User blog:Biggren/Tales of the Juska: Vulpuz and the Devil


 * "Have I ever told you the tale of how a Son of Renert defeated Death itself?"
 * The Juska were huddled together, some in blankets, around a crackling fire. On the other side of it sat the Seer. Silence reigned, and taking this as a cue, the vixen continued.
 * "Long ago, when beasts died, they passed on into the realm of the Devil, called Hellgates. He was a harsh creature, and tormented those who entered his lands, cursing them to walk through the black ashen plains forever. Heed closely." The young Juska were gathered around, listening to the vixen Maltra as she told her tale, gazing into the fire on this cool evening.
 * "Aye, that was the law of Death; but one day, everything changed!" she spread her paws wide and the flames flashed and swirled in greens and blues and fiery reds. The gathering of stoats, rats, weasels and foxes jumped in fear and awe. "Long ago, aye, before even your grandsires' grandsires' grandsires' grandsires were even imagined, a clever animal roamed the earth. He was Vulpuz, son of Renert the Cunning, who was Father of Foxes. The son, Vulpuz, was so cunning he could trick a mouse into his belly without so much as a fight for it, or so they said. You have all heard the tale of the game he played with Mustela, mother of weasels, tricking her into giving him her dominion over the fowl of the forest, have you not?" The group of excited listeners quickly informed her that they had, and urged her to go on. "One day, Vulpuz was in his father's den, teaching the younger cubs of cleverness and wiles, when he heard a cry in the meadow. At once he rushed to locate the voice, for it was his his father's. He soon found his father, who had grown feeble in his old age, slain by the wildcat, Silves, for of all creatures the cat held a great grudge against Renert for his trickery; they say Silves had made a deal with the Devil himself to trap Renert at last, and having finally caught the old dogfox in the open, he had made quick work of the Father of Foxes."
 * "Wot 'appens next?" asked a young fox named Ruvitan.
 * "I'm getting there," the vixen smiled. "Now, when Vulpuz saw that his father had been taken to Hellgates, he endeavored to release him in some way, and went at once to the court of the Devil, for he loved his father greatly. He demanded the Devil let loose of his father, but the Devilrat would hear none of it, no matter what clever turns Vulpuz took. The little fox went home to his old mother, grieving for Renert, Father of Foxes; he joined her in a howl of sadness and pain that night.
 * As the other foxes all went to fitful slumber, Vulpuz remained awake, a plan forming in his cunning brain.
 * Morning came and as the Devil sent out his dark spies across the land, looking for signs of new death, he was surprised to see Vulpuz, lying on his side, in the meadow where Silves had slain the Father. The little fox was slain."
 * The crowd was stunned. Ruvitan spoke again, nervously, "B-but if Vulpuz was slain, how'd..."
 * "I am getting there, impatient one. The Devilrat took Vulpuz to his realm, for all beasts must go to Hellgates when they die. Vulpuz awakened there, and abode some long time, refusing food or drink. The Devil demanded he eat and drink, for a slave is no good without vittles to sustain him.
 * When evening came, the fox slipped out of the Court and at once set out across the tormented lands to seek his father, Renert the Cunning. He searched long and hard, and by afternoon of the next day he found the elder by a sulphur pit, on the far reaches of the black land. They dwelt together until the next evening there, then returned to the court of Hellgates, demanding release once more. The Devil again would not release either of them, and took great pleasure in their entrapment and fear. It was to be a long night."
 * "The next day, as the Devil drifted across his domain, he quickly began to realize something was amiss in his Court: Vulpuz was gone, and so was Renert.
 * He searched low and high, and into dimensions unknown, enraged. Rumors came to him that they had escaped in some way, but he could not believe them, until his Watchbeast came, bringing the fox's drinking vessel. It had been emptied, and along the rim was evidence of a poison the Devil had not expected. Furiously, the Lord of Hellgates realized he had been deceived: Sleeping Nightshade, the fox had taken, and the poison having made Vulpuz seem as though dead, The Devil had allowed a living beast into Hellgates. Having broken the most ancient rule of Death itself, now both Father and Son were free."
 * "The next day, as the Devil drifted across his domain, he quickly began to realize something was amiss in his Court: Vulpuz was gone, and so was Renert.
 * He searched low and high, and into dimensions unknown, enraged. Rumors came to him that they had escaped in some way, but he could not believe them, until his Watchbeast came, bringing the fox's drinking vessel. It had been emptied, and along the rim was evidence of a poison the Devil had not expected. Furiously, the Lord of Hellgates realized he had been deceived: Sleeping Nightshade, the fox had taken, and the poison having made Vulpuz seem as though dead, The Devil had allowed a living beast into Hellgates. Having broken the most ancient rule of Death itself, now both Father and Son were free."
 * He searched low and high, and into dimensions unknown, enraged. Rumors came to him that they had escaped in some way, but he could not believe them, until his Watchbeast came, bringing the fox's drinking vessel. It had been emptied, and along the rim was evidence of a poison the Devil had not expected. Furiously, the Lord of Hellgates realized he had been deceived: Sleeping Nightshade, the fox had taken, and the poison having made Vulpuz seem as though dead, The Devil had allowed a living beast into Hellgates. Having broken the most ancient rule of Death itself, now both Father and Son were free."