Right now, Tod was staring at the opposite dirt wall of the den with an unreadable expression on his face. Vixey's look of confusion had doubled and she shook her head slightly as she tried to process what her son, Binx, had just told her. "Your--best?--Binx, what are you talking about?" Vixey asked him. The young fox looked confused, "I--I don't know. What are you talking about?" he asked back.
"I'm talking about the fact that I think I just heard you say the hunting dog who had you and Scuff and Midnight cornered is one of your best--Binx that's not possible", Vixey replied, shaking her head again. She turned to her husband for support, "Tod, isn't that not possible?" she asked. Tod remained where he was, staring that the wall as he gave only one response. "Huh?" he muttered distractedly.
"What do you mean it's not possible for Chipi to be my best friend?" Binx asked, looking really lost. A sigh of utter confusion escaped Vixey, "Who's Chipi?" she asked, lost. Binx sighed, "The puppy, mom. The puppy we're talking about. My best friend".
"Alright. alright" Vixey said, "I--I'm just not use to hearing them referred to with names". Binx tilted his head, "Hearing who referred to with names?" he asked. "Hunting dogs" Vixey replied. Binx sighed, "Mom, she's not--".
Vixey raised a paw with a sigh, realizing her mistake, "I know, I know, 'She's not a hunting dog'. You've told me, sorry" she said, "I just don't see how--Binx she had you cornered!".
"No she didn't!" Binx exclaimed desperately. "Mom, I don't know what you thought you saw in the game preserve but all that happened was we were going to show Chipi around our old playing spots. We're all three best friends! and then...well we like Scuff too" he added, "Which by the way! You should worry about Scuff being more dangerous than Chipi!" Binx added. Both Vixey and Binx's attention was brought back over to Tod by a suppressed chuckle.
As he noticed his wife and son looking at him, Tod grinned, "Sorry, but Binx does have a point. Little Scuff's got issues" he said. Vixey remained where she was, just staring at her husband. Tod read her look and sighed as he gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry Vixey, I've been listening, really. I've just been--overwhelmed". Tod looked at both Binx and Vixey's confused faces and sighed as he looked down.
"Vixey, can--can I talk to you for a minute?" Tod asked, looking back up at his wife. Vixey looked somewhat surprised but then slowly nodded. Tod smiled slightly and then looked doubtful as he lead Vixey outside. Binx watched as his parents left. He sighed, why were his parents making such a big deal about this!
Binx wondered slightly if Chipi was having this much trouble. No, her family or babysitters or whatever probably didn't know about him yet. Still, the fox cub couldn't help wondering. He decided that maybe, just in case Chipi needed his help, he should sneak over to the place where she stayed with the other dogs and check up on her.
"What?" Chipi asked. She stared at Copper in confusion as the dog just sat there giving her a look somewhere between sympathy and amusement. Copper shook his head, "Nothing" he said, "it's just--Wow, how am I suppose to deal with this?" he wondered, turning his head slightly. "Deal with what?" Chipi asked. Copper didn't answer.
Chipi sighed, "Mr. Copper, how come you won't tell me what you're mumbling about?" she asked in a whiney voice. Copper turned back to the puppy and smiled. "It's just" he began, but then sighed again. When he looked back up at Chipi, Copper's face held a look of wondering. "Chipi, what would you say if I were to tell you that all this trouble with your master getting yelled at by the game preserve people was all due to your hanging out with Binx these others?" he asked.
The puppy thought about this a minute, "How--how could it be because of that?" she asked. Copper gave the puppy another sympathetic look. "Chipi, you were bred to be a hunting dog" Copper explained, "now whether that's with birds or not it's still the same thing to the game preserve people and forest animals". The puppy nodded.
Copper took a deep breath before he continued, "and hunting dogs aid hunters". Chipi nodded again, "like I help my master" she said. Copper swallowed and nodded, "Sorta" he whispered. Chipi tilted her head, "What'dya mean sorta?" she asked. Copper let out a sigh, "Chipi follow me" he whispered as he began to walk off. Chipi looked confused but followed after Copper
The older dog led her over to Amos' shed of animal furs. He sat there in front of the closed door in thought a moment and then slowly turned to where Chipi sat beside him looking up at him. "Chipi" he began, "This is why our master is in the hunting business--and why yours is learning it". With a sigh, Copper nudged open the door as easily as he could so as to dawn the contents of it onto Chipi as gracefully and easily as he could.
Chipi just stared at the furs for a bit and then turned to Copper, realization dawning on her little face, "Ya mean!". Copper nodded. Chipi turned back to the furs and sat there just staring at them. Copper immediately moved closer and pulled the puppy into a hug. As Chipi hugged his leg really tight and shut her eyes, Copper brought his other paw around her "I know, I know" he whispered. "It was the same for me when Chief told me what the skins were from and for a little after we went out on our winter hunting trip" he said as he looked off into the distance with a look of hard remembrance.
Just then, a sound reached the two dog's ears. "Hey Chipi! Ya around here!" someone called. Chipi glanced up quickly, "Binx!" she gasped. Copper looked worried as well, "Chief's still around here!" he muttered. As Chipi bounded off in the direction of Binx's voice, Copper quickly kicked the fur shed door shut and took off after her to make sure Chief hadn't been alerted by the young fox's call.