Chapter 28, in his life

Robin and Shadowflight sat, debating when they should go and rescue Raven.

"How about late this night?" Shadowflight asked, looking around the sunlit forest.

"More like early this night," Robin said.

They both agreed to that and lay their heads on their paws. In a moment they were both asleep.

XXX

Robin awoke. He blinked his dark amber eyes, looking up to see that the first moon was up. He stood up and stretched his wings. He would need them in the rescue.

He pulled a bent feather from his right one, and smoothed down the others. Then he prodded Shadowflight.

She looked up, then leaped to her feet, gigantic bat-wings stretching at her sides.

"Let's go do it," she whispered excitedly.

Robin led the way out of the forest and onto the moonlit sand of the beach. The silver tin building stood motionless, eerie and ghostly in the Aurora and the moonlight of two moons. When was that big one going to rise?

Robin padded silently, his large paws leaving dimples in the soft sand. His leg muscles were tense, he was ready to run at anything, but nothing disturbed the two animal's walk across the beach.

They reached the place where the entrance to the underwater cave started. Robin stopped, his fuzzy ears pricked. He could hear loud, angry voices coming from the water.

"Get them all! The boss is sick! Quickly, all of the remaining!"

He felt a nudge but ignored it, still listening to the voices.

"He can't try now! He's sick! No…get over here you stupid leopard…!"

The nudge came again, this time harder.

"Huh?" Robin asked stupidly.

"Robin, look!" Shadowflight rasped in a horrified whisper, "I think there are bodies on top of the sea!"

"What?" he asked, whirling around to stare at the river. He could see four dark shapes drifting eerily over it.

He saw the long ears of a donkey, and the barrel chest of a horse calf. He even saw the deer from earlier floating along.

"Oh my…!" he whispered, his legs weak. A rabbit body came swirling slowly towards them.

"Its breathing!" he cried, watching the unsteady rise and fall of its chest.

"Your right," Shadowflight answered, staring at it. "Who would do such a thing?"

She snatched it out of the water.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"It's wet," she observed, ignoring him, "But that is just because it was on the sea. It's all cut over one eye…ew…its blood isn't even dark colored…it looks like its half dead, half alive."

She tossed it back into the water, where it bumped gently against a little bear.

"That has nothing to do with us," she sniffed, wiping her paws on the sand.

Suddenly, out of the water burst four angry animals, all busy squabbling with each other to notice Shadowflight and Robin, who leaped behind the tin building and peered at them.

"Honestly Nia, I told you to get that stupid leopard!"

"He escaped!" snapped Nia, a little moose.

They sauntered over to the tin building, and Shadowflight and Robin shrunk behind it.

Then Robin saw that two of the animals were carrying young animals. One was a black kitten, and the other a baby robin. (AN: Funny, what are they doing to our hero's namesakes?)

The air was quiet once more as the animals vanished inside the tin building, slamming the metal door shut with a clang.

Then there was silence. But only for a second. Suddenly a horrible whirring came from the building, followed by terrible shrieks and screams. There was a scrabbling of kitten paws on the wall closest to Shadowflight and Robin. There was a sobbing, and the whirring stopped. The animals came out, carrying a half dead kitten and a half dead baby bird.

"What did they do?" Shadowflight hissed, her heart pounding. Robin could hear it.

The animals tossed the kitten and robin onto the lake and dived into their underwater room.

"Quickly, let's get Raven out of there," Robin whispered urgently. He dashed out from behind the building with Shadowflight behind.

"Not so fast," sneered a new voice. Robin spun around to see the beaver from earlier.

The beaver came at them, but both Robin and Shadowflight were faster.

Robin pumped his wings in the air, and instantly he was off, Shadowflight beside him. As they flew quickly upwards, they were blocked by two leopards, suspended magically in midair.

"Trying to get past?" one sneered, flipping lazily through the air, "Hmm…wonder if there is a way. Come with me, you two brats." She snatched Shadowflight in her mouth and the other leopard grasped Robin.

They plummeted downward, right into the ocean. But somehow the leopard got them into the underwater rooms.

She snapped her toes and said sharply: "Got two upstarts here, lieutenant. Bratty little things they are, too."

The lieutenant, a badger, snatched them up.

Robin whirled before the badger could get a hold of him, and dashed back to the entrance. He looked back.

Shadowflight was covered in chains, one on her neck, and one on each of her paws. The badger was dragging her away.

She looked back and said "Robin," and he lunged for her.

"No!" she spat, as the badger jerked her hard on the neck-rope. She stumbled, but still kept her friend's gaze. "Let them take me! That is the only way this must work!"

"No," he said, reaching for her with a paw.

She smacked the paw with unsheathed claws, the chain dragging heavily around her paw.

"Leave me!" she snarled, "leave me now!"

Robin put his paw slowly down, and let her get dragged off by the badger. It was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

Oooo, Robin's so emotional….so sad….sob….Please review and what do you think is going to happen?