Chapter 10
'Lightning Bolt'
Only the cool whisper of a winter wind was all that could be heard on the snow covered slopes of the mountain, while a screen of cerulean blue plastered the sky. It took most of the morning for the group to travel down the mountain. Despite the snow getting shallower as they went it still put a stint on Plucky, Scarlet and Dash's pace. Perry was finding it much easier being able to fly, though he often flew off to scout ahead and point the others in the right direction.
As they went on downhill, Plucky paused for a moment. His hunger had heightened his senses and he could hear a muffled squeaking through the snow.
"You hear that?" Plucky asked Scarlet.
"Mice... or at least, a mouse..." Scarlet stated having now heard the squeaking too.
Plucky stayed silent in contemplation, "Wait here," he said, walking off to the direction of the noise.
"Plucky you're not going to catch anything; they'll be burrowing under the snow," Scarlet laughed, trying to stop him waste his energy.
"Just watch..." Dash then stopped her.
Plucky skulked off along the slope while Scarlet and Dash watched. Perry soon appeared and swooped down wondering why they had stopped.
"What's going on?" Perry asked.
"Plucky's going to catch a mouse..." Scarlet said sarcastically before Dash shushed her.
Plucky's ear twitched consistently, listening carefully for the squeaking and suddenly found the source. He positioned himself facing up the slope. He was still, listening and waiting for the right moment. And then he pounced. He pushed off the ground with all the force he could with his hind legs. He launched himself into the air and dived head first into the deep snow, half burying himself in the drift. Scarlet and Perry burst out in laughter when they saw Plucky's legs and tail trashing about in the air before he fell over and got back up onto all fours and shook the snow from his fur. Their laugh was suddenly cut off when they both saw him walking over with the mouse in his jaws.
"How the hell did you do that?!" Scarlet exclaimed in surprise.
"Obviously you've never hunted in snow before; here you can have it," Plucky joked and offered Scarlet the caught mouse.
"No you earned it."
"Take it, I can wait," Plucky insisted.
"Ok... thanks," Scarlet accepted the mouse but didn't eat it yet, she was too intrigued of how Plucky caught it, "but really though... when did you learn to do that?"
"Last winter, back in White Deer Park, it was quite a harsh one and food was scarce, so I decided to teach myself how to hunt in the deep snow," Plucky explained.
"It took a while though, most of the time it didn't work," Dash added, as she'd been with him when he was learning.
"One in five tries I find, but it always works when you face north," Plucky continued.
"I was just with it to see you jump head first into the snow... it was funny!" Dash laughed.
"I second that," Perry laughed too, but was also impressed.
"You've got to teach me that sometime," Scarlet said eagerly.
"I will," Plucky smiled, "but no point now, I think that mouse was alone, we should keep moving."
The others started off down the slope again while Scarlet ate up the mouse. Plucky offered it to her because of the ordeal she had experienced yesterday; she needed to regain her energy, especially since she was very near death. Scarlet was very grateful for this and once again she was indebted to him. She soon caught up with them after she'd eaten and continued downhill.
The valley they had entered was a forest full of all kinds of trees but coniferous pines were the majority. The thick canopy had meant that the snow on the forest floor was very thin, the groups paw-prints through the snow trailed behind them wherever they went. Perry had been flying high above the wood but soon swooped down and announced there was a stream not too far ahead of them. They were all relieved; finally they could all get a drink.
They soon reached the stream and all of them quenched their thirst. The water was very cold due to the recent snow fall so they each found it very refreshing. Plucky and Perry both went off to hunt having not eaten yet, leaving Scarlet and Dash by the stream. Scarlet lied down in the snow on the bank of the small torrent of water, basking in the warm sunshine. Dash hadn't eaten either but she didn't have to go far to find any food and she had soon wandered off picking and eating from blades of grass and some more raspberry plants that she had found.
As the hare wondered around there was a sudden rustle of leaves and Dash looked up from her munching. She stood still and pricked her ears up to listen around. She was vigilant... but there was nothing around her. She was about to walk off when, quite suddenly, a tree branch bent down right in front of her revealing another hare hanging upside down from it and they both stopped, staring at each other, startled by the sudden appearance.
