Not a Normal Day
(Feral fox TF)
It was getting late. The trail had taken an unexpected awhile back and now he was sure he was no longer on the map. In fact he was now walking through a deciduous forest. As far as the hiker could recall there was no deciduous forests within twenty miles of the park. But here he was walking along a narrow path bordered by tall grasses, the sky covered in leafy foliage.

Hopefully he would find a place to camp soon. Camping in the grass was out because it was taller than he was. Soon his only option would be to sleep on the path.

Relief soon swept through the hiker as he rounded a bend in the path and came across a large circular clearing.

The grass here was short here, not like it was cut but as if the taller grasses refused to grow.

And stranger still, a man stood stalk still in the center of the clearing, wearing a white robe and looking like some martial artist from any fighting movie. He was also old, very old, older, it seemed, than most of the trees around him.

“Excuse me sir?” the hiker inquired.

“What are you doing in my forest?” he responded without so much as glancing in the hiker’s direction.

“Your forest? I thought this was a state park.” answered the hiker eyebrows raising a little.
“You may have been in another forest before, but now you are in my forest.”

“If I'm trespassing I can leave.”

“Stay or go once you have entered you must pass my test if you want to see your home again.”

The old man flung a sword lightning quick. It streaked through the air and narrowly missed the hiker’s shoe, impaling itself in the dirt.
“Fight me, or you will never leave my forest.”
The old man spun around clutching another sword in his wrinkled hand and began to briskly stride towards the hiker.

The hiker turned to run but the path had disappeared, replaced by an unbroken treeline.

The hiker whirled around to see that the man had closed more than half the distance separating them. He yanked the sword out of the ground fast as he could.

That's when the old man struck. With the speed of a cobra he lept forward, the setting sun glinting off of his sword.

The hiker held his arms out frantically to try to block the attack. This proved a mistake as the man’s sword sliced clean through his left wrist.
The hiker expected pain, but he only felt a tingling sensation in his left hand.

He looked at his hand and saw that instead of being cut off it had turned into a paw, black fur coming right up to where the man had slashed through his arm, claws now adorning his fingertips.

Shocked, he had barely enough time to react as the man came around for another attack. This time, however, the hiker successfully parried and launched an attack of his own, aiming for the man’s middle section.

His attack was far too slow and the old man stepped out of the way as if he was fifty years younger, and attacked again, this time going straight for the face.

The hiker reacted just barely in time and the sword clipped his ear. The hikers ear grew long and pointed, while traversing to the top of his head. Black fur sprouted and covered his ear.

The hiker had no time to react to this new development as the man swiftly attacked again, this time slicing through his unchanged arm at the elbow.

This marked the beginning of the end of the short battle as the hiker’s fingers receded into his hand, pads growing on his fingertips and palm. Black fur sprouted and spread up his arm.

No longer able to hold his weapon, the hiker’s sword fell to the ground. The hiker was defenseless as the man cleaved him in two at the waist.

Quickly the changes took hold. His heels pulled up as the front of his foot morphed into a paw. The muscles in his legs rearranged, now more suited for pushing him forward than holding his weight. He fell over as his hips rotated No longer able to keep him upright. While this was happening fur spread up his legs starting black then transitioning to a bright orange-red. Finally he felt a pulling sensation as a tail sprouted from his rump growing long and fluffy.

The man gave the hiker no time to beg or plead for mercy as he plunged his sword directly through the hikers heart.

This completed the hikers transformation into a fox. The fur spread up his torso, white coating his front and orange his back. as his arms completed their transformation into a fox’s legs, stretching and growing fur. Finally his head completed its change. His other ear grew pointed and migrated to the top of his head while his face pushed out into a muzzle. His nose grew wet and new, sharper teeth grew in to replace his old ones. Next his eyes changed losing their humanity as his hole body shrunk down to the proper size for a red tailed fox.

The fox leapt into the bushes suddenly frightened by the old man, who sat back down in the center of the clearing, muttering “Kids these days, can't even swing a sword properly.”