(A/N: This is sequel to the last chapter)
(Another A/N: I do not own the background of this picture.)

Lenky watched, heartbroken, as the machine ran away. Tan was being taken away.

And there was nothing Lenky could do about it.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yeah! We did it, we did it, we did it!" Fang said, leaping with happiness. He stopped when he saw Lenky's shocked face.

"Huh... Lenky? Y-you okay?" Fang said, nudging Lenky slightly.

Then Lenky let out a sob. Tears ran down his face, as his legs became too weak to support his body, and he fell down.

"Lenky?!"

Fang helped Lenky get up. He used his paws to wipe the tears off the sobbing cat's face.

"Now, tell me what happened." He said softly.

"The humans... they t... t-took Tan... they took Tan away in that machine!" The cat replied, a few tears still running down his cheeks.

Fang looked at Lenky, concern and sadness in his face.

"I'm... I'm sorry, bud!"

"It's not your fault... did you just call me bud?"

"Well, I thought... you know..."

Lenky gave him a tiny smile, that quickly disappeared.

"It's okay, we're friends after all..."

Both remained silent for a long time. There was nothing more to be said.

"So, what's our next move? I mean do you still want to go and try to rescue your sister?..."

Lenky blinked, surprised, and sat, turning his face to face his friend.

"Is it even possible?"

"Well, we've got the map! All we need to do is go to the battlefield and rescue her! I mean, before they get her into the fight."

Lenky nodded.

"Maybe... How far is it?"

"Um, let me see..." Fang said, unwinding the map. "Oh, no..."

"What's the problem?" Lenky said, trying to see what had worried Fang. There was only scrambled, confuse and incomprehensible writing. It didn't seem like something special, but for Fang, it looked like the world was being destroyed.

"The map says something terrible..."

Lenky made a confused face.

"Do you understand that writing?!?"

Fang slowly nodded.

"It's human writing."

The lynx hybrid's jaw dropped.

"How can you understand this thing????" He asked

Fang laughed a little.

"I can also understand lynx writing, cat writing, badger writing and, obviously, dog writing." He licked his nose. "And I can speak with dingo accent."

Lenky was impressed.
"Cool! How do you know all this stuff?"

Fang laughed again.

"You already asked me that. And I'll give you the same answer: you'll eventually find out by yourself."

Lenky lowered his tail.

"But, back to the map subject... What does it say that's so terrible?" The cat asked.

Fang's faint smile faded.

"It says... the battlefield is 1000 kilometers away..."

Lenky didn't know what "kilometer" meant.

"And... how far is that?" He asked

The dog lowered his ears and sadness was on his face.

"It's approximately five hundred lake lengths..."

"What?" Lenky screamed. "That's way too far! How are we ever gonna get there?"

Fang thought for a moment.

"That's it!"

He turned to face Lenky.

"And..."

"1000 kilometers is how far the humans will need to go! We can make the way shorter by going through the forest! This would also gain us time! Look at the map! That tall human you said was evil drew the path they'll take."

'We can go through the forest like this"

He dug a tiny bit with his claws onto the humid dirt and used it to draw on the map.

"Are you sure this would work?" Lenky asked.

"Maybe. It could." The dog replied.

He folded the map and put it between his neck and his collar.

"This will be easier than carrying it all of the way." He explained.

Dog and cat stood up and started to walk into the forest. Lenky felt the earth underneath his paws. The scent of trees and wet grass made Lenky remember things that never actually happened, but somehow were in his mind. Out of the blue, he had a vision of a cream colored kitty playing with an oak leaf. The kit looked extremely familiar. She played so graciously, hitting the leaf with her tiny paws, giggling happily while doing so. When she turned her face to Lenky, he could see two familiar sky blue eyes, a soft gray nose, white whiskers... It took him a moment to realize she was Jane, his mother, as a kit.

"Lenky? What are you staring at?" Fang's voice brought him back to reality. He shook his head and replied:

"Uh... N-nothing, I'm fine."

Fang blinked and continued to walk. Lenky followed him.

Shortly after they passed near a tall birch tree, Lenky had another vision. A big light brown lynx with brown stripes was climbing the tree, playfully laughing, followed by a clumsy cream colored she-cat. Jane. The lynx looked familiar too. Lenky just couldn't recognize him. The lynx climbed to a low branch. Jane tried to reach him, almost falling from the tree. He laughed loudly.

"It's not funny, Balthazar!" She yelled. "Urgh! This tree is hard to climb!"

Balthazar... the name was familiar too.

The lynx just laughed.

"You can laugh all you want!" She said, less pissed off. "Just wait until I reach you!"

"Oh, then I guess I'll be waiting up here forever." He replied, teasingly.

"What... did... you... just say?" She said.

"Slow snail!" He teased

She growled.

"Oh, you're so gonna regret this!" She hissed, climbing faster.

When she finally reached the branch he was, she leaped to him and started fighting him playfully, her claws sheathed.

After a couple of minutes, both were smiling widely, laying on each other's arms and laughing. Balthazar was the first one to sit up.

"Let's stay and watch the sunset!" Jane suggested, sitting up beside him, felling the warmth of his fur rubbing against hers. "I bet it will be beautiful tonight."

Balthazar nodded. "Yeah..."

He gave her head a long affectionate lick. They were both purring.

"You know what's even more beautiful than the sunset?" He asked.

"No. What is it?"

"You..." He replied, in a loving tone.

"Lenky! L-e-n-k-y!!!" Once again, Fang's voice interrupted the vision.

"Seriously, dude, you get easily distracted. We'll never get there like this.

Nodding, Lenky said:

"Sorry, Fang. I just... never mind! Let's keep moving!"

As Fang continued to walk, Lenky followed him.

But he couldn't get Balthazar's words off his mind. Had the lynx called his mother... beautiful? Who was he?

Then it hit him like a falling stone.

Balthazar was his father.