No... Please, Brad, get up! Get up! One-eye felt tears pricking in his eye. Brad had helped him and Silkey a lot, and, while he hadn't been as close to the catamount as he would have wanted, Brad was a friend. He had to resist jumping out of the bushes to help the cougar, though it felt wrong.

It was his last wish before he fell...but he'll make it, I know he will. Please, get up! Get up, get up, GET UP!

Brad was still moving. His legs and tail were twitching, and he was still breathing, but his movements lessened as time went by.

Come on! You can do it! What happened to you? Get up!

One-eye closed his eyes, blinking away the tears. He had to keep restraining Silkey, who constantly tried to get away to help her dad.

"He didn't want us to go!" One-eye whispered to the cub.

"Bwut wus gwuing twu doi!" Silkey hissed.

"I...I don't..."

One-eye quieted as the stench became much stronger and they heard footsteps and strange sounds.

The pup looked with his only eye through the thick ferns. It was hard to see what was causing these noises, but it soon became clear.

"Whumwuns!" Silkey said from behind One-eye's paw.

One-eye himself was frozen. They walked on two legs, were tall, and had pink skin, which they had covered in strange, thick things for the most part. Humans.

This can't be. I mean...no...humans mean death to an animal... They've got Brad! But how come we didn't hear a Pang noise? We're supposed to! That's why they're called Pangs after all!

He did see that the humans carried long, shiny things, presumably made mostly out of the same material of the thing that had hit Brad in the hip. One-eye had never seen a Pang before in his life (or a human, for that matter), but he knew the stories his mother had told him and recognized them this way. Every animal seemed to know what a Pang or a human was.

The humans circled around Brad. Two of them carried a strange, dark, unnatural-shaped thing, which they put on the ground next to Brad, who was paralyzed (and presumably dead) by now.

Silkey kept struggling and managed to free herself when One-eye had stiffened, and shouted in panic. "DAAD!" she cried.

One-eye quickly snapped out of being frozen with fear and grabbed the cub by the mouth again, this time even tighter than before.

"Be quiet!" he whispered thoroughly as he held her still.

He saw how one of the humans turned around swiftly to stare at the Fernfields. Don't see us, don't spot us. Please, dear Shinwa, I pray to you, don't let him see us!

The person then looked back to Brad, though.

He saw the tears dripping down Silkey's cheeks, and felt his own, as well. He knew that they'd lost Brad. There was no way that one could rescue an animal from a human. It was just impossible.

He's gone... One-eye saw how the humans opened one part of the unnatural-shaped thing, which was hollow on the inside. They clumsily shoved in Brad and closed the part again, making it impossible for the cougar to get out, even if he still was alive. The humans then took the strange object with Brad in it and carried it away into the woods.

One-eye still restrained Silkey, but she didn't even bother trying to get out or scream anymore. She just sat there, sobbing with her head between her paws.

The pup sighed and put his paw on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, though he felt really sad, too. "It's... He sacrificed himself for us, Silkey... He wouldn't have wanted us to go back," he whispered.

She looked at him instantly, amber eyes wide. One-eye saw the red veins in them, making them look a bit intimidating.

"They'll rip all his guts out and stuff him full with junk and mount him to a wall! We should have done everything to save him, but we just stayed here!"

One-eye flattened his ears. "That's because Brad wanted us to be safe! You couldn't have let his self-sacrifice be for nothing! You saw their Pang, they'd have shot us, too!"

"He's dead!" Silkey cried.

One-eye nodded silently. "Yes..." he finally acknowledged in a low murmur.

The two young animals stayed in the ferns for a couple more minutes, though the humans were long-gone. They were quiet, with the exception of Silkey's sobbing. One-eye tried to comfort his friend as much as he could, but it was tough. Losing Brad, escaping death, and seeing Silkey like this hurt him a lot.

After a while, Silkey stopped crying. "We...we have to tell the Clan," she muttered finally.

One-eye hesitated, but then nodded. "You're right. We have to tell them that the humans have silent Pangs now..."

Silkey got up and stepped out of the ferns. "You were so brave," she whispered in the direction of where Brad had fallen.

