Chapter Seven
The four companions continued to walk down the dusty road, the hot sun's rays beaming down against their backs as their fur absorbed the heat.
"Jeez. . .it should be a sin to be this hot." Karia complained to Darkstar who was walking silently along side her, as she shaded her eyes and turned her face up towards the sky, then wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Yes. . ." Her friend answered quietly.
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Sin. . .sinner. . . The guilt. . . the blackness of sin tainting the soul with shadow and guilt, staining the spirit. . .
"I. . .feel so horrible, Kazetarou-chan," a young black fox whimpered, staring down at a bloodied sickle and chain in her small paws.
"I know. . .I know. . ." A young, tall male fox said comfortingly, holding her close to his chest. "But. . .it's your fate. . . your destiny." He said, his crystal blue eyes overshadowed with sorrow, as he looked down at her.
The female sniffled, "Then I hate my destiny. This is not how I want to live my life."
Rough paws tore them apart and shoved the male towards the ground and then smacked the female across the face with the backside of his paw. "Stop that whimpering. What are you crying about, girl?" Said a strong rough voice.
"Papa. . ." She winced as her body swayed to the side from the impact of his strike. "I. . .I. . . DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!" She cried out at him, her eyes brimming with more tears, as she dropped her blood soaked weapon to the ground.
The tall black fox grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up as though she weighed nothing and slammed her against a nearby wall. She felt something in her back crack and blood spewed from her mouth.
"NO!" The young male fox cried out as he rushed towards the taller and stronger one. Again, he was shoved easily to the ground.
"You don't have a say in the matter. Now stop that crying before I give you something to really cry about!" Came the gruff response. The taller male turned and looked at the young male that he had previously thrown down.
The younger fox's clear blue eyes now burned with fury, fire leaping angrily into them as he snarled at the father.
Darkstar's father met his glance with hardly a care. "And you, boy, stay away from my daughter before you find yourself at the end of my weapon." With that he strolled away from the two younger ones.
The young female slumped to the ground as she tried to keep her sobs controlled and silent. She couldn't move, the pain in her back shot up and down her spine and her whole body was in agony.
"Darkstar. . ." Kazetarou whispered as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm…I'm sorry…so sorry .. Why can't I ever protect you?"
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"DARKSTAR!" Karia cried loudly in her ear.
The black fox jumped and looked at the otter. "What?" Her eyes felt wet. . .and her back ached in remembrance of a past injury.
"Are you . . .alright?" Karia asked, a concerned expression etched on her face.
"Y. . .yes." Darkstar answered quickly, wiping a paw across her eyes.
"You sure?" Karia urged further.
Darkstar nodded and looked down at the road. Karia sighed and could only shrug in response.
Snowpaws and Skipper had been walking a little bit behind the two females. "Darkstar. . ." Snowpaws started.
". . .is a very curious being." Skipper finished.
"Aye, she is. But I have a feeling I know what she was in her past. . ." Snowpaws said mysteriously, winking at his friend.
Skipper's eyes shot up, "Tell me."
The fox shook his large head with a grin. "I would rather be sure of it before I let it be known. There's a good possibility I'm wrong, yet from what I've seen. . . it would make sense."
Skipper glared at his fox friend. "You've piqued my interest and now you're not going to tell me? What kind of friend are you?" He said good-humouredly. Snowpaws just smiled congenially and continued to walk in silence.
By this time, it had begun to grow dark, and the weather had gradually started to drop. A pink line could be seen in the sky, indicating that the sun was going to be setting soon.
A cool evening breeze had started to pick up and it felt good as it brushed against the hot figures of the travelers.
"Ahhhh, that feels so yummy!" Karia commented as she inhaled deeply, taking in the cool air around her.
"We should probably start looking for a place to rest for the night." Skipper said, as he and Snowpaws caught up with Karia and Darkstar.
"Mossflower Woods is right up ahead. We could probably find a cool resting spot there along the river." Snowpaws pointed out.
"Aye, mate. Let's go then. My feet are aching and some nice soft grass would be greatly appreciated." Skipper said as the group headed off towards the upcoming woods.
Entering into the cool forest that was quickly becoming darker with each minute, they immediately heard blood-curdling screams coming from further into the foliage. Without hesitating, all four creatures bounded towards the sound. Unconsciously, Darkstar had one paw on her sickle and the other on a throwing weapon in her pouch. Snowpaws couldn't help but shift his eyes towards her and note her actions.
Pushing past the thick brush, the group found two rats and a stoat holding onto two, squirming, baby hedgehogs.
"Come on, hedgepig, stop dat squirmin' and we won't hurt ye." Said one rat as he tried to keep away from the quills.
"HELP! HEEEEELLPPP! PLEASE SOMEBEAST!" Cried one little female hedgehog, trying to get away. The other was just bawling his eyes out in the arms of the stoat.
The third rat was trying to grab onto the kicking legs of the little female, hoping to help his comrade, but instead, received a swift kick to his nose.
Grasping the situation, the four travelers stepped out towards the group. Karia, Snowpaws and Skipper had their swords drawn and Darkstar just stood there, releasing her grip on her weapons.
Vermin picking on little dibbuns were easy; there would be no need for bloodshed. Besides, she didn't feel like digging three more holes in the ground.
"Let them go." Skipper demanded, showing his sword towards the vermin, the light of the setting sun bouncing off the edge of his blade.
The vermin glowered at the others. Four to three. . . and the whole group looked like formidable warriors. They knew a losing battle when they saw one.
They spat at them and released the children while growling. "Fine." The stoat replied, but before setting down the little male hedgehog, he shot his arm out and smacked the boy upside the head with the backside of his paw, sending the boy sprawling onto the ground.
