13. Found Her

Red sat and looked out over the field that lay before him, he was back, back at a place he never thought he would see again. It was home, or at least the only one in his mind that ever mattered. Red had pushed himself hard after leaving the cottage, skirting around the edge of town and heading deep into the countryside. He had done his best to follow the path he had taken when he escaped the town all those seasons ago, however he had got lost multiple times. Without the blanket of snow the landscape looked wildly different. He felt both excited and uneasy, was she still here? If she was here, what would he say when he met her? More importantly does she even want to see him again? Red shook the thoughts away, he had dissected these questions multiple times before, he was here now and should find out the real answers. Red took a step forward before bounding up and over the fence into the open field beyond.

Red stuck to the edge of the field as he made his way to the site of his and Scarlet's den, it was late in the day however the sun was still out, he knew the farmers here didn't take kindly to foxes on their land so he needed to be careful. There was something else too, a worry in the back of his mind that he was being followed, he had seen flashes of movement during his journey that he could not explain. Leaves of bushes in the distance would move against the wind, shadows appearing in places where there was nothing to cast them, flashes of movement on the edge of his peripheral vision. Red had stopped to watch his tracks several times during the journey however he never saw anything in pursuit. Red rounded the last corner of the field, expecting to find the hedgerow that hid his old home, only it was missing, replaced instead by a raised dirt track. Red followed the track and soon found the remnants of the old den he had shared with Scarlet. It had been dug out, replaced instead by a shallow and empty pit. Red felt a sense of panic begin to replace the excitement in his mind, what had happened here? Red dropped down into the pit and sniffed around, he could smell a fox scent in the dirt around the pit, it was too weak to place but felt somewhat familiar. There was more too, a faint scent of a dog lingered in the area around the mouth of the den. He felt a cold sick feeling in his stomach, the calculation in his mind only returned one outcome, Scarlet had needed him and he wasn't there. Red sat motionless in the dirt, his mind once again preoccupied with asking himself questions he had no answers to.

The sun had set before Red managed to pull himself together and decide on a course of action. He didn't know for sure what had happened at the den, but he did know two foxes who might. Red didn't relish the thought of meeting Scarlet's father again, however he could not think of an alternative. Red dragged himself up and out of the pit and made his way through the darkness towards Eclipse and Crescent's den.

Red travelled quickly, paying next to no heed to his surroundings, figuring that the darkness of the night would be enough to mask his movements from unfriendly eyes. The journey felt shorter than he remembered, his first visit had been a reluctant one after all, this time however he was fully committed. He bounded through the fields and woods that surrounded the den and before long he was entering the clearing that contained his goal. He'd run most of the way and was panting hard when he arrived, he took a moment on the edge of the clearing to catch his breath before pushing himself through the boundary and into the moonlit clearing beyond.

There was an almost unnatural stillness in the clearing that didn't sit right, Red felt alarm bells ringing in the back of his mind that something wasn't right here. Ignoring his instinct to run he pushed himself on towards the den. His heart sank as it came into view, there was no den here either, just another cavernous and empty pit. Red paused at the lip where the entrance had been, the same lingering smell of a dog was present in the dirt and rocks. Red dropped his head and let out a defeated sigh, whatever had happened to Scarlet and her parents he had missed it. She was gone and he had no way of finding her. Red turned and wandered back into the centre of the clearing, his mind buzzed as all the dreams he'd had of meeting Scarlet again unravelled in an instant. He was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he failed to spot the danger closing in around him.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," came a voice from the darkness ahead.

Red inhaled sharply, he'd been focused so intensely on his own thoughts he been caught completely unawares. "So you're the one that's been following me?"

"One?" said the voice as it stepped forwards towards Red. "You disappoint me."

The animal drew closer into view, it was a red fox, its face heavily scarred, patches of fur were missing all over its body. Red caught a glimpse of movement to his left and right, more foxes at least a dozen. Red backed up in an attempt to stop himself from being surrounded, if this came to a fight, he knew he was in trouble. "That's close enough."

"Is it?" said the scarred fox. "Did you give your victims space when they begged you to let them go? Did you back off when they howled in pain or cried out for help?"

"Listen, I'm just passing through here. I don't know who-" replied Red before being cut off.

"But we do, don't we?" called out the scarred fox to the other foxes slowly encircling the clearing.

"Beast!" came the reply as the other foxes shouted back in unison.

Red felt panic begin to overwhelm him, these were not foxes from the wild, these were northern foxes from beyond the town. This was only going to end one way and he needed to act fast if he had any hope of survival.

