Loud, obnoxious sirens blared through the spaceship proper as Niana tried to get her bearings. The Vulprian wasn’t unused to the sound, of course; this wasn’t the first time she’d slipped upon another craft to snatch away some vital repair supplies while trapped this far from the “Midspace Station, but surely, this was the quickest she’d ever been noticed sneaking on.

Niana tucked herself up against a vibrantly colored corner that contrasted rather well against her dark-purple fur and black, skin-tight jump-suit, and took a momentary breath to steady herself. She closed her eyes, breathed in, breathed out, her mind slowly slipping from it’s turbulent, wild, panicked thoughts to something more serene, more analytical over her situation. She felt a cool wave of comfort fall over her...and as she did...she finally felt her body stop its downward descent, that idle, tugging sensation caused by her natural defenses.

At a meager shin-high to most creatures in the universe, she’d stopped her shrinking at a meager foot tall.

My mind is clear, Niana mentally recited her little mantra to herself, before taking one last deep breath, as well as stock of the past ten minutes.

She’d arrived on this oddly colorful ship, bathed against the inky blackness of space in bright pinks, oranges, blues and yellows, just minutes before. She’d crawled around the Dali-esque and almost surreal ornaments and wall-structures, and she’d taken a few odd turns down circular hallways that, as she thought about it, made no sense in physical space. It was as if the walkways themselves were shifting variably as she wandered through them, like a rubix cube being solved as she was maneuvering its interior.

A little twinge of panic settled through her, and as she realized it was going to be more than a little difficult to escape if this ship was restructuring itself to trap her, she felt her back slide down the wall behind her, another few inches escaping from her.

No, that’s alright, Niana reminded herself, her 8 inch body sliding to a stop as she shook that thought from her head again, You’ve escaped way worse than this. That ship with no windows and no doors. You made it out. You can do it agai-.

“Now, now, wherever did you scurry off to, little one~?” a cooing, playful voice echoed from around the corner, the alarms silencing themselves in the presence of this new sound. “If you’re going to go through all that trouble to slip on, you at least better show your cute little face to me~”

Niana shuddered, and felt another couple inches drop off her frame as sudden panic set in. She hadn’t -seen- any cameras, nor little droids scampering around the ship. She hadn’t seen another living or even non-living being here, so how had this being tracked her so easily? Niana didn’t even have to peer around the corner to know that she was there, whoever it was.

The purple fox took another deep breath, and glanced down the opposite hallway. It was back the way she came, but...every bit she’d shrunken would make the trip that much farther away. She’d never out-run her pursuer at this rate...or size, doubly so if overwhelming panic started in and made her shrink, all over again.

Damn her evolutionary ancestors with not making some sort of ‘undo’ button for her shrinking form!

Niana could hear the soft echos of ever-approaching footsteps, and could feel the smooth, oddly plastic ground rumble with every subtle footstep. She didn’t have-

“You don’t have a lot of time, cutie~” that voice echoed. “I’m just around the corner, you know, and I’m dying to see you. I’ve heard your species is just ever-so elusive, given how positively minute you get. And that’s something I’d -love- to see…”

That was all Niana needed to hear to make her mind up. She had no other choice, in her mind, to escape sight. And opening her eyes again, the Vulprian took one last deep breath...and let the panic of being captured finally settle in.

When she did, her world GREW.

The floor beneath her covered paws pushed outward with enough force to cause her to nearly stumble. And just as she started to notice minute imperfections in the wall, little cracks in the synthetic paint as well as little flecks of dust and debris that she must’ve carried in with her, they quickly and sharply rose far above her head.

Niana’s vision was on a swivel, and she didn’t wait to take off running, scampering quickly towards one of those ever-growing, craggy boulders that were merely minute little flecks of rock that had stuck to her body-suit, probably from the floor of her own ship. Sure, it had been a barely visible sign of uncleanliness on her ship, but here, it was a valuable hiding spot.

Closing her eyes again, the tenth-of-a-millimeter Vulprian tried to steady her breathing, her mind again, running a hand down her cheek, one more quick little addition to her mantra. “You’re hidden. She can’t see you. You’re safe for right now. Stop shrinking, and everything will be alright. You’ll slowly regrow over the next few days, return to your ship, and-”

Her fingers brushed her neck, where that suit was supposed to be hugging her dense fur, and found a loose collar there. She glanced down at the rest of her, and sure enough, the bodysuit was hanging from her arms, sliding down over her chest, and even pooling some at her feet. It was -supposed- to keep with her shrinking, naturally sense her body’s self-defense mechanisms and tighten along with her…

Wait, that meant that she wasn’t...the only reason she was shrinking.

Her thought was interrupted by a massive, thunderous pink hand colliding with the ground what looked like half a mile away. Massive, space-station-sized fingers spread across the floor, trailing up to meet a hand, which transitioned to a white-furred arm, which connected to a grand, mountainous body rising up in the background. From this size, parts of her distant vision were hazy, but she could distinctly see a vaguely rabbit-like muzzle turn this way and that, as massive, playful eyes appeared to scan the ground.

And her heart sank when those same eyes crept towards her, and Niana, for the first time, was faintly aware of a weird buzzing in the air...a sensation of power, of reality itself kind of bubbling around her...and that coincided with another little tugging sensation, her suit growing looser, sliding down over her shoulders.

As those enormous eyes focused in on her, the vast, rabbit-like creature’s muzzle crept into a grin. And as she spoke, her voice was thick, rumbling, and yet still delightfully soft and cheery, which matched her colorful, open-furred attire that just screamed ‘eccentric magician’ more than it said ‘space-traveller. Her words rumbled through the hallway denser than the alarms had ever gotten..

“There you are, little mote. Goodness, down there, aren’t you worried of giant paws crashing down around you? And I barely reduced you at all, yet you’ve gotten so small...goodness, let’s get you somewhere safe…”

And as those pink fingers reached forward, casting a slow shadow over her tiny body, Niana sighed, her ears drooping, letting full-fledged panic finally flow right through her...along with that rapid sensation of shrinking.

She’d been caught. Stupid, stupid natural ‘defenses’.

---

It had been a while since I’d properly gotten anything involving Niana, and the talented Foxfencer (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/foxfencer) was more than happy to oblige my wishes! His character Jenna here is a powerful, space-bending space rabbit, and my Niana here is a fox who has to concentrate just so she doesn’t shrink herself silly.

Of course, this is the -best- combination. Expect more with these two in the future~!