“Trust me, Blaze. Nothing will make you happier than being so close to the one you love. Just knowing that she is your mate is enough to brighten your worst day.”
“I. . . I can’t,” Blaze said, his tail wilting in shame.
“Why not?”
“Because. . . I can’t tell you.”
“Yes you can. Whatever it is, I’m sure there’s a way to work around it.”
“Not this. Trust me, it’s not possible.”
Suddenly, just as before, Newthorn’s eyes lit up with rage, “If you’re so consumed with yourself that you can’t care about the one who loves you, then you don’t deserve to be in Icefire!” She yelled, “In fact, you don’t even deserve to be alive!”
Newthorn leapt to her paws, unsheathed her claws, and swiped them at Blaze’s face. Blaze jumped backwards in time to avoid most of the attack, but the tips of her claws still ran across his face, leaving shallow, but still painful, scratches behind.
“Newthorn, stop!” he shouted.
Newthorn’s eyes suddenly cleared, and she appeared confused, just like before, “I’m so sorry!” she told him, her voice barely a whisper.
“What’s going on here?” Smallthorn asked urgently, having seen the commotion and come running.
“It’s nothing, Smallthorn,” Blaze promised, “just a natural mood swing.”
“I. . . I’m sorry!” Newthorn repeated, close to tears.
“Are you sure?” Smallthorn asked, “Newthorn, are you all right?”
“I don’t know.” she whimpered.
“Do you need to go see Faith again?”
Without warning, the rage came back, and Newthorn turned to face her mate, “Why are you so obsessed with that old saloli? I’m your mate! Forget about her and think about me!”
“Newthorn. . .” Smallthorn said in a quiet voice, shocked by his mate’s words.
“He’s just trying to help you.” Blaze jumped in.
“I don’t need that old hag’s help!” the brown saloli shouted, not taking her eyes off of her mate, “If she comes anywhere near me, I’ll kill her!”
“Newthorn. . .” Smallthorn said again, taking a step forward to comfort his mate.
“Stay away from me!” she hissed, lashing out at him with her claws. When Smallthorn retreated, Newthorn turned away and ran out of the camp.
Smallthorn stood there, whimpering. “W-what did I do?” he asked, tears welling up in his eyes, “Did I offend her?”
“No,” Blaze promised him, “she’s just having a mood swing. Creatures do that when they’re pregnant.”
“But I’ve seen her have a mood swing before,” Smallthorn argued, “it was nothing like that!”
“It must be because she’s so close to her due date,” Blaze suggested, “it’s coming up in the next few days, right?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Smallthorn agreed, though he didn’t seem convinced, “But what do I do when it happens?”
“Just leave her alone until she’s calmed down enough to think rationally again. Then go to her and tell her you forgive her.”
“Okay,” Smallthorn said, “I’ll give her about an hour to be by herself.”
“Good idea,” Blaze agreed, “I’ve got to go, though. There’s something I need to do.” Turning tail, Blaze ran back to the prophet’s tree in search of Faith. He found her in the uppermost branches, taking a nap. He prodded her awake, “Faith,” he told her. “Newthorn just had another meltdown.”
“Where is she?” the old saloli asked.
“She ran off into the forest. This time she tried to attack Smallthorn.”
“Her own mate? This is getting worse than I expected. Show me the way she went.”
Climbing down, Blaze took the prophet to where Newthorn had made her escape. Faith quickly picked up her scent and began following it, Blaze right behind her. Within minutes, they came to a small clearing, where Newthorn lay, sobbing.
“Newthorn, are you okay?” Faith asked, gently. She tentatively took a step towards her.
“No! Don’t come near me!” Newthorn cried out, “I don’t know what I’ll do!”
“Blaze tells me you had another outburst. I just want to check up on you.”
“I. . . I tried to kill him!”
“Who? Blaze?”
“Well, yes, but I also tried to kill Smallthorn!” She wept.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Faith promised her, “remember what I told you?”
“No, this isn’t natural.” Newthorn insisted, “I can’t control myself! Anything can make me angry. When that happens, all I can think about is killing! Faith, what’s really happening to me?”
Faith took a deep breath. Blaze wondered if she was going to tell her the truth, “It’s the poison.” She finally admitted, “the stuff Razor left on you. That’s what’s doing this.”
“You told me it was harmless!” Newthorn gasped.
“I thought it was, but it seems I was wrong.”
“Well, can’t you do anything? Can you use your powers to make it go away?”
“Not without knowing exactly what it is.” Faith explained, “If I try without that knowledge, there could be serious side effects.”
“Is it going to kill me?”
“No, of that I am sure. It will not kill you, or it would have done so already.”
“Will I be like this for the rest of my life?”
“Again, no. It will only be in your system for a little while. It should be leaving any day now.”
