“Kalai, pay attention! You won't be made a fox-fighter
anytime soon if you keep this up!” Streamnip snapped.
Kalai jumped. She had been watching a squirrel dart by, her stomach
grumbling with the effort to not lunge at the animal; during training,
rookies don't get many food breaks. “Wha-? Oh, sorry! I won't do
it again, Streamnip!” Kalai was a young fox, maybe four moons, and
she had the deepest red pelt in the tribe, and her eyes were a very
unusual green.
“You better not!” A hint of amusement flickered in his brown
eyes. The bronze-pelted fox sat down and curled his fluffy tail
around his paws. “Now listen up, rookies. I will be training you
today, down by the creek. You will be hunting rabbits.”
“Ooh! When, when?” A broad young fox named Rosxo
eagerly barked. Rosxo was Kalai's elder brother, but he wasn't that
much older, as he was still a rookie. His pelt was a brown color, and
his eyes the same.
“Soon. Be patient, Rosxo.” Streamnip bent down and gave
him a quick lick on the forehead. “For now, go get some food you
two! You kits look famished!” Streamnip rose and strolled away.
The two foxes watched him walk at a leisurely pace in through the
fort's entrance. The fort was located in a huge glen, and its shape
was two circles, and those circles were surrounded by a dense forest
of various deciduous trees. In the first circle that you would enter
upon the fort's front there would be the herb fox's, falka's, and
falna's dens. In the second circle, which you would have to turn a
corner to get to, has the nursery and rookie's and fighter's dens. The
corner which you would have to turn is a large triangular clump of
trees that intersects the two circles. The fort's walls were made of
many twigs and thick branches, and were as tall as six or so feet.
Inside of the enclosed fort there were dens that were either boulders
that have been split open by many thunderstorms, or ones that were
dug out of the ground to be burrows. Whichever one it was, they
both would have very comfortable bedding, of soft moss and leaves,
mostly twigs.
“Come on, Rosxo. He's right, we're starving!” The two of
them walked side by side, into the fort, passing by a few chatting
foxes and dens, and over to the food pile. The food pile was a low
ditch dug out in the exact middle of the fort. Kalai selected a plump
magpie while Rosxo grabbed a small mouse and they trotted over to
the rookies' den. The den was located in a small clearing inside of a
large glen, which contained the fort. The tall trees that surrounded
the fort were elm, oak, elder, and pine. There are many dens in the
fort, like the rookies' den, the fighter's den, the herb fox's den, the
falna's den, and the falka's den, plus some other ones for kits and
nursing vixens. The foxes had to turn a corner to make it into the
rookie's den, which was hidden behind a clump of elm trees. They
sat together by a fallen tree where most of the rookies would eat
their share of food. The rookies' den was covered in a protective
layer of twigs and leaves meant to keep sunlight out and to keep the
den warm during the barren time. Unlike the other dens, the rookies'
was a carefully constructed den of twigs, branches, moss, and leaves.
They stretched out comfortably and began to eat their food.
“Hey, guys! How are ya?” A small fox trotted cheerfully up
to them and sat down at their paws. The fox's pelt was a normal dull
red, the tip of her tail pure black, exactly like the other fox's tails,
and her eyes the same as Rosxo's. A normal fox, yet not a normal
personality…
“Oh, hey Ronni! We're just going hunting for rabbits!”
Ronni, the fox, sat down on the cold ground and began to groom herself, licking her chest and plucking nettles out that were
between her paw pads.. “Oh, really? Whos talking you?” she asked.
“Streamnip,” Rosxo replied. “Do you want to join us? I
mean to eat?”
Ronni yawned and plopped down on the ground lazily.
“Sure? Why not? Let me just go get a mouse.” She hauled herself
up and slowly walked over to the food pile. Kalai looked after her, a
thought whirling in her mind. She looked to her brother who was
sitting beside her.
“How does Ailanose tolerate her? She's so lazy, and she gets
away with it!” Kalai barked softly, amused. Rosxo licked his lips as
he finished the last bite of his mouse and patted it to the side. He
looked into his sister's green eyes.
“Well, I guess she's just the type of trainer that appreciates
her rookie no matter what,” Rosxo pawed the mouse carcass that lay
beside him. “You know? Streamnip's like that, too.” Ailanose was
one of the tribe's fighters, and she was assigned two moons ago to be
Ronni's trainer. Streamnip was Kalai and Rosxo's, and he became
their trainer three moons ago; Ronni was younger than them, as her
mother, Jackpelt, had her a moon after Umberpelt had Kalai and
Rosxo. Jackpelt is Umberpelt's sister, and was also younger than she
was. Kalai nibbled on the magpie that she had between her paws. As
she was chewing, she thought about how her day was going;
Streamnip was to take Kalai and Rosxo out to train, which, for Kalai,
was something she anticipated. She pondered how she would use
techniques to hunt… once she scented a rabbit, she would crouch
low to the cold earth and wait for the perfect moment in which to
lunge. Streamnip and her mother, Umberpelt, would be very proud
of her hunting skills. Kalai chirped delightedly as she thought of the
kill she would soon make. She wished for her mother and her trainer
to be proud of her. Kalai took another bite of magpie. A horrid taste
filled her mouth as she chewed the bird.
11
“Ugh! What the-?” Kalai spit out the disgusting tasting bird
and jumped up as she saw that the bird she was just eating was
infested with maggots. Kalai's eyes widened as she realized that the
bird she chose from the food pile was a grave token.
“Kalai… do you know? That … that‟s an infested bird! It‟s a
token!!!” Rosxo cowered inside the fallen tree‟s small hollow, aware
that the maggot-infested bird foretold that danger would come to the
entire tribe. Fox-faith, the rules that every tribe must follow, says
that maggot-infested prey is a token of a threat to come.
“We have to tell Roseherb!” Kalai cautiously picked the
decomposed bird up by the tip of the wing and hurried to Roseherb's
den. Her den was located in a cracked boulder surrounded by
brambles. Oaks towered over the boulder, hiding it. Kalai poked her
head into the den. It was pitch black. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the
darkness, and she looked around the den.
“Roseherb?” Kalai called lightly.
“Yes?” A pleasant sounding voice replied. Kalai slowly stepped into
the darkened den. She could just make out the shape of a fox
crouching in the corner.
“What's wrong, Roseherb?” Kalai said with an edge of panic
in her voice.
“Nothing, nothing at all! Don't worry; I'm just tending to one
of Alcinastreak's kits.”
Kalai immediately forgot all about the magpie she held
between her jaws. “Which one is it?” She dropped the magpie on the
stone floor of the den.
“Bronte. He is not ill, though.” Roseherb, the tribe's healer,
daubed a mixture of rosemary sprigs and tree sap onto the kit's wound. Glancing at the partially eaten bird, Roseherb gave Kalai a questioning look.
“Oh! This?” Kalai glanced at the magpie at her paws. “That's
what I came for. This magpie has maggots.” The young fox's
expression became solemn, “It's a token, isn't it?”
A look of dread clouded the healer‟s eyes. “I knew this was
coming. I had a vision … that this Tribe is to face a threat very
soon, and from someone that we trust.” Roseherb stared blankly at
the decaying magpie, apparently lost in thought.
Kalai was confused. How could someone that Firetribe
trusted hurt the tribe?
“Who?” Kalai asked, not really wanting to know the answer
to her question.
“I don't know, my visions aren't as specific as you may
think, Kalai,” Roseherb turned to the seemingly unconscious kit and
continued to clean the wounds. All of the herb foxes of the tribes
would gather at a meeting in a small clearing in the middle of the
forest every seven suns, and Skytribe would tell each and every one
of them something important in the form of a riddle.
“Kalai! We have to go now!” Rosxo came bounding into the
den with an excited look on his face. Kalai looked at Roseherb, a
worried look on her face.
“Don't worry, young one. We will take care of all of this;
you can trust me and Goldenlight.” The healer barked softly and
smiled. Kalai's expression changed immediately. She was also very
excited about their hunting mission. They had gone on other small
missions, but only to tag along and watch as the real fox-fighters
hunted rabbits, rodents, and birds. Kalai's fur prickled with
excitement as she dashed out of the den, calling out a goodbye over
her shoulder. The two rookies raced down a slope that led them
down to the entrance of the fort and dashed out.
“Kalai and Rosxo, stop!” A loud bark sounded behind them.
It was Goldenlight, the Firetribe falka. The two foxes exchanged
curious looks and raced back up the slope to the fox.
“Where is Streamnip?” She asked calmly. She is respected,
wise and thought to be strong, not only in her tribe, but in all of the
tribes throughout the forest. Her closest friend is Watertribe's falka,
Zosimos. Every fox knew that because at every Festival they are
always with each other, barking and squealing with delight as they
told stories of kit hood and their tribe rumors. A Festival is a
gathering that is held at the forest‟s Glen, a huge clearing in the
middle of the forest.
“Uh… don‟t you know?” Rosxo asked, his face screwed up
in confusion.
“Know what?” Goldenlight was equally confused.
“That Streamnip is going to take us out hunting for rabbits.”
Kalai replied. Streamnip came trotting down the slope and his ears
perked up when he saw the three foxes staring at him.
“What's everyone looking at?” Streamnip asked when he
reached the group. “Apparently, you did not tell
me that you were taking these two rookies out for hunting practice,”
The falka stood tall and confident, a glint of amusement in her eyes.
Streamnip sat on his haunches and looked at Goldenlight, sitting
straight enough to be at eye level with the falka.
“Oh, my bad! I do recall that I did, though,” They both
chirped with pleasure.
“Well, are we going to go or not! I'm not going to sit around
all day long!” Rosxo snapped, annoyed.
The two elder foxes turned their heads toward the rookie, a
look of disbelief on their faces. “Uh… sorry?” The young rookie looked at his paws, clearly
embarrassed.
“Okay, kits let us go and hunt now!” Streamnip brushed past
the foxes and raced down the slope and into the woods.
“Wait up, Streamnip!” Kalai followed close behind. Rosxo
squealed with excitement and set off after the two foxes.
Goldenlight smiled and strolled back into her Tribe's fort.
She walked into Ronni, who was searching for her two friends.
“Where are Ronni and Kalai?” she asked, licking her
whiskers fastidiously.
“They went hunting with Streamnip,” she replied.
“Oh, okay, thank you!” She hurried to her trainer, Ailanose,
when she heard her name called by the fox.
Meanwhile Rosxo, Kalai, and Streamnip were dashing
through the woods. Streamnip stopped abruptly by a solitary tree
and the two kits crashed into him, knocking the trainer over. He
yowled with surprise and jumped back on his paws.
“Slow down! I scented rabbit,” the trainer crouched low to
the dirt ground, signaling to the young foxes to switch into hunting
mode. Is tail swung back and forth.
Rosxo and Kalai hurried over to a berry bush and hid
themselves behind it. They watched as Streamnip stalked his prey,
moving one paw in front of the other, careful not to let the animal
become aware of his presence. The rabbit was hopping and sniffing
around, jerking his head here and there, obviously alert. Since the
wind was blowing in the direction of the trainer, he could smell the
rabbit but the rabbit couldn't smell him. The animal was only a few
fox-lengths away from the experienced hunter. Streamnip's ears
were perked up, alert to any sound, as were the rabbit's.
Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, the rabbit relaxed as he
thought that nothing would harm him. But he thought wrong:
Streamnip lunged at the unlucky animal, finishing it off in one bite.
Rosxo and Kalai jumped out from behind the bush and rushed
towards the fox that was holding the limp rabbit between his jaws.
“That was so cool!” Kalai hopped up and down with excitement.
“Yeah! How did you do that?” Rosxo stared in awe at the
fox-fighter.
Streamnip smiled and licked the awe-stricken fox on the
forehead. “It's called good hunting skills.” He stalked into the
brush, the rookies following close behind him. When the three foxes
arrived at the tribe‟s fort, Streamnip immediately went to
Goldenlight's den. Ronni came running up to Rosxo and Kalai, an
annoyed expression on her face.
“What took you so long? I've been waiting for you forever!”
She collapsed on the ground, clearly angry with the two foxes.
Kalai bent down and nudged her friend onto her feet.
“We were out hunting, I already told you that before, Ronni,”
Kalai said while she plucked a mouthful of filthy fur from her tail.
“Okay, okay! But you just left me here… ah, whatever. How
was your hunting?” Ronni licked her whiskers, eager to hear what
the two rookies had to tell about their first hunting mission. Rosxo
and Kalai had gone on that mission without Ronni because they were
older than she was and had been rookies longer than her, plus they
were more responsible, although that, hopefully, can be fixed.
“It was okay, but we didn't actually get to hunt… Streamnip
scented a rabbit and he caught it, but then he just started heading
back toward the fort.” Rosxo said, eyeing curiously Streamnip and
Goldenlight, who were sitting by the falka's den. “Well, he said he was taking you out hunting, to catch prey
by yourselves, and he didn't…” Ronni looked at her friends, her
head turned to one side. “I wonder why he said he would… well,
that was a total waste of time! Plus, he's always sneaking about with
Goldenlight…” Ronni barked, glancing at Streamnip, who was
squealing loudly at the joke that Goldenlight said. She was smiling,
pleased that her joke was that amusing.
“True. I'll talk to him later.” suggested Kalai, becoming
impatient with Ronni being so annoying. Ronni had told Kalai and
Rosxo before about what she thought of Streamnip; that he was a
weird fox that had no idea what he was doing. The two older rookies
secretly thought that Ronni was overreacting; he was just a mid-aged
fox who had a problem with remembering things.
“Ronni!” Rosxo yowled. Kalai and the furious fox looked up him,
taken aback by the extreme annoyance in his voice. “Stop it! You
worm-brained fool! He's just being a loyal fox to our tribe;
Goldenlight is our falka, she doesn't sneak!” Ronni's eyes widened
with disbelief. She hadn't though that one of her closest friends
would think of her as crazy.
“Uh… I guess I'll see you later, Kalai,” Ronni mumbled, her
voice quavering, obviously hurt by Rosxo's words. She ignored
Rosxo thoroughly, and slowly walked away with her head hung
down.
“Rosxo!” Kalai barked at him angrily. “What were you
thinking?” She lowered her voice when she noticed that they had
attracted the attention of a few younger foxes.
“I told her the truth, Kalai. She's getting on my nerves, it's
such a simple thing and she's making it into this huge problem! It
has been going on for suns!” He flattened the fur on his back and sat
down on the ground. At the previous Festival, which is held every
fourteen suns, Ronni had claimed that she heard Streamnip talking to
Goldenlight about dropping one of the rookies. They had talked
about dropping our status to a lower one before, which means that
Kalai and her friends being inferior rookies. After the Festival, she
had reported to Kalai and Rosxo what she had heard. She had told
them, “Streamnip and Goldenlight were lying by the Pine Tree. I
saw them so I thought that I could, well… spy on them! I was
excited about the thought of spying on them, so I did. I hid behind a
huge bush and listened to them for a while. They were talking about
normal Tribe stuff, so I was about to leave but when I heard
Goldenlight whisper to Streamnip about us. I continued to hide.
Streamnip said that he really didn't want to drop any of us, that he
really had worked hard. Then she said my name. I ran away at that. I
had to tell you guys!” She had a really sad and anxious look on her
face when she told them, so the two of them, Rosxo and Kalai,
listened for the sake of their friend.
“Is everything okay over here?” Streamnip now asked, a
curious expression on his face. He had seen they, their heads
together, whispering intently, so he came over to check it out.
Kalai and Rosxo looked at the fox. Kalai whispered one more
thing in Rosxo's ear and stalked away, her tail fluffed out.
“Yes, everything is okay,” the rookie said firmly.
“Okay then. Don't be going around and picking fights,
Rosxo, especially with your sister.” Streamnip turned and walked
toward the fighter's den. Rosxo sighed and lay down on the ground,
exhausted from the quarrel he just had and the hunting before. He
looked forward to a nice, long night. Meanwhile, Kalai was
stretched out by the food pile with Ryu, another young rookie.
“What was that all about? With Rosxo, I mean,” he asked.
“Oh, nothing much. It's just Streamnip; Ronni believes that
he thinks she is a horrible rookie, and Rosxo just freaked out,” Kalai
sighed and lay her head down on her paws. Ryu licked her forehead comfortingly and said that he was going to go get a mouse to share.
He got up and stretched his forepaws, then padded over to the food
pile. Kalai began to lick her paws, her head whirling with thoughts
of Ronni. Is Streamnip actually going to drop her, or is Ronni just
misunderstanding it all? The young fox shook her head to clear the
unwanted thoughts and stared blankly at Ryu's back, his muzzle
digging deep into the pile of food. There weren't many mice left,
those are Firetribe's favorite.
“Hey! Ryu!” Kalai barked.
The rookie turned around in surprise, his brows raised
quizzically. “Yes?” A plump mouth was clamped in between his
jaws.
“Can you wait for a moment? I have to go see Ronni. Save
some mouse for me!” She jumped on her paws and dashed away
towards the rookies' den, leaving behind a surprised fox with the
mouse dangling from his mouth. Kalai was about to crawl into the
burrow which was the rookies‟ den when she heard her name called.
She spun around to see Windrunner looking down at her.
“Kalai, where are you going?” He asked sternly. Windrunner
was Firetribe's falna, and he was very loyal to the tribe, and although
he is very kind hearted, he still has to do his job, which many times
involves saying no. “Uh… I'm going to go talk to Ronni about
something.”
“Oh, okay then, off you go! Tend to your business!” He
smiled and padded cheerfully away.
Kalai shook her head in confusion. The rookie watched
Windrunner trot up to Goldenlight and Streamnip and chuckled to
herself. Oh, he is a very unusual fox! She thought as the falna lay
down beside the two foxes, chatting buoyantly.
“Kalai?” a feeble voice asked behind her. Kalai whipped
19
around and stared in shock at a bitter Ronni. She had never seen her
this way; Rosxo had hurt her more than she had previously
anticipated.
“What is wrong, Ronni? I don‟t think that Rosxo made you
this upset, or did he?” Kalai ushered the sorrowful fox into the den
and offered her a comfortable nest in which to lie. Once the young
fox had relaxed in the nest, she looked up at Kalai and sighed.
“No. Rosxo did not do this, or he partly did…” Ronni
looked at her paws. “Anyway, I just realized that what he said was
true; I am crazy. Streamnip is going to drop me and I know it.”
