•~Yuu's P.O.V~•

'I need to find them!' I said.

'Find who?' Mika asked, cocking his head to the side.

'My friends! They weren't at the den when the fire started. So, they must be in the forest!' I replied.

'Uh... ok?' Mika said, still confused.

'Let's go! I need to find my friends!' I said, standing up straight.

I ran out of the cave, forgetting about my injured forepaw and tripped over.

'AHH! Crap!' I hissed, standing back up.

'You okay?' Mika asked.

'Yeah. Keep forgetting about my forepaw.' I said as I stood back up.

I started running (limping) through the forest, Mika right behind me. I slowed down a bit as we reached my den. Former den now. Once we stepped into the patch, I instantly felt sick.

'No... t-this is much worse than before.' I whispered.

The den was charcoal black, the grass was dead, a few trees around it had either no leaves, or bark. I felt like cowering back and running as far away as possible. I whimpered as I stepped back. I looked around till my eyes caught something.

'W-what is that.' I whispered, just loud enough for a wolf to hear.

'An eye?' Mika replied unsure.

It moved closer and closer till is crept into full view. It was another fox! One with a mixture of gold and brown fur with green eyes.

'Y-Yoichi?' I asked, standing up a bit.

'Yuichirou? That you?' The fox asked.

I stared at them for awhile before running over to them.

'It is you, Yoichi! I was so worried!' I said, toppling him over.

'Really? We were worried about you.' Yoichi replied, standing back up.

'We?' Mika asked, walking over to us.

Yoichi's fur instantly stood on end as he growled at the wolf.

'Calm down, Yoichi. This wolf actually helped me. His name's Mikaela.' I said, trying to calm down my friend.

'Are you sure he can be trusted?' Another fox, with a feminin voice, stepped out of the bushes.

'Well, you haven't changed, Shinoa.' I said.

She just 'hmph'ed and turned her head. She has creamy-golden fur with a touch of purple at some ends and brown eyes.

'I'm guessing Kimizuki and Mitsuba are also here?' I sighed.

'Yeah. We're here. But, I'm with Shinoa. You sure he can be trusted? I mean, he's a wolf.' A fox, like Shinoa only with red tips and eyes, sat down next to Yoichi.

A forth came out with a pelt in between orange, golden and yellow and purple eyes sat down beside Shinoa.

'Yeah, I know foxes and wolves are sworn enemies, but, he helped me. I think that's enough for me to trust him.' I replied.

'Ok. But, don't be surprised if he attacks us.' Shinoa sighed.

'We should get going. I don't wanna be here any longer.' Yoichi said, getting up.

As they walked off into the forest, I turned back to my former den.

'Goodbye, ma, fa, greatma, greatfa.' I whispered before running after my friends.

*Time Skip*

'Ugh! We're lost'!' I complained.

'We're not lost! Just follow me without complaining.' Shinoa hissed.

'You're the reason that we're lost in the first place.' Mitsuba replied.

'AHHH!!' Yoichi yelped.

'Yoichi!' Kimizuki ran off in the direction of Yoichi's voice.

I looked at the others who looked back at me. We all ran off, chasing after Kimizuki.

'Help!' Yoichi yelped.

We came to a halt when we saw him. He was struggling to stay on a tree root as his hind legs were dangling down a slope.

'Grab my tail!' Kimizuki said.

Yoichi grasped at Kimizuki's tail with his teeth, only to slip out of his mouth. We didn't know what to do when Mika suddenly bounded passes us, grabbing Yoichi's neck fur and hoisting his up.

'T-th-anks.' He stuttered as he was placed on the ground.

Mika just walked away.

'Is that proof enough?' I asked, turning to chase after him.

I felt the others gazes on me. They stood up and chased after us. While wandering around the forest, a familiar scent caught my nose. A low growl rose from my throat, alerting my friends.

'There here.' Shinoa hissed.

'Get down, now.' Kimizuki ordered, ducking for a bush.

We all also got down, except for Mika. He stood up tall. Two voices where heard in the direction he was facing.

'Hahaha! That was too easy. The Queen will be most pleased to hear of our success.'

'And all the glory will be given to us. The others were of no use.'

Two shadows came into view before a grey furred dog and a blacky-red furred dog appeared.

'Ferid Bathory and Crowley Eusford.' I hissed.

'Mikaela. Get down.' Shinoa growled a bit.

Mika just stood there, staring at the two dogs as they approached.

'Oh, my. What's a wolf doing in our territory?' The grey dog asked.

'Actually, this is neither of our territories. So, I could ask you the same question.' Mikaela responded.

'Ha! And why would we care?' The dog sneered.

'You better move, unless you want your fur ripped out.' The blacky-red dog growled.

'Hmph.' Was all that Mika responded with, before moving to the side.

'That's a good little cub. Now, we'll be on our way.' The grey dog remarked, walking past Mika.

The blacky-red dog glared at Mikaela for a few seconds longer before following after the grey. He looked back one. He turned fully around and growled, fur rising along his back.

'What's wrong now, Crowley?' The grey dog sighed, turning back.

At that instant, he started growling too.

'Damn it. I hoped to get out of this without any fur being ripped off. Guess that's not happening,' I sighed, stepping out of the tree's shadow. 'Hello, Ferid, Crowley.'

Yoichi, Shinoa, Kimizuki and Mitsuba also stepped out, a growl in their throats.

'Ha! Don't make me laugh.' Feird barked.

Crowley stepped forward, teeth bared and claws scrapping the ground. Feird did the same. I opened my jaw, claws at the ready. The others also ready.

'GET DOWN!'

Hope you enjoyed and have a great day/night!
Kitty-chan out! 💞