Corrupt Meadows

Chapter 4

"She's gone!" A howl snapped his eyes open. He yawned. Stretching his back from his sleep, he walked over to where his mother stood in shock. His siblings crowded around their dad terrified, "The fox has escaped!!" Stardust smiled. Mother looked at him confused. Stardust hid his smile by a shocked expression. Father looked at Mother.

"How did she get out of the Story Den?" Father asked. Halo stepped forward.

"There is a secret entrance somewhere, maybe someone told her about it," All his siblings looked at each other. Mother looked at Father who whined

"I didn't know..." Father confessed. Mother rolled her eyes and looked at Stardust and his siblings.

"I would have smelled the scent of another fox in this pack densite! So it means one of you helped her," Mother eyed Pluto the most, his lack of confidence made him an easy target for questioning. "When I find out who it is, unless they tell me right now, they will be kicked out of my pack!" Mother warned circling the four. Stardust clustered farther away from Mother and rubbed against Halo. Pluto shuddered rapidly, his expression deep with worry. Cosmo just sat there, no expression just a pale face.

"We can always think of events that happened... in the past," Cosmo grunted, the swelling of his cheek now down enough for him to speak clearly.

"Good idea! I raised a smart litter!" Mother boasted. Stardust rolled his eyes as he felt Halo tense.

"Well, let's go back to when this fox first came to camp. Father  let it get away!" Cosmo's glare went to Father who narrowed his eyes. "Then there was a fight over it, started by Stardust!" Cosmo grunted with suspicion. Stardust felt a stab of guilt flash over him. "And Father brought it to the aspens, then you put it in that cave and-" He stopped and looked at Stardust. "Wait... you weren't at hunting practice yesterday!" Cosmo growled.

"He told me it was just stupid and all we do is pounce prey and don't catch it," Pluto barked quietly. Stardust felt a cloud of rage forming in his chest.

"And he did wander off, and he's the best tracker besides Mom and Dad!" Halo barked.

"Starry, where were you, really, besides hunting practice?" Mother asked. Stardust looked around.

"I was healing my wounds." Stardust lied. Mother walked over to the Story Den. She sniffed the ground. Her eyes were suddenly narrowed with full rage. She whipped around.

"You did it! Your scent isn't faint, and the smell of herbs is here!" Mother growled. She pushed past his shocked siblings. Father stood beside her as they towered over Stardust. "I Lunala, leader of your pup pack, banish you for violating the laws of your pack, and lying, helping a traitor, and trying to kill your brother," Mother growled.

"B-but..." Halo tried to speak up for him but nothing came out. Cosmo whined and looked down at his paws, though Stardust could see the rage scorching in his eyes from the fight. Pluto sighed and looked up, trying not to meet Stardust's gaze. Mother's expression was full of bitterness. Father's tail flicked and his ears flattened behind his head. Stardust's heart stopped. He took one last look at his littermates and kind-hearted father and turned around to walk away. "Leave and never  return!" Mother roared after him.

Stardust could feel a mixture of fear and bitterness in the back of his throat. His mind to full of words and emotions stuck to him like tree sap. His limbs were weak and wobbly when he stepped. Leave and never return, Leave and never return, Leave and never return. The words from his mother echoed in his mind. He shook his thoughts clear to focus on his task at hand. Survival. He needed food, a nearby moving water source, and shelter. Easy. He looked at his shoulder, where the scratches from his duel still stung him. A few lavender flowers will fix this. He thought as he scanned around for the lavender plant. He hobbled deeper into the forest, scenting the air for any strange smells. He stopped as he spotted some purple flowers popping up from the ground in thick stalks on the ground. He washed his wound off with his tongue. Stardust snagged the lavender and started chewing it, creating a pulp, and licking the herbal juices onto his shoulder. He spat out the rest of the pulp onto a leaf, then wrapped it up neatly. He then started to lick his white pelt clean from dirt and dry blood. As he finished cleaning himself. He continued walking through the forest to find some sort of shelter before nightfall. It was still around the morning time even though he woke up late. The realization then hit him. How can I eat though? I can't hunt. I don't even know where downwind is! Stardust stomped his paw on the ground angrily. He got up and limped deeper into the woods. He probably should have gone to that hunting practice...