Book 3

## Prologue

**???:**

I watched as my apprentice, Sagittarius, sorted healing herbs.

My mother had been right; one of Gemini's cubs *did* have great potential. Sagittarius had a knack for healing and she made a great healer.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Sagittarius quickly began to grab herbs, but I shook my head.

"Leave them!" I told her "We'll find more when we reach safe ground!"

She reluctantly left the herbs and waited while I helped Wisp to her paws.

"Will you be able to make a run for it?" I asked the heavily pregnant Fang Fury.

"I may be expecting, but I could outrun you any day," she said, the familiar mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

I nodded to Sagittarius and we stepped into the sunlight, only to see our clanmates be destroyed by the human machines.

## Chapter 1

**Rowan:**

I batted lazily at a beetle that was crawling across the ground in front of me.

A slight breeze wafted through the air, but did next to nothing against the sweltering heat.

The past few moons have been extremely hot and we haven't had much rain.

I stood up as Fang and Star entered the clearing.

"Any luck?" I asked, hopefully.

Star nodded. "We found a brook near the town. The only problem is that it's inside our old pack's territory."

I sighed. "We'll just have to try not to be caught," I said.

The stream that went past the clearing had dried up a few days ago and I knew the stream near the small town wasn't much bigger.

"For now let's just work on getting through this hot season."

Star and Fang nodded in agreement. Since joining my pack, they had become quite loyal and helpful.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Jay standing there.

"I-I was wondering... if I, uh, should, um, go... go on another p-patrol to find water?" Jay asked and I shook my head.

"Star and Fang found a stream near the town, so we'll be fine for now," I said "Although, you could help Red and Keesh with the new dens."

She nodded and went over to where the two cervitaurs were weaving ivy and sticks together.

I saw that Fawn was entertaining the two newest additions to the pack, Kip and Becca. Their mother had been killed by my old pack, so Star had brought them back to our home. The two pups have been sharing Fawn's den while their den is being built.

Fawn may have been eight years older than them, but you wouldn't know it, because they got a long so well.

I left camp to search for more den-building supplies; most of the ivy we were able to find nearby was brittle and dry.

Dry leaves crackled under my paws and I winced. If this weather kept up, we might end up with our home being burnt to the ground.

I walked in the damp streambed, searching for any green ivy.

I came back to camp weary from my long trek, but semi-successful; I had found some green areas far upstream, but I knew that they wouldn't stay that way for long in this weather.

Freddy came up to me. "Rowan, you really need to rest," he said "I'll take a group out to find more ivy, ok?"

I sighed, he was right, I did need rest. "Okay," I relented "There's quite a bit of good ivy far upstream," I told him.

"Okay," he said "I'll take Keesh, Snow, and Rose with me. We'll bring back as much as possible."

I smiled wearily. "Thanks, Freds," I said.

He nodded and I went to my den. It didn't take me long to doze off.

*I ran through the trees, flames licking at my heels. A black shadow flew above me. I couldn't make out who or what it was. All I knew was that I had to keep running.*

Someone cried out, it sounded like Kip.

"Fawn, no!" Freddy cried as his sister turned and ran back into the flames.

I was separated from the others, surrounded by the flames. I saw the shadow again, coming straight at me. The darkness engulfed me and everything faded away.

## Chapter 2

**Crow:**

I ran through the forest, enjoying being free. I never got to do this when I was part of the herd; my father always made behave like an adult, even though I was just a little kid. He wanted me to grow up to lead the herd, but I never had wanted to, it was just too much responsibility. I had always liked being on my own, but I never had the chance.

Now I could do whatever I wanted, though. Rowan and the others had helped me and my sister get away from the herd, and they really didn't care what we did in our free time.

I jumped over a fallen log and skidded to a halt. Something was burning; I could smell it.

I trotted in the direction of the smell and looked for any sign of flames. I fell into a bout of coughing as smoke was blown into my face.

I turned and went to the side to avoid the smoke. That's when I saw where it was coming from. A pile of dried leaves was burning, which was something that humans did, but nobody was watching it and the flames had spread to a nearby tree. The fire continued to branch out to trees and bushes on either side.

I reared up and galloped back to camp as quickly as I could.

Once I got back to camp, I nearly ran straight into my sister.

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped.

"Sorry," I apologized "Where's Rowan?" I asked.

"How should I know?" Jay said, irritated "I don't keep track of her."

"Whatever," I muttered, going over to Snow.

"Snow!" I called out and she looked up.

"Have you seen Rowan?" I asked

"Seen is really the tricky word there," Snow joked.

"Sorry," I said, giving a small smile "Do you know where she is, though?"

"Yes, actually, she said she was going to get some rest, why?"

"There's a fire starting near the south end of the territory," I told her.

"If it's that far away, it most likely won't get to us, considering the stream at that end," she said "I wouldn't worry about it."

"I guess you're right," I agreed.

Sure enough, when Red went to check it out later, he reported that it had stopped at the stream and there was no fire damage to our side of the brook.

Rowan, however, agreed that we should be alert for any danger of fire.

I grazed near the new stream, enjoying the shade. I jumped at the sound of movement from the bushes, only to relax when I saw Rose and Red.

