Morning dawned with Alexi curled up snugly around Fena, nuzzling her in his sleep as they snored together. Despite being camped out in the now-pillaged mining cave, he'd found the night passed with relative comfort, the ground below them soft from the excavated dirt and Fena's comfortable weight in his tails a soothing presence. He woke before her, and contented himself to let her sleep in while he gently licked and groomed her sleek fur. It was early still, after all, and he knew yesterday had been a big disappointment to her. With any luck, they'd be on the road quickly after she woke up, and the trip back would be quicker and smoother than the trip here had been. When Fena finally started to stir, he was quick to lick her cheek affectionately, nuzzling into her neck fluff to help coax her awake to her grumbled protest.
"Not often that I'm up before you," he teased gently. Fena responded by bapping his muzzle gently with one paw, playfully pushing his mouth shut as she gave a cute little yawn.
"And thank goodness for that. You're a terrible morning Pokemon," she teased as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, licking his cheek in return. Pushing her forepaws out in front of her, she arched her back down into a low stretch, purposely raising her fluffy tail to tease Alexi a bit before getting to her feet once more. Alexi certainly took notice, the soft scent of her repeatedly interrupted desires from the day before getting a rise out of him even without the peek at her soft folds. But before he could think to act on it, there was a shout at the mouth of the cave that had them both groaning with irritation.
Alexi got up with a huff as he moved to see what exactly was going on while Fena woke herself up more fully, perhaps stomping a bit as he made his way out of the cave. At first, he didn't see anything at all waiting for him at the entrance to the cavern, the brambles that barred the way seeming to be undisturbed at first glance. But on second look, he could see a Poochyena tangled up in the spiky vines, yelping and giving away whatever sneak attack they thought they were going to get on them.
"So... I'm gonna ignore that you somehow managed to track our scent but somehow couldn't figure out the whole 'trail of brambles' thing, and I'm going to make you an offer. I will get you out of that tangle, and then you will leave before me and my mate have to take out our irritation on your slow-to-learn pack." The flames that licked around Alexi's fangs helped to drive his point home that whatever stupid revenge plan the Mightyena from yesterday had gotten his pack into was absolutely not worth it. He snapped his fangs through the brambles, burning them away and searing the captured Poochyena in the process. Watching them run off with their little ambush part was all the more satisfying, making him chuckle and shake his head as he moved to check on Fena once more.
"Was that really...?" Alexi nodded and Fena groaned. "I swear, it's literally every little thing... You would think they wouldn't be so bold after the number we did on them, but I guess they didn't get to be such a nuisance by knowing when to go away." Grumbling, the toxic Eevee made sure that the evolution stone shards were still safe in Alexi's pack before climbing up on his shoulders as well, laying herself on his head as he made his way back through the scorched brambles towards the path.
"Well, since we have the time now, why don't we stop and snag some of those berries you were telling me about? They should be close by, right?" Fena perked up at that, remembering their intended plan from the day before and looking around where they were standing, her paws pushing into Alex's head as she stood up higher for a better look. He waited patiently for her to survey their surroundings, seemingly looking for some particular mark on the trail before tugging his ears to the right so he'd look at what she was seeing. Among the brambles tangled around the trees, there was an easy-to-miss vine that seemed to change colors depending on the angle one looked at it. The vine itself was wrapped tightly around the base of one tree, but snaked off into the spiky underbrush beyond in a tempting sort of way. Alexi made his way over, sniffing at the vine to confirm and found himself momentarily light-headed for his troubles. Definitely the berry plant they were looking for, but where did it go to?
