Rain sniffs at the cool autumn breeze, catching the scent of a fox. She decided to investigate the large area of the Tekkon Wilds now that she is a part of The Sunspire pack. Before, when she was just wandering, she did not take the time to discover this new area. Instead she was lost in her past and driven by the smell of wolves and her desire to find a home.
The scent of the fox intrigues her now as it leads her into the Silvertip Mountains. She has never seen a fox before. From what she has been told they were furry, small red animals that look like overgrown squirrels. Twitching her ears at the amusing image of the fox, Rain slips into the shadows of a large boulder. She snuffs around the base of the grey rock sneezing as the dirt tickles hers nose.
She wonders if a fox would taste good. Squirrels were too fast for her to catch, but a previous pack mate had caught one for her once. The smell of one was not so appealing and after a bite Rain had soon found out that neither was the taste of one. They seemed stringy too her, not enough meat and a dry taste. Foxes were bigger though, so they would have more meat, right? She hopes that they do not have the same dry taste to them.
Autumn had no idea there was a wolf nearby wondering what she tasted like. If she had known, she probably would've ran a bit further away from it. It's scent reached her sniffer but she chose to not to ivestigate. She was busy gathering nearby leaves and pushing them into a huge pile that she would soon leap into. There was a lot of fun to be done in a small amount of time in this season of Autumn.
The sound of rustling leaves soon catches her attention. She stops to look around, her ears swiveling to pinpoint where the noise is coming from. Straightening her tail, she slowly and silently moves to the left. She knows it's the fox due to the fact that the scent of the trail she was following has gotten much stronger.
Peeking around a tree she spots the bright red coat of the fox. It's a small thing, fluffy and definitely doesn't look like an overgrown squirrel. Silently snarling at the idiotic wolf who told her otherwise she observes the fuzzy fox.
It is doing something with the leaves, moving them into a large pile. Is this how foxes make their homes? She wonders to her self. It was a strange site, but the little fox seems quite busy at her work. Stepping back, Rain circles around the fox, making sure to keep hidden. She finds a spot that brings her close enough to the pile of leaves to make her move. Crouching down, she readies herself for a lunge at the red animal.
As it starts to come back to it's pile, Rain tenses and as the leaves fall into the growing pile she surges forward with a snarl.
She heard it before she saw it. She looked up and an immediate shriek left her as she saw the wolf flying at her. She hadn't known that wolf was this close! A look of complete shock was on Autumn's face for just a moment. She abandoned her leaf pile of fun and darted away. Her feet were like little rockets taking her away from the wolf. It would've landed right on her if she hadn't reacted so quickly. It had snagged off a little of the flaming fur of her fuzzy tail. That showed just how close it was to catching her. She didn't know how close behind it was.
The fox shrieks as Rain snaps at it's fleeing tail, catching a mouthful of red fur. She tries to rub the fur off her tongue as she purses the fuzzy red animal. The little thing was fast! Faster than her Alpha even. Still she would try to give chase to the strange creature. It would be fun at the least. If she was able to catch it, that would mean a prize for her too.
She watches the swishing red tail of the fox ahead of her, the distance becoming greater between them. As the possibility of catching the little red creature becomes more and more unlikely, Rain slows to a trot and follows it's scent trail. She can follow prey for days if the need was great enough.
She listened and could hear the footfalls of the wolf. She could tell it had slowed to a steady trot. She slowed down just a little to a light jog, catching her breath. She was panting heavily and her tounge lolled out of her mouth. She slowed too, hoping the wolf had not tricked her. She attempted to scramble up a tree, but it failed. She fell after she tried to leap up high enough. Hurry Up! You're toast! She thought.(Well, she wouldn't of thought toast, but something like that.) Autumn scrambled around trying to find an abandoned den. She found a rabbit den only. She scrambled in- a tight fit, but at least it might save her from the wolf that had a taste for fox meat.
The scent trail leads Rain to a rabbits den where she guess the little creature has taken refuge. She sticks her nose in the den taunting, "I know you're in there little fox. Would you please come out and play?"
She starts to paw at the den to open the entrance a bit wider, she can glimpse the red fur of the fox hiding inside and snarls out of frustration. She circles the den, sniffing around the area. Maybe if there was a nearby wolf, it would join in her little hunt. Smelling nothing, she begins digging again.
