• Night slowly slipped past into dawn, and Kioshi snuck out of his make-shift den, sitting on a ledge, stared out as the sun came up and peaked over the top of the trees. The cold wind nipped his fur, automatically causing him to curl into a ball, yelping a little when he moved his sore leg.
    “A little cold out, isn’t it?” Taya’s voice sounded from behind him. Kioshi jumped a little from surprise, but recovered shortly after.
    “Yeah…”
    “You couldn’t sleep well?” Taya asked again.
    “Not really. It just… doesn’t feel like home. Plus, Mother used to always watch the sunrise with me and Shen. So, now me and Shen are considered orphans?” Kioshi questioned.
    “Sadly, yes, you are, but it’ll be okay, I promise. And Shen promises too,” Taya comforted the younger pup. “You better get back to sleep; you’ve got a long day ahead of you.” With that, Taya walked away, leaving the pup alone.
    He trudged back to his make-shift den and curled into a ball. Though no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fall back asleep. A rustling noise made his head shoot up, and stuck his muzzled high in the air, try to sense who it was.
    “Shh, it’s just me, Shen.” Shen whispered. Kioshi relaxed a bit as he saw Shen walk through the brambles.
    “I tried to fall back to sleep, but I couldn’t, so I came to see if you were awake.” Shen said, lying down next to Kioshi.
    “Same here.” His bark was muffled by Shen’s fur.
    “So, what are we gonna do today?” Kioshi asked.
    “I think today we’ll gather up food and get ready, and then we’ll leave just before sunset.”
    “Where are we going?” Kioshi asked worriedly.
    “We can’t stay here forever. We’re going to go and track down the Yakedo, get revenge, and if we survive after that, we might com back here.”
    “Oh, so we’re getting revenge? Who said I wanted to come?!” Kioshi said stubbornly.
    “You don’t want to get revenge on the people who killed you family!?” Shen said astonished.
    “I don’t know, it just feels wrong, and I don’t think our clan would be happy if we did this,” Kioshi had worry in his eyes.
    “What do you mean, wrong!? We’d be helping them!” Shen snapped.
    “Well, I guess we could…”
    “That’s the spirit! Okay, I’m going to go eat, you coming?” Shen said excitedly.
    “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”
    “Okay, don’t be long!” She called, and then trotted off.

    So I was then all like ‘Rawr! I will kill you!’ in this cute voice, so Mother scolded me!”
    “That’s so wrong!”
    “That’s not fair!”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It was annoying… Hey, Shen! I was just tellin’ the pups ‘bout that time, remember?”
    “No, I don’t remember, Taya. In fact, you had a lot of times.” Shen recalled as she sat down next to her friend.
    “It was the time that Mother wouldn’t give me that mouse, so I was all like ‘Rawr! I will kill you!’ in my cute little voice, so she scolded me!”
    “I actually don’t think you told me about that time. Hmm… that’s surprising.” All the pups that had crowded around Taya laughed at this.
    “Hey! That’s not funny!” Taya pouted.
    “Yes it is, if everyone’s laughing, baka.” Shen pointed out.
    Taya gave a huff of anger, causing Shen to say, “Ha! I win!” while all the pups danced around her.
    “I feel like a queen commanding her servants to dance!” She shouted happily.
    “That’s kinda random…”
    “So, you got a problem with that?”
    “Actually, yes, I--!”
    “Kioshi, finally come out to eat, aye?! Good, good. Go over to the Food Pile and get something to eat. It’ll be time to leave soon,” Shen shouted to Kioshi as he limped out of his make-shift den.
    Kioshi nodded in response and limped over to the Food Pile, grabbing a bird off of the top. He carried it to a nice spot, light filtering over his sparkling white coat.

    “I’m gonna miss you, Taya,” Shen said sadly.
    “I’m gonna miss you, too, Shen,” Taya said, brushing her muzzle against Shen’s.
    “Well, I guess it’s time to head out. I-I’ll see you later… hopefully.” Shen said in doubt.
    “B-bye, Taya, I’m going to miss you, too. Thanks for watching after me and my sister for a couple of days. Oh, thank you too, Kyokai.” Kioshi said quietly.
    “Oh, you’re welcome, Hun, anytime!” Kyokai’s cheery voice rang out. Kioshi and Shen said their last goodbyes, before they headed down the trail, towards the mountains, as to where the Yakedo lived, although, this was just a rumor. No one really knew where the Yakedo lived, except the Yakedo of course.

    ~*TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!~*