Silvershore

Chapter Four

It had been two weeks since Daruk left The Pack of the Earth. Kaia seemed to be just fine, as she was too young to understand what was happening, and had already gotten to the point where she didn't have clear memories of her mother. Nyla's obliviousness, however, was confusing her more than it was letting her live in peace.

She had more memories of her mother than Kaia did, and was extremely confused when she had simply disappeared one day. Her sister didn't seem to mind, but it had been getting to Nyla ever since it happened. Everyone seemed to assume that the two of them were too young to be affected by any of this, especially since their father was still around, but no one would give Nyla a clear explanation of what happened to Kiara and why she was never around anymore.

She was confused about Daruk, too. Kiara and Daruk had been good friends, so he was around Nyla and Kaia often. It was almost like he was a second father. She wondered why neither of them were around anymore. Nyla was still too young to think too deeply about this, but it was troubling, to say the least.

Everything seemed to have calmed down since Daruk left. There had been no sign of The Pack of the Fire, and it was safe to leave the Main Territory.

"Hey, Nyla, there's almost no one in the Main Territory!" Kaia squealed. "We got this whole place to ourselves."

Nyla snapped back to reality after zoning out, noticing the world around her. The summer season radiated rainbow immortal hues, bathed in floral aroma, soaked in pure sun-rays. It heightened every hue, bringing the watercolor spring to fresh a pop-art vibe. In the honeyed light of evening, the grass appeared to have blossomed with flowers of pure sunlight.

"Looks like we do!" Nyla barked. "What do you wanna do?"

"Hmm...hey, we can go explore the East Forests! I don't think we've been there since we were really little..." Kaia pointed her muzzle towards the East Forests.

"Maybe we should! But...what if someone catches us?"

"Who cares if someone catches us?" Kaia grinned. "We'll get to go exploring!"

"Well, if you say so..." Nyla flattened her ears. "You know what...it is worth it! I wanna explore, too!"

"That's the spirit! Let's go!"

The two month-old pups waited until there was no one in sight, and then descended into the East Forests by themselves.

The light streaked through the trees in both brilliant and shadowy beams. In the summertime they were whitish-gold, illuminating the greens into virescent riots; yet the gift of those warm days has passed for the season. The forest was an orchestra of the mind, playing one enchanting symphony after another. The leaves danced to an unheard beat, whispering their songs to the wind. In these lovely forests, sheltered by the mighty trees, was every kind of life, from the humble beetle to enchanting birds of every color. Nyla pointed her muzzle to the sky to feel the cascading light, a brilliant white shaft illuminating the path that would take those youthful and pure pups deeper into the woods.

The woodland floor was a million hues of brown, more than Nyla's eyes could detect, yet they were there. The differences were magnified by the moisture, variation on variation, mingled in are some stones, adding their greys to the mosaic beneath her feet. The trees were khaki over the bark, kissed with moss; on their shaded sides grows lichen as if thrown there like powdered paint, so softly green as to be close to white.

They ventured deeper into the forest. They had been walking for almost an hour, now, but it felt like minutes, as the sisters were completely in awe over all the sights they were seeing.

Nyla noticed a crow that had hopped over a thin log, as if too lazy to spread its onyx-colored wings. She admired the crow's black beak, the way it drooped downward to a point. She imagined the pointed end to be like like a muzzle and the beady eyes to be conjuring some sort of spell. She giggled at her own imagination and began to wander after the bird, completely oblivious to the situation she was about to put herself in by doing so.