"Stoat! Where are you Stoat?" The red fox cub, Russet, was calling for his mustelid friend. He padded through the woodlands, searching under leaves and in hollow tree trunks and the likes.
"Urgh. He can make himself elusive when he wants to" The fox cub groaned and sat down in frustration. "Why does he do that?... All the time"
"I wonder why... Why am I so elusive?... Let's think, I wonder if it's due to the fact that hunters often stalk the area. I would prefer to be elusive then rather than stand out" The soft, sarcastic voice of Stoat assailed Russet's keen ears.
The fox turned round delightedly and yapped aloud upon seeing his friend. "Ha ha! There you are! I was looking for you Stoat!"
The mustelid sat up and narrowed his black eyes "You were? I could never have guessed" He was referring to the loud calling that Russet had done during the process of trying to find him. 
"Oh come on. You always were a sarcastic thing weren't you? I swear you were born sarcastic" Russet pawed at his slight friend.
Stoat twitched his whiskers "Well, creatures do often claim that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and yet its better than having no wit at all. Like some foxes I know" He gazed sideways at the red fox cub.
Russet stuck out his tongue. "I've got wit. I'm a cunning fox!"
"You've got the fox part right which is surprising but I've only ever seen you trip spectacularly on a molehill. I would call that extremely cunning... the most cunning feat a fox has ever performed" The intelligent Stoat replied with calm amusement.
Russet begun to pout and whine. "I'm clever! I am. I am!" he insisted firmly.
The stoat leapt onto a tree branch. "I never said you weren't. Anyway... when someone calls another creature it often means that they want to talk or discuss some important matter. You were calling in a voice as loud as a Jay's chatter so what did you want?"
Russet stopped pouting and looked up excitedly. "Your older than me! Could you escort me to the meadow? I've been wanting to go there for ages and ages!"
The stoat looked back, his eyes dark as he immediately replied in a dismissive tone. "Oh no no. It's far too dangerous there. The tall grass shrouds the appearance of man and there's hardly any trees, no proper cover and it's only a matter of time before man's dogs track you down by scent" He shuddered at the thought. "It's absolutely horrendous"
Russet looked impudent "But I'm a cunning fox and your an elusive stoat. If man comes we can escape! It's no fun sitting in these boring old woods"
The stoat replied in a voice laden with sarcasm "Yes... and I suppose it would be fun to get shot by the hunters or ripped apart by the dogs? Learn some common sense"
Without a word, the hotheaded and impulsive Russet tore away through the trees towards the meadow, leaving the horrified mustelid behind. He looked over his shoulder and called back "Can't catch me!"
Trembling with abject frustration, the stoat gritted his teeth and hissed "Fool!" before racing after his friend with wings on his feet.
The fox cub had stopped by the meadow and was gazing at the tall, waving grass. A breeze blew and ruffled his fiery fur. He felt cunning, intelligent and brave. His blood was roused: he had to do something daring.
A sharp pain hit his tail and he turned his head round, fearing that he had been bitten by an adder or the like. He was far from seeing an adder however. Instead, his friend, Stoat, had fastened his teeth into the foxes tail and was looking at him with blazing eyes that clearly portrayed the absolute refusal to let go.
Furious, Russet snarled at Stoat, threatening him with a nasty nip. The stoat was adamant and held on tighter, his teeth closing in.
"Ts fr too dngrs" Stoat tried to say through a mouthful of Russet's fur.
"I can't understand a word you are saying. Have you lost the ability to speak?" Russet asked in mock concern as he gazed down at the stoat, flicking his tail from side to side and watching the small mustelid striving to keep him back from entering the desolate meadow.
The Stoat let go with his teeth but held on still with his claws, his eyes narrowed from Russet's jibe. "If you venture into the meadow and get seen by man or hunter, honestly, you'll not only lose the ability to talk but you'll also find yourself losing the ability to live along with it"
"Your only scared. I'm brave and I'm going to go into the meadow! Then I can tell all the others how brave and daring I've been" Russet was too confident to listen to his friend. "You can't stop me and if you bite my tail again, I will bite you" By the snarl he gave, he conveyed the portrayal that it was likely he would carry out his threat.
Stoat arched his back, his fur bristling. "You'll be a lot braver if you change your mind and come back into the woods. You'll also be a lot more cunning and intelligent if you do so as all mature foxes understand and can conceive the dangers of being alone in the meadow whereas you can't seem to understand that form of wisdom"
"I will show that I'm brave by being the first fox cub to enter the meadows. And I will use my cunning and cleverness to escape man and his dogs. Just you see! I'm the most daring fox of them all!" Russet leapt about excitedly.
