Legacy: Timeless (Book 2)

Chapter 5: Move Along

Chapter 5: Move Along

It was morning by the time Scorch woke up, aching and thirsty. The den was dim with just faint golden light filtering through the spiky roofed den. What happened? Scorch wondered as she sat up groggily, yawning before snapping out of it as she remembered the encounter with the fox last night.

I must have fallen asleep on the way back. Looking around, the three other cats were in their nests sleeping restfully. Scorch glanced at her wounds, the bite marks weren't bleeding, but they were stinging in the open air. Hmm...

Scorch recalled the lesson on herbs that her mother had given her the day before she'd been swept away. She froze for a moment, thinking about her parents so far away and she felt the chill of fear, a different fear then from yesterday's flee from the fox, but fear nonetheless.

No, I'll get home. I will! Then she slowly got to her paws and hobbled to the corners of the den, grabbing the cobwebs she'd spotted in the untouched corners. She carefully bound her wounds with them, and wondered if there was any marigold growing nearby. The yellow flower's juices were supposed to be good for wounds in the fight against infection.

I'll ask the others when they wake up, she decided then left the den, desperate to get something to drink for her dry mouth. She walked carefully since the bites on her ribs, although dull in pain, still ached with every breath and step.

How long is it going to hurt? Scorch decided to focus on other sensations instead of the pain. The warm sand beneath her paws the fresh breeze on her face, and the early sunlight that shone warm and golden on her fur. She attempted to stretch appreciatively in the sunlight, but the screeching protest of her wounds stopped that abruptly.

She paused beside the little pool of water in the sand, much like the pool back at her home that filled with rainwater. She looked at her reflection with the backdrop of the pale blue sky. Her orange and red fur was ruffled and sticking out strangely and her black markings sank into the depths of the pool. Her dark eyes hardly able to be seen as green in the pool.

She bent her head and lapped at the water, relishing the cool liquid in her throat. She lifted her head, water drops dripping from her whiskers as she looked around the early morning landscape. Sea-gulls were flying in the air and she spotted scuttling crabs and a passing jackrabbit.

She returned to the den and sat down in her nest, sighing in relief as the ache in her muscles relaxed. "Scorch, are you okay?" she looked to see Mira blinking at her sleepily from where she slept beside Jump.

"Yes, I'm fine," Scorch mewed in a small voice, nervous about what they'd say about her almost being eaten by a fox.

"That's good," Mira sighed in relief, getting up and padding softly over to her. "Painted said that you were almost eaten, but you didn't seem to badly injured," Mira nosed her with her soft gray nose and Scorch giggled at the ticklish touch.

"I'm okay, but how about Painted?" Scorch asked, looking worriedly at the cat that had rescued her now twice.

"She's fine, don't worry," Mira laughed softly, amber eyes twinkling. "Painted said the fox was young and inexperienced, she didn't even get hit once," Mira mewed as she lay down beside her. "When did your wounds get bandaged?" Mira asked curiously.

"I did it this morning, my mother had taught me about how to treat some injuries," Scorch mewed proudly.

Mira laughed softly, obviously trying not to wake the other two sleeping cats. "Your mother sounds like a pretty smart cat, what was her name again?"

"Her name is Rainstone," Scorch mewed, she'd given the names of her parents to the three cats before so they could ask any rouges passing through if they knew her parents.