Silkey felt awfully embarrassed as she entered the Main Base again. She wanted to throw up because of the stench she had on her, but she knew she had to have done it. If she hadn't disguised One-eye's scent, Arrow would smell it and probably harm him.

Some other animals in the clearing looked at her, the bridges of their noses wrinkling as she passed by. One-eye better be grateful!

Her mother approached her angrily, as soon as she saw her cub. "Silkey, what on earth?" she snarled as she went and stood in front of her daughter.

Silkey sat down. "I...eh...I..."

"You what? You are covered in—"

"I know, I know, Mom! Just, let me find the nearest pool meant for cleaning and I'll get it off! I promise!"

Arrow looked utterly disgusted.

Silkey didn't mind her mother any longer and wanted to bolt off to a pool, but her mother stepped on her tail. "Ow!"

"How did that happen?"

"Just let me go and wash it off!" Silkey pleaded.

"No! I want a reason. And where have you been, young lady?"

"Eh...to the dungplace, where else?"

"You took way too long for it just to be the dungplace," Arrow said coldly.

Mom, this is so embarrassing! Please, just leave me alone! I don't want to lie!

"I just went for a little walk to get some space."

"To see the hunchback pup again, hmm? Maybe this is all just a scent-coverage!"

She brought her muzzle close to Silkey and seemed to sniff every inch of her daughter's body. She then pulled back, nose twitching. "Yuck! You sure are good at playing these games."

She's onto me. Well, if it is so, so be it. She has no proof of me having gone to One-eye. None. I hope.

Arrow put her paw on her forehead in despair. "You are pointless. Just...go clean yourself. Please. Now."

Silkey nodded as she padded in the direction of the nearest pool.

***

The weeks went by, and the weeks became months. The snow started to melt bit by bit and the first signs of spring started to show though slowly. One-eye and Silkey did keep meeting up at their tree occasionally when it was safe, with Brad covering their tracks, but they did see one another less.

Silkey went through a lot of harsh training by Arrow, and, while her father did seem to try to hold back her mother when he could, he too often could not.

One-eye also grew up slowly but surely. Training became harder and harder each time, and he also had to start relying on his own techniques and a mixture of what his friend and trainers had taught him. Now that he and Silkey hardly met, they spent their time talking rather than practice fighting.

However, it was now a beautiful day. There was a small drizzle, but that was not unpleasant at all. The grass was showing from between the snow at some places already and the trees were starting to grow their first leaves again.

One-eye and Silkey were at their tree, hanging around near the trunk. Brad was there, too.

Silkey made an exaggerated gesture. "Arrow made me leap this high!" she stated.

One-eye raised his eyebrow. "That high?"

"High as a tree! No, a mountain!"

Brad rolled his eyes. "It's about time she takes it easy with you. You're way too young to be trained like this! Both of you, actually! I'll just have you know I do not agree with this whole 'kidnap Lone One pups and force them to kill their own kind' plan. Because I don't."

One-eye looked at him, somewhat surprised. "You don't? But you have a fairly high rank in the Clan! You're Arrow's mate! Well, sorta."

Brad made an annoyed "tssk" noise with his tongue. "Yeah, I have this ranking just because Arrow and I are an item. But I never said I wanted it. I never even wanted to join this eh...disappointing gathering of creatures.

"I just went with it since Arrow seemed interested and you sometimes have to give into something you don't agree with to make the other happy. So I did...but it was a terrible decision; I realize that now."

Silkey got up and jumped into the trunk of their tree, claws dug deeply into the bark. "I've got an idea! How about the three of us leave and start a live on our own, far away? One-eye and I considered running away, but we knew we'd never be able to make it to the edge of the Clan's territory by ourselves...but with you by our side, Daddy, we might! And then we'll all be saved!"

Brad looked at his daughter for a moment, then sighed. "Silkey, I...I want to leave just as much as you do...and I'd do it for both of your protection. But...I do have responsibilities here..."

Silkey jumped out of the tree and into the wet, melting snow with a moist-sounding thump. "You sound just like Mom," she whispered, hoping that Brad hadn't heard it.

But he did. He didn't seem angry, though. "I would run away with you both. I totally would. And, yes I do have responsibilities. But...I just...feel like Arrow...maybe she can change back into her old self...and we can take her with us. And I did promise to stay with her...I just... I don't know. Give me some more weeks, okay? We'll figure something out."

Silkey and One-eye looked at one another, somewhat confused, but then both looked at Silkey's dad and nodded.

Silkey shrugged. "I managed to keep it up this long; a few more weeks won't harm. One-eye did, too!"

