super short, i know, and i'm sorry. it was all i could throw together. just... be patient. that's all i can really say. i gave a full explanation on chapter 6 of Forgotten, so if you want the reason i haven't been updating, go check it out. i'll try to get the next one up as soon as i can. to quote my two favorite bears, pinky swear!
Three days had passed since the three cubs had seen the two-leg, and Keno's shoulder still had not healed. The skin was pink around the cut, and it had swelled. It had scabbed over, but it had broken open and smelled horrible.
Keno walked with a limp now; his shoulder was paining him so much he could barely stand to walk at all. This, of course, caused some major set backs with the two elder cubs, Tonia and Aliko, who couldn't leave their brother's side for too long. And with that pest, the two-legged creature that was still following them, they were unable to eat well. They were all skinny, but Kenu was far more thin than his siblings; his infected shoulder wouldn't let him keep food down.
Toni was whining, as usual. "Alik, I'm so hungry. Can't we go and get some berries, or some nuts, or maybe go down to the river and fish? We can bring some back to Ken, you know. He won't mind."
Alik sighed at his sister. "We can't leave Ken by himself! You know that. He wouldn't be able to hide or defend himself if we did. And it would take more than one of us to bring food back for all three of us, anyway." His own tummy rumbled with hunger pains. "But I'm hungry too." He laid down beside his shivering brother. "I wish mother was here. She'd take care of us. She wouldn't have even let this all happen."
Toni huffed, but laid down on Kenu's other side, snuggling up gently against him, struggling not to touch the injury. "Stupid, pesky, two-legged freak... If only he would leave us alone... Then we could eat, and play, and eat some more, and sleep in the sunshine like we used to do to keep warm, we could go swimming, and play some more, and eat..."
Suddenly, a sound caught Aliko's keen ears. He flattened his ears back, frightened. "Shhhh..."
"What is it?" Kenu managed to croak out, his voice weak and hoarse.
"It... It sounds like..." Aliko turned to his sister. "Can you smell anything?"
She raised her head, nose in the air, taking deep breaths. Her ears pricked forward, and her head tilted curiously. "Moose?"
Straining his ears, Aliko could now make out the 'clop, clop' of a moose's footfalls. Seeing it wasn't immediate danger, he relaxed, though he still remained cautious; he knew bull moose could be very dangerous.
"Oooh, lookie here, brother! A nice patch of greens, eh?"
"What was that, eh? I was stretching."
"You're always stretching, eh?"
"So? It keeps me in shape, eh?"
Toni giggled at the pair. "They talk funny."
"Shhh!" Aliko quickly growled, but not fast enough.
"Did you say something?"
"No, eh? Did you?"
"No. I think it came from that log, over there, eh?"
Before the cubs had a chance to react, two moose faces pushed themselves lower, where they could see into their hiding place. "Hey! It's three smallish bears, eh?"
"Go away," Aliko did his best to growl.
The darker moose snorted. "Feisty one, eh? I'm Tuke, and that's my brother, Rutt, eh? Who're you?"
"I'm Tonia, but everyone calls me Toni," Aliko rolled his eyes at his sister, "and those are my brothers, Aliko and Kenu. Kenu's sick."
"He don't look too good, eh? What happened?" The lighter colored one, Rutt, spoke this time.
"Some two-leg creature threw a stick at him. It hurt his shoulder." Toni went on, as if they were all old friends.
"You guys are really little, eh?" Then, Tuke's eyes got wide. "And if you're little... your mama's somewhere nearby, eh?"
"What'll we do?!" Rutt sounded slightly panicked. "She'll eat us, eh?"
"Been nice meeting you, smallish bears, but we gotta run, eh?"
"Wait!" Aliko called. His head lowered as he explained. "Our mother... we got lost... she won't come back."
"Awww," Rutt lowered his head again, before looking at his brother. "Hey, I have an idea, eh?"
"Something good, I hope."
Rutt snorted. "We could take 'em to big bear, smallish bear, and pretty bear, eh?"
Tuke paused for a moment. "They'd be waking up about now, eh?"
"Excuse me?" Toni interrupted. "Who's that you're talking about?"
"Oh, eh, some friends of ours." Rutt explained. "A family of bears, eh? You'd like them; they're nice, eh?"
"I'm... hungry... Alik." Kenu managed to rasp, causing the two moose to look at him.
"Hey, he's really small, eh?" Rutt looked at Tuke.
"Really sick, too, eh?" Tuke agreed, looking back at the cubs. "You smallish bears wouldn't be able to travel, would you? Not with your brother like that, eh?"
Aliko shook his head.
"Then we'll go get big bear, smallish bear, and pretty bear, and bring them back to you!" Tuke exclaimed. He didn't give any other exclamation, just darted off.
Rutt looked back at the cubs. "We'll be back, eh? Stay here." And with that, he took off after his brother. "Hey, bossy hooves! Wait for me, eh?"
"Speed up, short legs! We got smallish bears to save, eh?"
"I do not have short legs, eh! You're just fast!"
The three siblings, even Kenu, looked at each other, mystified. "Maybe... Maybe they really will bring nice bears to help us," Toni murmured, hopeful. "And they'll take care of Kenu, and make him better!"
"We can only hope..." Aliko trailed off.