The setting sun casts an orange glow through the thick, dark forest. The light snow falls gently down on us, settling on our pelts like sparkling layers of crystal. The trip has been very uneventful so far. We found a diseased squirrel with three legs missing, immobile and unable to attack us. I put it out of its misery by crushing its skull. I couldn't risk biting it with my teeth.

      Dodge and I make cheerful banter as we trot through the snow. Oak chatters in a lively manner, excited to come home. The dark trees of the Bearclaw Uplands are beginning to clear up into regular forest, with more open space. We reach a clearing, deciding to take a very quick rest.

      A strange scent is wafting through the clearing, and I recognize it immediately. The foul odor of rot enters my nostrils, and I scrunch up my face. Something nearby is diseased, and it's something big. I rise to my paws, sniffing around the clearing for the source of the smell. I edge around a boulder, looking into a shallow indent in the ground.

      In the hole, a skinny mountain lion is laying on his side, ribs clear through his short fur. His paws are bloodied, as is the pelt around his jaws. He isn't full grown yet, but he's still bigger than me. Surprisingly, not many injuries or rot mark the beast's pelt. There's a somewhat fresh bite mark on the side of his neck, but that's all. He must be very recently infected.

     The moment I peek my head around, the lion leaps up. Without wasting a second, he pounces at me, claws extended, hissing loudly. I barely jump out of the way in time, and it lands in the snow, whirling around quickly and charging at me again. I bolt towards Dodge and Oak, shouting at them in a panic.

"Hide! Both of you hide!"

      Dodge starts to run after the cat, but stops. He must realize that he can't kill him with his own teeth. The husky pushes Oak into a bush, and joins him in a split second. I barrel out of the clearing, lion right on my tail. I need to think of a way to kill this thing without infecting myself, and I need to do it fast.

      If there's some kind of cliff, I could push him off. But I don't know of any high cliffs around here. For now, I'll have to keep running and see if I can locate anything that I can use to my advantage. Maybe if there's a bear around here, I can get it to attack the lion for me. Then again, I don't really want to deal with another bear.

      I shoot through the woods, searching desperately for anything that can help me, or at least buy me some time. The big cat is gaining on me, hook-shaped claws and menacing teeth reaching for any part of me they can grab. They haven't snagged me yet, but it's only a matter of time.

      I turn sharply, bounding up the snowy side of a steep hill. It's not too tall, but it gives me enough of a view of the surrounding landscape. I only have a few seconds to survey the area before I'm running down the other side, but I've found what I need. A small pond with steep sides is visible in the distance, and I immediately veer off to the side and start running towards it. I'm starting to run out of breath, but with the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I think I might just make it.

      After a few minutes of running, the pond is visible through the trees. My pace is slowing considerably, and there are moments where the lion comes so close to snagging my tail that I'm surprised that I managed to get away. I put on a final burst of speed, pain filling my muscles, my eyes tearing up from the strain. I sprint towards the water, mountain lion in tow.

      As I reach the edge, the cat pounces, flying into the air with the force of a battering ram. While he's airborne, I leap to the side quickly. He expects his claws to meet my back, but instead they hit nothing. The scrawny feline lands in the pond, breaking through the ice and splashing me with frigid droplets.

      He tries to climb back onto the ice, but it just breaks beneath him. His breaths are deep and panicked. Even in the disease, the freezing water is still taking its toll and making him weak. His movements are erratic and quick at first, clawing at the cracking ice in a frenzy. After a few minutes, however, he begins to grow tired. The cat's scratching for freedom is slowing down, his entire head slipping under the water every few seconds. He can barely keep his head out of the water, gasping for breath between the periods of being submerged.

      Eventually, he falls under and doesn't surface. Finally, the poor creature has drowned. I finally release my breath, panting loudly. My muscles are burning, and I collapse. My chest is heaving, visible ribs rising up and down furiously. I want to return to Dodge and Oak, but I don't think I can move.

      After a few minutes, I've regained enough breath to do something. I'm still panting, but I have enough breath to howl. I raise my snout to the darkened sky, letting out a loud howl. Dodge struggles with learning the different howls, but I know that he knows this one. It's the song that signifies that everything is alright.

      The light snow is beginning to thicken, falling harder and obscuring my vision more. The layer of snow on my back that was shaken off in the sprint is quickly being reformed, a heavy layer of glittering white covering my grey pelt.

      In a moment, I hear Dodge return the howl. We go back and forth for around fifteen minutes, until Dodge and Oak break through the brush. The husky sprints up to me, a look of concern on his face. I rest my head on the snow, paws hanging out over the edge of the pond. I'm no longer desperately panting, but my breaths are still abnormally loud. My entire body is absolutely spent, exhausted and sore all over.

"Cadmium! Are you alright? Where's the mountain lion?" He questions in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine, just exhausted. Everything hurts. The lion drowned in the pond." I answer weakly.

      Dodge nods with a look of relief, laying down on the snow next to me. Oak trots up beside him, sitting down.

"That was so scary." The pup whispers.

"Yeah, Oak, it was. But it's okay now, the cat's gone." I tell him reassuringly.

      The three of us sit silently for a moment, not speaking a word.

"We can get going soon, I just need a little bit of time to rest." I say, breaking the silence.

"No, you look completely spent. Let's stay here for the night, it'll be fine. Anyways, check out this snow. It's about to be a blizzard." He replies, motioning to the falling torrent of white.

      He's not wrong. The snowfall is getting heavier by the second, and a harsh wind is beginning to whip at us. It's getting hard to see anything between the darkness of night and the falling snow. I nod, agreeing with him.

"You keep resting. Oak and I will dig a den for the night." He continues, rising to his feet.

      Dodge trots over to a nearby snowbank, quickly digging into the soft mound with his forepaws. Oak helps, but Dodge is doing most of the work due to his size. The blizzard is growing stronger by the second, the trees bending in the wind. After a while, Dodge is no longer able to keep expanding the den. Snow is continuously being blown into the hole, and he isn't making any progress.

"This isn't working. I guess we'll just have to settle for this little den." He admits, stepping back for a break.

      In all honesty, even a small den is better than the bitter cold. Oak has already climbed into the temporary shelter, and Dodge follows. I rise to my paws quickly, getting myself into the den as fast as I can. I'm right next to the entry, but that'll be closed off fast as more snow builds up. Until then, however, I'll just have to deal with the cold.

      The den is extremely cramped, with all three of us pressed together tightly. I shiver as the harsh cold bites through my fur, the den not warmed up from our body heat yet. I feel a bit guilty for shuddering so constantly, but I can't force my body to keep still.

      Noticing my shivering, Dodge lifts a foreleg and puts it over my shoulders, in an attempt to shield me from the cold. Due to his large size, it's actually helping. Heat fills my face, despite the cold. I'm not used to close physical contact, especially from males. It's nothing romantic, of course. I hope. I don't have time to waste on trivial things like that. Not now.

      Once the temporary shelter warms up a bit, I find myself able to fall asleep easily in the crook of Dodge's foreleg. Sleep comes quickly for me, and my tense muscles finally can relax. The long sprint really exhausted me, and I'm sure I'll sleep soundly tonight.

Chapter art is mine.