"It's nothing, really," One-eye said, though it sure was something to him. He was suffering constant abuse when he wasn't alone or with his friends.

Brad suddenly pricked his ears. "Hold on," he whispered, as he stuck his nose in the air and started sniffing loudly.

"Dad...you look ridiculous," Silkey giggled.

"Quiet," Brad said in the serious tone One-eye had hardly heard. He felt that something was wrong. Then, Silkey's father spoke again. "That scent! Do you smell it coming from the east?"

One-eye put his nose in the air and tried to sniff. So did Silkey. For a moment the pup didn't smell anything, but then, indeed coming from the east, he caught an eerie scent.

"It smells so gross! What is that?" Silkey scoffed.

One-eye saw Brad suddenly stiffen, his yellow eyes wide in shock.

"Run," he said, softly but severely.

Silkey didn't seem to understand. "What? Why? What's wrong?"

Brad pushed her roughly with his nose towards the west. "You two! Run! Now!" he yowled.

One-eye felt his heart pump in his chest as he did as Brad told them. The paw prints in the wet snow he heard just behind him told him that Silkey was with him, too. He also heard Brad panting.

"Keep running! To the thick ferns by the nearest clearing!" he heard the adult cougar sneer. "Don't look back! Keep running!"

One-eye saw Silkey on his right side from the corner of his eye. "What's going on?" she blurted out.

"I don't know! Just keep running!" One-eye panted as he went straight to the thick ferns that were near a smaller clearing not too far away.

He didn't really pay any attention to his surroundings; he just felt like he had to keep running and seemed to fly over the ground. He had never before in his life run this fast. He only kept his senses pointed at avoiding obstacles and making sure that his friends were still with him.

"Argh! NO!"

One-eye didn't want to stop as Brad had ordered, but his worry and Silkey suddenly stopping made him.

He saw Brad still running, but slower. He looked at his left hip, out of which a strange, shiny thing was poking, with a flower-like shape on the end of it. It didn't look like anything natural.

"Dad?" Silkey called, worried.

Brad instantly looked at them again and started running faster, though he seemed a bit clumsy.

"What did I tell you? Keep running! Even if something happens to any of us! Keep moving!"

"Daddy!" Silkey called, helplessly, tears in her eyes.

One-eye felt conflicted. He wanted to get to safety, but whatever had hurt Brad, something was wrong. Really, really wrong.

"RUN!" the adult cougar called again.

One-eye shook his head and snapped out of it. Brad is right. If any of us can make it, we should! Even though this hurts me so much, we must get to safety! Now!

He grabbed Silkey by the scruff, pulling her over. "Hey!" she screamed.

"Do as he says and get out!" One-eye ordered, and he dashed off again. Don't stay there, keep moving! Please!

He saw Silkey running beside him, eyes round and pupils small out of fear. "Dad! Nonono!"

"I'm behind you! That's it, don't stop running!" One-eye heard Brad call, though it sounded really desperate and unsteady.

They ran and ran, and One-eye made sure he stayed close to Silkey in case she strayed off again. He still heard Brad's paw steps behind them, but they were growing weaker and more unsteady with each stride.

But then, finally, he saw the Fernfields. We're here!

"Come on, we can make it!" he urged Silkey.

The pup and the cub jumped into the thick, moist ferns and hid. One-eye turned around to see Brad approaching them. He saw that the cougar wasn't really running anymore, though. It was more of an awkward, unsteady gait instead of a run.

"Dad! What's wrong with you?" Silkey called from beside One-eye.

Brad stopped and looked at his hip again, then at the two in the ferns. His eyes seemed a bit cloudy. "Stay quiet, you," he said. "Please. Don't move...don't make a noise...and stay until it's safe."

Then, One-eye and Silkey gasped as he turned around and ran back in the direction they had come from, with his uneven steps.

"Da-ad?" Silkey called out, but One-eye quickly put his paw in front of her mouth.

"Mwot wus we duing?" he heard Silkey mutter from behind his paw.

"I don't know! But he seems to be protecting us. Maybe he is distracting whatever is hunting us!"

"Twun whut wis hunting wus?" Silkey inquired.

One-eye didn't know. He didn't recall the bizarre scent that was still in the air.

The two young animals gasped when Brad suddenly collapsed before he was out of their sight. He fell down into the grass, about fifty meters away from them.

"Nwow!" Silkey cried out, and she tried to pull One-eye's paw away from her. He, however, had kept training his deformed paw, and it was stronger than Silkey'd expected, so she didn't manage.