Friendships and Adventures

reunion!

The ermine saw Esther and Fern walking side by side. "Wait for me! I want to see your brother too!" She joined them. "Oh, sorry that we didn't wait for you bud, come tag along! " said the fox as he smiled at his friend , "It's okay!" She replied to her fox- friend. But in her mind, she was kind of upset. Why didn't they ask the others to join them? But she guessed that they just forgot. She didn't want to start an argument. "If you get tired don't hesitate to ask for a quick stop to rest, okay? you can even get on my back, I don't mind " he said and smiled making a happy chirping noise - "okay!" She decided to not care about being upset, she was finally getting to meet his brother and she knew he was very excited about it. The fox was giving side-eyes to Esther, for some reason he couldn't stop looking at him, though he wasn't looking at him full-time, he didn't want the ermine to think something is going on. "Hey bud, what happened at the den while me and Esther were away? Did something happen with Kaoru and her friends?" he asked looking at the ermine - " nothing special, they're okay. Karou really likes to be pet" she answered and jumped on Fern's back. She noticed how Fern and Esther looked at each other. What was going on between them? Fern's fluffy tail was wagging uncontrollably, seems like he was very happy about something that was yet unknown and new to him. "what's happening to me?" he thought to himself "this feeling is so strange..." he could only question his feeling in the moment, yet he couldn't stop gazing at Esther, what was happening? He shook it off of his mind "do you guys wanna play hide and seek till we reach the live forest? " he asked and looked at his friends smiling - " sure!" the ermine and Esther replied , "alright!!! that means that me and Esther have to hide, c'mom Esther, let's find good hiding spots!" he said and wagged his tail "you can start counting ermine, and remember, no peeking!" he chirped happily - "I won't!" and she started counting. "91..92..93..94..95....99..one hundred!" she shouted so they could hear her "to my left , to my right or even from behind, better hide your nose and go on tip-tap paws, I hope you have hidden now, here I come!" She took a small jump in excitement and began to search for her friends. "This is the best hiding spot! I'm so good at hide and seek! Especially at hiding!!" said the fox to himself "this is gonna be fun!!" he wagged his tail as he was hidden not so far away from the seekers' spot. The fox laid on his tail so it stays hidden - it was easy to spot - the ermine heard something from a few bushes a bit away. "Hm, let's check it out." She said and went to check the bushes, " hm?" She got closer. "HELP! GET OFF ME!" It wasn't fern or Esther in the bushes. It was a big fox, he looked very alike to Fern, and right now, he jumped right on the little ermine and scratched her on the head. "huh?" the fox heard them and jumped out of the bush "WHAT'S HAPPEPING?" he asked as he ran to the ermine , she was pressed down on the ground by the big fox "please let me go, I didn't do anything! I was just playing hide and seek I didn't mean to enter your space or something!" said the ermine in a scared tone - the fox launched at his friend and pushed the other fox with his body "are you okay bud?" he looked at the ermine looking upset, he was worried. "I-I'm okay I just got very overwhelmed.. I got scared, sorry" said the ermine, "it's alright, I'm glad you're okay" he said and brushed his head into hers "man what's wrong with you, you hurt my friend!- " he said as he looked up at the fox, but he froze right away, the fox did look like him, he didn't move for a few seconds. "W-what..." he stood frozen looking at the other fox, "Tod?.." he said feeling confident about the foxes name, could it be.. that they know each other? - "huh, how do you know my name?" the big fox replied, "what's happening? The ermine couldn't understand what was happening. "Tod!!" said Fern as he jumped onto the big fox in excitement, "god I missed you so much!" said the fox, he was really happy, the big fox stared at him for a moment "Little brother?..." he asked unsure about his concern, he hoped that was his little brother, "yes! it's me!!" said Fern as he snuggled into his big brothers' fur "I missed you so much" he said once more, "Where have you been brother? You used to visit me so often, what happened?" Tod asked - "it's a long story, i'll tell you some other time!" he got off his brother and looked around for his friends, he saw Esther not so far away, Esther was just a few miles behind Fern and the Ermine. He had hunted a mouse, he was eating it while laying in the sun. "Hey Tod you gotta meet my friends! Come see!" he said and ran towards Esther as the ermine followed him, "Hello Esther" Fern looked his friend and wagged his tail, the ermine had jumped on his back and his brother was behind him. He turned his head to face the others. " Hi Fern and ermine. And uh is this your brother?" his tail wagged as he smiled - "haha, yeah, come on now, say hi Tod, he doesn't bite!" said Fern as he sat next to Esther and chirped happily, "uh.. Hi..dog." said Tod as he wasn't so sure of his brothers' words. "Please call me Esther. Tod is it? " He giggled turning his gaze from Tod to Fern - "well then.. Pleasure to meet you Esther " he said "say.. how long do you know my brother for?" he asked in a cheesy way "you two seem very close if you ask me" Tod smiled teasing them both, Esther sat up. Looked like he was a bit smaller than the fox, Ferns' words were sure true, his brother was bigger and older than him. " About a week. And the pleasure is all mine" he said and smiled. Esther picked up the scent off nearby prey. " I smell a mouse. I want to go find it! We don't have to hunt it though" , "hah, okay Esther, be careful though" said fern as he wagged his tail happily. There really was a mouse, it sensed some seeds nearby, so that's why she was there. The mouse saw a deer and quickly ran away, it was now closer to a river that was near by, the mouse lost the scent, she was confused where it was and lost her breath. Esther ran towards where he last had the scent. His tail wagged happily, the mouse heard the sounds of running it hid in some bushes. She was afraid the dog would eat her - " Hey there little mouse! Come out we can be friends! " Esther said soft toned, he smiled and sat down in a vulnerable position to show he was friendly " I won't harm you little mouse " , Fern heard him talking "Is something wrong Esther?" he said as he ran to him, 'Shhh. We don't want to scare the mouse. But yes everything is okay Fern " He smiled softly looking into Ferns' eyes " get down into the position I'm in. It shows your friendly ". The mouse slowly came out of the bush, " Hey there little one. I'm Esther and you are? " He smiled at the mouse - "M-mini.." said the mouse introducing herself. Fern sat down gazing at Esther, " Hey mini, wanna be friends? You can join us on our adventures! " Esther caught the foxes gaze causing him to smile and hide his face in his bushy tail. Mini looked at the fox and back at the dog. She didn't know what to say "I-I.. you're not going to eat me?" - " No of course not. Better to make friends. Only hunt when necessary:) " , "Yeah, I would never eat my friends" said Fern and wagged his tail. The mouse nodded her head shaking, "you can hop on my back or head when u get tired " Esther smiled, "Thank you.." . " Of course any time! " - She smiled back.