"Sup?" Red asked, nonchalantly.

"Nothing much," I said, shrugging "Other than hoping not to be attacked by an angry werewolf pack."

Red huffed. "Yeah," he agreed "this is risky, but what else are we to do?"

"Other than travel half an hour to the south stream," Rose said "Not much." Her tail twitched. "This stream is far closer than the south one, if risky to use."

"Risky is right," a gruff voice from behind me said, and I spun around to see a silver wolf with one black ear.

"Now don't mind me," he said, calmly. "I'm no threat to you, just getting a drink and carrying on my way." He looked around. "By the looks of it, I just traveled in a complete circle, ah, no matter," he said, to nobody in particular.

I just watched as he went past me and the others and drank from the stream. When he was done he looked back at us.

"The landscape of this place makes me think of the stories I was told as a cub," he said "About where demon cubs were left to die."

"Demon cubs?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Yup, our medic was given the job of taking them far away from the clan, and ol' Taurus would tell me of the place he would take them." He paused. "My sister, Aquila, was considered a demon cub."

"Okay, but what is a demon cub?" I asked.

"A black cub with bat-like wings instead of feathered wings," he said, spreading black, feathered wings with gray speckles.

"Whoah! What are you?" I asked him.

"I'm what is called a fang-fury, we are protectors, known for being friendly towards even our enemies." He smiled. "Anyways, I should keep moving, I'm still looking for my clan."

"Why don't you come back with us?" I asked.

"Crow!" Rose hissed.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to be a bother," he said.

"It's no bother, really," I persisted. "I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting our friends."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a small rest," he said "Okay, I'll come with you, but I won't stay long."

"Great!" I said "Our camp is just this way, about five minutes from here."

"I've been here before," the fang-fury said as we came through the entrance. "Although, it wasn't as lively as it is now."

"We've been here for about two seasons," Red said "It's been like this since we got here."

"I see," the fang-fury said "I was here nearly a year ago."

"I'll be right back," I said and went to find Rowan.

I went over to Snow.

Even though she was blind, Snow always seemed to know where to find the ones you were looking for.

"Hey, do you know where Rowan is?" I asked.

"She went hunting with Star and Fang while you were out," Snow said. She turned towards the entrance. "Seems like their back."

I looked in that direction, and sure enough, the three werewolves had just darted through the entrance. Rowan immediately went to Freddy, who was working on fixing the dens.

"I don't know how you do that," I said.

"It's a gift," Snow said, shrugging.

I looked back to see almost everyone heading towards the entrance. Star ran over to me and Snow.

"A fire is spreading from the East side and the wind is spreading it quickly towards camp," Star said "We need to get out of here."

We grouped near the stream to make sure everyone was there; the only problem was that everyone wasn't.

Keesh, Fawn, Kip, and Becca were all missing. They had gone on a walk early that day because Kip and Becca were causing so much chaos in the camp.

Rowan approached me.

"You will go look for them, along with Alcor, Freddy, Fang, Star, and I. The rest of you," she raised her voice "Get as close to the town as you dare!"

She took off with the rest of us behind her.

## Chapter 3

**Fawn:**

I had Kip on my back as I ran and Keesh had Becca on hers.

One moment I was playing with the two pups in the shade, the next thing I know, we're surrounded by flames.

I had grabbed ahold of Kip and Keesh already had grabbed Becca. We had taken off, trying to find the quickest way out of the blaze.

I could hear our names being called from a direction, but the flames seemed thickest in that area.

"Should we try to make it over the flames?" I asked Keesh.

"I think that would be our best bet," she agreed.

I went back as far as I dared and waited for Keesh. She was able to make it over, so I ran for it and leaped.

I landed hard on the other side of the flames, just as Rowan, Freddy, Star, Fang, Crow, and some other creature came into view.

"Fawn!" I heard Kip call out and spun around, he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Kip?!" I screeched "where are you?!"

"I fell!" I heard him say "Please help me!"

I flattened my ears and headed back towards the flames.

## Chapter 4

**Rowan:**

Freddy pressed forward. "Fawn, no!" he screeched, but she didn't stop.

"Get out of here, I'll get Fawn," I said.

"But—"

"No! You need to get everyone else out before the fire reaches them," I persisted.

"Fine," he reluctantly agreed.

"I'll help look for Fawn," Alcor offered.

"No, help the others," I ordered.

"I wasn't giving you an option," Alcor said.

"Fine, you help look for Fawn and the rest of you go help the others," I told them.

Freddy nodded and led the others back the way we came.

"I'll fly above," Alcor said.

"Okay."

He took off and I ran into the flames. I jumped out of the way as a flaming branch came crashing down where I was seconds before. I ran through the burning brush, alert for any sign of Fawn or Kip.

I began coughing as I got to an area where the flames were thickest. I had a hard time breathing before, but now it was even worse.

"Fawn? Kip? Where are you?" I called out and listened for a reply.

"I'm here!" I heard Kip's weak reply, then I saw him, he was trapped against a bush that would most likely soon catch fire.

I started towards him, only for my vision started to fade.

