A Different Path

Chapter 2

Well, they should have known that that would scare me! Those mousebrains are so immature, I can't even- Oh, who am I kidding? Rose was right-I AM a scaredy-kit. Silver thought sadly, padding down the slope as she followed Cherry and Rose, who were chatting non-stop about... who knew?

"Hey, Silver, you slow-snail! Aren't you going to come down?" Rose called up.

"Coming!" Silver padded quickly down the hill, nearly bowling herself over. On the way, she noticed a small bush with juicy-looking red fruits on it. Oh no! Rose and Cherry might decide to snack on them! She began clawing the berries off, but seeing Rose glare up at her made Silver stop. She sighed and shot one last withering glance at the dotted red bush, then scampered down the hill.

"Finally! It took you moons to come down here!" Cherry exclaimed, clawing at the dirt. "Let's get going now! Mother is calling."

The three kits trotted over to Blossom, and she led them into a small, covered area where Splash and Jelly were waiting.

"What took you guys so long?" Splash complained.

"Silver was taking MOONS to come down from the hill. She was poking at the yummy fruits on the bush and pawed them off the hill!" Rose growled.

Silver hung her head. "I only wanted to help," She mewed pitifully.

Blossom's head jerked up from where she was grooming herself. "What color were the fruits?" She asked.

"Red," Answered Cherry.

"Were they small and did they grow on a bush?" Blossom pushed.

"Yeah! Those are the yummy berries that Silver clawed off the bush." Cherry shot an accusing glance at Silver. Silver hung her head even lower.

"D-did any of you eat them?" Blossom asked fearfully.

"No...but Rose almost did!" Cherry said.

"Well don't. Those were Deathberries, and Silver was right to push them off the hill." Blossom warned as she went back to grooming herself. In mid groom, she added, "They're called Deathberries for a reason. Stay away from them."

Rose and Cherry looked startled.

Silver shot her sisters a haughty look. Ha! That'll teach them! She thought, curling up to sleep. As she drifted into dreamland, she heard Rose whisper in her ear, "Fleabrain."

The next morning, Silver woke up to find sunlight pouring in from the small entrance to their makeshift den. Silver padded out into the light and copied what her mother did each morning. She tasted the air and caught a strong whiff of... FOX! Silver squinted her eyes and saw a flash of orange and white among the leaf fronds. Silver yelped and scrambled back into the den.

"What?" Splash asked drowsily.

"Fox!" Silver whimpered.

"What? Where?" Splash leaped up, now fully awake. He nudged Blossom, Cherry, Jelly, and Rose awake and explained the situation. While he was at that, Silver cautiously padded back out. The fox was enormous, and it growled at Silver.

Silver turned and did the only thing she could do- run. Fear pounded in her heart as she charged under the low branches. She headed for the hill. As she made her way up the hill as quickly as possible, she caught sight of a small bush dotted with red.

An idea forming in her head. Silver changed direction and swerved, diving straight into the Deathberry bush. She watched through the leaves as the fox sniffed the air and whirled towards her. The fox lunged towards the bush and swallowed a clump of Deathberries.

Silver watched, cringing, as the fox was overtaken by a spasm, and then another. Eventually, the fox cried out one last time, and then its body slowly settled back onto the ground.

Silver hopped out of the bush and ran as fast as she could away from the dead fox. She slowed as she reached Rose and the others, who were watching her intently.

Finally, Rose broke the silence. "Wow! That was AWESOME!" She exclaimed.

Cherry and Splash and Jelly nodded, and Blossom purred as she licked Silver's ear.

"That was very brave, but next time, stay in the den." Blossom chided.

Silver purred and nodded.

Maybe she wasn't so useless after all.