Alexi was very careful now in pushing his way into the brambles, paws warm with his own inner heat to help wilt them out of the way so he could see any more dangerous plants that might be in their way. The vine that he followed snaked along the ground and around several other of the thin trees that made up the forest, seeming to coil a bit thicker with each step they took after it. Here, Fena had been absolutely essential to guiding him, her knowledge of the berry and what she'd read about it in the library at home both helping guide him towards the fruiting body and away from where it's toxic thorns would snag unwitting predators. It took them nearly twenty minutes with the careful way that Alexi had to step among the brambles and plants, but they soon happened upon a small clearing where the vines seemed to have overgrown from. Standing tall where the trees seemed unwilling to dare grow, there was a patch of what Alexi counted to be ten such berry bushes, unkempt in their isolation and heavy with their toxic fruits, the ground around them heavily overgrown with time.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's what we're looking for, right?" He started to make his way towards the berry tree, only for Fena to bop him on the head and hop down herself. He cocked his head at her as she started bounding between the toxic thorns, looking back at him with an exasperated sigh.
"Just wait there, Tall Fox. I know you wanna see how this stuff feels, but I promise this isn't the place you wanna do that. I'll be back in just a second." Alexi stuck his tongue out at her playfully but otherwise heeded her warning. While he was confident that her abilities could heal him if he did step on something he shouldn't have, her smaller size and higher resistance made it much safer for her to go and try to snag the berries. While he waited, Alexi contented himself to scorch back a bit more of the brambles in their path to make sure they had an easier time making it out of the rather dangerous part of the woods they'd wandered into.
Fena's practice working in their home berry patch paid off splendidly with how quickly she was able to harvest the berries they'd come for, quickly filling her back with a good haul and making sure they had enough seeds to start a patch of their own back at home before darting nimbly back over to her partner. When she'd managed to land back in front of him once more, she was still carrying a small bite of the berry in her muzzle, smiling up at him with a mischievous glint in her eye as she leaned up for a kiss. Kissing Fena had of course always been quite the experience, her natural toxins more than enough to make Alexi light-headed even if he wasn't head-over-heels for the deltavee. But when their lips met this time and she pushed the piece of poison fruit into his mouth to swallow, it was as if he had left the world entirely.
The bite wasn't enough to really do anything long-lasting or strong to him, but the speed at which the toxins in the berry made their way from muzzle to bloodstream was dazzling enough as it was. Alexi could feel his heart slow down just a bit as a pleasant but painful heat seemed to run through his veins. As quickly as it began, it was over, relief from the sensation blossoming from their shared kiss before Fena pulled away with a teasing smirk.
"That's all you're getting until we get back, Tall Fox. Last thing we need is your cute butt drunk on the path, much as I'm dying to see if you like these as much as I hope you will." She scrambled up onto his shoulders quickly, leaning down over his head to smooch his cheek affectionately as he let his head clear before turning himself back towards the path once more.
"Well, the good news is that we should run into far fewer shenanigans coming than going," he said as they pushed back through the underbrush towards the main road home, working his way through with a bit more haste and a bit less care than when they'd come through. A few little cuts and scrapes weren't going to stop him, and he was anxious for Fena to see what he had planned for her as well. "I mean, with our luck so far, I don't expect that's actually going to be the case. But hope springs eternal, right?" The mention of their rather abysmal luck to date brought a low groan from the Eevee on his head, and seemed to redouble her commitment to keeping an eye out for danger or road blocks as they walked.
Driven on by their joint desire to hurry home and declare their mission complete, it felt as if the trip from the brambles back to the more lush parts of the forest took much less time than passing through had. Though of course, no sooner had they made it back to their previous lunch spot from the day before than they were accosted once more by the tribe of Emolga, this time before they'd even had a chance to stop and break out their lunch. Fena seemed fit to be tied by the interruption, and had to bite down on Alexi's ear to keep herself from saying the things that came to mind.
"Hello again, strange explorers!" The lightning squirrel that seemed to be leading the small group stepped to the front, looking up at the much taller fox and the second fox perched on his head. "We have heard that the Mightyena pack that was causing so many problems for us has finally been driven off, and our leader wanted to extend his warmest thanks for your aid in this matter. Not many would have cared to help our small tribe, and the service you have done for us will make sure that our forest will stay safe for many moons to come." The group behind him scrambled around for a moment, seeming to pull something from behind a nearby tree trunk to present to the pair. Alexi had been near to asking them if they needed help with whatever they'd brought along when they managed to pull out a large pack of berries bundled in a rather nice blue silk scarf.
