Veracious and Storm went back to their corner to rest, waiting for their stamina to return. Their tongues hung from their jaws as they heavily breathed air in and out. The cold air was making a small breath cloud come from their mouths; winter was around the corner. Veracious hated how cold winter was, but Storm loved the cold weather. It froze their noses at each breath they took. Although, they both despise the lack of food. The leaves had begun to fall off the trees as they morphed into giant leafless sticks sprouting from the ground. The trees were now going to begin their long rest soon. Most rabbits and squirrels are finished preparing for the rest of the cold months to come.

Veracious looked at Storm and growled, "Ready for round two, my friend?" She said with a playfully mocking tone.

"Oh hush up, Aloe Vera! I won last round." Storm barked while making a proud smirk to rub it in her face that he wins most of the time.

"Hey, I told you I hate that nickname!" She grumbled before sighing and grinning. "But that's because I always go easy on you!" She continued with a more playful tone. "Remember the time I went hard on you, you cried because you stubbed your toes on a rock?" She asked loudly, making him blush in embarrassment.

"H-hey we don't talk about that I thought?" Storm whisped in her ear before bouncing up of his rump. "Alright! Let's go for round two! Don't go easy on me, there's no need to avoid a few bite injuries." He said with a smirk, so she stood up and told him to prepare to be wrecked. They stood away from each other, standing facing each other. "On your mark!" Storm growled. Then, they stood, positioning themselves before the she-wolf lept at him.

Storm dodged her pounce, snapping his jaws on her side and shoving her to the ground, leaving a drop on blood on her side already. She snapped her jaws at his neck, making him jump away so she could get back on her feet."Is that your best, big boy?" She taunted and he shook his head, standing still where he was. It was obvious he was playing defense, so Veracious would do the same. They both circled each other opfor a moment, catching their breath before Storm lept over her and started to run. "Hey! Where you going?!" She howled and chased him. He suddenly skidded to a stop only to leap out of the camp's exit running through the fallen leaves and making them fly everywhere. Veracious ran after where she thought he was before stopping abruptly. He vanished!

"Storm..?" She barked, confused. How can someone with that dark of fur just disappear like that? "Hey, I like your stealth skills, but don't be a coward!" Right when she said that he jumped out from behind her, his teeth bared and aiming straight for her neck. She quickly jumped out of the way, pouncing on him and biting his neck gently. "Got you!" She barked when claws were suddenly digging in above her eyes, causing large puncture marks. She howled in pain as he wriggled out from underneath her and charged at her, rearing on his hind legs. She copied his movements, crashing into him and snapping at him, their jaws colliding and causing long scratches from their teeth scraping at their pelt. After a long time of doing that, Veracious grabbed his leg and thrusted him hard into a tree. He yelped and then swiftly lept at her and bit down hard on her shoulder, and she copied him again, so they just stood there, biting each other's shoulders and staring. Then, she grabbed his tail and yanked it hard ripping a large chunk of fur off of it and leaving him with a bald spot, then snapping her jaws on his neck and biting down, pinning him on his back before ripping a chunk of fur out of his neck and prancing away with a proud look on her face. "See? I was just going easy on you!" She said with a smirk, and he smirked back.

"Or maybe... It's because you got better from me constantly destroying you- oh oww... My tail." He mumbled, gasping from exhaustion. Storm had blood all over his jaws and teeth, neck, right shoulder, and paws. Veracious had blood on her muzzle and her teeth, her left shoulder, and over her eyes.

Veracious gently gestured for him to get up. "Come on, let's clean up in the camp." She said, smiling at him and receiving a smile back. He slowly stood up, wheezing before grinning, beginning to speed up to her pace. "Race you back to camp!" She yelped and began to run, Storm following shortly after.

"You're on!" He howled, running next to her side. Looks like his shoulder doesn't hurt! She thought, smiling at him. He was one of the few wolves she trusted to never tell anyone she smiled. As they darted through the forest, they panted, and gave each other small shoves.

