The Journey

Chapter 1

     Holly and Isabel raced to the bank, diving for the finish line. The grass blurred beneath them, and Holly allowed a glance at Isabel. She was concentrating as hard as she could, very determined to beat her. Holly allowed Isabel to win, and Izzy splashed water on her with her muzzle. They laughed and howled together as they laid down and watched the clouds, guessing what they were. "Don't let the kitty drown Holly!" Their sisters laughed and pointed at them. She watched as Annabel slipped into the water, shooting back up and hanging her head in embarrassment. "Same goes for you Laura." She smirked. They flicked their tails and strutted off the other way, Holly once again sitting with victory. Holly sniffed the air, and guessed it was going to rain soon. "We should probably get going soon, before it starts-" Holly was interrupted by the sound of a twig cracking, and Hawk bursted out, tackling her into the water. Holly giggled and cuffed his ear, completely forgetting about the rain. "Didn't expect that did ya? I'm getting better at hunting already!" He barked, standing on his hind legs. Holly got in the fighting position, giggling until Hawk went off running farther into the meadow. "Hawk, were not aloud to go any farther than the bank, moms rules." She said suddenly serious. "Rules smules. Your just afraid I will beat you, aren't you?" He smirked, challenging her to a duo. "Hey, I can beat you with a pup in my mouth." She growled. "That sounds like a bet." "Deal," she said. She took the giggling Isabel by the scruff, and took off running. Hawk howled and ran off the other way. Holly was so determined to beat him she didn't notice the rain starting to drizzle. She started panting through the fur, and the rain started pounding harder. Then Hawk came to a screeching halt, and Holly bounded up to him. "Ha, I win," she barked. Hawk showed beat in his eyes, and then he had an idea. "Wait, I will give you my rations for a week if you can jump over this gorge." Holly was so determined to beat him she didn't realize how much trouble she was getting into. "Deal," she barked through Isabel. She reared back, closed her eyes, and jumped, soaring through the sky, stretching out her legs. She looked down and fear shined in her eyes, and she landed an inch from the edge, flailing her paws but managing to climb up and recover her balance. "Wahoo! I won!" She looked at Hawk and knew he was going to give in, but all she saw was him frozen, gesturing with his tail slowly for her not to move. Holly's heart beated so loudly she was afraid it would burst out of her chest. Without thinking, she furiously twisted her head, and saw eyes peaking out. She had to get Isabel out and alive, even if it meant risking her life. She brought her head back, and flung her across the gorge. Before she could see her safely across, some big body weight crashed into hers and she was flung down the gorge. She flailed her paws, but she was stuck in 3 inches of mud, and she started slowly sliding down.
"Help! Help me Hawk!" She bared her head back and Hawk raced off the other way, howling for help. She felt so helpless, and knew Hawk wouldn't make it back in time. She looked down as the storm grew even harder, and saw water zooming down the hill. "I can't swim!" She whimpered. She looked back up and saw the same fox that got her into this mess hanging by a small branch. She got so angry at him, and if she was going to die, he was going to die with her! She took a big stone, and flung it at the branch. The branch broke in two, and the fox flew all the way down the mountain, and yowled all the way down. "Oh no!" She thought. "What have I done!" Holly was nearing towards the bottom, when something pushed her upwards. She looked down. It was that fox! "I'm sorry I probably killed you, but what are you doing?!" She barked through the storm. "If I'm gonna die, I don't need you dead too." He barked in a deep, impressing voice. He reared up, and pushes her again, and again and again, but she wasn't going anywhere. "Stop! Stop! We're not going anywhere, were just going down faster." Holly barked. She looked down at him, fear and sadness shining in his eyes. He pushed with all of his might to be right next to her. He looked her right in the eyes, and licked Holly on the muzzle. Holly stared back in surprise, and was going to say something but he purposely fell back hitting the water. Holly looked at him and saw him on a rock. He looked up, then brakes in panic. "Jump!" "But I can't swim!" "Just do it!" She looked at him, trusting him with all her might, even though she just met him. She peeled back from the mud, and fell 20 feet down, slamming into the water. She flailed her paws, barley keeping her head out of the dirty water. When she looked up, she saw a big boulder crashing down, right where she was. 'That's why he wanted me down!' She thought."Help!... Me!" She said through breaths. "Over here!" She heard that deep voice again, and flailed her paws in that direction, not knowing how to swim. She went under a few times, but managed to get up. Finally, she saw him and the rock, and floated towards them. She wrapped her arms around the rock, and he hauled her up. She collapsed on the rock, and spat out water. "We should be safe up here." He barked. Holly looked up at him and smiled, gathering herself up. "Thank you for saving me." She said in a shy voice. "No problem, your really small." He barked. (Complement in fox form)
Holly fluttered her eyes and turned around. She couldn't believe what she saw. Water 1000 times bigger rushed in, and she paced with panic. "What do we do?!" She barked panicky. "Just hold on to my-" his words were cut off as the water reached them first, and knocked them off the rock. Holly barley managed to get her head out of water to yell, "Over here!" Before she went under water again. She made her way up, but only to be slammed into a rock, and the whole world went black...