Newthorn sighed with relief, “But what about Smallthorn?” she asked, “I tried to kill him!”
This time it was Blaze who spoke, “I spoke to Smallthorn about it, and he understands that you didn’t mean it. He’s back at camp, waiting for you to return.”
“He is? You mean he doesn’t hate me?”
“Hate you? Of course not! Smallthorn loves you with all his heart. Nothing you could ever do would be able to change that one bit.”
“I. . . I’m going to go see him,” Newthorn decided, “to tell him that I’m sorry.”
“Good idea.” Faith agreed.
Newthorn stood up and walked past them, but stopped to look at Blaze, “You know, I did mean what I was saying about you and Sunbeam. You need to ask her.”
<><><><><>
Goliath could barely hold back his laughter. He and Mordred were both standing in the shadows outside of Icefire’s camp. Having seen what he wanted, he turned and ran back towards the Darkcover border, Mordred right behind him. Within minutes they had crossed over, but they did not stop until they were out of hearing distance of any saloli from the opposing tribe.
“Mordred, you’re a genius!” he congratulated his prophet.
“Thank you.” the blind saloli a wicked smile on his face.
“What will happen to her next?”
“You will see, my chief, you will see.”
“That sap is the best idea you’ve ever come up with! We should use it again, on another saloli! Perhaps the outsider, himself, this time!”
“Ah, yes. The outsider.” Mordred mused, “I’ve been wanting to discuss him with you lately.”
“What about him?”
“I had the chance to speak with him a while ago. I gave him a little warning about Razor, to see how he would react. Obviously, he ignored it. There was one thing, however, that did catch my attention.”
“What was that?” Goliath asked, not entirely pleased that Mordred had spoken to the outsider without permission.
“His aura. He gave off a very strange feeling, one I’ve never felt in a saloli before.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that being around him didn’t feel like being around another saloli. It felt different. Almost like. . . no, it couldn’t be.”
“What? What did it feel like?”
“It almost felt like being around a. . . human.”
<><><><><>
“Faith! Faith!” Smallthorn’s shouting woke Blaze up. Looking over
the edge of the branch, he saw his friend running towards Faith’s tree. What was wrong? Worried, Blaze got up, climbed down the tree, and ran after Smallthorn. He found him speaking urgently with Faith, who turned and ran back towards the common’s tree.
“Smallthorn, what’s the matter?” Blaze asked.
“Newthorn’s going into labor!” he replied, his face contorted with fear and worry.
“Come on then, you need to be with her!” Blaze turned to run to the common’s tree, but stopped when he saw that Smallthorn wasn’t going to follow, “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to see your son being born?”
“I do,” Smallthorn insisted, “but what if something goes wrong? What if there’s a miscarriage? Blaze, what if Newthorn dies?”
Blaze knew enough not to tell his friend that that wouldn’t happen, but he had to say something to get him over there, “If any of those happen, don’t you think Newthorn would want you there, standing beside her?” He asked.
Smallthorn thought about it for only a moment, then took off towards the tree, “You’re right! Come on, we need to get over there!”
Blaze followed his friend back to the common’s tree, where he found Newthorn laying on the ground, moaning in pain. Faith stood beside her, muttering encouragement, “You can do it,” she said, “you’re doing wonderfully.”
Smallthorn went to stand beside her, rubbing his cheek on hers. Suddenly, Newthorn yelped in pain. She began breathing heavily.
“Yes, yes,” Faith told her, “push!”
Newthorn screamed.
“You’re doing great, Newthorn! He’s almost here!”
Newthorn screamed one last time, then her head slumped to the ground, and she was silent.
“Is she all right?” Smallthorn asked, desperately.
“She’s fine.” Faith assured him, “She just needs time to rest now. But look, Smallthorn! You’re a father!”
Eyes brightening, Smallthorn raced around to stand beside the prophet, and gasped in amazement. Blaze hurried to stand beside him, and saw what he was looking at. There, on the ground, wet, shivering, and hairless, lay a tiny, newborn saloli. Its skin was bright pink, and its eyes were sealed shut, as was normal for baby animals. Kneeling down, Smallthorn opened his mouth and bit through the umbilical cord.
“Little Springthorn,” he whispered lovingly, “my son.”
“Our son,” Newthorn said, lifting her head off the ground, “bring him here, I want to see him.”
Gently taking the infant by the scruff of his neck, Smallthorn brought him over to where Newthorn could see. The new mother immediately curled up so her head could reach him, and she began to lick him all over, to get his blood flowing correctly. Soon, Springthorn let out a tiny squeak, and opened its mouth. Newthorn used her tail to push the infant towards her belly, where he quickly began to feed.
“I’m a father,” Smallthorn said, as if trying to convince himself, “I really am!”
“Congratulations,” Blaze said, happy for his friends, “both of you.”
