Not Alone - Foxy's Return

Chapter Three

༻Being Brave, or Being Stupid?༺

It was a week later when a noise stopped Foxy on his morning patrol, something all too familiar coming from the broken and twisted catwalk parts near the far wall of the dump outside the cove.
The shuffling of tiny feet, and a flash of white fur and glowing eyes.
A raccoon had wandered in here again.
By the sight of a nick in the mammal's ear, Foxy realized it was the same one that always came back.

"Back fer more, are ye?!" He growled, glaring the creature down with a narrowed eye. He gave a mock lunge towards it, forcing it out from beneath the sheltering metal. Normally that was all that was needed to scare any pest away, but this raccoon had grown bold after a few run-ins with him, and wouldn't back down.
It raised its little front paws, jabbing them in the air with a threatening screech. Foxy lunged again, this time snapping his jaws shut mere inches from the mammal's face.

But the raccoon responded by giving its own lunge, scrabbling its tiny claws across his muzzle, leaving thin scrapes in the metal, and causing him to recoil more in surprise than anything.
Foxy lunged back though, this time not a mock attack; he drove his hook down toward the raccoon, but the little mammal was quicker. It dodged as Foxy's hook came down on concrete, momentarily getting stuck before he yanked back.
But the raccoon didn't realize its mistake. Foxy took the chance when it dodged right to snap his jaws around the mammal's form.

His teeth weren't too sharp, obviously designed for the aesthetic and not for biting things. But the force was enough to make the trapped creature squeal and screech in pain, scraping its claws in vain across his jaw. With a growl, he let go, and the terrified animal bolted off in a flash, despite nearly being crushed.

"And don't come back, ye darn scurvy dog!" He growled after the retreating creature. He stood straight, blue-tipped tail lashing slightly from the brief fight. He was sure the raccoon wouldn't be coming back now, though.

He returned to the catwalks, ready to go back to the cove, when a familiar voice suddenly echoed off the walls, making him freeze mid-stride.

"Foxy? Foxy, are you there?"

He turned his gaze up to the fence gate. Niki? He thought. It can't be...

He headed through the gate and up the long path to the second gate, and sure enough, saw the familiar girl again.
"What on Earth are ye doin' down 'ere again?!" He asked, and she looked over to where he stood in the light. Her eyes brightened and she ran over, smiling.
"My mom brought us here, well brought my sister, and I wanted to see you again! I remembered! I remembered how to get here! I was brave, right?!"

She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, and Foxy kneeled to her level, gaze gentle, but serious.
"Ye may be brave, lassie, but ye shouldn't have come back. Yer mother will be worried, and this place is dangerous."

Niki shook her head. "She won't be worried," she said slowly, her tone edged with sadness. "She probably won't even notice, and if she does, she won't care."
She gave him a sad look. "But you cared before! That's why I wanted to find you again!"

Her words worried Foxy. If what she said was true, then the situation might not have been as innocent as he'd hoped. He wasn't sure what to do; it would be cruel to send her back, but this dump was no place for her to be hanging around.