Perhaps Fox was supposed to have been born a boy. The restless and obstinate troublemaker always kept her parents on their toes, and she constantly skived her needlework and music lessons, so popular among all the other young ladies. Her mom and dad eventually resigned themselves to the fact that they were unlikely to ever see their youngest daughter in a wedding dress. Who in their right mind would marry such a headstrong girl?

By her species' standards, Fox was no great beauty, either: her ears were too small, and her body wasn't furry enough. The girl was aware of this and so, as if to compensate, she became even more annoying to those around her, creating a ruckus with her stubbornness and shocking behavior. At first, women laughed at her, but soon they began to notice that, far from being off-putting to their male counterparts, Fox's antics actually earned her a certain respect and support. Why? Because nobody could handle weapons quite like the mischievous girl. She designed and hand-crafted at least three dozen different gunpowder weapons and self-propelling cannons. Unfortunately, since Fox's homeland had seen no wars for more than seven centuries, the only use people found for her inventions was to spray anti-pest poison in their gardens, trigger avalanches, and scare off mountain trolls. What's more, Fox's weapons were never as popular as her sister Annie's devices. Annie outdid Fox in everything and always stole the limelight. Except when it came to making weapons, of course. She did not deal with arms on principle, considering weapon-making an exclusively male domain — not to mention quite pointless in the absence of war. For now, at least...

One night, the whole city was awoken from its peaceful slumber by a dreadful thundering sound and the smell of burning. The rhythmic pounding shook the streets, as if some enormous beast was stomping through town, crushing everything in its path. And in fact, that's exactly what it was.

The citizens began to rush around in a panic, cries and shouts filled the streets, mothers hurried to protect their children, and Fox simply stood at her window, clenching her tiny fists. It didn't even occur to her that her sister Annie was still snoring peacefully in the next room, hearing nothing thanks to her newly designed sound-canceling earplugs.

Something exploded out on the street, and several trees came crashing down with an awful cracking noise. People were rushing out of their homes with their most valuable possessions, while others were already fighting over the remains. Fox, on the other hand, went calmly down the stairs to her workshop, softly whistling a popular local tune to herself. A deafening roar echoed down the street, and a house three blocks away collapsed under the weight of the monstrous giant. A thick cloud of dust filled the whole neighborhood, making the thunderous footsteps of the deadly beast even more horrifying.

Annie, still fast asleep, stretched a little, smacked her lips sweetly, and rolled over onto her other side. Her earplugs held tightly in her ears preventing even the slightest noise from disturbing the girl's sleep.

Meanwhile, Fox put on her gloves, grabbed a heavy bucket, and scooped up a good heap of strange black powder into it. The house over the road suddenly burst into flames, as the monster ruptured the gas pipes, so lovingly crafted by Annie. "This monster is really asking for it," Fox thought, whipping the sheet off of a strange contraption hidden in a dark corner.

When the fearless girl came out of her workshop, she was met by the hot breath of the monster on her cheek. With a couple of deft movements, she loaded the black powder into the Stormbreaker, her latest superheavy cannon, and took aim. The monster let out a horrific screech as the barrage ripped into its hide, causing fatal damage within seconds. It clutched at its humongous stomach and teetered, finally collapsing heavily right into the beloved house of the sisters.

Annie suddenly woke up, sneezing uncontrollably from the rising cloud of dust and bewildered by the tremors shaking her bed. She looked around and through her half-closed eyelids she saw a surreal scene: her hometown in ruins, a huge monstrous creature sprawled out on the street, and the jubilant citizens crowding outside. Believing it all to be a fabulous concoction of her mind, she sneezed once more and fell back into a deep sleep.

The news of what Fox and her powerful weapon had achieved traveled far beyond the town, reaching the ears of Emperor Engvar himself. He invited the brave inventor to the capital, assigning her to a detachment of valiant Guardians. Here, finally, was somewhere Fox could really use her talents!