“Wake up, pup,” Hemlock shook Wren awake, not even caring to be gentle. “Herbal identification. You got 40 minutes to get to the mint clearing.” Wren yawned and opened her eyes. “Alright.” She smoothed down some spiked-up fur on her ankle with her tongue. The golden-red vixen looked around, only to find that the pup den was empty. Her siblings had already left to get ready, she assumed. The heat from the sun beat down on her, forcing her to squint her eyes. The ground was dry and cracked, and all the small grasses and shrubs were wilted and yellowing. Occasionally, a fox would venture out of their dens to collect food from the prey cache, but they would quickly return to their den due to the sweltering heat. “Hey,” Aspen trotted up from behind her. “It's so unfair that we gotta do the trial today. Every other intense weather day postponed the trial.” Wren nodded. “What part of the trial are you doing today?” She slowed down, conserving her energy. “Fighting. You?” Aspen responded. He was squinting his amber eyes so much, it seemed they were closed. “Um…” Wren tried to remember what Hemlock had told her. “Herb identification, I think.” Aspen nodded slowly. “Alright,” He shook himself to help wake himself up.“Moons, you're bright. Like, glowing. It's seriously hard to look at you.” Wren looked down at her coat of fur. Her pelt was almost blinding, for it was reflecting sunshine. Scattered golden lights danced around the ground at their feet as they talked. “Guess so.” “Aspen! Come here, darling.” A voice from behind a large rock barked. “Moxie,” Aspen shook his head. “She babies me so much.” Now that Wren thought about it, none of the high-ranking judges seemed fit for the job. There was Hemlock, the old reynard who was too bitter for his good. Now, there was Moxie. She was too sweet and seemed to have a bias for everything. Aspen would be receiving 9s and 10s in all the trial categories, no matter how bad he did. Where was Hemlock? For a fox as punctual as him, it was weird that he wasn't there. Hemlock had even woken her up early. Wren shook her head, annoyed. She decided to head to the mint clearing, which was the designated spot foxes would go to take the herbal identification portion of the trial. Casually, she trotted through the grove of birch trees that Hemlock had assessed her at the day prior. I’ll collect some mint while I wait. Wren thought. Mint had some medicinal uses, as well as smelling fresh and strong. She entered the clearing, the scent of mint overwhelming her senses instantly. Wren coughed and shook herself. Through the bright green leaves of the mint, she could see something lying on the floor. Slowly, she crept forward. Maybe it was prey. Wren yelped and jumped backwards when she neared the form. It was not prey that was lying on the ground in front of her. Not even a piece of human trash. The figure lying in front of her… was Flicker.
sorry for the short chapter but yk you gotta have suspense Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/961731660/ Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/950828606/ First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/949569151/ Feel free to ask me any questions! ty @tealstripe :D you are coolsies