After a few minutes, they arrived back into camp. They sat back down in their corner and began to clean each other up, licking any trace of their duel off of each other

Anya looked around before nodding. So she actually went in the right direction, maybe she had a sense of direction afterall. Anya countinued on and found that the clearing was actually very close. Through the journey she kept quiet, not sure what to say. She had such a fun time and learned so much, but now it felt like none of that happened at all. Anya sighed when Icicle spoke up. "Thanks, Icicle. Im glad to have a family to lean on." She said quietly, her thoughts running a million miles per hour. When Icicle nuzzled her ear, she couldn't help but smile slightly and wag her tail.

.

Anya took up a trot, her focus fully on Bri and being a mother now. When she reached the den she couldn't help but flatten her ears at her pup's scream. She quickly entered and nuzzled Flame, asking her to move. Once the elder was out of the way, Anya curled around her pup. She nuzzled Brielle and while she quieted down a bit she still countinued to cry. "What's wrong, little one? Im right here." She whispered and again nuzzled her pup. This time though she nuzzled her so she would drink. Bri drank some but not much and countinued to cry.

.

Anya heard River's and an unknown wolf's voice close outside but she didn't care just then. Something was obviously wrong with Brielle and Anya was worried. "What should i do, Flame?" Anya whined as the voices eventually left. Her ears were pinned to her head and her body was stiff with worry. Meanwhile Bri cuddled into her mother's fur but countinued to cry.

He was staring at the ground quite focusedly. He narrowed in on a bird in a brown and barren tree just long enough to slip off a small branch, he tripped a bit stubbing a few toes and making a small racket as he caught his balance, scuffing along leaves benesth his paws. He looked at Bardou, his ears perked for a moment, then laid back. "I'm fine." He shook out his legs to make his toes hurt less and continued on. His limp didn't seem to worsen or get better, even with the stumble. He lowered his head a bit, picking up a lumbering walk with his shoulderblades jutting out.

The more time passed, the more Makena began panicking. She had started panicking a long time ago but it kept getting worse and worse. She had been running so hard her legs, paws and lungs began to sting slightly. She wasn't watching where she was going at all so she kept smacking herself with sticks and running through thorn bushes. She didn't even care about the pain, she was just worried about Muli. What if he went to get water but got snatched up by some predator? She silently scolded herself harshly for not being there for her...what was he at this point anyway? Well, he was someone that she cared for, and that was enough explanation. "Muli!! Where are you?!!" She cackled, tears beginning to fight their way onto her face.

.

Slowly but surely, hope began to drain from her body. And as the hope drained, she slowly slowed down. "Muli, where are you?" She whined quietly as she came to a stop. She couldn't hold it in anymore, tears began running down her face as she looked around. "Im scared." She whined into the wind, hoping Muli would appear and make it all better by doing something silly to hurt himself worse. Suddenly memories began flooding into her mind and Makena let them. She enjoyed watching the past silly Muli. Just then a faint voice interrupted her memories. At first she just ignored it but then she realized it was Muli's. And he said he was...werid? No! No, that wasn't true!...Or well, it was, but it was a good thing!

.

Makena took a big whiff of the air and realized she had been practically standing on his sent. Without further wait the vixen jumped into action. She began running as fast as her little fox legs could carry her. Like before, she didn't care as sticks countinued to smack her in the face. She was pretty sure she would get a few bruises but she didn't care. All she wanted was to see Muli okay. "Muli!! Im coming!" She cackled though she was going hoarse so it wasn't that loud. She was running so fast she almost flung herself into the river which wouldn't have been good. Once she felt the water on her paws she jumped back onto dry land.

.

Im the distance, on the other side of the river, she saw Muli. "Muli!! Wait! Where are you going?!" She cried, pacing on the other side of the river. She couldn't swim over to him, so how was she supposed to get to him? She put a paw in the water but shook her head. She didn't want to drown, thank you very much. "Muli! Come back, im right here!" She called again, looking around for a way across.

Sundown was sniffing through the fresh herbs, trying to find something to do when he heard a voice. He turned to see Shadow. His ears went back slightly, and he felt uneasy. He nodded, and followed the large male. He gulped when he saw Night's shoulder.

"S-stay here." He said, turning to go and get the herbs he would need.