Ronni jumped up, her teeth bared and her eyes glowing with rage
and despair. She stomped back and forth, looking like a squirrel who
just had a fright from a cat. Kalai allowed her to release her anger.
She is right, isn’t she? She asked herself as Ronni calmed down and
collapsed on the ground, worn out by her fit of anger. The frustrated
rookie stared at the den wall, a faraway look in her eyes.
“Ronni?” she asked after a few silent heartbeats.
“What?” She looked up at Kalai. If she was to be dropped, it
would be a long while until her status would be raised again.
“What makes you think you'll be dropped?” She sat on her
haunches, patiently awaiting her fellow tribe mate's answer.
“Kalai, it's obvious! I'm lazy and stupid and I don't know
how to hunt!” Kalai licked her sobbing friend's forehead
comfortingly. She huddled close to the convulsing fox's side.
“Look! Ronni, you are in no way stupid. For all I know, you
are as good a hunter as Ailanose! You should see the way she looks
at you, her eyes filled with pride. She knows she has trained you
well. It's not a big matter at all, Ronni. I know how you are, how
you worry about everything, and this doesn't have to be worried
about.” Kalai said softly. Ronni slowly raised her head to look at the eyes of her closest friend.
“Okay,” she murmured. “I guess you‟re right… I just
panicked, and then fell apart. And-”
“Don't let it worry you any longer, there are more important
things in life than this, then something that won‟t even happen… in a
million years.” Kalai smiled, hoping that her friend would forget
about the whole situation.
“Ronni, Kalai, come now!” a voice called from outside the
den. Ronni looked up the small tunnel that led out of the den. Kalai
helped her cousin, and friend, crawl up the den. The two rookies
made their way out of the cold den. Once outside, they saw that
Goldenlight and Windrunner were sitting on the Stream Rock. The
Stream Rock was mossy from the constant peaceful flow of the
stream that surrounded it. Rosxo was the one that had called them,
and now looked at them expectantly. They could tell that he wanted
Ronni to forgive him.
“Well, are you coming or not?” He dashed away toward the
Stream Rock where all the other foxes were gathering to hear what
the falka had to say. Alcinastreak, Jaxxentail, Jackpelt and many
other foxes were there. Ronni and Kalai padded over to the rock,
sitting beside Rosxo.
“Come all foxes! Kits, fighters, and elders!” Goldenlight
called, “We have four foxes that will be made into fighters very
soon,” she announced. Gasps of surprise, excitement, and disbelief
rang throughout the crowd. There were many other rookies in the
Tribe, like Dandy, Wolka, Dirk and Autumn. They barked excitedly,
saying that they knew it would be them, but most of these foxes were
just made rookies only a couple of moons ago. Ryu, Rosxo and
Kalai had been rookies for about four or five moons, so they were
about ready to be made fighters. But who was the fourth? The three
foxes didn't even think about that, they were too excited about the
thought of being made into fighters; they were only too sure about
them being the ones that were to be made fighters. The ignored the
four younger rookies, for they knew they were not the ones who
were about to me made into fighters. They exchanged anxious
glances. Ronni looked at her paws, sighing. No one around her
noticed her grief, so she only continued to envelop herself in the
false thoughts that were whirling through her mind. There were
murmurs of confusion sounding thorough out the crowd as the foxes
realized what the falka had just said.
“Who's the fourth? There are no other rookies experienced
enough to be made into fighters except Ryu, Rosxo, and Kalai,”
Ailanose whispered to Jaxxentail, another fox-fighter.
Kalai overheard her question, and she realized that she had
the same question? Who was the fourth?
“Hey, guys? She said that there were four foxes, we're only
three.” Ryu and Rosxo turned away from the crowd of foxes and
looked at Kalai.
“Yeah, that's true!” Ryu said.
“Who is it, then?” Rosxo asked.
“I don't know!” she whispered.
Goldenlight let the foxes whisper to one another for a
moment longer until she howled loudly. The confused and surprised
tribe turned to her.
“Kalai, Rosxo, and Ryu… Come.” They had been watching the falka
the whole time. Her face was expressionless. Had she made a
mistake in saying four? No. The three rookies slowly and anxiously
approached the falka, their trainers already waiting for them, sitting
on the flat surface of the Stream Rock. Streamnip, Rosxo and Kalai's
trainer, was seated beside Windrunner at the foot of the Rock, a huge smile plastered on his face. Candletip, Ryu's trainer, was also with
Streamnip and Windrunner, her eyes glowing with pride. Ailanose,
Ronni's trainer, was seated by Goldenlight.
Rosxo glanced at the trainer, and then looked to his side to
see Ryu with a quizzical expression on his face.
“I honestly don't know,” he said, answering his friend‟s
unspoken question. His paws were trembling with anticipation. He
lost his footing as he was stepping up onto the Rock, and slipped, but
he quickly regained his balance. Rosxo cast him a nervous glance.
Goldenlight stood up and whispered something into
Ailanose's ear. She took a step back, her head bowed in
acknowledgement. Ailanose nodded, smiling politely to the falka,
and examined the crowd of impatient Firetribe foxes.
“Thank you, Goldenlight. Congratulations to Ryu, Ronni,
and Kalai. You have proved yourself worthy, and this, if you‟ll let
me say, is not surprising.” She chuckled, as well as the other foxfighters.
The three rookies looked at the trainer, deciding whether
that was good or bad. Ailanose continued, “I would of thought you
would've been made into fighters earlier than this. Congratulations.”
She smiled. Kalai was mesmerized by everything, the ceremony, the
smiling faces, if was all too much… but it was wonderful. She felt a
sharp pain shoot through her back, and realized that Rosxo had bitten
her tail.
“You're supposed to go up,” he whispered through gritted teeth,
glancing to his side. The whole of Firetribe was waiting for her.
“Oh!” she barked in a quiet voice and she smiled nervously, clearly
humiliated.
“Go up, Kalai! They're waiting!” Rosxo repeated.
Kalai climbed up the slippery surface of the rock and sat
beside Streamnip. Excitement surged through her body.
“Rosxo…” Goldenlight nodded in his direction. He
straightened his back and stood tall. “Come,” the falka said warmly,
though it was meant to be a command. He padded up to Streamnip
from the crowd and sat before him.
“Kalai, you, over all of the foxes, have proven yourself to be
the most successful rookie. You must still keep the knowledge you
have received with you at all times, do not forget it. Use it in times
of war. Kalai, you are now a true fox-fighter.” Streamnip announced.
Shouts of applause sounded throughout the crowd of foxes.
Streamnip put his head against Kalai's for a few moments, a gesture
that the rookie's trainers did in every fighter ceremony; to
congratulate them, and as a last goodbye, for they would not need a
trainer any longer. Kalai licked his cheek and hopped over to
Streamnip.
“Rosxo, come.” The exuberant fox padded over to
Streamnip. The trainer recited the familiar words.
“You have been on many hunting missions throughout your
time of being a rookie. And during those missions, you have caught
much prey that has benefited the Tribe. Thank you for your excellent
fox-faith and hunting skills. You are now a true fox-fighter.” The
new fighter bowed his head and trotted to Kalai's side. All the foxes
that were gathered around him smiled warmly at him as he passed.
His mother, Umberpelt, gazed at him with eyes filled with pride. She
shifted her gaze to Kalai, who smiled.
“Ryu, come.” This time, Candletip stepped forward and spoke the
ceremonial words.
The young fighter marched cheerfully back to stand beside
the two new fighters.
“Last, but not least, Ronni, please come,” Goldenlight said, smiling warmly at the rookie, who was now sitting quietly by
Autumn, another rookie her age.
“Ronni, we know that you may not be comfortable in your own pelt,
or even in this Tribe.” Ailanose said, her eyes full of understanding.
Ronni had always wanted someone to know how she felt about her
life, and now she knew that her trainer, the one fox that she had
doubted the most, understood her feelings. Ronni had been unsure
about her ever since the fox had been assigned to train the rookie.
The ways in which Ailanose trained Ronni was difficult and strange
for the young fox. Ronni now nodded her body full of warmth and
happiness, and excitement.
“It has been difficult for you, we all know, but you have
shown me that you have what it takes to be made a fighter earlier
than most of the foxes in the forest. You are a swift, loyal and clever
fox. You have gained the honor to be made a fighter,” Ronni's eyes
widened in disbelief. She knew that she was to become a fox-fighter,
but she hadn't imagined that it would be so formal and exciting. She
stumbled back to three fighters, taking her place at the end of the
line.
“Listen, foxes! The Festival will be held in two suns at this
location.” Goldenlight announced. The foxes cheered; it was a great
honor to host the Festival. “And for your information,” she turned
her heads toward the four new fighters, “This ceremony is where you
four will spend the night partying! Who says you can't have a little
fun?”
Howls of laughter arose from the crowd of foxes. The group of
foxes started to break up as the four fighters approached their
trainers. The trainers had to say their goodbyes because now, since
their rookies had been ranked up, they were not to train them
anymore.
“Streamnip, we will miss you!” Kalai ran up to him and
rubbed her head against his chest. “You were the best trainer any fox
could ever wish for!”
“And you guys were the best rookies any fox could ever wish
for!” He smiled and licked each fox's forehead in turn. Streamnip
caught sight of Umberpelt, the two fox's mother, waiting patiently
for her two offspring to come to her by an oak tree. “Your mother is
waiting for you,” he pointed with his muzzle.
“Mama!” Kalai dashed over to her mother. Umberpelt
nuzzled her daughter with her nose.
“I am so proud of you two! I never imagined that this day
would come so soon,” Rosxo padded over to her, a smile on his face.
Ryu and Ronni were also with their mothers, jumping around,
overwhelmed with excitement. There was a sense of true happiness
in the air, of home. Everything was peaceful.

The moon was high in the sky. Most of the foxes were
cuddled up in their dens, sleeping. Kalai, Rosxo, Ryu and Ronni
were outside of the fighter‟s den, looking up at the stars. They were
all lying on the ground, stretched out comfortably.
“Ronni, we are fighters now, you know,” Kalai said. She
sighed with contentment.
“Yep, and tomorrow we‟re going on our first hunting
mission!” Ronni licked the rabbit she had by her paws.
“I heard that Windrunner was splitting us into groups. With
Kalai and Ronni, and I‟m with Ryu,” Rosxo said, a smug expression
on his face.
“Ronni, Ryu, Kalai, Rosxo, come now!” They heard a voice
behind them. Kalai spun around, and saw Windrunner padding up to
them. “We are going to go on your first hunting mission, and this
time it is when you are fully fledged fox-fighters.” He smiled.
“Don‟t stay behind, hurry up now!” The falna darted out of the fort
and into the woods. The four foxes exchanged curious and excited
glances. They all thought that tomorrow was the hunting mission,
not late at night. Ronni shrugged and dashed after the fox, the others
following close behind. They ran along his scent line, and finally
came along a small clearing surrounded by shrubs and small trees.
They saw Windrunner seated beside an old abandoned den in the
clearing.
“This is the place where the fighters gather for, hmm, how
shall I put it…? For special meetings,” he said, a hint of mystery in
his eyes.
“Awesome! Are we going to go on our mission now?” Ryu asked, the fur on his back prickling with excitement.
Windrunner gave him a questioning look, “Yes, don‟t be
impatient now, young one; we will go shortly.” He looked up at the
bright moon for a few moments, his eyebrows raised.
“As in now!” Windrunner barked suddenly and bolted out of the
clearing, making his way deeper into the forest.
“Follow him, guys!‟ Kalai squealed and bounded after him
with the three foxes following straight behind her. They ran through
bramble bushes, which did not please them because thorns caught in
their fur. Leading the way, Kalai jumped over a fallen tree and
caught sight of the falna‟s bushy tail disappearing behind a sapling.
Her head was hot and her blood rushing from the whole thing.
“He‟s over there! Follow me!” she continued to pursue the
sly falna, stopping here and there, attempting to track him. She
stopped abruptly by a hollow tree trunk and opened her jaws slightly,
allowing the breeze to carry the scent of the falna to the roof of her
mouth. She crouched in a hunting position, signaling to her fellow
tribemates to do the same.
“Shhh, he‟s hiding somewhere,” Kalai said. Rosxo looked at
Kalai, and she flicked her tail. Rosxo knew what that meant; split up.
Rosxo stalked over to a small tree and hid behind it. He moved paw
in front of paw, slowly, and he glanced at his companions. Ryu and
Ronni crawled over to a bush located in a deep but small trench and
concealed themselves beneath it. Kalai remained out in the open. She
crouched on her haunches in lunging position, as Streamnip had
taught her.
“Windrunner, we –,” she winced; Kalai didn‟t want him to
know that Ryu, Ronni and Rosxo were hiding, although she was sure
he already knew. “- I know you‟re out there.” The young fox sniffed.
Yes, definitely, he was out there. She heard a branch crack behind
her. She whipped around in time to see a leaping Windrunner. Kalai yowled with pain and fury as the falna knocked her to the ground.
He had a satisfied smile on his face. He stepped off of Kalai.
“Ha! Never going to be as good as me!” Ronni watched him from
inside the bush, just waiting for the perfect time to save Kalai. She
locked her eyes onto her target; Windrunner… she could see every
movement of his body, his steady breathing, his twitching mouth.
She could hear nothing around her, only her foe. She pushed the fact
of him being her falna out of her mind. Her muscles tensed, her ears
perked, slightly moving her paw. Ronni hurtled herself at him from
behind, the fox smashing to the ground, sending dirt and leaves
flying about them. Windrunner yelped with surprise.
“Rosxo! Reinforcements!” Kalai barked. She grabbed
Windrunner‟s tail and the falna barked with pain. Rosxo then
jumped out of some brush and bolted over to the struggling fox.
“Aargh! Get off me!” Windrunner squealed, his face buried
in the dirt.
Rosxo jumped on his belly and the helpless fox grunted as
the young fighter knocked the air out of him.
“Where is Ryu?!” Ronni barked, sitting on Windrunner‟s
head, her paws dug into the ground.
“I don‟t know!” Kalai said, her mouth full of fur from the
falna‟s tail. “Ryu!”
Windrunner, from his view on the hard earth ground, saw a
red figure disappear behind a couple of oak trees. “He‟s over there!”
he said with his mouth full of dirt. The three foxes looked up when
they heard the captive fox. Windrunner took this time as an
advantage to free himself when the foxes lost concentration on
keeping him on the ground. He gathered all his strength and jumped
up, knocking all of the foxes off of him. The falna lunged at Rosxo
and they rolled around on the ground. “Ryu! Ugh, where is he!” Kalai looked around and saw
Ronni staring in shock at the two tumbling foxes. “Ronni! Help
them, c‟mon!” Ronni shook her head and the two foxes dashed over
to Rosxo and Windrunner.
“Kalai grab him by the ear!” Ronni barked. Kalai dodged out
of the way of the fighting foxes. She targeted Windrunner‟s fluffy
ear and launched herself at his head. She took hold of the ear firmly
with her jaws and heard a yowl of agony erupt from Windrunner‟s
throat. Ronni once again jumped on his stomach and Rosxo bit his
thigh. They wrestled him to the ground but when the tenacious
falna‟s strength returned, he was determined to escape the foxes‟
grasps.
“This is the last time!” he barked with frustration as he threw
the foxes off of his back. He stood firmly on the ground, littered with
fur and leaves, and glared at the three young fighters. The foxes
scrambled on their feet and stared with disbelief at the falna.
Windrunner bared his teeth and growled. Ronni, Rosxo, and Kalai
looked behind him at a small fox with a humorous expression on his
face.
“It‟s Ryu,” Kalai murmured. “Wait! It‟s Ryu!”
“What?” Windrunner was about to turn around when Ryu
leaped on his back and clamped his jaws on the scruff of his neck.
Windrunner yowled and collapsed to the ground. He panted raggedly
and looked up at the four foxes surrounding him.
“You win,” he said and closed his eyes. He sighed and lay
there, exhausted.
“Ha! Yes!” Kalai jumped around, squealing with happiness.
The four foxes crowded together and licked each other, celebrating
their victory.
“We should really help him up, you know, we really beat him there,” Ronni said. Everyone agreed and they turned to head back to
the fox and he was not there anymore. Kalai looked around the
clearing. He wasn‟t anywhere. A feeling of panic entered the air.
What could’ve happened?
“Where‟d he go?” Ryu‟s voice cracked from growing fear.
Kalai slowly walked to the place where he had just recently lain. She
sniffed around.
“I have no idea, guys…” Kalai stepped back and joined her
group. She huddled up close to Rosxo, afraid of what had happened
to the falna.
“He probably went back to fort, or maybe he‟s still testing
us,” Ryu suggested.
“Yeah, he‟s sneaky that way… it‟s just another test. Plus, we
can find our way back home, if he did go back, his scent will be
fresh so we can smell our way home. If he didn‟t go that way… well,
I can‟t see him not going that way,” The three foxes waited
impatiently for her explanation, “But anyway if he didn‟t, we‟ll still
be able to find our way.” Kalai said, frowning.
“Yeah, well, let‟s get going then. Check the borders and
renew the scent marks,” Rosxo ordered, standing tall. He was the
oldest, so he did have the highest authority. He grinned, attempting
to add a little humor to the situation. The foxes exchanged
questioning glances and made their way out of the clearing they had
been in. Rosxo frowned, slightly embarrassed but also disappointed
that his attempt failed. He trotted to catch up with the other.
Meanwhile, Windrunner sat, concealed by a large berry bush,
watching foxes entering and leaving the Earthtribe fort. Then he saw Vixentail come out, the Earthtribe falna. He barked softly, and
Vixentail whipped her head in his direction. Windrunner poked his
head out of the bushes, and Vixentail‟s alert expression changed to
one of surprise.
“Windrunner, what are you -” she began.
“Shhhh!” he hissed. Vixentail looked around her. Oakleaf, a
fighter, was walking towards her. When he saw that her body was
rigid, with fear of someone finding Windrunner, he hurried to her
side.
“What‟s wrong?” he asked, worried.
“Oh nothing, just thought I heard a growl, you know, like a
puma or something…”
“Well that puma won‟t get past me!” He smiled and bounded
off for the woods. Vixentail sighed deeply and crawled over to
Windrunner. She tried to make as little sound as possible as she
sneaked into the bush.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered, clearing angry.
