Journey to Hope: The Journey Begins

Chapter 4

The sun was setting behind the mountains, and the sky was slowly growing dark. It wasn't completely dark out, but Pinecone longed for some sleep. He could barely keep up with the group, his paws aching and his eyes drooping. All the walking had made him very exhausted. He looked at the ground, not really paying attention to where he was going.

"Halt," Night shouted.

The pack stopped walking. Pinecone wasn't paying attention, and bumped into Olive.

"Hey, there, watch it!" Olive snapped.

"Sorry," Pinecone whispered.

"We must stay here and make camp," Night said, "It will be dark soon."

Pinecone looked around him. They were in a forest clearing, and the trees were mostly pine trees. The ground was coated with dead pine needles. The familiar scent of the tree's needles was strong here, and filled Pinecone's head with happy memories every deep breath.

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Crystal asked.

"There's a fallen tree over there," Night said, turning his head, "I'll check and see if it's claimed. If it's not, we'll sleep there."

The large tree that had fallen had roots that acted like a large shelter. Pinecone knew that many different creatures could live there, including spiders. Pinecone's fur crawled at the thought of the creepy-crawly bugs. He had never been fond of spiders, or bugs at all.

Night walked off to go check out the shelter. The pack sat in silence, waiting for their leader to return.

"What do we do now?" Destiny asked, breaking the silence.

"We be patient," Olive snapped, "That's what we do."

Pinecone never spoke to Olive- he always seemed to be snapping about something. He was Oak's grandfather, and he was the oldest member in the pack. He still had a lot of strength for his old age, but he was very grumpy.

"How long is this going to take?" Destiny groaned impatiently.

"It takes time to inspect a fallen tree," Olive said.

"Well, it's taking forever!" Destiny complained.

While the two continued to argue, Pinecone stared off into the distance, his thoughts distracting him from the sound.

"What's wrong?" Clover asked. She seemed to appear out of nowhere, which jumped him.

"I just miss home," Pinecone admitted before sighing.

"I know," Clover said in a voice that was trying to comfort him, "we all do."

"Thank you," Pinecone said with a smile.

"No problem." Clover said before she walked off to go talk to her sister.

Pinecone sighed. He had been a single pup, growing up with no siblings. At least he had Oak to grow up with- they had been best friends since they were tiny pups. Now they barely ever spoke to each other. Oak had a mate and two pups, but Pinecone didn't have any family. His father had died of a sickness, and he had personally never met his mother. At least he had Clover to talk to. He had secret feelings for her, but he was afraid to confess. He had a feeling she wouldn't accept him.

After a little while, Night had finished inspecting the den. It was dark out now, the only source of light being the moon and stars.

One by one, the mongooses entered the shelter, all showing signs of weariness. It had been a long day. Pinecone, however, laid down outside of the shelter.

"Why don't you come in?" Honeycomb asked him.

"I'm good, thanks," Pinecone snapped, not realizing he was being rude to her.

Pinecone didn't want to go in for more than a fear of spiders. Instead, he felt he didn't belong.

What have I done to help this pack anyway? He thought. His eyes were closed now, and all he had to do was wait for sleep to come.