I woke up with the sun streaming through the mouth of the cave onto my face. I opened my eyes to the hurtful rays, The light! It burns! I rolled over rubbing my eyelids, I guess we all overslept, I thought. I stretched and yawned, still not fully awake, I just wanted to curl back u to Chance and go to sleep.

I looked at him, he was snoring lightly and spread out on the floor still cradling the spot where I had slept with his paws. I smiled at the sight, he is too adorable!

As I peered around the cave, everyone was still snoozing in their corners. Maybe I can find breakfast, and right on cue, my stomach growled. I skipped out of the cave and saw that the woods looked a little haggard; trees were slightly bents and there were whole branches ripped off the trunks. I can't believe we all slept through that!

I strolled along the path, looking at the damage the wind storm had done to this once beautiful wooded area. I remembered that singe said no one had lived nearby which was surprises since the area was once so gorgeous. I raised my snout in the air and took a big whiff, hoping to smell some berries, nuts or anything really. Nothing. The place was bare, No wonder no one lived here, I thought.

A deep bark rang through the air, I turned behind me, where the noise came from. Chance. Shit! I didn't tell anyone I was leaving! I yelped back at him, trying to tell him I was safe and on my way back. When I entered the clearing, he saw me and ran.

He jumped on me, knocking me onto the ground," Are you okay? Safe? Did someone take you? Where were you? Are you hurt?!"

"My head hurts," I say dazed by the impact.

Chance unpins me and helps me up," Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say shaking my head, "Oh Chance, I'm sorry. I should have told you I was going. I wanted to go get breakfast for everyone, you know. like a surprise, but there is no food around here. At all!"

Chance just hugs me," I'm glad your okay, I was so close to blaming Singe for your disappearance," he squeezed me tighter.

"Oh... well I'm fine, just hungry, dirty, and in need of a bath," I giggle.

"Me too," he sighed, linking our tails before guiding me back to the den.

"I found her!," he called, his voice echoed off the walls.

Looking around, everyone was awake and hustling around packing their bags and preparing for our departure. Theresa dropped her bag and sprinted to me," Oh Violet!," she hugged me tightly," You had us all worried! Even Singe was concerned. Where did you go?," She stepped back and put her paws on her hips.

"I-I-I just went to go get f-food," I struggle to explain, everything seemed to be happening at once.

"Oh," she dropped her paws," Did you find any, because I'm starving!"

"No, there is no food around here! I was hoping we have some stored for the trip into the mountains."

"Excuse me," Singe walked over," I couldn't help but overhear, Sheila. But I had that problem myself when I first moved out here, No food around here for what seems like miles. So, I made myself a garden, its nothing big but it does have food. We can collect some and then head out?"

"Wow! A garden, that's amazing! Most males refuse to do gardening," Theresa's eyes gleamed with admiration.

"That sounds perfect," I tell him.

We gather our bags and follow singe down to his garden, the whole way Theresa yammers on about him.

"He is so dreamy," she swoons.

"What happened to Jack?"

"He still there, in my mind, but is obvious he doesnt feel the same," she drops her head.

"Well... yeah. But just because he doesn't like you doesn't mean you should jump to the next guy!"

"Well, not everyone is lucky enough to find their true love the first time!," she retorted.

"Theresa... I-" I was shocked at her outburst.

"No, don't say it. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap, but it's just hard. I've been putting my energy into Jack for weeks with nothing to show for it... it just sucks."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You'll find Mr. Right, he's out there," I reassure her.

"Yeah... maybe he's closer than we think," she smiles, looking head at Singe.

I roll my eyes and smile," Maybe," I pause, hearing the sound crashing water" Do you hear that?"

Theresa listens," Yeah... sounds like water?"

Ahead of us Singe jumps down out of sight, I freeze. Did he fall? Where did he go?

"C'mom, mates." he calls from below.

I peer over the edge, its about a 30 foot drop to where Singe is standing. Oh no, I step back quickly for fear of falling. "Isn't there a path that leads there?," I ask.

"No. You'll be fine I'll catch you," he calls.

Chance and Jack turn to each other, unsure of whether or not to trust Singe. Before I muster up the courage to jump, Theresa bolts past me, flying into the air, falling down. I gasp and go to grab her, but Chance pulls me back from falling over the edge.

