Raspberry lead Kraken across the dead grass and green pine trees, following the faint scent of his mother, hope swelling in his chest. It had been three days since they started their quest, and they had became best friends. They had fought a wild cat together, and covered many miles.
The scent trail had gotten stronger, and they started entering a forest like area, covered with moss and grass. Kraken followed above him, keeping scout and looking ahead for a full grown fox, but nothing yet.
The grass was soft and felt good under his paws, like a cloud. "Kraken, you never told me about you, what's your life story?" he asked, looking up at her with big inquisitive eyes.
Kraken stared dead ahead, unable to answer the question, "Look ahead, I think I see something" she said, changing the subject. Raspberry strained his eyes ahead, trying to see what the raven saw, "I see nothing" he said, giving up.
Kraken knew what it was ahead, a tall tree, three feet across, and standing over water, it was a willow. The same willow I was hatched at, she thought with a shudder. They arrived at it, the shade biting cold in the newborn spring.
Raspberry looked at the tree, then back at Kraken, surprised by how she seemed rattled by it. The wind bit through his pelt and cut his skin, making him shiver and crouch low to the ground. A hole in the tree caught his eye, and he sniffed it with his nose. A familiar smell hit his nose, "FLAME, FROST!!!!" he whelped with happiness, pouncing into the cave and tussling with his brother and sister.
"Hey, stop it mouse brain!" Flame said, running out of the cave, his ears back and a snarl on his face. "Stop it Flame, be happy Raspberry found us" Frost said, her white fur rippling as she walked into the windy outside, Raspberry beside her. He always wondered why Frost was white while mom, and all the others were red. But then he had never met dad, so maybe he was white too. Frost looked up at Kraken and growled deep in her throat. "It's okay, she's a friend" Raspberry said, wishing her to stop growling. Frost stopped the growling, but kept her green eyes on the bird.
Kraken looked down at the kits, concern in her eyes, but did not respond to the growling or mean killing looks. They were raised to hate ravens and owls. Good thing Raspberry was too young to know this hate, he had it only for the wolves, she knew. "Well, if she isn't an enemy, I do not wish for her to stay with us" she said, not looking away from her. "She is my guardian, she protects me, if you don't like her, then don't come with us" Raspberry growled, ready it seemed like to spring onto the pretty Vixen. "It does us nothing to fight" Kraken said gently, not wanting to spook the others.
Frost and Flame quickly snapped their heads around and locked Kraken with looks of hate and a wish for unwell being. "She makes a point, stop!" Raspberry whimpered, knowing how well they could hunt.
Frost gave the bird one last glare, then looked away, her snout up in the air and her tail curled around her body in defiance.
Raspberry sighed, then lifted his head "we need to get a move on if we want to find mom" he said, anxious to go.
"Got a point" Flame growled, taking quick sniff then walking north, leaving the others to follow.
They followed close behind, trusting the big kit's nose reluctantly.
They went north for two days, tired and hungry, none of them had eaten for five days, at it showed in their ribs and mousy fur.
Raspberry walked with a limp, his pads on his paws torn and crusted with blood from the thorns in the blackberry patch they were crossing the other day.
Raspberry watched Flame stumble over a log and fall in a heap on the other side through blurry eyes and numb feeling.
Flame did not get up, and they walked on, the scent of a promising meal in the wind.
There was no time to cry over his death, they had to keep themselves alive. They had became immune to the pain of hunger, and feelings, except the pure instincts to stay alive.
Kraken stayed aloft in the sky, away from the fox kits, feeling like they would eat her, even if one of them was her dear friend.
She finally saw what had caught their scent, it was a dead deer.
Kraken felt uneasy about the scene, and what had possibly killed it, men, bear, or mountain lion.
The kits started tearing it up hungrily, savoring the taste of the blood, not as good as fresh meat, but enough to eat.
Raspberry sniffed the air, and caught the scent of something hairy, large, and carnivorous.
He looked up, and stared into the eyes of a large brown bear that had this white foam around its mouth.
Kraken cried in alarm, lifted into flight, and yelled to the kits to run for their lives.
Frost was in the worst condition, and could not run fast enough.
Raspberry turned his head around just in time to see the bear grab Frost by her neck and crunch down, the sound sending shivers down his spine, but he did not feel sorrow, he was in a run for his life.
The bear kept running after Raspberry, hungry for kit blood, but Raspberry kept going, his will to live was remarkably strong.
Kraken looked on, not able to do anything but watch her friend run for his life from the big bear.
She hesitated, then went into a dive straight for the bear's face, her razor sharp talons pointed to tear.
