Tunnels of Trickery - book 1 (Endless cave)

Chapter 3

Deep in a forest, there was a frozen lake. Two dogs, with their fur being the shade of gray rocks, slide on the ice. The bigger one was running toward the other, he was laughing excitedly as he approached her. She snapped at him playfully as she slid away.

The male dog started to chase her, his howl reaching the sky as he slid closer. The other dog slid faster so that he wouldn't catch up to her. The smaller dog turned around and laughed at the bigger dog. He stopped and attempted to sit down.

A cracking sound on the ice caught his attention. He looked at his sister, who was still laughing. The cracking sound was coming from beneath her. His mind whirled with terror.

"Luna..." he mumbled to his sister. She didn't hear him! She stood up, "Come and get me, Bumble!" she barked excitedly. She tapped her paws on the ice, "C'mon!" she barked.

A cracking sound emerged from beneath Luna. the ice split, taking his sister with it. He dived in, ignoring the ice cold water. The water coming from his eyes wasn't from the lake. It was tears. He couldn't lose his sister!

The muffled scream of his sister rang in his head as he floated up to the surface, "BUMBLE!" she screamed. He could see his sister's body going deeper and deeper by the second.

He scrambled out of the water, coughing up nasty lake water. Why did his sister have to die now? He wondered.

Moss woke up with a jolt, what was that dream!? She wondered. Who were those dogs? She asked herself. She shook the exhaustion out of her, looking around the cave, it looked like she was the last one up.

She got up, exhaustion wore her down like a stone. The dream was still freshly replaying in her mind. She told herself to go out into the tunnels where her friends were. As she crept out of the den, she attempted to think about something other than the dream.

It's probably just a nightmare. Moss thought, shrugging. It wasn't that big of a deal. Why was she overthinking everything? She wanted to be careless about it, but as much as she wanted to, the dream stuck to her like glue.

Heather spotted her from beside a den. Heather was chatting with Moth and Laika excitedly. Heather grinned as she saw Moss outside of the den.

"Hey Moss!" she called, "Over here!" she begged. Moss obeyed, walking towards the group of talking dogs. Moth had a curious expression on her face.

Heather smiled even more, "We were telling her about what it's like to be, er, loners like us!" Moss was a bit surprised, We've never been referred to as loners before. She noticed. Were they just loners compared to the pack of dogs living in these tunnels?

"She was telling me about how you guys hunted!" Moth smiled, "you only have two dogs going on hunting trips." she noticed, "We usually have three to four." she told them.

Moss was even more curious now, "You guys have more dogs to feed, we only have a couple" she told her, "what's life like here in the tunnels?" she asked. Moth smiled gracefully.

"Well, to begin, it's awesome." Moth began, "we have a ruler, SixTails, my father, who tells everyone what to do!" She said, "He organizes everything and keeps everything in order!"

Laika spoke, "I'd hate having to obey a ruler every second."

Moth stretched, "meh, It's not that bad, it keeps everyone in place." she told her, "I personally love it here." she got up and started to walk away, "see ya, I'm going to get some air" Moss got up, stretching as well.

Heather looked at them, "so, now what?" she asked.

Sunlight poured into her eyes as Laika and Heather were starting to wake up. She stretched. The rock to block them from coming out was removed. She slid out of the den, Heather at her tail.

"Isn't this place great?" Heather boasted. Moss heard Sparrow grumble.

"It's something." Laika said calmly. Shadow walked up, clearly exhausted.

"I think that i'd sleep better in the old den" he muttered. Moss stiffened.

"Hey! Don't be so negative!" Heather teased playfully. Laika rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna ask Sixtails if we can hunt." Moss told the others. She walked away from the group. Sixtails was at the entrance to his den, talking to Wings, they were talking in hushed voices. Moss could make out a couple of words before Sixtails spotted her.

"Well hello, Moss" Sixtails greeted her. "Do you have a question, or anything?" He asked.

"Can I go hunting?" She said nervously, shifting her paws.

"Yes, go get Moth, she will help you" Sixtails nodded. "She is at the den over there" he pointed with his paw to a room with Moth and a couple other dogs in it. It had a couple of tiny rocks on the outside, nothing to block their view from the hallway of the tunnels. Moss walked over and slid into the room, nudging Moth. She awoke with a yawn.

"What's this about?" Dark-eye called from her nest near the back of the mossy room. Moth stumbled out of her nest and asked "what's the matter, Does Sixtails need me?" She tilted her head. Moss shock her head. "He told me to go hunting with you." She answered. Moth's eyes lit up with excitement.

" I'd love to!" Moth jumped out of her nest and out of the room. Moss followed. She must know the good hunting spots. She thought hopefully. She does live here after all. She picked up the pace, passing Sixtails who was talking to Wings. She heard the words "Find" and "They" but that was all she heard before getting close to the exit. Moth trotted out.

"Where should we start?" Moss asked.

"There's a hollow where a bunch of mice live," she said. "We could start there"

"Let's do that," Moss nodded. She followed as Moth walked up a hill, from the view she could see the hollow.

"C'mon!" She teased playfully "we are wasting time!" Moss ran after her.

"Coming!" The hill was big, it took a minute or two to run down. The hollow was wide and she could smell mice and squirrels everywhere. She headed into the hollow and immediately smelt a mouse, she crouched and crept closer she was a tail length away, she lunged at it and it squeaked loudly. She dropped it and shoved it into a bush as she crept up on a bird. She pounced and got the bird, nipped the throat and got the mouse.

Moth came up to her with a squirrel and a bird.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

"Yup!" Moss answered, exiting the hollow and climbing up the hill. She could see the tunnels from the top of the hill, and Frigid guarding it. She trotted down the hill, Moth at her side. They walked toward the tunnels and walked inside.

"You can take the prey you caught," Moth told her. "For you and your friends"

"Thank you" Moss thanked her and walked into the den. Heather was in her nest, talking to Laika. Shadow wasn't in the den.

"Where's Shadow?" She asked. Heather looked at her. "Oh! He decided to go and get a drink of water." she answered. Moss looked at her and sighed in relief. She dropped the mouse at her paws. "Share?" Moss asked. Heather looked thankful.

"I would love to!" She split the mouse in half and they shared it, and gave the bird to Laika and Shadow to share. Shadow came in at the moment,

water on his mouth. He sat down.

"You share the one Laika has," Heather told him. He nodded.

"Thanks" he said, the food in his mouth. Moss nodded.