We all held our breath, waiting for a sign that she was okay. I was praying that she made it safely, but all that answered my prayer was silence.

"It's easier than it looks," I hear her call up to us.

I blew my breath out, Thank goodness.

"No point in delaying this," Jack mumbles. He ran to the edge and disappeared from my view, moments later we heard the thud of his body landing on the ground.

"All good," he yells to us.

"Chance... I'm scared," I confess, never looking away from the ledge and the doom it held.

"Don't be. We can jump together, okay?"

I shook my head violently, heights were not something I was fond of. They were scary and I had known many people on my mountain who had fallen to their deaths because of their lack of safety.

"1...2...," Chance counted down. I shut my eyes and started to run with him,"..3." We jumped and I felt the wind rushing past my face. I wanted to scream but I couldn't breath, there was no air, I felt like I was suffocating. Then as quickly as it began, it was over. I could once again feel the soft dirt under my paws, signaling that we were safely on the ground. I opened my eyes and saw Singe looking at me.

"No so bad, was it Bluey?"

"No..," I said shakily," It was worse."

He chuckled," We'll were here, there are no more jumps," he grinned.

I let go of Chance, he didn't look scared or shaken like I did. Lucky, I thought.

"Wow," I heard Theresa say." This garden is beautiful!"

I turn to see what she was seeing, and I agreed, the garden was breath taking. There were rows of fruits and vegetables then beside them were rows of flowers and herbs. I had never seen a garden so extravagant and luscious. It was right next to the smooth flowing river, it looked like a scene you might see in a dream.

Singe began picking out vegetables and putting them into Theresa's bag, counting them out. Then he crossed over to the fruits and did the same, placing them carefully within pouches so they wouldn't bruise. He did the same with all our packs, filling them with food and herbs.

While the rest of us ate the left over food in the garden, Singe placed a white flower in his own backpack.

"What's that," I asked him while munching on a savory carrot.

He didn't look at me, but continued to stare at the white petal of the small flowers," It's a stephanotis," he stated simply. "They are known to bring good luck, I always bring it with me when I travel away from home."

"It's so pretty," Theresa noted. " I wish I had one!"

He chuckled softly and pulled one of the small flower from the plant and walked to Theresa, placing the flower behind her ear," For you, Sheila."

Theresa blushed a deep red and turned away from Singe, smiling.

Jack cleared his throat, breaking the innocence of the moment," How do we get back to the trail?," He looked up." The one up there."

Singe turned from Theresa," We have to walk the river. We wade against the river and it leads back to the higher trail."

"Now I'm excited," I walked to the river," A bath!" I was about to jump in when, I remembered my cast. Can I get it wet? Screw it, I need to be clean.

I jumped into the water and was hit with it's icy temperature. The coldness was stunning and caught be off guard, like a thousand tin icicles were stabbing me all over my body. "AHH! It's so cold!," I stood up quickly.

Singe was howling with laughter," That's because it runs straight from the mountain!," he clutched his side, hooting with laughter.

After a few second of sitting there, the water seemed less cold and more bearable. The water wasn't too deep, just standing, it reached to my knees, it felt lovely. I dove into the depth of the stream, spinning like a Horsea, loving the feeling of the water against my fur. I scrubbed my tails against a mossy rock, trying my hardest to clean them from there tattered state. I even tried to clean my cast as best I could, but it was impossible, so I gave up.

My friends merely watched in awe as I played in the river. "What?," I asked.

"How are you just paying in water?!," Jack asked with his mouth gaped open.

"I learned to swim when I was younger, so I have a small resistance to water. C'mon guys! A little water won't kill you fire types! Plus, you all could use a scrubbing," I laughed diving make into the water.

One by one, they piled into the frigid river, surprised by it's frosty temperature. We splashed and ran in the water, laughing and making fools of ourselves. I helped Theresa clean her ears with the moss on the rock, while Chance rolled, sending water flying everywhere.

"Okay, now that we're all a little less repulsing, let's continue on our way," Jack spoke, moving up stream.

Chance and I turned to each other, I slashed him and danced away giggling. He ran after me, chasing me up the river and I was outrunning him until he pounced on me, causing my to slip and fall into the water. He stood over me smiling enthusiastically, I sat up and splashed him again. He barked happily and licked my cheek, I licked him back. We got up and went back to our herd, ready to leave the forest, travel to the mountains, and go farther than I ever thought possible.