Epicness in a Tree

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With blurry eyes and wobbling legs, Kiri dragged herself into a low-hanging bough of the tree she had been sleeping near. Her throat and eyes burned and the air held an acrid scent. She wasn't quite sure why but she was sure it wasn't safe to stay on the ground. Closing her eyes, she briefly registered the sound of something rustling in the bushes before she dozed off.

"Uh...P-please mrs wolf..." she began quietly as she attempted to scramble back up onto her feet.
"P-please could you let us share your catch. We'll make it up to you.... S-somehow"

Dusty immediately regretted her innocent words as she thought, how can I help a grown wolf? I cant even hunt for myself.. And I wouldn't be useful any other way.
Dusty wasn't sure of what Kiri was capable of, so left her abilities out of the equation for now.

The wolf looked down on the two pups. They were adorable and pitiful and their words broke her heart. "Now, how could you make it up to me?" she inquired, eyebrow raised.

Kiri slithered to her feet. "w..Well..We could...act as bait..for your food?" she tilted her head to the side in question. She shot Dusty a look that said 'got any other ideas?' as she didn't really fancy the possibility of becoming a meal.

"Uhh..."
Dusty seemed to freeze all of a sudden, as if scared that her lack of ideas would cause the wolf to attack her. The grey fox's ears were still pinned to her head, despite the now seemingly friendly attitude of the older creature.

"W-well.... I've caught a fish before..." she muttered quietly. The statement was true, though she had only caught the fish by accident as she had been playing in the river and it has swam through her paws.

"A Fish eh? Hmm" the old wolf began to think quietly to herself. The eerie silence made Kiri's spine tingle but she continued with the occasional whimper and whine. "Very Well. Have a bite or two" she said grudgingly.

Kiri's eyes lit up. "Oh! Thank you so much" She cooed in her sweetest voice, eyes round in 'adoration.' Toddling up to the kill, she took a huge bite, a foxlike 'purr' coming from her throat.

Dusty just stayed silent as the wolf contemplated. As the wolf finally yielded, she smiled shyly. She hadn't expected her just to let them have some of her food like that, but she was grateful. She crept over to the kill and took a fairly small bite, not wanting to annoy the wolf by taking too much.

"Thankyou," she smiled quietly as she took a second small bite, which added up to make the total of what she had taken to be just slightly less than what Kiri had eaten in her 'huge' bite.

Kiri ate her fill, licking her lips as she finished. "Thank you very much" she said sweetly.

"Now, it's time for you to pay me back" the wolf reminded the pups.

"Aaah...How many fish would you like?" the gray fox tilted her head to the side.

"The same weight as that rabbit once was" the wolf said decisively.

Kiri nodded. "Alright Dusty. Heres the plan" she trotted up to her companion and whispered in her ear. "We'll catch one or two fish and then hightail it outta there before she gets any ideas, got it?"

Dusty nodded to the wolf and was about to happily trot off to find a river when Kiri padded up to her and whispered in her ear.
"But isn't that a bit unfair since she was kind enough to give us some of her kill in the first place?" she whispered back. Obviously Kiri was the more rebellious of the two cubs, whereas Dusty was a lot more submissive.

"I don'y trust that wolf a mite. They're vicious creatures y'know! A pair of young pups with their backs turned make a mighty easy meal. We're all fattened up too on that rabbit!" Kiri protested, finding it slightly difficult to keep her voice down.

The wolf had been sitting by a stream for quite a bit. She was beginning to wonder what was taking the two so long.

Dusty just sighed. "I don't think she's bad. But come on. She'll obviously get suspicious otherwise..."

The young grey fox hopped out of the clearing, following her nose towards the stream. She tripped over a loose tree root as she wasn't watching were she was going but quickly got back to her feet and reached the stream.

After checking that Dusty was okay, Kiri trotted towards the stream. She lapped up a few drops of the cold clear water and then sat down. "Okay Dusty. How do we do this?" she muttered, turning to the gray fox.

Dusty smiled wading into the stream and stopping where it was slightly deeper.
"It takes a while, but the fish will come back if you stay still enough."

