Chapter 2

Time slowly passed. The sun slowly started sinking. Lower and lower and lower, until it was almost gone. The sky turned shades of pink and gray and the full moon begun to rise. Yet, Kate's mother still hasn't returned. The young fox sat outside their den, grooming herself. Every once in a while she would stare out at the fields beyond their home, waiting and watching for the moment her mom would come back. But it still hasn't happened. Closing her eyes, she turned away from the horizon and crawled back into her family's den. "Hey! Did mom come back yet?"Ferno greeted her, attempting a cheerful voice but failing. "No."Kate replied. There was a short moment of silence between them before Kate turned to Ferno. "What if she never comes back?"she asked, fear and worry clear in her voice. "Don't worry, she will. She always does. Remember that time we lost her rabbit pelt? Or the time we broke her sparrow feather? She came back after both of those."Ferno tried to reassure his sister. "But what if she doesn't?"Kate asked again, her sadness slowly turning into anger. She turned to Ferno, her green eyes blazing with anger. "That's all you do! Reassure people! You never actually take action! You're always thinking about yourself! At least I picked up Lily's body and carried her here! What did you do? Oh that's right! You wanted to run away! Leave our sister behind for the humans! How could you reassure people when you yourself is a coward?"she exploded. Almost without knowing it, her hind paws pushed off the ground, sending her body toward Ferno.

 

Everything happened in a flash. One minute Kate was shouting at her brother. The next Kate felt a spray of blood hit her muzzle. She looked down at what she had done in horror. It was gone. She had ripped her brother's left ear in half. Her green eyes widened and all signs of anger disappeared from it. "Oh...oh my...."she trailed off, climbing off her brother and took a few steps back. Slowly, her brother rose from the ground and stared at her, shock clear on his face. "I'm...I'm sorry."Kate barked softly, still not fully acknowledging what had just happened. "I...I..I have to...to..." Without finishing his sentence, Ferno streaked past Kate and out of the den. "Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean too!"Kate shouted and ran after her brother.

 

She burst out into the crisp,cold autumn air and looked around wildly for her brother. Kate managed to spot a dark figure running towards Raccoon Forest and chased after it, shouting her brother's name all the way. The figure moved farther and farther away until Kate lost it in Raccoon Forest. She skidded to a stop, breathless, and carefully started walking into the forest. It wasn't like there was a huge monster in there or anything but if you didn't pay attention to what you were stepping on, you could get a nasty thorn in your paw. "Ferno?"she called out. There was no reply. "Ferno?"she called out again she as moved along in the forest. Her ears suddenly picked up a splashing sound from nearby. That has to be him. Kate followed the sound until she came across a shallow stream that poured into a small pond. And at the edge of the pond sat her brother, splashing water onto his ear. Quietly, she padded over to him and waited behind him for a few seconds before speaking up. "It isn't healthy to wash wounds with water. There could be germs."

 

There was a yelp of surprise from her brother and a splash. Water sprayed onto Kate's chest and face. Instinctively she closed her eyes and shielded her face with one of her paws. When she opened her eyes again she saw Ferno sitting in the pond, soaked wet. At the sight of this, Kate could help but giggle. She tried to hide it by putting a paw over her mouth but it was pretty much useless. "Not funny."Ferno said in a emotionless voice. Kate looked at Ferno. Ferno looked back. After a few seconds of staring, Ferno got out of the pond and shook himself, spraying water on his sister. "Hey!"Kate barked, taking a few steps back. "What? Scared of a little water? Who's the coward now huh?"Ferno teased and ran away. "Still you!"Kate replied, glad to have her brother back. She chased after him and they ran out of Raccoon Forest, tackling each other in the soft grass of the meadow.