Journey to Hope: The Journey Begins

Chapter 13

It had been a week since the pack had settled. The burrows were finished, and pack life went on as normal. trainees got lessons from their mentors, the pack members went hunting in assigned groups, and Crystal tried her best at being a leader.

It was morning, and Crystal was out on a walk around the territory. The territory was quite large, and there was plenty of space to go on walks.

Crystal heard something in the bushes, but thought nothing of it. Suddenly, she felt a paw swipe at her tail. She turned around, and there was Flame. Crystal noticed a scar on his eye, and his pupil was white and blinded.

"C-Crystal! T-there you are!" Flame gasped. He was breathing very heavily, as if he had been running for his life.

"Flame?" Crystal gasped in shock, "I thought you were dead!"

"No," Flame sighed, "I'm not. B-but I have to tell you something! R-River attacked me!"

"River... attacked you? Are you alright?"

Crystal didn't get an answer- Flame just fainted. It must be from all that running, Crystal thought, He must be exhausted.

Crystal couldn't stay with Flame- she needed to go to Water-pack territory to see what was up. That was where River lived, and Crystal decided she needed to have a talk with him to see what he said.

When Crystal arrived at Water-pack's border, She saw Pinecone, guarding the border.

"Hello, Crystal," Pinecone greeted, "What brings you to Water-pack territory?"

"I need to discuss something with one of your pack members," Crystal sighed with an ache in her heart. The pack was separated now, and the mongooses no longer treated each other like friends. They were still friendly with each other, but Crystal knew there was a difference.

"Did something happen, Crystal?" Pinecone asked.

"Yes. You see, Flame just showed up on our territory, and he says one of your pack members attacked him," Crystal answered.

"Flame? You mean as in-"

"Yes," Crystal interrupted, "But could I speak to River, please?"

"Oh, River?" Pinecone asked with widened eyes, "He actually disappeared two days ago. We've sent out search patrols, but no one's found him yet. We also lost Rain on the same day, and we think she's wherever River is."

"Strange," Crystal said, "But we'll keep an eye out for them."

"Thank you," Pinecone said. Crystal nodded, and then headed back to Leaf-pack territory.

Later that day at sundown, Crystal was resting on a warm rock, and she was listening to the calm sound of Crystal Creek flowing lightly. She was having a moment to herself. After all, she had been busy all day.

Suddenly, she heard another mongoose crying for help. She sat up and looked around for whoever was calling.

"Hello?" Crystal called out. There was no answer. Crystal climbed off of the rock, and ran towards where she heard the voice.

Crystal stopped. She saw who was calling- Rain. Rain's paw was tangled in a bush, and her leg was all scratched up and bleeding. The young trainee was struggling to get free. Crystal came over and started biting the end of the branch so it would break off of the bush. When the stick came free, it was still twisted around Rain's leg. Crystal pulled it off with her teeth.

"Are you okay, Rain?" Crystal asked.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered with a shiver, "I'm fine, but my leg hurts."

"Well, let's get you back to camp-"

Suddenly, someone knocked Crystal over. Rain screeched and tried to run away, but she collapsed due to the pain in her back leg. Crystal looked up at the mongoose that knocked her over, and there was River.

"What do you think you're doing?" River growled, pressing his leg down on Crystal's side.

"Get off of me," Crystal hissed before biting River's leg. River squeaked in pain and rolled over. River ran at Crystal, but Crystal moved. Crystal crawled on top of River, pinning him down.

"What do you think you're doing?" Crystal whispered in a harsh tone.

"Oh, I don't know," River laughed before rolling over, which made Crystal fall backwards. River pinned Crystal down again, tighter this time so she couldn't move.

"Why are you doing this?" Crystal cried.

"Because, I want that pup dead. Smoke. I've seen in my dreams that he will be the end of me. If I kill him now, he won't be alive to make the prophecy come true. The sooner I kill him, the better. Smoke will only ruin the Paradise Place."

"How? He's only a pup!" Crystal growled.

"He will put everyone in danger for generations. This must be stopped."

Suddenly, someone knocked River over. It was Pinecone.

"What do you want?" River growled.

"You've been awfully silent since Ruby was killed. Anything to say, River?"

"Fine! If you're really curious, it was me! Flame got what he deserved!" River confessed.

"Get out of our pack, and never return. You have been exiled." Pinecone demanded.

"Fools!" River hissed before running off into the bushes.

Pinecone and Clover looked at each other. Crystal was really confused at why River told Pinecone this. If River stayed quiet, maybe Pinecone wouldn't have known, so why did River share that? Did he want to be exiled?