"And just like that there it is," a crooked smile grew across the scarred fox's face "remember this day, it's the day you saw real fear in the face of the Beast!"

Red felt his fight or flight instincts take over and before he knew it, he was throwing himself forwards towards the scarred fox. His quick movement caught the fox unprepared and he slammed his shoulder into the side of its face as he forced his way over the boundary of the clearing and into the wood beyond.

His quick reaction had given Red a head start but as he broke out of the wood and into the fields he could see the other foxes begin to amass behind him. They were gaining slowly and began to fan out to his sides, seemingly trying to push him in a set direction. Every time he tried to veer off to the left or right he would find a new batch of foxes join the chase from that direction. He was being corralled back in the direction he had come from, back towards the town. He was already exhausted from his journey to the land Scarlet and her family had called home however he had no option but to push past the pain and force himself on. He knew if he stopped, he was dead, his only chance was to make it back to the town before they caught up. There was obviously a trap waiting for him there, but he had no choice but to spring it, he had to hope he could use the streets to find an escape route from whatever lay in wait.

It felt like a lifetime but eventually Red found himself on the outskirts of the town again. As he crossed the threshold of the town centre he felt his legs begin to freeze up and he lost his footing. He fell onto his side and slid across the cobblestones of the street, colliding with the wall that ran around the graveyard at its centre. A shower of loose dirt and stone fell from the wall, peppering his dark fur a light shade of grey. He tried to get to his paws however he immediately dropped back down again, the exhaustion was intense, he'd never felt this tired before. When the foxes chasing him caught up, he was dead for sure, part of him welcomed it, it would be an easy release from the exhaustion he currently felt.

Time passed, Red lay with gritted teeth awaiting the deathblow to come, it never arrived. There was no sign of the pursuing foxes, they had not followed him into the town. Red dragged himself to his paws, leaning on the wall for support as he made his way around the centre of the town to check for his pursuers. Why would they have stopped?

The town was silent and empty, the wind was still and not even the rustle of leaves could be heard. An idea began forming in the back of Red's mind as he continued on, the injured fox he had met the day before lived here at the graveyard, maybe he could hide with him until he had the strength to escape. Red didn't like the idea of staying within the confines of the town one moment more than he needed to, or the thought of putting another innocent fox on the target list of those that followed him. He let out a pained sigh, he knew there was no other option. Red pushed on and rounded the last corner that led to the gated side of the wall, as he did so he froze. Two hundred or so meters ahead of him in the road just outside of the gate leading into the graveyard was another fox, a vixen, Red recognised her markings immediately, it was Scarlet. He couldn't move, half of him wanted to shout out and run to her, the other wanted to duck down back behind the wall. In the end Red did neither, a muffled grunting was all that came out of his gritted locked up jaws. He watched as Scarlet's ears pricked up and she turned to look down the street in his direction. Red felt his heart race, he took a sharp breath and held it, time seemed to stop. Red desperately wanted her to see him, but his legs were like lead weights and the wall next to him cast a long black shadow that enveloped all but the faintest glint from his eyes. It felt like an eternity before Scarlet moved again, she turned back and seemed to mouth something towards the gate behind her. A second fox came from beyond the gate, limping up to her side, she pressed her head into the side of his and smiled. The air came rushing out of Red's lungs like someone had kicked him in the chest, he knew that fox too. The sharp sudden exhale had caused him to cough and splutter as he tried to get his breathing under control again. The two foxes ahead of him immediately looked in his direction once more, Red felt himself able to move again and he dived back behind the wall and tried to bury his mouth in his fur to stifle the sound of his coughing.

Once Red had stopped coughing he willed himself to take another peek beyond the wall, the street beyond was now empty and silent. Red slipped out from behind the corner and made his way slowly along the edge of the wall, carefully making sure to always stay in its shadow. As he approached the gate he caught a brief waft of Scarlet's scent in the air, he felt a lump form in his throat as emotions he thought lost reignited. He paused for a moment to steady himself and then took a look beyond the open gate, nothing, the two foxes had left. He swept his gaze out up the road that led away from the entrance of the graveyard in the direction the two foxes had been moving, again nothing, just an empty dimly lit street. Red took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he'd found her, happy and living her life. He'd seen it and it did not feel the way he had expected, he felt sick. She'd moved on, he had not.

"Cute couple those two," came a voice from the wall above Red.

Red jumped in fright at the sound of the voice, losing his footing as he did he stumbled and fell on to his side.

"That's twice I've caught you by surprise!" said the voice.

Red cast his gaze up towards the top of the wall, it was another fox. He recognised the animal, only he was older and much bigger than last time they had met.

