Not Alone - Foxy's Return

Chapter Two

༻The Visitor༺

Every day was the same. Wake up, chase away the rats, patrol the area, sleep, repeat. The pattern only interrupted by the occasional drawing.
But this time, something was different. He awoke as usual, but something felt odd. After the morning tasks, he hung out around the cove, waiting, anticipating. What, he did not know. But there was something different about today.

And that's when it happened. Something new, a noise, echoed down through the huge dump, faint but audible.
Foxy's ears were perked to the sound in less than a heartbeat. Curiosity drove him to investigate.
He emerged from the cove and out onto the main catwalk. The noise came again, and this time, he could make out what it was. A somewhat high voice, calling out in the darkness.

"Hello?"

The voice echoed off the walls. Foxy shook his head. No, it couldn't be. The isolation had driven him mad, he was hearing things. There was no one there. He was about to turn back, when it came again.

"Anyone here?"

His ears remained perked, his uncovered eye narrowed, staring into the darkness above, where the voice came from. That was no hallucination, that voice was real.

He headed up the catwalks, through one fence gate, and slowly up further.
And that's when a shape came into view, emerging from the storage rooms above the dump.
The shape turned, and Foxy froze in the patch of darkness. The shape was... A human? A small one at that, a girl by the looks of it. She had lone hair and a frightened expression as she stared in his direction, likely from hearing him there.

"Is someone there?" She asked, inching into the light which hung from the wall.
Thoughts raced through his mind. Who was she? Why was she down here? Did anyone know she was down here? Should he say something?
The girl inched ever closer, her shoes making a small patter sound on the ground.

"I know someone's there? Mom?" The girl asked, her voice quavering.
Foxy made up his mind. With a cautious movement, he stepped forward, into the light, peering down at the girl, expecting her to freak out and run.
She startled at his sudden appearance, but stayed put, eyes wide.
"Woah..." She breathed, as if in awe of him.

"You're not my mom..." She observed. "You're even cooler!" Her lips turned up in a smile, which confused Foxy.
"Ye're... Not scared of me?" He asked carefully, and she shook her head in response.
"I've heard of you," she said quietly. "Foxy, aren't you? You're just like the stories said!"

He blinked, eyeing her. "There be tales of me?" He asked, and she nodded again.
"My little friends and I heard it on TV. A long time ago, you were going to be taken away, but they said you disappeared on your own! You ran away from them before they took you! You're brave, you know? To run away?"

He wasn't sure what to say in response, instead changing the subject.
"What are ye doin' down 'ere then, lassie? 'Tis no place for youngins."

She glanced warily back up at the gate she'd come from, then back at him. "I followed someone through a door and found an elevator. I decided to explore it, and ended up here. I got lost, I don't know how to get back!"
Her voice slightly raised in panic, and Foxy felt a pang of sympathy-which wasn't something he felt often.
"Ah, now don't ye worry, lassie!" He assured her quickly. "I can help ye get back to yer mother."

Her eyes brightened at this, but she still looked wary.
"O-okay," she said. Without another word, she took a step forward, wrapping her little hand around Foxy's non-hook paw, as if as a gesture of trust. He was slightly surprised by the action, but accepted it.
He hadn't been up this far in a long time. Somehow, he remembered where to go, leading the girl through the storage room, up a small slope and through another fence gate, until finding the elevator she presumably came from.

"There ye go!" He announced, gesturing to the elevator. "We found it!"
But the girl wouldn't let go of his paw, looking up at him with anxious eyes. "Go up with me?" She pleaded. "I don't want to get lost up there."
He knew where the elevator went. Up to the area behind the kitchens, and dangerously close to the main atrium of the building. It would be busy, filled with staff. If anyone saw him, there'd be trouble.

But the girl's expression was one of pleading, and he couldn't bring himself to say no.
"Ah, alright. But only up there! I can't go no farther than that."

She nodded. "Okay! Thank you, Foxy!" She practically tugged him in the elevator, pushing the button, which caused it to rumble to life, doors closing.
As it started its slow ascent, the girl looked up at him again.
"Was it scary to run away?" She asked him. He blinked at the question, then slowly shook his head.
"Nah. It was better than being scrapped!"
She nodded slowly, then spoke again, saying something that startled him.

"I want to run away. My mom is not nice to me. She's always mean. I want to be brave and run away, like you did!"

He kneeled to her level. "She can't be that bad! I bet she's better than staying down there," he pointed down with his hook, referring to his own living arrangements. "It ain't as cool as it may sound."
She was about to say something else when the elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened, revealing the conveyor room behind the kitchens.

"Ye know how to get back from 'ere, right?" Foxy asked, and she nodded. He straightened up as she started making for the exit, before pausing. "Oh, I'm Niki, by the way!"
He gave a brief nod, waving with his hook. "Farewell, Niki," he bid her. "Smooth sailing!" He winked, making her smile, before taking off, hopefully to find her parents.

Foxy didn't waste any time, returning underground yet again and retreating to his cove.
And that was when he felt a pang of something else: loneliness. He hadn't realized how much he missed interacting with kids until he got a chance to do so, even for just a brief moment.
Niki's words still rang in his ears.
"I want to be brave and run away, like you!"

He wanted to believe it was just a rebellious kid thinking her parents were "mean" by disciplining her. Surely that's all it was?
But something seemed off. The situation wasn't right.
Stay safe, lassie, he thought. Ye don't want a taste of this, I tell ye.