Chapter Eight
As the remaining light faded into the darkness, the group reached a little hut in the middle of the woods where a large female hedgehog was waiting outside, gripping the apron across her waist and biting her lower lip as worry clouded her eyes.
At the sight of her husband and children, relief flooded over her face as she rushed to scoop up the two little ones. "Oh, I'm so glad you're safe! What happened?" She cried as she hugged them.
"We'll tell you when we get inside." Tymothie said kindly. "Jessyca, this is Snowpaws, Skipper, Karia and Darkstar. Friends, this is my wife." He ushered the group inside and had them all sit down at a long wooden table in the warm welcoming kitchen.
Tymothie explained what had happened to his wife and she was full of gratitude and thanks. "Jess, if you wouldn't mind I'm sure our guests are hungry. I surely know I am." He said, winking at her.
"Oh yes! I'm so sorry, let me hurry and warm dinner up." She said as she got up and hurried off.
Tymothie turned towards the others. "Now, you four mentioned you're off to that fire mountain towards the sea. What business do you have with the badger lord, if you don't mind me asking."
Skipper explained Darkstar's situation to the hedgehog over dinner. When he was finished eating, Tymothie sat back in his chair and pushed his plate away. "Don't remember who you are or where you came from, eh?" He said as he turned to Darkstar who had been quiet throughout the meal.
She nodded. She felt rather uncomfortable telling beasts about her problems, but she supposed it didn't matter much. "Snow and Skipper thought that perhaps the badger lord would be at least able to recognize my weapons." She explained as she unarmed herself and showed the hedgehog her sickle and chain.
"I'm not much of a fighter myself and I don't know much about weaponry, but I've never seen anything like those before." Tymothie said after examining them and then handing them back to her.
"No one has yet." She responded quietly as she put them back against her waist.
Her attention turned towards Aemie and Thym who were sleeping with their heads in their arms at the table. Thym's snout was slowly nodding back and forth dangerously close to his plate of soup.
Jessyca smiled as she picked him up and nudged Aemie to wake up. "Time for sleep, kids." She said gently as she took the little girl by the hand and led her to bed.
Thymothie nodded, "Aye, you four must be quite tired as well. Let me show you to your rooms."
Darkstar lay still on her bed, her eyes closed, as she drifted in and out of unconsciousness. Images continued to filter through her mind as scattered visions from her past played out before her.
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Little black footpaws skidded into the doorway of a small house. "I'm home!" Shouted a small voice as the little kit let herself in.
Bright, cheerful green eyes peeked out from the kitchen. "Welcome home, Darkstar. Good day at school?"
"Yes, momma. Although Ka-chan was being mean to me all day and chased me around outside." The little girl said as a pout start forming on her face.
The older female fox smiled at her daughter. "Kazetarou does that only because he likes you." She said with a wink.
"That's silly. Besides, I don't want him to like me. Boys are strange." She said as she wrinkled her nose.
Her mother laughed slightly. "Come, Darkstar help me with dinner. Your father will be home shortly."
Darkstar quickly started to set the table and by the time she was finished she heard the loud familiar footsteps of her father. "Poppa!" She said enthusiastically as she rushed to greet her father.
He swept her up in his big arms and carried her back to the kitchen. "Welcome home, dear." His wife said to him as he kissed her on the cheek and then put down Darkstar.
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"Happiness. . . warmth. . . comfort. . ." Darkstar whispered to herself as she continued to float in between unconsciousness.
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Rain. . . the coldness of the rain hit against her small body . . . The dark gloominess of the weather matched the mood. . .
A casket. . . so dark . . .ominous. . . scary.
Tiny paws touched the side of it and her large eyes peeked over the edge. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked down and saw the peaceful form of her mother lying there, cold and lifeless.
She had promised her mother not to cry. Her last promise. A pinky promise. She wouldn't break it. She had to be strong. She swallowed back the lump in her throat as she felt the warmth of small paws take her own.
She looked sideways and saw Kazetarou standing next to her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to just sit down in the mud and wail. Her chest ached and nothing was making it go away. She hurt inside. . .
She squeezed the boy's hand with all the strength she had in her little body and closed her eyes tight and then moved away from the casket. "Goodbye, momma." She said quietly.
Another lump was rising in her throat as she felt the small arms of her friend wrap themselves around her tiny body.
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Silent tears ran down Darkstar's face as she felt a lump rise in her throat. Everything felt so real. All the pain. Everything. It was like reliving a nightmare. Why was this all coming back to her now?
