Saviors of the Forest

Chapter 7: A Strange Encounter

Feather slept roughly, Coyotes with echoing laughter and pools of blood showing up in her dreams.

Sometime, that Feather thought was around one in the morning, something jabbed her shoulder and she bolted awake with a slight wince.

The blue abstract of the Waterfall illuminated Cave Abella in a swirling blue glow. Feather turned towards her friends in a panic, only to see Sage sitting up beside her, snickering under her breath.

"What'd you wake me up for?" Feather asked in a huffy whisper.

Sage shrugged. "You looked like you were having a nightmare. Figured it was better to wake you than letting you keep having it."

Her face broke out into the widest smile Feather had ever seen, a smile she knew very well.

"Isn't that..." Sage began, trying to cease her giggling. "Neat?"

Feather's cheeks turned a rosy pink-ish purple and she put her head in her paws, groaning in shame. "I can't believe I said neat! What kind of dweeb says NEAT?!"

Sage took a breath, squashing her giggles. "C'mon, it's not that bad. Don't you remember when Marigold confessed her everflowing love for me?"

Feather lifted her head to look at Sage. If she recalled...

"Didn't you thank her?" Feather asked.

Sage put her head in her paws just as Feather had. "I thanked her."

Feather erupted in quiet giggles. Sage looked at her with half-hearted snickers.

"Whatever happened to Marigold anyways? You never told me," Feather asked.

Sage bit her tongue and stared at the ceiling, a great wave of sadness crashing over her.

It wasn't a new wave, she had been drowning in it for quite some time. Though, every time she thought about it, another layer crashed in. More water to swim through, and maybe she could, if she wasn't chained to the bottom.

"Her Momma hated that her daughter wanted to be my Mate, so she moved her to a different part of the Village. I couldn't find her, I tried. I tried so hard. I've never seen her since. I wonder what became of her," Sage sighed.

She had an idea, but didn't want to believe it.

She remembered Marigold's curled, golden-yellow fur, her sweet green eyes, the way she so happily carried herself even amid a crisis. She always smelled like green apples. And, oh, her smile, the way her laugh lit up rooms! She remembered, she remembered vividly.

And then when the World came crashing down on them.

It was inevitable, Sage had known, but she wanted to believe that she and her Goldie would've been happy forever.

"I miss her, Feather," Sage said quietly, her voice cracking, just slightly. "I really, really miss her."

Feather took Sage's paws between her own, seeing so much loneliness and regret in her normally cheery eyes.

"Sage... I... I'm so sorry... I... You deserve better, y'know. You deserve so, so much better."

Feather wrapped both her paws and wings around her friend, holding her in a tight embrace.

"He-heroes aren't s-s-supposed to- to cry," Sage sputtered helplessly, choking out a laugh, trying desperately to get enough air to her lungs.

"I won't look," Feather whispered in Sage's ear, her voice breaking. She closed her eyes and stroked Sage's head as her small sobs tore through the crisp, silent Summer Night.