Jeremy barked out that this was a good idea and both him and Stacey took off with Dru toddling behind.
The night smelt great and after awhile Dru grew accustomed to her were-form. Some bit of knowledge from her previous life crept back into her head and she knew without a doubt that her parents were pure, while she would remain afflicted by the moon until she could master the transformation.
Stopping to sniff at a rabbit burrow that she could tell had been abandoned since last spring. Surprised that this information came so easily, she jumped a bit when her mother barked out, "Dru, honey, stay close. Make sure your within smelling distance of me and your father if you must wander off." Yipping happily, Dru rushed over to her mother and father.
But the moon and smells combined with the sounds of the night were just to hypnotizing to young Dru and before long, she found herself wandering away from mom and dad. Breathing the night air, she knew that her parents were no more than a mile to the west. Suddenly she heard a noise that just didn't sound right. As she was frozen, torn between wanting to run and hide and wanting to confront the unknown, she yipped in surprise as the creature came crashing through the bushes.
It was a human and it looked just as surprised as Dru felt. It was wearing a forest camouflage jacket and matching pants. In one hand it carried what Dru thought was a stick. As the creature brought the stick up, the vixen kit realized that it was not a stick, but a gun.
Piddling uncontrollability, Dru backpedaled and tried to flee into the woods, but heard an odd noise and felt something stinging into her waist.
Feeling drugged, she continued to struggle as the blackness over took her consciousness. The last thing she remembered as she blacked out, was trying to bark out to her parents. Anything to bring them here and save her.
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The game warden was tracking deer, bear and fox in the woods. He did not know that he had accidentally trespassed onto private property and thought he was still on game land. Stumbling through the brush, he was surprised when he came upon a kit alone. Feeling duty was duty, he raised the tranquilizer gun, making sure that the tranq wasn't to strong, he fired it off at the animal.
He was only slightly surprised when it made an odd noise. Reaching down, he carefully picked up the sleeping creature and turned and headed for his truck.
Once he had returned to his truck, he realized that he had left all the equipment for tagging back at his station. Huffing in agitation, he placed the kit in a cage and walked around the truck, got in and started his drive back.
A twenty minute drive found him back at the Ranger Station he was posted at. Checking the kit, he found that it was still asleep. Carrying in the cage, he took the animal out and began to run the normal examinations. After a bit, it woke up, but that was no problem as he gave it a sedative to calm it.
Half an hour, he concluded that it was a healthy vixen kit. Seeing the sedative was wearing off, he gave Dru another shot of a tranq, made sure that she was okay and then placed her in a cage.
Taking the cage out to his truck, he deposited it in the back. Leaving, he returned shortly with a case and put that next to the cage. Getting back into the truck, he looked at a map, tried to figure out where he had been, not realizing that it was upside down and then promptly drove fifteen miles in the wrong direction.
He was deep now in the wildlife preserve and thinking that this was were he had found the kit, though he was nowhere near to where he'd found Dru, he open the cage and withdrew her. Holding the vixen kit, he took an instrument and stapled to her ear a tag that also had a tracer inside. Next he sprayed something in the air that would attract both Reynards and Vixens. Hoping this would attract the parents, he hid his equipment and took a perch in the tree with his tranquilizer gun and binoculars to watch the unconscious form.