Chapter 11

I opened my eyes once more, slowly blinking away the blurriness in my eyes. I could hear loud rain falling on the den roof, and soft thunder rolling in the distance. I stared at the ground next to my bed for a few minutes, blinking and thinking about how sore I felt. Rain somehow did that to me... it made me feel weak and tired. I turned my head, looking at my denmates.

Again, I was the first one to wake up. Sally still looked awful, curled up in a ball, her face pale and her breathing shallow. While I couldn't see her eyes, her eyelids appeared red, and her fur looked humid with sweat. Her eyes were closed and her body was slightly trembling. She clearly wasn't any better from the herbs yesterday... maybe she just needs some more to get better... I hope... I got up, despite feeling too cold to move.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘣-𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. I quickly got myself woke up the best I could and started to head out. I promised myself that I'd find something to help Sally. Something that would help just a little bit.. that would be enough.

Bitter cold rain fell onto my fur, making me shiver. I took a deep breath and sped off, sniffing around for any prey, any kind of food. I stopped at the stream, thinking maybe I could try to catch a fish. I was about to swipe my paw in the water when I remembered something Jen had told me.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦, 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. "𝘖𝘳𝘦𝘰, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!" 𝘑𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘞𝘩𝘺?" 𝘐 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥. "𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦! 𝘚𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!" 𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺.

'Lightning is more likely to strike water...' I shouldn't be fishing then, I thought. I stared into the water, and I couldn't even see any fish. I shook my head, running off in a different direction. I ran through the woods, just wishing that my sister would be okay. I'll get her whatever she needs, I'll do whatever it takes...

I skidded to a halt as I spotted a squirrel hiding in a small bush, looking like it was trying to stay dry. I crouched low, my muscles tensing as I readied myself to pounce. I slowly inched closer, my eyes fixed on my prey. I unsheathed my claws and took a quiet deep breath, and leaped into the air, my claws fully extended as I landed and dug my claws deep into the animal's back. I sunk my teeth into its neck, not letting go. Surprisingly, I landed on my feet this time and I didn't get as dirty. Though I had not fallen, my paws still splashed mud everywhere, covering a foot of a nearby tree. I blinked, reminding myself I had my sister to get back to and feed.

I shook myself off, shivering again as I began to run back to the den. I froze, a shiver of fear racing down my spine as I heard the loudest thunder crash I had ever heard and an ear-piercing shriek. The sound echoed through the trees, and I dropped the squirrel, my eyes wide with terror as I panted. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘯...

I began to calm down as I slowly realized it was probably just a cat passing through the forest that got scared by the thunder crash and screeched like I did the day before when I went to get water. I relaxed, picked up the squirrel, and began to walk back home. I smiled to myself, thinking about how silly I had been for being scared. I was relieved to know I was safe and nothing had struck the den. I quickened my pace as I made my way back home.

Little did I know, this was going to be the worst day of my life...

I arrived back at the den, hoping Sally was awake so she could eat. My heart stopped as I saw the den... what remained of it. The den had collapsed into a pile of mud due to the heavy rain, and there was no sign of my sister anywhere. Zach and Windy were safely out of the den, both of their ears flattened and their eyes wide with shock, but I was filled with dread and guilt. I should have been with them, I thought, but instead, I was too late. "W-what happened?!"

I yelped, my voice beginning to crack with emotion. "The den collapsed!" Zach yelled back, panting. "Sally's still in there!" Windy cried, tears beginning to stream down her face. I could feel my stomach drop, my heart racing as I took a deep breath and sped toward the lump of mud. I leaped, slamming myself into the mud without a moment's hesitation. I closed my eyes tightly and held my breath, feeling around for her. My paws moved around, searching for Sally as I tried to swim deeper into the mud.

Come on...

Please...

My heart stopped when one of my paws felt her small body. I grabbed her tightly, trying to grip onto her leg as tightly as I could without hurting her with my claws. I shoved myself in the opposite direction, trying to get out of the mud as I held onto her. My heart rushed with fear as I felt myself running out of breath. I gasped as my head emerged from the mud, gasping for air with Sally still in my grip.

My lungs screamed for air and my body ached for rest, but I could not quit. I had to keep pulling her out. I gathered up all my remaining strength and heaved Sally out of the mud. Exhausted, I fell into a lying position, covered in mud. After a moment I jerked my head up, scolding myself internally for not checking on her and resting first. I quickly scrambled to my feet and knelt beside Sally, checking for signs of life. She was alive, but unconscious.

"W-What do we do?! I cried, trying to hold back my emotion, terrified for my sister. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯? 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧! Zach ran up, took a deep breath, and began pushing on her chest in a rhythmic pattern, counting out loud. I didn't know what he was doing, but I could tell he was trying to save her. He continued pushing and counting, as a tear rolled down my cheek. 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘺. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵. I exhaled, trying not to let out a sob as I did so.

I tried to distract myself, questioning why Zach was pushing against her chest. 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱..? I whimpered as another tear fell from my eyes, watching desperately as Zach fought to save her. I watched in horror as he kept pushing but to no avail. Suddenly, his body relaxed and I knew it was over.

𝘕𝘰. 𝘕𝘰... 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘯𝘰! 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦...!

I flattened my ears and began to whimper, my tears flowing freely. I backed away, feeling completely helpless.

My body jerked up as she suddenly coughed, and I watched in utter relief as she rolled onto her side, coughing out the mud that had been stuck in her lungs. Zach ran back up to her, shock in his eyes as he rubbed her chest with his paw, coaxing her back to life. Sally opened her eyes and coughed up more mud, her face red with exhaustion. Zach leaned down and licked some of the mud off her face as if to say it was ok.

She gasped, coughing more, and did that a few times until all the mud was seemingly out. Zach continued to move his paw back and forth on her chest, applying a bit of pressure as she heaved. "We need to get her to the stream," Zach instructed, and we all quickly moved to action. Me, Windy, and Zach dragged her to the stream, where Zach carefully helped her rinse her mouth out. I sat next to them, watching.

...

Whoever you are... Thank you.