Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Eighteen

As the days passed, the little community found a routine of sorts. The kits and squirrels would forage in the morning, while Quinn was fishing. Then everyone would work on building, if the weather allowed for it, or cleaning the fire pit, and rekindling a fire, if needed. There was usually a second foraging trip, and sometimes a second fishing trip, and finally everyone would settle in for the night.

After doors were made for all of them, the squirrels were able to use their little houses in the clearing, and the raccoons could to use their tree house. They were able to be used, but most nights they were empty. A new camp had been made by the fire pit in the clearing, and all of the creatures usually bunked there, together.

One morning, Ruben woke early and noticed that Niki wasn't there. He left quietly and went to her den, he was glad to see that it was indeed where she'd gone. The huge dog was laying on her side, huffing and panting. Ruben hesitated to enter. Perhaps she wasn't feeling well, and wanted to be left alone to rest. In the end, he was too concerned to simply walk away, and went up to the dogs big black nose.

“Niki,” he said, “Niki, are you alright?”

She didn't respond, she kept panting for a moment. Then finally, the dog took a good deep breath, the exhale nearly knocked Ruben over. “I'm alright,” Niki replied, “It's just that the puppies want out.”

“Oh,” Ruben gasped. “What do you need? What can we do?”

Niki didn't reply, she seemed to freeze and hold her breath, and a moment later she was huffing and panting again. Ruben's ears fell flat, he patted her nose, said he'd be back and raced out of the den.

Ruben raced all the way back to the new camp, and literally collided with Quinn as he jumped through the brush wall. He fell but Quinn set him back on his paws and steadied him. “What's chasing you?” the raccoon asked.

“Puppies!” was the first word Ruben could push out between breaths.

“Puppies?” Quinn echoed.

“Niki... she's whelping... she having the puppies.”

Kalah heard the news and instantly dashed off in the direction of the den, but stopped at the edge of the clearing and turned back to the others, “I don't suppose you could figure out a way to bring her some water?” And without waiting for a response, she jumped through the hole in the brush.

“How on earth are we supposed to bring that dog water?” Quinn asked.

“I have no idea, but let's see what we can do.”

All three “brothers” decided to go, and see if they couldn't come up with something. They left Cavan in charge of the other young ones, and headed to the stream. Ruben, Jacob and Quinn were all at a loss as to how they could move enough water for Niki to get a proper drink. Malaki's clever trick with the tree sap covered pouch couldn't be repeated. They didn't have a bag that was anywhere near large enough, and if they had, it would've been too heavy to move. So they scoured the stream, looking for inspiration more than anything.

“This is hopeless,” Quinn grumbled, “What if, instead, we bring her something with a lot of water in it? I could catch a few fish.”

“And I saw a patch of mint growing up stream a little, that might be helpful,” Jacob added.

No one was pleased to have failed to retrieve water, but at least they didn't go to the den with empty paws. Quinn set the fish near the entrance of the den, unsure if the dog would want them immediately. Ruben ran ahead of the others, with a bit of the mint they'd gathered.

“I'm sorry, we can't think of a way to bring water,” he said, “But Quinn's brought fish and Jacob found these mint leaves. If there's anything else we can do, we'd be glad to.”

Niki was calm for the moment, she looked a bit tired but otherwise fine. Kalah was sitting with her, patting the dogs muzzle.

Niki's nose flared, “So, that's for me?” she asked Ruben, “Can I have it?”

“Of course,” he answered, and held the leaves out so they nearly touched the huge black nose. The next moment they were licked away. Ruben shook his paw off and asked, “Did you want anything else?”

“Is there more of that?” Niki asked, and Jacob brought the rest, but set his on the ground.

It was then that Ruben heard a faint whimper, he hopped onto the dog's fore leg to investigate. It was the first puppy, already cleaned, and fed, and sleeping beside it's mother. It was a deep silvery color, with black on it's face and ears. Ruben smiled at the sight, but didn't get any nearer, lest he wake it. He did point out the sleeping bundle to the others however, who came just close enough to see.

When Niki asked for more of the mint leaves, the three “brothers” went back to collect another bunch. They were trying to find the patch along the stream again, when Quinn pointed out that the job didn't really required all of them.

“Someone should go back to camp and stay with the little ones,” he said, “It only takes one creature to carry a few leaves.”

“But how many creatures does it take to find them?” Ruben jeered. “Are we blind, or did it get up and move?”

“Here it is!” called Jacob, finding the herb at last, “We were just looking too close to the water. Now, if only one of us is going back to the den, who is it?”

Ruben was going to answer, when he heard a rustle and thought he saw movement not far away. When he turned, there was nothing. If something was there, it didn't want to be seen. He scanned the forest intently, and drew his wolfs claw dagger, he was half expecting to see an ermine, trying to cause them trouble. Instead, what stalked into view, was a huge dog... and it's copper eyes were fixed on the smaller creatures. It was creeping closer.

“Brothers,” Ruben said quietly, too quietly in fact, the others didn't hear him. “Brothers!” he repeated, a bit louder, and they turned to him. “Run!” was all he got out before the beast lunged, and the chase began.

Quinn was instantly in the lead, and guiding the others straight toward a huge walnut tree. The dog saw where they were going however, and managed to cut in front of them. It snapped as they changed directions at the last second, almost catching Jacob's tail. The dog was too close for comfort now, Quinn darted up the next tree he saw, a young pine, and the others followed. The raccoon was furious with himself as he realized where they'd ended up. The tree was so thin that it wavered under the weight of the creatures, and the young branches were short. The high road was not in reach, they were trapped, and a hungry monster was waiting for them to fall.

“I'm sorry,” Quinn said, “I just ran up the nearest tree.” He looked down at the dog, growling and barking beneath them. “I'd just like to say that it's been very nice having brothers, and I hope the little ones and the girls do alright on their own.”

“It's too bad Niki isn't on guard duty right now,” Jacob moaned.

“That's it!” Ruben cried, he scrambled down to the lowest branch he dared and looked the dog over as carefully as he could. He turned back to the others, “It looks a lot like Niki, maybe bigger, darker fur, and it's dragging a chain! It must be her mate.”

“I don't see how that helps us right now,” Quinn retorted.

Ruben ignored him and looked down at the dog again, “Arkadi!” he called, “Arkadi!”

The beast stopped barking.

“Is your name Arkadi?” Ruben asked when it was silent.

“Why would my name mean anything to you?”

“Because if your name is Arkadi, then we know your mate. She's a friend, we were just visiting her.”

“If that's true, then come down and let me sniff you over,” the dog demanded, “You'll have Niki's scent on you.”

Ruben turned back to his brothers, “That's not unreasonable,” he said, but the others felt it was very unreasonable. It would be too easy for the dog to simply snatch him up, if Ruben willingly approached the beasts nose. “Well, do either of you have any better ideas?” he asked. They did not.

“Will you promise not to kill me,” Ruben called to Arkadi, “If I do come down?”

“That's fine,” he replied, “ I won't kill you, I'll take you to Niki. She might be hungry, but if you're a friend, that shouldn't be a problem for you.”

“Alright,” Ruben said, “Then if you don't kill me, and you let my brothers leave, unharmed... you can take me to Niki. I know she wouldn't hurt me.”

“Then it's a deal,” Arkadi said, sounding much less hostile. “Now come down, and let's get on with it.”

Ruben turned to the others, “You should go back to camp and check on the little ones. I'll meet you there as soon as I possibly can.” And he started to climb, carefully down the tree.

“Aren't you going to try and stop him?” Jacob asked Quinn.

“No, I'm not. He's good at making friends with monsters, remember?”