“I needed to tell you something,” he hesitated, as if about to
continue speaking, but shook his head instead.
Vixentail‟s eyes widened, “Wait, Goldenlight doesn‟t know
you‟re here?” she gasped.
“Look, I know that you‟re still angry with her after what she
did, but believe me, she didn‟t do it intentionally. You need to get
over this,” he pleaded. Vixentail only scoffed.
“You have made Hifla angry with Goldenlight. What have
you been telling her?”
“Nothing but the truth!” she spat, her eyes watering. A tear dripped down her muzzle, wetting her fur. Windrunner nuzzled her
and she looked up at him.
“She didn‟t do it intentionally,” the last word was a soft
whisper. Vixentail cried quietly, while Windrunner comforted her by
licking her ears.
“She didn‟t kill Icepaw,” he said, so quietly it was barely
audible.
“Rosxo, let‟s go check the borders, the girls can go home,
they look tired,” Ryu snickered.
“Oh, c‟mon! We fought better than you!” Kalai growled.
“Well-” Ryu began.
“Well?” Kalai asked, chuckling that he didn‟t have a good
comeback.
“Whatever!” Ryu scoffed. “I‟m tired!”
“We all are,” Ronni said, “Let‟s just go check the borders
now!”
Rosxo nodded and they trotted to the borders between
Firetribe and Earthtribe. The moon was full, clouds slowly crawling
across the sky. The wind was chilly and the night sky was dark as
coal. Rosxo and Ryu renewed the scent marks and then they
continued on their journey home. They followed the trail that they
came from because, luckily, their scent was still fresh.
When they arrived at the fort, Windrunner was indeed there,
sitting by the falka‟s den chatting away with Goldenlight. When the
four foxes trotted, exhausted, towards him, he sat up. Windrunner smiled, and Kalai glared at him. I guess that was just a test. A few of
the younger rookies stared at them curiously from behind a few
bushes, they‟re eyes wide. Ronni understood why; they were a mess!
They‟re fur was brown with dirt and matted with thorns and twigs.
Dandy and Autumn were among the few rookies, and Kalai shot
them an angry look. The two youngsters gasped and scattered away,
along with their other rookie friends.
“Well done! For the fight and the border check!” Windrunner
praised. “But take it easy next time, please,” he asked, tilting his
head to show them his ear, which was bald. “Don‟t go for the ear
next time, too.”
Kalai nodded and smiled, although in her mind, she wanted
rip all the hair of his body. The four foxes hurried to the food pile;
food didn‟t last very long, that‟s why Goldenlight sent hunting
parties out every evening. Kalai chose a plump vole, as well as the
others, and they all walked over to the fighter‟s den, a large burrow
concealed by a leaf blanket.
“I was about to go to the rookie‟s den!” Ronni exclaimed.
“Yeah, it‟s nice being a fighter! Awesome, I mean…” Rosxo
barked and hurried inside the den; he was eager to see what it was
like inside. It was larger than the rookie‟s den and more comfortable,
in a way… the bedding was a little more comfortable, only because
the fighters took more time getting their bedding for themselves,
choosing only the softest moss, while the rookie‟s wanted the adults
to do it for them. The four fighters snuggled up together in a nice
warm bed and began to eat. Kalai began to pluck of the fur in pieces,
feeling like she had all the time in the world. Once she had cleared a
part on the vole‟s body of hair, she nibbled on it. Only then did she
realize how truly exhausted she was. She looked around her; the
others were already asleep. Wow! I must have really zoned out
there… she thought. After a few more minutes of attempting to
finish the vole, she fell into deep sleep.

“Listen, all foxes gather around!” Goldenlight called. “We
will be attending the Festival today!” The foxes cheered.
“Ugh! What the – ” Kalai raised her eyelids slightly, then closed
them quickly, groaning. “It‟s too bright!” she complained. She was
lying in her den, curled up in a small ball.
“Get up! Goldenlight‟s up on the Stream Rock!” Ronni nudged her.
Kalai groaned again, and heaved herself up, with Ronni‟s help. Ryu
and Rosxo were already outside. They trotted up the passageway
leading to the outside, which for the drowsy Kalai, was difficult.
When they arrived at the Stream Rock, Goldenlight was seated on
top of it, her copper pelt shining in the sunlight. Kalai and Ronni sat
beside Rosxo and Ryu, who greeted them warmly. Kalai shook her
head, successfully attempting to shake away her exhaustion.
“We will tell all the falka, falna, rookies, kits, and fighters there that
we have four new additions to our fighting group!” Everyone
cheered with even more enthusiasm. “We will be going shortly.
Every fox who wishes to come please gather at the food pile, and
eat!” Goldenlight dismissed the tribe and they all went flying toward
the food pile. The falka always invited everyone to the Festival, but
had no need to, as every fox attended the Festival, no questions
asked. No one gets left behind, and it has been a record that for
many, many years no fox has missed the Festival. Kalai, Rosxo,
Ryu, and Ronni padded cheerfully over to the pile. Ronni chose a
nice plump vole, Rosxo took a small magpie, Kalai took a rabbit,
and Ryu took a huge pile of berries, his favorite. They all lay down by the fallen tree that they use to hang out by when they were
rookies. Goldenlight, Windrunner, and Ailanose strolled by. They
stopped by the four fighters and Ailanose called to Ronni.
“Ronni, can you come here for a moment?”
Ronni exchanged an anxious glance with her three friends.
Kalai gave her a look that said everything was going to be fine. The
sun was shining, the trees were green, the sky was blue, birds were
singing joyfully… how could anything bad happen?
“Coming.” Ronni jumped up off the ground and patted her half-eaten
vole out of her way.
“Ronni, will you join me for a quick talk?” Ailanose nodded
toward a small den by the front of the fort. Ronni looked back at her
friends and she saw that they were giving her encouraging looks.
They obviously wanted to know what Ailanose had to say. The fox
walked over to the den with Goldenlight, Windrunner and lastly
Ronni following behind her. The young fox stood tall and confident,
hoping that if she was going to do anything bad, that would at least
make her consider changing her mind.
“Wonder what the quick talk is about?” Ryu said curiously.
He yawned a huge yawn and plopped down, stretching his legs out.
“Probably something about her being made a fighter when
she‟s younger than the rest. It maybe has something to do with
presenting her at the Festival as a fox-fighter. It may overwhelm
her.” Kalai suggested. Rosxo and Ryu looked at her with wide eyes.
WHAT WORD
“Look who‟s talking!” Rosxo barked. “What, it won‟t be the
same for you?”
“Yeah, it won‟t. I‟m an awesome fox, nothing can
overwhelm me!” She barked, half sarcastically, and jumped up and bolted away.
“Follow her!” Ryu squealed. The two fighters leaped off the
ground and dashed after her.
“So, what was it you wanted to talk about, Ailanose?” a
curious Ronni asked. He was standing in the middle of the small den,
which was made by a cracked boulder, with her trainer sitting in
front of her. She tried her best to look as calm as possible, but her
heart was racing and it felt like her head would explode soon.
“About the Festival. When we present you four to the whole
forest, we are worried that you will be… well, nervous As will the
other new fighters, but we thought that since you‟re younger than
most fighters, it might a little more of an intense situation.” A look
of worry clouded Ailanose‟s eyes. Ronni knew why she, over all of
the foxes, would be the most worried about her. Ronni was like
Ailanose‟s own kit; the fighter loved her dearly, and did not want
anything to happen to her. Just because she was now a fighter didn‟t
mean that Ailanose couldn‟t still watch out for her.
“Ailanose, you don‟t have to worry! I‟m going to be okay,
and if I‟m not then I‟ll come to you.” Ronni chirped enthusiastically,
relieved that she wasn‟t going to drop her or something. Dropping
someone was when you dropped their rank from a fighter
temporarily to an ordinary one, like a nurse or a hunter. Ailanose
shook her head.
“No, see you don‟t understand. I won‟t be there… no, I will
be there, it‟s just that you will have to stand up in front of the whole
forest and you can‟t just run to me for comfort in the middle of your
speech. I can‟t stand up there with you.”
“Speech?” her face was screwed up in confusion, and sudden
panic. “What speech?” “Didn‟t Streamnip tell you?” Ailanose asked.
“No!” she barked, completely panicked now.
“Ronni?” she looked up at Ailanose.
“What? Oh, the speech… What speech!” she squealed.
“Look, every fox that attends a Festival for the first time as a
fighter must give a speech about anything; like that they‟re grateful
for being in their tribe, or memories of when they were rookies or
something like that! Just listen, be prepared, that‟s all I‟m saying.
Think of something, and quick, but make it good.” the fox got up
and padded out of the den. Windrunner brushed past Ronni but
Goldenlight remained where she was seated. She walked over to the
jerky fox and made Ronni look at her.
“Don‟t worry, Ronni. I know that you are a great fox, and
will become a great fighter. You most certainly will have a lot to say
for your speech,” the falka got up and licked the fox‟s forehead. “I
am honored to have you in my tribe.” She walked out of the den,
leaving Ronni speechless with pride. She slowly walked out of the
den, her head hung down, contemplating what had just happened.
Kalai, Rosxo and Ryu ran straight into Ronni.
“Ow!” Ronni yelped. “Get off me!”
The three foxes leapt up, full of energy.
“Look who‟s in a bad mood!” Rosxo said, he looked at Kalai
and nodded, agreeing to himself, “Isn‟t she in a bad mood?”
“Yep, yep, she is in a bad mood!” Kalai nuzzled her friend.
“You‟re a grumpy old fox!”
Ryu stood beside Rosxo and nodded fervently.
“You guys ate way too many berries!” Ronni barked and Ryu continued to nod.
“Yep, yeah we did. Awesome berries. Sweet berries, many
berries, lots and lots o‟ sugar. We ran, and ran, and ran… than found
berry bush, and ate all the berries!” Ryu squealed, still nodding. “So,
what did she say, what did she say! What, what!” The three foxes
crowded around Ronni. A slight breeze ruffled Ronni‟s fur.
“Slow down, Ryu! I‟ll tell you if you all calm down!” The
hyper foxes did as they were told and calmed down immediately.
They all collapsed on the ground right in front of the den.
“So, now I‟ll tell you guys. Okay, she led me into this den,”
she nodded behind her to the run down den. “Windrunner and
Goldenlight were also there, as you saw. She said it was about the
Festival.”
“Like I said, Rosxo, like I said!” Kalai barked.
“Anyway, she said that since I was younger I would be more
nervous. It isn‟t true though.” The three sugar-fueled foxes laughed.
“Ha, yes it is!” Rosxo chirped.
“True, true, true!!!” Kalai and Ryu barked simultaneously.
“Anyway! I will not be nervous if it were for my life!
Humph!” She jumped up crossly and padded away.
“Look who‟s in a bad mood!” Rosxo chirped.
“Yep, yep!” Kalai squealed.
Meanwhile, Goldenlight was gathering all of the foxes to
prepare for the Festival. Ronni made her way to the group with Ryu,
Rosxo, and Kalai tagging along behind her.
“This is the last time that I will tell you all to gather around
the Stream Rock! Quickly, now! We don‟t want to be the ones who are late this year!” Every fox was already there, so there was no
point in saying that, but Goldenlight is actually referring to foxes
that did not want to come, if they changed their minds, they should
go back to their dens. Goldenlight gave one last flick of her tail to
signal to all the foxes that they will now journey to where the
Festival is being held. This Festival was being held at Earthtribe‟s
fort; every morning after the Festival, the four falkas of the forest
would gather at the clearing, the one that Windrunner took the Ryu,
Ronni, Rosxo, and Kalai on their first mission, and decide who
should host the next one. And this time, it is going to be at Hifla‟s,
the Earthtribe falka, fort.
“Let us go!” Goldenlight bounded after the den with her
whole tribe following in single file behind her. They ran past the
glen in which the falkas will meet tomorrow morning. They dashed
past the small clearing where Kalai, Ronni, Ryu and Rosxo had
fought with Windrunner. Finally, they approached the huge
Earthtribe fort, which was in the middle of a large clearing. The fort
was surrounded by tower-like oak trees. All of the dens were spread
out, and each and every one of them was covered in moss and twigs,
and made of large boulders. Inside of the den was pretty much the
same; soft moss and twigs, but about ten foxes could fit in every one,
rather than five foxes in the Firetribe dens. Airtribe had already
arrived, and their falka, Adastrea was chatting with Hifla. All of the
Firetribe foxes bounded into the clearing. Everyone greeted them
with much enthusiasm. Goldenlight led the group deeper into the
fort. She stopped by the two falkas and her tribe stopped behind her.
“Hello, Adastrea,” she said with a smile on her face. The
falka turned her head towards Hifla and nodded. She heard a branch
crack and whipped around to see Zosimos‟ tribe bound into the
clearing. Zosimos was the Watertribe‟s falka, and he was a very sly
and clever fox. He was a very experienced fighter and falka, also.
“Well look who has arrived late for the Festival once again!”
Goldenlight teased. Zosimos padded up to her and nuzzled her. “Good to see you too, Goldenlight.”
The Firetribe members took this greeting as a signal to split
up. All the fighters went to their friends, all of the rookies went to
the rest of the rookies, all the kits went to the kits, and so on. Ryu,
Ronni, Rosxo and Kalai dashed over to the group of newly-made
fighters gathering at the rookie‟s den.
“Hey Rosxo! We‟ve been waiting for you guys!
Congratulations!” Brightberry squealed with delight. “Oh hey
Ronni! Are you a fighter, too?” Ronni nodded. “Cool! It must be an
honor to be made a fighter earlier than most of us!” She nodded
again. Brightberry was a very bright young fox, as her name states,
she had always wanted to be a fighter, and a good one at that. Her
dream was to run in the wind and chase rabbits, and fight other
foxes. Ever since she was a kit, she would play with her littermates
and stalk and ambush them. She was known in Watertribe for her
sneaky, yet playful, personality.
“Hey, Ryu, Rosxo!” Nightdancer came bounding up to the
two foxes. They padded away together, chatting exuberantly.
“Hey, Brightberry, how was the ceremony for you guys?”
Kalai asked eagerly. When the foxes were rookies they said that
when they became fighters, they would compare ceremonies, just to
see which one was more exciting and organized.
“I‟m pretty sure mine was way better than yours!” she
barked, giggling.
“No way, of course it wasn‟t, ours was the best ceremony
ever! We had a great time, everyone cheered and it was so
awesome!” she bragged.
“Guys, guys… the answer is so simple...” Ronni hesitated,
and Kalai and Brightberry look at her, waiting for her answer. “Ours
was definitely better!” the two Firetribe fighters leaped on Brightberry and rolled around on the grass, squealing with delight.
They rolled right into Goldenlight and Adastrea.
“Be careful now, young ones. You wouldn‟t want to go
rolling into the kits‟ group. They would for sure attack you!” she
barked, a hint of amusement in her voice. The two falkas trotted
away.
“Hey, who do you think is the most vicious falna, Vixentail
or Riverwater?” Kalai chirped.
“Hmm, that‟s a hard one, maybe Vixentail?” Ronni nodded
and turned her head to Brightberry, who was also nodding in
agreement. The Earthtribe falna was known for her slyness and
mysterious-like personality.
“We should go spy on them!” Brightberry suggested. Kalai at
first gasped, but when she saw that Ronni was smiling, she thought it
would be fun after all. The three mischievous foxes stalked over to
the falna‟s den and hid in the thick brush that surrounded it. The
falna‟s den was an ordinary one, on the outside that is, but on the
inside; well… that‟s a mystery. No rookie, or young fighter, has ever
been in the Earthtribe falna‟s den. It had a deer hide mat at the
entrance, which had been scavenged, and inside it was glowing with
the light of the fireflies. The small clearing was concealed by tall oak
trees, making it a private den.
“Look, there‟s Vixentail!” Brightberry whispered, looking
with wide eyes at a fox that was seated right outside of the den.
Kalai studied the falna. She looked like any other fox, except that her
tail was unusually long and bushy. Her ears were also bushy, and she
had very thick fur. Her strangely large eyes were a deep brown. She
was talking with Riverwater, the Watertribe falna.
“No, I am telling the truth. I saw four foxes attacking
Windrunner, but I am sure that the foxes were new fighters. Though
they fought with such skill, especially that one with the green eyes… she was the one that Windrunner attacked first.”
Kalai‟s eyes widened. She nudged Ronni and looked at her.
“She‟s talking about us!”
“I know that, I‟m not stupid! She said you were the best
fighter!” Ronni whispered, a smile on her face. It was true that Kalai
had the most unusual bright green eyes, which she was proud of.
“Yeah, well I was!”
“You guys attacked Windrunner?” Brightberry asked
curiously.
“No! It was a practice attack, I guess. Windrunner ran off and
then ambushed us,” Kalai replied and Brightberry nodded with
understanding. “I didn‟t know that we were that close to the
Earthtribe borders, though.” She added.
“I think I‟ll go talk to Windrunner about that, Kalai, I‟ll be
right back!” Ronni flicked Brightberry with her tail and padded off
towards where Windrunner was lying down by the falka‟s den with
Adastrea.
“I think she just left to avoid the lecturing Vixentail is going
to give us if we don‟t get out of her!” Brightberry said with clenched
teeth.
“It was your idea, so now you have to deal with it!” Kalai
snapped. Brightberry sighed and they continued to listen to the
falna‟s conversation.
“I‟m telling you, the way that fox fought; she looks like the
falka type,”
“I look like the falka type! No way!” Kalai barked.
“Shhh! What in Ambrosina‟s name is wrong with you?” Ambrosina was the god of all foxes, the leader of Skytribe. Skytribe
was the tribe that lived in the sky, and it was said that all of the stars
are of foxes that were once part of Skytribe. Every fox that dies goes
to Skytribe and rests with them. Every star is for one fox, for every
fox that has died. Ambrosina was the undying and immortal fox; she
has lived since the beginning of time, and will continue living till the
end. Vixentail whipped her head around and glared solemnly at the
two foxes. She slowly got up and stood rigidly in front of them.
Kalai and Brightberry were frozen in fear; Kalai didn‟t realize that
she had said that so loud.
“What do you think you are doing here, spying on the falnas,
are you?” Her voice was calm, and her face expressionless.
