Colours in Shadows: Book 1 Flooding and Fury

Chapter 22

The trees swayed gently and chirped with birdsong. Sapphire leapt up onto a rock, a short distance away from the cave where Tide and Branch were. She could see the entrance from where she sat. The sun shone through the trees and she, momentarily, closed her eyes to bask in the warm sunlight. She looked around as her fire pelt flickered in the breeze. She wanted to go, knowing there was still a long trip ahead. She was sure of it. Her main concern was just to make sure that Tide got well again.
She wasn't even sure that she was well herself. She had this feeling that she had never felt before. Every time she was around the group, it was like her heart would slow down and thumped against her diaphragm. Almost as if she just didn't have enough room inside of her. 'Is something wrong with me?' She always dismissed it because she was running a lot but now, she knew that wasn't it.
Sapphire was pulled from her thoughts as Branch walked past her. She saw him wander over to a tree where she noticed a pile of leaves. He picked them up and was just about to head into the forest.
"Hey, Branch!" she called, as she hopped down from the rock.
"Hmm?" he replied, turning to face her.
"How is he?" she asked, nervously.
Branch carefully placed the leaves down as if they were made of glass. "Tide's alright. He is just resting now. We should be ready to leave by the afternoon." He bent down again to retrieve the leaves he had set down and turned to leave. He was carrying quite the bunch of leaves and it looked as though he was struggling to carry all of them.
"Do you need any help?" she asked, "You look like you're having a hard time." Sapphire rose to her feet and walked over to him. "I can help you bring them into the cave..."
"No, no. It's okay. I am fine." he moved before she had the chance to grab a leaf. "They're actually not meant for the cave. I'm taking them into the forest... I have to do something."
"Oh. Can I come?" She was feeling quite bored and she didn't mind following him.
"Uh... sorry. No. This is very important. Gotta go. See you later, Sapphire!" Before she could even respond, he had disappeared into the forest. She was now alone, once again.
"Where is he going? And what could be so important?" she looked around, wondering what to do. There was still so much time to kill before the afternoon. Her claws extended and retracted as she looked around. She turned her head and saw a small squirrel. She assumed it was a baby and it stared at her as it nibbled on an acorn.
"Hello there, little guy." she said, calmly as she padded over. Maybe she could communicate with animals the way that Branch does. Maybe she could get along with them. Suddenly, a bigger squirrel ran up to the baby, hugging it and shaking its fist at her. It began making a clicking noise and chittered at her. She assumed it was talking to her but she couldn't understand a thing. She could tell by the look on its face that it was angry. The squirrel grabbed the baby by the scruff of the neck and dashed off. The baby ended up dropping the nut. Sapphire ran over and picked up the nut in her paw. "Hey! You forgot this!" she lifted her paw in the air but she realized that they were now long gone. She sighed and looked in her palm where the tiny nut was. "Why are they angry at me? I wasn't going to hurt them." she said to herself, sadly. She looked up to the place where the squirrels went and looked back at her paw. She noticed the nut began to smoke. She threw it onto the ground, it stopped smoking. She sat down and flattened her ears.
Sapphire walked along past a cave. She turned her head to look inside. It was quite dark, only the light of the entrance seeping in. At the very back of the cave, she saw the sun gently shining on the back wall. She saw a ball of blue fur. She smiled knowing that it was Tide. She knew that he was almost better and that they would be heading on their journey this afternoon. She was glad he was a part of this group because without him, 'we wouldn't have a leader... well, half of one.'