Clawed (Book Two of the Trails Series) {ON HOLD}

~Chapter One~ Starting Over

"Get her into the sickroom." Tiquail ordered Tony, bending down and allowing him to scoop Sparrow's limp form off of her back.

Tony nodded and picked Sparrow up. Tiquail saw his hands shaking.

"Tony?" She whispered as he turned to walk away.

Tony looked at her, tears in his green eyes. "What?"

"She's going to be okay."

Tony nodded and walked into the sickroom.

The snow leopard turned to Marielle, who was sitting on the ground, her knees hugged to her chest. She looked like a child.

"What are you going to do?" Marielle asked, her voice muffled since she was practically speaking to her knees.

Tiquail sighed. "That's not for me to decide, Marielle. It's up to Ainnya...speaking of which...where is she?"

Marielle looked up. "You don't know where she is?" She whispered, sounding terrified. Tiquail tilted her head, confused. "I'm sure she's fine-"

"No, Tiquail, she's not fine." Marielle snapped, jumping to her feet and running down the white spiral staircase. Tiquail followed her, wincing slightly.

One thing the old snow leopard hated was her old age. Her muzzle was tinged with grey fur. (Much more grey than it was supposed to be, actually.) Her joints ached whenever she took a step, especially after walking all that way with a girl on her back.

Marielle hadn't waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. Tiquail took a deep breath and started to run, trying to ignore the pain in her freshly clawed flesh and old joints.

She finally caught up to Marielle at the top of a hill. The women was looking down, a horrified expression on her face. Tiquail peered over the edge of the hill and gasped.

Ainnya was laying there, a pool of blood gathering around her head. Tiquail felt like someone had broken her heart.

The snow leopard practically catapulted herself off the ground, landing halfway down the hill. She took a moment to regain her balance and continued to run, reaching the bottom panting.

Ainnya looked even worse up close. Scratch marks covered her head and flank, still bleeding. "AINNYA!" Tiquail roared, poking the cheetah with one of her claws.

Ainnya didn't move. Fury built in Tiquail's chest. She knew Shikira had done it. The dirty liar wanted to take down the entire community by cutting off their leader.

"Ainnya, you're stronger than that." Tiquail whispered, nosing her friend gently. She heard a set of footsteps approach her from behind. "Do you want help getting her on your back?" Marielle asked quietly. Tiquail glanced over her broad shoulder and nodded.

Marielle bent down and slipped her hands underneath the cheetah. Tiquail bent down so she could be lifted onto her back.

After a moment, Tiquail was trekking back up the hill with a bleeding cheetah on her back, panting heavily. Marielle was walking next to her, a sad look in her eyes. "It's going to be alright, Tiquail." She reassured. Tiquail nodded, but she didn't feel remotely better. Despite what she had said, she knew that Ainnya was aging, just like herself.

Sometimes there was no healing.

***

Sparrow sat bolt upright, screaming. A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and tried to restrain her. A voice was yelling her name. Sparrow screamed louder. "THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ME!"

"Sparrow!" The voice yelled again. "PLEASE, NO!" Sparrow's voice broke, she was screaming so loud.

"SPARROW, IT'S TONY!" The voice had raised so it could be heard. Sparrow stopped screaming, breathing heavily, and looked over her shoulder. Tony's green eyes stared back at her, duller than she had ever seen them.

Sparrow dropped her head back onto the fluffy white pillow she had been laying on. Tony moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" Tony asked quietly. Sparrow turned her head and stared at him sadly. She wasn't sure why she was still alive.

"Why am I here?" Sparrow whispered, her voice shaking. "Why am I here and not dead? Or am I dead and this is just some type of simulation that's been placed for me? Am I actually-what the hell is happening?" She let out a sob. Tony patter her leg gently. A tear was threatening to spill over. He wiped it away quickly.

"You're alive." He said gently, grabbing her hand and squeezing it in a reassuring way. Sparrow blinked at him. She looked down at her shirt, which was stained with her own blood.

"HOW!?" She yelled. Tony jumped back and tumbled off the side of the bed. In any other situation, Sparrow would have laughed, but now she was just confused and frustrated.

It's hard to laugh when you're confused and frustrated.

"That's what the rest of us would like to know." Tony replied from his position on the floor. He hopped awkwardly to his feet. "That's not exactly helpful, Tony." Sparrow grumbled. "I'm really not in the mood for sarcastic answers."

Tony laughed. "Look who's talking, Stripes." He gave her a gentle pat on the back.

Sparrow opened her mouth to give a snappy reply, but she was interrupted by the sound of elephants stampeding the building.

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Someone screamed from outside.

That's when Sparrow realized that it wasn't elephants, it was her best friends. Tony grinned and Sparrow and walked over to the door. "Don't you dare." Sparrow growled at him. She really wasn't in the mood to be violently attacked by her slightly terrifying friends.

Tony laughed evilly. "They'll make you feel better, I promise." He assured her. "TONY, NO!" Sparrow yelled.

Too late.

Marley, Miki, and Dot tumbled into the room. They all looked around like hungry animals, spotted Sparrow, and stampeded toward her. Marley landed right on top of her, screaming into her ear. "I THOUGHT YOU DIED AGAIN YOU FREAKING IDIOT!"

Dot slapped Sparrow's arm. "YOU. STUPID. LITTLE. BUTTHEAD." She punctuated each word with a slap. Miki was whacking Sparrow's head and scolding her as well.

"YO!" Sparrow yelled. "HANDS OFF THE MERCHANDISE!"

Marley sat up and grinned, a wild glint in her eyes.

"That's the Sparrow we know."