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WHACK!
The pain. . . the searing pain in her cheek. . . Tears poured out of her eyes as she backed away from the large figure hovering over her.
SLAP!
"Poppa. . ." She whimpered. "Please, stop!" She cried.
"Worthless. You worthless, lazy, sorry excuse for a mutt." He growled at her as he backhanded her across the face again.
"You killed her. You took the most precious thing in my life away from me." He advanced towards her again as his large paw flew out and struck her, causing her tiny body to fly backwards into the wall.
"Well, I'll make your existence worth something at least, if it's the last thing I do. Training starts tomorrow." He left her shivering up against the wall as he walked away.
Her small frame shook as sobs racked her body.
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Darkstar's body shook as she clung to the blankets beneath her. Her eyes shot open and she looked around at her surroundings. Panting, she brought herself up in a sitting position and remembered where she was.
She sighed as she took in a couple of deep breaths of air. My fault? My mother's death was my fault?
She was even more confused than before.
Her dreams were so real. She felt the warmth and comfort of her kitchen, the coldness of the rain, the emotional ache she felt. She could feel every hit, every slap, every strike that her father had dealt to her.
She wrapped her arms around her body as she hugged her knees to her chest. Burying her head in her arms, she started sobbing. All this was taking an incredible amount of emotional strain. She wasn't sure if she could handle any more.
She curled up underneath her covers and shoved her face in the pillow. She couldn't stop the tears from coming.
Finally the darkness of sleep started to envelop her and she welcomed it hesitantly, afraid of what other images her dreams would give to her.
Sleep was kind to her, though, and lowered her into a restful and dreamless slumber.
She awoke to the rays of sun filtering through her windows as they poured light onto her closed eyelids.
Her body stirred and then she slowly opened her eyes. Dressing, she slowly opened her door and headed back towards the kitchen, remembering where it was from the night before.
Entering the room she noticed the rest of her group already sitting down eating breakfast, with Tymothie at the head of the table, Jessyca serving the meal and the two children running around playing tag.
"Careful, kids. Not around the guests." Their mother gently chastised them as she sent them off playing into another room.
"Good morning, Darkster!" Karia said brightly as the others looked up and waved at her.
She nodded in acknowledgement and took a seat. "Morning." A large plate filled with food appeared before her and she started eating.
"Sleep well, mate?" Skipper asked after he swallowed.
She nodded. The images from her recent flashbacks replayed themselves over in her mind as she ate; her motions were systematic as her attention was lost to other things.
What did he mean it was her fault that her mother died…? It bothered her…that she couldn't remember.
She continued to pour over her thoughts and before she knew it her plate was already empty.
"Care for any more, dear?" Jessyca asked for the second time, finally catching the young fox's attention.
"Oh…no thanks. I'm fine." Darkstar responded, turning her large eyes towards the mother hedgehog.
Skipper and the others had finished too and the otter leader pushed back his chair and stood up. "Well, we hate to impose any longer, and really ought to get back on our way to Salamandastron. The sooner we get there the better." He said.
Tymothie nodded and also stood up. "Aye, I understand." He showed them to the door and shook hands with every one of them. "Thank you so much, again, for saving out little ones. If you ever need anything again be sure to call on us."
"Sure thing." Snowpaws responded as the four headed back into the Mossflower woods. Tymothie and Jessyca waved goodbye to them as their two children peeked out shyly from the doorway.
Soon the group was out of sight from the family and trudged on their way towards the sea.
"They were such a nice family!" Karia exclaimed, clasping her paws together. "And Aemie and Thym were so adorable! Skipp, maybe we can stop by again on the way home?" She asked hopefully.
"Yeah, maybe." Skipper said noncommittally.
The group continued to walk in silence for a while, quietly enjoying the soft breeze of the wind brushing through the leaves of the cool forest.
Suddenly Darkstar's ears perked up. She glanced around and stopped walking, motioning for the others to do the same. Her companions immediately obeyed. She crouched close to the cold ground of the forest and put her large ear to the floor.
She closed her eyes and listened… Yes…definitely. She could smell it too. The smell of death…the dreaded slithering noise that sent chills up her spine… An adder was close by and a large one by the sound of it.
She stood up and as she was about to tell the others about her discovery the massive head of an adder pushed itself through the brushes near them, its mouth open and its fangs gleaming in the sunlight.
