Paw Prints (Book One in the Trails Series) *BEING EDITED-NEW VERSION WILL BE LONGER*

~Chapter Nineteen~ The Lion and The Cheetah

You're not dying on my watch, Ainnya. I don't care how selfless you want to be. I'll die before  you do.

All those years ago, Tiquail had vowed that her best friend wouldn't die on her watch.

But now it was happening, right before her eyes, as the once muscled body bled out onto the grass, turning it from green to red.

The Trackers were starting to stir. When they lifted their heads, one after the other, Tiquail realized just how familiar they really looked.

Then she gasped.

Sparrow's family.

She still remembered each of them, watching them grow up and train, from Sparrow's father all the way down to Julia. They had all learned in front of her eyes, and she had been devastated when they had disappeared. Sparrow had been the last of them, and Tiquail had treasured the girl, seen her as something precious that shouldn't be lost.

But she was lost.

Each of the Chole's, with the exception of Sparrow and her mother, who was not present, were rubbing their heads and sitting up. Their eyes were no longer blank, but they were dull, sad, as if the past years had taken something out of the once sparkling personalities.

Sparrow's father looked at Tiquail, then at Ainnya, then at Tony, and finally he looked at his daughter.

He froze, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at her broken, bleeding body. He stared at the stabs and the cuts and the look of horror frozen in her dark purple-blue eyes.

Tiquail watched his chest rise and fall rapidly, as if he was flying into a panic.

Like their father, the four girls were also staring at Sparrow, varying looks of horror drawn on their faces.

Lyss turned her head toward Tiquail, her eyes filled with tears and her short red hair a frizzy mess. "Did we do this?" She whispered.

Tiquail looked away. "Not you...technically. It wasn't...your choice." She replied, choosing her words carefully.

Christine buried her face in her hands. "We killed them, oh my God we killed them. Why the hell did we do this?" She moaned.

"It's not your fault." Tiquail pointed out.

"Then who's was it!?" Kayla snapped, her face furious. "We're the ones that put swords and daggers through them, aren't we!?"

Tiquail shook her furry head. "The Trackers poisoned you." She explained patiently. "Then why aren't we still trying to kill you?" Julia asked.

Tiquail sighed. "Because of Sparrow. She saved you with her last dying breath."

"How?"
"I'll explain later, Julia. We need to leave, now. Maybe if we're quick enough we can save Ainnya."
"And what about Sparrow?"

Tiquail didn't answer. She padded slowly up to Sparrow's father and nudged him gently. He hadn't said a word this entire time, and she was starting to worry about the haunted, broken look in his eyes. "Get up, you need to help." She whispered in his ear. He looked up at her, and she flinched away, disturbed by his facial expression. He looked like a child, a child who had been through a traumatizing experience. One that was seeking guidance and reassurance.

She nodded encouragingly and he got to his feet, slowly but surely. He walked over to Sparrow and bent down to pick her up, but Tony yelled at him. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"

"Tony!" Tiquail hissed sternly. "Let him carry her, please!"

Tony stared at her for a moment, his green eyes furious, then nodded and got to his feet, allowing Sparrow's father to pick up his daughter. Tony watched carefully and stayed close to Sparrow's father as he walked away, along a path he had learned so well all those years ago that it stuck in his head.

His other four daughters got up as well and followed him down the hill. Tiquail was left alone with Ainnya's dying body. She took a deep breath and bowed down, lifting her friend's body over her shoulders and noting the way her joints cracked and popped as she did so. She may run and fight as furiously as she had years ago, but she was getting old. Her fur was turning grayer with each passing day and she was well aware that her days as a young cat were coming to an end, whether she liked it or not.

"Tiquail?" A voice whispered through the trees. Tiquail shot her head up so fast she heard her neck crack. She winced and peered into the trees, trying to see who had called her. She spotted a pair of gleaming green eyes in the bushes.

"Shikira?" She asked, squinting.

A lion walked out of the bushes, his mane and golden coat gleaming brilliantly as the sun hit it. She walked slowly up to Tiquail, his head lowered and his eyes raised. "What's happened?"

Tiquail shook her head. "I can't give you the full story now, Shikira. The Trackers poisoned Sparrow's family so they would kill Sparrow...and anyone who got in their way."

"Did they succeed?" Shikira lifted his head and tilted it. Tiquail looked over her shoulder where she could just make out the blood-stained coat of the leader of Trails and she swallowed hard.

"I'm afraid to say they did a very good job."

Shikira dipped his large head, his mane waving in the wind. "I'm sorry to hear that. Will Sparrow live, or did they really finish her off?"

Tiquail narrowed her eyes. "I don't know, Shikira. And I can't tell you until I get Assero to look at her and Ainnya."

Shikira shook his head sadly, though Tiquail noticed that he did not look her in the eye as he did so. "Extraordinary girl, she is. And Ainnya...I can't imagine her dead. Though I certainly believe you will be a worthy successor."

"Don't speak like that!" Tiquail hissed, her heart constricting with fear and worry.

Shikira dipped his head again. "As you wish, Tiquail. But it will happen one day."

With that, he turned and trotted away, his tail held low to the ground, though, Tiquail noticed through her fresh grief, it was rather stiff.

***

At the bottom of the hill, the father searched for a heartbeat, listened for a breath, watched for the flicker of an eye, but he was searching, and listening, and watching in vain. For Sparrow didn't move except by jolts as the father cried, torn by the loss of his youngest daughter, and the final betrayal of one of the people he loved most.

***

"Have we succeeded?" The man asked quietly. "I don't know yet, sir. The girl can do things we never imagined possible." A voice said from the dark.

The man smiled. "A good leader always has a plan B." He announced, a vicious gleam appearing in his eyes.

"Get Marielle for me. The time is drawing near for her to prove herself."
"And how do you know she will, sir?"

The man paused, twirling a knife between his fingers. Suddenly, he stabbed it into the desk, a new look in his eyes. One of insanity, desperation.

"Because, my dear spy, she doesn't have a choice."

***

A/N: Yup! I updated twice today! Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, seeing as the end kind of left you hanging. That's what makes this fun, isn't it?