'stay here' what an idiot. He thought, wanting to bite his own tail. When he reached his den again, he took a deep breath. He could do this! Yeah... right..

.

He eyed his herb supplies, wishing he knew as much as Ore had. He nosed around, and found what he needed. He trotted out a couple of minutes later with his herbs in tow. His ears were perked as he started working on Night.
"So, it appears to be a cat, correct?" He asked, his golden eyes laced with fear. Oh how nervous he was. He glanced around camp, looking for the whining pup. His ears didn't like that sound.

I'll go and see what's up with the pup once I'm done here. He thought, before turning his full attention back to his Alpha.

.

"So, Alpha Night, I'm going to have you eat these poppy seeds to help the pain go away," He said, nosing one towards him, before some ginger root. "The ginger will help with inflammation." He said, a terrified smile on his face when Silver joined. Sundown glanced over at her, trying to remember if he'd met her before. Spoiler; He hadn't.

.

He put cobwebs with juice applied on it to the shoulder, and stepped back. Compared to Ore's work, it was messy, but it would work. He sighed, and looked at the group.

"I am going to go and see if the pup needs anything, and I will be back to see if anyone else needs something." He had a tired look in his eye as he turned and walked towards Anya's den. He barked on the outside as a warning before poking his head in.

"Is everything alright? I heard her being cranky." The small wolf sat down outside of the den, not wanting to get in the mothers space.

Kimulimuli dug his claws in the ground, panting and huffing. "I-I'm just crazy! I'm just weird. I-I-" He bristled his fur before sitting down and snarling. "Stop it. Ya're weird enough." He growled, now having his eyes stinging from tears. My sisters always said I was weird. "Maybe, they were right. I'm just a weird, annoying fox. No wonder why no one ever wanted to be my friend..." He layed down, covering his eyes with his paws. "The only ones who ever wanted to be my friends w-were... them." He took his paws off his eyes and sighed. Makena's better off-

Someone yelling snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned his head just enough to the point where he could see them by angling his eyes in their direction. He saw a familiar black coat, immediately recognizing it as Makena, but a rather bruised version of her. "What do ya want..." He sighed, looking away. When he heard her splash a paw in the water, he growled. "Don't. Leave me alone." He snarled, before whipping around to show his fangs. He'd forgotten he was still hurt, so he sent a shock of pain down his chest, causing him to stumble a bit before falling, so he sat there for a moment, gripping the grass underneath him with his claws.He growled before standing up and turning around. "Just.. forget I ever existed, okay.?" He said before beginning to stagger away where it wasn't slightly open due to the stream of water, or you could just say the more deep forest area.

Makena's ears went back slightly with Muli's behavior. What was going on? Surely this was Muli, but he wasn't acting like Muli. And did he just...show his fangs?! Seriously, what was happening?! She winced as Muli fell, no doubt because of the pain. He needed to rest if he wants to get better. "W- what? Why would i do that? What's going on?" Makena asked, her tail tucking under her. She didn't like this new Muli. Something had to be wrong. The real Muli would never growl at her.

.

"Wait- where are you going?" Makena called as Muli began to walk away. She was getting frantic by this point. She was seriously considering trying to swim even though it would more than likely get her killed. But if Muli didn't want her anymore...what was the point of living? Makena shook that thought from her head, causing her to look up. That's when she saw it. A tree was sitting right at the edge of the river. It's branch reached almost to the other side of the river. It was high up...but Makena was desperate.

.

Makena dashed up the tree and ran along its branch. Half way there a strong gust of wind pushed its way over the land. The vixen wasn't being careful at all so she was easily knocked off the swaying branch. Luckily she was able to hold on with her front paws but the rest of her was dangling above the river. "No, no, no." She whined, trying to pull herself back onto the branch. Her ears were pinned back to her skull and her tail was basically invisible because it was tucked so hard. Tears rolled down her face, adding more water to the river. After a couple seconds of struggling she was finally able to get up. Her body shook without permission and just for a second she was tempted to just curl up and cry. But no...Muli was so close.

.

