Chapter 1

The moon was just starting to appear behind the mountains as the two friends climbed up the grassy embankment over their new den, making themselves comfortable. The strange pair sat in silence, at ease in each other's company. Both were lost in their memories over the past couple of weeks.

Gabu, the shaggy dark brown wolf, couldn't help but think about the pack he had left behind. They had been furious when they had learned about his new friend. They had given him a choice, betray his best friend or suffer the consequences, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He would rather die than have to double-cross Mei.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Gabu asked, breaking the silence. He was referring to the full moon that was continuing to rise before them.

"Yeah, it really is," Mei responded, sighing happily.

"I have been waiting so long to watch the moon rise with you, Mei."

"Me too, Gabu, but it was definitely worth the wait. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," agreed the wolf, "this is the best one ever."

Mei, the small white goat, let his mind wonder back to their trip over the mountains. They had gotten stuck in the snowstorm and had been trapped in a makeshift den for several days. He knew that he would be dead right now if it weren't for his friend keeping him warm. They had both suffered during the trip, but in the end it had all been worth it.

"Gabu?" Mei spoke up, after a moment of silence.

"Hmm . . ." Gabu turned away from the view to glance at the goat sitting next to him.

"We're finally able to be together. Aren't we?"

"Yes, Mei," he said, smiling at the thought. "We'll always be together. I promise."

The next morning, Gabu woke up to something brushing against his side.

Raising his head drowsily, he opened his mouth in a huge yawn before smacking his tongue against his lips. Still half asleep, Gabu turned his barely open eyes towards the body that was snuggled up next to him. A smile grew on his face at the sight of the small white body. The grin quickly turned into a frown as the sound of his stomach rumbling reached his ears.

Carefully, in order to not wake up his sleeping friend, Gabu slowly got to his feet and snuck out of the den.

Once outside, the wolf extended his front paws out in front of him allowing his bottom to stick up in the air as he stretched. He then gave himself a good shake before heading off into the woods behind his new home to search for something to eat.

Wandering through the trees, Gabu did see a couple squirrels jumping around in the branches above him, and he smelled some mice close by, but he was hoping to catch something a litter bigger. A rabbit, maybe . . . or even a deer, if he could manage to take one down by himself. It had seemed like weeks since he last ate.

It wasn't long before he came to the end of the cover of trees. He paused at the edge of the tree line, studying the scene before him.

Roughly a grown trees distance in front of him was a stream and the soft sounds of water running over rocks reached his ears.

Gabu slowly inched his way down the pile of rocks that were the only obstacle that stood in his way of the stream. Making it down unscathed, he felt his feet sink slightly down into the sand. He was shocked to discover that the new surface under his paws felt cool despite the hot sun that was beating down.

"Hey!" came a growl from across the stream.

Glancing up, Gabu jumped in surprise and took a couple frightened steps back on his hind legs.

A small group of wolves had appeared on the other side of the stream. The one that Gabu assumed had called out to him, was standing on top of a boulder near the water's edge, staring daggers at him . . . and he looked an awful lot like Giro, his former pack leader.

"Who are you?" the wolf barked again. He was starting to sound less irritated, and more curious. The intense stare even seemed to warm slightly.

Taking another look at the wolf, Gabu's racing heart began to return to normal. It wasn't Giro. The mutt did have the same black coat, and gray fur circled his mouth along with running up his legs in a similar appearance, but this wolf still had both of his ears in tack and the scar covering Giro's left eye was missing. He didn't recognize any of the other wolves either.

"Gabu," he called back when he was able to speak, and stepped closer to the stream. "I had to travel over the mountains to get here," he explained, nodding towards the trees behind him.

"You came over the Enchanted Peaks!" exclaimed one of the male wolves that were gathered close by. "By yourself?"

Thinking it would be best not to mention Mei, Gabu nodded in agreement.

"You must by hungry after your trip. Why don't you join us for a hunt?" the wolf on the rock asked, inviting him over.

Mei blinked open his eyes and raised his head. Turning in search of his friend, he quickly realized that he was alone. Getting to his feet, he made his way over to the den's entrance.

"Gabu?" he called out, scanning the grassy meadow. The sun was already high in the sky. "He must have gone hunting," he said to himself.

Mei's stomach growled in agreement, reminding him that he had missed breakfast.

Deciding to get something to eat while he waited for his friend to return, the goat stepped out into the sunlight. He headed around to the back of the burrow before bending down to taste the grass.

"Mmm . . ." he moaned around the green meal that he was chewing on. Swallowing, he bent down again to continue eating.

"Wait for me!"

"Hurry up, Sada!"

Mei raised his head, and glanced in the direction of the woods. Branches were shaking as some creature jumped nimbly from limb to limb.

"Slow down!" someone squeaked in annoyance.