"AHHH!" the two hares screamed at each other for a good few seconds before Dash slapped the other hare round the face.
"Ooofh," the male hare wheezed as he fell to the floor with a thud.
Dash looked completely befuddled as the other hare picked himself off the ground and shook his head. He looked at Dash but didn't manage to say anything.
"Dash! You ok?" Scarlet shouted running over to Dash, having heard her scream.
"Ahh! A fox!" the other hare yelled and ran off, upon seeing Scarlet.
"What was that?" Scarlet asked Dash, confused on what had just happened.
"I dunno... some other crazy hare was just screaming in my face..." Dash started to explain before she was interrupted by the other hare sneaking up behind her, making her jump.
"Why aren't you running?" the hare asked Dash.
"Err..."
"You do see it don't you..."
"See what?"
"The fox?"
"It?" Scarlet said a little insulted.
"Oh... She's my friend!" Dash explained.
"Wait... You're friends... with a fox?" the hare asked bewilderedly.
"Yes... what's so hard to understand about that?"
"You know foxes eat us right?!"
"Would it help you to get past this if I told you I've already eaten?" Scarlet butted in but spoke sarcastically.
"Maybe a little, but still... how do I know I can trust you?" the hare asked Scarlet suspiciously.
"Because I trust her," Dash stated.
The male hare looked between them for a while, in a sort of judgement. He soon spoke out calmly: "...I guess I can trust you too then..."
"Dash! Scarlet! Where'd you go?" Plucky called out from a distance.
"Over here," Scarlet replied to him. Plucky soon appeared through the trees and Perry swooped down and landed on and exposed tree root on the ground next to them.
"Where'd you get off to?" Plucky asked.
"Let me guess, they're your friends too?" the male hare enquired to Dash, the two hares were having their own conversation.
"Yes," Dash affirmed.
"What's going on?" Plucky questioned Scarlet
"Dash ran into another hare..."
"What literally ran into...? Because I can believe that," Plucky sniggered.
"No not literally!" Dash called out to him having overheard Plucky's snigger.
"Though she did slap me," the other hare exclaimed.
"That's because you just dropped out of the tree in front of me... almost scared me half to death!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"What were you doing in the tree anyway?" Scarlet asked the hare.
"Hiding from you two actually... so you couldn't hunt me," the hare explained, referring to Plucky and Scarlet.
"Well I don't hunt hare's on a matter of principal... Dash is my best friend and has been for as long as I can remember," Plucky said.
"Oh... that's alright then," the hare said with a smile before looking back at Dash and spoke shyly, "So... your name is Dash then?"
"Yea, and this is Plucky, Scarlet and Perry,"
"Nice to meet you,"
"So err... what's your name?" Dash asked the other hare.
"My names Bolt"
"Bolt?"
"That's right... because I'm lightning! You're speaking to the fastest hare in this valley, and the next... and the next... and the next... pretty much the fastest undisputed really," Bolt boasted.
"Oh... really?" Dash said inquisitively, as she narrowed her eyes, and a look of determination formed on her face.
"Uh oh..." Plucky muttered with a hint of worry under his breath, while Dash and Bolt continued talking to each other.
"What?" Scarlet asked having heard him.
"I knew this day would come eventually... I'm just gonna hide underneath a bush or something..." Plucky said nervously, (of course he was half joking) before turning to walk away until Scarlet bit his tail and dragged him back, "Ow... ok, ok, ok."
"What's so bad about this?" she asked him.
"You know how competitive Dash is at racing... now she's actually got to race another hare instead of a fox..."
"Err guys..." Perry grabbed their attention having just been quiet so far, "they're gone."
"Huh?" both foxes said confused, and looked to where Dash and Bolt were standing only to not see them anymore. They looked around them before Plucky spoke.
"Oh great..."
Turns out Dash and Bolt had gone off racing, having claimed they were each faster than the other. The two hares sped through the snow covered forest floor, leaping over exposed tree roots and ducking underneath fallen logs, the surroundings blurred as they went by, both only looked forward. Bolt had the upper hand as at least he knew where they were running to, but despite this Dash still kept up. They were neck and neck as both hares were clearly evenly matched. They soon approached the place Bolt said was the finish line. It was the edge of the trees on the top of a steep slope that led down into a large meadow, which was now a lake of smooth even snow. They both passed through the line of trees at the same time and both immediately skidded to a halt in the deeper snow before the slope.
