(CANCELLED) Journey to Hope: The Journey Begins

Chapter 1

Clover awoke to a loud bang, which startled her. She immediately sat up and looked around her.

She then heard a loud creak behind her, and she snapped her head around to see where the sound was coming from. A tree had fallen behind her, hitting the ground with a crash.

Clover then saw another tree fall. Then another, and yet another. The falling trees were coming closer and closer to her. Clover's heart started pounding. What was she to do? Call for help? No, It was too loud, no one would hear her. Run away? No, a tree would hit her. She knew this was a matter of life or death, and she had to make a decision.

Suddenly, the shadow of a tree started to fall over her. She jumped out of the way, and just in time before the tree hit the ground. She started sprinting towards the dens to warn her pack of what was happening.

She leaped into the den, and she hit the ground with a thud.

"What's wrong?" Crystal asked.

Crystal looked at her sister. Clover was gasping for air, struggling to breathe. Her fur was standing on end, and her eyes were wide with fear.

"What in Brightfields name is going on?" Night demanded.

Clover was unable to answer. She could barely breathe.

Crystal walked over to her. "Calm down, Clover. What happened?"

"T-trees... Falling... Many of them!" Clover stuttered, still in shock, "They're heading right towards us!"

Jasmine, a small, dark gray mongoose spoke up. "That's it! I've had it with these tall, furless creatures! Killing my parents and destroying our home!"

The trees continued to crash to the ground, getting closer with each fall. Night, the pack's leader, started to run outside the den, but he looked behind him to see that no one was following him.

Night ran outside the den after that, and the pack followed him. One by one, the pack left the den, running, screeching, and rikk-tikking in fear.

A young mongoose named Bandit was still in the den. He had been trying to get out, but couldn't squeeze his way through everyone else. Every time he tried to get out, he got pushed. But by the time the last mongoose had left, Bandit was sure he could get out.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. a tree had fallen in front of the den.

Bandit climbed over the tree with no problem. But something made him freeze once he was out.

His mate was still in there. She was crying for help on the other side of the tree.

Bandit knew she couldn't climb over by herself- she was expecting pups. And a tree was bound to fall on the den very soon. Bandit knew he'd most likely lose his pack and get left behind, but his heart was with his family. He climbed on top of the fallen tree, and saw that Jasmine was looking up at him, fear clearly showing on her face.

"Bandit, Help me!" She shouted.

Bandit was panicked, unsure what to do. His heart raced in his chest, making him feel dizzy.

He suddenly heard a loud creak out of nowhere, and knew it was another tree. With no time to lose, he leaped down next to Jasmine and started to push her up on top of the tree that had fallen. Jasmine tumbled off the tree when she made it to the top, and Bandit climbed over the tree again, safely landing next to her on the ground.

And just in time, because a huge tree landed on top of the den with an ear-deafening bang that ringed painfully in Bandit's ears.

Bandit and Jasmine started running towards where he knew the forest ended, but Bandit slowed down his pace so that Jasmine stayed by his side. Slowly, a bright light started to pour into Bandit's eyes, and he knew this was the end of the forest. When the ground texture changed, Bandit knew they had left the forest. The sound of creaking and crashing trees was slowly starting to fade away.

When Bandit couldn't take the running anymore, his paws collapsed. He laid on his side, with his heart pounding harshly, and his throat sore. He found himself gasping for air, struggling to breathe.

"Jasmine," He gasped, forcing out her name over his rapid breathing.

"I'm right here," Jasmine said. She sounded like she was out of breath as well, but not gasping for air like he was.

Once he caught his breath, he looked up to see where he was. The forest was nowhere in sight, and neither was the pack. The sound of trees crashing to the ground was far away now, and it was only made up of distant echoes. They were surrounded by a sandy area, and he could smell the salty ocean. Bandit sat up, but when his left forepaw touched the sand, it instantly stung his paw pad. He yanked his paw up off of the ground, and sure enough, he was bleeding. There was a large cut all the way across his paw pad.

"That looks like a pretty nasty cut, Bandit," Jasmine observed, "Wait here while I go look for some herbs."

"Yes, please hurry," Bandit hissed in pain, his paw still bleeding. Jasmine hurried off into some nearby bushes.

Jasmine had a lot of herb knowledge. She was always interested in herbs, but Shadow, their healer, already had another apprentice named Dove at the time. Dove was blind, and her disability forced her to hold her position. But Dove had passed away not too long ago, and a tiny pup named Lilac was next in line to become a healer. Shadow would often teach Jasmine about herbs, just in case anything happened to him and they needed a new healer.

Jasmine came back with some herbs in her mouth. She sat next to Bandit and dropped the herbs so she could speak.

"I couldn't find any cobwebs, but I found some moss," she informed.

Jasmine treated Bandit, and after a little bit, he had stopped bleeding.

Bandit looked up. The ocean was far but visible, and the sky was glowing pink and orange, reflecting sparkling light off of the water. He was awed by the beauty of the ocean sunset that he had never seen before.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jasmine asked, as if she had read his mind.

"Yes, it is," Bandit replied weakly before flopping to the ground. His body was exhausted, and his eyes were drooping. He felt Jasmine's head rest on his flank, and her soft breathing calmed him. After a few short moments, Bandit was fast asleep.