The Search for Jetfur

Chapter 9

            Tigerstripe's eyes sprang open to find the young she-fox leaning over him with curiosity. His heart beat rapidly, at first alarmed by the desperation in the fox's voice, but he found her calm and collected, pushing at his side with her small paws. As Tigerstripe began to rise, the fox moved away, smiling.
            It was morning now, and the sun was shining its golden rays over the unknown forest that Tigerstripe and his new fox friend had wandered into.
            Tigerstripe stared at the fox, sighing. He had secretly wished that she would've gone in the middle of the night back to her family.
            "Oh, you're still here," he grumbled to himself, his stomach growling.
            "What?" the fox asked, confused as to why Tigerstripe would expect her to be missing.
            Tigerstripe sighed and glanced around at the new day before him. Perhaps today would be the day he found Jetfur, or so he thought. He would tell himself this every single day, but he found himself coming no closer to finding his black-furred friend. Instead, all he'd found was an insane she-cat and a young fox who were clearly of little help.
            "Guess I could do for some breakfast," he muttered, ignoring the fox's pacing around him.
            He ventured farther into the woods, the fox following behind just as she'd done the day prior. He knew now there was probably no way in StarClan that she'd turn around and go home to her family, so he continued on his way, keeping his eye out for any signs of prey that would satisfy his empty stomach.
            As he continued across the forest floor, his eyes caught movement by a nearby bush. He at once spotted rabbit ears popping up near the bush, and he crouched down, stalking towards the prey. The fox, knowing how to handle the situation by now, froze and sat down, patiently waiting.
            Tigerstripe cautiously approached the rabbit, watching as it nibbled on a nearby berry. As soon as it turned toward Tigerstripe, its eyes widened in fear. Before it could move, however, Tigerstripe had already leapt and shoved his claws into its throat, killing it instantly.
            The dead rabbit hanging limp in his jaws, Tigerstripe trotted happily back over to the fox and began nibbling on his rabbit, watching as the fox paced around for any sign of her own prey. Tigerstripe laughed to herself, knowing that catching the rabbit had been pure luck. It would be a miracle if she could catch any prey of her own.
            Still, as Tigerstripe gnawed on the rabbit, he felt a pang of sympathy for the fox, and he wondered if Jetfur had ever been like this, hopelessly wandering in the forest for some prey or something to eat. Sighing, Tigerstripe pushed the half-eaten rabbit away from him.
            "You can have the rest," he said to the fox.
            "Hurray!" the fox exclaimed, grabbing the rabbit from Tigerstripe and quickly gulping it down. For such a small fox, she had a large appetite.
            Tigerstripe hoped feeding the fox wouldn't tempt her to stay. It was only meant as an act of kindness, but not an act of "I want you to travel with me" kindness.
            So as soon as the fox had licked the rest of the rabbit clean, Tigerstripe got up on his way again and padded through the woods, his eyes scanning the trees for any movement, his nose held high in the air for any unknown scents.
            The fox, happy that her stomach was satisfied, skipped closely behind him. Tigerstripe attempted to ignore her and continued on, hoping her skipping would come to an end.
            The fox continued her skipping though and opened her mouth to begin singing a song in fox tongue. She wasn't the best singer, and her screech echoed through the woods. Tigerstripe shuddered and turned around to face her.
            "Are you ever going to leave?" he wondered, rolling his eyes.
            The little fox stopped her singing for a moment and pondered.
            "Hm...Nope!" she exclaimed, beginning to skip again and screech her fox song.
            "Ugh," Tigerstripe grunted, continuing to move through the forest.
            This went on for what seemed like hours, Tigerstripe trudging through the woods while the fox still skipped behind him and sung a variety of fox songs that perhaps her mother had taught her as a young kit.
            Suddenly, Tigerstripe swore he saw movement out of the corner of his eye by a nearby tree. He paused, then froze as the fox fell silent. Why had she stopped singing? After hours of singing, why had she stopped now?
            "Why did you stop?" Tigerstripe asked, only now realizing her singing had comforted him. He enjoyed hearing someone speak rather than listening to silence.
            The fox's ears were pricked, and she shivered to herself.
            "Cat, listen," she whispered.
            Tigerstripe listened, but all he could hear was absolute silence.
            "What?" Tigerstripe hissed after a period of silence.
            It was only a few heart beats later that he heard an off-putting sound.
            Sssss.
            It was a hissing sound, but much too smooth to belong to a cat.
            "Uh..." Tigerstripe felt his heart began to beat rapidly, and he spun around to where the hissing sound was coming from.