“Uh… n-no. I-I wasn‟t spying on you, not at a-all.” Kalai
stammered. Brightberry simply shook her head, staring at Vixentail
in fear.
“You look familiar… you look like the fox with the green
eyes that I assume you heard me talking about.” Her voice still calm,
she sat on her haunches and licked her paws.
“Yes, I am the fox. But I am –“
“Not the falka type,” Vixentail finished for her. “I heard what
you said, you know, it wasn‟t that hard to,” the falna gestured to the
Riverwater, who was staring at them with slits of eyes. “What are
your names?” she demanded.
“Brightberry, and this is Kalai,” Brightberry answered before
her friend could, her voice quavering.
“Aah, Kalai, is it?” Vixentail slipped in between the two
foxes and slightly pushed Brightberry backward. She wrapped Kalai
in her huge bushy tail and smirked unpleasantly. Riverwater herded
Brightberry away from the falna‟s den. “What were you doing? How many times do I have to tell
you not to go and spy on other foxes?” Riverwater scolded the young
fox. Brightberry turned her head to look at Kalai while the
Watertribe falna pushed her and said a goodbye with a twitch of her
ear. Kalai returned the gesture with a nervous expression on her face.
“Hello, Vixentail, a pleasure to meet you,” she decided to
change her attitude; she didn‟t want the falna to think of her as a
wimp, she didn‟t want anybody thinking that.
“So, Kalai, where did you learn such great fighting skills?”
“From my trainer, Streamnip,” Kalai raised her head and
looked Vixentail in the eye. She noticed a small scar across her right
eye. The falna was about to open her mouth to talk but Kalai spoke
first.
“What is that scar on your face?” she immediately regretted
what she had said. She had imagined her saying that differently in
her head.
But the falna‟s face remained expressionless. “Oh, this thing?
That was from a battle long ago, against Watertribe, but at that time I
was a new fighter, just like you. It was my first real battle, and I
wasn‟t quite as experienced as you are.” She winked and smiled, the
first friendly thing she had done in the conversation, or at least it
seemed.
“So, who is your family? I assume you are Goldenlight‟s kit?
No, I would know about that already…” She said sarcastically.
“No definitely not! I am not Goldenlight‟s kit!” Kalai took a
step back. Why did Vixentail think she was part of the falka family?
Even if she were, she would never be the falka. She isn‟t calm,
reassuring, understanding, and strong willed like Goldenlight. She
didn‟t want to think that, it scared her. “You seem like you would hate to be her kit, would you be
ashamed? Or what?” Vixentail gave her a questioning look, while
circling around her steadily.
“No, I would not be ashamed. Why are you asking me these
things? You have heard of me, Kalai, the kit that was born with
Rosxo, the kits of Umberpelt. It was only nine moons ago. Why are
you acting like you‟ve never even heard of me?” Kalai sat on her
haunches and looked at the falna curiously, awaiting an answer.
“I do know about you, I‟ve heard quite a lot about you, in
fact. I am just confirming the things I have heard.”
“Like what?”
“Like that you are a great fighter and that all of the elder
fighters respect you, because you are strong and you have fox-faith.
Don‟t you believe what others say about you?” Vixentail stopped
circling the young fox and looked down at her.
“No, not really. Streamnip is just a good trainer, and I am a
quick learner. Anyway, I must be going,” Kalai sat up and began to
walk away but the falna stopped her by whipping her with her tail.
“You know what it‟s like having a sibling, right? You have a
brother, Rosxo it is?” she asked, though the accusation that had been
in her voice was not there any longer.
“Yes, I do, why?”
“I have a sister, she is a great sister. We did everything
together. Her name is Angelpaw, talk to her when you have time, she
can answer all of your questions, no matter what they‟re about. I
know you do have many questions in your mind now, like why am I
interrogating you? I can answer that question,” Vixentail paused and
licked her paw, then rubbed it against her ear, “Because I know that
one day, believe me, you will be a falka,” Vixentail stood up and slowly walked closer to her so that they were nose to nose, “I can
tell.” She straightened up and strolled away. Kalai was confused by
the falna, why had she wanted to know all of that? She might as well
find Angelpaw. She decided to go to the front of the fort and lie
down for a little bit; she needed to think over what had just
happened. Why had Vixentail thought that she should be a falka?
She wasn‟t fit to be one, personally she thought of herself as a
clumsy fighter and hunter. I might’ve learned that from Streamnip…
she thought and chuckled to herself. But everybody thinks that
Vixentail is mysterious and aggressive. She had been courteous, or at
least partially. Or at least not ready to rip her throat. Kalai licked her
whiskers rapidly. It was a mystery indeed and she would have to find
out what that meant. But she needed Brightberry for that. She sat up
and dashed over to the Earthtribe‟s herb fox‟s den. Her friend was
there, helping collect and organize herbs.
“Hey, Brightberry, I need you!” the fox shot her a warning
glance. Autumnherb, the herb fox, sat up and stopped her work. She
had been chewing herbs for an ill kit.
“What do you need her for, Kalai?” she asked politely.
“Uh… I need her for… uh,” she didn‟t know what to say; she
couldn‟t say that she needed her to help her spy on Vixentail when
the reason she was with Autumnherb was because she was spying on
Vixentail. “I need her to… Er, I want to help you pick herbs, but
farther away from the fort… there are better herbs there,” Kalai
smiled nervously and hope flared in her chest.
The fox eyed her suspiciously and glanced at Brightberry.
There was also hope in her eyes.
“Hmmm… I expect you two to be back by sunset, with
plenty of herbs.” Autumnherb smiled and nodded. They bounded
away.
“Do remember to bring back good, healthy herbs!” she called after them.
They stopped right outside the fort and sat down.
“So, why did you need me? By the way, thanks for getting
me away from there! She is a really bossy fox!” Brightberry
frowned.
“Don‟t worry, all herb foxes are… except maybe Roseherb,
oh but she‟s different. Anyway, I need your help with spying on
Vixentail.”
“No way! I will not go doing what I was punished for… but I
would for a price!”
Kalai titled her head and glared at her friend. Brightberry
stood firmly, but began to frown and cringe after only a few
moments. Kalai‟s stare was indeed frightening.
“Oh, okay! Where is she, and why are you doing this?” she
asked.
“She is over with Goldenlight and Zosimos. And the answer
to your second question is,” Kalai hesitated and widened her eyes, as
if to emphasis what she was about to say. “Is because Vixentail
thinks that I am going to be a falka and I want to know why!” Kalai
frowned and growled impatiently.
“Wonder why she thinks that?” Brightberry looked up at the
night sky, as if to look for an answer in the bright stars.
“That‟s what I want to know, and I need your help.” Kalai
spun around and began to walk away. Brightberry bounded up
beside her walked in step with her friend. They stopped beside
Goldenlight, Zosimos, and the mysterious falna, Vixentail.
Goldenlight looked up from her deep conversation with the two
nearby foxes and glanced at Brightberry and Kalai. Zosimos looked
on quietly and Vixentail glared evilly at them. “May I help you?” Goldenlight asked.
The two foxes exchanged nervous glances. “Um… I came to
ask you something.”
“Aren‟t we spying on Vixentail? Not asking Goldenlight
questions!” Brightberry whispered harshly into Kalai‟s ear.
“What, then?” Goldenlight asked again, eyeing them
curiously.
“We want to know if we can go hunting really quickly. I
mean, I know that it is in the middle of the Festival, but Brightberry
and I thought that catching a nice plump rabbit would be nice for the
rest of our friends. We could eat it together.” She explained.
“Hmm…” Goldenlight stared blankly at them for a few
moments, making Kalai impatient… but Goldenlight knew
something was up, and she was only thinking whether to let them go
or not, “Yes, you may go.”
“Thank you very much!” Kalai leapt and was about to dash
away when Goldenlight called after her.
“You also need Zosimos‟ answer, Kalai. Brightberry is his
responsibility, not mine.” the falka nodded to Zosimos and the falka
looked at Kalai and Brightberry.
“Yes, you also can go, but be careful, and be back soon.”
The two young fighters padded off towards the entrance of
the fort, having to dodge out of the way of many playing foxes, and
quickly slipped outside.
“Okay, now tell me why you did that!? What in Ambrosina‟s
name is the matter with you! You already asked Autumnherb! I
mean, we could be dead meat if they suspected something, you don‟t
know what Zosimos is like!” Brightberry continued to bark loudly. Kalai was ignoring her completely; she was studying the outside of
the fort for a way she could spy on Vixentail from above.
“Shut up, Brightberry! I‟m looking for a place to spy on her!”
“You shut up! I‟m serious! I-”
“Quiet! They‟re going to hear us you worm-brained brat!”
Brightberry quieted immediately and sat on her haunches.
Kalai saw a large boulder that the fort wall was leaning against.
“Look, we can climb up there, on that boulder, and get up on top of
the fort. Then we can crawl to the very end of the wall and there the
den is, with the three of them. We can easily hear and see them, but
we can be found, though. I‟ve heard that Vixentail has very efficient
hearing. So, if we even make the slightest move, she‟ll get us in the
blink of an eye.” Kalai turned around and padded over to
Brightberry, who had been listening intently. “Think you can do it?”
“Of course I can, you worm-brained brat!” Brightberry
snickered.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on then!” The two of them crawled
over to the boulder and helped each other up. At first, it was
extremely difficult even getting a foot hold on the mossy surface of
the boulder. Kalai lost her footing when she was climbing, slipped
and fell directly on top of Brightberry‟s head. So, they had to climb
up the boulder once again. Finally, they made it to the top of the fort.
They silently crawled across the stiff twig wall and looked down
once they had reached the ledge. The three foxes were as they left
them.
“Hey, look! I can see Ryu, Ronni, and Rosxo from here!”
Brightberry whispered.
Kalai glared at her, “Did I not mention no talking?” she said
sarcastically through gritted teeth. Brightberry shook her head, frowning.
“Well, no talking!” They looked down again to make sure no
one had heard them.
“Just watch, then.” Brightberry murmured.
“What do you think the young ones will bring back, certainly
not a plump rabbit, like they said,” Zosimos was saying. Goldenlight
nodded and whispered something into his ear. Kalai couldn‟t make
out what it was. But Kalai thought she was telling him that we would
bring back a very healthy, plump, young rabbit. Their falka was very
trusting of them, but Kalai could tell by the way she stared at a small
squirrel while Zosimos was talking that she suspected something.
“Goldenlight, are you okay?” Vixentail asked.
“Yes, it‟s just that I suspect something from the pair of
them,” her eyes were troubled.
“I do as well… They have been acting very strangely these
past days. They were spying on me in the morning, when I was
talking with the other falnas. I believe that they have something in
mind…” Vixentail glanced up at the fort wall. Brightberry and Kalai
jumped back.
“Uh! I hope she didn‟t see us!” Brightberry whispered.
“She knows we‟re here,” Kalai said and stared at Vixentail.
What is wrong with that fox? What does she want with me? Kalai
sighed. Spying on them would not do them any good. She got up and
slowly walked towards the boulder and leaped down. She must have
something planned too, and Goldenlight trusts her as well, and
wouldn‟t think she‟d do anything./
“Hey, wait! Where are you going!?” Brightberry followed
after her and padded over to her once she was on the ground again.
Kalai was sitting down, staring ahead blankly, her eyes clouded with confusion.
“What‟s wrong?” She said nothing for a few moments, then
opened her mouth and was about to say something when she closed
it again and sighed.
“Really, what is it?” Brightberry urged.
“There‟s something dark at work here,” Yowls of horror and
despair rippled throughout the fort. The two foxes hurried into the
Earthtribe fort and stopped in their tracks. Brightberry‟s jaw
dropped. Vixentail was lying in the middle of the clearing, her body
convulsing spastically. Autumnherb rushed up to her and lay by her
side, murmuring softly to her. Angelpaw lay motionless with
Vixentail lying on top of her. A crowd formed around the three
foxes, and mumbles could be heard from every side. Goldenlight
pushed her way into the small circle where the three foxes lay.
“Vixentail, how did this happen?”
“A… a… a wolf…” the falna stammered, unable to catch her
breath.
Autumnherb spoke for her. “A wolf charged into the
clearing, we were all shocked, and took her by the scruff. Vixentail
was quicker and jumped on top of the vicious animal, frightening the
wolf, which was a young one so it ran away. Angelpaw‟s throat was
ripped and we couldn‟t help her… ” Autumnherb stopped talking
and looked down at the dead fox.
“Vixentail is also hurt…” Goldenlight murmured, glancing at
a gash across her belly. Every fox, from all the four tribes, were
silent, not breathing, not moving a muscle.
“Brightberry, Vixentail‟s sister is dead…” Kalai whispered.
She was standing in the front of the crowd, tears beginning to drip
down her muzzle. “I can see that!” she snapped. Ronni, Ryu, and Rosxo stalked
over to them, careful not to disturb any of the mourning foxes.
“Kalai,” Ronni whispered, but Kalai didn‟t respond,
“Vixentail can‟t be planning something if her sister just died… it‟s
not liked she killed her herself…”
Kalai didn‟t answer, but stared at Vixentail, and noticed that
her ear twitched when Ronni suggested that she had killed her sister.
“You know, I don‟t know… she‟s not that crazy. Uh, I think
I heard Ailanose calling me!” She bounded away towards her trainer,
although she had not called him.
“Ronni!” Kalai barked. “Ugh… I have to go get her; I‟ll be
right back, and stay here.” Kalai ran to catch up to her friend but
spun around when she heard branches cracking behind her. Rosxo
and Ryu were slipping in between the foxes in the crowd, attempting
to follow her without being noticed, but that didn‟t work out too
well.
“Guys, I thought I told you to stay there!” she hissed.
“We are going with you, as simple as that.” They continued
to follow her when Kalai dashed over to where Ronni, Ailanose, and
Autumnherb were sitting beside the dead fox.
“Are you sure she‟s gone?” Ronni had been asking.
“We are positive,” Streamnip said gravely.
“Oh,” Ronni murmured, staring at Angelpaw‟s body.
Vixentail was shivering uncontrollably in a corner by the
den. Kalai and Ronni had seen her, but did not want to disturb her,
but now Kalai approached her.
“I‟m sorry, Vixentail.” Kalai said softly. Vixentail said nothing. Autumnherb swiftly walked towards
them, and nudged Vixentail.
“Vixentail, we need you to rest.” The falna allowed the herb
fox to carry her to her den. The group of young foxes remained
where they were.
“This day was a disaster, barren time is now approaching,
Vixentail‟s sister died, who knows what she‟ll do,” Kalai sighed.
“She‟ll avenge her sister‟s death and kill all of the Tribes!”
Ryu said mysteriously. Ronni screeched, horrified.
“Haha, I was just kidding!” Ryu and Rosxo laughed. Ronni
nipped at Ryu‟s tail, annoyed.
“Guys, we have to get back to Goldenlight, they might‟ve
already gone back to the fort.” Kalai said.
The four foxes nodded, agreeing, and they headed back to the
Earthtribe fort. Once they had reached the entrance, they could see
all of the sorrowful foxes crowding around the deceased Angelpaw
still. Goldenlight had taken Autumnherb, Zosimos and Hifla over to
the falka‟s den. They were absorbed in their conversation, their ears
perked, tails tucked, and fur prickling with fear.
“I have to take my Tribe back to my own fort, they are
confused and afraid.” Goldenlight was whispering.
“The Festival has officially ended. This is a token from
Skytribe.” Zosimos said gravely.
“But we haven‟t done anything wrong!” Hifla persisted.
“Yes, we have done something wrong, apparently. I know of
nothing, but this attack wasn‟t for any good reason…” Zosimos said,
thinking over past times where anyone of them could‟ve done
anything wrong. “It‟s not our fault, it‟s Vixentail‟s.” Autumnherb mumbled.
All eyes turned to her.
“What do you mean by that, Autumnherb? Did Skytribe tell
you something at the last Moon Meet?” Zosimos asked quietly.
“Yes, they did, in fact.” The herb fox said.
Goldenlight gasped. “What did they say?”
“They said that something grave would soon happen and the
cause of this incident would be a mystery,” she said, looking at her
paws. Her head suddenly flung up, her eyes flaring with anger.
“What did Vixentail do to upset Skytribe?”
“Calm down Autumnherb. Whatever she did, if she did do
anything, she will deal with on her own.”
“But she is endangering all of our tribes!”
“Don‟t worry, Hifla will deal with this,” Goldenlight glanced and
Hifla, and she nodded.
“Everyone should go back home. Gather your tribes,” the herb fox
said. She hauled herself up and padded away to her den. Goldenlight
sat up and licked her paw. Zosimos trotted over to the Earthtribe‟s
Stream Rock and climbed up on top of it, with Hifla close behind.
“Listen all foxes! Today a tragic event has happened, and we
must leave Earthtribe in peace to recover from this accident.
Watertribe members gather by the empty den at the entrance to the
fort. Wait for my orders.” Zosimos nodded, bowed and stepped back
to allow Hifla to talk. Adastrea hurried up onto the Rock, closely
followed by Goldenlight.
“Airtribe, gather at the Oak Tree.” Adastrea quickly said. She
nodded and smiled at Hifla.
“Please do not do these things until we all have finished.”
Hifla ordered. All of the foxes nodded and exchanged glances with their neighbors. “My tribe, please leave Vixentail and Angelpaw to
do what they must, and rest in your dens.”
“Firetribe, gather in the forest. I will be there very shortly.”
Goldenlight said calmly.
The crowd broke up. All of the foxes slowly walked to where
their falka had told them to go, except Ryu, Rosxo, Ronni, Kalai,
and Brightberry. They all stood quietly together in a tight group.
Honeyleaf, Brightberry‟s mother, padded up to her daughter.
“Why aren‟t you with the rest of the tribe?” she demanded.
“My friends need my help, mother.”
“This is no time for games, Brightberry. Now.” Honeyleaf
eyed her sternly.
“No, mother, please!” she persisted. The three fighters
watched on in silence.
“Yes, now.” She glared at the young fox and trotted to the
Watertribe group.
Brightberry turned to her three friends. “See you guys later,”
she hung her head down and slowly followed her mother.
“Well, I‟m not going home, I‟m going to Vixentail.” Kalai
stated and padded towards the falna‟s den.
Ryu, Rosxo and Ronni shrugged and followed her. The four
falkas were in Hifla‟s den, so it was safe for now. Kalai approached
the sobbing fox cautiously.
