Shadows of the Night WH AU

Welcome to my Welcome Home AU of 'Shadows of the Night'! It's the home of the namesake fan fiction I am writing on the side amongst other things. There will be art coming on here soon as well! Please pardon the dust as it gets set up for proper posting~

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Hello and Welcome!

(CW for Death mention, missing persons, Puppet based cannibalism, Worn out puppets, and eyes, lots of eyes staring.)

Sorry for the lack of decore here (still waiting on some necessary things to be done before being able to do so), but welcome to my own Welcome Home Fan Fic/AU sideblog, where the Welcome Home setting lies between the waking world and the world of dreams! What would happen if Home decided to get Wally some new playmates in the greatly reduced populated village with bits of 80s dark fantasy? We get this little piece :D Follow along as Frank tries to keep the three newcomers from being the latest victims of Home and the horrors that lies beneath rainbow colors. I'll be getting some art pieces up on here soon as well as the fan fiction I am currently writing. I will also be opening up the inbox for questions in regards of the AU once everything is on a roll.

[badtutmind-deactivated20230806]

Reblog if you want Asks/Messages from your followers in your inbox

[makeshiftstory]

Please flood me, I love answering questions!

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Still alive too! Just been super busy but please do send me questions! I may do art for it!

[makeshiftstory]

This was a warm up piece that spiraled into being a bit more detailed than anticipated :x Its been a while since I last did any Welcome Home Fan Art and figured it was about time that I draw Poppy having a relaxing time with the Foxlings. Poppy is absolutely my favorite, I adore birds and her color palette is absolutely amazing, she truly is a treat to color. Also yes, I stuffed Curly into a strawberry bon bon cozy, he demanded to be placed in something like it.

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Crossposting from main blog :P

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Sorry it took me this long to get around to getting some art up on here! Here are the Foxlings, outfitted for this Welcome Home Fan Fic and AU! I'm pretty thrilled with how their outfits came out, they're definitely gaining a very strong chance of becoming the default clothing for them to wear.

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Chapter One: These Dreams Pt. 5

“Hey again Frank! See yer makin’ a second trip here today!” Howdy’s upbeat voice rang, contrasting his worn features as Frank looked up. 

 “Hello again Howdy, I just came back to treat Wally here to some milkshakes.” Frank explained as they sat on the stool right next to Wally, considering getting himself a milkshake as well. “Wonderful, what flavor are you both interested in?” Howdy asked, looking over the pristine Wally and the seen better days Frank.

 “I’d like strawberry please.” Wally requested, his demeanor a bit more merry than it had been moments ago.

 “I’m going for the banana flavor.” Frank said, keeping an eye on Wally and feeling relieved that Wally didn’t seem upset anymore.

 “Comin’ right up gents, be back soon with yer shakes.”  Howdy merrily went about fixing up the milkshakes, ignoring the seam that had started to pop between his upper right finger.

 Frank was lucky to have been able to spend as much time with Poppy before she disappeared, having learned a valuable skill that helped pay for things; the ladder stitch. If it weren’t for that, Frank would’ve been struggling with their garden for that main source of food considering Howdy didn’t particularly care for his jokes. Both Poppy and Eddie, before they disappeared one day, had been the village of Home’s unspoken medics, often performing the repairs along with recovering efforts that kept everyone show ready. Now that they were gone, Frank had been acting as the unofficial medic to a degree with limitations. Frank wasn’t confident in attempting a full recover if the materials were still there, replacing the deteriorating foam structure, or even how to darn a hole without causing greater damage towards his fellow surviving neighbors. The ladder stitch truly was the only thing Frank had on hand for their neighbors and they were grateful for it. The only one that didn’t require Frank’s assistance was Wally. Wally was the only puppet that was made to be able to self replenish his appearance through consumption, keeping the little guy looking brand new every day since the start of the show. The sound of the glass mugs of milkshake clanked gently against the wooden counter as Howdy looked over his two current favorite customers.

 “Here we are gents! Two specialty one of a kind Howdy Pillar brand milkshakes!” Howdy proudly announced as he placed the two milkshakes before Wally and Frank.