"No..." I managed to whisper, before everything went black.

## Chapter 5

**???:**

I opened my eyes to see flames everywhere. I stood up and spotted a pup cornered by the flames. I raced over to him to find that he was unconscious, but still breathing. I laid down next to him and wrapped a wing around him to protect him from the flames.

"You're safe now," I whispered to him. "We'll just have to wait this out."

## Chapter 6

**Freddy:**

Keesh, Fang, Star, Jay, and Becca followed me as I headed towards the town. I leaped over the stream we had been using for the last week and a half and saw a shed near the town.

"Over there!" I said, pointing at it.

I peeked inside and sure enough, the rest of the group was there.
Becca climbed down off of Keesh's back and went over to Snow.

"What will happen to our home?" She asked, nervously.

"It will probably be ruined," Snow said "But we can always rebuild. Things will go back to the way they were before the fire."

Becca nodded. "And Kip and Fawn will be okay, right?"

Snow nodded. "They'll be fine, you'll see."

I smiled. Snow always knew the right thing to say in every situation.

## Chapter 7

**???:**

I opened my eyes, but dared not open my wings. Though the flames couldn't hurt me through my tough wings, I could still feel the searing heat.

*"Who am I?"* I thought *"How did I get here?"*

I tried to remember, but could find nothing.

*"Memories I would vist, but I have none,"* I thought.

I tried harder, searching deeper. I remembered a silver wolf, she was smiling at me.

*"You are Aquila," she said.*

*Aquila... I am Aquila.*

I remembered my brother, Alcor.

I see a silver wolf. He has raven wings with silver speckles. He is sihouetted against the flames. He takes flight and the momory fades.

I think back to the first silver wolf.

*"Be careful!" She warned from the den.*

"Don't worry, Gemini," A black wolf comforted. "The cubs are strong. They'll be fine."

I pounced on my sister, nipping her ear.

"Hey!" she yelped "I'm trying to watch Taurus!"

I looked over at the small russet wolf helping a golden wolf sort leaves.

"Ugh, you're more interested in dumb plants than playing!" I complained.

"They're herbs, not dumb plants," she huffed.

"Yeah, whatever," I scoffed. "You're still no fun."

My sister–Sagittarius was her name–turned away from the two wolves–the healers– and stared at me.

"Someday I'll be a healer and I'm going to save your life," she said.

"Yeah right," I snickered "When I'm all grown up, I ain't gonna need help from nobody!"

"You mean you*won't* need help from*anybody*!" Sagittarius said, annoyed.

"Yeah whatever."

A new memory pushed its way foreward. We were slightly older. My family was crowded araound me and Taurus.

*"It shouldn't matter what she looks like!" my father snarled at Taurus "She's only a cub! You can't do this!"*

"It's my duty as healer to rid the clan of these cursed cubs!" Taurus argued. "I'm not going to let the same mistake be made twice! Your daughter will not curse this clan anymore than Crux did!"

My father started towards Taurus, but my mother stopped him.

"He's right, Blaze," she whispered. "It's the way of the clans. You and I both knew this was coming from the day she was born." She sighed "Just be grateful that she is old enough to have a chance at survival."

Alcor aproached Taurus and looked at him curiously.

"What did Aquila do wrong?" he asked.

Taurus looked down at him and glared. "Your sister's exsistance in itself is wrong," he growled. "She's a demon cub. she's cursed! She. Is. Bad!"

"Aquila is*not* bad!" Alcor countered "She's good! Very good!"

"Oh give it a rest, will you?" Taurus said, pushing Alcor back with his paw. "You're just too young to understand!"

He picked me up by the scruff of my neck and spread his wings. I watched my home get smaller and smaller as he flew away.

I had dozed off sometime during the flight and the next thing I knew, I was being set down on cold stone.

I watched as Taurus walked away and spread his wings.

"Taurus?" I called out to him, and he stopped. "Where are you going?" I asked.

He turned to face me. "Don't speak to me," he spat "I'd rather not have your curse spread to me and my clan." With that, he spread his red-brown wings and took to the air, leaving me beside the river.

A few minutes after he had left me, I heard a twig snap and I whirled around at the sudden noise. I spotted a tanish-gray wolf without wings. I knew that fang furies could shed their wings, but I had never tried. I thought about what my sister, Lyra, had once said; "You just need to picture your wings folding away completely."

I folded my wings tight against by back and tried thinking about what I would look like without wings. They began to feel sort of tingly and anfter the sensation faded, I looked at my warped reflection in the stream. My eyes widened in surprise; not only was I without my wings, my entire appearance had been altered. Gone was my pitch black fur and it its place was muddy brown fur with dark rowan patches. I was so wrapped up in my new appearance, that I didn't notice someone sneaking up behond me.

When I turned around, I found myself nose-to-nose with a white cub about my age.

"Hi! I'm Star!" the cub yipped.

"Aquila," I replied, simply.

"Odd name," she commented.

I was just about to retort that it was not, but before I could say anything she grinned.

"I like it!" She sniffed me and I backed up slightly. "So, where ya from Quill?" she asked me "You don't smell like pines, that's for sure!"