"Ha! Told you... I won!" Bolt said proudly.
"No you didn't, I won! I'm the fastest!" Dash protested.
"No I am!"
"No I am!"
The pair continued to squabble over who was the fastest for a while, enough time for the others to follow them. It wasn't difficult for Plucky, Scarlet and Perry to find the two quarrelling hares. They had left some very definitive prints through the snow which were easy to track. Upon seeing them arguing Plucky knew exactly what it was about so decided to step in.
"Hey stop arguing, that's not going to decide which of you is fastest,"
"I doesn't matter because I am the fastest!" Dash asserted.
"Are not!" Bolt disputed.
"Are too!"
"Stop it!" Plucky exclaimed cogently but before anything else could be said by anyone a snowball hit him in the head, "ow!"
"Ow," Scarlet also let out, as a snowball hit her in the head too. Both she and Plucky looked up into the tree where the snowballs came from and could see two young male grey squirrels.
"Stay away from our friend fox!" One of the Squirrels shouted.
"Take that!" the other said, throwing another snowball at the two foxes.
"Hey, quit it!" Scarlet growled.
"Guys stop!" Bolt called up to the pair of squirrels, "They're ok!"
"Is that what they told you?!" one squirrel quarrelled as he threw another snowball at the two foxes.
"Yes they're safe," Bolt reassured the squirrels.
"Really? Because if you recall, the last time we saw a fox chasing you, it was trying to eat you..." the other squirrel pointed out.
"If they were trying to catch me, then one... they wouldn't, because I'm too fast, and two... do you really think they would be politely waiting for us to finish this conversation before they pounced on me?"
"Well, he has a point," one squirrel said to the other.
Unknown to them both though, Perry had just landed silently behind them on the tree branch, he couldn't resist to scare them.
"Boo," Perry spooked the two squirrels.
"Ahh!" both squirrels emitted and scurried away from the falcon, who was now laughing cheerily, as well as the others on the ground.
"That's not funny!" one of the squirrels moaned now on the ground having been scared from the tree.
"It was kinda funny!" Bolt chuckled while the others still laughed. The laughing soon died down and the two squirrels perked up after their scare.
"So Bolt, who's the hottie?" the other squirrel pondered, referring to Dash, who was sitting next to Bolt.
"This is Dash..." Bolt began before Dash interrupted him.
"Did he just...? Who do you think you are?" Dash retorted, obviously disliking being objectified by a couple of squirrels.
"Dash these are... well," Bolt sighed, "I call them my friends, Woody and Jester."
"Charmed I'm sure," Jester said strolling up to Dash and bowed.
"Right," Dash said, looking at Bolt confused, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"And this is Plucky, Scarlet and Perry," Bolt referred the two squirrels to the two foxes and the falcon who had now flown down off the branch. The trio introduced themselves and Perry apologised for scaring them and Woody and Jester apologised to Plucky and Scarlet about the snowballs.
The group conversed for a while and started to get to know each other. Turns out Woody and Jester were twin brothers and had known Bolt for ages. They had taught him how to climb trees, which explained how he got up it earlier. The group continued to talk until the conversation circled back to where it began and Jester asked Bolt why he and Dash had been running through the wood.
"...So what were you doing then?"
"We were racing," Bolt explained.
"And I won!" Dash quickly announced.
"No you didn't!" Bolt retorted.
"Yes I did!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
The two hares began another 'did not, did too" back and forth squabble, until Plucky stepped in again.
"Dash! Bolt!" Plucky raised his voice so they could hear him over their arguing, "once again, arguing isn't going to decide which of you is fastest."
"Ok... what do you propose we do then?" Dash irritably asked him.
"Have another race, but this time have someone at the finish line to see who crosses it first," Plucky explained.
"I'll do it; I got the best eyes," Perry proclaimed.
"And one of us has to say go so both of you start off evenly," Scarlet added.
"And we can scurry through the trees to make sure neither of you are cheating!" Woody added too.
"Fine by me," Bolt agreed.
"Alright then, let's do it," Dash agreed too.