"Impossible!" replied Red, his voice broken by panicked breaths. What Boss had told him about Chief's family was clearly not true, there in front of him alive and well was Scout.

"You should never have come back here," said Scout before pouncing down to the ground next to Red "did you take a knock to the head or something?"

Red looked back towards the empty street ahead of him. "Something like that…"

Scout followed Red's gaze for a moment before looking back at the black fox. "You have got to be kidding me! Which one of them are you following?"

"What do you mean, why would I be following anyone?" Red replied as he unconvincingly screwed up his face.

Scout narrowed his eyes and turned his head to one side as he peered at Red. "There's a whole bunch of reasons someone might follow the two of them, but there is only one reason an animal like you would be this stupid."

Red turned away and looked up at the sky, he knew what was coming. "The vixen," said Scout.

"Yes, well done detective, your deduction skills are astounding," replied Red as he turned and walked into the Graveyard. Scout followed, breaking into a brief run to draw alongside the older fox.

"You really shouldn't be here Outcast."

"That's not my name," responded Red with a shake of his head "it's Red."

"Your real name, the one you couldn't remember?" said Scout, Red nodded. "That's a terrible name considering your appearance, it also doesn't change the fact that you really shouldn't be here!"

Red drew to a stop just outside the earth at the base of the tree in the middle of the graveyard. "You keep saying that like I don't already know, I'm here and I don't like it either!"

"You're also trapped," added Scout.

Red turned away from the earth to look back at Scout. "The other foxes, the ones who chased me?"

Scout nodded. "They are all northern foxes, hence they really don't like you."

"Then why not follow me in here and finish the job? Why did they stop?"

"I forget just how much you've missed," said Scout as he motioned for Red to head inside the earth.

The inside of the earth was dark and empty, large roots from the tree above punctured the ceiling, the scent of both Scarlet and Bold was thick in the air.

"The town is off limits," continued Scout "when you left a truce was brokered between the northern foxes and the southern foxes. As a part of that truce the town was designated off limits to all, well except those few charged with keeping it that way." Scout pointed a paw at himself.

"Your father agreed to a truce?" Red furrowed his brow in disbelief.

"Not exactly, see he was already dead by this point, as were most of the southern fox leaders come to think of it."

"No offence but that couldn't have happened to a more deserving animal, so the southern foxes lost the war?"

Scout paused for a second. "Someone had to, you can't have peace without the end of war."

"Did it end that day? When you switched sides?" asked Red, his tone was more accusatory than he meant.

"Red, we were on the wrong side the whole time, all of us were and we didn't even know it, the southern foxes were the aggressors, my great grandfather started it for reasons no one really understood anymore, it needed to stop."

"It sounds like I was lucky to leave when I did."

"You were lucky to leave at all, that day in the alley when I convinced them to let you go, they saw that as a mistake," said Scout sharply "they hunted you for a long time after the war ended, the trail went cold some distance from the town and they eventually gave up, what did happen to you?"

Red glanced down as he tried to think of a satisfying answer that didn't go into too much detail. "I walked?"

"You walked?"

"Yes," answered Red.

"And then?" pushed Scout once more. "And I swear Red, if you say you walked some more I'm going to go out there and tell the northern foxes they can come in here and have you!"

"I met a vixen," said Red, he felt a strange sense of embarrassment at admitting that, like it was something that should never have happened to someone like him.

Scout took a few paces forwards. "The one from the street?"

"Yes," answered Red once again.

"What happened?"

"I left," said Red with a shrug.

"You left, and why would you do that exactly?" asked Scout.

Red's head snapped upright, and he looked directly at the younger fox. "Why do you think? Oh, you know Scarlet, this one time I was a murderer who killed other foxes for fun, that's okay with you right?"

"You were afraid?" said Scout. Red refrained from answering.

"Either you use the past as a tool and learn from it or it controls you and you end up back in the same places you've already been," said Scout as he pointed his paws out towards the town beyond the entrance of the earth.

"Whatever," answered Red, he was loath to admit it, but the young fox was right.

There was a bark from outside the earth, Scout's ears pricked up and he paced towards the entrance. "I need to get back, I'll try to convince them to let you go, again. Whatever you do Red don't run, there are too many of them, they'd catch you."

"So just stay here until I grow old and die?"

"I'll find you a way out, just wait for me," said Scout as he started up the tunnel leading out of the earth, he stopped for a moment at the top and looked back towards Red. "Oh, and stick to brooding silence, it's what you are good at, jokes are not your thing."