Overdue Explanation

[February 5-Open to Dixie, Copper, and Granny Rose]

Granny Rose didn't let up on her grip on Dixie's ear as she marched the younger female through the pouring rain at a brisk pace, intentionally holding her head low so Dixie would be forced to do the same, the sound of plodding footsteps behind them signalling that Copper was following behind them. The elderly canine couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so furious. She'd never liked being lied to and, even if she hadn't told any straight lies, it seemed Dixie had been holding some things back from her. Things that would cause her to rick getting splattered by a train to save somebody she could have no conceivable reason to stick her neck out for, in front of Zira no less, and risk getting herself punished for trying to help a prisoner.

Then, to top all of that off, she learned Copper had also joined in the war, under the same psycho lioness, and Dixie hadn't seen fit to tell her that, either. Last time she'd seen the young hound, he'd been knee-high to a grasshopper, and now he was covered in scars. And awfully concerned for Dixie's safety. More-so than she'd have suspected. Seemed there was a good deal more Dixie hadn't been up front about. Well, that was about to end.

Once they were well away from the rest of the army, she released her hold on Dixie's ear, then whirled about to fix her with a fierce scowl. "Alright, you wanna explain why you would be boneheaded enough to rick enraging a psycho lioness who could chew you in half without trying just to save somebody who's brought you so much trouble? Just what'd you mean when you said she'd saved one of yer pups? Way I understood, she were a prisoner. Somethin' ain't makin' a whole lotta sense," she growled,  staring Dixie straight in the eye as she fired off her questions, demanding answers.

Then, abruptly, she turned her gaze towards Copper, eying him like he was the pup she'd last seen him as and she'd just caught him misbehaving. "And how in the blue blazes did you get yourself caught up in this mess? Ain't nobody I know got a lick a sense? Bad enough you done fell in with a psycho who's mean as a hornet, but you done got yerself all chewed up. And fer what?" she spat. She continued to glower at him, then turned her hard glare back towards Dixie.

"Well, which one of you wants to explain first?"

Copper flicked his ear slightly as if swatting away an annoying bug as he followed behind the two females. He’d been surprised to see Granny Rose among the gathered troops of Zira’s army crouching alongside the railroad tracks. The last time he’d seen the old dog had been when he was just a pup back home during the county fair. Needless to say the elderly female hadn’t changed much over that time, still the same snarky old witty gal she’d always been. It brought an odd sense of nostalgia to Copper; letting him think back to how things had been before the war. Yet, at the same time, it caused a wave of guilt to wash over him as it also brought back memories of Tod, and of when the two of them had been friends...

Copper gave an audible snort. That was done and over with. Tod was dead, by his own fangs, and there was nothing he could do about it now. Besides, that fox had gotten what he deserved. And there was nothing that could convince Copper otherwise. The heavy rain that poured overhead didn’t do anything to dampen the hound’s foul mood. First a lost lunch, and then Dixie nearly getting herself killed, and now his guilt over Tod’s death had resurfaced. What else could go wrong?

A lot, apparently.

The glare Copper sent Granny’s way as she barked at both Dixie and himself could have burned a hole through steel. Though, it seemed, Granny’s skull was a mite thicker than steel. What right did she have to criticize them? She didn’t know half of what they’d been through. At least she didn’t know half of what he’d been through. As she turned her glare back toward him, he just snorted in response.

“Let’s just say I have my reasons, n’ leave it at that.”

With that, he turned his gaze over toward Dixie with an expectant look. If she wanted to tell more on how he’d ended up in the war he wouldn’t stop her, but he wouldn’t be too happy about it either. Still, he’d said all he was going to on the matter, now it was her turn.