"Wh-what is all this?" Fena asked, somewhat dumbfounded. "You didn't have to- I mean, are you sure? We did have to burn down a pretty sizable chunk to make those Mightyena leave..." The answer they got was a mixed bag of chatter before the leader of the group spoke up once more, making the others fall quiet so he could be heard.
"Our forest will be lush and plentiful for years to come now that those greedy beasts aren't ravaging our resources. Sharing some of the bounty is the least we could do, along with our apologies for harrying you yesterday. You two are welcome to visit anytime, and thank you again." With that, the group dispersed back into the forest, leaving two very stunned foxes in their wake along with the neatly tied berry pack. Neither of them spoke for a long moment as Alexi leaned down to pick up the unexpected gift, seeming to consider the whole affair for a long moment before slowly slinging the pack over his shoulder to join the rest of their gear.
"I guess sometimes it pays off to have a little diplomacy..." Alexi's comment was clearly still confused by the whole affair, though also grateful for the unexpected charity. "We'll have plenty for lunch when we stop, though I doubt you want to stop here."
"Absolutely not. We still have a ways to go before we can afford to take a lunch break - at least, if we want to get back home before the sun starts to set." Fena tapped on Alexi's shoulders impatiently as he started off once more, making it clear she didn't trust the tribe not to reappear at any moment with more requests. Spurred on by her own impatience, he found his own steps sped up just a bit, trusting Fena to watch their backs as he jogged more than walked down the path ahead of them.
To everyone's surprise and delight, there was little more distraction on the path back to the valley, the forest seeming as quiet as it had been the day before. There were fewer travelers this time around, which left the path clear for the pair to go as quick or slow as they needed to, with haste pushing them towards the quicker side of things until Alexi started to feel his paws getting sore from the exertion. They were making fantastic time, in fact, when Fena finally bullied him into stopping at a small tree stump for a lunch break, insisting that Alexi needed to at least catch his breath and refuel before they made the second leg of the trip.
Reclining out in the grass under the early-afternoon sun, the larger fox relented to letting Fena pull out their packed food this time around, though she opted this time to snuggle into his side once she'd rolled several berries out over the surface of the stump. While they didn't have much left of the supplies they'd brought for themselves, there was plenty from the Emolga tribe that seemed to their taste. Had they been paying attention to the berries they'd claimed as stolen yesterday, or was it just a lucky guess? Regardless, Alexi wasted no time in biting down into one of the Rawst Berries, savoring the bitter taste on his tongue as the juice helped sooth his parched throat. He didn't realize just how thirsty he'd gotten walking around under the sun, never mind how hungry.
Snuggled up together as they were, it was almost easy to doze off in the warm sunshine. Certainly they had slept plenty, but Alexi always seemed to find himself relaxing a bit more whenever he and Fena laid down together. But just as they were starting to get comfortable, there was a yell of distress from further on down the path. Alexi and Fena both looked at each other, quietly hoping one or the other would confirm that the sound hadn't occurred, only to have the shout repeated once again.
"You have to be kidding me..." Fena groaned, burying her face in Alexi's flank. He shared in the groan even as he started to get to his feet.
"You know we can't just ignore it..." Alexi sighed, leaning forward to chomp down on a second berry before nosing the others to Fena to put back in the satchel. "The sooner we go find out what's going on, the sooner we can get back home and enjoy our anniversary properly." He let the statement hang like that, knowing Fena would just assume he meant rutting her silly once they were in the privacy of their own den. Which he did plan to do, but wasn't the focus he had in mind for their big celebration. All the same, the thought seemed to cheer Fena up a bit more.
"Yeah, you're right. And we're so close to home. One more detour won't be that big a deal." She moved the bag onto his back before climbing up herself once more, perching on his head as they went to go and figure out who was in distress and why.
The shouts and cries seemed to be coming from the bushes just down the way, though without any particular growing urgency. Still, both foxes kept their guards up as they stalked closer to the sound, looking around for any Pokemon that might be causing the distress. The closer they got though, the more it sounded like a ploy. A very cheap ploy, sounding as if it were coming from a very particular type of canine Pokemon.
