Chapter 2: white foxes

While the Farthing foxes were mourning the alleged death of little Dreamer, Scarface, the leader of the blue foxes returned to his territory by lying down in his lair where his partner Lady Blue and his two cubs Ranger and Sky were awaiting his return.

Lady Blue was by far the most beautiful vixen in the whole park, as she considered herself; her coat was light gray almost blue color while the belly was white and the thick smooth darker hair and her intense and captivating gaze made her a really attractive fox. Like her mate, Lady Blue had a vain character and considered herself superior to any other fox, and being also the mate of the pack leader of the blue foxes she was also feared by the animals of the Farthing Wood.

Lady Blue was adjusting her fur and sharpening her claws against a rock, as soon as she looked at the result she grinned proudly seeing how sharp her nails were. Immediately afterwards she noticed the return of her companion, until she smelled the scent of blood which at first made her curious. Lady Blue walked over to her companion and noticed his right paw stained with blood.

Lady Blue: "where have you been?"

Scarface: "it's not your business"

Lady Blue: "yes, they're my business. You've been in the territory of those filthy red foxes, what have you been up to there, have you finally taught that Fox a lesson?"

Scarface: "of course I killed one of his cubs, now he will understand what happens to challenge the blue foxes"

Said Scarface looking at his blood-smeared claws, not caring so much about how dirty they were, in fact he seemed quite proud of the gesture he had just done. At that point Lady Blue shivered with terror. She would never reveal it to her partner, but she would never, ever hurt Vixen's and Fox's cubs, especially the most innocent of all.

Lady Blue: "Don't tell me you have...her?"

Scarface nodded with a grin, making it clear to his mate that he had just attacked the little Dreamer.

Lady Blue remembered that one day she had entered Farthing territory to secretly spy on red foxes, three of the cubs were playing with a pine cone but there was the smallest one who was very far from her siblings because she was having fun exploring the surroundings playing with a grasshopper chasing it by jumping around. The blue vixen focused especially on the little one who seemed so cheerful and happy that it even melted that cold heart like ice, a smile appeared on Lady Blue's face seeing how that little fox so sweet and full of life conveyed so much joy and she desired so much so that kind of harmony could also be felt in her territory.

Lady Blue: "How could you do such a thing?!"

She looked in anger to her mate as she felt tears form in her eyes as she showed her fangs to Scarface.

Scarface: "Don't you dare use that tone with me! I did what I thought necessary, I sent a clear message to those invaders now if they are smart enough they will leave the park once and for all "

The leader of the blue foxes replied, feeling no remorse or shame for harming such an innocent and defenseless creature.

Lady Blue: "That cub wouldn't hurt anyone, why did you kill such an innocent creature?!"

Scarface: "I don't care if she was innocent or not. That red fox was the daughter of the Farthing Wood Foxes, Why are you pitying such an inferior creature?! Compassion is weakness!"

Scarface growled at Lady Blue as he came back out of the lair to search the surroundings, it seemed that before returning to his den his firstborn son, Bounder, had told him of a young red fox prowling his territory, Scarface wanted to go have a look but not he wanted to leave alone so he ordered his son, Ranger, and his daughter, Sky, to come with him, who in the meantime were sitting and listening to yet another argument between their parents.

The two followed him without making a fuss as they came out of the den with their tails between their hind legs and their ears lowered, but before they went, he had one last thing to say to his mate.

Scarface: "I will never allow my cubs become weak and inept like you! One day they will take my place and I will make them strong blue foxes worthy of their name"

Scarface said then went away leaving behind him a Lady Blue alone in tears and with no one to comfort her.

In Farthing Territory, peaceful harmony was broken by the terrible tragedy. Bold, most of all suffered the loss of his little sister who he was very fond of and wanted to go alone to do justice not caring if he risked losing his skin. His father did not agree so he admonished him saying that he could not finish what he had not started and above all not to commit too risky actions, but Bold did not want to know about this and disobeyed his parents, so he entered in the territory of the blue foxes without any fear.

Meanwhile, a pair of adult snow-white foxes ventured into the white deer park in search of some prey. The female sniffed the air and smelled the blood, the white vixen then followed the smell getting stronger and stronger until she came to some bushes. The vixen took a peek hoping it was a rat or a hare wounded on the verge of death, but as soon as she pulled her head out she saw a red vixen cub lying on her back, full of scratches and bites on her little body.

Seeing that innocent little creature torn apart in such a cruel way the white fox began to grieve, and her blue eyes gushed with tears of sadness, as if she already had a bond with the little red fox.

