The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

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The problem with Tumblr is, nobody leaves comments there. I did the complete recap there, but was getting no input from readers til I started it here. It's still mirrored on Tumblr but I would never want to run it just there.

The problem with FurAffinity is twofold. One: FA is porn-tainted and I want to keep the Ballad separate from all that. Two: FA does not accommodate this format in which an image can be followed by a block of text, followed by another image, then more text, etc. On FA it's one image, one post.

At least on Tumblr I can format posts in a way that closely approximates the forum presentation. Since Patreon's posting tool works the same way as Tumblr's I know I can do this there, but I'm torn. Will such a move cause the Ballad to lose readers? Or might I potentially gain patrons if I do it?

>The real Relda Fauxfox: Run into Adler.
>Fifi! Observe that as a female, "he" looks better than you do.

As I strode along the road, suddenly Fifi Fofox emerged from the bushes alongside me.



"Hi, SALV," she chirped cheerfully. "Wow, you're like totally hot. I love your outfit; where did you get it? You seem really familiar but I can't place you. Did you go to the Lengra-Cha School for Wayward Vixens? I'm Esmerelda Fofox, but everybody calls me Fifi."

"I am called Relda Fauxfox," I replied cautiously.

"Oh wow, that's like totally similar to my name!" Fifi observed with much more excitement than the fact warranted. "I wonder if our ancestors were related back in the Long Ago. Are you heading up to Albric Tor? Are you on a Secret Mission?"

"Yes, I am going to the Capital, and I do have a mission," I admitted.

"Cool! Let's like, go together. It's been ages since I saw another Lengra-Cha fox. How are things back home?"

"I have not been to Lengra-Cha in a very long time," I stated with absolute truth.

"Oh, like, me neither," Fifi shrugged. "I wonder if that old Adoyret monastery is still there, you know, the one with the tall spire, on the edge of the glacier ..."

As you approach the entrance you see that it's being guarded by the two very unprofessional constables who arrested you some time ago. One is loudly complaining about his marital problems to the world in general and the other is standing knee-deep in a pile of bottled ships and very pointedly building another one instead of doing his job.

SALV Fofox babbled merrily about the old country until we reached the walls of Albric Tor. Our road led us to a small side gate guarded by two familiar-looking constables.



"So then she has the cheek to ask me where I'd been all afternoon," the canine guard ranted as we approached. "I say I've been workin' which is Fuma's own truth, for elves dinna lie. Workin' to put food on the table, and speakin' o' which, where's the supper? Well, at that, she goes into a right proper tantrum, never mind the fact that durin' the same time she's askin' me about, she has seemingly been doin' nothin' at all, but is it ever my right to inquire how me bravoes are bein' spent? NOOOO."

The other constable merely grunted occasionally to indicate he was dutifully pretending to listen to the wolf's monologue, while he carefully assembled a model ship inside a glass jug. The fact that he was standing hip-deep in a pile of similar jugs suggested to me that maybe these two had been here for a while.

"Here for the big Vulpitanian thingamajig?" the wolf asked when he saw us approach. "Pardon me sayin' so, but you two are the best lookin' contestants I've seen."

"Why thanks," Fifi giggled.

"Go on in then, and if ye should spy any of me fellow-constables, kindly ask 'em when's Nero and Angus's relief comin?"

a celebrity icon with pictures of her hung up all around the city and cloying fans everywhere.
(Capital) Have an ongoing FauFoxCon, with thousands of furs dressed up like you.
(Foxsuiters) Some be better than others.

As we entered Albric Tor, I was astonished to see the streets crowded with femmes of all breeds, shapes, and sizes, with their arms and legs dyed black, and dressed in skimpy metallic smallclothes.

"Oh sweet!" Fifi exclaimed. "I totally forgot that PieFightValKon was in Albric Tor this year! We should like, enter the costume contest! We have a way better chance than any of these mingers. The top three entrants get to dine with SALV Kraekenhoepfer herself!"

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Meanwhile, somewhere in GHQ:

>Avogadro: Your pathetic, loneliness senses are tingling. She's here. She's alive and well and somewhere close by. You must find her at once and confess your burning love.
(Avogadro) Be depressed by FauFoxCon

"Sir, my nerves can hardly stand it," Avogadro wailed. "I just know she's out there somewhere among those white-furred vixen impersonators. It's an unshakeable hunch, sir. An elfly intuition! Please, I beg you, let me go out there and look for her."

"Get hold of yourself, Sergeant," Marshal Theronmyathus croaked sternly. "You're a disgrace. This convention is a disgrace. Why the Vulpitanians saw fit to hold this event here, while at the same time a rag-tag rebel army threatens the very seat of the Empire, smacks of something even more insidious than mere subterfuge. I call the whole thing highly suspicious. We must bide here and await reports from our field agents. With luck, our bread ruse has been successful .. and if so, then and only then may you be dismissed to mingle with the hoi-polloi."