"I swear to Arceus..." Before Fena could even complete her threat, Alexi had pushed aside the bushes to reveal a small ambuscade of Poochyena waiting on the other side. Upon seeing the very much irritated Ninetales and Eevee looking back at them over the cover of the bushes, exactly one Poochyena was brave and/or stupid enough to try and pounce at them, rewarded for her troubles with a heavy smack down from Alexi's good paw. She went down with a whimper, rolling away before Alexi could take his frustration out on her by grinding her into the dirt.
"You lot are really just as persistent as ever, aren't you?" he growled, making the remaining Poochyena flinch and back away as he leered over the group of them. "I really don't even need to put my sweet Fena out of her way for this. Why don't I just roast the lot of you and be done with it?" He snapped at the closest with flames sparking behind his razor sharp fangs for emphasis. His keen nose picked up the distinct scent of urine from more than one of them as they tumbled over themselves to get away, taking off into the trees with their tails between their legs. Fena seemed beside herself with a mix of amusement and arousal at the display of force, leaning herself closer to him as she watched them flee.
"Should have lit one up just to make sure they didn't come back," she laughed as he stomped away from the broken up trap, seeming more indignant than anything else that they'd been led off-track by the persistent pooches.
"I mean, I have to hand it to them. They're stubborn as hell and apparently very proud of their stupid leader if they keep popping up like this." He continued to grumble about it as he carried on down the path, determined more than ever now not to let anything else sidetrack them. He felt Fena's paw reach down to stroke his cheek comfortingly as he marched on, her head resting on his.
"Still no match for us, though. Just proof that foxes beat hounds every time." He laughed at that, cheered up a bit by his lover's stubborn optimism.
By will or by luck, there were no further disturbances on the familiar trail back to the valley, and before long Alexi could see the edge of their claimed territory in the distance. Waiting against a tree was the pink Aipom who had sent them on their journey in the first place, looking towards them expectantly.
"Hey Ven," he greeted her as he closed the gap between them. Fena was already pulling the bag of stones that they'd retrieved as he approached, the Aipom waving to them as she moved to meet them halfway. "We found the cave you told us about, but it was already picked pretty clean by the time we got there. We managed to bring back some of the elemental glass and some of the smaller stones, but there really wasn't much else to find."
"Just as well. We can at least mark it off as one more place we don't need to go back and check again," Ven replied as she accepted the bag from Fena, offering a small satchel of money in return for their efforts. "Really, we can't thank you enough for at least going out there to check. And from what I hear, clearing out a rowdy pack of Poochyena as well. So it would seem that even with the setback you two still found a way to do your neighbors a huge service. But, I think I've distracted you both long enough. I'll leave you two lovebirds to your belated anniversary celebration."
Of course, Fena was quick to catch the way that Ven had phrased their statement, though the nimble Aipom was gone before she could question her. Turning her attention instead on Alexi, her nimble paws bapped at his nose a few times.
"Distract us? What did she mean distract us?" Alexi only offered a sly grin in reply as he started their way back towards the den, which of course only got him bopped on his nose further. "Alexi! What was she- What did you do?!" The way that the Deltavee was reacting only made it harder for him to keep a mostly-straight face, measuring his steps to prolong the wait as she tried to get him to spill the beans. Fena even tried to hop down and stand in front of him to obstruct his path, but that only got her scooped up by the scruff and carried the rest of the way home.
On first glance, there was no sign of any difference when they finally made it back to the entrance of their den. Alexi set Fena on the ground before she could struggle herself free, prompting a renewed playful aggression from the smaller fox as she probed him for answers. Rather than explain though, he just directed her attention to a line of nightshade petals that led on down the hallway as he set their bags down at the door.

"Alexi, what...?" More curious than ever, Fena took off down the hall with Alexi on her heels, following the ever-growing trail of petals down a branch of the den that she hadn't noticed before. Like the path to the library, it seemed to lead up towards the ceiling of the cave structure, terminating in what appeared to be an ornately carved wooden door. Alexi lit the candles that had been mounted to either side of the door so she could see the carvings fully, only to have her turn around with tears starting to glitter in her eyes. "Fena's Workshop... Alexi, wha...?"
