Things were definitely not going Taylor's way today. He had spent nearly his entire school day being chewed out for things he had either absolutely nothing to do with or had absolutely no control over. He reflected on all the things that went wrong at just the worst possible moments as he walked home, hopefully to find some solace in some hardcore RPG game time, before his parents got home and started to lay into him. That was inevitable as the principal had assured him that they would be notified via their separate work numbers. If someone was to look up the definition of the word "strict" in the dictionary, they would find a picture of Taylor's parents.

 

 

Taylor stopped to run his hand through his shoulder length blonde hair, which his father kept threatening to shave off entirely, and take a breath. As he stopped, he noticed that he was by the pawn shop he always passed when walking to and from school. Looking into the shop's window, he saw his weary reflection staring back at him. That was when he felt an unfamiliar tingling sensation.

 

 

Taylor looked around, and noticed a yellow light coming from the alley right next to him. His curiosity piquing, Taylor just had to investigate. Walking down the alley, he stopped. What he was looking at, which could only be referred to as rip made entirely of yellow light, right there in front of him in the air! He thought he could see shadows moving in the light, but he wasn't sure. What he was looking at, he knew wasn't possible. He also knew that he should probably be moving away from it because, whatever it is, might very well be dangerous. Yet, he felt as though he was being drawn into the tear. He kept slowly moving towards it, until he was close enough to be able to reach out and touch the anomaly. He tried desperately to resist the urge to do just that, but to no avail.

 

 

The second his finger brushed the light, his vision instantly became nothing but a field of pure yellow. Looking around, there was no pawn shop, nor was there an alley. Just yellow, completely surrounding him. Then, in another instant, he was in a tunnel of yellow, moving forward at a rapid pace. As he headed towards what looked like a wall of darkness, said wall shifted form, until it was in the shape of what looked to Taylor like a fox. He was rushing closer and closer to the silhouette of the fox, and the tingling sensation from earlier was becoming more and more uncomfortable. It then felt as if his flesh was melting, and his bones were reshaping. He slammed into where the shadowy figure of the fox was, and the pain stopped.

 

 

"Whoa! Hey! Are you okay?" asked an unfamiliar voice as Taylor quickly faded into unconsciousness. "Hey, stay with me now..."

 

 

 

*  *  *

 

 

 

Taylor slowly started to come too. He felt... weird. He also felt softness beneath him.

 

 

What a crazy dream, he thought. As he slowly started to untangle himself from a pile of blankets, he felt something tugging on his lower back. Thinking it was a sheet, he quickly grabbed it and yanked.

 

 

Immediate pain!

 

 

What the hell is that!?

 

 

Looking down behind him, he came to two conclusions. One, was that he was wearing a pink night gown. The second, he had a tail. Looking around and seeing a full length mirror, he moved over to it to look himself over. Looking back at him was some sort of fox-like creature, a female fox-like creature!

 

 

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" he, or rather she, screamed. Taylor clamped his/her muzzle shut.

 

 

Is that my voice?!

 

 

Taylor's thoughts were interrupted as he heard quick footsteps heading towards the door. It was then that Taylor realized that this was not his room, this was clearly a girl's room. Then the door opened, and what Taylor saw, made him/her freeze.

 

 

In walked a mature looking wolf woman. She was wearing a light blue blouse and a pair of slightly faded jeans. Her fur was a solid silver, except for a patch of white underneath her left eye in the shape of a T. Her eyes were a light blue, and they were showing deep concern.

 

 

"Are you alright sweetie?" she asked.

 

 

"Wh-wh-what's happening?" Taylor asked, retracting from the wolf woman as she approached. Seeing the fox's reaction, she stopped moving towards her, as she seemed to be frightened of her.

 

 

"Everything's going to be okay," she said soothingly with her arms outstretched.

 

 

"My son found you passed out on the street in ripped up clothes, and carried you back here."

 

 

 

"Why am I like this?"

