'Michi.'

'Brutus.'

'What brings you here, old fox?'

'...I'm looking for Bo.'

'Bo?'

The black fox scowled up at the Greater Falcon, who was perched lazily in his tree. 'The hare, Brutus. I know you did something.'

'I have not seen any hare since Aris...dropped him off.'

Michi grunted: 'Truly?'

The falcon nodded and went back to preening his feathers. Sighing, the aging fox turned to walk away until a shrill voice called: 'I know! I know! I know where the hare is!'

Michi spun around as Brutus made a low growling sound, warning him not to come any closer. But he took a bold step forward and asked: 'Your chick?'

Brutus eyed him cautiously before reaching up and shoving his head into the far above nest. A little chick with light green hopped onto his head and quickly slid down his back. Brutus hadn't expected that and tried to catch her, but the chick was too quick and tumbled out of the tree and into Michi's waiting hands.

The Greater Falcon hissed at the Fox, but he only gently patted the chick's wings. 'I caught her, you dimwitted fool. Be still.'

Brutus stopped hissing but Michi noticed how he shuffled closer on his branch, tense.

He looked down at the chick and saw it was a she. 'Tell me, girl, where did you see him?'

'He...went that way!' She pointed to the right with her wing.

'No!' A slightly less shrill voice yelled and another dark green head popped out of the nest. 'He went that way!' The bird, this one was male, pointed to the right.

'Wrong!' The third and final voice called and a bird with even darker green feathers appeared. 'He went that way!' He pointed to a faraway place behind Michi.

The fox sighed: 'I see...'

The chick hopped around in his hands. 'He went to the right, right, right.'

The second chick started hopping, too. 'He went to the left, left, left.'

The third chick continued: 'He went behind, hind, hind.'

Brutus growled: 'Enough. Give me back my daughter, Fox.'

Michi was about to comply when he heard a familiar cry coming from the sky. 'Ah. It seems Aris has returned.'

The Greater Falcon sighed: 'Wonderful.'

'Good Fox,' the regal and refined voice of the female Greater Falcon came from above. She landed next to her mate with a graceful woosh and took a moment to check on her babies before bowing her head to Michi. 'What may I help you with?'

'I'm looking for the hare you dropped.'

She cocked her head to the side: 'Oh, I saw it a ways away, near the Eastern Border of the Plains.'

The boys up in the nest cackled and all three chicks started hopping erratically around: 'He went to the right, right, right. We tricked the fox, fox, fox. Ha! He went to the right, right, right. We tricked the...'

Michi ignored them and handed off the girl to her father. He picked up his staff and set off to the Eastern Border. He wasn't going to let Bo out for a month after this.