"He was," One-eye confirmed quietly.

The two then blinked away their final tears and bolted off to the Main Base, knowing that the lives of the many animals in the Clan were at stake.

"HUMANS! HUMANS! THERE'S HUMANS WITH SILENT PANGS IN THE WOODS!" One-eye screamed at the top of his lungs, forgetting his usual shyness. All that mattered was the safety of the animals now, even though he didn't care for them (besides Silkey) one bit.

"NEAR THE FERNFIELDS!" Silkey added.

The two youngsters jumped into the clearing and instantly got everyone's attention. One-eye tried not to meet any eyes.

It was silent for a while. All animals had stopped talking or walking to stare at them.

Then, the annoying voice of Maud broke the silence. "I bet he just made that up!" she accused him.

One-eye wanted to respond, but Silkey was first. "NO! IT'S TRUE! THEY TOOK DAD!"

Then, Jera approached them. The wolfdog tried to remain calm, but clearly had trouble doing so. "Where did you see them? Near the Fernfields? Is that correct?"

One-eye nodded firmly. "Yes! Their smell came from a bit further to the east and we ran! But Brad got hit, and the Pang didn't make a sound! He told us to hide, and ran towards the humans! He was so brave! The humans took him, but didn't see us!"

Jera dropped her ears in worry, looking at the many animals that had gathered around them.

"I'll inform Arrow at once. She has to be aware of this," she then said, as she ran off to put action to her words.

As the wolfdog left, the animals quickly started to speak again, this time clearly afraid. One-eye saw them either staring at him and Silkey, talking quickly to one another, or trying to guard the Main Base edges.

Only then did One-eye realized that he and Silkey were together in the clearing. Seen by all these animals. That meant that Arrow was going to know about this.

He felt so stupid that he'd have the ability to smack himself. But it was too late to split up now. It was far too late already.

He sighed, realizing that there definitely lay more sadness for him and Silkey, but also knew that he had to comfort his friend. He saw that Silkey had sat down, staring at the ground. Tears continued to fall from her eyes.

The wolf sat close to her and put his head on her shoulders. "It's...it's going to be okay. I'm here," he whispered softly.

Silkey shook her head whilst crying. "But Dad isn't! He'll never be here again! He'll be there, on a wall!"

"Shhhhh," One-eye soothed.

He looked up when he suddenly saw a copper-colored catamount barge into the clearing from her cave. Arrow. He shivered, but stayed with his friend bravely. My friendship with Silkey is stronger than my fear of you! However, as he thought that, he was still shivering and cowering over Silkey.

Arrow instantly approached him and Silkey, her ear twitching and teeth bared. But she did seem to give the Clan priority over them being together, despite her warnings.

"What's this that I'm hearing about humans and silent Pangs? Hunchback pup, speak up! Silkey, don't embarrass me! Stop clinging onto him!" she snapped.

One-eye looked at the ground as he stuttered, "Miss...Miss Jones. Brad...I mean, Mister Jones, got hit by one. He...he...fell."

He somewhat hoped that Arrow would seem worried for Brad, but, as he'd expected, she didn't even care.

"Very well, but what about the silent Pang? If Pangs are getting quiet, we are in great danger. ALL OF US!" the catamount shouted to the animals in the Base.

One-eye kept watching Silkey, though he heard agreeing mumbles surrounding him. Then, he spoke. "We were near the Fernfields, and we didn't hear a thing... Not the loud PANG you'd expect to hear. There just was something shiny with a flower-like thing at the end in Brad, all of the sudden!"

"I didn't ask you to speak again, monster!" Arrow sneered. She turned to the other animals again. "I'll arrange some messengers right now. You can leave, Jera. If anyone--anyone at all--smells some fresh human scent or hears one of their beasts or Pangs, report it instantly."

She then approached One-eye and Silkey again. "I'll deal with the two of you later," she muttered, after which she bolted off, giving orders to the animals surrounding her.

Silkey looked up. "Deal with us?" she whispered, confused and sobbing.

One-eye put his paw on her shoulder. "Don't worry...I'll take care of you now. That's the least thing I can do for you...."