At one point there was a kind of pulsation coming from the little body of the little vixen, the white fox didn't even take a second and put her right ear on her chest and felt the beating of her heart, it was weak but for her there was there still a ray of hope. The white fox smiled when she realized that the red-furred cub could still be saved. At one point she heard her partner calling her by name and seemed to be very worried, she did not want to leave the little one even for a single moment, but to save the life of the cub she also needed the help of her mate, Ivory.

Snowflake: "Don't worry, honey. I promise I won't let you die"

Snowflake whispered and then headed quickly to Ivory.

Ivory: "Snowflake, where are you?"

Snowflake's mate shouted very worried. Suddenly he saw her running towards him, he was relieved to see that his partner was fine, but she seemed to have concern in her blue eyes. Ivory asked Snowflake what the problem was, but she ignored the question and told him to follow her urgently.

Ivory: "Is something wrong my love?"

Snowflake: "I don't have time to explain, follow me!"

Ivory was confused but didn't argue and followed his mate fearing there was some danger nearby.

Snowflake took her mate to where he had previously found the poor wounded fox. Ivory noticed the scratches and bites on the little body of the cub and thought that whoever did this to her was by no means an animal that kills just to survive.

Ivory: "it's a red vixen..."

Snowflake: "yes"

Ivory: "who did this to her?"

Snowflake: "I don't know, but I know she is still alive, if we took her to Valley Home we could cure her"

Ivory: "I'm sorry Snowflake, we can't bring her to our territory, we have to leave her here"

Ivory said sadly. Snowflake was shocked by her mate's words, he was very sorry not to help the cub, but they couldn't bring an outsider into their territory, especially after they almost risked being invaded by a herd of foxes from beyond their borders afterwards. who had offered him shelter and hospitality. However, Snowflake was not going to leave her to a tragic fate.

Snowflake: "but she will die"

Ivory: "it's not our priority"

Snowflake: "but it's not fair"

Ivory: "you can't decide who lives or who dies!"

Snowflake: "What if it would be our son?!"

At that moment there was a long silence, the only thing that could be heard was the hiss of a cold and lonely wind. Ivory shivered at the thought of seeing their only child in the place of that creature, she glanced at the wounded; he strongly doubted that in those conditions she would survive the night even with their help, but he did not know that Dreamer had no intention of giving up and was fighting with all her strength.

Ivory: "I doubt she will survive the night"

Snowflake: "This cub is a fighter, but she needs us. Please Ivory "

Eventually Ivory decided to give Snowflake a chance to heal her even though the doubts were still alive in his mind.

Ivory: "okay...we'll try"

Happy Snowflake gently took the little red vixen and loaded her on Ivory's back, being careful not to aggravate her situation. Immediately the white foxes with Dreamer headed towards the park exit along a path that would have led to a rather shaky wooden bridge that connected the two banks of a river. It was quite unsafe but it was the shortest way to reach Valley Home. Despite this, the two white foxes arrived on the other side without problems and during the journey the Dreamer tried to open her eyes and made some whimpers, but she was still too weak and sore to recover completely.

Finally arrived in the hills of Valley Home, Snowflake and Ivory took the fox to their lair to give it the necessary care. Their son, Niveus, also with a snow-white coat and blue eyes ran towards them happy to see his parents again and as soon as he saw that little fox slumped on his father's back he was curious to know who she was and what had happened to her. Snowflake used healing herbs to dress the wounds of the red fox while Niveus watched her while she covered the huge bite on her right thigh with thin beech bark.

Niveus: "Mom, who is she?"

Snowflake: "she will be your new sister"

Niveus: "what happened to her?"

Snowflake: "she was attacked by a predator"

Niveus: "and do you think she will recover?"

Snowflake: "I hope so, honey...I hope so"

During the night Snowflake stayed to watch the little red fox, her condition seemed to be improving already, but Snowflake didn't want to take her eyes off her even for a second even though sleep was getting the better of her. Niveus noticed this and went to his mother asking if he could stay and look after the fox for her.

Niveus: "mom, you should rest now"

Snowflake: "I can't ... I have to watch the little one"

Niveus: "I can do it if you want"

Snowflake: "are you sure?"

Niveus: "yes mom"

Niveus answered firmly. Snowflake smiled proudly to have such a generous and selfless son, as she lay down next to her partner to rest while her son stayed awake to watch over Dreamer, or at least as long as he could resist before falling asleep next to her.

Snowflake: "goodnight babies"

to be continued...