 

 

"What do you mean sweetie?"

 

 

"Why am I a fox?"

 

 

"Why wouldn't you be, honey?"

 

 

"I'm a human! And I'm a guy!"

 

 

"Calm down sweetie. You just had a nightmare."

 

 

"But-but I-" Taylor eked out before stopping himself. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but he was sure that having the wolf woman before him think that he was crazy was not going to help anything.

 

 

"S-sorry. I guess you're right miss?"

 

 

The wolf woman smiled broadly. "It's Mrs. Spring actually, but you can call me Laura."

 

 

"Okay Laura." Taylor thought for a moment. "Um....thanks for putting me into this bed."

 

 

"No problem hun, my oldest daughter, Molly, is at college, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Nor would I believe she would mind it if you borrowed some of her clothes," Laura said gesturing towards the dresser and the closet, noticing the girl's blush but choosing not to comment on it.

 

 

"Now, how about you get dressed and join us downstairs for some breakfast."

 

 

"Um... okay."

 

 

Laura smiled, and then showed herself out. Taylor hesitated for only a moment, then opened the closet, hoping to put on something a little less girly. Those thoughts soon died as Taylor searched Molly's room. Apparently, when she went off to college, she took any jeans, shorts, or pants of any kind that she owned with her. What she left were a few dresses, a few tanks, some T-shirts, and a few miniskirts. Taylor briefly thought about going commando, but eyeing how short the skirts were, as well as how short the dresses would look on her, Taylor reluctantly decided to put on some underwear. After rooting around for a few moments, Taylor found a pair of blue panties, and pulled off the night gown.

 

 

Looking at them, they appeared to be able to just fit his new frame, which was a bit smaller than his real body. The panties themselves were light blue, with a single white heart on the front, and a tail hole in the back. Feeling like a total perv, Taylor quickly slipped them on, briefly struggling with how to get her new tail through, and finally had them on.

 

 

Looking at the mirror, Taylor saw a teen-looking, girl fox, with bright orange fur, except for the cream colored fur on her stomach and under her muzzle, starring back at him. She had the same green eyes, and the same shoulder length blonde hair. Feeling indecent, Taylor slipped on the least girly T-shirt she could find, which was white with a cartoony skull sticking it's tongue out on it. She had just pulled it down when a boy wolf came in, this one looking more around Taylor's age.

 

 

"Hey, are you coming dow-" he froze on the spot upon seeing Taylor.

 

 

"What?" Taylor asked, seeing the shocked look and blush on the boy's face.

 

 

"Um... SORRY!" he yelled as he quickly made his way out of the room.

 

 

What was that all... OH CRAP! Taylor thought as she realized that the T-shirt and panties was all that she was currently wearing, a blush forming on her face.

 

 

Without thinking, Taylor grabbed a white miniskirt and put it on, once again having a little trouble with the tail hole. After getting dressed, she tentatively made her way out into the hall. She immediately saw a flight of stairs leading down. The stairs let out in another hallway, this one right next to a large living room with the kitchen seen just beyond that. Taylor saw Laura and the wolf boy, as well as another wolf girl, roughly the same age as the boy, and headed in their direction.

 

 

Upon sitting down to a large plate of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast, the boy looked up and quickly looked down with a deep blush.

 

 

"I'm sorry," he said.

 

 

"It's okay," Taylor said, also blushing.

 

 

"Hi there, I'm Lily!" the girl wolf chirped happily. Her fur was brownish, but with the same T-shaped patch of white under her left eye as Laura.

 

 

"I see you've already met my pervy twin brother, Shaun."

 

 

"Lily!" Shaun blushed even more as he turned to Lily, giving Taylor a glimpse at yet another T-shaped white patch of fur under his left eye.

 

 

"Oh c'mon Shaun, you know I'm kidding," she said with a wink to Taylor. Then she noticed Taylor's blush. "Or am I?" She immediately shot him a questioning look.

