The following day Cameo set off for camp. He had buried Fang’s body at dawn that morning, since the storm didn’t break until midnight. His paws were freezing; it had taken what felt like forever to dig a hole, underneath all the snow and frozen soil.
Cameo was dragging his paws, forcing himself to keep walking. Questions kept bouncing around inside his head. What did Fang mean, ‘care for them’? What was by the ancient oak, and why were they there?
»
It took Cameo one day to arrive at camp. The humans hadn’t found the former camp, though he could tell it wouldn’t be soon, not when they were so close. The camp was exactly as they’d left it: bushes, trees, and threaded branches surrounding it; dens leading underground, varying in size; the High Rock, sparkling where snow had landed.
Cameo sighed and headed towards the old oak tree, in the training hollow, where the apprentices were taught how to fight by their mentors. He found nothing when he arrived there, besides a rabbit he caught and feasted on. When he was about to leave, however, a particular sound caught his ears. He pricked his ears up and strained to hear it again. A faint whimpering was heard again, by the old oak, which was at least fifty fox-lengths in height.
Cameo immediately ran over and, after deciding the location it must had come from, he dug a hole, snow flying behind him. After a few heartbeats of digging, he felt a blast of warm air. His eyes met an underground cave, with little lava rocks embedded in the floor and walls, giving the chamber warmth. In a corner of the cave he saw four pups, all of them with eyes sealed shut.
“Oh, wow!” Cameo whispered.
......
Ah, a mystery revealed. Kinda explains why Fang was acting like such a dimwit in chapter one.
QOTC: Do you watch the Ellen Show?