A squirrel came to a stop on a branch that was just a few feet above Mei's head. The little animal turned his head back the way he had just come.

"What's taking you so long?" he called.

A second squirrel suddenly appeared on the branch, staring angrily at its companion. This one was slightly smaller than the first.

"Mom said we have to stay together!" she cried.

"We would if you could keep up!" the first one shouted back.

"Hi," Mei spoke up, hoping to stop the argument that was beginning to grow between the pair. "I'm Mei."

"Sadow," greeted the first one before nodding towards his companion, "and the runt is my sister, Sada."

Sada sent her brother a glare before turning towards the goat.

"I didn't know there were any goats on this side of the stream," Sada said, tilting her head as she studied Mei.

"I just got here yesterday," the goat informed them.

"Where did you come from?" Sadow asked.

Mei stood up on his back legs and pointed one hoof towards the mountains behind him. "My friend and I traveled over those to get here."

The two squirrels gasped, their eyes getting big as they stared at the large peaks that were off in the distance.

"The Enchanted Peaks!" Sadow exclaimed.

"Oh, is that what they're called?" Mei asked, taking another look at the landscape. He let out a soft laugh as he turned back to the siblings, scratching his head in thought. "We did travel a long ways before even getting to The Peaks."

"Well, where's your friend?" Sada spoke up. "We can give you guy's a tour."

"I'm not sure," Mei said, getting back down on all fours. "He left our burrow this morning before I even got up . . . Full Moon Burrow."

"What?" Sada questioned.

"We named the small cave last night Full Moon Burrow," Mei explained, smiling at the memory.

"Okay, well, we can show you around now. When you see your friend, you can show him," Sadow replied excitedly.

"Yeah," agreed his sister. "We might even run into your friend on our way."

"Alright." The goat nodded.

Sadow stood up straight on his branch, digging his back claws into the wood to keep from falling. With one paw, he pointed behind Mei. "Like we said before, the mountains are The Enchanted Peaks."

Sada reached out with one paw to identify the meadow they were on the outskirts of. "And this is Pleasant Valley. A lot of the animals come here to eat the grass."

"It is tasty." Mei nodded in agreement.

"Come on," Sadow said, turning around. "Follow us." And he jumped to a nearby tree farther back in the woods.

Instead of attempting to keep up with her brother again, Sada chose to claw her way down the tree and hopped onto Mei's back. Together, they followed Sadow into the woods.

"This is Lush Wood!" Sadow called from out of sight.

"That's our home there," Sada announced. She had one tiny paw gripping a small clump of Mei's fur as she pointed up at the tree they were just passing under.

Following Sada's line of sight, Mei looked up at what appeared to be some form of nest with twigs and leaves. It sat in between a couple of limbs about twenty feet off the ground.

Mei was about to respond when a bird flew up just inches from his face, causing him to jump slightly in surprise.

"Sada!" chirped the skinny bird. The creatures red head looked bright compared to her brown body. "Who is your friend?" she asked, coming to rest at the goat's feet.

Sada stood up on Mei's back, resting her front paws on his head as she stretched her neck out in order to see the bird.

"This is Mei. He's new around here. My brother and I were just showing him around," the squirrel replied.

"Hi, I'm Mino," she introduced herself. She was hopping around on the grassy floor in excitement.

"And this is Doi," Sadow spoke up from a low branch. Another bird, this one chubbier than the first, was standing next to him.

Doi, Mino's mate, had blue feathers covering his head and went down his back to his tail. His stomach was a bright yellow.

Doi nodded at Mei in greeting, before turning to Sadow. "Have you showed him the stream yet?"

"Not yet," Sadow said. "This way." And he was gone again. The other animals quickly took off in pursuit.

Pushing his way through some bushes, Mei suddenly found himself out of the cover of trees. He managed to come to an abrupt stop before tumbling down a wall of rocks.

It wasn't long before all of his new friends had gathered around him.

Looking down at the stream below him, the goat couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"The sand! It's . . ."

"This is Silver Sand Beach," Mino happily announced, clearly enjoying the shocked expression on Mei's face.

Mei pried his eyes away from the sand, and looked up to take in the rest of the landscape.

"I hope you guys are planning on warning your new friend about crossing the stream."

The five friends turned as one to welcome the new creature.

A young female bunny was just climbing out of her burrow under one of the bushes. She shook a couple leaves out of her brown coat before approaching the group.

"We were getting to that," Sadow stated firmly. His red fur puffed up in irritation of his tour being interrupted yet again.

"That's Hara," Sada whispered into Mei's ear. "She's only a couple weeks old, but she thinks she's smarter than all of us."

Hara hopped over to the group on her short and stubby legs. She nodded in the direction of a dark, creepy looking forest that was on the other side of the stream.

"That is the Black Forest, home to a furious wolf pack."