The city was full of shadowy foxes. As they entered. She noticed them watching her, confused, but... awe-filled as they saw her. She heard whispers at the edges. As foxes emerged from houses. All black silhouettes of purple glow. But... she could somehow see gender, facial expressions... and even race sometimes? Like... that one was Black, that one was Hispanic? Despite... the fact that... all of them looked nearly the same? Except Karlen, as he looked a little more detailed than before. Mr. Fox walked through the crowd, as they made way, and they arrived at a central square, a museum of sorts it seems? As she enters... she notices exhibits. It's the entire history of this place. She wants to read it, but some of the exhibits are blurred out with weird glitching static. Shadow foxes mutter, "She must be that new link." Another mutters, "I can't believe we got one. He did it. Mr. Fox got one." Another says, "I can feel heat stronger... it feels... more real!" As soon, they arrive at a stage, shadow foxes surround the raised platform. "One and all!" Mr. Fox says, growing in size, as he sits. As shadow foxes gather in crowds.
She feels a little intimidated. As her ears go flat. "Welcome to the realm, Lady Ally Miller! She will be our new thread to the physical world once more. As you can already feel in the realm's delight! But first, I request you treat her well, and don't overwhelm her. She is new to all this, and so... I request you wait for her ritual, that finalizes her connection, as it will be today later. But first... she must get to see our sights!" The crowd chuckles, and seems excited, and happy. Oddly wholesome. Despite all of them once being... well... bad people. Only a few on the edges seem... less... there. Their furs darker. Perhaps still working through blindness. She felt a creepy feeling, someone was lusting at her, and looked towards one of the darker shadows on the edge, staring at her creepily. She frowns, she shrinks unsure, uneasy. Mr. Fox pauses... and turns, the fox panics, ears go down, and runs in fear. Before Mr. Fox continues without care.
The city was alive, and full, as she toured it, with light crowds following her. Trying to stay away, but instincts filling them to follow her like a breeze of fresh air, in a hot, smelly room. They entered a few shops. Turns out, they have a currency... but it's just... and utterly, favors. Literally, just favors. Joy. Some places sold foods from the real world, a baker said, "I knew how to make pizza, but now\... I can't eat pizza, so I try to remember pizza, and make it real. It takes a hell of a lot of skill. But..." The fox eats a slice of pizza. "Oh wow! With you around it tastes wonderful!" She visits other places, like a zero-gravity laser tag spot. With floating moons, and jump areas. Apparently made by an effort of a few of the rare creative people in this realm, based on a few video games they heard of, but never played in the real world. But, everything apparently simply became better, more real, anytime she got near, and the citizens went crazy... for that sense of detail, reality.
The place... is diverse. Some areas are designed after mansions, but inhabited by parties of foxes. Areas where entire 100's of foxes party, create fake beer, and the beer acts like real beer... as long as they feel like it. Only for them to decide to snap out of it. Drugs did not work though, when she asked. Apparently, that was too close to lying for the realm. If you tried to create something that made you lie internally, it did not work. Utterly. Some areas had sights to behold. Foxes that got bored, and devoted themselves to imagination, without the flow of reality though, their imaginations could not push, and mold reality as easily as her, or Mr. Fox. So they made do, and spent years working on specific constructs. That was how the first cities were made apparently.
Karlen guided her to a quiet place, noticing her overstimulation. A hill overlooking the city's inner heart. He didn't speak. He just sat beside her, their fur touching lightly. His form was so much more real now. She could even see an old scar above his eye, one that hadn't shown before. She asked, "That scar..." He frowns, as he focuses, and a hand mirror slowly forms. He looks at it. "Oh... I got more realistic... eh... expected. It's... well... from my real body, when I was human." The mirror flickers into nothing when he stops focusing. Mr. Fox stands nearby, quiet, watching. They lay... on their bellies on that hill. It's quiet now. The city is bright, colorful. It's nice. She lays her head on her paws. Karlen looks over her. This... feels new to her. This fur... covering her... this figure. He licks her fur slowly. Grooming her.
She wondered if she should return the gesture. But she didn't. Not yet. Her heart was too full, her mind too busy. She looked at her left, and right paws under her snout. So weirdly placed. Her vision was wider apart. Larger. The sky was... bright. As if wishing to impress her. Claws curled, then withdrew. She could feel her muscles and tendons, not like a human at all. When she stopped pretending anything, when she stopped pretending to be human, and thus forming hands to grasp things. Her body returned to this. This base state. She asks, "Mr. Fox... why did you truly do foxes?" Mr. Fox is quiet. As he says, "I was a weird kid. Loved foxes too much... I guess." It goes quiet... the world quiets around them... the grass slowly loses color. She says, "It's ok... that's... you." He looks at her. Frowning. Then chuckles, as it snaps back to color.
She asks, "Who... are those darker shadows... those... dangerous ones." Mr. Fox says, "The newest ones. The ones I transformed recently. They are not harmful... just... hurt. So hurt by the fact they can't go five minutes without remembering their trauma, and sins. So hurt that they can't be human, are forced to walk on 4 legs. As a result... they can't even pretend to be human, they are often non-verbal. Until they can accept the fact this is real, they are forced to act like foxes, too much like foxes. They are usually taken in by the older foxes, and cared for by them. Taught how to accept their new natures. It's... slow. Some take years. That one you saw raped his own daughter." She feels Karlen's tongue dance across her fur. On her head. As it felt nice... comfortable to feel it. Mr. Fox said, "I may have went too far with the foxes... I feel sometimes. When I first entered this realm... I treated it like a dream I was free to edit. I was a god... then... what I made... just... locked. I... I can't change any of it now. The fox form is hyper realistic, because I understood complex biological anatomy to that level. I was a science nerd... I understood how to make realism... at least a fox realistic." She smiles, "You did a good job... the foxes are cute... even if weird. They... work... to show how beastly humans are under it all." He goes quiet... as if... never having an equal to talk to this about often.
After a long quiet... Karlen... pauses his grooming... and slowly licks her ears. She shivers with a sensation. Mr. Fox says, "We... should get that ritual going before you two lovebirds try sex here." They both freeze at that... She shakes as she gets up, yowls, and whimpers, "T-That's possible here!" Mr. Fox is quiet. "Perhaps... mayhaps... I mean... humans, animals, horny fellas. This place is a dream realm. Though... honest no idea if you can fucking get pregnant! No one has ever got pregnant here. But idk, you as a tether? With a real human body? With constant energy flow between Earth, and here? Perhaps. It changed your spinal shape." She frowns and blushes. Shaking. Karlen said awkwardly, "Uh... I... seriously was not planning anything!" He whimpered. Mr. Fox gave him a stink eye, "I can see your lust boy. I am over 300 years old." "We are NOT doing that," she growled loudly, mortified. Karlen quietly lowers his ears, hoping his new mate may accept it someday. As quite simply, he already saw her as his mate. He had since he first saw her fox form. Eventually, she scowls, and says, "Let's do this ritual thing! Ok." Mr. Fox chuckles, and says, "Ok! Yes, let's. Down there." He turns, a massive dark sinkhole is now on the ground. Mr. Fox jumped right in without hesitation. She, and Karlen sat on the edges. Then followed.