Wild

Chapter 2

The storm got worse as the slowly exited the farm. The soon we're lowering their heads and using all their might to press against the dusty wind. Their paws and hooves made marks in the ground and soon they relied on scent only to get where they were or who was around them. Finally, Toby stopped, his head still bowed.

"Everyone stop!" Toby barked.

The others stopped and flicked their ears, but Ivy bounded ahead to what Toby had seen, and soon the others followed. They had found the barn's disused stable that had been hidden almost completely by forest. They had found the narrow passage that had led to the stable. They padded inside and settled down, their eyes still squinted as the dust was able to seep inside through the front and two windows on the sides. It was cramped and small because the other part of the stable ad been blocked off by human objects, so they were huddled next to each other in the back.

"I don't wanna die ..." Taurus mumbled.
"You won't die, darling." Willow said, grooming the calf as if it were her own foal.

Everyone kept silent after that and slowly, one by one, fell asleep.

By the time it was morning the storm had resided, but there was a layer of dust that hung low to the ground. Ivy was the first to wake and she padded outside, staring at the pink sky. Toby padded outside as well.

"They are defiantly going to be asleep for a while." Toby mumbled, limping forward.
"What happened to your leg?" Ivy asked.
"Ah it acts up sometimes. I'll be fine soon." He said, sitting down beside the cat.

He stared at the sky as well. Suddenly, Ivy's stomach growled.

"Ah I'll go get some food. Do you want anything in particular?" Ivy said.
"Uh ... I normally eat a bit of kibble ... the last bits." Toby said.
"You've never eaten more than the scraps?"
"Not since I was a pup ... I think."
"Well, you'll get something full ... and ... something better than kibble."
"Thanks."

Ivy nodded and bolted away. There was a groan from inside and Toby peeked in the stable. Taurus was groaning and twitching lightly. Toby giggled lightly and sat down at the entrance. He decided to use his training from being a sheepdog and put it into guarding the others. Meanwhile, Ivy was bounding through the forest, her ears perked for anything that made noise. Suddenly, she saw two mice next to each other. She smirked and stalked forward, pouncing once close. She kilt the both and picked them up by the tails, padding back to where the others were. She dropped a mouse at Toby's paws. Dining on her own mouse.

"Well that was quick." Toby said.
"Luckily ... mice managed ... to survive." Ivy said, pausing to eat.
"Thanks."

He dug in and suddenly felt joy. This mouse tasted much better than the scraps of kibble and he didn't hesitate in devouring it in two bites.

"Ah, you're right that's so much better than scraps of kibble. Thank you."
"No problem ... but anyway. How is life on the barn with being the lowest rank?"
"Boring honestly. I get growled at or worse if I step out of line while the owners aren't around ..."
"Oh ... sorry. Uh, what do you do?"
"Well, I mostly watch the sheep, guard them. If something happens I just bark and the others will be over, on rare occasions I get to herd them into a pasture, but of course it has to be with one of the owners or else."
"Hmm."
"What about you?"
"Oh, I just hunt. The male cats are always following me and making noise recently, so I haven't caught anything."
"Hah! Really, they must be dumb."
"Yeah I know, they're main job and they ruin it for themselves and another. Plus they think they can have kittens with me. When they get close I just knock 'em over like an empty bucket."

Toby broke out into laughter, but stopped once Willow trotted outside.

"Males aren't always the worst thing in the world." Willow snorted.
"Well ..." Ivy started.
"I'm sure at some point the owners will make you have kittens." Willow said, narrowing her eyes.

Willow trotted away and started grazing on some grass nearby, her ears were perked towards them. Ivy snorted and began grooming herself. Toby peeked inside to see Taurus just waking up.

"Oh, where's everyone, and why is your mouth bloody?" Taurus asked.

Toby licked his lips and nodded outside. Taurus trotted outside and immediately started towards Willow and began grazing with the mare. Toby got up and shook himself.

"Should we get going?" He asked aloud.
"Sure." Taurus said.

Ivy padded towards the others, nodding. She avoided the gaze of Willow, obviously mad. Willow didn't seem to notice his question so they all guessed she said yes. They stared padding forwards, exiting the path of the hidden stable. There was a narrow dirt road that twisted downwards and slowly got to the area just outside the city.

"Wait a minute, where are we going?" Toby asked.
"The city, that's where the most traces should be as to where the humans went." Willow responded.
"Wait, are you sure we're gonna make it?" Ivy pipped up.
"What do you mean?" Taurus asked.
"Well, this path stops and basically drops you off at a forest, and it's so close to winter that we might not make it to the forest without it starting to snow." Ivy said.
"How do you know this?" Willow snorted.
"Hunting." Ivy responded briskly.
"I'm sure we'll be fine, and all the animals are still hibernating because of the storm." Toby said, starting to pad onward.
"Alright, but don't start complaining that you want my fur when it start snowing." Ivy said, following.

Ivy stayed close to Toby as they padded on, trying to avoid Willow from even seeing her. She had a bad feeling Willow was hinting at something so she looked around and tasted the air. She couldn't smell anything expect the coming of snow and the other's scents. She looked to the others.

"Taurus? No, he's a cow ... she'd be strange to think that." She thought.

She looked at Toby remembering their morning talk. She closed her eyes in disgust.

"So she thinks I have a relationship with Toby. We are completely different. I didn't even know his name before this, let alone ..." She shivered "like him."

She stopped thinking from there on, giving Willow a harsh stare. Toby continued down the path, starting to get faster as the moved, until finally the path started getting to the point of stopping. They looked around at the forest, and Ivy looked at the sky as the snow began falling. She sighed and looked into the dark forest, amazed that it was still dense after being half torn apart plus all the tree's leaves had fallen off. They stared ahead, a feeling of unknown fear creeping under their pelts. They slowly padded forward, keeping silent as the entered the forest. Their ears perked in all directions and they laid their paws lightly as the entered the unknown, unaware that the forest would be holding something dangerous.

lol I'm not posting this at 6:30 am, no PFT