Apollo walked through the dense forest terrain that made up his home, where the luxurious undergrowth made up for the lack of cover from the tall trees, and where a fox like himself could just blend in with the landscape. He was feeling both incredibly cheerful and more than a little guilty.It had been some time since the day Evoe had first fallen out of the tree she'd been climbing and landed on top of him, and the two had been steadily getting closer. Apollo didn't think he'd ever been happier in his life than when he was hanging out with the thrill-seeking vixen and the thought of never seeing her again was actually painful.
But when the fun had stopped and he was alone with his thoughts, doubt plagued him. How was he being fair, or either his tribe, his family, or Evoe? He still hadn't told anyone about her, and the longer they waited the worse the blow-up would be when they were discovered. When, not if, because Apollo was sure they'd be found out eventually. And Evoe... She loved to travel, loved to see the world and do things. She'd probably been living here longer than she had been anywhere else since her parents had died. He knew there was almost a zero percent chance of her ever joining a tribe, so how was it fair to her that he kept stringing this whole thing out in a selfish desire to keep seeing her? She'd leave one day, because that was just who she was, and because he hadn't been able to chase her away before anything developed between them he was now exposing her to hurt and pain.
Apollo sighed gustily and tried to shove the heavy thoughts to the back of his head. It really didn't seem like there was an option that left everyone feeling happy. Really, it was all coming down to what he wanted. What did he want, what did Evoe want. More importantly, what where they both willing to do to get what they want. It was so hard to bring it up and have a serious talk, not when there was nothing but difficult choices to discuss and so many more pleasant distractions offered by the forest.
Once he got closer to the general area he and Evoe would meet up in, Apollo began to whistle the special tune he and she made up so she'd know it was him. If Evoe was around and in the mood for company, she'd know he was here and where he was.
Lucky for Apollo, Evoe was desperate for company.