“Thank you,” Newthorn responded, “and don’t think you’re being left out here. You’re as much a part of this as we are.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re Springthorn’s godfather,” Smallthorn reminded him. Smallthorn knelt down and nuzzled his son, who let out a small squeak in surprise, “I hope it doesn’t come to that, though.”
Springthorn finished feeding and curled up against his mother, falling asleep immediately. Blaze felt his heart grow warm at the sight.
Lucky devils, he thought.
“You know that you’ll have to move to the nursery tree now, Newthorn.” Faith informed her, speaking up for the first time in a while.
“Yes, of course.” Newthorn agreed.
“We should get him up there now, while he’s asleep.” The prophet suggested, “Are you able to stand?”
Newthorn put her paws underneath her, and, with some difficulty, managed to stand up. Like Smallthorn had, she picked up Springthorn by the scruff of his neck, and followed the prophet to the nursery tree.
“An amazing thing to see, isn’t it?” someone beside him asked. Blaze looked around to see Rust standing there.
“It is.” Blaze responded, resisting the urge to put distance between him and his chief, then thought, not something you’d ever deserve for yourself, traitor.
“There’s no greater blessing to this tribe than the birth of new life.” Rust went on, “We need all the paws we can get. The young may seem like burdens at first, but you never know who they will grow up to be. Kind of like you, Blaze. I may not have known you since you were born, but I have known you since the day you joined Icefire. I admit, I had my doubts about you at first, but now those have all been put to rest. You’ve grown up to become the epitome of what an Icefire saloli prides himself in being.”
“Thanks.” Blaze said, awkwardly. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to a compliment from a traitor.
“You should be proud of yourself.” Rust told him. Looking around at the camp, he sighed, “I love this tribe, Blaze. I really do. The safety of these saloli means more to me than anything else in the world. I would gladly die for them.”
“So would I.” Blaze agreed.
“Thank you, that’s comforting to know,” Rust acknowledged him, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to rest up for tomorrow. You never know what the next day will bring.” With that, the chief turned and ran back towards his personal tree, leaving behind a very confused Blaze. The saloli that, just ten minutes ago, he had thought was a traitor was suddenly showing pride in his tribe again. Maybe Blaze had misunderstood what he was talking about to Goldenrod. Maybe Rust wasn’t a traitor after all! Blaze didn’t know what to think, and knew that he would never figure it out when he was so tired. He would have to get a good night’s rest, and think about it in the morning. Turning, he climbed back up the common’s tree.
Chapter Twenty Three
For the next week, Smallthorn was hardly ever seen out of the nursery tree. He wanted to spend every spare moment he had with his new son, and nobody could blame him. Since saloli grew up faster than human children, Springthorn had already learned how to stand. His body had also become covered in short fuzz, hardly there, but still visible. It was a rich, dark brown color, the perfect mix between his parent’s furs. He had not yet learned to speak, and Smallthorn was determined to teach him. Blaze was constantly with them as well, getting to know his potential godchild. Springthorn had already learned to recognize him, and would squeak with joy whenever he saw him. Today, when Blaze made his way to their branch, he heard Smallthorn practicing words with his son again.
“Daddy.” Smallthorn said.
“Squeak!” said Springthorn, a smile covering his face that could light the entire world.
“Mommy.” Smallthorn went on.
“Squeak!” Springthorn repeated.
Newthorn lay in the crook of the branch, watching her family, “Smallthorn, that’s enough,” she said, “you’re going to wear him out.”
“All right,” Smallthorn gave in, then finally noticed his friend standing on the edge of the branch, watching them, “Hey, Blaze!”
As expected, Springthorn squeaked with happiness, and ran over to be with the red saloli, nuzzling against his side affectionately.
“Hi, Springthorn.” Blaze said, “Hey, Smallthorn, Newthorn.”
“How is everything down there?” Newthorn asked.
“Everything’s going good,” Blaze replied, “Ink misses you, though, Smallthorn.”
“You’re right!” Smallthorn gasped, “I’ve been neglecting her, haven’t I? I’ll take her out to train today, I swear.”
“Good. So, I take it Springthorn is still as lively as ever.”
The three saloli spoke for almost an hour, Springthorn running back and forth between them, wanting attention. Finally, Blaze announced that he needed to go, and climbed back down. Once on the ground, he quickly sought out his trainee.
&n
bsp; “Ready to train today, Scratch?” he asked.
“Yeah!” the young saloli agreed.
Blaze was about to lead his trainee to the Acorn Place, but thought better of it, deciding instead to have Scratch lead him. Telling him what to do, Blaze followed him. It had been a while since they had done this, but Blaze was sure that Scratch would remember the way. Fifteen minutes later, though, his confidence was beginning to waver a bit. What should have been a short trip was taking them a quarter of an hour, and they weren’t even in the right part of the forest.
Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm Page 25