 “Thanks Howdy.” Wally said softly as he went on to eat the milkshake with his eyes, enjoying the flavor he received. “Do you gents mind if I ask what the occasion is now, do you?” Howdy asked as his two fading antenna wiggled, eager to have a bit of gossip.

 “Home said we have new neighbors moving in today, but I can’t find them just yet.” Wally explained, a brief horrified expression danced across Howdy’s face before a look of calmness did the fox trot shortly after.

 “New neighbors you say?” Howdy inquired as he looked at Frank who only nodded in affirmation that was the truth. “Yes, but I wonder where they could be at. I hope they didn’t get lost.” Wally said in a worried tone to his normally calm voice as he finished the milkshake. “I’m sure they’ll be just fine Walls, be sure to send them my way to the bodega when you do meet them. Hey Frank, I have something of yours in the office. How about you come on back to retrieve it?” Howdy motioned for Frank to follow him to the back, making a nice excuse to have a private word.

 “Sure thing Mr. Pillar, I’ll be right back to you Wally.” Frank excused himself as they got up from the seat to follow Howdy into the office, closing the door behind to keep the conversation private. “Frank, be honest with me, I saw you bending down not too long ago and I know my packing skills are impeccable.” Howdy gave Frank a look of knowing, a gut instinct kicking in from years of experience.

“I just dropped my tin of tobacco when trying to get it out for a quick smoke.” Frank deflected, not ready to reveal the Foxings to Howdy just yet.

 “I wouldn’t have taken you for the joking kind there Frank, but that was funny. It doesn’t take that long to pick up a tin of tobacco from the ground.” Howdy called the bluff as he tapped a worn hand against the table.

 “Come by to my house before nightfall, I’ll call it an overnight. You’ll see why I’m hesitant to talk about this out in the open.” Frank gave Howdy a very pleading look, he would at least need time to prepare the Foxlings for their first introduction to the next Neighbor. 

 “Frank, what have you gotten yourself into now? You know how Home is if Wally is upset. There are too few of us right now and you’re the only medical assistance we have. If something happens to you Frank, then we’re all done for.” Howdy fished for something to pretend as the forgotten item.

 “Howdy, if you saw them, you would know. They’re smaller than your own two nephews Howdy, they are just so tiny.” Frank was frantic as Howdy froze right at the mention of his nephews and just how small the newcomers were.

 “I’m going to have to see this myself, but if they’re as small as you’ve said they were, my lips are sealed on the matter.” Howdy reluctantly conceded to being silent on the matter as he handed Frank the paddle ball that had once belonged to Julie when she was still awake.

 “Howdy, thank you for understanding the situation..” Frank gave his gratitude as they held the paddle ball before Howdy had to correct them. “Don’t thank me just yet, I’ll be by your house before night time to see them. Besides, you owe me the payment of sewing up some popped stitches I have.” Howdy showed Frank the way out of the office and back to where Wally had been sitting patiently at.

 Both Frank and Howdy put back on their act around Wally as though nothing had happened after having the discussion. Frank took his time with the milkshake, not thrilled that Howdy was going to be coming over later on.The only positive part of the deal was that Howdy had promised not to say anything until after getting to see the Foxlings up close. That was the only  comfort at the moment for Frank as Wally started removing himself from the stool. Wally was in a far better mood after being given some treats as he waved a soft farewell, making the trip back to Home. Howdy and Frank sat there watching as Wally left, a pressure having been lifted from just how close everyone involved was. As Frank finished his milkshake, Howdy held out the damaged hand that was needing repair. It took Frank a moment or two to get the sewing kit out of their pocket and began the process of stitching up the seams on Howdy’s hand. Howdy held his hand still as Frank gently weaved the needle and thread between the separating fibers before carefully pulling the thread, the hole disappearing. Once the thread was anchored and cut away, Howdy appreciatively wiggled his fingers for a moment to test the strength. With Howdy satisfied with the handiwork, Frank was free to head home to prepare for Howdy’s impromptu visit. Frank held the paddle ball as he walked along the golden road as they thought over something. Perhaps once home, Frank could take the Foxlings along to visit Julie’s home to return the paddle ball. Eddie, Poppy, and Julie had been extremely close to Frank when the show was still on air as he got the keys from the pocket to enter the household. “Babylon, Avalon, Curly, I’m back now. I have some news unfortunately.” Frank looked over to the Foxlings who had been checking out the house a little bit. “What happened? Is everything alright?” Avalon asked as she walked up to Frank, concerned by the last part. “It’ll depend on what Howdy decides. He witnessed me helping you and your siblings out. He’ll be coming over tonight to visit and likely stay overnight.” Frank was living up to his last name of ‘Frankly’ as they gave the very honest truth of the situation. “He can’t go home at night?” Curly raised a wiry eyebrow at the fact that no one left their homes at night. “Remember when I said Wally hunts at night? It’s strictly forbidden to be out at night when that happens.” Frank said as he fished out a backpack from his closet that they normally would use when having to go study insects outdoors.

