Post by Vixey on Jul 24, 2020 12:39:49 GMT
(February 20th-ish, just before twilight. Closed to Honest John and Vixey. Up along the old railroad line; but still a way further from the castle than where Sport and Game took place.)
"...Tod?"
A low voice, a light tread. A movement of shadow, betraying a presence unfamiliar, preceded the russet vixen as she stepped tentatively along the the lengthy iron strips that had once, long ago, been hammered into the rugged landscape. The 'railroad', she believed, Tod had called it once in the past.
What it was, what purpose humans put it to, Vixey couldn't imagine.
But such knowledge was, at least for now, irrelevant to her.
The tracks, rather, were simply her guide, keeping her roughly on the path that Tod must have taken. Her dear mate had been supposed to return to Arendelle days ago from his patrol mission. At first, Vixey had simply shrugged off his delay - Tod was Tod, after all, and it wouldn't surprise her over-much if he'd been derailed from his task somewhat. But as the days had continued to roll by, with still no sign of her lover's return, or word to say otherwise, Vixey had begun to grow concerned; and began to take matters into her own paws. Screwing up her courage to talk to humans, she had asked questions, poked around, and her investigation had yielded fruit in the form of mention of what Tod had been doing, where his patrol route had taken him. And, quite naturally, she had headed out along the same route to search for him.
And now, here she was.
It had rained here a night or two since, Vixey could tell; because she could catch no scent of Tod along the old tracks, only the smell of damp soil filling her nostrils. The vixen's nose twitched slightly against the deep earthy smell, but it hardly distracted; her attention, rather, was on her search.
The tag of her collar, still an uncomfortable accessory for her, beat lightly against her breastbone with each move she made, almost in time with the nervous beat of her heart.
Still no sign of Tod; and the russet lady could no longer deny it, she was getting anxious. She'd come a long way from Arendelle - or so it felt, at least, to one who had so rarely left the safety of her home forest - and yet, along the route, had seen not hide nor hair of the male she sought. It wasn't like Tod not to leave at least some trace behind him, simply because, well, he wasn't yet as well adapted to natural living as he liked to believe. He could be endearingly clumsy, at times, and wasn't always careful to not leave tracks.
So it troubled her not to see any sign of such at all.
The daylight was fast stealing away, turning the scenery grey and dull in the misty pre-twilight, but Vixey had no intention of giving up on her search. Like most of her species, the lady's night vision was perfect; and now that she was here, after too long of not knowing, Vixey knew she wouldn't forgive herself if she stopped for the night without first conducting a proper search of the area. There had to be at least some hint to Tod's whereabouts, he simply wasn't the kind of fox capable of vanishing into thin air.
Unless something had happened to him...
But she wouldn't give in to that worry unless she exhausted all other options. Tod might not be the most graceful or worldly-wise fox out there, but he could handle himself; if he could fight the giant bear and live to tell of it, Vixey didn't think anything could take him down for good. But he could be trapped, or hurt, or just plain got himself lost; and in any of those cases, Vixey was certain it fell to her to help him.
All at once, she thought she noticed movement a bit further down the embankment. Freezing in her tracks, Vixey's ears pricked in the direction of the possible other being, gaze of beautiful brown piercing the darkness in search of the motion she was sure she'd just seen.
A scent, both like and unlike that of another fox, seemed to drift her way on the wind; and Vixey chanced to call out.
"Hello? Gosh, is someone there?"
And then, desperately hopeful in spite of the fact that she didn't fully recognise the scent:
"Is that you, Tod?"
"...Tod?"
A low voice, a light tread. A movement of shadow, betraying a presence unfamiliar, preceded the russet vixen as she stepped tentatively along the the lengthy iron strips that had once, long ago, been hammered into the rugged landscape. The 'railroad', she believed, Tod had called it once in the past.
What it was, what purpose humans put it to, Vixey couldn't imagine.
But such knowledge was, at least for now, irrelevant to her.
The tracks, rather, were simply her guide, keeping her roughly on the path that Tod must have taken. Her dear mate had been supposed to return to Arendelle days ago from his patrol mission. At first, Vixey had simply shrugged off his delay - Tod was Tod, after all, and it wouldn't surprise her over-much if he'd been derailed from his task somewhat. But as the days had continued to roll by, with still no sign of her lover's return, or word to say otherwise, Vixey had begun to grow concerned; and began to take matters into her own paws. Screwing up her courage to talk to humans, she had asked questions, poked around, and her investigation had yielded fruit in the form of mention of what Tod had been doing, where his patrol route had taken him. And, quite naturally, she had headed out along the same route to search for him.
And now, here she was.
It had rained here a night or two since, Vixey could tell; because she could catch no scent of Tod along the old tracks, only the smell of damp soil filling her nostrils. The vixen's nose twitched slightly against the deep earthy smell, but it hardly distracted; her attention, rather, was on her search.
The tag of her collar, still an uncomfortable accessory for her, beat lightly against her breastbone with each move she made, almost in time with the nervous beat of her heart.
Still no sign of Tod; and the russet lady could no longer deny it, she was getting anxious. She'd come a long way from Arendelle - or so it felt, at least, to one who had so rarely left the safety of her home forest - and yet, along the route, had seen not hide nor hair of the male she sought. It wasn't like Tod not to leave at least some trace behind him, simply because, well, he wasn't yet as well adapted to natural living as he liked to believe. He could be endearingly clumsy, at times, and wasn't always careful to not leave tracks.
So it troubled her not to see any sign of such at all.
The daylight was fast stealing away, turning the scenery grey and dull in the misty pre-twilight, but Vixey had no intention of giving up on her search. Like most of her species, the lady's night vision was perfect; and now that she was here, after too long of not knowing, Vixey knew she wouldn't forgive herself if she stopped for the night without first conducting a proper search of the area. There had to be at least some hint to Tod's whereabouts, he simply wasn't the kind of fox capable of vanishing into thin air.
Unless something had happened to him...
But she wouldn't give in to that worry unless she exhausted all other options. Tod might not be the most graceful or worldly-wise fox out there, but he could handle himself; if he could fight the giant bear and live to tell of it, Vixey didn't think anything could take him down for good. But he could be trapped, or hurt, or just plain got himself lost; and in any of those cases, Vixey was certain it fell to her to help him.
All at once, she thought she noticed movement a bit further down the embankment. Freezing in her tracks, Vixey's ears pricked in the direction of the possible other being, gaze of beautiful brown piercing the darkness in search of the motion she was sure she'd just seen.
A scent, both like and unlike that of another fox, seemed to drift her way on the wind; and Vixey chanced to call out.
"Hello? Gosh, is someone there?"
And then, desperately hopeful in spite of the fact that she didn't fully recognise the scent:
"Is that you, Tod?"