to me. A second later, a white, fluffy creature landed on the ground before me and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Pixie. Sunny always used to talk very well about the demon fox, so I probably could trust her. I replied to her question with a shake of my head and isntead studied her with interest. While varying from how a normal fox would look like due to her demon heritage, she still was a fox, which would be the base of the transformation I was about to attempt.
"Do I have something on my face?" she asked after a while, a little annoyed by my impolite staring. I instantly loked away, a little embarassed and flattened my ears.
"Pardon, I didn't want to be impolite. But Sunny asked me to change into a feathered fox and I can't even change into a normal fox, so I'm a little in trouble now."
"That, I can help you with." Pixie replied and swung her unnaturally long tail around her body as she sat down. "I happen to be a fox after all, so just copy me."
"It's not that easy. I can only copy a species once and then keep that template for future transformations. I would rather not look exactly like you. No offense, but that would make me feel uncomfortable."
"No offense taken, I get it. Then just find yourself a witless fox and copy them. You can change between witless and sentient, no?"
"Yes, but that's also the only change I can make when it comes to a single species."
"Alright, follow me. We will find you a fox and then do some practicing."

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"Hayden! I'm here!" Sunny yelled excitedly as she galopped up the hill to find me. She expected me to be behind the oak or on the other side of the hill, but when I was not there, she flattened her ears sadly, probably thinking that I had not come. Even when I knew that she would smile again in a few seconds, it hurt to see her so sad and disappointed.
"If you're searching for a flying fox, shouldn't you look up then?" I asked, which made Sunny raise her head immediately and look to the branches of the oak tree. And then she smiled and started to squeak excitedly. I gave her a tired smile back and then glided down from the branches to her. Blue feathers with bright blue stripes on their ends, like Sunny had said she imagined it. It had taken Pixie and me the whole night to not only find a fox I could copy, but also to let me practice with the body of a fox first so that I got a feeling for it. Of course I had changed into a black furred fox then. Once I had roughly gotten the hang of how a fox's body worked, I had concentrated on the imaginary creature for hours before I had attempted to transform into it. But eventually I had done it and even added a few details of my own idea, like the blue eyes that were practically my own eyes from my natural form. Except the pupils, which were the slitted ones of a fox.
"You look just like I imagined the feathered fox to look like!" Sunny squeaked and jumped around me excitedly.
"Took me all night. You are welcome." I said with a chuckle.
"All night!? But when did you sleep?" Sunny asked worried.
"I didn't." I said and couldn't help but yawn.
"Then sleep now. I'll keep an eye out so no one will come and hurt you!" she said and raised her head proudly. I gave her a thankful smile and then laid down at the roots of the oak tree while Sunny walked back and forth, as if she'd be on the most important patrol of her life. It was a sight that made me chuckle, but the fact that she was absolutely serious about this and not just joking, filled my heart with warmth. It was nice to have someone who cared.

----

I had exhaused myself for her back then and she had cared about me. Now the situation as reverse and I needed to care about her. The water of the river was ice cold and it was hard to catch any fish at all. I had three fish already, but I doubted that this would be enough. Deciding that I had to be enough, I carefully maneuvered the bark piece with the fish on it on my back and walked slowly, so that it wouldn't fall down. The snow wasn't as deep in the forest as it was on the meadows, but still deep enough to make me struggle to get through it. She was at the meadow and she needed help. But...he...I couldn't. It was too dangerous. The last time he had seen me, he had attemped to kill me in cold blood. Who said he would not try to do it again? At the edge of the forest I stopped and set the bark with the fish on it down carefully, so that I could change my form into the one of the feathered fox. The same one Sunny and I had created as a unique, imaginary creature back when she had been a child. Drop a feather for danger. I remembered that very very well. And I was sure that if the amount of feathers would not regenerate with every transformation into the feathered fox, then my neck feathers would all be gone now. He was danger. Therefore I hated to admit that he could probably do more for Sunny right now than I could. I plucked out a feather from my neck and laid it under one of the fish, so that he would not notice it. But Sunny would notice it. I looked over to where she laid on the meadow and ruffled my feathers in fear as I felt his eyes rest on me, an expression of contempt in them. This was about Sunny, but she was less in lethal danger right now than I would be if I would just step one step closer. So I gave the bark a nodge and slid it on the snow int he direction of the meadow. When I was sure that he had noticed that I made a few steps back, lingered for a second and then eventually turned around, ready to bolt away. I looked back once though, a look of sadness and desperation in my eyes. I did this for Sunny because I knew her better than anybody else in this world. And if he could save her, then so be it. At long as she was able to return to me, I was willing to do almost everything, even looking death in the face, as I had just done.

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Long story that took me almost two hours to write. The first part is from the past, obviously, but the last part is, how else should it be, of the future! Therefore it might or might not be a comic spoiler. Guess who wants to kill Hayden and who he is so afraid of. I won't tell, but I will let you guess.
I had to add the last part, because otherwise the sad look of Hayden in the picture wouldn't have made any sense. So, sorry for the spoiler?

Those neck feathers were all copy and pasted but they still took the most time! I'm very happy with the outcome though and I'm also happy to finally draw one of the forms you will see Hayden transform into in the comic. ;w; There are several very original creature forms, all of them finding their origin in stories he and Sunny used to invent when she was a kid and they now are an insider between them. The feathered fox is my personal favorite, because I love blue feathers too and, I mean, just look at it! ;w;

This is one of the first times I draw a fox. I'm satisfied with how the head turned out, but I'm not happy with the body beyond the neck, so please no critique about it? I really tried and next time I'll have trouble, I'll ask for redlines!

I hope you like it! ;w;

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Hayden, Sunny & art © me (*Lilafly 2017)