 “That’s not a good thing..” Babylon lowered her ears a bit at the possibility that every night was hunting time for Wally. “It truly isn’t, but, before Howdy comes by for the visit, how about coming with me to drop off something at my friend’s house? It’ll be the first supervised trip and I can introduce everyone to Julie.” Frank opened up the backpack for the Foxlings to climb into for the impromptu outing.

 “Might as well, that sounds like a nice outing.” Avalon poked about at the backpack for a moment as she started to make her way inside of it. “So long as there aren't any old sandwiches in there, I’m good to go.” Curly sniffed at the backpack, ironically being more cautious of the backpack than he was of the grocery bag. “Curly, be kind.” Avalon said as she tried to lead her brother into the backpack with Babylon following behind.

 “Can’t help it, I’m full of rice, remember?” Curly reminded his sister as Frank gently pushed Curly into the bag as time was becoming short. “It’s pristine, so come on, no bickering and we’ll be on our way out of the house for a short bit.” Frank counted to make sure all three of the Foxlings were secured inside of the backpack before getting up and heading out the door to visit Julie’s.

 With that, Frank started to make his walk towards Julie’s home. It wasn’t a long walk since Julie was Frank’s neighbor for a long time as they held Julie’s paddle ball close and ready to return it to the rightful owner. The walk over to visit would’ve been a normal one had it not been for one small detail, Sally visiting at the same time. Sally stood before Julie’s door with flowers she had managed to find in the forest to pay a visit. Sally no longer could shine that internal light mechanism anymore due to running out of the lightbulbs that were customly fitted to her scale. The brown staining from the oxidation had bled through the fabric pain covering the back of Sally’s head. A weary smile crept over Sally’s face as she noticed Frank was coming by as well to see Julie. “Franklin, darling, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Sally slowly waved to Frank, patched of the missing felt on her points being painted over to hide the signs of wearing. “It’s Frank, but yeah, it has been some time since we both visited Julie.” Frank said softly as he glanced over at Julie’s home, something that had once been so full of life was so silent and so still. “I wish Juliet would wake up from her hibernation soon, I miss her so much.” Sally calmly said, the usual theatrical tone she had was nowhere to be heard. “I wish for the same thing too, I received her paddle ball from Howdy earlier today. I felt it was only right to return it to Julie.” Frank carefully bent over to the welcome mat, lifting up for the spare key inside. “Oh my goodness that paddle ball, yes, let’s head inside of Juliet’s together. Maybe talking to her will help bring Juliet back to us.” Sally went to pat Frank on the shoulder, avoiding the backpack since that usually had some delicate bug hunting gear.

 “Maybe, but I don’t think it’ll work, just..” Frank said as he went to unlock the front door to Julie’s home, a melancholy over taking their look when thinking about it. “You need to stop blaming yourself, Franklin. I know that losing your love, Edward first and then suddenly your best friend Julie going into a fifty year long hibernation hadn’t been the best for you.” Sally had noticed the demeanor that Frank was wearing, catching them off guard. “That’s funny…that’s the first time you’ve called my boyfriend ‘Edward’ instead of ‘The Mailman.’” Frank gave Sally a very surprised look as they opened the door, games all over the place that had been like this since the day Julie went to sleep. “I’m not proud of how I treated him back then, I should’ve been nicer.” Sally admitted as she made her way inside of the once cheery household.

 “I think Eddie would have forgiven you Sally, he was always a kinder soul than any of us combined.” Frank said wistfully, the memories of his time with Eddie being some of the best they had before the disappearance happened.

