The afternoon sun shone through the trees, illuminating a small grassy clearing. A light breeze brushed through the plants, gently bending the grass blades and tossing a few leaves through the air. Birds quickly darted among branches, insects hummed in the warm heat; it was a beautiful afternoon.

At the edge of the clearing, a young fox sat at the base of a tree, quietly watching the surrounding forest. He had been there for a few hours, half-sleeping, half-napping, and slowly curled the long, bushy tail on his lap, smiling as a few butterflies fluttered past.

The fox gave a small, quick yawn and stretched his thin, graceful body before looking back into the lush green clearing. Another pair of birds soared overhead, filling the air with song, and he gently leaned back against the tree, perfectly content to remain for the few, fleeting hours before dark.

A second, quick breeze rushed through the grass and ran to the other side of the clearing near a peacefully sleeping cougar. She laid spread out on a long, angled rock where the glowing sunlight could warm her soft fur and tired body, and turned on her side, beginning to stir. The oncoming wind was filled with the young fox’s tempting scent, and after a few more seconds, she opened her eyes; there was a fox to find.

The young cougar shifted and arched her back, letting out a short yawn before soundlessly leaping onto the ground below. She kept her body hidden beneath the tall grass as she prowled towards the fox, barely noticeable aside from the few shifting plants, and paused for a second to get another fix on his scent.

Her head briefly poked up out of the grass, and she paused for a moment, startled to see that the fox was only a few meters away. She quickly pulled herself back down to the ground, trying to recompose herself, and then kept moving on.

The fox moved away from the base of the tree and towards the center of the clearing, eagerly watching the handful of butterflies a few feet away. He extended a black-furred finger, bracing himself with his other arm, and grinned the second a butterfly landed on it. A laugh burst from his excited face, and he shifted his paw to let the butterfly soar away, completely unaware of the animal nearby.

The cougar was only a few feet away now, and her eyes peered through the grass, watching his every move. The fox’s male scent was very strong now. She took a short, deep breath of the delicious aroma, and unconsciously, her tail began to rise.

“No, no!” she whispered the second she noticed. She started to grasp at it, but when she finally reached the tail, lost her balance and tumbled onto the ground in a clumsy, noisy heap.

The fox turned right, attention immediately shifting in response to the sudden noise. He quickly untucked his tail and stood on his paws, ears flattened and eyes darting around the meadow.

“Hello?” he called out in a quick, stammering voice, “Who’s there?”

The cougar lay a few meters away, still hidden beneath the long grass. She kept watching the fox, and readied for a move as he started to slowly shift away.

He was terrified now, and kept taking quick, panicked steps, heart ready to burst. Whatever it was, it sounded large… dangerous… terrifying. It was surely here to kill him, and as he took a few quick sniffs he started to slowly turn, preparing to burst into a full sprint.

Suddenly, a thin tan tail popped out of the grass. The fox froze, panic finally gripping him, and started scraping several claws against a nearby tree, barely able to think as the cougar finally rose up to her paws.

“Oh… umm,” she giggled a little, looking at the fox as he stared back, “Hi.”

“God. Oh god,” the fox started to clumsily backpedal, face showing nothing but his consuming terror as he began to mutter under his breath.

The cougar watched confusedly as the fox muttered incoherently, and then, took a step forward.

“Stay back!” the fox murmured as he noticed her approach, “Good lord, just stay back.”

She looked at him curiously, and then took another quick, graceful step.

“You… you don’t think…”

“What?” The fox kept retreating as he stumbled over a few branches, gaze shifting between her and his escape.

“You don’t think…” the cougar continued voice filling with gravity, “That I’m one of THOSE cougars, did you?”

“Wh- what kind?” he quickly replied in the same panicked voice, nearly tripping over another branch.

“Oh, you know the kind,” she paused for a second and brushed a patch of grass with her paw, “The kind that would love to… eat you.”

The fox quickly looked back and sped up his pace before turning around to the cougar.

“Oh. That kind.” he said in an unsettled tone, continuing to take faster and faster steps before repeating himself, “That kind.”

The cougar rolled her eyes and flatly replied, “Really? You too? C’mon… that kind of cougar is nearly extinct.”

The fox looked at her, “Oh no, no, no. I didn’t think…” he paused before slowly mumbling, “I didn’t think you were that kind of…”

She stared at him for a few seconds, head slightly tilted, and then took a few quick steps towards the fox.

“It’s just… just” the fox tried to speak but froze as she approached.

The cougar was right next to him now, and began to slowly look over the fox. Despite being scrawny and a little unkempt, he was actually, dare say it, a little cute, and as she stepped closer, his scent was nearly irresistable. She paused for a second, taking in the fox’s terrified face, and then subtly pinned him to a tree.

“How about we introduce ourselves before we start scaring each other, hmm?” her breath was warm upon his fur, “My name’s Skitch.”

The fox stared up into her eyes and trembled under her body, “Umm… I don’t… think…”

“Introductions won’t be necessary,” he suddenly spoke up but barely managed to finish, “Just let me go, and I’ll… I’ll be on my way. You’ll never see me again, and we’re… we’re both happy, right?”