"You'll be the most dead fox if you don't heed me advice" informed Stoat, his ears flattening.
The fox stuck out his lip with perfect ignorance. "No I won't be! I will escape death!"
The stoat had had enough. "Oh stop messing about. Once man is onto you there is no way to escape death. If you must have an example, look at your mother. She was killed by man. She wouldn't want you to make the same mistake and die the same death would she?"
Russet's eyes went sad momentarily and his tail lowered. "She wouldn't" he replied quietly. The stoat nodded, pleased that the cub had finally found his senses and was being sensible. "Exactly. Now come along back to the woods. Here, all eyes gaze on us"
But Russet had more to say. "She may have died! But I shall make her proud. I shall show her that I can go into the meadows and come out alive!"
The stoat was absolutely flabbergasted: his eyes widened and his mouth opened into a perfect comical 'o' of outrage and shock.
The disobedient fox cub bounded into the meadow, his sunset pelt visible for seconds against the peridot grass before vanishing altogether.
The stoat just had time to mutter "The mad and impulsive fool!" before racing after his friend.
Suddenly there was a noise: a dreaded sound. The sound of a shrill trumpet broke the still air and both the animals froze from instinctive fear. Then, from far way came the dreadful dirge of braying, slavering hounds growing louder and more ominous with every heartbeat.
Stoat swallowed his terror and looked up at his friend. "Russet" he whispered urgently. "We must make for the cover of the woods. The hunters will track us easily in this forsaken meadow"
The fox cub didn't hear him: he was frozen with abject terror and stared at the black shapes that were gradually growing larger and larger until they resembled dogs. The fox begun to quiver and whimper in desperation.
Stoat, driven to sheer panic, struggled to keep his calm. "We must go now before it's too late. Run! Run!"
A sharp nip to the tail from Stoat awoke Russet from his horrified dreams and without a second glance, the fox turned tail and fled towards the direction of the woods.
"Quick!" Cried Stoat as they entered the confines of the trees. "Make for that patch of garlic and roll in it"
"What ever for? We will stink!" Panted the slow witted Russet, lagging behind.
"Fool. That's the whole point... the hounds will lose our scent due to the garlic. Stop arguing and do as I say!" Stoat's voice was that of high authority and Russet could do no more but listen to his friend's admirable idea.
Both wild animals reached the wild garlic and literally plunged into it, rolling around and masking their scent effectively. Soon their original scent was indistinguishable and Stoat sat up, rubbing his ears.
"That's enough or we'll end up smelling like this forever. Come on! We need to find some place to hide" he advised and ran off, Russet following close behind.
Soon they came upon a fallen tree trunk and it was hollow. The two animals rushed inside and stayed perfectly still, listening for the noise of the hounds and hunters.
Russet let out a terrified whimper.
"Oh shut up" hissed Stoat scornfully. "Do you want us to be found?" The fox managed to retort in a quavery voice "Your not setting a very good example"
The stoat rolled his eyes and nudged the fox "Do shut up"
Just then the braying of the hounds grew louder and the earth begun to shake with the thunderous vibrations of the horses hooves.
The stoat and fox crouched still, hearts beating fast with terror as the earth shook beneath their quivering paws. Stoat had become frozen with fear whilst Russet was trying hard not to yelp out as the deafening din pounded in his ears.
As swiftly as it had started the noises faded until the braying and pounding was a mere echo. The vibrations died down altogether. Russet hastened towards the exit but Stoat intervened, saying "We must wait awhile. Even a fool would know that they had to wait until the danger had passed fully"
The fox responded indignantly "The danger has passed. I can't hear them anymore"
The stoat was not appeased and sneered "Your senses aren't to be trusted then. As I always say, better safe than sorry"
"Some creatures were born wise" Russet said resignedly.
Stoat nodded and smiled, pleased that the fox was listening to his advice.
Then Russet added cheekily "But you weren't". He dashed into the open.
Stoat looked incredulous at Russet's stupidity but only raised his eyes skywards and muttered "It's his own foolish fault if anything unfortunate happens to him"
As soon as the words parted from him, there was a loud snarling outside and a Yelp of obvious distress followed by growling and snapping jaws.
"Oh no!" The stoat exclaimed and rushed outside of the log, prepared to meet the very worst.