A Loveless Tundra

Thorax trudged his way through the familiar snow caverns, a small pile of fresh game on his back. It was barely enough to feed the foxes for a day, but hopefully Vix had just as much luck, if not more. Neither of them had much of any in the last couple of days.

The weather, which was slowly warming until a week after he had found that... thing that he really didn't like thinking about, had taken a turn for the worse in that next week. It quickly got colder than the day he had arrived, and harsh winds and snowfall became the norm. What's worse was that the food stockpile had already started to slowly dwindle before that happened, and now...

Now, every chance he got, he went out with Vix to try and find prey for the little ones. When combined, their catch was usually enough for a day and a half, maybe two. Normally this would be fine, but with every other day just too bitterly cold, wet, and windy to spend any large amount of time outside...

The worst part was that the foxes weren't the only ones struggling to get by. The burrowers he had found lately were all thin and lethargic from a lack of food. It made them easier to catch, especially for someling with his lack of skill in a fox's particular way of hunting, but there was much less nutrition provided.

As he mused over all this yet again, he turned the final corner to where the most lived in areas of the caverns were, and the four fox kits greeted him. While the joy of seeing and seeing fresh food was there it was a bit muted compared to when he hunted just as a means to get above the surface. Maybe it was the fact they were older and a little more mature, as they had they gotten bigger over the last month, or maybe it they understood how good was running low. Either way, they were much less interested in playing lately, which Thorax found very disquieting.

As for the changeling himself, he felt better than ever did before. He only felt hungry when he thought about it, and not in the way a growling stomach forces forces the thought, but more as an idle question on the matter. He had more magical power in his reach than ever before, and his legs felt even sturdier than usual, with the holes in them slowly shrinking. Oh, did he feel terribly guilty about it. The once lively fox family struggling to get by, while he was the pinnacle of changeling health.

Once he had dropped his burden off at food storage chamber, he walked back to the chamber the fox siblings were laying about in. Soon after he arrived, Ears' namesake swiveled towards the cavern entrypoint. His siblings took notice and did the same, and moments later, their mother appeared, carrying her own catch in her mouth.

Thorax's heart sank at the sight. For the first time, he managed to catch more then she did. Obviously, there was no pride in that; the situation was just too precarious, and he was never the type to gloat.

With the kind of world-weary groan he made way more often before he landed here, he laid himself down on the floor of the chamber. Spot quickly bounded up to him and curled up against his belly, and her siblings soon followed. It seems she had guessed that the best way to cheer him up was a repeat of that first night. It wasn't quite the same, as Ears barely fit next to his sister and Nosy took the below-the-chin position, so Hops made the emotional equivalent of a shrug and hopped over the bunch to curl upon against his back. Still, it pulled him out his fugue.

Eventually, it was mealtime, and the foxes left the chamber to go eat. He lifted his head off the ground to watch them go. A thought struck him: if the hunting remains this bad, they might need to find somewhere else to stay, where food is more plentiful.

He concluded with zero hesitation that he would follow them. They got him back up to his feet, and who would he be if he didn't return the favor? Certainly too similar to some of the changelings he knew for his liking, that was for sure.

As was usually the case lately, Vix walked straight to her sleeping chamber, melancholy dragging behind her like a tattered cape. Her offspring followed behind, glancing at Thorax as they passed within view. It seems that they all decided that she needed their company more than he did, and he fully agreed with them.

Having nothing better to do, he settled his head to the ground, did his best to set aside his worry, and slowly fell asleep.

Thorax fitfully stirred from his sleep far earlier than usual. Once he was awake enough to think, even if the thoughts were groggy, he felt the shaking of the ground he was laying on. That was probably the cause for him waking up. He also heard pebbles of packed snow start to fall down from the walls and ceilings. All this got him to open his eyes sleepily, not quite understanding what was going on.

The first thing he saw was the snow pillar he made on that second day toppling towards him, along with the ceiling it supported.

It was also the last thing he saw for a good while.