"First of all, it's Aquila, not Quill," I said "Second of all, no I'm not from around here, I'm quite aways from home, to be exact."

"Star!" A new voice called out and we both whipped around to see the gray-tan wolf from earlier coming towards us.

"I said I'd take you on an adventure, not that you could go it solo," he said, giving a small smile.

"Sorry, Twig," Star apologised.

Twig shook his head. "It's fine. Who's your friend?"

Star smiled. "This is Quill! Can she come home with us?" she asked.

Twig looked at me. "Is there a reason you would like to come with us? Don't you have a pack of your own?"

"No and no. It was Star's idea and I was left here," I said, trying to answer both questions at once. "And my name isn't Quill, it's Aquila."

Twig led us through the thorn barrier and Star chattered on about her pack.

"You're going to love it here! You and I can be like sisters! Oh, by the way, you'll also be getting a brother, because I have a brother. His name is Fang. Oh, hey! wouldn't it be so cool if you two ended up together? Then we really*would*be sisters!"

I stayed silent, because even if I*had*wanted to say anything, I wouldn't have been able to.

Twig shooed Star away towards one of the dens and led me towards a large rock with a cave in its side.

"Alpha, are you in there?" Twig called.

"Yes I'm in here, now what do you want?" a voice snapped. A black wolf with a white stripe on the left side of its muzzle came to the mouth of the cave. "You'd better have a good eason for interupting my meal," he snarled.

"This pup was left by the river nearest the town. I was hoping she could stay."

"Fine, I'll announce it later on," the wolf grumbled. "Now if that is all, I'd like to get back to my meal."

Without giving Twig a chance to reply, he whipped around and stalked back inside the cave.

"You can go play with the other pups," Twig said.

I sat silently next to the Alpha ontop of the rock and watched as the pack gathered below. Once all the wolves were gathered, he cleared his throat.

"We are gathered here to accept this pup into our pack," he said. "I give her the name Rowan, for the color of her fur."

"Um, sorry, but my name is Aquila," I said.

He looked down at me. "*You* do not get to choose your name," he growled at me. "Your name is Rowan and that is finale."

"Rowan," *I thought, as more memories returned.*"I am Rowan.

## Chapter 8

**Snow:**

I listened to the steady breathing of the group as they slept. I could hear that someone was awake, however. I recognized the wheezy breath of Freddy.

After helping get us out and then going back for Fawn and the others, he had breathed in quite a bit of smoke. He was wheezing alot when he first came back, but it had gotten worse over the last few days. I was worried that he might end up with some sort of infection, but I had no idea what I could do.

I stood up and carefully wove around the sleeping forms of my friends, making my way over to Freddy.

"Hey," I whispered and I felt his gaze land on me.

"Hey," he rasped.

"You doing okay?" I asked.

"I'm just worried about Fawn," he confessed.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," I said "She's strong, she'll make it through."

He sighed. "I sure hope so... I couldn't forgive myself if something were to happen to her."

I layed my hand on his shoulder. "Even if something *were* to happen, it wouldn't be your fault. Fawn made the choice to go back into the fire, not you." I shook my head "You couldn't have stopped her, no matter what."

"No it *would* be my fault! It was my fault she was separated from the herd, that's the whole reason we're in this mess."

I nodded. "That may be, but knowing Fawn, she would have probably left the herd eventually anyways. Plus, if you had kept better track of her, you never would have met all of us. It's because of you that we're all here. *You* were the first member of this group. *You* were the one with the idea to rescue Crow and Jay. *You* were the one who found Kip and Becca." I smiled. "Without you, none of *this* would be possible. You've been here for all of us, and if anything happens, we'll all be here for you."

"I guess you're right," he said "Thanks, Snow."

"Anytime, Freddy. Anytime."

## Chapter 9

**Alcor:**

I awoke to the sound of coughing and I raised my head. Freddy was violently coughing and Snow was trying to get him outside.

"The air is fresher closer to the town," she said.

"I'm fine. I don't need-" he broke off into another bout of coughing.

I stood up and went over to them. "Honey helps," I said.

Snow turned her sightless eyes in my direction. "Where did you learn that?" she asked.

"My sister was healer," I said. "She taught me things."

"Well I'm glad she did," Snow said. "The only problem is where to find the honey, i don't think that we should go back to the forest just yet."

"Humans throw out things. I could go look," I offered, but Freddy shook his head.

"I don't wan't you to risk getting caught for me. Anyways, I thought you didn't like me."

I smiled. "Sorry, didn't know you before. Wasn't sure if you'd try to go against me."

He just shook his head. "Whatever."

"Anyways, you need honey," I persisted "I'm getting it." Before he could persist any more, I had left the shed and taken off.

## Chapter 10

**Rowan:**

I left Kip asleep against a charred tree and went to find something to eat. I experemented with my new found wings and figured out how to get off the ground. I found that I could see quite a bit better and was able to clearly see the forest floor from high in the air. I spotted a rabbit and dove down and snapped my wings out close to the ground. I hissed in pain as the air hit my wings hard and bent them back. I crashed to the ground and tumbled a few feet before sliding to a stop.

