At that time, Vixey has contrived within her head that separation was perhaps the most logical solution for herself and Tod. There was a certain sense of maternal anxiety overwhelming her as she sulked through the woods, pondering. This was, needless to say, an action which she has seldom engaged in prior to parenthood and was thus, a bit rusty so to speak. She though about several things, in a desperate attempt to analyze exactly why she was so angry. She could not exactly centralize the blame for Copper's apparent absence on Tod entirely. It just didn't add up. He wasn't a particularly good father no matter which way one looks at it, that is most assuredly the truth. But he was neither a pathological liar, nor intrinsically that careless. Perhaps she was being a bit harsh in her Estrogen driven ire. Ah yes, of course, blame it on hormones.

She was walking quite idly and had not noticed that she was now in fact, standing at the edge of a particularly steep chasm. It was the same chasm at which Copper often took great pleasure in musing. The view was quite scenic, but she took no notice. The process of pondering was far to demanding to allow for any form of multi-tasking. She sat at the cliff-side and folded her paws submissively. She had run out of thoughts of any particular logical or importance approximately 30 seconds before and now found herself most depressed.

Verbalization. She considered the possibilities. Ah, but there goes the pondering bit again. At this moment, she preferred to act, then think, much contrary to her character.

"COPPER, WHERE ARE YOU!"

The call of desperation reverberated for several seconds, the sound bouncing off trees, ponds, leaves, houses. It died away, and for some strange reason, she was most surprised to not receive a response. She stood up this time and mentally considered a more primitive means of expression.

She fixed her slouching posture, replanted her four paws in the ground one by one as to provide physical preparation, and with a resounding wail, screamed at the top of her lungs, paying particular attention to producing as much unintelligible sound as possible. Needless to say, she verily succeeded.

What occurred next shocked the vixen as her resounding wail was met with a respondent howl. She was intrigued if not a bit frightened, but her elation did seem to get the best of her. For this was a most immediately satisfying form of frustration ventilation. Her instinct seemed to be most acceptant of the idea as well. She in turn, responded with a second wail, more vigorous and now deceptively distressed than the last.

The Howl resumed, closer this time, perhaps only a few hundred feet, perhaps less. Vixey found this particularly exciting as there remained a certain amount of hope that this howl she received in response could be under the prodigal ownership of her beloved son. She opened her mouth once more, smiling this time, preparing for one final call.

However, she was most abruptly interrupted by the very clear sound of approaching footsteps. Yet this was the pattering of one in hot pursuit. There was an equal amount of desperation in this gait. Needless to say she was jarred by the approaching being and consequently, spontaneously sought refuge within the confines of a nearby bush.

The Pursuer was in fact, another fox, a young Dog, perhaps no older than herself. She stepped out of the bush reluctantly, with careful foreboding steps of subtle apprehension.

"Ah, helloooooo my dear!" The young fox nearly jumped upon her with indescribably emotion, impossible to be perceived as aggressive or affectionate.

Vixey was quite frankly, speechless. Her mind was pondering again as various emotions waged a battle furiously within her head. Fear seemed to indeed be holding his own in the campaign but flattery was also making a prodigious fight and lust seemed to be slowly taking a position of supremacy. It can also be added that at this time, Nervousness and fear, seeing that in the grander spectrum of the conflict, were not all that different anyway, decided to join their forces in a massive alliance. However, after several negotiations and peace talks, the four governing emotions created a peaceful coalition and thus, dominated the remainder of her conversation.

The young handsome fox continued "Hm. It's a bit early in the year to be in season don't you suppose?" he cocked his head slightly to the left and took a seat upon a nearby rock.

"Eh, but I guess, if you are sure…I'd gladly….."

At that exact moment, a second fox appeared from the leeway of the chasm, this one had a particularly large bird in its mouth. His eyes searched about, darting in each direction, until the at last, fell upon Vixey, and the other dog-fox. The bird dropped from his jaw.

This second fox, based upon Vixey's most meticulous perception, as a good deal older that herself, perhaps by at least a year. And she was indeed a most prejudice Vixen. Monogamous, but most devilishly keen of a "well turned paw." This second dog, was hardly such.

"Right, off with ya! I saw her first and you know it!"

"Oh yea, but I heard the mating call first!...yea….and lookit. I got the bird!"

"She doesn't want a bird, she wants a mate and she wants to mate and I'm….."

"Excuse me miss, but you do look a bit peckish. Sure you could use a fine meal, ya?

"I told ya, she's not hungry! She jus' wants 'a mate and that's it! Go on, OFF WITH YA!"

Vixey was essentially, quite flattered that this one fine fox was so feverishly fighting over her. The was a certain sense of romanticism in this encounter that she had never had the pleasure of experiencing with Tod proceeding, during, and most certainly after their courtship. However, flattery, not being a particularly strong emotion, was quickly overwhelmed by the surmounting efforts of shock and disgust. Reality was slowly rearing its painfully concrete head again, its presence was not exactly welcomed.

It was at this moment, upon coming to her senses that she found the two dog-foxes to be engaged in an epic battle approximately 7 feet from her current position. The younger fox immediately took a vicious offensive as he clasped his canines around the older foxes left ear. The older fox, frantic with excruciating pain, committed a retaliatory strike to the length of the younger fox's back. The younger fox recoiled, but persisted his attack, moving his jaws along the brim of the others nose. A certain amount of bloodshed invariably followed. Howls of distress danced a furious macabre through the crisp morning air, the cacophony stirred within the formal auditory tranquility of the forest. The two dogs rolled violently about the forest floor; the shrieks grew progressively louder into a crescendo of horrific dissonance. Vixey remained entirely frozen, stricken immobile with paralyzing trepidation.

At last, the battle subsided, the younger fox stood triumphant, panting uncontrollably. The older fox slowly backed away, blood was slowly drawing a fine path along his gravely wounded snout. Though he seemed apprehensive in his departure, his maintained a certain air of respectability as he sank back below the peak of the chasm. Not once did he lose site of the "couple".

"Heh, good luck with that pal. She's a tart anyway." He sneered derisively at the two and then abruptly returned to the peak.

"Right, and i'm taking the bird with me!" wrestled to fix the fowl between his jaws once more, a task that proved no doubt, considerably more difficult thanks to his recent abrasions. Upon doing so, he again slunk back down the chasm, look ever so slightly more pathetic in this attempt.

Vixey's anxiety was released slightly as her body slowly faded out of its apparent rigor mortis state. She looked with a still reasonably fearful eye at the significantly disheveled dog fox to her left, panting profusely. He turned to her and gave a slight smile as he inched closer.

"Right then." He cleared his throat. "Where were we…?"