War - Battles of the Wild - The Darkened Moon

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: ALENA

"Hey, it's time to get up," I whispered to Luna, tapping her with my paw. 

She grumbled, her single green eye opening slowly. 

"It's morning, and the carts all loaded up again," I continued, looking away. 

Luna yawned, stretching and getting up.

Atlas and the others gave their thanks and said their goodbyes to the Earth Tribe animals while Luna and I kept watch of the cart.

When they were finally done, we set out again. 

The walk home was surprisingly uneventful compared to the walk in. I honestly expected some strange monster to jump out from around every sand dune, but luckily the desert was still. 

We even bought some sun gear for the trip back, and I had a light blue cloak of thin fabric that I'll admit matched very well with my brown fur.

Once we stopped for the night, Skysearcher tried to tell us about the constellations. 

"That one there is Eagle-eye, the archer," she said pointing up to a jumble of stars. "He was the inventer of the bow and arrow. It's useless in melee since you can't run with it, and so Power Clan doesn't really have them. I hear it's quite popular in more stealthy clans, though." 

Skysearcher went on, eyes fixed on the web of stars overhead, and I gradually fell asleep to her soothing, hushed voice. 

We all awoke early the next morning. I untangled myself from the sleep pile that we had formed in the cold dead of night and stretched. 

After a quick breakfast of salty meat and stale water, we continued on our way. 

The day was just as uneventful as the last, and soon enough grass broke through the cracked earth, making way for sparse trees and eventually a vibrant forest. 

Home. 

I ran ahead through the trees, inhaling the familiar scents. The others shared my excitement, galloping after me toward the camp we all knew so well.

We got back just in time to see a huge crowd gathered, whispering in hushed voices outside of Griffara's den. 

I walked toward the nearest animals, Maya and Tigerjaw, who seemed to be in conversation. 

"Who?" asked Maya, not yet noticing my approach.

"That kit, Ash," replied Tigerjaw with a grimace.

"What's going on?" I barked, heart skipping a beat. "What about Ash?"

If something happened to that little brat...

"Apparently, he's been gallivanting around with some giant monster." Tigerjaw swung his head toward me, his signature scowl firmly in place. "Dunno how that hairball is still kicking."

I pushed past him, through the sea of fur as I walked purposefully toward Griffara's den.

"What is it?" asked Luna, following behind me. "What's happening?"

"I need to talk to Ash."

I broke through the other side of the crowd and, with a hard glare at the two Warriors guarding the entrance, walked into Griffara's den. 

"You could've endangered the clan." I heard Griffara say. "Why didn't you come to me when you saw the monster?" 

Griffara paced the room. Ash sat before her, looking down at his paws. 

"I didn't think it was dangerous..." muttered Ash. 

"You knew it was capable of violence though," said Griffara. She took a breath, easing her temper. "The bones. They were stacked. Was that you?"

Ash was silent for a long moment. "...Yes."

"So you know it eats large animals." 

"Well, yeah, but not anyone from Power Clan."

"Are you aware that Quickstrike and Lightningflame are injured because of it?"

"Huh?" Ash finally looked up, mouth open in shock. He looked back down quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't want- I didn't know-"

Griffara sighed, shaking her head. Glancing up, she finally noticed my and Luna's arrival. 

"What are you two doing in here?" 

"I had to check on Ash."

Griffara sighed again. I felt kind of bad, but only for a second. Ash, as annoying as he is... I couldn't let anything happen to him. 

"I had to make sure he's okay."

Ash gave me a smug smile, and if I wasn't so worried about him I'd walk over there and slap it off. Okay, well, I probably wouldn't do that, but ferkum can that kit be annoying.

"Well, Ash is fine, at least. But we do have two injured."

"Yeah, Quickstrike and Lightningflame. I heard." 

"Let me handle Ash, alright? You two should go rest after your trip."

Reluctantly, I left the den. I wasn't about to argue with Griffara, especially after barging into her den in the first place. 

I found a shady spot at the edge of the crowd and waited anxiously. Luna flopped down beside me. 

"So you really do care about that bratty kit, huh?" 

I turned and gave her a look. 

"Okay, okay, forget I asked," she laughed. 

I was about to turn away, but my eyes lingered on her bandaged face. 

"How's your wound, anyway?"

"Oh," she touched a paw to her face. "It's... alright. I guess." 

I looked at my own paws. "I still feel bad about not being there."

"Hey, it's okay-"

"And I still feel bad about thinking you were a traitor."

"I thought we already went over this?"

"But you were injured because of me, and then you were stressed out because of me, even though you were hurt because of my failure I still had to go and-" 

"Hey, stop," Luna said, forcing me to look at her. She dropped her paw from my face and sighed. "We were all stressed out. Your stress just... made you paranoid. It was shitty, yeah, and it hurt, but you weren't in the right state of mind. But me being injured was not your fault in any way. And don't ever think different." 

I looked at my paws. I felt tears gather at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away. 

"Yeah, ok," I said. I don't think I'd forgive myself anytime soon but if she forgave me... then maybe I could, too.  "...Thanks."