 

 

"That's enough Lilypad, no teasing at the breakfast table," Laura admonished with a smile as she sat down next to Taylor with her own plate.

 

 

"Mooooom!" Lily said now herself blushing.

 

 

"What, that's what you are to me, my little Lilypad," Laura said with a smirk.

 

 

"I'm Taylor. Taylor Nicolo," she said smiling at the exchange between the two.

 

 

Suddenly very hungry, Taylor happily began to eat. After a few moments, she looked up to see the three wolves eyeing her weirdly. She immediately realized that she had been tearing into her food rather rapidly.

 

 

I guess I am rather hungry, she thought to herself.

 

 

"What?" she asked starting to blush when she made eye contact with Shaun.

 

 

"Taylor sweetie," Laura began as though she were unsure how to say what she was going to say, "do you have someone we can call, to come pick you up?"

 

 

"Um... no." Taylor thought, immediately looking down at her plate, trying to figure out what she was going to do.

 

 

"No one?"

 

 

"No... not any more," she said a little sadly.

 

 

"I'm so sorry sweetie." Laura looked genuinely concerned. "So then, where have you been staying?"

 

 

Taylor didn't know how to respond to that question. "I... I mean that I've been... well... uhm..." she tried to think of something to say, but came up with nothing that wouldn't make her seem insane. Unsure, she just stared down at her plate for a while, Laura and the twins all exchanging worried glances.

 

 

"Taylor?" Laura asked softly, making her look up without saying a word, her face clearly showing her distress.

 

 

"Are you... homeless?

 

 

Is that what I am now, some sort of homeless teenage fox girl?

 

 

Taylor sighed. "I... guess so." She looked down at her plate.

 

 

"Well that settles it!" Laura said firmly. The twins shared a look, immediately comprehending what their mother was getting at, although Taylor was thoroughly confused. "You'll just have to stay here then," Laura said happily.

 

 

"Wait! I can't!" Taylor said.

 

 

"I swear that it's no trouble at all sweetie. I can't in conscience just let you go back out on the streets now can I?" Laura asked seriously.

 

 

"B-b-b-b-but..." Taylor stammered.

 

 

"Enough," Laura said looking at her sternly. "Young lady, you just said that you have no home and no family, therefore, you are going to be staying here to have someone look after you and ensuring that you're going to school. Which reminds me, I'll have to make some calls to arrange that." Laura said with a note of finality as she began to start eating the rest of her breakfast.

 

 

Taylor sat there with a look of confusion, trying to come up with a reason with why she can't stay. Unable to come up with what would sound like a rational argument, she finished off the rest of her plate.

 

 

After a few moments Laura collected all of their empty plates to start washing them while Taylor and the twins headed into the living room.

 

 

After immediately sitting down, Lily began to question Taylor about everything that sprung to mind. She asked about her favorite movies, her favorite music, and whether or not her new boots made her tail look too puffy.

 

 

"Oh no! I think your tail looks great!" Taylor said.

 

 

"Thanks!" Lily said happily.

 

 

Shaun was still blushing whenever he would make eye contact with Taylor.

 

 

"So... where are you from?" he asked tentatively.

 

 

"Um... I... uh... I"

 

 

"SHAUN!" Lily yelled before punching him in the arm.

 

 

"OW! Okay, sorry."

 

 

"It's alright," Taylor said.

 

 

"Alrighty then!" Laura said as she walked in the room with a singsong voice. "I just got off the phone with my friend who works down at the high school." she explained to the three. "I explained your situation Taylor, and about how you're going to be staying with us, and she is getting your enrollment started. She said that you would have to take an aptitude test to see where you are education-wise, and to determine whether or not you might need some additional tutoring. That aside, all that's left to do is to get you some school uniforms!" she finished excited at the prospect.

 

 

"Um... thank you?" Taylor asked, unsure about the whole situation.

 

 

She sure is welcoming.