Makena shakily made her way to the other side. The only way to gey down from the branch was to jump so she did. Did i mention it was a pretty big fall? When the vixen landed, a sharp pain shot up her leg. She couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain. Nevertheless, she shook thr pain away before looking around for Muli. She had lost track of him when she was on the branch so she didn't quite know where he had went. Just then she caught her sent and went to go catch up with him. She was limping and bruised but she didn't care. She just wanted to understand what was going on. When she left she had been head over heels for him and he had been happy. But now he was mad for some reason.

As Kimu staggered away, he could hear the vixen he once thought of as his best friend, scrambling around on the other side of the river, letting out a yelp. He was sad. He regretted saying everything he did to her, but it was too late to go back. I overreacted. He thought, now having tears streaming down his fluffy cheeks. I probably hurt her so much. He looked down at his paws, his vision beginning to blur from the amount of tears he had coming from his eyes. It's too late now. I'm so stupid! He sniffled, his nose now beginning to get stuffy. I'm just... "Worthless!" He yelped and snarled at the same time. He shook his head as he told himself once again to stop talking to no one. All I am is just a weird, stupid, hideous- can ya even call me a fox anymore? I barely qualify as anything more than a rabbit, let alone a fox!

As he continued to insult himself, he walked through the forest, his head now aching and full of pain. His chest hurt, a lot. When he looked down, he saw a splat of blood on it, and it looked to be reopening because of how fast he was walking. It was still weak, and needed to heal, but he just continued on walking. It was hard to ignore the amount of pain stabbing into it, but he just kept trying. He remembered Frost's threat, and Kena was crying. I'm dead. I know it. I messed up. Oh well, not that it'll matter anyway. I'm a useless waist of air.

Kimu was more focused on getting away, he didn't realize he was now leaving a trail of blood splatters everywhere he went. Darn it! I gotta hide that... But how? I'll just bleed all over it again, and it won't matter. I'll have just waisted time. He continued to swiftly walk away, looking behind himself and staring at the disgusting red trail he was leaving. It honestly looked like a hoard of zombies went for a walk through the forest.

Muli was now watching the trail behind him, he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking. A click sound made his ears swivel in the direction, but he decided it was just a bird. Large teeth smashed into his front paw, making him yowl at the pain. He looked down at the spot, seeing a big metal thing jamming deep into his paw. He tried to tug his paw out of it, but it wouldn't let go. It tore deep into his paw, causing large puncture marks in it. Oh no. What do I do?! I'm stuck! He thought quickly, grabbing the one side and trying to pry it open with his tiny jaws. It creaked a bit, but didn't budge. "Let go!" He commanded the strange monster, unaware it wasn't a living thing. "Let go!" He cried with a more pleading tone this time. "Please! That hurts me!" He cried, now having more tears down his face. He tried to back up out of the monster's jaws, but he could hear his fur being torn every time he struggled. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll leave ya territory! Just please let my paw go!" The thing underneath him now had its teeth and face covered by his blood. "Let me go... Uh I don't feel good." He said, now having a tired voice. His vision started to fade away and he stared at the ground underneath him. He was panicking so much he could hear his heart beating in his chest. He groaned before falling over on his side, gasping from the amount of pain he was feeling in his chest and paw. It's gonna eat me, isn't it? Oh well, then at least Kena will forget about me.. He closed his eyes, gasping. "Just eat me if ya want... I don't care. Go ahead, weird ground monster." He sighed and opened his eyes, noticing the thing not moving. Wait, it's not alive, right? It's dead. Or, it's a weird contraption someone else made. He groaned again and just layed there. If he's not gonna eat me, I'll probably just bleed out. The sound of footsteps was heard nearby, and he looked in that direction. A small, white, fluffy thing was sitting there, staring at him. A rabbit? He gasped and closed his eyes, hearing the thing come closer. I think it's confused why I'm sittin' here bleeding to death.. He reopened his eyes, seeing it standing right next to him, sniffing him. Right as it realized he was still awake, it bounced away into the forest, turning around to look at him once more before continuing to hop away. "I hope you live, little guy." He groaned. "Also, remember to watch where you step..." He said before slowly closing his eyes again, and just waiting there.