Tale Of The Haven

Chapter 2: This Is War!

It had been a few months since the induction. Sun's Dawn was fast approaching and Rainbow watched this morning's hunting party returning with the kill. Everyone ate, and the scouts soon left to patrol the borders of the Clan's territory. Everything seemed to progress as normal until a few hours later.

Rainbow couldn’t believe what was happening. One of the newer scouts ran back, injured, to the Clan. He was shouting something. It sounded like he was shouting ‘Wolves!’, but no one could be sure. The only way they could tell was when the Alpha asked him. His reaction was “Wolves! Ambushed us on patrol!”
“Hunters! You go and end this at once!” The Alpha ordered. The scout continued to frantically shout on about it, but the other hunters were running in the direction the he came from. But Rainbow wanted to listen. Then she remembered her powers. She could turn invisible. So she pretended to follow but turned invisible on the way and ran behind a patch of shrubs. From where she was, it was impossible to hear what was being said. ‘How do I know this hasn’t been set up against the nearest wolf pack? How can I stay here? I’ve heard stories of rogues. So why can’t I be one? Or I’ll have to stop this. Either way, I’m leaving.’

So Rainbow was out of there before the Alpha declared war on the wolves. She often left the Clan’s territory so knew the surrounding area. What do you do when going into the unknown? Pick a direction and run? Now it was too late seeing as that was what she did. Looking for any cave or giant tree that was inhabitable. Even anything else would do. After finding a cave that looked homely, she made it her new home. Was it the right choice. Should she have stayed? Too late now. She had made the most obvious mistake. All Rouges knew that if looking for a new den, the vital steps were to check the levels of prey. The first thing she didn’t do. Make sure there are no nearby Clans or other animal packs. The second thing she didn’t do. The other thing to do is to check for other nearby Rouges. The third thing she didn’t do. She would have to do those as she went along. A creature like her would be killed as a threat. She was so strong. Too strong to be an enemy. Exactly.

The next morning she woke up just after Sun's Dawn. Having thought of what she didn’t do, she would do it today. Instead of checking for prey, she would find the nearest prey. She didn’t really care if she had to travel far; it would obviously be harder on her own but she would adapt. She wasn’t worked about hunting on her own, not with her powers. The cave was  pretty deep and easy to find. She was leaving as she saw a herd of deer run past quickly. ‘How convenient!’ she thought. Maybe this was destiny? A cave near a herd of deer? Great Gisha (the goddess of the leopards).

Miles away, a wolf listened to his alpha declaring war on all other creatures of the Haven. He didn’t understand why. To claim this land for ourselves. This land is meant to be a place of harmony! Not a battleground! I may be a warrior, but not a killer. We are the Moon Pack. A pack meant to dissolve battles. Why are we causing them? How can I stay here? Run. Just run. I’ve heard of a pack in the jungle somewhere. A pack that hopefully won’t hear this proclamation. I’m not being a rouge, so I’ll go there. So he ran off into the distance. The Alpha’s voice faded away and eventually the howls of the pack. His pack lived in the forest, which was close to the jungle. And he kept running towards the Forest’s jungle border. Running for a whole day before he found a cave on the border. He rested there for the night until entering the jungle the next day. He was determined to find this pack.

Rainbow emerged from her cave at Sun’s Dawn. She wanted to track down the deer herd from yesterday. They had run towards the north, so that’s where she went. She found a deer, and easily struck it down and was about to drag it back to the den when she heard a howl to North-West. Maybe not destiny? The very creature that made me leave. Was it a threat to her territory? Did she need to attack? Probably. Best just look at how many there are. Turning invisible, she managed to get into the middle of them. Middle of it. There was one. She created some distance and a place to pounce from. She leapt and revealed herself as she landed. He had began running in the direction of her cave before she landed so she fell onto the ground. The wolf turned around in disbelief. “ You’re a black leopard! And you can’t even pounce...”
“Who in the Haven are you?” Rainbow shouted.
“I was about to ask the same about you!” The wolf replied.
“Well I’m Rainbow and I’m a Chameleon Leopard.”
“A what?”
“A Chameleon Leopard. The only one.” She replied.
“Umm... Well I’m Hunter anyway...” The wolf said.
“So you’re part of this rebellion?” Rainbow asked.
“No! That’s why I left my pack!” Hunter replied “I was looking for the jungle pack in hope they won’t hear about it.”
“Too late. They attacked my Clan and that’s why I’m now a rogue.” Rainbow replied. “You can stay in my cave.”
“Ok. Where is it?” Hunter asked.

They ran for a few miles before Hunter stopped dead in his tracks, twitching his ears as if he was trying to locate something.
“Rainbow, come here.” He whispered.
“Did you hear that?” Rainbow asked, appearing next to him.
“Yes, deer. A herd. Wait you can turn invisible?” Hunter replied.
“I took one down from that herd yesterday” Rainbow walked into a patch of bushes to hide “That’s the same herd. Now, watch and learn, Hunter. Watch my magic.”
And with that she turned invisible and ran behind a deer, then struck it down, scaring the herd. They couldn’t see her so got spooked. She became visible again then began running to her cave. Hunter followed.