I stood up and winced. I thought I might have sprained my wing, but when I peered back I saw the bone poking out.

"Great, my first try and I break my wing." I licked the blood off and tried to keep moving despite the pain. I go back to where I spotted the rabbit and picked it up. I headed in the direction that I thought I came from.

"I'm back," I said as I wearily aproached Kip. "I brought breakfast... or dinner," I said, looking at the darkening sky.

Kip looked up at me. "Thanks," he said "But I'm not hungry."

I dropped the rabbit in front of him. "You need to eat."

He shook his head. "I just want my family."

I lay down next to him, careful to not hurt my wing even more.

"I'm here for you and I'll help you find everyone as soon as I can, okay?"

He glared at me. "Why not now?" he asked.

I sighed and showed him my hurt wing. "I can't do much of anything at the moment."

"You could walk," he said, snidely.

I snorted. "I'm trying to help you, Kip! Can't you at least let me do that?!" I said flaring my wings up, then winceing.

He stared at me, stunned. "O-okay."

I sighed, realizing I had lost my temper. "Thank you. Now eat."

He quickly took a bite from the rabbit and I closed my eyes.

"I'll help you look for everyone else as soon as my wing heals, okay?"

Kip nodded and I layed my head down. I opened my eyes and stayed awake until he fell asleep.

## Chapter 11

**Freddy:**

Alcor didn't spend much time around the shed. Between him insisting on getting honey for my cough whenever I needed it and him disappearing for periods of time during the day, he spent almost no time near us. Sometimes I would wonder if her didn't really want to stay with us, but he would always come back.

I sighed, looking over at Snow. She was dozing at the moment. We had taken a walk near the town to help clear my chest. The air in the shed was pretty stuffy and I was finding it extreamly hard to breath. When we took walks, I would often start wheezing more than usual, so we would stop to rest before heading back.

I watched a leaf blow across the ground and get caught in a bush.

Suddenly Snow sat up. "We need to go," she said.

I listened for any sighn of movement and glanced around. "Why? I don't sense anything."

"Theres something over there," she said, pointing.

I looked where she had pointed and then I saw it. A black wolf was keeping in the shadows of the trees.

I stood up and we quickly headed back in the direction of the shed. I heard a twig snap and I looked back to see the wolf trotting after us. I was about to say something when Snow spoke up.

"We need to split up," she said.

"Okay," I agreed and we went separate ways. I knew she'd be fine on her own, she wasn't helpless.

I sped up from a trot to a full out dash. I wove in and out of the trees, hoping the wolf wouldn't give chase. I felt my chest tightening, but I didn't slow down.

After a while, I dared to peer back and saw nothing. I turned back to face foreward just intime to crash right into someone.

## Chapter 12

**???:**

I dashed back into the charred forest, grasping the stolen device and its charger in my hands. I had just stolen a camera from a human's house. It wasn't hard, just wait until they were at work and pick the lock on the door and I was in! Anyways, I had yet another human thing to add to my collection.

I braced my front hooves against one tree and my hind hooves against another and I was able to slowly inch my way up to where I had hidden my backpack. I grabbed my pack and dropped gracefully down from my perch.

I dropped my new camera in among the other human objects and dug through until I found the gaming system I had recently nabbed. I had collected quite a few games for it over the years, but until recently, I hadn't been able to get the actual system.

I took out a game that looked interesting and inserted it into the slot on the consol. I turned it on and selected the game. The game loaded and showed the title screen. I pressed the A button to start the game and was reading the text when I heard hoofbeats. I looked up from my game to see another cervitaur coming towards me.He turned to face foreward, but not in time. He crashed into me and sent my game to go flying.

He stood up and I glared up at him.

"Do you have any idea what you just cost me?!" I shouted angrily at him. "It took me forever to find that game consol!"

"Sorry," he muttered and I scoffed.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" I said, then noticed he was walking away. "Don't you walk away from me!" I yelled and I trotted to catch up.

I walked alongside him, I was going to make him understand exactly what he did.

"You know it's rude to walk away from a conversation," I said. He didn't respond.

I tried again, "So, where are you going?"

He sighed. "Home."

"Okay, so where is that?"

He glared at me, he was getting annoyed, good. "What's it to you?"

"Just wondering," I said, shrugging.

"My name's Randy," I said.

No reply.

"What's yours?" I pushed.

He muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nevermind."

"Oh, okay. Well do you have any friends?" I pressed.

"Do you ever stop talking?" he asked through gritted teeth.

I smiled, I was getting to him. "I can."

"Then please do."

I moved a bit closer to him. "Why should I?"

He groaned. "Just stop following me, okay?! I'm not interested in you, so just leave me alone!"

"Jeez, fine!" I said "You don't have to be rude about it!" I sat down and crossed my arms.

He huffed and continued walking. I stood back up then realized what he had said.

*"Wait, he thought I was flirting with him?"* I thought and snickered.

I continued following him at a distance, I still wanted to know where he lived. At one point he met up with a white cervitaur and the two continued walking together.

Evenyually they ducked inside a shed near the town and I set my stuff down near the edge of the trees.

"Well that's an odd place for a herd to live," I said to myself, then shook my head. To each their own.