“Vixentail?” she whispered, suddenly regretting not obeying
the falka‟s orders. There was no reply. “Vixentail, are you okay?”
The fox slowly lifted her head and Kalai, as well as her friends, took
a few steps back. Her face was not easy on the eyes; her expression
was unexplainable, too sad to comprehend. But a hidden anger was
there, too. A branch cracked as Kalai stepped on it but no one
seemed to notice. The falna stared blankly at her for a few silent
moments. Her eyes were dark and black. Full of sadness, no it was
something more… sadder than grief… sadder than unbelievable despair. It was as if the fox herself had already died, that she was but
a mere apparition that was unknown to the world. Kalai‟s eyebrows
drooped. The twinkle of excitement and happiness that was usually
in the fox‟s eyes faded away. The grief of Vixentail absorbed Kalai.
All she could see was the falna. Everything else was invisible and
black. She lost balance and panicked. She lost her breath and
everything faded away into darkness.

“Kalai!” Someone called. The fox shook her head and the color of
the world startled her.
“Wha-what?” she stumbled and spun around. Ronni was staring
wide-eyed at her.
“What‟s wrong, Kalai?” she asked, afraid.
Kalai shook her head and stared at her friend for a second,
letting everything sink in. She slowly turned around and glanced at
Vixentail. The fox still had her head up, in the same position as she
was in when Kalai had asked her if she was okay. She looked over
her shoulder at Ronni and started to run away, her legs giving up on
her.
“Kalai! Wait!” Ronni barked. Rosxo nudged her and she
snapped her head toward him. Rosxo shook his head, his eyes full of
grief. Ronni sniffed, a tear sliding down her muzzle, and watched
Kalai stumble out of the fort.
Meanwhile, Kalai was lost in thought. How is she that sad?
Will she die of sadness, of depression? Why did the wolf come into a
clearing full of foxes? Is Skytribe angry with the Tribes because of
something that Vixentail? She had been looking at the ground,
pacing back and forth at the entrance of the fort. Now she stopped,
looked up, and stared deep into the forest. All of the Tribes were
farther off. She looked back quickly, half expecting to see the four
falka‟s walk up to her. But there was no one in sight. They must still
be talking. She thought. She padded into the thick brush and thought
about things. How had her day gone? Disastrous. How had
Vixentail‟s day gone? She didn‟t know, and that‟s what bothered
her. There wasn‟t a word that could describe the falna‟s despair. She
wanted to know how she felt, to be able to help her. Suddenly, a
sharp pain shot through her body. “Ouch!” She looked up and saw that she had walked into a
tree. She shook her head and continued to walk. When she had
ventured into the forest for almost an hour, she stepped on a small
hard rock and she yelped with pain. She looked down at her paw just
in time to see a black ditch before her. She couldn‟t stop herself, the
shock of the moment had frozen her body, and she fell headfirst into
the darkness. She slammed into a jagged rock, the pain so
excruciating that she could not even whimper. Finally, she hit the
ground. It knocked all of the breath out of her, and she lay there,
unmoving, gasping for air. She ached all over and was in agony. It
felt as if she were being eaten alive by red ants. She looked around
her from the place where she lay, but could not see anything. She
couldn‟t move at all, so she just sighed, hurting her chest. The sig
caught in her throat, she couldn‟t do anything. So she just closed her
eyes, deciding to just sleep as if this whole day was but a frightening
nightmare. Not worrying if she were going to wake up or not.

“Kalai! Where is Kalai?” Ronni was pacing back and forth,
her fur fluffed up and her eyes wildly moving in all directions.
“Calm down, Ronni, we will find her,” Goldenlight said,
beckoning to Streamnip, Ailanose, Umberpelt and Windrunner. “We
need to gather a patrol.” She ordered. She darted over to Zosimos,
Hifla and Adastrea.
“Where was she when you last saw her?” Adastrea asked the
three young foxes.
“I-I saw her walk out of the fort, when she had been talking
to Vixentail, she seemed out of it, so I just let her go,” Rosxo said
nervously, desperately trying to keep himself calm.
“Zosimos gather your party and set off for the Moon Hill!”
Goldenlight called. The Watertribe falka nodded and bounded off to
his frantic tribe.
“Goldenlight, we will go to the North Point, okay?” Adastrea
barked. She nodded and the Airtribe falka led her few companions,
Twigleaf and Blossompaw, outside of the fort and to the North
Point. The North Point was a northern clearing that had been used by
the fox ancestors centuries ago to perform the first ceremony to form
the four Tribes. Since then, the North Point was but a deserted place,
where foxes passed through on their journeys to the Festival Glen.
“Goldenlight, we will go south, to the Other‟s region. We
will be safe, I have Flowerpad and Lightningstrike with me,”
Zosimos said. Flowerpad and Lightningstrike were siblings, and by
far were Watertribe‟s finest fighters. They dashed out of the fort and
made their way south. Goldenlight watched as their bushy tails
disappeared behind the fort walls.
“Goldenlight, will you promise me that you will get her? She‟s my sister,” Rosxo said quietly, his voice weak with fear. His
body was trembling, and his eyes had the same dark grieving look as
Vixentail‟s did when her sister had died. Vixentail was in
Autumnherb‟s den with Angelpaw lying by her side still. She hadn‟t
said a word to anybody since the accident. Goldenlight nodded
before leading her fighters out of the fort, all of them following
single file behind her. She looked back as she was about to dash
away, and saw that Rosxo‟s expression was trusting and hopeful. He
wanted desperately to come, but the rest of the foxes held him back,
fearful of what he would see if they found her, and what would
happen if they didn‟t. He paced back and forth and looked after the
Firetribe group. Goldenlight saw this, though she did not doubt that
they would find her. They set off into the forest with Goldenlight
ahead, leaving behind the rest of the tribe‟s exhausted and panicked
foxes. They bounded through the forest, leaping across small streams
and fallen trees. They ran through bramble bushes and dense parts of
the forest. They padded through water and dashed into clearings.
They continued to run even after hours pasted and they still had
found no trace of the missing fox, although they did not seem to
notice that their bodies were beyond exhausted. Finally, they stopped
at a small clearing. None of the foxes were tired, they were too
determined to find Kalai and bring her home safely.
“Umberpelt, go with Windrunner and patrol to the north, but
don‟t go too far off. Streamnip and Ailanose, patrol to the south. As
for me, I will stay here and see if I can sniff out any clues in the
clearing,” The two groups did as they were told, while Goldenlight
began to examine every corner of the small clearing they had
gathered at. After an hour‟s time all of the foxes returned to the
clearing, having found nothing at all.
“We didn‟t find anything, Goldenlight,” Ailanose whined
apologetically.
“Yes, well, we must keep looking,” she said calmly. The five
foxes nodded in agreement. They heard plants rustling behind them
and they all spun around, baring their teeth and eyes flaring with
anger. It was only Zosimos and his two fighters Flowerpad and
Lightningstrike. Goldenlight relaxed as well as her companions and
the three Watertribe members approached them. “It is only us, Goldenlight. We found nothing, what about
you?” Goldenlight shook her head, and Zosimos sighed. A yowl of
surprise sounded throughout the forest. It alerted the eight foxes and
they bounded away towards the sound. They stopped near a small
ditch where Adastrea, Twigleaf, and Blossompaw were standing
over. Goldenlight trotted up to Adastrea, the rest of her fighters
staying behind, while Airtribe‟s two members took a few steps back,
leaving the two falkas alone beside the ditch.
“What happened, Adastrea?” Goldenlight asked, her voice
calm and steady, as always, and especially now in this situation.
“We found Kalai,” she said simply, and looked at the ditch.
Goldenlight cautiously stepped closer and looked into the darkness.
She could make out a small limp body at the bottom.
She gasped. “Kalai!” she whispered. “Kalai! She‟s here, we
found her!” Goldenlight barked with relief. Everyone crowded
around the ditch and squealed with happiness.
“But wait, is she alive?” Flowerpad asked anxiously. Hifla
bounded into the clearing with Autumnherb by her side.
“What happened here? Have you found her?” Hifla asked
Goldenlight. “I have Autumnherb here if she is hurt.”
“Yes, she is most definitely hurt, she fell into this ditch.”
Goldenlight flicked her tail in the ditch‟s direction, “And she is
alive,” she added, casting a glance at Flowerpad. “We need
assistance is getting her out, but the problem is, how do we?”
“I suggest we get a fallen branch; there are many around
since leaf-fall is approaching.” Streamnip said, looking at a large
sturdy branch beside an oak tree.
“How would we carry it?” Lightningstrike asked. He looked
at Goldenlight, a frown on his face.
“We must do what is possible, and Streamnip‟s idea is
possible. Let us get to work,” Goldenlight ordered. The foxes
scattered around and gathered small yet thick branches and put them
in a pile. Windrunner, Lightningstrike, Streamnip and Umberpelt attempted to drag the large oak branch to the ditch. Goldenlight,
Hifla, Zosimos and Adastrea also helped once the other four fighters
had succeeded in transporting the branch to the ditch. The rest of the
foxes assisted in putting it in the right place so that it wouldn‟t crush
Kalai‟s unconscious body. They finally did do it, though the process
was extremely difficult. Umberpelt volunteered, since it was her
daughter, to get Kalai out of the ditch, which involved climbing
down the branch and carrying Kalai back up.
“I am going now, Goldenlight, please do not let the branch
slip,” she said and started on the perilous quest. She lost footing once
but regained it quickly. Once she had reached the bottom on the
ditch, she could hardly see a thing. Umberpelt would not let that stop
her; she was determined to do whatever was necessary for her
daughter, even if it was dying. She picked the limp body up by the
scruff and began to climb up the branch. This was harder now that
she had added the extra weight of Kalai‟s body, but she made it, and
without harm coming her way. Everyone cheered and barked with
happiness. It was over. They had found Kalai, and brought her to
safety. But now the real mystery was how she got there, but that
would be solved once Kalai woke up.
Back at camp, Ronni, Rosxo and Ryu rushed up to their
friend, an expression of worry on their faces.
“Is she alright?” Ronni asked impatiently.
“You found her? Is she hurt?” Rosxo squealed.
“Kalai!” Ryu barked. The three foxes ran up to Umberpelt, who was
still carrying Kalai by the scruff.
“She will be fine, for now, I assume you three have been up and
worrying about her all day, so get some rest,” she said calmly. “That
was not a suggestion, that was an order,” she added, looking down at
them, her eyes stern. The three of them nodded and padded of
toward their den. The moon was high in the sky, and the fort was
alive with fighters. They were gathering extra twigs for reinforcing
the walls because of Angelpaw‟s accident; they did not want a wolf
attacking their fort, even if it was still a mystery how the wolf got
into the fort and how it found them. Others were on the watch, and the four falkas and Roseherb were in the herb den. They were all
back at Firetribe‟s fort now, because Earthtribe needed privacy and
there was no reason to go back there, the Festival was over.
A few hours later, the fort was completely quiet. Roseherb and
Goldenlight were still tending to Kalai, though Hifla, Adastrea, and
Zosimos had gone back to their forts. All of the fighters had gone to
sleep, and the rookies and kits had also. Except for Ryu, Ronni, and
Rosxo; they were still fully awake in their den, waiting patiently
until someone would come in and tell them news about Kalai.
“Are they sure she‟s okay?” Ronni asked anxiously.
“We can trust Goldenlight, Ronni,” Rosxo said and licked her paw
comfortingly. Ryu only sat where he was and stared blankly at the
den wall.
Windrunner poked his head inside the den. “Can I come in?”
“Yes! Please…” Rosxo barked eagerly.
“She is perfectly fine. She will be awake by tomorrow, although she
has a broken rib and she is headshocked. She should be awake by
tomorrow, that is what Roseherb says, but the headshock will not be
healed, but we don‟t even know if she is in deep sleep or not. I
would say don‟t worry, whatever happens, she will get through it,
she is a very strong fox.” He said quietly. He turned and walked out
of the den.
“That‟s worse than I thought, Rosxo,” Ryu whispered, his voice
quivering.
“Like he said, she‟s a strong fox,” Let’s hope… he thought. Ronni
looked at him with an expression of worry as if she had read his
thoughts. Rosxo sighed and looked at his paw. He began to think of
times when his sister and he were young and what they did and what
they did nowadays. It was the same; pranks, fun games,
adventures… he liked how she never changed. He sighed again, but
this time his throat hurt when he did. A tear dripped on his muzzle.
He loved his sister and couldn‟t afford to lose her. Ronni scooted
closer to him and licked his ear. “Don‟t worry, Rosxo, she is stronger than we may think.”

“Kalai? Kalai, are you okay? Hello?”
Kalai opened her eyes slowly and blinked uncomfortably at the
bright light. She stared unseeing at a worried face above her for a
few heartbeats. She moved her gaze slightly and looked at a fox
lying beside the den entrance. She widened her eyes and stared,
surprised, at the fox above her.
“Oh, Ros-Rosxo… oh, Rosxo!” she barked and jumped up. “Ow!”
she yelped as a sharp pain rushed through her whole body. She
turned her head to look at her shoulder and saw a huge bald bruise
on her side.
“Kalai, sit down and rest. You fell into a ditch and you were hurt,”
Rosxo said softly.
“I don‟t, I don‟t remember, though…” she murmured. She licked the
cut on her paw and whimpered as she did so. “Rosxo, how did I get
there?”
“That‟s what Goldenlight and Windrunner are trying to figure out.
They‟re going to come in soon and, I guess, question you… but
don‟t worry, I‟ll be here for you.” He smiled. “If you need, I‟ll help
you remember… although that might not work,” he laughed. Kalai
nodded and looked at her paw, uncomprehending.
“Here they come,” Rosxo said, frowning at his failed attempt to
bring Kalai back to reality. Windrunner and Goldenlight padded into
the den and sat down, calmly whispering to each other.
“What do you want to ask me?” Kalai asked, glancing at the two
foxes.
“This is an unsure time, Kalai. All of the foxes of all of the Tribes
are uncomfortable with what is happening. Angelpaw‟s death and your disappearance… We want to know what this token means and
that is why we will ask of you how you got to the ditch.”
Goldenlight said and laid a calm eye on the injured fox.
“I honestly can‟t remember,” she protested. Goldenlight sat up and
leaped a mouse-length away from her nose in the blink of an eye.
“Try,” she growled. Kalai did not even flinch, even though
Goldenlight‟s sudden change of mood was unusual and frightening.
She closed her eyes and thought back. She could remember being in
a forest, of being distraught and walking on and on… after seeing
Vixentail‟s face, how sad she was. It all came flooding back.
Angelpaw‟s death, Vixentail‟s agonizing wail, her sadness, the ditch,
the darkness, the pain, the blackness.
“I was trying to talk to Vixentail,” she said, her eyes still closed,
“And she was too sad, she didn‟t say a word. I was confused and
frightened for her and myself, it felt as if I was in a nightmare.” Her
eyes opened suddenly. They were blazing with panic and frustration.
“I ran off and kept walking and walking deeper into the woods. Then
I stepped on a sharp rock and tripped into the ditch. That‟s all I
remember.” She sighed and closed her eyes, lying down on the cold
ground of the den. Goldenlight looked behind her shoulder to see
Windrunner gazing at the exhausted fox. He nodded and they both
walked out of the den.
“Rosxo…” Kalai breathed. Rosxo had been sitting in a corner
watching the scene. He now hurried to his sister‟s side and nudged
her muzzle gently.
“Yes?” he whispered. Kalai forced her eye to open slightly and she
looked at Rosxo from where she lay.
“I want this to be over, so it could be like the good old times.” Rosxo
smiled and a tear dripped off his muzzle and fell on Kalai‟s chest. In
sunk into her fur, and Rosxo sniffed. He lay down by her side and
whimpered. He buried his face in her fur and cried silently.

“Goldenlight, this whole thing is of Vixentail‟s doings! It‟s a
disaster!” Windrunner barked furiously.
“We must put a stop to this; it is endangering the whole forest!”
Autumnherb yowled.
“More tokens will come and we could all be hurt!” Streamnip cried.
Angry barks rippled throughout the crowd. The whole of Firetribe
had gathered around the Stream Rock, obeying Goldenlight‟s call to
come. She had begun to speak of the token that Skytribe had sent
them, though she could not speak for long before the foxes broke out
into argument.
“Silence!” Goldenlight yowled. It was louder than any other of the
foxes barking. She had a stern yet patient expression on her face. It
was noon, the time in which patrols would be gathered, although, in
the last few moons tokens of grave danger have come to all of the
Tribes, but above all Firetribe has suffered the most, even for other
Tribe‟s doings. “I have told you that there is a chance we may be in
danger, the cause of this is unknown and there is no need to argue
about it, especially amongst ourselves. We have nothing to argue
about, for our tribe has done nothing to upset Skytribe so strongly. It
is not our business.” She hesitated, and swept her stare among the
crowd, silencing the anxious murmurs that had risen from the tribe.
“We must be strong in these harsh times, for barren time is
approaching, and quickly. We must still act as we would normally,
under the circumstances, even more so. Today is a good day to begin
to reinforce the fort with more twigs and moss for the upcoming
season. Firetribe must survive until the next Festival. The foxes of
this tribe are fearful, but for what?” The foxes in the crowd remained
silent, but still listened. “We know of nothing that we should fear.” She flicked her tail and padded off towards her den, disappearing
inside. Everyone still did not speak a word, for in their minds they
were contemplating what the falka had said. Slowly and silently the
crowd broke up, and the foxes returned to their dens.
Kalai had more or less recovered from her injures, and was now
lying in the back of the fighter‟s den, which her, Rosxo, Ryu and
Ronni had called for themselves when they had become fox-fighters.
Rosxo still lay by her side, tending to her wounds. Ryu and Ronni
had been outside listening to Goldenlight‟s speech. They now came
bounding in.
“Kalai, Rosxo, we have news!” Ronni barked.
“Shhhh! She‟s trying to sleep, guys!” Rosxo hissed. Ronni
whispered an apology, mocking him. Ryu snickered.
“Stop that you guys! What‟s the news?”
