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6. Hunters

About 13 years ago 

The rain had settled over the land, the wind whispered through the trees of the forest. Luckily Spirit's nest was dug in the sand right underneath a dense tree, sheltering her family from the rain. A heavy rain drop dropped onto Spirit's snout, tickling her nose. She sneezed and woke up soon after. It was still dark and the moon was still high in the sky, her mom, dad and brother, Storm were still curled up in the sand fast asleep. Spirit rested her head on her paws as she looked up at the bright moon. She was trying to get back to sleep when a faint noise caught one of her ears, she perked her head up and listened. Was it just her imagination? Was she still dreaming? She heard the sound again. It was a whimpering sound; like the sound a young lykar calf would make when it was distressed. 

Spirit walked over to the edge of the nest, trying not to wake her parents up. Being a small calf, it was hard for Spirit to reach the top of the nest to look. She used her tail to move the sand to create a small hill for her to stand on. She climbed onto her newly-made hill and stood on her hind legs, she was now able to see outside the nest better. The whimpering sounds were coming from a small creature huddled in a small cave in the side of a rock. Spirit squinted to see what the creature was, and her eyes widened again when she realized what it was. It was a creature that Spirit knew well, very well. She struggled out of the nest, jumping and beaching herself onto the sandy rim. She shifted her small body and wriggled until she lost her balance and fell out of the nest, landing on her back in the soft sand below. She took a moment to shake off the sand on her coat and ran over to the distressed creature.

Branch huddled into a small cave dug into the side of a rock, he was trying to wipe the tears away from his cheeks as he sniffed. He had been out finding resources when the rain caught him off track. He wanted to go into the rain to find his way back to his bunker, but as he heard the sound of thunder in the distance over the forest, he froze in fear. He never liked storms, never did and never will. He didn't know what to do, he wished that Iris was with him to help him, or his parents, or even his grandma. He jerked another tear when he thought about his grandma. After his parents died and he and Iris were taken in by her, she would always be there to comfort him during the rain and thunder, he always felt so safe in her loving arms. Now he only had Iris, but she wasn't here when he needs her now. Branch saw a silhouette coming towards him, an animal silhouette. The moonlight was so bright that he couldn't tell what it was. He looked around frantically for a place to hide, maybe a crack in the cave that he could squeeze into. It was no use, the creature had spotted him and was coming right towards him, Branch's back was flat against the wall of the cave and his tail between his legs. Still unable to see its face, Branch turned his head away from the creature as he shut his eyes tightly, tears escaping from them as he started shaking violently, listening as the creature stepped into the cave. Branch suddenly felt something gently touch his cheek. Branch opened his eyes to see what it was, his tear-stained eyes focused on the creature's face as he recognized her. It was Spirit, her bright blue eyes looking at him with concern as she nudged his cheek with her nose.

"Spirit?" Branch muttered, relaxing a little as he reached his hand out to touch Spirit's face; her soft fur was wet from the rain. Branch stumbled to his knees and hugged Spirit's head, whimpering and crying from fear. "I'm so glad to see you," he sighed in relief. "But you need to go back to your nest, it's raining." Spirit nuzzled Branch with her head and licked his cheek. "Don't worry about me, girl," Spirit didn't listen she nudged Branch's hand with her snout and lead him to her nest. The two of them ran back through the rain towards the shelter of Spirit's nest. But when they got there they found a problem. The walls of her nest was too steep and too high for them to get over. Spirit had an idea, she pushed Branch with her snout to the base of the tree sheltering them. Spirit tried to dig a small nest for Branch with her paw, but she had never dug a nest before so it ended up being just a small paw print in the sand. She nudged Branch gently so that he fell onto his back. Branch sat up, confused about what Spirit was doing. Spirit then lay down next to him, curling her tail around Branch to protect him. Branch smiled in appreciation, he lay his head against Spirit's body and they both drifted off to sleep.