The Babikis 1

## Blurb

Pinkie had lived a normal life. She lived with her mother, Mother Heather, and her siblings, Thistle and Blueberry, in the Nursing Den. Until one day, when her father was found dead. Her flock-mates suspect he was murdered- even the leader, Branch, thinks so. Can Pinkie find the killer, and bring them to justice?

## Characters

### Sky Flock

A flock of babikis that live in the forest. The main flock of the series.

Leader: Branch - dusty brown fur, with a bushy darker tail

Second-In-Command: Ionwa - Young male with white fur, blue tail, and a dark red cape

Healers: Petals - Pale pink fur, the tip of her tail is flower-shaped

Jewel - Dark purple female with an oddly glossy tail and starry wings

Fighters (Babikis chosen to defend the flock):

Boulder - Bulky dark gray male. (Student: Flurry)

Stem - pale grayish green female.

Rose - Lighter red female with a spiky green tail and a scar over left eye. Wears white gloves on all paws.

Shadow - Black male. (Student: Mossy)

Daisy - delicate white female with brown and black dapples. Wears a green leaf around left ear.

Feather - Fluffy light brown female.

Patches - Dark gray young male with a white muzzle, tail, and paws.

Cloudy - Fluffy white female, formerly a mother.

Hunters (Babikis responsible for providing food for the flock):

Bone - Bulky white male with unusually long claws and pointy ears.

Snowy - fluffy white female with a light blue chest.

Cactus - neon green female with a darker spiky tail

Apple - slightly darker red male with bushy orange eyebrows and tail (Student: Milk)

Students (Babikis older than 10 moons old, in training to become fighters, healers, or hunters):

Flurry - fluffy white female with floppy ears

Mossy - light lime green male with a yellower tuft of fur on head and paw-tips

Milk - light brown, almost white female with darker paws

Mothers (Babikis raising or expecting kits):

Mother Heather - Pretty light brown female with blue sclera

Mother Leaf - dark grayish blue female

Kits (Babikis under 10 moons of age):

Pinkie - Light pink genderfluid babiki with darker gray paws and a gray heart on chest. Usually has bags under eyes.

Blueberry - Light blue male

Thistle - Light brown female

Lavender - Light purple female with black piercings and a black heart on cheek

Rainy - dark bluish gray male with bushy black eyebrows and a starry tail

### Night Flock

A flock of babikis that live near the river. Easily angered.

Leader: Dog - dark brown male with a white chest, muzzle, and paws. Has darker brown tail and ears.

Second-in-command: Ember - Flame-colored male with a lighter muzzle.

Healers: Marigold - golden female with a white flower around her ear, dark brown pupils, and is missing her back left leg.

Cinnamon - Dark reddish brown male with darker paws

Fighters:

Sunshine - golden furred female.

Vine - Green male with a darker colored tail.

Sap - golden brown male.

Claw - Light silver male with darker tipped ears,

Crescent - Light yellow male with dark gray paws and face.

Lunar - Dark blue, almost black male.

Sniffles - Silver male with white chest, paws, and muzzle. Has white stripes along the tip of his tail. Always has a cold.

Hunters:

Pinecone - dark brown male.

Branch - light brown male.

Puddle - Light grayish blue non-binary babiki with darker blue paws

Autumn - dark orange transgender male with light yellow paws and a dark red tip of tail. (Student: Briar - light pink female)

Rainbows- dark gray female with white paws and a light rainbow tail.

Mothers:

Mother Icicle - pale blue, almost white female with a white tail and blue paws.

Kits:

Curly - Light pink female with a curled tail.

Winter - White male, blue sclera.

### Mountain Tribe

A tribe of babikis that live on the mountains. Different from a flock. Very peaceful,and shows up to important meetings. The other main flock/tribe of the series.

Tribe-leader: Stone Call - dark gray elderly male. (Student: Starry Skies - dark gray male with a starry tail.)

Medic(s): Stormy Clouds - dark blue, almost black male with black paws.

Tribespeople (Members of the tribe, responsible for both food and protection):

Maple Leaf - dark gray female with orange, leaf-shaped spots on fur.

Muddy Claws - Brown male.

Hail Storm - Pale blue female with darker blue ear-tips.

Flame Fur - ginger male.

Pebble Rain - Light silver transgender female.

Clover Leaf - Light grayish green female with spiky fur.

Seed Flower - Pretty ginger striped female with a white chest, underbelly, muzzle, and paws. (Student: Pine Trees - dark brown striped transgender male.)

Snow Frost - Pale blue transgender male.

