A Therian's Trail: Ch. 22 Book 3

Instructions

The cold winter wind blew back my hair as I climbed further up the mountain. With each step, I shivered, and soon, a thick coat of snow began to fall upon me. The wolf had left, telling me that my pack mates were trapped up on the mountain's summit. I finally came to the summit. A cave tunneled through the side. I took a deep breath and leaped in. <><><><><><><><><> I crawled through the dark tunnel, my hands held out to feel around. I jerked back as something poky and hairy crawled up my arm. "I hope that's not a spider," I shudder. As I continued, I could make out a faint light in the distance. Under it were three rusty cages. I break into a run, forgetting about the creepy-crawly. "Guys!?" I call. A growl rises from the first cage. I swallowed, unlocking it and watching as two scrawny figures bound out. "Spruce!? Ray!?" I gasped. "Oh. It's you," Spruce and Ray snickered. "Why aren't you guys with Garnet?" I hissed. "Forget him," Ray spat, regret flashing in his amber eyes. "He was a traitor." "Silver?" a voice yips. I hurry to open the next two cages. Out come Shadow, Ava, Percy, Aspen, and Bone. "Hey, guys!" I feel a phantom tail wag. "Silver!" Shadow smiles. "You found us!" Percy meowed, embracing me tightly. "Hmm," Spruce cleared her throat. "We're still here." "What does Garnet want this time?" Bone snarled, staring her former packmates down. "We don't work for him anymore," Ray shrugged. "It's not like he wanted us anyway." Shadow and I exchanged worried glances. "Let's just get out of this nasty place already," Ava curled her lip. "It stinks." "I agree!" Apsen nodded. We all began the trip out of the cave. After about an hour, we arrived at the mountain's summit. Stars cloaked the violet sky, and the moon shone, signaling bedtime. "This should be a good place for now," Shadow motioned to a rocky overhang. I curled up under it, shivering until Shadow came, lying beside me. Everyone settled down for sleep. As my eyes fluttered closed, I snuggled deeper under Shadow's arm. "Good night, Silver," Shadow whispered. <><><><><><><><><><> Bone woke. As quiet as a mouse, she stepped over the sleeping bodies and padded to the cliff's edge. "Bone?" a voice mumbled. Aspen stepped out from behind a boulder. Bone relaxed immediately, scooting over to let Aspen sit. "Couldn't sleep?" Aspen asked. "Nope," Bone answered. "It's beautiful," Aspen murmured. "Hmm," Bone nodded. Slowly, gingerly, she rested her hand on Aspen's. Aspen glanced down at their hands. "I-I don't know what to say," he stuttered, his face reddening. "Don't," Bone blushed, leaning onto his shoulder. "This is perfect." Aspen smiled dreamily, resting his head on her's. The two of them sat together, gazing up at the stars. ༺☆༻༺☆༻༺☆༻༺☆༻༺☆༻༺☆༻