Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Whiteclaw drank in the sweet scent of the morning air. She sighed and lay on her side, groaning as someone’s teeth shook her scruff back and forth. “G-ge offa me!” She lazily mumbled, her eyes blinking against the bright morning sun.

         “Your about to fall off!” The voice shouted. Whiteclaw gasped as she stared into the foggy jungle depths below.

         “Where are we?” Whiteclaw had just noticed that her fur was dirty and matted, and was smoothing it out with careful licks. She realized that the last time she had done this was faraway in The Dawn Forest. “How far away I’m from that place now.” She thought, accidently out loud.

         Sunstreak’s ear twitched. “What did you say?”

         “Nothing.” Whiteclaw replied. “Where are we?” She repeated.

         “No idea.” Sunstreak answered, and with the turn of her head she was asking the owl.

“You fell asleep mid-conversation.” The owl paused, murmuring “One second, I think we’ve reached our destination.” He quickly swooped down, putting images of falling passengers in Sunstreak’s and Whiteclaw’s heads.

         They drifted deeper and deeper into the wet, misty, jungle vines. Wet fog blanketed the air, reflecting Sunstreak’s foggy, cluttered thoughts misting over more important ones.

“Where are we?” Sunstreak questioned. The owl just ignored her.

         “We’re here!” The owl singsonged. As he spoke, an icy breeze passed swept through the fog.

         “Where is here?”

         “The jungle tribe of course! And my name is Snap. Snapdragon Hoot-hoot Emeraldhorn of the Furry Scruffs. Of course, even though my family goes back to the first owls, and is very distinguished, you can just call me Snap. Each name dates back…” He would have been happy to continue proudly lecturing about his extraordinary family history, but could see a hint of boredom on Sunstreak’s face. So he stopped, standing tall and proud.

         Snap didn’t wait for a reply to his speech. He slowly wobbled towards the jungle, shivering in spite of the warmth. Suddenly he blasted to the ground, surging through the cool air.

         Whiteclaw felt as if her fur was on fire, while full of icy clumps of stinging drifts of snow at the same time. She howled in pain, yet no sound came out.

         Sunstreak was enduring something similar, and her paws were so numb she nearly screamed in terror and hurt. Finally they shuddered to a stop.