The day appeared to fly by fast and it was getting dark, Fern took a big yawn and streched " we should find a place to sleep in, our den is far away and I don't think that there'll be enough space in my brother's den" he said and started looking around to find somewhere to sleep. " Indeed. Do you know if there's a place anywhere Mini?" said Esther and he looked at her, she jumped on the dog's back to get a better look - "Not that I know of." - "Hmm. Follow me Fern. And Mini - hold on tight " said Esther as he ran towards the trees going to the only cave he knew of in the area. Mini has never been so far away from her den. She was a bit scared. The others also followed them but Tod didn't he went back at his den - he couldn't just leave his she-fox alone, they were gonna be parents afterall.

"How do you know about this place Esther?" Fern asked and chirped - " I saw the cave when I was out sunbathing " he said, "ah, okay, well.. let's get ourselves comfortable" he said and streched again, " yea." Esther yawned before getting into a comfortable position and Mini curled up into a little ball near the corner. Esther fell asleep warm and comforted by the familiar scents around him, Fern got closer to Esther "I hope he doesn't mind if I sleep here.." he said to himself and laid down beside Esther, he smiled wrapping his tail around Fern, he touched his nose with Esther's and fell asleep, soon enough they all were asleep.

What will happen onward? Will they get to meet Tod's she-fox? Will they ever visit Fern's deer friend? What will happen between him and Esther? We will know as soon as we read the next chapter, as for now, may we let our fury friends rest and have a nice and long nap. Onto good times fellas, see you next chapter.

:)