“Okay, so… Goldenlight said that we are not really causing the
danger, that it‟s mostly the other tribes, and that we should not be
fearful. That‟s it!” Ronni chirped. “Yep, she said we should not
worry about anything. These were her exact words,” Ronni cleared
her throat, “We have nothing to fear,” she said in a deep voice,
attempting to copy Goldenlight. Ryu and Ronni laughed.
“You guys are in a good mood. What else did I miss?”
“Uh… nothing,” Ryu said. Ronni stepped closer and bent down to
lick Kalai‟s ear.
“Okay then, either come sit with us or go away!” Rosxo said,
annoyed.
“I‟d prefer to sit with you,” Ryu plopped down on the ground next to
Rosxo, while Ronni had already sat down next to Kalai. Rosxo had a
small mouse by his paw, and Ryu eyed it, his mouth watering. He
hadn‟t eaten in a long while, with all of this fuss over tokens. He
attempted to grab it in his mouth, but wasn‟t quick enough. Rosxo
nipped at his ear, glaring at him, and Ryu whimpered. Rosxo
obviously wasn’t in a good mood. Meanwhile, Roseherb, Windrunner and Goldenlight had gathered for
a small meeting in the falka‟s den.
“Goldenlight, you know we cannot wait for fourteen suns to find out
what is happening. We must go tomorrow morning, if not sooner.”
Roseherb said quietly.
“Yes, I do know. We will go tonight, when the moon is high in the
sky. Although only us three will go, without awakening any other
foxes.” She said.
“I agree. Let us be prepared to meet with Hifla. What will we ask
her?” Windrunner said.
“We need Vixentail to be there as well. She is the fox we suspect
that is doing this, so we must question her, not Hifla,” Goldenlight
said, her voice stern.
“That will be difficult; she has just suffered her sister‟s loss. How do
you expect to do that?” the falna asked.
“I do not expect, I know.” She licked her paw and rubbed it against
her ear. No one else spoke, only thought about the event that would
soon take place.
“Goldenlight, I need to speak to you, may I come in?” an urgent
voice said from outside. Goldenlight whipped her head towards the
entrance to see Jaxxentail, a Firetribe fighter, enter the den.
“Yes, what do you need?”
“I need Roseherb, Kalai is running a fever.” He said, his eyebrows
creased. Roseherb glanced at Goldenlight expectantly, waiting for
her answer. She nodded and Jaxxentail and Roseherb bounded off
towards the fighter‟s den. Wolka, Dandy, Dirk, and Autumn, four
Firetribe rookies, were outside of the den, poking their heads in
curiously. Jaxxentail and Roseherb hurried into the den to find the all
of the fighters huddled up in a corner, staring at Kalai, who was
lying on the cold ground, her mouth foaming and her eyes darting
wildly around the room.
“This is a severe fever, but thank Ambrosina it is nothing more,” Roseherb muttered. She hurried to Kalai‟s side, gently nudging
Rosxo out of the way. He fell back, confused and panicking. Ryu
and Ronni were the same, and they cringed in a corner.
“Jaxxentail, I need you to go to my den, and as fast as you possibly
can, and get a few yarrow leaves. Go!” she commanded. Jaxxentail
turned and bounded out. He entered a small den, surrounded by tall
oak trees and its surface mossy. It was dark inside, but Jaxxentail
could still make out a small container weaved from twigs, which
held Roseherb‟s stash of herbs. He picked out a small herb, with
pine-like sprigs and many small white buds, similar to a weed. He
dashed back to the fighter‟s den, passing the four rookies and the
anxious fighters, and laid the herb by Roseherb‟s paw.
“Thank you,” Roseherb muttered under her breath. She snatched up
the herb with her jaws. She dabbed it on Kalai‟s wounds, then she
took another sprig of yarrow and squeezed a few drops of dark blue
liquid into Kalai‟s mouth. She choked for a few moments but
Roseherb held her head up with her paw. Kalai had a coughing fit,
then she closed her eyes slowly and fell limp in Roseherb‟s paws.
Rosxo gasped and seemed to stop breathing.
“She is fine; I just gave her yarrow juice. It calmed the fever down,
and she was exhausted from the spasms she was having, so she just
fell asleep. The yarrow will help with the spasms, though. I also put
the herb on her wounds, which will help even more than the other
herbs I was using before. Don‟t worry, Rosxo, she‟ll be fine,”
Roseherb explained. She got up and padded out of the den, followed
by Jaxxentail. The fighters relaxed a little bit and approached the
sleeping Kalai. Ailanose let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank Ambrosina she is okay, Rosxo!” The rest of the foxes
breathed deeply. They said their good nights to the relieved Rosxo,
Ryu and Ronni and the senior fighters walked to their bed, curled up,
and went to sleep. Rosxo and his two friends remained awake, and
sat by Kalai‟s side throughout the whole rest of the night.
Goldenlight, Roseherb, and Windrunner had no clue that there were
three foxes still awake when they set off for their journey to
Earthtribe‟s fort. They did not desire for any foxes to be awake when
they went, or they would see them going, and Goldenlight did not want anyone to suspect something that is not true. She led the two
foxes to the entrance of the fort, where they stopped to plan out their
trip to the fort and what they would do when they got there.
Unfortunately, the three young fighters heard something outside, and
they wanted to know what it was.
“I want to know who‟s out there, Rosxo, you can stay, but I‟m not!”
Ronni hissed. Rosxo had refused to leave his sister‟s side.
“Okay then, let‟s go outside and go see who‟s out there, see what
they‟re doing, which does not concern us, and leave my sister here
alone when she could die! What is wrong with you?!” Rosxo barked
angrily.
The foxes outside perked their ears.
“Is someone awake?” Windrunner whispered to the falka.
“Let‟s hope not,” she replied.
“She‟s my friend too, Rosxo!” Ronni had been saying. “You‟re
overreacting! I love her just as much as you do! I‟ve known her
since we were born! It‟s not like it‟s going to hurt us!”
“But it might hurt Kalai!” he persisted. Ronni glared at him. “Okay,
okay, you‟re right. Come on, let‟s do this quickly.” Ryu had been
watching, amused by their argument. Now he jumped up and
followed the two fighters outside. It was dark outside, although the
moon was shining brightly, so it gave a little light to see with.
They‟re den was leaning against the fort wall, and bushes and vines
covered it. The bushes gave them an easy hiding place. They stalked
behind a couple of berry bushes, close to the voices they were
hearing, and sat down, their bellies touching the cold earth ground.
“Once we reach the fort, we have to sneak in, and go to the falka‟s
den.”
“But we can‟t just walk into the falka‟s den, plus what if the fort has
foxes guarding? It‟s likely, with the tokens and all. What then,
Goldenlight?” Windrunner asked. The eyes of the three spying foxes
widened in surprise. They hadn‟t expected one of the foxes to be
Goldenlight. They assumed it was the four rookies staying up late and playing games, but all of the rookies were already in deep sleep
by now.
“We will tell them a simple explanation; that we have come to speak
to their leader, Hifla, concerning the bad tokens from Skytribe. That
is all, if they do not accept, then we must persuade them.”
“She‟s going to Earthtribe!” Ryu whispered.
“They’re going to Earthtribe,” Rosxo corrected him.
“But who are the others?” Ronni asked.
“Let us see,” Ryu said and poked his head out of the bushes. There
he saw Goldenlight, Windrunner, and Roseherb huddled close to
each other, whispering things that he could not hear. Suddenly, his
head was pulled back. He landed on a sharp rock.
“Ouch!” he hissed. He looked back at an angry Rosxo. “What did
you do that for?”
“What is wrong with you, they could‟ve seen you!”
“All these ifs and could haves. They didn‟t and that‟s all that
matters!”
“It‟s true…” Ronni said quietly, trying to break up the argument, but
she did not succeed.
“Oh, shut up! Let‟s just keep listening, but without looking this
time!”
They sat down on the ground once again, the bushes surrounding
them, and listened intently to the foxes.
“We have planned everything. Now the only thing left to do is see
what actually happens,” they heard Goldenlight say. The three of
them heard the foxes pad out of the fort. They jumped out of the
bushes in time to see Roseherb‟s tail disappear behind the fort wall.
They dashed after them, and hid behind a thick oak tree; they wanted
to see if they were actually going to the Earthtribe fort. If they were,
they would go north. And sure enough, the three foxes were walking
up the small hill, towards the clearing which held the fort. Clouds moved over the moon, making it darker than it already was.
“I wonder if that‟s why they‟re actually going…” Ryu thought
aloud.
“Do you think they‟re going to plan an ambush on them, or what?
Even if they were, which they‟re not, they wouldn‟t only bring three
foxes. They‟d have back up.” Rosxo said.
“Let‟s go back to the den,” Ryu complained, “It‟s not like we can
sneak into Earthtribe if they do go there.” The three of them agreed,
and hurried back to their den. It was getting cold outside, and Rosxo
wanted to see if Kalai was okay. She was okay, lying as she was
when they left her, breathing steadily, her side moving up and down,
up and down… She looked very peaceful, and her legs were moving
slightly as if running. She must be dreaming of rabbits… Rosxo
thought, smiling. He plopped down beside her and fell asleep
quickly, dreaming of times that were bright and his sister and he
were happily leaping in huge piles of leaves, with their mother and
father… their father… he was dead… He had died in a battle
between Earthtribe and Firetribe, when Umberpelt had become
pregnant with Kalai, and Rosxo had already been born. Windpelt,
their father, had been killed by one of the Earthtribe fighters, by the
name of Stargaze. She was Oakpelt‟s sister. She had not followed
the fox faith because she unnecessarily killed a fox. She was to be
punished in some way, but died from barren cough only two days
after the battle. Rosxo flinched in his dreams, and a tear dripping
down his face.

Goldenlight and her two companions approached the
Earthtribe fort entrance. There were two fighters sitting at either end
of the fort‟s entrance.
“Now I have an opportunity to say I told you so!”
Windrunner growled good-naturedly to Goldenlight. She smiled and
continued to walk up to the two foxes. Oakpelt, one of the guards,
noticed them and barked to the other fox that they had visitors. The
sky was even darker now, and Earthtribe‟s fort looked beautiful with
the berry bushes and oak and pine trees surrounding the whole fort.
The entrance was a small cave leading into the clearing. The walls
had been built around the cave, which went underground, then came
back up to normal ground level.
“What is your business here, Goldenlight?” Oakpelt
demanded. The second guard, Lightpad, stood beside Oakpelt, her
expression stern.
“We have come here to talk to your leader, concerning the
tokens from Skytribe,” she recited what they had planned. Oakpelt
and Lightpad exchanged glances, then nodded to Goldenlight and
walked inside the fort, the three foxes following behind them. They
led them through the fort. They passed the small river that ran
through the fort, and also the Stream Rock which lay in the middle
of the river. They stopped at the falka‟s den, which was a small cave
blanketed in wet moss. Oakpelt called softly inside the den, warning
the falka that she had visitors, and then allowed the group to enter
the cave. It was dim inside, but not entirely dark, because there was a
small hole at the top of the ceiling to let the moon light up the cave.
“Please, come in, I have a small vole if you would like a
little, Goldenlight,” Hifla patted a half-eaten vole and looked up at
the falka. “So tell me again, why are you here?” “I have come to speak to you about the subject of tokens, but
I need Vixentail to be present.” She replied calmly.
“Lightpad, will you fetch Vixentail for me?” Hifla called and
looked at Goldenlight. “She will be here shortly.” They waited
patiently for a few moments before a lethargic Vixentail stepped
inside the den. She walked sluggishly to the falka‟s side and plopped
down on the ground.
“Let us begin, then.” Goldenlight said, her eye on the falna,
“About the tokens; we believe that Vixentail is culpable. Do not say
a word just yet,” she added before Hifla could speak, “We know that
it may be many other things, but Angelpaw‟s death would‟ve been a
coincidence if it was another fox.” Vixentail‟s ears perked up as she
heard her sister‟s name. “She might‟ve done something unknown,
and we want to know what it is before it endangers the rest of the
forest. It is for the safety of not only herself but many others.”
“I agree. I have tried to talk to her in the past, but it‟s no use,
she does not listen. She will not speak of her sister, Goldenlight. I
am willing to let you try,” she said, almost apologetically.
Windrunner and Roseherb looked at one another, surprised
by Hifla‟s answer. They had thought that there would be an
argument.
“I will try, Hifla. Thank you, may we have privacy?” Hifla
nodded and trotted out of the den. Goldenlight could hear her telling
Lightpad and Oakpelt to go back to their dens and rest.
“Vixentail, we need to talk to you, about your sister,”
Vixentail did not flinch or move at all, “We believe that you are the
cause of the tokens, and I wish to know what you have done to upset
Skytribe.”
Vixentail raised her head to look at Goldenlight. Her eyes
were gray and full of grief and despair. She opened her mouth
slightly then closed it and clenched her jaw. “She was the only fox I
had left, why would I do anything to hurt her?” the falna said
quietly, her voice quivering. Goldenlight eyed her; something wasn‟t
quite right about the fox. “I am not saying you did anything purposely, but you still
might‟ve done something. Tell me what it could be,” the falka said,
her voice calm.
“Nothing, nothing at all. It was not my fault, it was yours, it
was Zosimos‟, it was Adastrea‟s! It was all of you, you made this
happen! You are the one that did something wrong, you are the one
that upset Skytribe! Why else would they endanger your tribe the
most!” she barked, growling and baring her teeth, glaring at the falka
with hatred. “You are the one that made me kill Angelpaw!”
Goldenlight‟s expression changed to one of confusion just as
Vixentail lunged at Goldenlight and clawed at her face. Goldenlight
yowled with surprise and pain as Vixentail‟s claw cut her above the
eye. Just as the crazed falna was about to leap again, Goldenlight
dodged and Vixentail hit the den wall. She collapsed on the ground,
her sides heaving. Roseherb and Windrunner leaped on the fox,
pinning her to the ground.
“Vixentail! You killed Angelpaw!?” Goldenlight barked
outrageously. Her chest puffed up, she stormed out of the den.
Windrunner and Roseherb growled at Vixentail before following the
falka. Hifla was sitting outside of the fighter‟s den when the three
foxes stomped out of the den. Goldenlight stopped and glared at
Hifla.
“Vixentail killed her sister. You were not right about her
cooperation,” she growled and dashed away, her two companions
close behind.
Once they reached the fort, Goldenlight, Windrunner, and
Roseherb went straight to the Stream Rock.
“Gather now, foxes!” Goldenlight growled. All of the foxes
outside already, such as Jaxxentail, Dandy, Dirk, Ailanose and many
others looked, surprised, at the falka. They wouldn‟t expect such a
tone from the falka. They gathered around, unsure about what she
was going to say, and sat on their haunches awaiting her speech. The
rest of the foxes in the tribe, who were resting in their dens, came out
and did the same. They waited only a moment longer when
Goldenlight barked. “Foxes! I am sorry that I am so upset, but Vixentail killed her
sister!” Yowls of disbelief, shock, and confusion rang out. “Vixentail
was ready to rip my throat; she says I made murder her sister. We
must be alert, for a battle may come our way,” Goldenlight had
returned to her usual calm way, “That is all.” She whipped around
and leaped off the Stream Rock, making her way toward the falka‟s
den. Windrunner and Roseherb did not follow her, but went to their
separate dens. The whole of Firetribe retreated to sleep, for the full
moon was rising in the sky. Goldenlight, in her den, went to sleep
immediately; she was exhausted by her outburst, and they had run
home, and she desperately needed to think things over. When she
awoke, Roseherb and Windrunner were huddled together in the
corner of her den, talking quietly. Goldenlight grunted and the two
foxes whipped their heads in her direction, surprised by the sudden
noise disrupting the silence.
“Goldenlight…”
Kalai had fully recovered, and was now sleeping peacefully
with her brother, cousin, and friend. She had been dreaming of the
day she was born. She was unusual that way; she could remember
things, even if they were a long time ago, and in this case, a memory
that not many foxes can recall. She was being licked roughly by her
mother, who was cleaning her after she had been born. She could not
see, or hear for that matter, she could only smell. She had been
trying to walk to her mother‟s belly to get some milk, though it was
difficult. Once she had reached the belly, she suckled the warm milk,
whimpering delightedly. She was happy, and she was new to the
world. She would have many adventures in the days to come. But
that day, her father died in battle, and she did not know it; she was
too young to understand anything at all. Although she could feel that
something was wrong, that there was a sense of grief in the air. Like
when Angelpaw died… she thought silently. She shifted positions
and opened her eyes slightly, her vision blurry because of being
asleep. She saw the moon outside from where she lay. She smiled
and caught a glimpse of something moving, although she didn‟t
register the movement. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.
Then she opened her eyes again suddenly and looked where she had
seen the movement. She slowly sat up and shook her head. She
looked around her, making sure no one was awake, and no one was. Kalai stalked out of the den and hid behind a bush right outside. She
could not see anything from where she was positioned, so she crept
closer to the Stream Rock, which is where she had seen the
movement. Still hidden in a bush, she scanned the clearing. She saw
something move behind the falka‟s den; she opened her eyes wider
and shook her head again. She wasn‟t quite awake enough to identify
the fox. She heard a rustle of leaves behind her and whipped around
to see Ronni crawling towards her. Kalai‟s panicked expression
turned into one of relief, and annoyance.
“Ronni, what are you doing here?” she hissed. Ronni
straightened up in a part of the bush that was not as thick as the
others.
“No, the question is why are you here?” she said.
“I am here because I saw something move by the Stream
Rock,” Kalai, her belly touching the cold earth, turned her head to
look for the thing she had seen. She felt Ronni sit beside her but did
not shift her gaze.
“Hey look, I see something over there!” Ronni whispered,
gesturing with her nose to a dark figure sitting alone by the hollow
tree trunk that the four fighters used to always play at when they
were rookies. “It looks like an adult fox.” The moonlight was hitting
the figure‟s face; you could make out a muzzle, dark eyes, and
upright ears.
The animal stared at where they were positioned, but the two
hiding foxes did not know whether it was looking directly at them or
if she was just staring blankly at the ground. Ronni grunted as she
shifted positions because she had been sitting on a rock. The
animal‟s eyes moved in their direction and it suddenly bounded
away. Kalai nipped Ronni on the ear, clearly frustrated with her for
scaring away the animal
“What‟d you do that for?” she hissed.
