With his share of breakfast taken care of, Binx slowly eased himself backwards away from the quail; today was the day and Binx had a prime opportunity he had to wait for for his plan to go smoothly.
The fox cub watched as the middle cubs of his sibling group moved closer to the quail. His father, Tod, turned his attention to helping his cubs by helping get off chunks for them to chew. One down. Binx next turned his attention over to his mother as she moved the two babies of the group over to feed them. Perfect! Both of his parents were occupied, now he could go play and not have to tell them exactly where he was going.
Continuing to take it easy, Binx slowly eased himself further towards the entrance of the den. As soon as he reached the hole, the cub glanced to his parents once more to make sure they wouldn't see him bolt off and get suspicious, then he made a quick exit from the den and bounded off across the forest floor. "Gotta hurry" Binx said to himself, "Midnight and Scuff are probably already there; them being only children they don't have little brothers and sisters that wake their parents up early".
Chipi moved about the forest in a zigzag motion, sniffing the air for any scent at all. Copper and Chief were right behind the puppy with Amos and Andy right behind them. As they continued on, Andy stepped on a branch and the teen tensed up as the snapping seemed to echo off the trees. Chipi glanced back at the sound and Chief and Copper paused in mid step and tensed up. The two older dog's listened with practiced attention for any rustling of scared animals.
As nothing happened, everyone seemed to ease back up. Amos let out the breath he'd been holding. "Alright" he whispered over to Andy, patting the teen's shoulder, "That's fine boy" he reassured, "but to sneak through as quietly as possible you're gonna want to step on patches that look like that" he said, pointing. "There won't be no hidden surprises for your foot to step on". Andy looked down at where the old hunter was pointing and nodded, memorizing what the patch looked like.
As everything eased up, Copper turned back to Chipi. "Psst, Chipi" he whispered, getting the puppy's attention, "ya smell anything?" he asked. Chipi frowned, looking discouraged, "No" she whispered back. Copper smiled sympathetically, "That's fine" he reassured, "Don't rush, just keep looking". Chipi nodded and turned her attention back to sniffing the air for any trace of anything.
Chief suddenly perked up, his head turning to the right. Amos noticed this, and reached out to pat Chief slightly, "Easy boy" he whispered, "We're gonna want to let Andy's pup do all the work, he'll need a top notch dog to hunt effectively" Amos finished, patting Chief again. Chief turned his attention forward again, trying to make himself ignore the smell he'd just picked up.
Chipi continued sniffing the air, when suddenly she stopped. Everyone turned their attention to the puppy. "What is it?" Copper whispered. Chipi sniffed again, "I--I don't know" she said, "I think I got something". Copper stepped forward a bit, "Let me see". The hound sniffed the air a bit, and then nodded, "Yeah, that's a fox" he told her. His face got a doubtful look on it, "a young one by the smell of it" he said.
Copper glanced back at the group behind them and then turned forward again. With him, Chief and the master, Copper considered them a bit to experienced of a group to be going after a fox as young as this one smelled. "I don't know" he whispered hesitantly, "maybe we should--". Just then Chief stepped forward as well and sniffed the air.
"Yep, that's a fox alright" Chief said, with a smirk. He looked down at Chipi, "Go get it!" he said, his smirk becoming a full grin. Copper shook his head, still doubtful. "I don't know, Chief" he said, "It smells awful young, we're probably to experienced to--". Chief waved his paw, "No such thing!" he stated. The old dog turned back to Chipi, "Go on kid" he said, "Go track it down".
Chipi turned back to Copper, glancing up at him unsurely. Chief sighed; typical, the kid wouldn't make a move unless her "hero" told her it was alright. Never mind Copper was still practically a pup himself and Chief had years more experience! Copper returned Chipi's questioning gaze with a doubtful one, he really didn't know what to tell the puppy.
Amos noticed the dogs and nudged Andy slightly. "Hey, looks like the pup found something!" he whispered. Andy glanced over to the dogs as well, "Hey, yeah!" he whispered back, excitement starting to creep into his voice. He stepped further out into the clearing, "Go on Chipi!" he whispered over to the puppy, "Go get it girl!". At her master's command, Chipi nodded and immediately put her nose to the ground, following the smell.
She'd only sniffed for a bit, when Chipi suddenly raised her head, "It's that way, I know it!" she said. Chief nodded, immediately moving forward to put in his two cents in helping the puppy out, he wasn't going to let Copper get all of the puppy's admiration on know how. "Now's the fun part!" he told her, "Chase it down!". Chipi nodded and began bounding off across the forest floor, with Chief, Copper, Amos and Andy following right behind. "I still don't know about this!" Copper said.