Yellow Red did not leave the whelping den yesterday. This is something that has not happened before but, with her illness, I understand she does not wish to lose bark needlessly.
At least her magics are still just as strong as they were before. I could hear Second pacing around outside the whelping den a bit and, though it did not howl, I know it is worried too. Ambercrown and the Predator have both returned multiple times. I hid the first time Ambercrown returned but a strange thing happened: she noticed I was gone.
For the first time, Ambercrown has realized I am here. If it weren't for Yellow Red's brilliant scheme to maintain her position, I would be mortified that I failed so horrendously in my stealth training. As it is, when Ambercrown returned, she started looking around the cloud thing until she found me wedged underneath. I stayed as still as possible, trying to hide, but once she saw me there was little choice in the matter. It took her but a moment to drag me out, beat me once against the cloud thing to make sure I was properly tenderized, and then drop me next to Yellow Red.
Apparently she was satisfied that Yellow Red would not starve at that point because she barked once more softly and left.
I'm proud of my alpha for her trick, but I am not sure how to feel about being thought of as a kill.... or a snack.
The night was quiet despite Second pacing out in the tunnel behind the side. Yellow Red mostly stayed in her cloud thing, but eventually Whiteflower and Dirty Sap returned from their hunt to spend the night in the whelping den.
They must have sensed my Alpha's weakness and come to act as guards against Ambrecrown, Second and Evil. Even with us all together, I do not believe we could defend against the Predator, but we stand a better chance together than not.
Unlike most nights when we are all together, we were mostly quiet. Dirty Sap seemed to have picked up a few more scrapes and there were even a few places where her branches looked brittle... more brittle. Whiteflower, for all her skill, is simply too sun-bleached to hide her injuries. Her white bark shows off the spots where her sap must have been running very clearly.
I do not know what caught them, they still haven't recovered enough strength from their illness to speak clearly, but from their brush and bark, it must have been devastating. I would have guessed the Predator except he has been in or around the den for days.
Not to mention that if he had caught them, I doubt there would be enough left to replant.
Regardless, from the unmoving corpses that Whiteflower brought back from her hunt, it is apparent that we will likely have to rely upon Evil's cache for the night. Even though Whiteflower is the strongest hunter amongst us, her offerings were rather small today.
Perhaps the Unmoving tribe outside is becoming restless. If they learn that Yellow Red is injured, we could all be in danger.
No matter how skilled a hunter, a herd of prey can still trample and uproot you if you are caught unprepared.
For the first time, I was allowed to sleep on the cloud thing, curled up between my pack mates. Yellow Red remained near her hole in the side while Dirty Sap slunk off to the end with the upright Unmoving corpses. Whiteflower had started near the middle, but some time during the night, must have decided to scout because when I woke, she was on the ground tangled in the thin cloud thing and growling softly.
We rose with the Phoenix's eye watching us, Yellow Red and I. While the others slept, she paced around the whelping den and started to put things into the traveling den. After a while, she left through the side and came back like she always does.
I watched from the cloud thing as my alpha prepared for the hunt.
She was efficient, taking many things and snacks as she stalked around the den majestically. A few crushed Unmoving went into the traveling den followed by a few of their small yellow branches. One of their young, a bloated bud that she so favored, found its way into the den next, sealing its fate. A few more trinkets and snacks and she finally seemed ready to rouse the others.
With a yapping bark that jolted Dirty Sap clear off the cloud thing, Yellow Red called her pack to order.
Or would have if Whiteflower hadn't trapped herself in the thin cloud.
Either way, within minutes we were all ready to begin the hunt and as we started for the side, I almost made it out into the tunnel before Yellow Red turned around and pointed back at the cloud thing.
Ah... I am supposed to be dead and buried.
I had forgotten.
It was a strange thing, I realized sometime later, but being alone in the whelping den when my alpha and pack were absent left an uneasy feeling in my trunk. I could hear them, one of my twigs was still in the traveling den after all, but it was so far away that I found it uncomfortable.
The sense that I was near, yet distant, left me feeling oddly helpless. I could hear them hunting, barking softly and yapping back and forth as they herded their prey, but for the life of me, I could neither tell what they were hunting nor how well they were succeeding.
While their voices were strong, I knew my pack put up a great many bluffs, trusting in my Alpha's leadership almost as much as Whiteflower's hunting skills. I knew I could trust them all, even Dirty Sap with her strange branch leaping, but I also knew that there was little I could do if they got into trouble.
I was guarding the whelping den, pretending to be dead if Ambercrown investigated.
They were herding prey, apparently desperate enough for a fresh kill that they had decided against stealth.
I was watching the den, listening to Second beyond the Side.
They were acting together, as a pack.
I was safe, at the den, waiting.
And then they became quiet before erupting into yaps and snarls and barking that only quieted down when another voice cut through.
I waited, listening and shuddering, as they grew quiet... until only the louder voice remained.
It was a long day as the Phoenix's eye crept across the outside. I spent it under the cloud thing, tucked as far back as I could from the rest of the whelping den.
I was listening.
At first, I thought that they had been caught and perhaps eaten, but after a time... far too long... I heard Whiteflower bark softly.
I nearly broke a twig on the cloud thing as I stood up.
If Whiteflower was alive, then surely Dirty Sap and Yellow Red were as well. Whiteflower was the strongest hunter amongst us and Dirty Sap possessed those strange branches that let her leap such great distances. If any could survive such an ambush as had apparently befallen my pack, it would be my pack. After all, with Yellow Red's magic and tactics, they had probably seen the ambush and simply engaged long enough to feign death until it was safe to remove themselves.
Certainly with the sounds of battle that had briefly flooded my senses that is what had happened.
So it was with great urgency that I scrabbled up to the hole in the side to watch for their return.
A sound behind me nearly made me fall to pieces when I realized how weak my Alpha must truly be...
The magic had failed and the Tunnel was visible.
Worse, Second had stalked in and was watching me.