 “Thanks Franklin, I needed to hear that..” Sally gently took Frank’s hand, leading him inside of Julie’s home to go visit their long slumbering friend.

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Chapter One: These Dreams Pt. 4

“There is that, but there is also Wally. Rule number four, do not be spotted or interact with Wally. Wally is the one with blue hair done up in a pompadour and a permanent smile on his face like how I have a permanent frown on my face. Now, Wally during the day time isn’t dangerous, he is usually very docile and normally stays inside of Home most of the time. With that being said, the real danger is when night comes. Wally stops being Wally when night comes, he’s hungry and is dangerous to encounter outside. There are rare times when Wally comes out and sometimes visits my place for small chats. If he comes here, I need you three to hide right away.” Frank’s voice shook a bit when talking about Wally for a moment before clearing it up to stay composed before freezing up upon hearing the door being knocked on. 

 “Speak of the devil, here comes your fourth rule possibly.” Curly snarkily said as he looked up at the door. “Exactly, go hide right now. If you act silly like that though, I will lecture you on how bugs go through metamorphosis in great detail.” Frank hushed Curly before motioning for the Foxlings to go hide under the desk.

 Frank watched carefully, making sure the Foxlings had hidden themselves well before quickly getting to the door, hoping it’s just Howdy dropping something off for him. Gripping the cold metal of the door knob felt like a piece of hot metal, burning at the felt hand of Frank as they carefully opened the door to greet their visitor. If Frank was able to, Frank’s face would’ve drained of color upon the sight of Wally standing right outside his home. Wally stood at the doorway with his signature placid smile on his fleece face, but his eyes told an entirely different story. There was a slight tiredness to Wally’s eyes, frustration possibly being a factor putting Frank on edge as he welcomed Wally into his home. Without hesitation, Frank pulled up a seat for Wally to sit on and offered an apple to entertain their guest. There was a brief look of relief on Wally’s face as his pupils dilated for a moment before a chunk of the apple disappeared after Wally blinked. The method continued for a few moments with Frank watching on, holding back a panic attack as Wally finished his apple. Frank stood there in silence for a moment, allowing Wally some time to decompress and digest his apple.

 “Is everything alright, Mr. Darling?” Frank asked, trying to hide his nervousness as Wally took in a bit of breath. “Home told me that we were getting some new neighbors today, but I haven’t found them yet.” Wally answered calmly, the apple having helped his mood a bit.

 “We are?” Frank felt a cold pit in their core upon learning Home could potentially be able to drag other people in this rainbow colored prison.

 “Yes, but I’m not sure where to find our new neighbors though or if they’ve arrived just yet. It wouldn’t be very neighborly at all if Home lied about the new neighbors.” Wally said as the guttural undertone returned to reflect his frustration of not being able to meet the new neighbors just yet. “That’s true, I wouldn’t consider Home a liar at all.” Frank lied convincingly, not wanting Wally to find out where the Foxlings were.

 “I feel a bit sad and don’t know what to do about that Frank.” Wally admitted, the guttural undertone receding upon saying that. “Wally, I have to take care of a few things first, but if you want, I’m more than happy to head down with you  to Howdy’s for a milkshake as a treat.” Frank offered, partially to get Wally out of his home and also because he felt bad for Wally considering the little guy had no clue Barnaby was no longer here.

 “I’d like that, you’re a good friend Frank, thank you.” Wally got up from the chair, ready to go for some milkshakes to make up for the minor disappointment.

 “It’s no problem at all Wally, I’ll see you by Howdy’s shortly once I’m done.” Frank went to gently follow Wally out the door to see him off.

 “I’ll see you soon Frank, thanks again for helping me out a bit.” Wally gave a soft wave goodbye before heading out for Howdy’s to meet up with Frank later.

 “See you soon Wally, I hope things are better for you soon.” Frank waved in return before closing the door and motioning for the Foxlings to come out from hiding.

 “Home can do that..?” Babylon asked once things were stable.

 “Apparently Home can, I didn’t even know Home was able to do so. I know that I’m not enough, but I’m going to try my best to keep all three of you safe until I can figure out a solution.” Frank ran a fleece hand over his worried face, thinking over the options available to help the Foxlings to escape.