Speckle Wish - White male with dark orange and brown speckles.

Wolf Howl - Dark gray male with brown patches.

One Paw - Black male, missing one of his paws and wings.

Snake Bite - Grayish green male.

Kit-mothers (Babikis who are currently raising or expecting kits):

Mushroom Spots - Dark ginger female with white spots and paws.

Plum Leaves - Dark purple female, expecting Snow Frost’s kits.

Kits (Babikis under 10 moons of age):

Fox Shade - Light ginger female with white paws and ears.

Cloudy Berries - Fluffy white female.

Lemon Splash - Yellowish transgender female with light ginger splotches.

### Other Animals

Velvet - vixen who lives near the waterfalls.

Cookie - light brown babiki, formerly a twopaws pet, now lives near Sky Flock.

Creamy - cream-colored female twopaws pet.

Lynxy - drox with scaly dark green wings and black ears.

### Other Animals (Species)

Drox - Dragon-fox mix, usually has to do with magic.

Dreamwalkers - mystical feline-like creatures who cause kits to have good dreams and guide spirits to the afterlife.

Snikerdoodls - Cat-like creatures, are usually harmless.

Mountainrunners - small mouse-like creatures with long legs and smaller ears; lives on the mountain.

## Chapter One

Thistle poked her nose out of the burrow. She sniffed the air. Thistle worriedly looked around. Mother Heather had told her that there were monsters- Large hungry beasts with a taste for young babiki flesh. Pinkie followed behind her.

“Where are you going?” She asked, “Not to see the healer, surely?”

“What’s wrong with Petals?” Thistle replied.

“I heard she took care of a dead mouse for months, thinking it was her child. She’s very stupid, Thistle. I don’t want you to be like her,” Pinkie admitted. Thistle surely didn’t want to follow in her footsteps. That was absolutely preposterous! Even a babiki with grass-for-brains wouldn’t listen to Petals.

“She’s not stupid. She’s just..special.” Thistle’s neck fur bristled. Pinkie snorted. “Anyways, look who’s talking, Miss I-Love-Ionwa.”

“What? Him? Absolutely not! He’s so annoying and disgusting! I would rather love Mossy.” That part was true. She would choose Mossy over Ionwa any day.

“Mmhm.” Thistle turned and stuck her thick furry tail in the air. Pinkie hated her sister sometimes. She yawned and decided to turn back and head into the burrow. She nosed a pile of prey and berries covered with leaves and took a large mouse. Her younger brother, Blueberry, seemed to awaken at the scent of the prey.

“Do I smell mouse?” He asked hungrily and sniffed the rodent.

“Not for you,” Pinkie replied and licked the mouse to show that it was hers.

“No fair! You always get the good stuff!” He complained. Mother Heather placed a light brown paw on his head. “She always makes me go to sleep.”

“You need to sleep in order to grow up big and strong. And hopefully you’ll start training as a Fighter.” Mother Heather said, now giving his fur a good lick. Pinkie wished she was chosen to be a Hunter. By her calculations, they were the smartest AND quickest in the flock. Without them, the flocks would be destroyed completely. Blueberry looked at her, seeming as though it was a cry for help. Pinkie snorted and turned away to enjoy her mouse. She seemed to have been in the middle of a bite before the cries of a babiki were heard. Oh StarPaws.. What could it be this time? She spread her wings and glided to the middle of the clearing. Pinkie gasped in horror at what she saw. It was the limp body of Boulder, her father. Thistle was the first to speak.

“Oh no..” Is all that she said. Blueberry seemed to have his eyes wide open in shock. Pinkie weakly trudged over to her father, her legs shaking. Whoever did this will be sorry, Pinkie thought angrily. Ionwa stepped towards him.

“Looks like StarPaws gained another ally today.” He said simply, “At moon-rise, All babikis who were close to him will bury him. May his soul rest in peace.” He said these words without emotion, which seemed to worry Pinkie. Why wasn’t he reacting to his death? Especially since Boulder was his Teacher before Ionwa was chosen as the Second-In-Command. Pinkie didn’t want to answer that.

“It seems as though he’s been murdered by someone.” Branch said, who happened to be the leader of the flock.

“I wonder who.” Ionwa replied while avoiding the babiki’s eyes. Pinkie stared at him suspiciously, until she was interrupted by a familiar purple babiki.

“Hello, Lavender.” She greeted her friend politely.

“Hello, Love,” Lavender smiled. That was one of the reasons Pinkie liked her- She was always happy. “I’m sorry about your father.”

