Feather watched Squirrel scamper across the bright summer grass, and closed her eyes, sniffing the air.
Oh, wow, I missed this... She thought, nostalgia clogging her senses.
Feather saw Hanna out of the corner of her eye, who gasped and rushed over to her.
"Feather? Is that you? Oh, my Stars, how you've grown! How old are you now?" Hanna asked, pushing her glasses up her snout.
Feather hugged Hanna tightly with both paws and wings. "I missed you so much, Hanna... I'm eight now!"
Eight for Jickeys was roughly around sixteen for other creatures.
Hanna's brown eyes widened. "Only two more years till you're of age? Moons, time flies, doesn't it?"
Feather nodded, her face refusing to stop smiling.
Squirrel tugged on her tail. "Hey, Feather! I bet you couldn't run faster than me!"
Feather rolled her odd-looking eyes, hugging Hanna once more. "Cheer for me?"
Hanna laughed and she trotted back to her small group of pups in the Sun, all so still Feather thought they were asleep.
Their chests rose and fell warily, and Feather felt an arrow of pain pierce her heart, metaphorically of course.
Yes, there weren't many pups in Hanna's group before this new surge of power the Coyotes had, but there were only three pups now. The rest either died or had never been born.
Feather had to force herself to look away, she couldn't stand to see the Village suffer like this, her friends, family, peers, and neighbors suffer like this.
Please let the Coyote's reign end soon, Feather begged the Sky. Feather did her best to block everything out and scampered towards the big pine tree just beyond the Nursery burrow.
"Betcha can't catch me!" She called to her younger sister, who was scampering slowly after her.
"Betcha I can," Squirrel retorted, her brown eyes gleaming with dwindling spirit. She stumbled over her paws a couple of times and shook her head, clearly trying to unscramble her brains. That definitely worried Feather.
Squirrel ran faster, and Feather leaped into the pine tree. Squirrel tried to follow her, but she was too short.
Feather propelled herself higher into the branches, careful to not damage her fragile feathered wings.
Squirrel's voice muffled through the treetop. "Feather! That's not fair, I can't fly as well as you! Wait a second, I CAN'T FLY AT ALL! FEATHER!"
Feather blew a raspberry, her tail wagging absentmindedly. She turned around, giggling to herself when she spotted a silhouette and a pair of dull yellow eyes, just inches from her own.
The eyes blinked and a hot breath exited from the Creatures' nose.
Feather immediately panicked, thinking the Coyotes had found her, and flinched onto a thin branch. The branch cracked, and before you could say "Oh, my Stars" she was plummeting, her voice rising and falling.
She flailed for a moment before her wings managed to fly open, soothing the fall for a split second before they were torn by the branches.
Suddenly, she slammed to a stop about ten feet above the ground. Her haunches somehow managed to grab hold of a relatively thick branch. Her grip tightened on the branch, sweating.
Her wings were stinging with pain, but Feather just had to ignore that and get down. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna-
A jolt of pain rushed over her and she yelped, slipping right off the branch. She screamed again, getting whacked with a couple of branches before hitting the ground with a horrible crack.
YOU ARE READING
Saviors of the Forest
Fantasía"Five wolves with wings at the edge of the wood, they are the ones to bring forth the greater good. The Inventor's coat is gray, like a dying ember. The Crafter's coat is white as December! The Magical's coat was the color of luck, while the Healer'...
