Journey to Hope: The Journey Begins

Chapter 5

The pack had walked all day once again with no rest. The sun was low in the sky, but it wasn't quite getting dark yet. Crystal scuffed her paws as she walked. She was looking down at the ground, not watching where she was going.

"Halt!" Night shouted seemingly out of nowhere. Crystal stopped dead in her tracks, and she looked up as if it was directly part of Night's command.

Crystal saw a fast-flowing river up ahead. She began to feel anxious, knowing they'd have to cross it.

"How do we cross it?" a mongoose named River asked.

"I thought with your name, you'd know how to cross a river," Olive teased unkindly.

"Ha, ha," River said sarcastically, "Very funny."

"Hush," a nearby pack member shushed, "Night needs to tell us what to do."

River just scoffed, and Olive rolled his eyes.

"There's a large band of rocks over there," Jasmine observed, "we could use those to get across."

"Good idea," Night praised.

He walked over to the side of the river in front of the rocks, and the pack lined up in single file behind him.

"Follow my steps," Night instructed.

He stepped onto the first rock. He waited for a moment, then moved carefully onto the rock, one paw at a time.

"It's stable," He said, "It shouldn't fall."

The mongooses slowly began to make their way across, one by one.

Jasmine was following the group, and was seeming to struggle with walking across. Bandit was trying his best to help her. Crystal knew Jasmine's pups were going to be born sooner than later, and she figured they'd have to find a place to settle so Jasmine could rest.

Soon it was Crystal's turn to cross. She looked down at the rocks, and then back up again. Crystal didn't like getting wet, but she knew one wrong step could cost her her life. She slowly walked onto the first rock, and then the second one. Once she was on the other side, she felt a rush of relief.

Her relief was abruptly disrupted when she heard a loud yell and splash. She snapped her head around, and there was her sister. She was helplessly struggling to stay above the current that was pulling her away.

Honeycomb, Pinecone, and Crystal started to follow her along the river banks, running as fast as they could. They tried desperately to keep up with her.

"Let her go!" some shouted from behind, "it's too late for her!"

I can't leave my sister, Crystal thought to herself, but she knew she couldn't look back. She had to keep up. She was beginning to feel tired and sore, and she was losing her breath. She was quickly slowing down.

"Pinecone, do something!" She shouted.

"Honeycomb," Pinecone shouted without hesitation, "can you run ahead of her?"

Honeycomb, being the fast runner she was, dashed ahead.

Crystal fell to the ground from exhaustion. She couldn't run anymore. Honeycomb was starting to get tired, but she kept running. Honeycomb dashed past Clover like Pinecone had said.

"Grab a twig!" Pinecone hollered. Honeycomb found a large stick in her path and picked it up with her mouth. Pinecone yelled to Honeycomb to lower the stick into the water.

"Grab onto the stick, Clover," Pinecone yelled. As soon as Clover swept to the stick, she grabbed it with her mouth and gripped on tight.

"Pull!" Pinecone screamed.

Honeycomb pulled the stick firmly, but carefully so Clover wouldn't lose her grip. When Clover was halfway up, the stick snapped. She pulled herself up onto land.

"Are you alright?" Honeycomb asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Clover gasped right before she coughed up a bit of water.

There was a long pause, and Clover was the one to finally break the lengthy silence. "We need to keep going-"

"No," Honeycomb said, "You need to rest. We'll make camp here for the night."

Crystal came rushing over. "Are you alright, sis?"

"Yes," Clover replied, "I'm fine. I guess Honeycomb is right. I need rest."

Clover looked to her left, and Jasmine was sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. She hadn't been running, but it was hard for her to walk at this point because of her pups.

"We all need rest," Clover said.