“It’s ok, It’s not your fault.” The pink babiki turned her attention back to Ionwa, who was..gone. She looked around. He seemed to have gone to his den. Pinkie sniffed. It was like Ionwa to hide. But wait, there was a smell coming from his den! Pinkie waited until Lavender went to get some berries before she ran to sit beside his den, hiding in the bushes nearby.

It was..blood! Pinkie winced at the scent. She tried to look into his den and gasped. He was hurting a kit!

“Stop!” She tackled him before he could harm the small black kit more. Pinkie snarled at him.

“Well, hello.” Ionwa huffed as she got off of him.

“Why were you hurting Rainy?” Pinkie stepped in front of the light silver kit. He seemed to be shivering, and was on the ground, bruised and bloodied. “Why?” She repeated loudly. Ionwa hesitated.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Pinkie narrowed her eyes, “How can you hurt someone unknowingly?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, Rainy. Let’s head to Mother Leaf. She won’t try to kill you.” She glared at Ionwa before stalking over to his mother. How pathetic. He expects her to believe he hurt someone unknowingly. Mother Leaf stared at her kit in horror.

“You..!” She began.

“I didn’t do it.” Pinkie said quickly before she could attack her, “A Drox did it.”

“Oh.” Mother Leaf looked at her suspiciously, and even sniffed her. When she didn’t find any blood-scent she simply snorted and cleaned her kit, “Go get Petals.”

“Fine.” Ugh. The dung-brain. Pinkie groaned as she stomped over to the healer’s den. This day sucked. First his father dies, and Rainy gets hurt. What next? While thinking, Pinkie stepped in some old berries lying near Petals’ den. Mossy was nearby when this happened and winced at the scent. Pinkie sighed. *I just hope he doesn’t think I normally smell like that,* She thought while cleaning her paw. *Then he’d never want to hang out with me.*

In the corner of her eye she noticed Ionwa again, suspiciously sniffing near the outside of his den. Pinkie sighed. She turned around and ignored him. Ionwa frowned. Wasn’t she gonna try and stop him from doing...whatever he was doing?

Pinkie stalked away, towards her den. He won’t get the attention he wants. They just wanted to go to sleep for a bit. This was all very overwhelming for him.

## Chapter Two

Seed Flower yawned as the sun shone from the den. Seed Flower heard her former mate, Wolf Howl’s snores, which oddly calmed her. She stretched. Today was a meeting for the tribe and the flocks. It was going to be a peaceful meeting. Stone Call had chosen her, along with Starry Skies, Hail Storm, and One Paw. One Paw had finished his lessons with Clover Leaf only one moon ago, she remembered. Why was Stone Call choosing such an inexperienced babiki to go to this meeting? It seemed as if it were something serious, too.

“Seed Flower! You coming?” Hail Storm called.

“Yeah! I’m going to eat something quick first,” She replied as she padded towards the prey-pile. Seed Flower picked up a small but plump mountainrunner from the pile. Pine Trees had caught this one himself. It was his first time hunting by himself, too. She remembered how proud his father, Muddy Claws, had been. Seed Flower started to nibble at it’s thighs, delicately tearing it’s flesh.

“Hurry up,” One Paw peeped, “Or we’ll go on without you!”

“Alright!” She sighed as she swallowed it whole, and coughed. Seed Flower walked towards the small group.

“Do you know what this meeting is about?” Starry Skies asked his teacher. Stone Call shook his head. “Right then, Let’s go.” Starry Skies sometimes acted as if he were tribe-leader instead of Stone Call, But Seed Flower knew he wasn’t doing it on purpose. The babiki spread his wings, and got ready to leap into the air. She did the same. One Paw hesitated. He had lost his left wing in a terrible accident, and was unable to stay balanced in the sky ever since.

“I’ll carry you,” Seed Flower peeped. He blinked at her gratefully. She grabbed him by the scruff and thrusted into the air. It has been long since she felt the wind on her face. Seed Flower purred.

“This way!” Stone Call rasped, and started to move towards the right, near the great trees. Seed Flower followed.

They soon landed near the great trees. Seed Flower let go of One Paw. “Thank you,” He peeped and looked at the ground awkwardly.

“Don’t mention it.” She purred. Seed Flower glanced at the trees. Branch, along with Ionwa and a grayish green female, sat beside the smallest tree of the three. They were just waiting for Night Flock. What was taking them so long? Had they run into danger? Seed Flower worriedly looked around, Was her son okay? She hadn’t seen Ember in such a long time. Not even at the Peaceful Moon, which occurred every full moon.