            A large snake, a cobra to be exact, slithered out from behind a tree. It towered over both Tigerstripe and the fox, its amber eyes radiating with evil. Tigerstripe couldn't help but think of the snake that had appeared in his dream that had swallowed Jetfur. He froze, unsure of what to do.
            Tigerstripe's adrenaline finally began to work, and he shouted, "RUN!" taking off from the cobra. As he ran, however, he noticed there were no footsteps behind him, and he spun around to find the fox frozen in fear as the cobra advanced.
            "No!" Tigerstripe hissed, racing back toward the very creature that was attempting to kill him. Before the snake could strike, he grabbed the fox kit by the scruff and took off as fast as his legs could carry him.
            The cobra, though he assumed it to be slow, slithered very quickly after him. Tigerstripe's heart raced, and he raced faster and faster, trying to find any way to avoid the cobra's deadly strike.
            Hearing the sound of rushing water, Tigerstripe advanced after it and after racing through some bushes, he found a streaming river. Glancing back to see the cobra still approaching, Tigerstripe quickly leapt into the river with the fox still in his grip.
            The fox squirmed as the cold water hit both of them, and Tigerstripe himself shivered as the water rushed against his pelt. He had never swam that much before, but he had to escape the deadly creature. And so he paddled as fast as he could across the river, struggling to keep hold of the fox and to keep both of them afloat.
            The river's currents pushed at both sides of him, and he struggled to move against them. He thought of Jetfur, and this gave him the courage to continue swimming. Finally, he reached the edge of the river and plopped the wet and exhausted fox kit on the shore. Then, he climbed out of the river, soaking and exhausted, glancing back over at the cobra.
            The cobra had stopped at the edge of the river Tigerstripe and the fox had crossed, its forked tongue rattling angrily. Its eyes' amber glow quickly faded as it disappeared back into the woods, leaving them alone. Tigerstripe looked down to see the little fox staring at where the fox had disappeared in great fear.
            "Is it gone?" he asked, though he wasn't sure exactly who he was asking.
            The little fox's eyes were bugged out in fear. She turned to him and slowly nodded, still shaken by the chase.
            "Come on. Let's go," Tigerstripe instructed, turning around and heading back into the forest.
            "But-but," the fox argued, her tail pointed to the spot where the cobra had disappeared.
            "Come on!" he said, beginning to walk away.
            After a few moments, the fox must've realized she didn't want to be left behind, and she quickly hurried after Tigerstripe.
            "Cobra...in my dream was," she explained.
            "Yeah, well, the cobra's gone, so let's go," he said, continuing to walk through the woods. He too was still shaken up from the chase, but he had to remain brave. He couldn't cower in fear over a measly snake. He had seen much worse things.
            "But, cobra in dream cat catch, me cat tried save...But cobra swallowed," she spoke fearfully.
            Tigerstripe paused, his odd dream coming back to him altogether now. He still could not close his eyes without seeing the jaws of the snake enclose around Jetfur.
            "What cat?" he asked quietly.
            "Uh, cat, black pelt. She-cat. Cobra hiss scary. 'Beware the cobra'."
            "Jetfur!" Tigerstripe exclaimed, his heart pounding. How was it this fox had experienced the very same dream as he had?
            "Who Jet?" she asked, looking very confused.
            "A cat I'm looking for," Tigerstripe exclaimed.
            "Met named cat 'Jetfur' once too. Shelter needed so me her allowed to stay in me den," she explained casually. "All wet from storm."
            "What?!" Tigerstripe exclaimed, shocked. This fox must've seen Jetfur immediately after the storm! Perhaps she wasn't useless to him after all!
            "Do you know where she went?" he demanded.
            "Kind of," the fox spoke weakly. "Me her walked den out of for little bit. Then me left. Come back to den." She stopped, glancing back up at Tigerstripe. "Sorry, cat, language bad."
            "Can you take me back to your den?" he wondered, thinking that perhaps he'd be able to catch a whiff of Jetfur and follow the clues from there.
            "Follow," the fox replied, beginning to walk.
            It was odd with the fox leading the way now, but Tigerstripe obeyed and followed her throughout the remainder of the day, excitement flooding through him. Perhaps he was closer to finding Jetfur than he thought! Oh, just the very idea of seeing her again filled him with excitement!
            They walked for a long time until the sky once again began to get dark. Tigerstripe searched the forest for some type of shelter until he spotted a nearby log.
            "In there," he said, pointing out the log to the fox. "We can sleep in there."
            "Okay," the little fox agreed, stepping inside after Tigerstripe.
            Tigerstripe curled up inside the log, the fox curling up next to him. It was a tight squeeze, but Tigerstripe didn't really mind. At least he'd soon see Jetfur again. That was all that mattered.