They agreed to race along the slope and the tree line as the ground was more even and the snow not as deep. Perry flew off to the finish line which they could see in the distance was a collapsed tree. He perched on it and made his shriek to announce he was ready. Dash and Bolt stood side by side ready to race while Plucky and Scarlet sat perpendicular to them to make sure they were in line.
"You guy's ready?" Plucky asked the two hare's posed to race.
"Yep," Dash and Bolt replied together.
"Ok, 3... 2... 1... GO!"
The two hare's bounded off the start line and darted off into the distance along the top of the slope while the two foxes watched, and the two squirrels started to clamber through the trees, not wanting to miss any of the race. Dash knew this was the most important race in her life; Bolt was certainly experienced and was very fast. He was a worthy opponent, but she wasn't about to give up. She was determined to win and to uphold her title as being the 'the fastest'. Bolt too was trying desperately to match Dash's speed, he had never met another hare with such determination and she was undeniably giving him a challenge. They continued through the thin snow, which both stunted their pace slightly. They were just as evenly matched as they had been before and were side by side for most of the race.
"Go on Dash!" Scarlet cheered from behind them.
"You're faster than ever!" Plucky cheered too, giving Dash all the support she needed.
"Go Bolt!" Woody chanted.
"Show them what lightning is!" Jester shouted out.
Dash and Bolt continued onwards, edged on by their friend's cheers and encouragement. They were almost at the finish line, still side by side, both of them almost completely out of breath. They crossed it and tried to stop but slipped through the snow into each other and rolled through it in a ball until they stopped, after ploughing straight into a large snow drift. The others rushed over to check on the sate of their friends.
"You guy's ok?" Woody asked concerned.
Both hares popped their heads up out the snow and shook the rest of it off their heads. Dash wriggled her ears too as some snow had got lodged in it.
"That was amazing!" She exclaimed, "Did you see I was faster than ever!"
"Would have been better without the snow!" Bolt laughed which Dash joined in.
"I think they're fine," Scarlet chuckled to the others.
"So who won?" Bolt asked the others.
"Bet it was me!" Dash boasted.
"Was not!"
"Well let's ask Perry shall we?" Plucky injected, diffusing another squabble, "So Perry, who did win?"
"Well, err..." Perry paused, "This is kind of awkward."
"Don't tell us you weren't looking?" Dash said.
"No I was looking... saw you both clear as day..."
"Then what's the problem?" Bolt asked, eager to hear who the victor was, as was everyone else.
"Well... I couldn't tell who won..."
"Huh?" everyone let out at once.
"You two literally crossed the line at exactly the same time..."
"So... it was a draw?" Dash said, sounding disappointed.
"Apparently," Bolt agreed with her.
"Come on you two, don't feel bad," Scarlet comforted them.
"Yea, you both did your best and now you know you're as good as each other," Woody added on.
"I guess," Bolt said, and then he turned to look at Dash, "You wanna get a drink?"
"Yea ok."
The two hares picked themselves out of the mound of snow and trotted off back to the stream the group had been at earlier. The others followed close behind them.
"Should we talk to them?" Scarlet pondered.
"I think we should give them some space right now," Plucky stated.
He could tell how they were both feeling; two competitive racers finally meet their match... no wonder they were both disappointed. However the situation between Dash and Bolt soon developed in a way none of the others could have anticipated.
After reaching the small torrent of water, everyone took the chance to have a drink. After their thirst was satisfied the group were talking again and the travelling group were telling the others of the origin and the reason for their journey.
"...Well we're actually on a long journey, back to where Dash and I was born, White Deer Park," Plucky was explaining to them.
"I've heard of that place, a nature reserve for all animals... but it's a long way away... how did you get here?" Bolt enquired.
"It's a long story really, few twists and turns... but that's where we're going... me, Plucky, Scarlet and Perry," Dash explained.
"Well... we could come along? There's nothing tying us to this place," Bolt declared.
"Really? Wouldn't you miss your home?" Scarlet wondered.
"We don't live here! We just travel around," Woody injected.
"We never stay too long in one spot or we get bored," Jester added on jokily.
"So you just go wherever you like, whenever you like?" Perry asked bewilderedly.