 “Thank you Mr. Frankly, though I must ask, is Wally alright? He seems rather sad instead of being dangerous.” Avalon asked, feeling terrible for Wally as he didn’t seem like a monstrous person at all. “Wally doesn’t know, none of us can tell him this because of Home, but his best friend, Barnaby, has been dead for a while now. I don’t know if it was an accident made by Home or if it was on purpose, but Wally hadn’t been the same since that happened. He’s mostly been inside of Home, thinking Barnaby would be returning to the neighborhood soon.” Frank got ready to head out soon to keep Wally from becoming suspicious. “That’s horrible, Wally doesn’t deserve to be left in the dark like that….” Babylon was absolutely mortified on Wally’s behalf upon learning Barnaby was dead already. “I know it is and if Home wasn’t involved, things would’ve been different along with the rules, but as long as Wally is still interacting with Home, I cannot risk him finding out about you three. I’m going to be gone for a short while, please stay inside of the house as instructed and the final ground rule, if you see a dark puddle, do not touch it.” Frank closed the door behind him and locked it as they left for Howdy’s Bodega to keep Wally from becoming suspicious.

 The Foxings were left to their own devices as Frank left for the Bodega once again. A shiver would run down Frank’s servos whenever he had to walk by Barnaby’s old home, frozen in time where all Barnaby’s gag items and toys strewn all over the astro turf grass. Sure, Frank and Barnaby had clashed during their time on the show, but even then, Frank never wished for Barnaby to pass in such a horrifying fashion. Frank’s head spun for a moment or two to refocus themself on where he was heading, passing Barnaby’s quickly by. The sight of the Bodega coming up made Frank pick up the pace before finally reaching the doors of Howdy’s and entering inside. Wally sat on the bar stool as Howdy looked over to Frank who had just entered the shoppe. Howdy waved one of his worn hands over to Frank, greeting them as Frank took a seat at the counter. There were visible worn holes on Howdy’s face and bits of the foam becoming porous from exposure, likely from running a hand over his face numerous times. 

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Chapter One: These Dreams Pt. 3

 “Excuse me…sir? My sister, brother, and I are lost..” Babylon spoke up, causing Frank to stop what they were doing, looking around for the source of the voice before Babylon spoke once again, “I’m down here..”

 “...You’re not supposed to be here…” Frank stared down blankly in shock at the newcomer in the village of Home before becoming fearful for the safety of this small fox-like being standing in front of him. 

 “My siblings and I don’t know how we got here…” Babylon admitted as she looked up at Frank, catching onto the fact that they were looking very fearful at this point.

 “Graham cookies…okay, you said you had siblings, are they nearby?” Frank inquired, getting himself composed once more to handle what else might be thrown at them.

 “Yes I did. Avalon, Curly, come on, it’s safe to come out.” Babylon called out to the shrubs, forcing her siblings to come out from hiding.

 “I see…there are only three of you in total, no one else? Has anyone else seen you besides me?” Frank asked, looking around periodically to make sure that they were still alone with no other witnesses.

 “Yeah, it’s just us three, I’d be horrified if there was a fourth here.” Curly shrugged as he looked right up at Frank.

 “No, my sister exposed us to only you at this time.” Avalon answered as she looked at Babylon in horror that her own twin exposed them like that as Frank debated about something quickly. “That’s all I needed to know, get into the grocery bag. I’ll take you back to my home to hash some rules out until I can get you three safely out of here.” Frank lowered their grocery bag, motioning to the smaller beings to climb right on in.

 Curly was the first to climb in without any sort of hesitation while it took Babylon a moment or two to convince Avalon to follow along before joining Curly in the bag. Once they were all in, Frank got up, holding the bag much closely now as he made their way back home before anyone caught sight of the newcomers. It would appear that the Village of Home, after losing three residences, had decided to replace them with three new ones. Three new ones for Wally to meet, three new ones for the tragedy to start up all over again and Frank wasn’t going to happen once more. Frank never wanted to see what happened to Eddie start all over again, he would never forgive themself should something happen. What was normally a very short walk back to his home felt like hours to Frank, double checking for the keys and more importantly, double checking if Wally was out in the neighborhood. Last thing Frank wanted was to be stopped by Wally for casual small talk while looking suspicious. With a sigh of relief, Frank reached the door to his home, getting the keys out immediately and placing them into the door, unlocking it. Relieved, Frank pushed the door open quickly and got inside with the bag closely held, shutting the door behind with a foot. Once in, Frank lowered the bag to allow the new visitors out and onto the couch. Looking around the huge mounds of books, walls adorned with various insect specimens with curious eyes being able to see the insides of Frank’s home for the first time. It was clear though that it hadn’t been dusted for the past week as a nice soft gray layer blanketed some of the books. 

