As soon as he opens the door to the Director's office, he's blasted with a stream of water. Again.
He curses internally. It hasn't even been five minutes since he changed into this set of clothes.
"Damn it!" the Director shouts, quickly followed by a long string of curses.
He wipes the water from his eyes, only to come face to face with the Director… chasing a fox? around her office?
His arrival goes unacknowledged, too focused as she is on the task at hand. Even less relevant is the fact that just seconds ago she left him looking like a drowned rat. But expecting an apology from the Director is like expecting money to rain from the heavens, so he won't bother getting offended by the lack of an apology.
He clears his throat to try and get her attention.
Nothing.
He clears his throat again, this time a little louder.
"Don't just stand there like a good-for-nothing!" she snaps, currently balancing herself on top of a chair, trying to reach the fox which has climbed to the top of a bookshelf.
So she had noticed him…
"Make yourself useful or I'll fire you!" she threatens, never mind the fact she does not have the power to fire him.
Sighing, he makes his way into the small office, trying not to step on all the books scattered all over the place so as not to get them wet. It's a lost cause; the whole office looks like a hurricane has just passed by. Aside from books, there's papers, pens and pencils, bottles of ink, and scrolls all over the place. Even the small fridge in the corner has been knocked over. If it had been on its last leg before, now it's definitely dead. Well, he can say goodbye to his pizza rolls that he'd been storing there.
Just how long has this been going on? The Director's hair, usually pinned up in an elaborate hairdo, is hanging down in disarray, and even her clothes look slightly rumpled; totally different from her normal pristine image.
She fires off another jet of water from her hand at the creature, but it manages to dodge in time, and the water only grazes its tail. Instead, the water knocks more books off the shelf, creating an even bigger mess. So much for him trying not to get the books wet…
The Director prepares to launch another volley of water.
He coughs lightly. "Ahem. Director…" Please stop using water attacks in the office! When the time comes to fix all this mess, it will be me working overtime! He can't say that though. "Please, let me do it."
"Took you long enough," she hmph'd. Thankfully she pulls her hand back, tucking it back into the long, flowing sleeves of her robe. "And you better be quick about it!"
It's only when he finds himself under the scrutinising gaze of the Director that he realises he has no idea how to capture a fox. He's never even seen one in real life before. Hell, his only experience with wildlife he has are the school field trips in elementary to those petting farms! (For some unknown reason, the chickens always bore a personal grudge against him. The goats were not friendly either. (The whole ordeal had left him deeply biassed towards "nature."))
What to do… Should he just treat it like a slightly more feral cat? Were foxes even felines? He sure as hell didn't know.
As if struck by lightning, he remembers the half eaten granola bar in his pocket. It should be kinda soggy and gross by now, but he doubts the fox would care, right?
He approaches it carefully where it's curled up in the corner. Its fur starts to bristle when it notices him approaching. Slowly, very slowly, he digs around in his pocket, pulls out the granola bar…
The crinkling of the wrapper seems to starlte it, and it hisses at him, baring its teeth.
He is not proud of the scream he lets out.
In his panic, he throws the granola bar at the fox and scrams. He likes having ten fingers, thank you very much!
"You couldn't even hit the damn mutt!" the Director turns around to scold him from where he's cowering behind her.
"Well, you haven't been any more successful!"
The Director opens her mouth to yell at him, when suddenly a voice speaks up.
"What the fuck is this?! You expected me to eat this shit?!"
They both whip their heads to the direction of the voice. In the same place where the fox had been just seconds ago, there's a kid holding up the crumbling granola bar.
Did… Did the fox just turn into a human?!
"You!" the Director's ears are practically emitting smoke. "Stay where you are!" At the same time she stomps her foot, summoning a mud cage, trapping the previously-fox-now-kid inside, and they do not take it kindly. The repertoire of curses the kid has is surprisingly vast.
The Director smoothes down her hair, trying to regain some of her composure. "Have a seat, Kit."
"Um…" He stands there awkwardly. "There's nowhere to sit, Director."
She fixes a withering look on him. "Sit."
He has no option but to plop down on the floor. The Director drags a chair from under the rubble and takes a seat.
"Now, the reason why I called you to my office is because the higher-ups have decided to assign you a new apprentice."
"May I ask, who?"
She gestures towards the cage. "Effective immediately."
He can feel a headache coming on.