"Pretty much, yea... but this White Deer Park place seems nice," Jester said.
"It is, and it's safe...ish," Plucky said reassuringly.
"Are there... other squirrels there?" Woody asked warily.
"Yea, there's many of them, grey like yourselves and red," Dash answered.
"Well I'm game for it," Jester said eagerly.
"It would be nice to actually travel with a destination in mind for once..." Woody said eagerly too, "as long as Bolt comes along too."
"Of course I would, someone's got to keep you two mischievous squirrels in check!" Bolt laughed.
"Gosh we aren't that bad," Woody declared before turning to Jester, "are we?" to which Jester just shook his head.
"Well, we definitely wouldn't mind having you along... as long as you don't cause too much trouble," Plucky said.
"No we've already got you for that!" Scarlet joked to Plucky, making everyone laugh as Plucky shook his head.
"Hey Dash, can I speak to you privately for a sec," Bolt asked the female hare softly, while the others continued to talk.
"Yea ok," Dash said before the two walked away from the rest of the group, "what is it?"
"Well, I was wondering..." Bolt paused, before asking thoughtfully, "if I'm joining you guys on your journey, would you... be my mate?"
Dash just stood there shocked for a while before she spoke, "That's a little fast don't you think?"
"Well if you didn't notice... fast is the only way I do things," Bolt chuckled, Dash couldn't help but chuckle too, despite all the thoughts that were now racing through her head.
"Plus I kinda told myself I would wait for the one hare that could best, or at least match my speed." Bolt smiled.
"That's funny... because I kinda told myself the same thing," Dash said sweetly and smiled too.
Dash and Bolt both stared into each other's eyes and smiled. Although they had only met that day, they could tell they had found a kindred spirit in the other. They could already see the admiration for each other and a feeling neither of them had felt for another being before overwhelmed them both.
"So what do you say? Will you be my mate?" Bolt asked again.
Dash took a long pause to gather the last of the thoughts rummaging in her head before she suddenly answered, "Yes... I will."
Both hares swiftly embraced and nuzzled each other passionately for a while, lost in the sudden connection between them and the newfound love that engulfed them.
"Well I wasn't expecting that..." Jester remarked to the others, looking over to Dash and Bolt.
"Come on lovebirds! We're moving on," Plucky called over to the two nuzzling hares.
"Hey, Plucky, me and Bolt are mates now!" Dash announced, running over to the others.
"What really?!"
"Yes, we just decided."
"Congratulations you two," Scarlet beamed.
"Thank you," Dash smiled as Bolt came up next to her and they smiled at each other, "now come on," she said turning back to Plucky, "thought we were moving on!"
Dash then sprinted off ahead and Bolt soon followed.
"Wait for us!" Jester and Woody said together rushing to catch up to them both; leaving the two foxes and the falcon left half in a daze.
"Well, I'll be... I didn't think it would happen all in one day," Plucky murmured, completely bewildered.
"I think they're just... made for each other," Scarlet said joyfully.
Plucky just stared looking at the quickly disappearing couple and the squirrel twins with a smile on his face before Scarlet grabbed his attention and said with a smile.
"Come on, we should probably catch up."
"Right..." Plucky answered and turned to look at Perry, "Perry, you heading up front?"
"Not a problem, haven't let you down yet have I?" Perry said proudly before taking to the sky.
"I doubt you ever will," Plucky smiled as he and Scarlet watched him rise into the clear blue sky.
The fox and vixen soon caught up with Dash and their three new companions while Perry high above them had them pointed in the right direction again. Together they continued their journey through the shallow snow, the tall trees of the wood all under a clear and cold winter sky.
Plucky was baffled but also inspired by Dash and Bolt's sudden partnership, considering they had only just met. He knew Scarlet was right though, they were obviously made for each other, despite that both of them were proud, impulsive and competitive... but for some reason it just worked between them. He could see it in Dash's actions particularly, since he knew her better than anyone, that she was in love, and he was happy for them both.
It made him think if he should be more impulsive with his feelings for Scarlet, they had been through a lot together already... he just needed to find the right time for it. Little did he know though, Scarlet was feeling the same way, but she still had yet to tell Plucky much about herself and the dangers that surrounded her before she could even consider asking, or answering the question.