A New Venture

[Tax]

Marble sat among the tangled bushes, her eyes closed, breathing in deep the scent of the foliage around her. She was truly at peace here, and happy to have somewhere nice to settle down. Though she was starting to consider joining a clan... if only for a short time, until her kits had grown.

A soft noise behind her; paws rustling the bushes and crushing grass. Marble's ears flicked and she turned to see who it was, her eyelids peeling back.

[[Grep]]

Adele was foraging in the blackberry bushes. If Adele had any flaw, it was a sweet-tooth, and black-berries were her particular vice. Jump, snap, jump, snap, the delicate branches were stripped of their fruit as the vixen made her way through them. Her paws and mouth were covered in the sticky, purple juice, as with her once pink tongue. She jumped up for another cluster, snapped it, and landed chewing the bubbles of sweetness. Prey was also plentiful in the bushes, especially at fall time when all critters scrambled to get fat for winter.

"What's this?" The smell of fox penetrated the strong smell of berry-juice. Fox... arctic fox! Red foxes and arctic foxes have a bit of a... rivalry. Well, actually, they hated eachother. Arctic foxes usually kill red fox kits, and red foxes usually kill the smaller arctic fox. Adele had heard once of one male red fox who invaded an island of arctic foxes... all were dead in a month. She sniffed deeper, following the scent. While she was not exactly hungry after all those berries one could never have enough stores, and arctic foxes make good eats. As she got closer, however, another smell came through, ah! This was an expecting mother... it would not be right to attack her. Adele may be gruff, but she rarely harms children or mothers (unless they offend her, of course).

[Tax]

A voice. It was soft, and so she didn't hear what was spoken, but she did hear a voice. Marble turned, stretching up to see a red fox. Sitting balanced on her hind legs, the white female blinked, then waved with one paw. She didn't know this fox, but that was no reason to be cool and ignore her. Marble was always willing to make new friends.

"Hello, there!" she greeted warmly. "I'm Marble. Who are you? I'm new to this land... and I'm looking to join a Clan. Are you a member of one?"

[Red]

Why was she running? Why was there even a need to sprint and lose precious energy not easily gained in the middle of autumn. The answer: there was none. The quirky, erratic fox had no rhyme or reason to be bounding at full speed up the ridge. The bare bushes scratched the foxes pelt, leaving tufts of red fur caught in the branches. Her pink tongue lolled out, catching the bitter breeze on its surface. Her paws thrummed on the dry grass below her, a trail of paw prints in her wake.

"Yahoooo!" the young fox yipped. At the peak of the hill, she charged full speed down the slope, her legs a blur of red, gray and white. Her lanky limbs were not totally under control, so halfway down, she lost her footing, tripping over her head. She was a ball of pure kinetic energy, for a moment, unstoppable. She tumbled, rolled, and pitched to the bottom, until she landed in a fuzzy heap. One could not tell where her head or tail began or ended. She was just a clump of fur and limbs.

With a loud groan, the young fox unrolled, her body aching. "Oh gosh, why did I do that?" she asked to no one in particular. But, in her hazy vision, she realized there was someone present, an arctic fox to be exact. In fact, a small, brownish, female arctic fox who smelled heavily of the cold, even though the bitter winter was yet to come. With large orange eyes, the gray fox chuckled, dazed. "Did you see me? Golly, almost felt like I was flying. You should try it sometime. Well, with out the falling part. But still, it was fun!"

Shakily getting up, the young fox said, "I'm Red. Pleased to meet you on this loooveellly autumn afternoon. Say, do you usually see double? Do I usually see double? I dunno. My head feels funny." Even though she was standing still, the vixen wobbled from side to side, trying to regain her balance.

[Tax]

Marble was extremely disappointed to see the vixen turn and stalk off, and for a moment her head drooped in obvious misery. She, unlike most foxes, hated being alone. She sighed, and half-turned, before a faint noise reached her ears and she paused. Then there was a blur crashing down the hill toward her, rolling head over heels in an unstoppable force of free-tumbling fox.

Marble leaped out of the way, surprised that she could managed such a maneuver, she edged back toward the limp form. "Hey, you. Are-" she started to ask, but before she could finish the young female was sitting up, looking a bit wobbly but nonetheless upright. Marble's black ears flicked in amusement. "I don't know, why did you do that?"

She laughed. "No thanks. It would do me more harm than good to do something like that. But if it was that much fun, you should do it again." She whisked her tail in greeting and smiled. "Hello, Red. Nice to meet you too! I'm Marble. Say, do you know of any Clans around here? I was hoping to find one to join..." Her head tipped to one side. "No, I never see double. If you are, you should lie down until it passes. You look like you're about to fall over as it is."

[Red]

Though foxes don't exactly have a concept of "getting drunk", but Red's state of mind was very close to it. After she asked if she was seeing double, she wobbled around, not heading the arctic fox's advice of laying down. Ha! Who had time to lie around when you could be rolling down a hill? Desperately, she tried to resist gravity, spinning out of control in her head. She almost made a complete circle around her new acquaintance attempting to stay upright. Since her attention span was short, and mostly focused on regaining her balance, she only caught snippets of the other fox's replies.

"Marble!" the young vixen repeated. "The rock? What about it?" An awkward pause. "Ooooh, that's your name. Right... Ehm. Anyways..." Finally, she was able to stand still without rocking, her claws gripping the dying grass for security. It took her a moment to remember and comprehend the rest.

"A clan..." she said, and then her eyes brightened as if remembering the meaning of the word. "Oh yeah, those folks. Honestly lady, do you think I smell like a clanner? I'm not cut out for hanging with other foxes for long periods of time." She shuddered a moment and then continued, "Agh, the social tension. I don't know why you want into that."

She then put a paw on Marbles shoulder. "But if that's what your looking for, I know who you'll want to go to. Well, here's the thing: from what I've heard, you've got two choices. There's the Delmares," the gray fox pointed over the hill, "and the Avantgarde," then moved her paw a bit to the right. "Both kind of hate each other, I'm not sure why, though. I don't know who lead 'em either. They're also kind of small; I've been on their land before, and hardly heard boo. You'll certainly have your work cut out for you if your gonna find 'em." But then, she took her paw off the arctic fox's shoulder, her eyes glazed with a curious (and pretty nosy) demeanor. "Why'dya want to be in a pack so bad? No offense, but their not as prestigious as, well... like a wolf pack."

[Tax]

Marble tipped her head to one side as she was completely ignored and the other fox continued to stagger around. It was a wonder she didn't topple over, somehow managing to remain on her paws. Marble sat, watched, and smiled. Silly kit. "Yes, Marble is my name."

So she wasn't part of a clan, but she knew of them. The white fox blinked as Red put a paw on her shoulder and listened as the fox mentioned two clans, both of which hated the other. Well, that was bad luck, but still. Marble rose and Red's paw slid off her shoulder. "I need a Clan to protect my kits when they're born." She smiled. "I'm not looking for prestigious. Just a clan to help me raise my kits when they're ready to be born. Thank you for your help, Red. Maybe we'll meet again sometime?"