Hello, everybody! I wrote this story because The Fox and the Hound is one of my favorite movies, and I just thought that Tod apologizing to Chief for hurting him on the train tracks would've been something he would've done, despite everything, so that's another reason why I wrote this one. Tod just seems like that kind of character to me, anyway! Chief was also one of my favorite characters in the movie when I was younger (I was a wierd kid, lol), and he still is, so I just thought it would be kind of nice to see them patch things up a little bit. This story's a little short, another drabble, really, but I hope you enjoy it!
It was early dawn, the dew still wet on the leaves littered across the forest floor and the sun just coming up over the hills when the fox crept out of the woods, heading toward the hunter's house lurking in the distance.
Now, you might be wondering why a fox would be going to a hunter's house, of all places, since foxes tend to avoid hunters at all possible costs, but the fox did have a good reason for visiting the hunter's house, or thought he did, anyway, and he believed it to be a very good reason, maybe a little dangerous one, but he was bound and determined in his mission to see it through no matter what.
He treaded carefully, the soft pads of his paws scarcely making a sound, crouching low when he got closer and closer to the house. Approaching the fence surrounding the ominous dwelling, he slinked under the barricade, wriggling his lithe body under it until he slithered his way on the other side, very much the same way he had done when he had been a cub. When he rose back up, he caught sight of the two dog houses in the yard, his hackles starting to rise, but he continued onward, ever like the brave solider he was.
Once he was standing before the doghouses, a couple of barrels in the middle of the yard, he made the even braver decision to make a more thorough inspection of one of them in particular. Taking a closer look at the doghouse in question, he peered inside, realizing the dog itself was asleep, snoring quietly. He wasn't too concerned about the dog, however, knowing it was an old dog, it's already natural grey fur turning greyer from age, and that it's bark was much worse than it's bite nowadays, his hunting days being now long gone, mostly due to the constant limp he now walked with, which the fox had been the cause of and part of the reason why he was even there to begin with in the first place.
He looked over at the other dog house, saw that the much younger dog resting in it was also asleep, and resisted the urge to wake it up, for this dog was a good, old friend and he didn't want to disturb him from his sleep.
Turning back to the other dog house, the fox cleared his throat, sat back on his haunches, and gulped. "C-Chief, it's me, Tod," he said, stammering for words. "I just wanted to apologize for getting you hurt on the traintracks."
With a pained grunt, the old dog snapped awake at the sound of Tod's voice, his lips curling into a snarl when he blinked the blurriness out of his weary, groggy gaze and was able to make out the shape of the fox sitting right in front of him, his head shooting up off of his paws. "What are you doing here, Fox?" he asked, his mouth opening in a yawn, and his lolling tongue hung over his bottom lip, drool forming around his jaws. "I thought my master killed ya off."
Tod shook his head. "No, he let me go, seeing how much I meant to Copper and everything," he said, his entire body trembling.
"Bah!" Chief exclaimed in disgust, resting his head back on his paws. "I don't believe that for a sec.'" He glanced out of the corner of his eye, his gaze drifting to the house. "You better get out of here before the Master catches ye again." He turned back to Tod, his mouth curling up into a wide, leering, malevolent grin, revealing every one of his dull, but still long and imposing teeth. "If he did let you go, which I highly doubt, I don't think he'll let you live a second time, especially if he catches you back on his property."
Tod sighed. "I know, I know," he said, hanging his head down in shame. "Look, I just came to apologize-"
"For what?" Chief asked, growing more and more irritated by the fox's presence by the minute.
"For getting you hurt on the train tracks," Tod said, seeing it was painfully obvious the old dog hadn't heard him the first time. "I didn't mean for it to turn out that way. I was just trying to survive."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Chief said, and Tod was shocked when he gave him another smile, only a friendly smile this time, and not one that made him feel like he was going to eat him. "I don't blame you, kid. I would've done the same thing."
"Hey, Chief, I brought you breakfast, boy!"
The fox and the hound both had different reactions to this sudden announcement.
Tod jumped up at the sound of the voice, Chief raised his head back up again, causing Tod to roll his eyes when he heard the thumping of his tail wagging against the hard, wooden floor of the barrel. Some things would never change, no matter what, and Chief was one of them.
"You better get outta here, kid," Chief said, turning back to Tod. "That's the Master callin,' and he's gonna' catch you sure as the world if you don't hurry it up out of here real quick."
Chief didn't have to tell Tod this twice.
"Right," Tod said, and seeing the lean and lanky figure of Amos Slade limping toward them, waving a piece of meat in the air and holding a gun in his hand, bolted from the house, never looking back once.
The End