I decided just to set up camp near here insted of moving farther from the town.

I pulled blankets out of my pack and tied them together and the trees making a tent.

After it was done, I crawled inside and closed my eyes.

## Chapter 13

**Snow:**

I stood, listening for Freddy near the edge of the tree line. I had escaped the wolf or werewolf or whatever it was quite easily. I think it might have given up after Freddy and I split up. Either that or it had chased Freddy.

I heard a rustle in the bushes and swivled my ears to listen. I relaxed as I heard Freddy's labored breathing and turned around.

"Good, you made it," I said.

"Yeah, though I crashed into someone else earlier. Literally."

We started heading in the direction of the shed. "Well, I think they're following you," I said.

"Yeah, I was aware of that, she's been upwind most of the way, so I could smell her."

I snorted. "Not very bright of her, then. I knew because I could hear her."

We walked in silence pretty much the rest of the way there with the girl tailing us the whole way.

## Chapter 14

**Rowan:**

I saw Freddy and Snow near the edge of town and headed in their direction.

Suddenly Snow shot up and stood up. They spoke to one another and Snow pointed in my direction.

They began to leave, so I sped up, trying to catch them. Freddy looked back and saw me, but sped up and the two split up.

I wanted to speak with Freddy more, so I dashed after him, but soon had to stop, as my broken wing thumped painfully against my flank.

I sighed and turned around, heading back the direction I had come from.

## Chapter 15

**Becca:**

Star and I left as the sun was setting. The full moon was tonight, so that meant I would be having my first transformation. Star wanted to help me get control of my beast form, so she was coming as well.

We went semi-deep into the forest, we had to be far enough away that if something went wrong, I wouldn't hurt the group.

The light of the full moon shone through the trees.

"You need to try to focus on something to keep you sane while you transform," Star told me. "Since this is your first transformation, you won't be able to control it in sense that you can stop it, you'll just have to try to keep your instincts under control. Think you can do that?"

I nodded. "I'll try."

I tensed, preparing myself for extreame pain, but the sensation that came wasn't exactly painful. I felt myself being forced out of my wolf form and into my more humanoid form. Or so I thought.

This was different, instead of my tail growning longer and my ears larger and sliding down slightly, my ears stayed in the exact place as they were in my wolf form and my tail the same length. My back hunched over, forcing me to go back to being on all fours. I looked at my hands and saw that my fur was alightly darker than usual and my claws were black instead of deep russet.

I glanced over at Star, but she hadn't changed. She nodded at me and motioned for me to follow her.

I lumbered after her, disliking how hard it was to move silently with such a bulky body. We crossed the stream and entered a small clearing where the light of the moon was very strong.

My vision became slightly clouded and it was harder to fight off my instincts.

"You're doing really well," Star commented. "Even I had trouble on my first try, so if anything happens, don't feel bad."

I nodded. "Don't....worry....It....okay," I said. I stumbled over each word, it was really hard to speak.

Some of the clouds above us covered the moon and I was able to slightly relax. The moonlight wasn't as strong now.

We where headed towards the edge of the clearing when the light became a bit brighter. It wasn't that much at first, but then it got brighter. I tried to get my focus back on my brother, but I couldn't. My vision started to cloud and all I wanted to do was hunt.

I ran towards the trees, I smelled the warm blood of an animal. I tracked the animal to the base of a tree near the stream. I noticed a burrow and stuck my nose in.

I felt something tighten around my neck and pulled back, scratching at it. A wire pulled upwards and I was left scrabbling for grip with by hind paws.

I felt the urge to kill fade and be replaced by pure terror. I felt the wire around my throat loosen then tighten again as my form shrank. I was no longer tall enough to touch the ground and I franticly pulled at the wire, trying to get it to loosen.

I felt it dig into my flesh and felt warm blood start to trickle down my neck. My fingertips were raw and bleeding, shredded from pulling at the wire. My struggles became weaker as my vision began to fade. I let out a feeble whimper and started to cry. I was going to die here. I was never going to see Kip again, I would never be able to protect the group like Fang and Star did, I would never get to grow up.

## Chapter 16

**Randy:**

My face was illuminated by the light of one of the phones I had in my backpack. I was playing a game called Flappy Bird. I didn't get the point of the game, all I knew was that it was very addicting. My high score was 308, but I couldn't get anywhere near that now.

I heard a shill yip and froze. I pressed the phone's power button and set it down and listened. I heard whimpers and crawled out of my tent to investigate. I followed the sound to a river, but then there was nothing but silence. There was, however, the strong stench of blood, which sent chills down my spine.

I followed the metallic stench and found a young wolf creature hanging from a wire. My eyes widened in horror and I quickly approached the trap, casting aside all caution. I took the creature in my arms and lifted it up. The wire around its neck loosened and I was able to pull it free.

The wire had cut into the creature's neck and I now had blood covering my shirt, but I really didn't care. All that mattered for now was to get this creature away from here and hope it won't try to eat me when it wakes up.

I brought the creature to my tent where I untied one of the blankets from the mess and went back the the river. I came back with the soked blanket and wiped away most of the blood. Other than that, I had no idea what to do, as I'd never treated such a severe wound, just scrapes and bruises.