 “My apologies about how untidy my place is at the moment, but please, make yourselves comfortable. I’m going to get some of my groceries put away quickly. Once I’m done, we can have a proper introduction before moving into some of the ground rules while staying here in Home.” Frank said as he picked the grocery bag right up, ready to start sorting them away into their designated places.

 “Question, can we read the books here while we wait?” Avalon raised her paw upon asking, the need to read was very strong in the siblings.

 “So long as you return the books to their original place once done, I’m fine with my books being read.” Frank felt relieved that they were sharing the home with fellow book lovers.

 “Cool, thanks!” Curly chirped as he readily got off the couch, beelining for the book pile to pick from. “Odd, the room doesn’t feel the least bit cold right now.” Frank remarked before going back to getting the groceries put away.

 It was nice to have guests over that weren't Sally who’d bother Frank about performing in one of her plays or Wally coming by for brief visits when he wasn’t locked up in Home. Howdy would only come by every so often to deliver things that Frank had forgotten at the counter or were too busy to come into the shop. A part of Frank deeply missed having Eddie or Julie over to chat with, they both brought a lot of joy in Frank’s life before things had unraveled. The thoughts about Eddie ate a bit at Frank’s heart after losing him to Home as Frank finished getting his groceries put away. With the chore completed, Frank made their way back into the living room where his guests had been entertaining themselves with the books.

 “Thank you for being patient, I am Frank Frankly, the local insect expert here in Home.” Frank introduced themself, the three siblings looking up in acknowledgement.

 “Nice to meet you Frank, my name is Avalon Foxling. This is my sister, Babylon Foxling and my brother Curly Foxling.” Avalon said, holding her small paw up to shake politely. 

 “It is very nice to meet all three of you as well. With introductions out of the way, I’m going to give some rules while you’re staying here in Home. Number one, do not go out in public alone unless I am nearby or you’re staying close to where my house is. Number two, there will be no profanity being spoken while you stay here.” Frank shook the small paw of Avalon as he went forwards with laying out the ground rules.

 “Why can’t we curse? It’s fun.” Curly looked deeply offended at the idea of not being able to say swear words while being in a horror puppet show land. “This leads to my third rule, avoid Home at all costs. There is a little red house in the heart of the village with a blue roof and eyes, that is Home. Home is very dangerous when she detects anything that doesn’t belong here like profane words. If Home detects you, he will do anything in their power to track you down, likely sending Wally to locate you under a different pretense.” Frank lowered their voice as though Home could possibly hear him say her name aloud.

 “That’s horrifying to know there’s a killer house here.” Curly gave Frank a look of disbelief about the house of no mercy.

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Chapter One: These Dreams Pt. 2

The woods were colorful and dense as three small figures walked amongst the bramble that felt as though it belonged in a children’s fairytale. Neither three knew how they even arrived in such an oddly whimsical location mainly because they had been tucked in for the night after a long day of assisting their maker. One of the three, a small animated dog plush whose ears were long and fluffy with white fur spotted with black, had looked over towards the other two. The dog was dressed in yellow and orange bell bottom pants with flares that resembled butterfly wings with a puff long sleeve top in buttery yellow along with a newsboy’s cap to match. The two other figures from the glancing over were a pair of two small plush doll foxes. It was clear from first glances that the two animated fox plush dolls were very much identical twins, the only two ways of telling them apart being were their eyes and the color of the zipper on their backs.  Like the dog, the twin foxes had fur of white and black with trimmed fur on their faces styled like fluffy bangs.The one fox with wide round eyes was clothed in an a-line dress with scalloped edges of pink and mint green, short puffed sleeves in off white with a small beret to match. The other fox with the narrow eyes had a dress that mirrored the other in periwinkle and soft blue, small puffed sleeves in black with a mirroring small beret as well. The dog motioned for the twin foxes to get over to where he was, a neighborhood beyond the shrubs they stayed hidden for a moment.