She kept her eyes on the water, determined to properly catch a fish this time.

Kiri nodded and did as Dusty did, padding into the river further down and pausing in a deeper area. She stood patiently, noticing that the shadows of the fish weren't moving about as excitedly as they had been when the water was stirred.

After what seemed like an eternitg of waiting, a fish big enough to count for a meal swam between Dusty's paws. She pounced, grabbing the slippery water-dwelling creature in her tiny sharp teeth.
Shethen leaped out of the water and back onto the shore to avoid the risk of dropping the fish back in the water.

A dark shadow slithered between Kiri's tiny paws. With a startled leap, she was upon the fish. Dunking her head underwater, she grasped the fish with her tiny teeth. Certainly she could've done this in a better fashion, but by now she had already stuck her muzzle beneath the ripples so there was no going back. Bringing the fish up with her, Kiri struggled onto the banks. She bit down hard, hoping she had killed it

"Nice catch!" Grinned Dusty as she did the same with her own fish.
Dusty's shyness seemed to be almost completely forgotten as she began to get used to Kiri being around.

Kiri breathed a bit heavily as she woofed "Thanks, you too!" Turning to the wolf, she gave her a questioning gaze.

The Wolf shrugged. "I said you had to catch enough fish to make up for the rabbit. So, if it weighs as much as a rabbit you're fine"

Dusty checked the size of Kiri's fish against her own. With her expertly calculated observations, she judged that these two fish would most likely be enough to weigh equal to the average rabbit. They had been lucky today as there were plenty of fairly appetizing fish to choose from in the first place.
"These should be enough ma'am." she replied quietly after making her judgement.

After checking over the silver-scaled fish, the Wolf nodded. "Very well. I wish you two the best of luck. Just know, not all creatures are as kind-hearted as I am. They won't all give up their prey so easily" she warned.

Kiri dipped her head "Thank you Miss." she nosed her fish towards the animal and turned towards some lush looking undergrowth. "Thank you very much" she beckoned to Dusty with her tail

"Thankyou."
Dusty smiled cheerfully to the wolf. She had begun to take a liking to her and it was a bit of a shame that they were having to leave so soon.
"So where do we go now?" she asked Kiri, bounding back over to the other grey fox.

"Aaah... Perhaps we should find a permanent place to sleep and stuff" Kiri said after a moment of thought. "Thats what my mom did first thing after we were born. I remember stumbling after her on wobbly paws, and being picked up by my neck fur too." she continued. "Then we found a new den to stay permanently. At least... until..." she cut off, shaking her head and continuing to walk forward.

"I don't remember much before that fire in the forest...." admitted Dusty quietly, "But a permanent place to stay would be ideal. We'd just have to make sure there was a place close by to get food and water."

The change in Dusty's confidence in speaking to Kiri now was astoundingly different to when they had first met. It was almost as if she had become a different fox after the encounter with the friendly wolf.

"You're right" Kiri nodded. "Funny thing is, i can remember back really far, but no matter how hard i try, i can't remember what happened the day of the fire. Only flames and crackling. Thats all i've got" she laughed lightly as if to try to counteract the depressing factor of what she had just said.

Dusty sighed, "Oh well... no use dwelling on the past now anyhow..."
She raised her head up and took a few sniffs of the crisp and clean air to see what was around. She could scent the stream they had just come from as water had its own distinct smell which made it easy to find if there was any close by.

"I've got an idea" Kiri spoke up. She pointed her nose in the direction of the stream. "Why don't we follow the stream to see if we can find something along it's banks that we could live in? This way, we're certain that there's fresh water" the gray fox explained. "Perhaps a large bush, a cleft in a big boulder, or a hollow beneath tree roots?" she started listing off dens she knew of, and places she figured would be okay to live in.

Dusty nodded, smiling.
"That's a great idea! At least then if worst comes to worst we can fish for food."
The grey fox turned and headed back towards the stream. Once she reached it again, she bent down and took a short drink before shaking her fur, ready to follow the stream until they found a suitable home.