It Should've Been Me

Feelings

(Authors Note: Hi all, It's yet another chapter of you favorite story. First off, I just want to say that Faith, I'm sure this chapter will answer your last review, but I can see why it might have been confusing. Copper and Chief merely thing that he is dead, but he will be at home, recovering day by day. Secondly, Thank you all for all the follows, faves and reviews. Now, in the last chapter, Copper's depression and overall anger took a hold of him, almost sending him into self destruct mode, but lucky for him, Chief was there to save him. Warning: slight graphical descriptions in the beginning may upset some readers. Enjoy the latest chapter. A big thanks to disneyfangirl774 for pointing out a few mistakes and the review.)

As the morning sun slowly devoured the remaining darkness of the night sky, the day seemed sure to be better than the one before. The sound of birds singing filled the air with musical notes which seeped into the old farm house, stirring a slumbering fox. His mind was awake, yet the rest of his body did not follow suit. The previous night's accident had been an adrenalin filled rollercoaster ride, leaving Tod to suffer from exhaustion and pain, immense pain, pain that the devil himself would regret to inflict on anyone.

He lay down for another ten minutes before his eyes fluttered open and allowed light into his dark eyes. He lay motionless, not daring to move an inch. His neck had calmed down to the point where he could lay without discomfort. His lazy eyes scanned the room in search of his adopted mother, who was sitting in the kitchen preparing hot water for her laundry.

Widow too had calmed down, and although she knew it was something she could not help the pain, she still felt obliged to keep her fox as happy as possible.

She turned around and looked over to the limp fox, her heart ached every single time she looked over at once orange fur now painted in crimson, his broken leg laying in a cast, his awkwardly positioned paw. It seemed almost too much to bear, but his soul was still present, and that's all that mattered. She then looked up to inspect his head, only to have the idea washed away by his open, longing eyes. "Oh, Tod. You're awake." She said loud enough to excite her fox, who began waving his tail in bliss with disregard to the pain.

At the Slade Farm, the mood was slow and the air seemed light. The bird's songs could be heard from the neighbouring farm, giving the air some type of uplifting. Copper resting in his barral, trying to take his mind off his best friend, but it did little to no help. The wind was dead, which allowed the smell of booze to hang around as Amos lay passed out in his room. Copper, however, didn't care.

His mind was focused on something more painful. His best friend's dead still body remained etched in his mind. As his boredom crept in, he seemed to dig deeper into his memory.

'Friends forever'

Such powerful words had never meant so much, and yet were said so easily. He knew it would take a while before things returned to normal, so for now, he would have to try his best not to give in to his painful memory.

Copper then looked over at the Wolfhound next to him. His facial expression was unusual. No anger, no disappointment, and no happiness. The only thing any soul would have seen was a hound, whose face showed pure remorse for his past actions. His actions were not by any chance good, and yet if not for the cold actions, he would've realized that this friendship was one as sacred as the master's shotgun. Something which should never be messed with, converted or disturbed at all. This may have been against mother nature's will, but her kind nature seemed to cradle the pair until now. Now father time was the only one left who could help soothe the wounds.

Chief woke up, slowly raising his head to look over at his adopted son. The short sleep seemed to have allowed them both some time to realize that life was never going to be the same again. Copper soon stood up to walk over to his adopted father, unable to hide the fact hat he was in emotional pain. The Wolfhound knew that this was a difficult time for the younger Bloodhound, and instead of chasing him off, allowed him to squeeze into the barrel barely big enough for one of the large dog's. Copper began sobbing into Chiefs fur. His night was horrible, and now, he finally had someone who he could warm up to, show his emotions to and share his pain with.

(Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter came out a lot shorter than normal, but I decided to just inch it forward, piece by piece. So, please Follow/Favorite and review. Until next time.)