CHASE

Chapter 32

"Where exactly are you taking me? Your den?" Chase asked as she followed Rock through the quiet, winter woods. They were still trailing on the boundaries of the clan cats and not distancing themselves as much as Chase thought. Did the foxes and cats really live this close together in this forest?

"Yes, but also, not exactly," Rock stated. They came to a thick line of brush that seemed to separate SnowClan's borders from theirs. Rock ducked through a hole in one of the bushes, and Chase hesitantly followed behind.

As she passed through the dark, shaded bushes, she squinted as she came out into the light. There were less trees, here she realized, as her vision slowly returned. What she saw sprawled out in front of her made her jaw drop.

There were dens spread out across the clearing on both sides. Foxes wandering around and chatting with each other. Young foxes wrestled and nipped at their mother's ears as she sat out in the sun. It looked like a paradise made specifically for foxes.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Rock said as he noticed Chase's expression.

"This is..." She wasn't sure what to say. Incredible? Unbelievable? They were living just like clan cats, Chase realized. They weren't confined to small dens in random parts of the forest, but they all lived together, just as the cats did.

"I don't understand," Chase finally said at last. "Foxes aren't meant to live this way, or at least in my forest. We all have familial dens spread throughout the forest."

"We used to live like that too," Rock stated. "My parents lived that way, but as the humans closed in on the forest and the cats moved in, we became confined to this one area. Our territory is shrinking, so we made up for that by all living together. It's a lot friendlier this way and a lot less foxes go hungry. Less are killed or get sick when we work together."

"You...you live like clan cats," Chase stated.

"Huh?" Rock asked.

"Clan cats...they live like this too. They had some abandoned territory in my old name. We...I...explored it one day. They live sort of like this, all communal-like. I never thought I'd see foxes do the same. It makes me happy. We're not so different after all," she realized.

Rock glanced at her oddly. "We didn't take direct inspiration, if that's what you're thinking. Maybe we live similarly, but the cats didn't teach us anything. It just so happened that this was the best way for us to live. You have a strange fascination with cats, you know. Don't you think they're a bit of a hassle?"

Chase laughed and began wandering around, admiring the set-up of Rock's home. "I suppose they can be a hassle, but...I don't think they're all that way," she murmured quietly. 

Rock looked at her oddly for a second, but then he smiled, as if he almost admired this odd side of Chase. She supposed he had never met a fox quite like her before. Few foxes would ever dare have a soft side for their supposed enemies.

"We have many familial dens lined along here," Rock said, pointing his bushy tail toward the different directions of his home. "There aren't many kits around, obviously, since the mating season is approaching soon. There will be a lot more once it's spring, and then the males will leave for the annual hunt."

Chase paused. "The what?"

"The annual hunt," Rock said. "It's a tradition in this forest."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Chase stated. Copper had always been present in her and her siblings' lives since they were young. He had never gone away like Rock was proposing.

"It's not very traditional in the fox sense, just like our home," Rock explained. "The males go on a big hunt with each other in the spring around the time that the kits are being born. Some of the older females or the ones without mates hunt for the mothers, and the males then come back in the early summer. They usually bring some prey with them for the females to enjoy. It's a good way to keep our community bonded."