Dusk Fall

As The Sun Falls

A warm patch of light stretching across his eyes awoke him. Frost lifted his muzzle just in time to watch Broodie Pollen's wing slump back down over him, and Whisper's silver tail whisking out of sight. Oh no, he thought desperately. What sort of trouble is she getting into now?

Careful not to wake Broodie Pollen, Frost gingerly drew himself out from underneath her wing, and scrambled over the nest wall. He crouched low, the foreclaw on his wings pulling him forward, and his tiny hind claws scrabbling against the well-scuffed wood of the hollow. He saw Whisper’s snatcher disappearing over the Hollow Ledge. He didn't wanna chirp too loudly and get her in trouble—Get them both in trouble—But he certainly couldn't let his litterkin sneak out on her own! He knew she make the perfect mouthful of a meal for a whole host of hungry predators. Clawstep by clawstep, he sneaked across the Nursery Hollow’s floor, praying the keen ears of the broodies wouldn’t detect his thudding heartbeat.

A thrill of fear dragged all the fur on end along his spine and his whiskers prickled with uncertainty. What was she thinking, leaving the nursery hollow during daylight hours? Didn't she remember how dangerous Broodie Pollen said was?! In his mind’s eye, Frost beheld terrifying visions of hawk talons and dripping jaws. Urging himself on, he stuck his muzzle over the edge of the Hollow ledge, just catching Whisper disappearing around the curve of the tree trunk. Now, she was much too far for Frost to call out to her—Not without waking up their broodie.

And the daylight broodie could be there at any moment, and she'd see the two misbehaving bats missing from their broodie’s underwing. Missing from the hollow! They would be in so much trouble!

Cursing his sister's recklessness, he climbed over the edge of the Hollow Ledge, and scurried down the trunk, terrified he’d fall snatcher over skull, far to the forest below. The rough, pitted bark of the old oak they sheltered in was littered generous with clawholds for a young, inexperienced whelpling to climb down from his safe, comfortable nest. Where was Whisper even going? He squirrel-shuffled down to the gnarled roots of the tree, where he saw Whisper sitting, sticking out like a snowhare in the dark woods, grooming her pelt as if she wasn't breaking every rule of their Flight. The roots made him think of snakes. Their long scaly backs breeching the surface of the forest floor, eager to swallow his sister whole.

"Whisper!" He hissed sharply, watching as her head whipped around and mane bristled. When her eyes blearily landed on her litterkin, her tension eased, and a grin broke across her skull.

"Frost! What are you doing out here?" She asked, her eyes sparkling. Her ears stood brazenly tall, and her long tail swayed softly back and forth, her snatcher twitching with excitement. She wasn’t even a little contrite!

"Coming after you, you big dumb toadstool!" He threw himself across the gap between the two gnarled roots and landed clumsily beside Whisper. For a few fearful heartbeats, he slid down the root, struggling to grip the smoother wood. He righted himself, his tail lashing with frustration and fear. Shuffling his wings, he lunged forward and sank his teeth into her scruff. "Come on!" He growled, muffled through her fur. "Do you want to live in the Nursery Hollow forever?"

"No, no, get off!" She squealed, thrashing her skull back and forth in a wild attempt to shake him loose, slapping her whiskers against his skull. "I didn't ask you to come! Get off!" She managed to tear herself free at the expense of a bit of her silver pelt and jumped a few roots down.

"If you wanna go back and waste a perfectly good day for adventuring, then go ahead! But I don't need you to look after me. I'll be back before anywing even notices I'm gone! Quick as a flap!" She hissed insistently.

"And how do you think you're going to do that, fungusface? We aren't even big enough to branch yet!" Frost shot back, his deep sapphire eyes blazing.