“I was sitting on a rock! If you want to find out who it is,
then follow the fox!” she hissed back. “I will!” Kalai stood up and attempted to jump out of the bush, which only got her tangled. She struggled for a few moments
and finally got out. Looking back at Ronni, she dashed after the fox.
Ronni sighed, annoyed, and followed her cousin. She stopped in a
bramble thicket; Kalai had caught up with the animal, and was now
positive that it was Vixentail, the distraught Earthtribe falna. She
crouched low to the ground, her belly touching the cold earth. She
had been watching Vixentail‟s actions, but now she had disappeared,
and Kalai was waiting patiently for her to reveal herself once again.
Kali watched as Vixentail emerged from some undergrowth, and
after she scanned the clearing, she padded to a large fallen tree. A
number of other foxes crawled out behind her. They looked skinny
and unfed, their filthy red fur clinging to their skin. One fox that was
larger than the others approached Vixentail and exchanged a few
words with her. Maybe he was the leader of the group? The fox
returned to the group of ten or so foxes and ordered for them to
follow him.
“What is Vixentail doing will all of those foxes?” Kalai
whispered to herself.
“What are you doing following me?” a voice said behind her.
Kalai spun around to see an angry fox glaring at her with eyes full of
hunger; hunger to kill. Kalai yowled with surprise and pain as
Vixentail clawed her muzzle. Kalai fell back, and a drip of scarlet
blood fell on her belly. The young fox sat frozen for a few silent
heartbeats, and then she looked up slowly. Vixentail‟s eyes were
crazed and an evil smile was plastered on her face.
“I need to kill you now, before you start another generation
of foxes, Kalai. You will be the falka and that‟s not good. I need to
kill you, and the whole of Firetribe, and Watertribe, and Airtribe. I‟ll
kill all of you! But I must start with you.” She launched herself at
Kalai, and that moment the young fox realized her belly was the
falna‟s target. She spun around onto her belly as the falna was in
midair. The fox, instead of ripping the fighter‟s belly, only clawed
her back. Kalai screeched with pain and flipped the falna off of her
back. She whipped around, furious, and leapt at the falna‟s head. She
was still a small fox, for she was only eleven moons old, nearly a
year, and she decided to use her small size as an advantage. Kalai bit
down as hard as she could on the falna‟s right ear, hearing a loud
wail of agony erupt from the fox‟s throat. Deep in her mind, she felt sorry for Vixentail. She didn‟t want to hurt her, but the falna left her
no choice. Kalai crawled onto her back and clawed at it. Vixentail
spun in circles, attempting to knock the young fox off her back. She
succeeded, and Kalai went flying into a tree, falling to the ground.
Vixentail advanced on her, her mouth foaming and blood dripping
off her muzzle. She opened her jaws to reveal yellow, razor sharp
teeth, drool dripping off them. Kalai only lay motionless, pinned to a
tree, watching horridly as she was about to die. She thought she was
helpless, that she couldn‟t do anything, that she couldn‟t even try to
save herself. She could see the full moon behind Vixentail, and she
wanted to remember what that moon looked like forever. She saw a
flicker of movement behind the falna and suddenly the vicious fox
grunted and was knocked onto her side. Ronni was standing proudly
on top of the falna, her sides heaving and a satisfied smile on her
face.
“Ronni,” Kalai breathed.
“Kalai! I just saved your life there, you owe me one!” she
said good-naturedly. Kalai smiled weakly and Ronni trotted over to
her. “Let‟s get you home, we can tell Goldenlight what happened,
she‟ll take care of it.”
“But she said she was going to kill us all, Ronni,” Kalai
whispered.
“Goldenlight will protect us, don‟t worry.” Ronni picked her
up by the scruff and began to drag her back to the Firetribe fort.
Luckily, nothing attacked them on the way home. Ronni
dragged Kalai‟s now limp body into Goldenlight‟s den. Goldenlight
and Windrunner had been talking about the tokens and Vixentail‟s
crazy outburst when the two of them came in.
“Ronni! What are you doing?” Goldenlight barked, surprised.
Windrunner looked at the two of them, surprised as well. It changed
to worry when he saw that Ronni had Kalai‟s scruff gripped firmly
in his jaws, her body touching the ground, and Ronni‟s head hung
low trying desperately not to drop the injured Kalai. But she had to
talk, so she lay the fox down gently on the stone den floor and shook her head. Goldenlight and Windrunner were speechless.
“Kalai had followed Vixentail into the woods and then
Vixentail attacked her and then I saved her and then I brought her
home,” she said, gasping for air.
“Okay, slow down! How did she find Vixentail, and why was
she following her?” Goldenlight asked, jumping up to inspect Kalai
for any major injuries.
“She was in the fort.”
“What??” Goldenlight‟s jaw dropped slightly, her eyes wide
and angry.
“I don‟t know, Kalai just woke up in the middle of the night
and went outside. I followed her and found out that she had seen
something. The something was standing by the Stream Rock and I
thought it was a fox. Kalai and I… um… had a little disagreement so
she followed the fox and I followed her. I guess that she had found
her and Vixentail attacked her, because when I saw them, Vixentail
was about to kill Kalai. So I saved her by leaping on Vixentail and I
guess I knocked her out,” he explained.
“So, what you‟re saying is that Vixentail intruded on our
camp, saw you guys, ran away to be followed by Kalai and you, then
almost killed Kalai?” Goldenlight turned around and paced back and
forth in her den, her face screwed up in concentration.
“Yep, but you missed the part where I saved her…” she
added. Windrunner shot her a warning glance. Ronni looked at her
paws, embarrassed, and saw Kalai lying on the floor. “Um, what am
I supposed to do with Kalai, bring her to Roseherb?”
“Yes, do that. I need to talk to Windrunner,” she looked at
Ronni, “alone.” Ronni nodded and grabbed Kalai‟s scruff again and
dragged her out of the den and across the clearing. She paused at the
Stream Rock to take a breath, and noticed an unusual stone tucked in
under the Rock. She looked at it quizzically, and leaned closer to it
to sniff. It smelled of Earthtribe. She squinted in the moonlight and
could make out something inscribed on the surface of the stone. It
looked like a paw, with claws… Ronni‟s eyes widened with fear. The stone was made of clay taken from the banks of the Ribura
River, which is the river that ran through the Earthtribe fort. It had
been molded into a circular shape and dried in the. The paw print,
with the added claws, meant war. Was this a warning from
Earthtribe that they were to attack the fort anytime now?
“But wait, Vixentail was here… Vixentail… Vixentail!”
Ronni darted back into the den. Goldenlight was still pacing,
Windrunner trying to calm her down.
“You don‟t have to report everything you do, Ronni,”
Windrunner barked.
“No… no… um… there‟s a stone outside, by the Stream
Rock, er, under it. It smells of Earthtribe, and… and has a paw with
claws on it.” Ronni gasped, fearful and out of breath. Goldenlight‟s
face turned solemn and she looked at the ground. When she looked
up again, her face was tight and her eyes furious.
“If they want war, we‟ll give them war. But we are weak, I
admit. We will not attack, we will let them attack. Windrunner,
when the sun rises, we must tell the Tribe, and we will tell them to
be prepared, for the attack may happen at any moment. We must be
alert.” The three foxes heard a moan and whipped around to see
Kalai limping into the den.
“I-I saw Vixentail meet with about ten… ten other f-foxes
when I was following her… one of them whispered something to
her, maybe the leader…” she rasped, exhausted.
“What did these foxes look like, Kalai?” Goldenlight asked
as Ronni helped her to lie down.
“Um… they were really skinny, and… and they hadn‟t eaten
for a while, it looked like. They were scarred, I think, all over their
bodies… maybe they fought battles before?”
“Yes, they are rogues.” Goldenlight‟s face darkened as she
spoke, “Vixentail is the one attacking us, and with ten rogues at her
side. This battle will be difficult, since she says they are scarred, it is
true that they have fought battles before; and obviously won.” She
turned away from Ronni and lay down in her den nest, which was layered with soft moss. She slowly laid her head on her paws and
closed her eyes with a final sigh. Ronni looked at Windrunner
hopefully, as if for an answer on what to do now. Kalai, still lying on
the ground, looked up at the foxes.
“Take Kalai to Roseherb, quickly. And stay with her, she‟ll
need your comfort.” Windrunner said quietly and went to lie down
with Goldenlight; he needed to talk to her about what they would do
when Vixentail attacked. Ronni helped Kalai onto her feet and
supported her while they walked to Roseherb‟s den. When they
entered the darkened den, Roseherb was sitting there, organizing her
herbs. She coughed and looked behind her shoulder. Her eyes
widened with surprise.
“Oh! Hello, you two… oh, bring her here to me, quickly!”
Ronni limped to her and the herb fox let Kalai fall at her paws. She
hurried back to her stash of herbs and chose a pile of them that
Ronni could not identify in the dim light. She chewed them and spat
them out on the ground. Roseherb, as she has done many times
before, covered her paw in it and rubbed the herbs on Kalai‟s
wounds. She went back to her herb basket, which she had woven
from twigs, and chose chamomile from it. She went to a small bowl
made of mud and filled with hot water, which Ronni assumed she
had heated with coals. It was lying on the ground beside the basket;
she approached it and dropped the chamomile into the boiling water.
She let it brew for a few moments as she tended to Kalai‟s back,
where Vixentail had scratched her when trying to rip her belly.
Ronni sat in a corner, waiting patiently for any news; if the injuries
were grave, or if they were going to be able to be healed with ease.
She batted the chamomile out of the bowl, wincing as the hot water
burned her paw. She picked it up in her jaws and stuffed it into
Kalai‟s mouth, then returned to yet another bowl, but this time filled
with cold water, and let Kalai drink the fluid which would help her
to swallow the chamomile. Roseherb supported her head as she
choked briefly, then Kalai dropped back onto the ground, exhausted
with the effort of holding her head.
“Is she going to be okay?” Ronni asked cautiously.
Roseherb looked up at her, her eyebrows creased. “Yes, yes,
I think so..."
„You think so? Wouldn‟t you know?” she asked, confused by
the herb fox‟s bewilderment.
“Oh yes, I would,” she paused and coughed, “Um… yes, she
is going to be fine.” The fox stared blankly at Kalai.
“Are you okay, Roseherb?” she asked, a worried look
sweeping over her face.
“Yes, yes, don‟t worry; it‟s just a bad cough.
“Yeah, I know but… I‟m not just talking about the cough,
I‟m tal-”
“I am fine, as she is, okay? Now go to your den and sleep.”
She stared at Ronni, her face expressionless. Ronni nodded slowly,
confused. She turned and walked out of the den. Ronni blinked at the
night sky, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. She thought it was
already morning. It had been such a long night, with Kalai almost
getting killed, dragging her all the way home, the finding of the soon
to came battle, and now Roseherb acting suspiciously. She passed
the Stream Rock; the stone was still there, exactly the way it was
when she had found it. She stared at it for a few moments and then
continued on to her den. She curled up in her nest and closed her
eyes, the moonlight from the small hole on the ceiling shining on her
red fur. It took her some time to fall asleep, but once she did, she
dreamt of a battle, a dirty and long battle that would happen soon…
and a fox she loves dearly will be hurt…

“Aaaaahhh! Ka-Kalai?”
“Yes, yes! It‟s me, Roseherb fixed me up last night and I
crept in here and slept, boom! Just like that. She‟s good, you know.”
A huge smile was on Kalai‟s face. Ronni had been woken up by
Kalai, who had been licking her muzzle. Ryu and Ronni moaned and
slowly got up and stretched, still very sleepy. Ronni looked around;
all of the other fighters had already leaved the den.
“Oh, Kalai, I was having a very nice dream!” Ryu
complained.
“Oh, Ryu!” She mocked him, “You missed last night, the
night that I was almost killed, but Ronni saved me.” She smiled at
her cousin, her eyes shining with gratitude.
“Well, I‟m no hero!” she said, embarrassed yet proud.
“You are to me. Now, let‟s go get some breakfast!” She
trotted cheerfully out of the den, “I bet you want a nice plump vole,
and if you do you better come and get one before I do!” she called
out. Kalai‟s jolly spirit put the three fighters in a good mood. They
bounded out of the den to join Kalai at the food pile.
“I got the vole! Haha, anyway, there‟s more!” She chirped,
the vole in her mouth, and jumped into a pile of frosted leaves. It
was soon to be barren time, and the ground was coated in a layer of
thin frost. Goldenlight thought that it would snow very soon, so they
would have to be prepared for that, but as well as the upcoming
battle. Kalai did have knowledge of that, but she was the kind of fox
that would not be down about it; she would be cheerful, as she
usually is. In the past few days, she has not been, because of her
injuries and the tokens, and Vixentail‟s depression. Because of the
battle, foxes were scattering all over the place; reinforcing the walls
and dens with extra twigs, preparing themselves by eating many foods, drinking water, and eating herbs that would keep them strong
throughout the battle. Today she had decided to change that; she
wanted to be happy. She buried herself in the leaves and stayed
hidden in them for a few moments. Ryu, Ronni and Rosxo waited for
her to emerge, amused by her playfulness. She sprang out of the
leaves, but this time she did not have her vole clenched on her jaws.
“Aw! I lost it! Help me look for it, Ronni!” she begged.
“Okay, okay, come on,” Ronni laughed as they both leaped
into the pile. They dug deeper and deeper into the leaves until Kalai
had found her vole. Ronni‟s head was the only part of her body that
was in the pile of leaves, and she was crouching on the ground, her
tail wagging back and forth. She suddenly felt a sharp pain vibrate
through her body.
“Ow!” she yowled. She jumped out of the pile and saw
Rosxo and Ryu laughing hysterically. “Rosxo, you bit my tail!” she
whined. Rosxo laughed even harder, and Ryu‟s eyes were watering.
“Well, your bottom was sticking out of the pile, and I
couldn‟t help it!” Rosxo laughed again.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… well, you‟re going to pay, you‟ll regret
it!”
“Oooh! Will I really?” He said, jumping around quickly,
mocking her for her lack of speed.
“Yes, yes you will regret!” She lunged at him, but missed
because Rosxo dodged out of the way just as she had her paws
outstretched to whack him on the muzzle. Rosxo laughed and started
to run away, looking over his shoulder to see a charging Ronni. He
picked up his pace, not wanting to be tackled by Ronni… she was
tough, and strong. They turned the corner of a clump of trees that
surrounded the fighters den and ran into the clearing that had the
Stream Rock and falka‟s den in it. Ryu laughed to himself and
turned around, seeing Kalai‟s tail sticking out of the pile, he thought
he could copy Rosxo… he liked to annoy her. That would be fun! He
thought. He bent down and bit her tail, harder than he meant to.
“Ow! What the-?” Kalai leaped up and out of the pile, surprised by the pain that surged through her body. “Hey, Ryu!”
Anger and annoyance flared in her eyes. Ryu ran as fast as he could
in the direction that Ronni and Rosxo had gone; Kalai was an
extremely fast runner, and she catching up quickly.
“I made a mistake, I‟m sorry!” he called over his shoulder.
“Yeah, and you‟ll regret it!” she barked furiously.
“But I already do!” The four foxes ran all over the fort,
laughing and tripping every now and then. Eventually, they all tired
out, and met at their favorite hangout spot; the old fallen tree. They
collapsed by the trunk, laughing and breathing hard, their sides
hurting and throats dry.
“Well, neither of you guys killed either of us.” Ryu stated
matter-of-factly.
“We will someday, we will…” Ronni breathed, lying on her
side, exhausted. The four of them heard a yowl in the distance; a war
cry.
“Foxes! Foxes! The battle is coming! The battle is coming!”
Windrunner barked loudly on top of the Stream Rock. Roseherb
came bounding out of den and swiftly leapt onto the Rock.
“Foxes, bring your kits into the kits‟ den, hurry! Ailanose and
Umberpelt go get the shield wall!” she ordered. A few of the nursing
vixens herded their fearful kits into the den, with Umberpelt and
Ailanose waiting at the entrance, supporting a sturdy and large door
woven tightly of twigs on the wall of the den. All of the fighters
hurried into Roseherb‟s den and ate herbs that would keep them
energized throughout the battle. The rookies scattered around, trying
to find their way to their den through the crowd of panicking foxes.
“Do not panic! Nothing will harm us with our fighters
standing strong to protect us!” Goldenlight said encouragingly. The
words boosted the foxes‟ confidence, and they quickened their pace.
“Go to your places, quickly!” Goldenlight said and jumped
down and dashed behind a bush at the entrance of the fort. “Were we supposed to know where are places were?” Ryu
barked frantically to Kalai, Ronni, and Ryu.
“I don‟t know!” Kalai called back. “Look, over in that clump
of bushes!” Kalai gestured towards a few large bushes. The four of
them darted over to the bushes and concealed themselves behind it.
The yowl came closer. The four foxes were breathing hard.
“Shhh!” Kalai whispered.
The fort was completely empty and silent when the group of rogues,
with Vixentail leading them, charged in through the entrance.
“Vixentail, there is no one here!” One rogue fox said. His
voice was low and scratchy. Kalai recognized him for being the large
fox that had whispered to Vixentail when she saw them in the forest.
He must be the leader… she thought. Vixentail sniffed.
“Yes they are here! Can you not smell! I said I‟d give you the
whole territory of Firetribe if you helped me kill them Brokenclaw,
so do you want it or not?” she barked.
Brokenclaw… Kali thought. She glanced at the fox‟s foot; he
did have a broken claw.
“Yes we do! Where are they then?” the leader rasped.
In the bushes, Goldenlight signaled with a flick of her tail to
attack at her order. Before the preparation, Goldenlight had told
Windrunner and all of the senior warriors what the signal would be.
The falka would flick her tail three times, as if counting up to three.
Windrunner nodded at Goldenlight and looked over to the other
fighters hidden within the nearby bushes. Goldenlight flicked her tail
once. The fighters tensed and put a paw in front of them, ready to
leap out of the bushes. Then she flicked her tail for a second time,
and the fighters got in a leaping position, their paws ahead of them,
the fighters‟ thighs tight. She signaled the last flick of her tail and
the fighters leaped out of the bushes and straight onto the backs of
the rogues. War cries sounded throughout the whole fort. Howls of
pain and surprise ringed in the foxes‟ ears. Kalai and her three
companions only stayed where they were, afraid yet fascinated by the fighting. Kalai‟s dream was to fight for her Tribe, so she decided that she would join the battle.