 “It looks just like the website..” The fox with the wide eyes said as she looked out in awe that her favorite horror media was real. “It can’t be..” The other fox with narrow eyes looked down at the golden brick road wondering how exactly did this happen. “But it is..I mean look right there, that’s the bodega!” The dog pointed out with fluffy, fingerless paws at Howdy’s Bodega.

 “This…this isn’t rooted in reality..” The narrowed eyed fox looked at the village of Home in pure shock that this was even happening to begin with. “Avalon, we’re poppets, magical familiars inhabiting doll forms. I don’t think reality applies here exactly.” The wide eyed fox said softly as she patted her sister’s back.

 “Okay that’s a really fair point Babylon, but still, this is supposed to be a work of fiction, not an actual plan of existence.” Avalon stated as she looked around the village entrance, unsure about this. “Upside, it’s not Dr. Seuss, the Grinch would’ve been horrifying to encounter. Besides, I’m slaying these butterfly bellbottoms right now.” The dog went to pose in the new outfit that he and his sisters had arrived in, pretty impressed with the style. “As lovely as these clothes are, Curly, I think we should be figuring out how we got here.” Avalon started to pace in a circle, trying to think over how this even happened and if there was a way out.

 “Avalon, don’t be such a wet blanket. We got three heads here, we’ll figure a way back home to Dolly. Like you, I don’t want to leave Dolly alone for too long, she’d be scared if we’re missing. For now though, we need to make due with what we got at the moment.” Curly said as he took a quick glance over at the bodega, debating about making a run for the food stand out in the open. “I know, I know, I can’t help being a bit of a wet blanket at the moment. This is a horror based media we’re evidently stuck in, there’s really no telling just how far south this could go if we made the wrong step.” Avalon calmly said before giving Curly a sharp look upon noticing the very bad idea in making. 

 “Avalon, in this case, I think we should reach out for help. We can’t stay in the woods at all, especially after nightfall. Remember the Halloween update?” Babylon pointed out gently as she tried to look for the clock tower to check the time. “Oh right…well I’m game for sleeping in a tree or a cave, that should be fun.” Curly had changed his game plan from food theft to outdoor survival. “Curly, we are not doing that. We need a shelter that has a door to keep whatever is here outside and not merrily munching on our little poly fiber filled bodies.” Avalon gave Curly a look of a very annoyed older sister would’ve, especially given the circumstances.

 “Hey, I care to argue with that, I’m not entirely poly fiber, I have rice and tea spices too inside.” Curly was more than happy to point out that little factor to get under Avalon’s faux fur skin in typical younger brother fashion.

 “Well that’s good to know that the monster here is going to have a well rounded meal instead of just eating poly fibers and faux fur.” Avalon sarcastically responded before being hushed by Babylon who was looking over at the bodega.

 “Avalon, Curly, someone is coming out of Howdy’s...” Babylon whispered, forcing both of her siblings to be quiet and remain hidden.

 As the three siblings hid in the shrubbery, Frank, who had seen better days, had exited out of Howdy’s with their groceries held tightly. Things had stopped being the same since the show’s cancellation, having lost Eddie, Poppy, and Barnaby as well as Julie still being in hibernation for the past fifty years. The only ones left for Frank to interact with had been Sally, Howdy, and Wally, the latter of whom Frank had been avoiding. Frank pulled up his brown cardigan that Poppy had made them all those decades ago tightly for security upon thinking about Wally and Home. Sally had continued to play a rather dangerous game of pretending around Wally, keeping track of him and what Wally might be getting into, something Frank wasn’t happy about from the start. Howdy was still the same very business oriented caterpillar he had been even after the loss of Barnaby in their collective lives in Home. Frank wasn’t even sure how Howdy was managing to pull himself along the way he had for so long after losing his favorite customer. On the top of the grocery bag was a canister of tobacco, the stresses of this current way of life had driven Frank to pick up the pipe as Barnaby once did. Back in the shrubs while Frank stood trying to get some of the tobacco into his pipe, Avalon and Curly silently debated amongst each other about what to do next. Babylon could only watch for a moment as her two younger siblings debated on what the best route would be before making the decision on the spot. Slowly and nervously, Babylon left the protective coverings of the shrubbery as she approached Frank, hoping this was the best route as her two siblings watched on in shock.