"But I can climb. I'm going to go see a fox!" She proudly asserted, puffing her chest out, the little whelpling bouncing over the musty leaf litter of the forest floor, and scampering up the next tree. Frost couldn't let her go on alone. In the time it would take to climb all the way back up to their broodie, Whisper would be long gone, swallowed up by the foreboding forest. Growling with frustration and fluffing up his coat against the frosty breeze, he charged after his sister.

There was an undeniable chill in the air. Nearly every tree was bare of leaves, and their long, skinny branches made Frost shudder. His whiskers prickled with unease as he crossed the monumental distance between Dusk Tree—Their home—And the tree Whisper scaled.

He launched himself up the trunk after her, crying out; "What makes you think that's a good idea, Whisper? You can't even fly yet! How are you going to get away from a fox?! We should just go home!"

She already sat high above him, perched on a skinny branch, her narrowed eyes scanning the horizon. "Where do you think the Preflight tree is?" She wondered, ignoring his question.

"Whisper! Do you have any sense?! We can't get all the way out to the preflight tree--You don't even know where it is!"

"Neither do you." She retorted airily, padding along the branch on all fours until it swayed rhythmically beneath her weight. She wiggled her haunches, steadied her tail, and threw herself across the small gap between it, and the next branch. Frost's heart skipped a beat. He watched her foreclaws grip the branch, but her hind end sink heavily towards the ground. A fall from that height could kill her! c***k her skull! But she hauled herself onto the branch with her hind claws scrambling, and continued on her birdbrained quest.

Frost had no choice. He had to follow his sister. He had to protect her. It was his responsibility as a litterkin!

With much less confidence, he gripped the branch like a height-sick squirrel, and dragged himself along the wood at a snail’s pace. He was going to make Whisper pick out every one of his splinters for this! Once he was close enough, the whole branch swaying beneath his weight, he leaped. A loud c***k set the dogs of fear loose in his heart. Frost only just managed to wrap his foreclaws around the next branch, and drag himself onto it’s barren safety, shivering like a half drowned rat.

He turned around, just in time to see the last few sinews of bark give way, leaving the branch to clatter to the forest floor. It looked a lot farther down from his side of the gap.

"You okay?" Called Whisper's voice from far ahead of him. He could see her curious golden eyes peek around the trunk of a tree before, satisfied, she returned her attention to her adventure. Frost snarled softly, his whiskers lashing with frustration. He would lose her if he didn't catch up! But she was like the wind, whispering through the branches without a trace of trepidation, how could he keep up?

Gathering his strength, he threw himself on top of the next branch, clawhold more sure this time. Without pausing to look around, the young whelpling hurtled through the canopy after his sister. Every time he started to catch up, he would find Whisper disappearing down some new, unseen trail. If he could only read the map in her head!

Finally, as the sun climbed just overhead, Frost came to a stop beside his sister. He panted, flanks heaving as he fought to catch his breath. "Whisper!" He gasped. "This is dumb! youre being dumb! We have to go back!" The familiar oaks and brambles of Dusk territory gave way to strange, towering pines. The bark here seemed much smoother, and something about their presence felt unwanted in this foreign wood.

Whisper bristled, turning her snarling skull on her brother. "No! You're being dumb. You go back! I'll come back when I'm ready! I wanna see a fox!"

"Whisper, you're going to get us both killed! Where do you think we're going to see a fox in this cold?! I don't even know how to get home! I'm hungry, I'm cold, and I'm scared, Whisper!" He insisted.

This did nothing to melt her icy disposition. "I didn't ask you to come. Besides, I'll figure out how to get back later. We're on an adventure now!" And, without giving him even a heartbeat to retort, she leaped across another gap, landing hard in one of the slick-barked pines.

Frost felt icy claws of uncertainty tear into his roiling belly.

They were lost. . . ? How were they ever going to get home?! They weren't big enough to track prey on their own—They weren't even big enough to fly! Once the sun set, he knew they ran the very real risk of freezing to death. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. It felt as if the whole world were spinning wildly out of control.

It was all he could do to hold onto his perch!