"No thanks, Wolf. I'm having a lot more fun not being food." She said, her voice trembling and shaking. She noticed the wolf digging open the entrance. She recalled to the time when she and Osprey Junior had been digging together. Desperately she began digging down further from the entrance. She was also throwing dirt up into the hunter's face, that was good for Autumn. But she couldn't make an eighth the progress a rabbit or worm would've made by now.
Rain snarls as dirt catches in her eyes and backs away from the entrance. She rubs her eyes against her forelegs, trying to dislodge the dirt. Then she drags her face in the grass, but her eyes still stung. Dang fox!"I will kill you for this and leave your body for the crows." Water drips from her squinting eyes as they continue to sting. The world turned blurry and she could barely see where the rabbit den was with dirt flying from the entrance from the fox.
"Unluckily for you, the crows are my friends." She said. It was true. But the owl's weren't. Uh oh. Scary. She thought. She didn't want to die. She hadn't come here, to her childhood home, to die. She was frustrated with herself for it, but she was glad the wolf reacted with anger. She hoped dearly that the wolf could not see and, gathering her strength, ran from the den and right through the wolf's legs. I made it! Not yet. She reminded herself. The wolf would know she had past, and it looked like she was on the run again.
Friends of crows? Preposterous. Rain's eyes were starting to clear as she blinked several times, finding that the dirt was washing away. Suddenly, something fuzzing ran between her legs and she jumped, spinning around to catch sight of the fleeing fox. This little clever thing! I'll catch it, I swear I will! She lopes after it, using it's scent trail again since she had learned that it was too fast for her to keep pace.
Autumn could hear the hunter's thundering paw-steps fade away as she left her in the dust. Again she attempted to scramble up a tree. This time she made it to a branch, but a low one at that. The wolf might be able to reach it, but Autumn wasn't sure. She hoped the branch would save her from a death and afterlife at the bottom of a pack cache.
The trail oddly ends at the base of a tree. Confused, she sniffs around the area, but the scent just seems to have up and disappeared. Up? A bewildered expression crosses her face as she glances upward. In a tree limb not too far above, sits the bright red fox. Rain sets down with a tilt to her head feeling like her mind is a bit scattered and questions herself, "What kind of creature is a fox if it can climb? Does that really make you a kind of squirrel?" She had thought the tall tale of a fox looking like a squirrel to be just a tale after seeing a fox, but the sight before her is starting to prove it to be more than just a mere tall tale. Maybe it wasn't their appearance that made them look like squirrels but the way they acted.
She flicks an ear, thinking the whole thing through. It doesn't look like a squirrel, but it climbs a tree like a squirrel. So it is a squirrel? This whole situation really has her dumbfounded. "Are you some sort of squirrel?" She calls out to the fox creature.
Autumn could see the confusion plainly on the wolf's face. Glad the wolf's mind was off of hunting her, she answered happily. "I suppose I could be. Nobody ever really said I wasn't." She said; her excitement bubbled inside at staying alive a little longer.
Rearing up to place her fore-paws on the rough bark of the tree she says, "You are big for a squirrel." She tilts her head one way, and then the other. She could wait at the base of the tree for days until the fox-squirrel came down, but her appetite was starting to dwindle for fox. The past taste she had of squirrel was coming back to her now and it was making her feel nauseous.
Sitting down, Rain watches the fox-squirrel with an intent expression. She stays quiet for a while, contemplating on leaving. If she wanted to attempt catching this creature again she can always come back.
The wolf put her paws on the tree bark. Don't come any closer, hunter. When would this wolf go? Autumn couldn't sit in this tree forever. She had a bad feeling about this. She would have to live off of the things that lived in the tree? She could dine away on squirrels, but was not allowed to eat crows. Other birds maybe, though. But there was no water supply here that she could see.
Leaves crunching beneath her paws, Rain circles the tree a few times. She stops underneath the Fox with a frustrated snarl. It can keep its life for now, she decides while turning away from the tree. "Next time fox your life will be mine. I will not let you get away from me again." Rain trots off into the trees leaving the fox with her last haunting words.
It's snarl forced Autumn's hackles to rise. The hunter's words scared her, however she was glad when it left a moment later. From now on she might just need a pair of eyes on the back of her head. Be careful, Autumn.