 

 

"Now I have to head on to the hospital to discuss some things with your father." she said to the twins. "So why don't you two take Taylor out shopping for a few new uniforms, and a few more clothes, since Molly didn't leave behind a wide variety." Laura then handed a credit card to Shaun. "And do not just go on a shopping spree." she said pointedly to Lily.

 

 

"Mooooom! That was over a year ago!"

 

 

"Yes, and if I hadn't made you take everything back, your father and I would still be paying off the bill." At that Lily just shuffled uncomfortably in her seat.

 

 

As the twins got up to leave, followed quickly by Taylor, all three were each hugged tightly by Laura who then told them to be back before dusk. With that in mind, the intrepid trio walked into the city.

 

 

Wait... this place is huge! Taylor thought as she followed the twins down the sidewalk. Everywhere she looked she could see sky scrapers, crowds of people, and tall office buildings.

 

 

"Where are we?" she asked to no one in particular.

 

 

"Western Fairview," Lily stated simply.

 

 

"No, I mean what city?" Taylor asked as she looked back at the house they had come from. The entire neighborhood of suburban houses was like an island in a sea of hustle and bustle. A large brick wall with an iron gate stood as the entrance to the neighborhood itself.

 

 

"What do you mean?" Shaun asked with a quizzical look on his face. "You didn't know you were in Risen City?

 

 

"Risen City? I've never heard of it."

 

 

At that, both wolves stopped to stare at Taylor.

 

 

"Really?" Lily asked.

 

 

"Um... yeah." Taylor asked suddenly self consciousness.

 

 

"Wow, I didn't think that there was anyone who didn't know about Risen City. Huh." Lily said simply, shrugging it off.

 

 

"Well then, let me be the first to welcome you to the great jewel of Levastia, Risen City!" Shaun said seemingly loosening up. It was at this moment that Taylor started to notice other people walking on the sidewalk around them, and they were all animal-human hybrids. She saw a pair of cheetah's pushing a stroller along, a Rabbit smoking while trying to hail a cab, and even what looked like a middle-aged Coyote man arguing with a German Shepard cop who was writing him a ticket in front of a flashy sports car parked next to a fire hydrant.

 

 

"There's the excitable Shaun I've come to know and love," Lily said making her brother blush as they came to a crosswalk and waited for the sign to signal them across. "I'm glad that seeing your first naked vixen hadn't shocked you into perpetual silence."

 

 

"LILY!" Shaun shouted, his white T turned several shades of red. He had briefly caught the attention of several furs around them, who then immediately went back to what they were doing.

 

 

"I knew it!" Lily exclaimed triumphantly, not noticing the blush on Taylor's face.

 

 

"Sorry about my baby sister," Shaun said to her, seeing her distress.

 

 

"You were only 2 minutes ahead of me Shaun, and don't you forget it!" she said while playfully punching him in the arm. Suddenly they were signaled to cross, and as they did, they soon became one with the throngs of other animal-people moving back and forth along the sidewalk.

 

 

This is going to be interesting, Taylor thought as the twins continued to bicker good naturedly on their way to a large building that could only be a mall.

 

 

"She wasn't naked! She was close, but not naked!" he said defensively.

 

 

"OOOOOOOOH! You naughty dog!" Lily's tail was wagging at a very fast speed at seeing Shaun's distress.

 

 

"I was just wearing a shirt and panties when he walked in, that's all," Taylor said, trying to help him out a bit, for which he smiled at her gratefully.

 

 

"OH! And it 'twas love at first peepshow!" Lily said dramatically, causing both Shaun and Taylor to look away in embarrassment.

 

 

"Here we are!" she said excitedly as they came to the mall's entrance.

 

 

"Let's go pick you out a new wardrobe!" Lily said eagerly to Taylor, quickly taking hold of one of her arms. "And maybe a few things for myself." She said under her breath.

 

 

"Lily, you heard what Mom said! Lily!" Shaun called after them while giving chase through the entrance.

 

 

Here we go, Taylor thought.