"I may not have been... entirely honest about forgetting the best day of my life," he answered with a broad smile, leaning down to press a loving kiss to his dumbfounded mate. "I got you a door! And... of course, everything that's beyond it." Plainly stunned, Fena turned around slowly to put her paws on the door and found the metal hinges it hung on swung open with ease. As the door opened, light spilled into the hallway from the lamps that decorated the room, each seeming to have been specially crafted from captive will-o-wisps in the same elemental glass that they'd found in the cave. The room itself was spacious, with comfortable carpet covering the center of the room and several workbenches hewn out along the walls. Each bench sported tools sized perfectly for the toxic Eevee to craft and tinker with any craft she felt interested in, from sculpting and woodworking to brewing to building. The back wall itself was dominated by a large bookshelf stuffed with crafting ideas, a rolling stepladder sitting at the left side of the shelf to give her easy access to the higher shelves.
For a long moment, all Fena could do was stand and stare at the room prepared for her, seeming to have been completely paralyzed as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing. Several attempts to speak started and stopped, her muzzle opening and closing with little more than squeaks of disbelief. She looked to him, then the room, then him again, absolutely dumbfounded by what she was seeing.
"I cannot explain in simple terms how hard it was to hide this from you, Small Fox," he explained as he sat down at the doorway, smiling broadly at her. "A lot of the actual carving and expanding the room had to be done while you were at work, of course, with the help of some friends much more suited to cutting the stone. Sneaking all the tools up here was equally a challenge because I had to not only sneak them into the den, but then up to this part of it without you noticing. And I don't know if you know this, but you are very hard to sneak around."
"Bu- Wha- Alexi, this is...!"
"This is a very small way of thanking you for all the things you do for me," he finished for her, moving to her side and wrapping his tails around her. "You have been a steadfast friend and faithful partner, showing me kindness and love and compassion and keeping me from overextending myself beyond my means. You have made me so much happier than I have words to say, and I cannot overstate how much I treasure you choosing to stay by my side. It is the least I could do to give you a space all your own here, where you can indulge in whatever creative idea you might come up with and be well supplied to do so."
"You big dumb fox...!" Fena caught Alexi by surprise as she leapt up at him, headbutting him backwards onto the floor and standing over his chest. "I... How did you even manage! You are too much for me, Tall Fox!" She was crying, and she was laughing, and she was kissing him furiously even as she bapped his chest with one paw.
"So I'll take it then that you like your gift?" The sound that came from Fena was hard to describe, a mix of frustrated noises as she showered his muzzle in gentle smacks.
"Of course I like it, you big loaf! I absolutely love this, this is..." Rather than finish her sentence, she simply kissed him once again, long and deep and passionate. "You are the most over the top, frustrating fox I have ever met, and I love you so damned much." They kissed again, Fena seeming unwilling to let her mate off the ground until she'd at least smothered him in love before darting off once more to take a closer look at the room she'd been gifted. Alexi rolled himself over onto his belly as he watched the excited Eevee dart from one workstation to another, studying the tools available at each as well as the lamps that lit the walls. Had she wanted to simply spend the rest of the day working out what project she wanted to start with, he would have been more than happy to watch her do so. But to his surprise, she was quick to come bouncing back to him.
"Tomorrow, you and I are going to make so much stuff," she stated, nodding to him with a determined look before heading for the open door. Alexi cocked his head as he got up to follow after, a bit confused by the timing more than anything.
"Tomorrow, huh? I guess it is pretty late in the day-" She cut him off with a paw to his muzzle, pulling his head down to meet her eyes.
"Mhm! Tomorrow. Tonight, I have other projects in mind that have been put off long enough. We're gonna go put those berries away. Exactly. Where. They. Belong." A shiver ran through the Ninetales as he caught up with her mischievous plot, maybe running after her with a bit more urgency than before. After all, who was he to deny his sweet little toxic fox?