She sighed with relief as she saw Dog along with his flock-mates. “Sorry for being late,” The leader apologized, “I had to finish up the Student Ceremony.”

“It’s fine,” Branch flicked an ear. “As long as you showed up.”

“So, what’s this meeting all about?” Stone Call looked at them both expectantly. Branch’s gaze darkened.

“Boulder has died.”

“What does that have to do with us?” One Paw responded. Starry Skies glanced at him.

“We believe he was murdered.” Branch continued, ignoring One Paw. “A kit has also been attacked recently. He’s currently staying in the Healer Den.” Seed Flower’s fur prickled. Had someone killed Boulder, and attacked a kit? She noticed Ionwa looking at his paws, and wondered what he was thinking. Seed Flower doubted he had anything to do with it- he was barely older than One Paw. “There is a murderer in the flocks. And tribe,” Branch added, glancing at Stone Call. The tribe-leader said nothing. Seed Flower guessed he was thinking.

“Are you accusing my tribespeople of killing your flock-mate?” He responded. Though his tone was cool, His pupil less eyes glowed with anger. “My tribe would never do such a thing. Not even Speckle Wish.”

“Mine wouldn’t either.” Dog stared at his brother simply. Branch hesitated.

“I thought mine wouldn’t kill others either, but here we are.” Ionwa licked his chest fur, pretending not to listen. The female beside him eyed him suspiciously.

“Is that it? Does anyone else have anything important to say?” Stone Call asked.

“Wait, aren’t you going to do something about it?” Branch frowned.

“What do you want me to do?” Stone Call turned towards his tribe, “Come on. We’re leaving.” Seed Flower held One Paw’s scruff again.They flew back towards the mountains.

“That was a waste of time,” One Paw peeped. Seed Flower silently disagreed with him. This could be something extremely important.

## Chapter Three

Pinkie glanced as the moon started to rise. It was the day after her father was found dead. They still were upset about it, but she had calmed down a bit.

“Hey Pinkie,” Lavender peeped, her eyes glistening with excitement, “Branch wants to see us and your littermates.”

“Alright, I’ll go get them.” Pinkie fluffed out her fur and padded towards her two siblings, who were playing with a beetle. “Come on. Branch wants to see us.”

They arrived at the Leader’s Rock, wondering what was going to happen.

“You all are 10 moons already, right?” Branch asked them.

“Y-yes,” Thistle squeaked.

“So it’s about time I made you all students.” He stretched. For the first time since Boulder’s death, Pinkie felt excited. “Now, what do each of you want to be?”

“I want to be a fighter!” Her brother peeped, and tried to show off some fighting moves.

“Same here.” Lavender swished her tail. Thistle hesitated.

“I’ve always been interested in medicine,” She admitted.

“Right. I’ll ask Petals or Jewel if they’re ready for a student.” His attention was on Pinkie now.

“Hunter.” She squeaked.

“Alright then.” Branch glided to the top of the rock and let out his meeting-call. Pinkie’s flock-mates began to walk towards the rock.

“Thistle, Blueberry, Lavender, and Pinkie,” Pinkie’s fur spiked as she heard her name, “Are you satisfied with your decisions?”

“Y-yes,” She trembled with excitement.
“Bone!” The white male stepped forward, “You are ready for a student, are you not?”
“I am.” He nodded.

"Then you will teach Pinkie." Branch peeped. Bone glanced at her. She smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll teach her everything I know,” He responded softly, his eyes glowing with joy.

Pinkie smiled at him. She was satisfied with Branch’s decision- Bone was strong and fast.

She wasn’t paying attention to the meeting anymore, as she thought about things her new teacher would teach her. Would he show him some fighting moves? Would he show her how to catch eagles? Her whiskers twitched.

“I got Rose! Woo-hoo!” Blueberry celebrated as the flock slowly began to go back to what they were doing before. Pinkie smiled. She remembered his crush on Rose.

“Congratulations!” Being a student meant she could get closer to Mossy. Being a student meant learning how to fight others, even if she was a hunter. Or even a healer.

“Wow, you don’t say something mean for once.” Blueberry blinked at her. “I know what you must be thinking. You’re thinking, *Now that I’m a student maybe Mossy Wossy or Ionwa will fall in love with me!*” He then began to make kissing noises. Pinkie rolled her eyes.

“No, actually, I was thinking about what Bone would teach me.”

“Speaking of Bone..” Blueberry’s nose twitched as Pinkie turned around. Bone was staring at them both.

“Training starts tomorrow at noon. We’re going to check out the territory first.” He peeped and licked his paw, “Try not to be late.”

“I won’t,” She promised.