Mother was hunting. My siblings and I were playing a game of, "chase each other around until you get close enough to tackle". My brother, Striker, was always the best at tackling, but my sisters, Swiftstep and Silvertoes, were best at running. I just played along for fun.
I had denied Twirltongue's offer to go away with her. She agreed, but there was something that told me our paths would cross again.
She had left about two days after I denied her. We heard a shout as her mother woke up and found her gone. She, my mother, and all of the rest of the gnawers searched for her, but she was long gone. Part of me was sad I hadn't gone with her on her little adventure, but the other part was saying, "good riddance". The smell of suspicion around her had been getting stronger each time I saw her. It was now three months later.
Striker had just jumped on top of Silvertoes when I smelled it. A horrible scent was coming closer and closer. "'Do you smell that?" I asked my siblings.
"Smell what?" Striker asked.
"You know you have a way better nose than we do." Swiftstep said matter-of-factly. She was the oldest, and liked to think she knew everything.
"It's...it's..." I knew exactly what it was, but I was too scared to say it. I waited a minute longer to see if my siblings showed any signs of smelling it as well, but when they didn't, I told them. "It's humans!" I said. "There's a lot of them, and they're angry!" I said fearfully. Their eyes widened. We all got closer to each other.
"Are they with fliers?" Swiftstep asked.
"Yes!" I said, and began squeezing my tail in fright. But suddenly, a much stronger, warmer smell filled my nostrils. Mother was back! Mother!
I rushed to the cave entrance. Sure enough, my mother was coming at a run from the opposite end of the tunnel. without thinking, I ran to her, and she scooped me up onto her back and ran to our cave. She huddled my brother and sisters together.
"What's happening?" I asked fearfully.
"I went to the Garden of Hesperides to get some apples for you pups, but as I neared it I heard shouts and squeals. A few gnawers who had escaped rushed by me and said the humans had flooded the garden! I ran all the way back to you, as fast as I could!" she said, panting.
The garden was flooded. I would never get the chance to go there now, and eat the golden apples. I would never get to rest in the caves surrounding it or play with my siblings in such a beautiful place. Never.
"But what about the humans that are coming here?" Silvertoes asked, eyes wide.
My mother looked puzzled, then fearful. "What humans are coming here?"
"Twitchtip says that a bunch of angry humans are coming to attack us, on fliers!" Swiftstep said.
'My mother turned to me. "How do you know that?" she asked.
"I can smell them!" I said.
My mother paused and held her nose in the air. Then her expression turned anxious. I can smell humans and fliers, but I certainly can't tell that they're angry." she said.
"Well, they are! I just know it!" I said. I slammed my paws over my nose in disgust. The humans smelled horrible!
"Come, quick!" my mother said. She led us to the back of our cave and moved a small stone slab that I had never noticed before. A small den was hidden behind it, one my mother probably could only just fit in, and my father most certainly could not.
"This is our hideaway den. Stay in here, no one will find you." she said. I began to protest, but she quieted me. "You must." she said.
My siblings and I huddled in the small den. We heard, faintly, the sounds of a bloody battle outside. There were screams and squeaks and screeches. My nose smelled a bunch of species--human, gnawer, and flier--mixed together, but all I could think about was my mother. If she died, what would happen to us?