“Guys, I‟m going in! Let‟s get the leader fox, over there!”
“Kalai, no!” Rosxo yowled. Kalai bounded out of the bushes
and jumped onto Brokenclaw‟s back. The Firetribe fox that had been
fighting him, Jaxxentail, barked, surprised, and watched the two
foxes struggle.
“Aaahh! Get off me, you stupid little brat!” the rogue hissed
with fury. Kalai dug her claws deeper into his neck. He howled with
anger and pain and whirled around, attempting to knock Kalai off of
his back.
“I will not get off, you smelly mouse!” she spat and bit his
ear.
“Argh! I am not a smelly mouse! Get off!” He continued to
spin around, and Jaxxentail, realizing the situation, lunged at
Brokenclaw. Jaxxentail knocked the fox over and Kalai flew off of
his back and hit the ground with such force it knocked the air out of
her. Jaxxentail mouthed an apology while he held Brokenclaw down
on the frosted ground. Kalai nodded and whipped around when she
heard paws coming towards her in time to see another rogue leap on
top of her. She howled furiously and thought quickly to herself that
battling was not as she thought it was. She saw Rosxo and Ryu out
of the corner of her eyes from her viewpoint on the ground, attacking
a rogue with the help of Ailanose. Ronni darted towards her cousin
and crawled up the rogue‟s back. She clawed him on his back and bit
down as hard as she could. The rogue howled so loudly that the other
fighters hesitated and looked in their direction. The fox dropped to
the ground, and for a moment Ronni thought that she had killed him,
but he was still breathing, although his neck was bleeding badly.
Roseherb dashed over to them, smiled and nodded at Ronni, and
dragged the rogue off to her den. The battle continued, with the
Firetribe members taking a first hit at the rogues; they were still
distracted by their curiosity of what would happen to their peers.
Kalai hauled herself up from the ground and shook her head. She
saw that Ronni was still fighting yet another rogue. Ronni bit his ear
and the fox shook his head. Kalai darted toward the fox and clawed his muzzle, jumping up onto his back to join her cousin. Goldenlight, on the other side of the fort, was brawling with
Vixentail, Windrunner by her side.
“Vixentail, why did you kill your sister!?” Goldenlight
barked as she dodged out of the way of a Vixentail‟s claws.
“I didn‟t mean to!” She spat and clawed Goldenlight‟s face.
Goldenlight only flinched, what did she mean by that? Windrunner
bit Vixentail‟s tail and she hissed with pain and frustration.
“What do you mean you didn‟t mean to?” Goldenlight
barked in her face as she was about to leap on her. Vixentail stopped
in her tracks and stared at Goldenlight, hatred in her eyes. She
slowly frowned and her eyes darkened.
“I only meant to frighten the tribes… I hired the wolf to do it,
but he killed her instead…”Goldenlight glanced at Windrunner, who
had a solemn look on his face. When Goldenlight look back to
Vixentail, she had already dashed over to Kalai.
“Wha- what?” Goldenlight stumbled, confused. She watched
as Vixentail pinned Kalai to the ground, while Ronni watched,
horrified, as Vixentail leaned down to bite her throat, which would
kill her instantly. Kalai saw her life flash before her eyes; of all the
joyful times with her brother, cousin, friends, and mother. When
they would play, and cuddle up together. When her mother would
tell them stories in the kits‟ den, When Rosxo and Ronni and her
friends would play together, running around the fort. All of those
good times, lost forever, only in her memories… because now she
would actually die.
“No!” Goldenlight darted towards her so fast, Windrunner
was completely shocked to see her crash into Vixentail with all of
her strength, knocking all of the air out of her and throwing her into
a tree. She grunted at she hit the tree, and then she fell to the ground,
blood trickling down her forehead.
“Kalai! Are you okay?” Goldenlight gasped.
“Roseherb…” the fox breathed.
“Yes, I‟ll get her for you,” the falka was about to turn around and dash over to the herb fox‟s den, but he heard Kalai mutter
something.
“What?” she turned around and looked at the young fighter
who was lying on the ground, her sides heaving. Goldenlight‟s ear
was torn, and her nose bleeding.
“I-I meant for Vixentail…” she said quietly.
“Oh, okay, but also for you!” Goldenlight bounded off to the
den and returned within a matter of seconds to the small clearing in
which the two foxes lay. Roseherb gasped at the fighter‟s injuries.
Kalai‟s nose was dripping blood, some bald spots were here and
there, and a huge gash was on her back. She hurried to Vixentail and
dragged her back to the den. She returned in a few moments and
brought Kalai back to the den with the help of Goldenlight.
Windrunner and the rest of the fighters were driving off the last of
the rogues.
“Brokenclaw… where is he?” Kalai rasped.
“I let him go, Kalai. He was fine, just a scratch.” Roseherb
assured her.
“But where‟s Windrunner, and the rest of the fighters, what if
he comes back?” she said, beginning to panic.
A painful yowl arose from outside the den and Kalai‟s eyes
widened in fear. “I said what if he comes back!” she howled and
raced out of the den, forgetting her pain, with Goldenlight and
Roseherb following close behind. Ailanose lay sprawled out on the
cold ground, her belly torn. Nearby, Windrunner was tackling the
leader of the rogues. Ronni was collapsed on the ground beside
Ailanose, her agonized wail piercing the sound of the fighting foxes.
Everything was silent now, for Windrunner had driven off
Brokenclaw, and was chasing after him. The fighters, kits and vixens
slowly and cautiously made their way out of their dens, alarmed by
the sound of Ronni‟s despair. Roseherb, crouched by the dead fox
and the grieving fighter, was attempting to soothe Ronni with kind
words.
“No, no! She‟s not dead, she‟s not dead! She can‟t be, no!” Ronni sobbed. She buried her face in her dead trainer‟s fur and
continued to sob.
“Ronni, we will get Brokenclaw, and revenge her death, no
matter what we need to do, or what happens.” Goldenlight promised,
crouching down next to the young fighter. Kalai stood there, salty
tears burning her eyes. She loved Ailanose, she had grown to trust
and look up to Ailanose, although, not as much as Streamnip. The
fighter had been Ronni‟s friend. Kalai sniffed and glanced at
Goldenlight, her look saying that she needed time alone with Ronni.
The falka nodded and muttered to Roseherb to follow her to her den.
They padded off, leaving the two foxes and Ailanose‟s body behind.
“Kalai, I thought that this battle wouldn‟t hurt anyone, that
it‟d be easy… that‟s what Goldenlight said.” She sobbed.
“I know…” She said softly.
Ronni stared at her. “I… I had a dream… it told me that
someone I loved would be hurt…” she said, her voice quavering.
Kalai didn‟t answer, but licked her cousin‟s forehead.
“I could‟ve saved her, Kalai… I could‟ve saved her!” she
spat. Ronni jumped up furiously and dashed out of the fort, her tail
tucked in between her legs.
“Ronni!” Kalai frowned, realizing that she actually might
have been able to save her… She tugged a mouthful of fur off of her
chest, whimpering as she did so. She wanted to get rid of her pent up
rag; although that did not work. She stomped back into the fighter‟s
den, completely frustrated with herself. She felt as if she could just
go back in the future and change what had happened, maybe even
change the fact that Angelpaw died. She collapsed on the floor of the
den, sighing sadly, and retired to sleep.
Meanwhile, Goldenlight and the rest of the tribe, including
Windrunner, cleaned up the tribe and told all of the foxes that the
battle was over, but with only one casualty, and they all knew who
that was. A wary silence hung in the air, making every fox still even
sadder. They picked up scraps of fur and piles of twigs. Windrunner,
alone and without Ailanose at his side, took the twig wall that he and his deceased friend had made and stored it in the empty den that was
outside of the fort‟s entrance.
“Windrunner, Goldenlight needs you in Roseherb‟s den!”
Wolka, a rookie, called from inside the fort. The falna trotted in
through the entrance and passed the working foxes. Ronni was
nowhere to be seen. He walked into the herb fox‟s den. Goldenlight
turned to look at him as he entered, and Roseherb was crouched
beside Ailanose‟s body, her eyes closed. She was muttering words
that Windrunner could not hear.
“What do you need?” he asked, glancing at Roseherb.
“I need to tell you something about Ailanose that we both
need to announce together to the Tribe,” she said calmly.
Goldenlight looked at Roseherb, and waited. Windrunner assumed
that Roseherb was the one that was to tell him what was so
important. The fox slowly opened her eyes, mumbled a few last
words, and stood up.
“Ailanose was pregnant, and I quickly told Skytribe to
protect both the mother and kit on their way to the Tribe, although
you, Goldenlight and I, as well as the rest of the tribe, must bless her
soul and her kit‟s. Since Ailanose‟s belly had been torn, the kit did
not have a chance of being saved,” she said softly. A single tear
dripped down her muzzle, and fell on the den ground, making a
small splashing sound.
“Wha-what? Really?” he said, smiling slightly, although his
eyes contradicted his expression. “If only she were here…” he
whispered to himself.
“Who was the father?” Goldenlight asked the herb fox.
Roseherb shrugged.
“That… she was my-my…” Windrunner sighed, closed his
eyes and said, “That kit was mine.”
Goldenlight gasped, “Oh… I‟m sorry, Windrunner, I did not
know…”
“No, I am happy, but sad also because I won‟t be able to see my kit grow up. At least it‟ll be with its mother.” He smiled again
and sniffed, then turned away and padded out of the den.
Goldenlight and Roseherb remained where they were, letting the
news of the two fox‟s companionship sink in. After a few moments,
they walked out of the den and leaped on top of the Stream Rock.
“Attention foxes of Firetribe, the three of us have something
to say about Ailanose!” Goldenlight called over the scattering of the
paws of hurrying foxes. They all stopped what they were doing and
looked up at the falka, their full attention directed at what she had to
say.
“Actually, I have something to say,” Windrunner had been
sitting behind Goldenlight, and now he stepped up. He looked back
at Goldenlight over his shoulder, an expression on his face that asked
for permission. Goldenlight nodded, her eyes full of understanding.
“Ailanose was a noble fighter, a sly hunter, and the best friend you
could have, but she has gone to Skytribe but we should not grieve
over that. She has found a happy place, and she is with her kit.”
Squeals of surprise and murmurs of understanding, mostly
from nursing vixens, sounded throughout the fort.
“The reason why I wanted to say this was because I was the
father of that kit,” Windrunner hesitated, expecting even more yowls
of surprise, but the crowd remained silent, their eyes wide. “And we
all need to gather around Ailanose and bless not only her but also her
kit for a safe passage to Skytribe‟s fort.” Windrunner turned around
and took his place beside Goldenlight. Roseherb hurried into her den
with Dandy and Wolka and came out moments later with Ailanose‟s
body being carried out on a twig bed. The three foxes lay it down
directly in front of the Stream Rock. The slash on her belly had been
filled with herbs, and her paws were lying neatly on top of one
another, her eyes closed. She looked peaceful. The foxes began to
approach the twig bed, and, one by one, each said their goodbyes
and farewells to the fox‟s soul. Ronni was the first, and she stayed
seated by her former trainer for a very long time, but the foxes
allowed her to for they understood that she needed time. They waited
patiently for their turn. When Ronni did not move but lay by
Ailanose‟s head, the foxes took that as a welcome to come and say
their goodbyes now. So they did, Kalai came second, then Ryu,Rosxo, Wolka, Dandy, Jaxxentail, Dirk, Autumn, Moonpelt,
Flowerbud and the rest of the tribe. Kalai walked up to Roseherb,
who was sitting at the foot of the Stream Rock.
“Roseherb, have you checked on Vixentail?”
“Yes, Kalai, I just did a few moments ago.” She answered,
gesturing toward her den.
“Can I go check on her?” she asked cautiously, a hopeful
look on her face.
“Yes, yes, you can if you really want too, but be back soon.
Goldenlight will be blessing her!” she called out the last words
because Kalai had already run off. The young fox peeked her head
into the den.
“Hello?” No answer. “Oh.” She slowly walked into the den
and looked around. She saw the clay bowls, the twig basket, some
various herbs on the floor, but no sign of any foxes. She went into
the back of the den, which she wasn‟t supposed to. She thought that
maybe Roseherb kept her battle patients in there. The herb fox never
let any fox die in her fort, whether it was an arch enemy or not. She
walked into the small space; there was barely a thing in there, except
a few unsuccessful baskets, a pile of leaves, a couple of pebbles, but
there was still no fox. She padded out of the den and made her way
around the corner and to Roseherb.
“Hey, she‟s not there, did you move her somewhere else?”
she asked.
“No, what do you mean she‟s not there? I just checked on her
a second ago, I mean-”
A loud war cry sounded in the distance. The foxes
murmured to each other, confused.
“Who could that be?” Jaxxentail barked.
“We already fought a battle!” Dandy squealed. “I don‟t want
to do it again!”
The cry got louder. Goldenlight gasped and her eyes widened. “Vixentail?” another different cry sounded. “More! Back
to your dens, vixens and kits! Quickly!” The vixens grabbed their
kits by the scruff and bounded off to their den. Windrunner retrieved
the twig wall with Jaxxentail‟s help as fast as they possibly could.
But no one had any more time to do anything else, for Vixentail, a
few Earthtribe members, and a large amount of rogues charged into
the fort once again, but this time, they were determined to get what
they wanted.
“Kill them all!” she cried. The fort broke out in an all-out
war. Foxes jumped at each other and crashed in mid-air. They tore
their fur out and loud wails of agony and frustration dominated the
forest bird‟s quiet songs. Kalai and her three companions, including
Ronni attacked a single rogue and took care of her easily. They went
from one fox to another, with help of other fighters as well.
Goldenlight was once again attacking Vixentail, although this time it
was without mercy. Kalai knew that Goldenlight realized that this
war was to be fought, and blood was to be spilled, whether Firetribe
blood or Earthtribe. Barks rang in the distance, and fog layered the
treetops. The whole of Earthtribe entered the fort, with Hifla leading
them. Her eyes flared with hatred when she saw Goldenlight biting
Vixentail‟s thigh.
“Attack!” she wailed and all of the foxes charged at the
Firetribe members. To everyone‟s surprise Watertribe, with Zosimos
at the front, came into the fort. Snow was beginning to fall, which
covered the blood covered earth, but new blood was shed and it
stained the pure white snow a deep scarlet red. Zosimos‟ tribe
assisted Firetribe in the battle. But Earthtribe stood strong and the
fighters could take two or more other foxes attacking them at once.
Earthtribe was known for its strength, slyness, and courage. The
battle was never-ending. Goldenlight and Zosimos were fighting
with Hifla and a few of her other experienced fighters. Although for
what reason, they did not know. Now Kalai left Ronni, Ryu, Rosxo,
and Jaxxentail to fight with once very vicious rogue. That left her to
fight with Vixentail; she knew she was not ready, but it was now or
never… she had to fight her. She approached the falna, and the fox
stood with her four feet spread apart and her head hung low, her eyes
locked on to hers as if she were stalking prey.
“Hello, Kalai. Finally you will meet your fate, for the third time is it now? The one time that that so called friend of yours saved
you from me, then when you saved yourself, and the last time when
Goldenlight saved you. Yep, I am right… so let‟s get this over with,
right here and right now.” She hissed, glaring at the fox with so
much hatred, it made Kalai cower, but she recovered her dignity in
one quick moment.
“Why do you want to kill me so much? What did I ever do to
you?” Kalai asked, surprised herself by her calm tone.
“Because you will be a falka, and I can‟t let that happen!”
she spat.
“What!? I will not be a falka! What is wrong with you? Your
sister died, we have nothing to do with that!” Vixentail shook her
head, and Kalai‟s eyes widened. “Wait, you?”
“No, I didn‟t kill her! But there is more to this than just
that… you know I always hated Goldenlight, and Firetribe, and you
and all of your little friends. I wanted to get rid of what I hated, but
mostly it is Goldenlight… a secret that I‟ve kept, and so has she!”
“What?” Kalai asked, confused.
“Love. I had a mate once, if you could believe it, and
Goldenlight stole him from me, just like that! But he died in the
battle when your parents did. Sad story.” She snickered. “Anyway, I
want to taste the sweet revenge! But, you stand in the way of that.”
“Whatever you say, but that‟s not true, Vixentail.”
“How would you know?” Vixentail lunged at her viciously and they
rolled round on the ground, slashing each other‟s faces and biting
their tails. They rolled over to a small clearing, and the other fighters
had to dodge out of the way. They hit a tree and Vixentail had had
her claw embedded in Kalai‟s thighs. Vixentail leaped up, ripping
the fox‟s thigh. Kalai yowled in pain, but she stood up and glared at
the falna. She charged at her, hitting her in the chest with her head,
and pinned her to the ground. That surprised Vixentail, and she
struggled to get loose of Kalai‟s grip.
“You didn‟t have to turn into some evil killer, Vixentail,” Kalai said quietly, suddenly feeling sorry for the fox, for all that she
had been through.
“Do it, kill me!” the falna spat. Kalai raised her paw, and was
about to claw her in the face, but then she hesitated. She shook her
head slightly, and seemed to be thinking. Vixentail still had the same
expression on her face, but the gathering foxes were confused.
“What is she doing?” one fox said.
“Kill her! She has hurt many of us!” another Watertribe fox
barked angrily.
“No…” Kalai breathed. Vixentail‟s eyes drooped, but only
for a second, for she wanted to hide her surprise.
“No, I cannot kill this fox, there‟s no reason to,” she said
loudly and looked up at the crowd of anxious foxes.
“Why not, she would‟ve done it to you!” one fox hissed.
Goldenlight pushed her way to the front, trying to see what was
going one.
“No, she does not deserve it. I‟ll let you go, Vixentail. But
understand whatever is in the past is in the past.”
“That will never be true!” she barked furiously, jumped up,
and bounded away calling to the rest of her group, and disappeared
in the misty forest. Earthtribe remained. Hifla walked over to
Goldenlight.
“Goldenlight, she told us that you were planning on invading
our fort,” Hifla said apologetically.
“Yes, I did think you wouldn‟t have done this on your own.
She is an evil fox, and I know the real reason why she wanted to take
over Firetribe.”
“Why?” the falka asked.
“It‟s a secret,” the two of them nodded, and they looked in
the direction where the crazed fox had fled. “There will be more.”