A sharp squeal broke his trance. Frost launched himself after his sister shrieking her name, heedless of his faltering grip on the limb he charged across. He prayed to every spirit that she would be alright when he caught up.

"I found a fox, I found a fox!" He could discern as her chirp grew louder. His heart trying to hammer through his throat, Frost skidded to a stop beside her, laying fresh gouge marks in the branch.

She really had found a fox.

"It smells really bad." Whisper giggled, her liquid gold eyes round with awe. "It must be dead prey."

She was right. He could faintly see something cutting into the fur around one of its paws. It must have starved to death. "Of course it smells bad, Whisper, it's dead! Like we will be soon, if we don't get back home!" His voice trembled with fear as he tried once again to impress the severity of their predicament on her. He would have had more luck trying to convince an acorn.

"I wanna see it up close. It's got something tied around its paw! I bet if I can see what it is, maybe I can bring something back for the Tinkerers, and they'll make me a scavenger!"

Frost bristled as she started her descent. "Whisper, are you entirely birdbrained?! You can't go down there—How are you supposed to bring anything back?! You're not even allowed out of the nest! They'll know you broke the rules!"

Whisper flicked her whiskers to acknowledge his words, but she didn't pause otherwise. It was hopeless, he realized, trying to get her to listen to him. So, he trudged down after her shaking the whole way down the unfamiliar pine, leaping the last short distance to the forest floor. He spread his underdeveloped wings in an attempt to catch the wind and slow his fall. It worked, for the most part. He thumped softly against the cold ground, landing on sharp pine needles that pricked his fur and made his skin itch. He just wanted to go home. Whisper already poking around the dead fox, there was nothing Frost could do now but watch hopelessly.

"Make it quick though, please, Whisper, I wanna go home. These woods don't feel very—"

Whatever he would say was drowned out by a thunderous growl. His heart dropped right through his stomach. Frost locked eyes with the biggest creature he'd ever seen. Even bigger than the fox, lying dead beside them. Its coat was bristling, and its eyes glowed with hungry malice. Frost slowly back away from it until he stood shoulder to shoulder with his trembling sister.

"W-W-What is that thing. . .?" She asked in a squeak barely louder than a breath of wind.

"I. . . I don't know." Frost replied hoarsely. It snapped its big, drooling jaws and lunged forward.

Frost only just managed to push Whisper out of the way, the massive jaws snapping closed where her tiny skull had been only moments before.

"RUN!" He howled, the slavering beast answering in kind with a spine-chilling howl of his own.

Whisper didn't need to be told twice. She hurtled towards a stout tree, the closest they had. Her body twice its size thanks to her bristling pelt, she haphazardly flung herself up the tree. She sent splinters of bark showering down against his skull. Frost wasn't far behind, he could feel the beasts paws slamming down against the forest floor, shaking it beneath his giant paws. Frost didn't even have time to pray as he bolted up the tree trunk. The beast skidded to a stop, nearly crashing into their sanctuary. Frost pressed himself into his trembling sister. She felt so cold!

The beast wasn't done with them yet. Though it couldn't reach, it clearly knew it had them cornered. No tree was close enough for them to make the jump. They couldn't fly. And there were no Flight members nearby to hear their cries for help. It only needed to wait until the exhausted whelplings finally came down.

He didn’t recognize the knotted bark of the tree, though it smelled of oak. Only a couple wingspans separated them from the beast’s dripping maw.

"I-I'm sorry, Frost!" She wailed. The beast’s ears pricked, and it licked its jaws, clearly in need of a good meal. "You were right, I never should have come out here! And now we're both going to get eaten by a monster, and it's all my fault!"

He hushed her despairing wail with a few calming strokes of his tongue. "It's alright. We'll get out of here, I promise. I'll find a way. This thing has to get bored eventually."

"But. . . Before the sun falls. . .?"

That was something he didn't want to think about.