Something in Darkstar seemed to snap at the sight and her eyes narrowed into two cold slits as a deathly glint shone through the descending darkness.
Before the others could react, she was a blur of black fur heading straight for the stoat.
Fear shot into the eyes of the creature as her paws reached out to grab his outstretched wrist of the arm that he had just used to send the boy to the ground.
"Stop her. . ." Karia gasped out, but Snowpaws was already halfway towards her.
Darkstar viciously swung his arm painfully behind his back and then shoved the fingers of her free hand into the pressure point above his elbow.
The stoat squirmed at the pain as her fingers continued to dig mercilessly into the sensitive spot. With her other hand, she slowly started to pull his wrist in the abnormal direction, away from his body, while continuing to press the other part of his arm towards his body, ready to snap his arm in two. "AIIIIIYYYYY" He cried out, his knees hitting the ground as he tried to get away from the pain. The more pressure she put on his arm, the more he squirmed and the more his face twisted into a desperate look of torture. "Stop! Please! Stop!" He begged her, tears running down his face. "IT HURTS!"
"DARKSTAR!" Snowpaws said firmly, placing a restraining paw on her arm. "Enough."
Darkstar looked at the other fox, her eyes returning to her usual calmness and impassive shine. She released the stoat's arm, luckily for him, still in one piece.
Snowpaws turned towards the others. "Now, leave before I let her finish what she was about to do." He commanded frostily.
The vermin, fear evident in their eyes, raced away as fast as their little legs could carry them and disappeared into the thick forest.
The two otters had stood frozen through all of this, and now magically seemed to be free of the invisible spell.
The two hedgehog dibbuns were sitting, collapsed on the soft grass of the woods crying, the older female trying to comfort her little brother through her own tears.
Snowpaws knelt down and lay his large paws on the two little ones' head. "What happened?" Skipper walked over towards Snowpaws and knelt down beside his companion with Karia following after him. Darkstar continued to stand off towards the side and was content to just observe.
As Snowpaws asked his question, the little hedgehog boy just cried harder and buried his little face into his sister's shoulder. His sister took a couple of deep breaths, trying to control her own sobbing as she furiously continued to wipe her small paws across her eyes.
Finally, she gained control of her emotions and all that was left was a bit of sniffling. She turned her large brown eyes up towards fox and blinked.
"What happened?" Skipper repeating the question.
"Thym an' me were playing by ourselves and the baddies came an'. . .an'. . .grabbed us." The girl said, more tears starting to emerge.
"Shh. . . shh. . . deep breath." Skipper instructed, patting her back.
The little girl did as she was told and took a deep breath, determined to finish her story. "We tried to get away, but they were too strong and carried us away." She took another break for a deep breath as her voice continued to rise to almost hysterics as she continued to relate the story. "Then. . . they said something about. . . kidnapping. . .an' ransom. But I don't know what they meant. An' then I almost got away, but I was grabbed again. . . and then that's when you guys came." She said, finally finishing her story and wiping her eyes with the back of her paw again.
By this time her little brother, Thym had finally stopped crying and was just down to whimpering and hiccupping.
"Alright, you're safe now." Snowpaws said gently. "I'm Snowpaws, and this here is my friend, Skipper." The girl just nodded silently and buried her face in the head of her brother.
Suddenly a deep voice cried out in happiness from behind them. "AEMIE! THYM!" Came the booming voice as a large adult hedgehog rushed over to the little ones and wrapped them up in his strong arms.
"POPPA!" They cried out, their little arms hugging him around the waist. He looked towards the little girl and demanded to tell him what had happened. She repeated the story that she had just told the others, but in a much calmer voice now that she was safe in her daddy's arms.
After a joyful reunion, the father looked at the four creatures, gratefulness shining bright in his eyes. "Thank you so much." He said shaking the hands of all four, although finding it difficult to move because of the two little bodies clinging to him.
"See, Aemie and Thym were playing out in front of our den and my wife and I were inside and didn't hear anything. When we went to call them inside for supper, we found them gone and I had a bad feeling that they had wandered away and so I went to look for them. Thank you so much for saving them though. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to them. My wife and I had always thought that we lived in a safe part of Mossflower. Now I can see that we'll have to be more careful." He said hugging his little ones closer to him.
"Oh, it was no problem. I'm just glad we got here in time." Skipper responded as he patted little Thym on the head.
The father let go of his children and stood up straight and held out his large paw towards the group. "I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I'm Thymothie, my son has the same name as I do, but we call him Thym so that there's no mix up," the full grown hedgehog explained as he went around and shook hands with everyone.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Skipper, this is Snowpaws, Karia and Darkstar." Skipper responded as he pointed to his friends.
"So where are you four off to at this time of the evening, when darkness surrounds the woods and terrifying monsters emerge from the shadows?" Thymothie said with a wink as his children edged close to him.
"We're off to Salamandastron, but we're searching for a resting spot at the moment." Snowpaws explained.
"Ah, well then please make your stay at my house. It's the least I can do to thank you for saving my children." Thymothie offered graciously.
"If it's not too much of an inconvenience to put up four strangers for the night, then I think that we will take you up on that offer." Snowpaws answered.
"Ah! No inconvenience what so ever. Please follow me." Thymothie said with a big smile as he picked up Thym in his strong arms and took Aemie by the paw. The four travelers quietly followed behind the hedgehogs deeper into the heart of Mossflower Woods.
A shadowy figure continued to watch from behind the safety of the shadows. His clear blue eyes following Darkstar's every move as she followed after the others. "Darkystar. . .watch yourself. . .he's coming for you. . ."
