CHAPTER TWO

Departure

The Moon was now over the small shape of the little black Wolf Erchen, who couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever see them, his Colony, again. He might get lost, or get killed, or die from hunger.

"Stop it!" he growled to himself. "Just, think natural, okay?" The wolf's tail lashed to and fro nervously. With every pawstep he made, dead leaves crunched underneath him. Erchen whimpered slightly as the Moon's cold glow vanished underneath the hard clouds. The cowardly Erchen shrank back in terror.

"Come on, Serene!" Spark urged. "Erchen's afraid. Let's go help him!"

"No. We watch over him, and help him in danger. Anyways, we're not far enough from Dark Tree yet!" Serene retorted. Spark growled in reply but nodded reluctantly. As stubborn as she was, what Serene said made sense.

"Okay, Spark?" Serene demanded.

"...Okay," Spark surrendered. Serene nodded thanks and stealthily followed Erchen's fear scent.

"Oh, Serene! He's scared. Please?" Spark said loftily.

"If we appear, he'll be more scared - for our sake," Serene said. Spark pawed the ground idly, but gave a stubborn nod.

"Good," Serene replied. She trudged forward slowly and peered through the leaves. She saw, a while ahead, a small balck shap shivering. Serene guessed it was Erchen. His gaze turned to her; He had heard the leaves rustle. Serene shrank back quickly, leaving a terrified Erchen.

"Wait before we move on," Spark suggested. "He knows something's following him."

Erchen did know something was following. He puffed up his fur to make it look as if he were strong and confident - two things he knew he wasn't. His eyes were dull with fear.

"Okay, Erchen!" he told himself sternly. "Nothing is after you, nothing at all." He forced himself to try and hunt. The rabbit Forever gave him was small and did not feed Erchen properly. His nose wrenched up in disgust: Fresh fox dung. A thought welled in his brain: The fox was following him! Foxes were strong, but not as strong as wolves. If this was an adult fox, I'm doomed, Erchen thought grimly. He pushed the thought from his head. Maybe it was just the wind. A close rustle was behind him now, he silently crouched and sprang, catching a fat rabbit. He licked his lips. He scented the place - he was far from Dark tree. He couldn't smell the scent markers anymore. Another scent - wolf scent. He closed his eyes in anger.

"Come out, Spark, Serene!" he howled angrily. "I know you're there!" The two females hesitated; Spark nodded.

"Hi, Erchie!" Spark said shrilly. "Miss us?" Serene smiled, but Erchen was angry now.

"I told you, don't come!" he said scornfully. He licked his jaws from the fat rabbit, then sprang onto Spark and Serene. His paws shook.

"Good to see you happy!" Serene said with a laugh. That was Erchen's way of greeting his friends. Spark nudged Erchen's side.

"Rest," she said. "Fore told me where to get herbs to get rid pf hunger. We'll bring those along."

"Herbs to - what?" Erchen asked.

"To keep you full and healthy, Erch," Serene said. Erchen gave a slight nod.

Erchen lay down on a pile of damp leaves. The leaves were dead and had moss chunks around, so it was soft. Soon Erchen's body heat let the damp leaves warm up a bit. He fell asleep soon and was roused awake by his companions, urging him to eat the herbs Spark had promised. Erchen chewed and ate them up and slept some more. Spark and Serene each found a place to sleep.

It grew colder after that. Hours later snow began to fall steadily on the frozen ground. A day was spent playing and joking in the snow, cultivating the last of some herbs, and eating and sleeping. The day passed quickly, until they all slept in the cold of No-leaf season.

They had woke up at dawn and had been hunting for a bit. Spark had found some more herbs and they had eaten the deer Serene had caught, with the herbs. They had headed out near sunrise and the sun was in the center of the sky now. They were still in forest grounds. Once they had met a fox, resulting in bloodshed. Echen had suffered from shallow shoulder wounds before Serene had killed the fox.

"Thanks," Erchen said shakily as Spark licked his wounds. "And for you, too, Serene. That fox almost had my head." Serene hid a laugh and Spark smiled.

"Happy we came, Erchen?" Inquired Spark innocently. Erchen just growled at her. They walked along more. It was nearing sunset when a loud bang interrupted their hunt. Erchen hissed as the baby deer he had stealthily been stalking ran. His head turned and his ears pricked when he heard Spark howl, "Erchen, Serene! A human!"

Erchen ran as another bang was heard. A stinging pain burst into his left hind leg, and it was bleeding heavily. Serene snarled and Spark threw herself at the human, who swore. The Human shot Serene, who dodged, and got ready to shoot Spark. She pulled the gun away from him and, claws unsheathed, scratched his head. He turned with a yell and stumbled, grabbing his gun. He would've shot Serene in the gut if he had any more bullets. The Human swore again. The Human ran, seeing he was beaten. Snow flung as his heavy boots moved.

A crimson stain was in the white snow where Erchen lay. His hind leg ached a lot and Erchen gritted his fangs at the pain. Spark recovered from her battle, so did Serene.

"Well, that was close..." She began, and shrieked, "Erchen, you're hurt!" Spark's eyes widened.

"Haven't noticed," Erchen drawled stiffly. His breathing came in quicker and heavier. Spark began to rip strands of fur from her coat: so did Serene. They both applied it to his wound after Spark cleaned it. Serene ran to a pine and began clawing her way up, ripping off hard pine sap from the tree. She had gathered a lot and she began to apply the stiff resin to Erchen's wound, to keep the fur they had applied on his injured hind leg. She breathed on it, so it melted, and put snow on it when it had shaped, so it would stiffen again. Erchen's eyelids drooped. He tried to stay awake, but surrendered to the dark blanket of sleep.

End chapter TWO