[thefoxlingsontherun]

Chapter One: These Dreams Pt. 1

 Home watched as Wally attempted once again to reach out to his best friend over the phone, the frustration in Wally’s voice warping with each attempt. The fact that Wally would try and hide this from Home had annoyed the living house to a degree. The collective you had been a bug of sorts in Home’s mind as Wally wandered off from the phone to blow some steam off after not getting a response. The lack of sacrifices had starved Home so and the fact his little errand boy had been in a form of depression since Home got rid of Barnaby without Wally’s knowledge had made it more difficult. Perhaps it had been too haste to have done away with the clownish blue dog that Wally had been hanging around for so long. Then again, that dog had made Wally pay more attention to him rather than Home themself, a pest they simply had to be done away with. With the website now blocking Home’s and Wally’s window into the so sought after collective you, Home simply had to seek a way to remedy it if only for a temporary time. Pretending that Barnaby was still alive but away from the village had become a bit of a task for Home as to avoid upsetting her favorite little puppet. Home debated amongst himself for a moment or two, shutters clattering thoughtfully as they made a plan to give Wally a little bit of amusement while waiting on this collective you to reach him. This was something Home hadn’t done in an extremely long time, not since the days of the show was still airing on television. Indeed, Home had decided to seek out three new neighbors to join their lovely neighborhood for Wally to distract himself with. 

 It was a tricky process, not only to bring the new neighbors to Home, but it was also looking over the credentials of the ‘lucky’ persons to be selected in order to be brought over to their new home. Home already knew that humans were off the list, they were a bit too messy with these ‘emotions’ so to speak along with being too unpredictable to fully control within the lovely village of Home. No, the candidates would have to be some of the non-human members that had been tuning in for the website these last few years. With a rough idea of what Home wanted to bring into the village, she began her search through the selection of the collective you audience for those ‘lucky’ three to be brought in. The list was long and vast, so many to pick from, so many to review over as the day cycled into night, Wally clawing his way out the door for his nightly feeding while Home stood silent from the research. Too big, too small, not pretty enough, way too pretty, too loud, too quiet, too much information, too little information, too overbearing, too much details, no idea what this person’s problem is but they were certainly not entering the neighborhood, the list went on. As the early light of day started creeping into the neighborhood, Home found just the right candidates. Three small beings no bigger than eleven inches in height that had adorable features that didn’t overpower the already brightly colorful world of Welcome Home. They were small enough for Home to handle along with being something to catch Wally’s attention for the time being.

 The only problem standing in the way of Home fully bringing in the selected neighbors was just that, how to transport these three small non-humans over. That was something Home had to consider for a while after the all night searching before coming to a very simple conclusion that would theoretically work as a temporary fix: transport their subconscious minds while they slept in the outside world to Home and let them return to their original world when they slept here. It would work wonderfully as a trial run to judge the newcomers if they’re fit to live in the neighborhood until Home could figure a way to fully pull the rest of them along for a more permanent stay. Happy with the formulated temporary fix, Home went about pulling the slumbering subconscious minds of the candidates into the colorful neighborhood to entertain Wally with as he returned from his least favorite time of the day with the hunger being satiated for the time being. With a creak and a door slam, Wally’s attention turned right back to Home, curious about what the monolithic being had to say.

 “Yes Home? Did you have a goodnight?” Wally asked in curiosity as Home replied with soft creaks and bangs.

 “That’s nice to hear, so what did you want to talk about?” Wally listened carefully to the shuttering of the windows and cabinets as Home gave Wally the ‘good’ news.

 “We have new neighbors moving in today? Where are they at?” Wally’s eyes brighten upon learning there were new friends to be made today that would be living in the neighborhood with him and the others as Home banged out the instructions to Wally.

 “You’re the most, I’ll go find the new neighbors and invite them over to play. I’ll be back soon Home.” Wally made his way out of Home merrily to greet the newcomers into the wonderful village of Home, Home being content with a job well done.

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