The Rise And Fall Of White Death

The Red Winter

Bruno charged forward, running out of the clan with Mist and the pup, "MIST! I can't see a thing! WE CAN STILL MAKE IT!" He shouted.

The brave fox grabbed his mate's arm to help her as they ran through the frosted woods. The once calming and beautiful forest now looked bare and forbidding.

Mist struggled to stay on top of the snow. She was so cold, and she was going to have pups. She had to think of something. She slipped a little.

"Mist? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Bruno. Bruno, we have to get out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"The pup..."

Mist held up Fauna and pushed her into his paws.

"Bruno, go to Feather Bead, it's the only safe place for you."

"I will never leave you Mist!"

"You have to. It's for the pup."

"I... I... I can't..."

Mist looked into his eyes. She looked at him and calmly said, "Freedom clan says everything will be alright."

"B-but... "

Something whispered in his ear it's whiskers feeling like a cat's, almost as if an invisible cat leaned in close to his keen ear and said quietly, "Run."

Bruno nodded quickly and ran off towards Feather Bead.

Mist walked off, not knowing where to go. What's that?! Oh, just a bush... is that a wolf? No, just a tree. Mist was very jumpy. The arctic vixen walked around blindly. "Jill! JILL! Where is a otter when you need her?"

That was before Jill the healer walked right up behind her and said, "You called? Oh, I see." The otter picked her up and started walking to her den. The old healer shook under the weight of Mist and her pups, but kept walking, never stopping.

"-And in winter. Do foxes have any common sense? How long has your stomach be hurting? Just tell me when your stomach hurts again. Then I think it will be...ummm...5 minutes before you have your pups."

Mist was very surprised. "5 minutes?! Hurry to your den, Jill. I don't want to give birth out here-OUCH!" Her stomach was hurting again.

"OH!"

Jill broke into a run.

"Just hold still, I think we can make it.."

Her den was visible now. An old log lay over the river. It had a small front porch will an old rocking chair. On top of the rocking chair was a knitted pillow.

"Hurry Ripple!" Mist said.

The old otter tripped and threw Mist onto the den's front porch.

"Go inside! Lay on my bed and I'll get my herbs out."

* * *

Ten minutes later Mist was looking at her new pups.

"Welcome to the world." She said, stroking one of the pup's head. She smiled at her four new kits. "This oldest one will be called Fire."

"Did you mean Fire bruno Rainstorm?"

Mist looked up at Jill and asked, "Sorry?"

Jill Took him to the tub and said calmly, "Well... back in the day, we would "make names." You see, they, the mother and father, would pick a suitable name for the kit... for me, they picked Jill. Then, depending on the gender, they would pick the middle name, using the father's or the mother's. Like for your son, you'd use the father's name for the middle name. Fire Bruno. Then you add the last name, as you could have guessed. So Fire Bruno Rainstorm."