She paused for a second, almost as if thinking it over.

“Win, win?” the fox weakly smiled.

“I wouldn’t be happy,” Skitch sighed, “I like my little foxy.”

She put her paw on his chin and slowly stroked the fox’s fur, “After all, you’re kinda cute…”

His jaw dropped in response to her movements, and he quickly turned his head away, starting to struggle.

Skitch relaxed her pressure and kept stroking him, “Such a cute little foxy,” she repeated.

“Erm…” the fox started again, “Could I… umm… could I go now?” there was a slight pause as he randomly pointed a finger, “That way would be nice.”

“No,” Skitch paused, “I asked you your name… Now why don’t you tell me?”

The fox raised his ears, “Oh, you did? Forgive me, must not have heard. I’m… I’m Rip.”

“Huh,” Skitch suddenly leaned on him, “Hi Rip.”

“Terrible name, I know,” Rip started to nervously talk again as he slowly shifted to the left, “I’ve been dragging the thing around for years. Very-“

The cougar sharply squeezed his wrist, quickly silencing Rip.

“Owowowowow,” Rip sharply whined, “Ow.”

“Can… can you just let me go now? Please. I don’t want this."

Rip started to scratch at Skitch’s paw.

“Why would you want to go? I was looking forward to some company,” she leaned back and released the fox.

Rip suddenly stared into her eyes, “Could I go, Skitch? This just… whatever you want to do… I don’t want to be a part of it.”

“Aww, c’mon!” Skitch took a step back and eagerly watched Rip. The fox nervously looked around for a second, eyeing the cougar several times, and then suddenly spoke.

‘Umm… goodbye, Skitch.”

Rip started walking in a random direction, giving a slow little wave as he turned away. He waited a few seconds, half-expecting Skitch to come up and stop him, but she didn’t. He slowly picked up his pace, not daring to look over his-

TWHAP

Skitch suddenly pounced on Rip, abruptly ending his short escape. The fox yelped as he hit the ground, cringing in response to the sudden pain and sharp sensation, and stared blankly ahead, fear and shock rapidly returning.

The cougar leaned in on top of his body and moved her mouth to his ear, “Aww, Rip! I just want to play and have a little fun!”

Rip loudly groaned.

She quickly brushed her face against his, “Why are you running?”

The fox sighed as slight annoyance slowly mixing with fear, “Why do you think?” he muttered sarcastically.

Skitch gracefully shifted onto her back and started pawing at Rip’s tail, “C’mon… I just want some fun…”

His tail shifted a few inches and then flattened to the ground.

“Fun?”

“Yeah.”

“With a… fox?”

“Yup! With you!”

Rip paused for a second before lifting his tail again, letting Skitch play with it again “What… kind of fun?”

“Hmm, how about a game?”

“What, umm, kind of game?”

Skitch rolled over and kept brushing his tail, “I’ll tell you the rules. I let you go, and then you run to the other side of the clearing…”

“Okay…”

“I’ll let you run, but if you don’t go to the clearing and instead try to escape…”

Skitch paused before snarling into Rip’s ear, “I’ll hand you over to one of *those* cougars.”

“Oh… oh my…” Rip stumbled a little as the fear returned, “You’re not…”

“Yup. I will, Rip.” Skitch quickly licked his tail, causing him to give a quick yelp, “I wouldn’t want my little fox to leave me, would I?”

“Good lord,” Rip started to squirm a little, “Skitch…”

The cougar ignored him and kept licking his tail, “You play my game, let me have me fun, and you can decide if you wanna be my, you know.”

“Umm… I’m afraid I *don’t* know Skitch.” Rip paused and let Skitch keep licking, “What exactly do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, Rip. I love my foxy…” she paused and brushed her face against his tail, “If you wanted… we could stay together. Forever.”

Rip froze for a second, barely able to believe what he was hearing, “You... you can’t be serious…”

“Of course I’m serious.”

“Fox. I’m a fox, remember?”

Skitch purred and snuggled Rip, “I don’t care, remember?”

Rip opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off.

“Can we play my game now?” Skitch quickly asked, “Remember… you’ll have to stay in my clearing.”

“Where is that?”

“Where I saw you! Silly fox!” Skitch started to giggle.

“Oh…” Rip murmured under his breath, “Of course, you idiot.”

Skitch leaned back on Rip, finally releasing his tail, “So whaddya say? You wanna play?”

The fox quickly moved his tail back to the ground and paused before replying, “Do I have to?”

“Pretty much,” Skitch burst into a grin.

“You sure?”

“Yup!”

“Can’t you just let me go?”

Skitch smiled and hugged the face-down fox, “Nope, I already caught my pretty little foxy!”

Rip remained silent, thoughts racing as he tried to think of a way out…

“Oh, Rip, don’t you worry!” Skitch instantly shattered his train of thought, “It’s just a game!”

“Right... just… a game.” Rip felt his heart start to race again, “How silly of me.”

Skitch kept hugging Rip, slowly grasping his fur from underneath, and purred, “So... let's play!”