The Saviors spent the entire day trying to form a plan. Feather pressed a paw to her head, trying to unscramble her brains.
"This seriously isn't working, you guys. I think we should stop for the day. Get some rest," she said, noticing Thorn yawning.
"Okay," Moss said, curling up on the ground.
His anxiety had been through the roof all day, constantly waiting for a Coyote attack. He honestly wished they would already, his stomach refused to stop churning, and it was making him incredibly nauseous.
He couldn't force himself to his paws, his headache was getting worse and worse.
The others walked into a different hut, one without a massive hole in it, they had decided that would be where they would sleep.
Feather noticed Moss hadn't moved.
"You okay?" she asked, sitting next to Moss.
She laid a paw on his shoulder and he batted it away. He hated being touched when he felt nauseous, it always made the feeling worse.
"I'll be okay," he whispered. "I think I just need to stand still and breathe for a little while. You go on in, alright?"
Feather hesitated, remembering what Equity had said.
"I think I'll stay out with you, is that alright?"
Moss nodded.
"That'd be nice, actually."
Feather smiled, closing her eyes, the two Jickeys sitting in a comfortable silence.
The Stars sparkled overhead, the Moons illuminating the cliffside with their eerie yet comforting glow. The Moonlight reflected off the fog, making it look ghostly.
Feather was right, she could see much better in the dark then she ever had. Her thoughts wandered, they wandered from the incoming doom of the Coyotes to the Hidden Warriors to all the way back to the Village.
She wondered how far away she was now, and how long they'd been gone, time had become a blur, she wondered if anyone back Home missed her.
Probably not, she thought with a silent, mournful chuckle.
Feather looked up at the Night Sky, the bright Second Moon, also called Mirth, in its satiny waxing gibbous phase. It was almost as if it dripped its essence across the land.
Feather sniffed the air, catching the familiar distant whiff of salt that she didn't recognize. Even out this far, she still had a small part of Home with her. Not the best part of it, I'll admit, but a part nonetheless!
She wished Sage were with her. She tried to bring her spirit to the Mountain, imagining Sage's smell of apple cider and her baby blue eyes, her bracelet scar, her ghostly fur. The only difference was now she truly was a ghost.
She laughed, the sound a bitter, dry gnarl.
"Do you remember when we were happy, altogether?" Feather quietly asked the Sky, as to not wake Moss.
"I do. I'm sure you do too. With Birch and Rosie and Cardinal and Lichen. What a group we were. Now half of us are past the point of no return. We're split, shattered, broken. It feels awful, it feels empty. It's felt empty for some time now. I miss you, Sage."
Feather looked thoughtfully at the Stars.
Somehow, she felt that Sage had heard her heartbreak, and was making the Stars shine a little brighter for her. Sage always did love the Stars, almost as much as she loved birds.
Feather took the large binder out of Sage's satchel and flipped through the pages of feathers, all labeled in her wonky handwriting.
Feather breathed in the scent. It made her heart break, knowing that Sage would never write in this book again.
YOU ARE READING
Saviors of the Forest
Fantasy"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'...