After the wound was clean, I untied another blanket from my tent and layed it over the creature.

I wanted to stay awake and keep watch, but I knew I wouldn't be able to. Instead, I layed my head down and just had to hope I wouldn't be killed in my sleep.

## Chapter 17

**Rowan:**

I was awoken by the feeling of cold water on my face and opened my eyes to see a drop of water hit the ground in front of me. I looked up to see the sky clouded over.

"Hey Kip!" I whispered into the darkness.

No reply.

"Kip? You there?" I said, a bit louder.

Still no reply.

I stood up and sniffed the air. Kip's scent was stale, he must have wandered off earlier that night. I winced as another raindrop fell. I'd better hurry before the rain washed his scent away.

I tracked him to the stream near the camp. The rain was coming down pretty hard and the stream had flooded it's banks. There was no way I was getting accross that. Lightning cut accross the sky followed by thunder, causing me to jump.

I shook myself, then winced at the pain in my left wing. It was less, but still not fully healed. I decided to try and find the others and headed towards the town.

## Chapter 18

**Randy:**

I was lightly dozing when I heard a rustle outside my tent. I sat up scooted foreward in order to poke my head out of my tent. I saw a black wolf nearby and frowned.

*"Great just what I need, another predator in the vicinity,"* I thought.

Remembering what had worked a few times before, I let out a low growl, trying to warn it off. Instead, it turned in the direction of the noise and came towards me.

*"Crap."*

I could see it sniffing the air as it came nearer.

"Becca?" It said. "I smell you."

I sat silenty, hoping it would just go away, but no, yet another came.

"Hey, you looking for me?" the smaller brown wolf asked and the black one turned.

"I was earlier, where were you?"

The smaller wolf shook its head. "Not sure, near a river."

The black wolf sniffed the air again. "We should go back," it said before leading the brown wolf away.

I sighed in relief, then heard a noise behind me. I twisted around to see the wolf creature stirring.

It coughed weakly and looked at me.

"Where am I?" it asked. "Who are you?"

I flicked my ear, it didn't seem hostile, so that was good. "You were caught in a trap. I saved you and brought you to my camp. I'm Randy by the way."

The wolf creature nodded. "I remember the trap. Thank you. I'm Becca."

Becca, that was who the black wolf was looking for! "Someone was looking for you," I told her.

She perked up. "Was it a white wolf?" she asked.

I shook my head. "A black wolf."

She looked confused. "I don't know any black wolves."

I shrugged. "I don't know then."

Becca crawled over to me and curled up against me. I stiffened.

She sighed and I could tell she had fallen back asleep.

I layed down, curling around her and let myself fall back to sleep. For some wolf thing, she wasn't half bad.

I woke up the next day with my blanket tent weighted down by the rain. I sighed and went outside, careful not to wake Becca.

I pulled down my tent and wrung the blankets out the best I could. Once I was finished, I stuffed them in a plastic bag that I had in my backpack.

"Hey, time to get up," I said, shaking Becca.

"Why?" she asked, wearily.

"The rain soaked our tent, so we have to find a dryer place to shelter," I said, motioning to the area where our tent was.

"I know a place we can go," Becca said, getting up.

"Well then, lead the way," I said, motioning for her to take the lead.

It turns out, the place she was talking about was the shed that the other cervitaurs went into.

"Are you sure we'll be welcome here?" I asked, doubtfully.

She nodded. "This is where my friends are staying." She entered the shed without hesitation, but I followed more warily. Once my eyes had adjusted to the gloom, I could see a variety of creatures in the the shed. A white wolf creature, much like Becca, pushed towards the fornt.

"Becca! I was wondering what had happened to you!" the creature said.

Becca hugged it, perhaps they were related?

"I'm fine, thanks to Randy," Becca said, pointing at me.

I nodded "I couldn't just leave her caught in the trap," I said.

"Trap?" the white one questioned.

Becca nodded. "Like the one Mom was stuck in." She shuddered.

The white creature flattened its ears. "The Half Moon Pack is causing more trouble than before. We weren't even on their territorry!" She looked back at me. "Thank you for helping her. I'm sure Freddy wouldn't mind if you stayed here to get out of the rain."

"Thank you," I said.

She led me over to where there were some other cervitaurs. "This is Snow, Keesh, Freddy, Red, and Rose."

I folded my legs underneath me and joined them. "I'm Randy," I said, introducing myself.

Rose shifted closer to me and grabbed for my backpack. "What's this?" she asked, pulling a few things out.

"Human things," I told her and her eyes lit up.

"Do you think you could get me yarn?" she whispered. "I used to be able to find stuff around the forest, but it's all been destroyed."

I smiled. "I'm sure I could get some next time I go."

"Great! I'll make you a sweater or something in return, okay?"

I nodded. "That sounds nice."

## Chapter 19

**Freddy:**

Star brought the girl from earlier over to where I was laying wih some of the others. She introduced herself as Randy, then settled down near the edge. Rose almost immediately went over to Randy and the two started whispering back and forth.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Snow. "We should probably check out the damage done to the camp," I said and she nodded.

