Roxy didn’t understand. They took Charlie away? How did they know their names? She had to enter a tournament? What were the trials she had to face? Where was Zirconia, and how would she find it? All these questions swirled through her head as she stared at the crumpled letter.

Roxy knew she needed to figure out how to find Zirconia. She glanced around the clearing, looking for any trace of which way they had gone. Roxy finally found a trail, something she hadn’t noticed the night before, full of paw prints and scuff marks. She quickly went back to where they had slept, gathering up Charlie’s backpack. She pulled out a quarter of the sandwich, heading down the path.

If she had until the day after tomorrow, that meant she had roughly three days. Could she find Zirconia in three days?

Roxy, deep in thought, hurried down the path. She walked many miles before what must’ve been lunchtime. Roxy didn’t want to waste any time on resting, so she just pulled out the other quarter of the sandwich and ate it on the way. After a while it started to get very dark. Roxy had lost track of the prints a while ago and had still continued along the path. She hoped the people (animals?) that had taken Charlie would stay on the trail. Roxy worried that she would never find Zirconia. Just as she turned a corner in the path she saw a lantern up ahead. Without a moment’s thought as to who this animal was or if they were friendly or not, Roxy raced to catch up with them.

When she got closer, Roxy saw it was a guinea pig. She was startled by its size, which was much larger than a regular guinea pig. Roxy then thought back to Charlie’s size, which was only a little smaller than her, and realized that large rodents were probably not uncommon.

Roxy had continued to run, lost in thought, and the guinea pig had stopped suddenly. She barrelled into the smaller animal, making them both topple to the ground.

“Oh! I am so sorry. Please forgive me!” Roxy said. The guinea pig looked up from dusting herself off and said, “Oh, it’s okay, dear. It’s just dust.” Roxy noticed then how old the guinea pig was, and wondered what she was doing out so late all by herself.

Before she could ask, the guinea pig asked, “What is a lovely young fox like you doing out in the woods so late?”

Roxy frowned and said, “Well, I am not from here, and I need to find the Zerconian Kingdom. Do you possibly know where that is?” She decided not to say why she needed to get there, as the guinea pig might not want to help her after she found out she was friends with a “criminal”.

“Oh! Why, you are in luck, my little fox, because I was heading there to visit my daughter! Would you like me to take you there?”

“That would be wonderful!” Roxy exclaimed, clasping her paws together. “Are we heading out now?” Roxy

The guinea pig shook her head. “No, it is dangerous in these parts of the woods at night. But don’t worry. I have a camp set up nearby with a fire, so no one will come in. Follow me.”

“Are people in the woods afraid of fire?” asked Roxy as they walked.

The guinea pig scrunched up her face. “What’s a people? I don’t know where you come from, but everyone here are animals.”

“Er… Never mind. Why would a fire keep the animals out?” Roxy asked again.

“Most animals in the woods are wild. Undomesticated. They aren’t civil, like you and me. Fire frightens them.”

“Oh.”

When they got to the makeshift camp, Roxy realized she had no IDEA as to who this guinea pig was. “Uh, ma'am? I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you, exactly?” The old guinea pig chuckled and said,

“Why, silly me! You must be very worried, following a stranger into an even stranger camp. My name is Mrs. Guinea Pig. And what shall I call you?”

“Roxy. My name is Roxy Foxx.”