Pax
It has been a year since the events in the original story took place. Pax is the fox who once called his human his best friend. Since then, however, he has lived the life nature intended for him in the wild. And this mean replacing his human companions with those of his own kind, including mating and fathering offspring.
Bristle
Bristle is Pax’s mate with whom he has fathered three kids. Their little family is also extended to take in Bristle’s three-footed brother who was maimed during the previous spring before the events of this tale. Despite this disability, however, he has managed to turn into a hunter with skills that impress Pax.
Peter
Pax’s former companion, Peter, is now officially a teenager. He has chosen to remain with Vola and has built a cabin on her property. Wracked by guilt for a variety of reasons, the isolation of the separate cabin fits in with a life he has devoted to penance as well as forgetting he ever once owned a pet fox.
Vola
Vola is the former army medic who had herself made the decision to isolate and disconnect from society until she discovered the injured Peter on her land one day. Recovery from his injuries grew into friendship and a sort of Obi-Wan/Luke kind of relationship. While Peter has hardened over the past year, Vola’s iciness toward the rest of the world seems to be in a state of thaw.
Peter’s Grandfather
Peter’s grandfather starts out a little cold and distant and curmudgeonly. As he sees the changes in Peter that has come from his relationship with Vola, however, he starts to warm up to the point that Peter even notices, with shock, that he is actually beginning to act like a grandfather.
Samuel and Jade
Samuel and Jade are two soldiers in the Water Warriors which formed as a means of repurposing training and equipment of the military following the war which occupies the first book into a force helping to repair some of that damage by detoxifying the water supplies. Peter grows close to them both and eventually Samuel and Jade marry.
Pax’s Daughter
Of his offspring, it is Pax’s daughter to whom he is closest and who plays the most significant part in the story. Ultimately, she will become the agent that brings about reconciliation between Pax and Peter as well as a chance for the Peter to end his penance and find redemption.