"The fire should be out and if there is any flames, the rain will take care of them."

"We should also keep an eye out for Fawn," I said. I went to the front of the shed and stamped my hoof to gain the attention of the others.

"I'm going to check the damage to the camp. I want Fang, Snow, and Keesh to come with me." I made sure to only pick the ones who I *knew* wouldn't mess around.

We trecked through the blackened forest. I wrinkled my nose at the putrid oder of wet ash. We approached the camp only to find that it was flooded. The stream that had gone past it had gone over the banks and covered the lower ground. In the camp, the water brushed my belly fur, but Star and Fang had to swim. Surprisingly, the current wasn't too strong, so we were able to move around without too much hassle.

The walls and dens were ruined. What was left from the fire was scattered about by the flooded stream. The four of us worked most of the afternoon cleaning the debris from the water.

We left the camp drenched and exausted. I decided that rather make the journey back to the shed, we could stay nearby, as long as it wasn't too wet.

"We should stay near here if we can find a semi-dry place," I said, voicing my thoughts.

Keesh nodded in agreement. It would make no sense to waste time by going back to the shed only to return in the morning.

We found a large pine that, while blackened and burnt, protected the ground underneath from most of the rain. Keesh and I folded our legs underneath us and Snow and Fang curled up together before falling asleep.

## Chapter 20

**Star:**

I was awoken in the middle of the night by splashing. I stood up and left the shelter of the large pine. I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see what it was. I noticed a familiar brown wolf and my eyes widened as I recognized Kip.

"Kip!" I called out and he turned in my direction.

"Who's there?" He asked.

I headed towards him. "It's me, Star."

He raced over to me. "Star! I got separated from Fawn in the fire, but someone saved me and she wouldn't let me go to look for you guys and-"

I cut him off. "You can tell me about it later, but right now I should get you back to where we're staying."

He nodded and then followed me to the pine tree.

I shook Freddy awake and he blinked sleepily up at me.

"Whazzat?" He said, still half asleep.

"I found Kip and I'll be taking him back to the shed," I told him.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay, you go do that."

I shook my head, I probably wouldn't get through to him completly. I went over to my brother and lightly tapped him. He jumped up and snarled at me.

"Woah, relax, Fang!" I said "It's just me."

He stared at me. "Star? What's the big idea?"

"I found Kip and I'm taking him back to the shed. I need you to let Freddy know."

He nodded. "I'll be sure to do that."

I wrinkled my nose; my paws were caked in mud and everyting smelled like wet ash. I flicked my paws earning groans of annoyance from the few of our group that were awake near the entrance to the shed.

"Sorry," I muttered.

After Kip was settled, I woke up Snow, Jay, and Rose. We left and headed back towards the camp.

As we were walking, Snow paused.

"What is it?" I asker her, heading back.

"I hear someone it that direction," she said, pointing.

"I'm on it!" Rose said, bounding off in the direction that Snow had pointed.

"Hey! Rose, come back!" I called after her. I sighed, she wouldn't listen.

## Chapter 21

**Rose:**

I bounded in the direction that Snow had pointed. I froze as I found myself at a expanse of water. I looked accross the water and saw a hunched over form.

I waded into the water and lunged foreward. Fighting against the current, I swam through the water. Reaching the other side, I shook myself off.

"Rose! Get back over here!"

I turned around to see Jay on the opposite side of the bank.

"You're not the boss of me!" I retorted.

"Sleeping," a voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see a cervitaur that looked different than any other I've ever seen. His skin was a very dark tan and his antlers were curved back rather than out.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

He didn't answer verbally, but shugged his shoulders.

"Do you have a name?"

He shrugged again.

I looked around us. Water, mud, ash.... I looked up at the singed branches of the trees around us. They were pine trees.

"How about Pine?" I asked.

"Okay."

"Wanna come back with me?"

He shrugged. "Dunno."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on."

He stood up and wordlessly followed me to the edge of the water.

"The current's fierce," Pine said.

"Actually, it's not too bad. You just have to go for it."

He shook his head.

"Just follow my lead, it'll be fine."

We waded into the water and I lurched foreward. I glanced back to see that Pine had stopped.

"It's okay, just swim!"

He shook his head and I twisted around and swam back. It's not that hard! I'll help you, just go first."

He hesitantly went further into the water and I followed closely behind.

Once we reached the other side I shook off, but Pine stood there dripping.

"Come on already!" Jay said "We should be going to where the others are!"

I shook my head. "Yeah, yeah. Alright."

The sun was beginning to come up by the time we finally reached the place that the group that had left the day before was sheltering.

The ones under the tree were beginning to stir and we waited for them to fully wake up. Once they were ready, we all headed out to the camp.

Pine and Snow helped Freddy and Keesh remove the fallen tree from the camp while the rest of us worked on clearing the smaller debris.

Once the debris was cleared, we began digging through one side of the camp's walls. The water had gone down most of the way elswhere, but since the camp was in a small hollow, the water just sat there.

We worked for hours, but finally we were able to get through enough that the pressure of the water shoved the rest of the dirt away and the water began rushing out.