Crossfire

Chapter 4 - Monster

Three months have passed since Starglider's mother had died during the mid of winter. Zachery and Starglider have matured since then, but not yet adults. The two of them have spent the winter hunting for what little food they could find, and yet the image of the Shadron they encountered before has never left their minds.
Morning quickly arrived. Zachery was the first to awake, the sun had just started to peek over the horizon, causing wave like patterns of pink, purple, and orange across the sky. Everything was silent, except the birds that began to chirp as part of a morning routine. Spring was surely just around the corner. Zachery didn't bother to wake Starglider up. Instead, he took off through the melting snow to a near forest in search of food so Star could eat once she woke up. He couldn't find anything until he spotted a small white rabbit hopping through the snow into the forest. He prepared himself to attack the small creature until a young pup cried out to him.
"You there, stop!"
Zach glances over to the interrupting pup after the frightened rabbit had dashed away. "May I help you? I was a little busy."
The pup grinned at him. "Outsiders are not allowed to kill in our territory, this is my land! That rabbit is ours now."
"Our?"
A rustle can be heard from the bush nearby behind the young pup. A male black wolf slowly approaches from out the bush, greeting Zachery with a slight smile.
"Hello there, don't mind my son. We were inspired by the protection in the Forest of Larossa, any creature that enters that forest is promised protection. No creature is to be hunted there, we don't allow hunting on our land either."
The pup smiled and wagged his tail in excitement, seemingly interested in Zach's appearance.
"Father look! Under his eyes and his leg, symbols!" Zachery felt anxious, and wondered what the pup knew about the symbols, he forgot to cover them up with mud. The black wolf examined him, his smile faded, the father's eyes clouded with fear and hatred.
"Why have you come here? Whatever the reason may be, you best leave now. Your kind is not welcome here. We will never forgive you, not after what you monsters did to my mate." The wolf hovered over his son, and bared his teeth at Zachery, who he sees as a monster. Zachery trembled as the sharp comparison to a monster struck him emotionally.
"I'm not a monst-"
"Off with you!" The black wolf snapped at his paws, forcing Zach to run. He ran as far away as he could after luckily stumbling upon a half frozen lake. The melting snow and the dirt underneath mixed, and created mud. Zach looked down at his paws sinking into the mud. He gently pressed his nose into the mud, and smeared the mud from his nose across his leg to cover up his symbol.
"I won't forget to cover it ever again." After his symbol was covered, he began to head back to Star's den, without any food.
He reached the den after fifteen minutes of wandering back. He checked in on Star to see if she was still sleeping until he discovered that she wasn't in the den.
Star crept up behind Zachery and tackled him, scaring him for a moment.
"So you're awake."
"Yes, I am. Where were you?"
"I went out to hunt, but I didn't find anything. I'm sorry, I wanted to bring you back something before you woke up."
Star softly pushed him with her paw after he had gotten back up and smiled. "You idiot, you don't have to hunt for me, I hardly see you eat anything anymore."
Zachery shrugged. Star examined his body, and noticed how thin he was getting, she quickly became worried. "Dear Sorein, do you even eat at all?"
Not wanting to worry her, Zach lied. "Yes, of course. I've managed to catch a couple of small birds and hares, but that's all."
"That won't do. You'll starve before spring arrives, we have plans! Once this snow melts away, we're going to find that Shadron from a couple months ago. If there's one, there's more, hibernating until days are warm again." She turned her back on him, slightly angry with Zach, but more so upset and concerned. She peeked her head over her shoulder blade in slight guilt. "You will come with me, right?"
"I'm coming with you." He looked down at his paws in shame. He hoped his experiences with Star would outweigh the pain from his past.
"If you're coming with me, you need to live, and to live, you're going to need to eat. Hey, we'll go hunt together, I'll catch you something."