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Night, Night One

Midna led the way, behind him three Karrots. Midna was a fully grown male Unigon. In his mind, he was the only sensible one of the bunch, except for maybe the youngest Karrot, Camo. Camo had the brain of a peanut, but he still had sense. The other Karrots had no brain at all. What would they do without him? Midna thrust his head into the air and breathed deeply. No sign of enemies. He shook his long, dark mane and, after a couple more sniffs, began to graze. He sensed the Karrots shifting nervously behind him, so Midna called back, "Safe. Eat," and continued grazing.

Vixie, an orange and black Karrot, stood up on her hind legs and stood very still. The only part of her body that was moving was her nose, which was twitching and quivering madly. Satisfied, Vixie settled down to eat, not noticing Midna roll his eyes at the precaution. Vixie complained loudly that the grass wasn't juicy enough, that it wasn't as lush a green that she liked, that Midna picked the wrong place, that the ground was too hot, on and on and on. No one payed any attention, it was a routine they learned to expect.

Karen flopped down as soon as Midna gave the a-okay. The candy corn colored Karrot found a tasty cow-slip and munched it happily. She was utterly relaxed. Nothing could have moved her from her lazy position on her side but a whinny of warning from Midna. She sighed and rolled around on her back, getting the itches out. She didn't notice Midna shake his head in disapproval for not being cautious enough. Karen ignored her sister's ranting and rolled back onto her side. She munched lazily from her position, ready to sleep any minute. "Shut up, Vixie," she said happily to her sister. "And relax, Camo,"

Camo, the youngest, could hardly be seen in the grass because of his camoflouge fur. Nevertheless, he was the most nervous. As soon as Midna had announced safety, he had run at bullet speed to the large Unigon. He was there now, next to Midna's front forleg. Camo ate daintily and sat up every now and then to check for predators. Camo used his every sense in his efforts. His nose worked faster than a bird flies, his ears were always cocked as the swiveled into different directions. Camo, his eyes wide, tried to see everywhere at once. He even stuck out his little pink tongue to try to taste the wind. His whiskers were spead out wide to feel any disruption in the air. He would stay like that for a while, then drop down to eat. Then the whole process would start over again.

Camo snorted gently at Camo, who twitched in response. "Little Camo," the Unigon cooed. "It's alright. You're safe with me. Nothing to fear... If there was anything for you to fear, it would certainly fear me more!" Midna pawed the ground for emphasis, making Camo scuttle away until the danger was over. "Camo," Midna said softly once the small Karrot had returned. "Don't you trust me?"

Camo, eyes wide, nodded.

Midna nodded back solemnly, then lay down, letting Camo snuggle up next to his great neck. "Let us sleep," he said loudly enough to be heard.

Vixie, done complaining, rolled over and tried to fall asleep. As she was drowsily laying, she realized just how comfortable the not-juicy, not green enough, hot grass was, even if it wasn't the best for eating.

They slept peacefully. Karen and Vixie didn't notice that Camo and Midna woke up and checked for danger in shifts all throughout the night.

Day, Day One

In a few hours, they finally made it to the mountain. They could only pray that Camo was still alive.

"Everyone off," Midna said as he lowered his body to the ground. He couldn't risk dropping a Karrot or two on the steep, rocky mountain. They had to travel carefully, he knew.

The group climbed in silence. Once they reached a cave, they entered. No sign of life. They exited and continued on their way up. Midna lost his footing on a loose rock and Karen slipped down a few feet, but still they kept going. They wouldn't rest until the rescued Camo, or until they knew of his fate... The next cave had blood in the entrance. Upon sniffing, it was confirmed that it was camo's blood. They all rushed in, Midna in the lead, and saw Camo lying on his side on the floor. Next to him was a nest. Blood pooled around his body... They couldn't see him breathing. Fearing for the worst, Karen and Vixie burst out crying, while Midna whinnied loudly.

Camo slowly sat up and turned around, still bleeding from the wound on his side.

"C-Camo...?" Vixie and Karen whispered in unison.

Midna trotted over to Camo. "How...?" he asked simply.

Camo took a deep, shudering breath. "It took me here... And I kicked it... It was about to lay some eggs, so I was going to be the last meal before egg laying... That's why the nest is here... I don't know where her mate is... But I kicked her and kicked her until she went away..." Camo looked faint.

Karen hopped over and examined Camo's side. "It's shallow enough to not leave a scar," she decided, nose twitching, "but deep enough for you to blled yourself out. Those nasty birds with those brutal talons!" Karen flicked her ear in irritation.

Vixie looked carefully about the cave, then spotted a soft-looking plant. She grabbed its long leaves in her mouth and carried them carefully over to Camo, not letting them touch the floor. "Here," she said, mouth full. "Not sure what they are, but they'll work. Not poisonous, I know. At least they're clean."

With some difficulty, the two female Karrots bandaged their brother's side with the leaves.

"There," Midna said, unable to keep the relief out of his voice. "Let's go. Can you walk, Camo?"

Before he could answer, two birds swooped in. The Karrots bolted, leaving Midna to fight the birds. They screeched in rage. How dare they invade their nesting ground? How dare they steal their food? How dare they?? The female bird beat her wings about Midna's head. The male dove, bit Midna's back, and flew off again. The birds were everywhere at once, Midna was going to lose....

Midna reared and struck the female with one mighty hoof. She crumpled on the floor, never to rise again. Midna turned, still only on his hind legs, and roared at the male. Stunned, the other bird flew off.

From the force of Midna's call, the cave started to fall apart. The ceiling broke off in chunks, the walls started to collapse on themselves... There was only one escape: The tunnel in the back of the cave. All sprinted there.

Camo, the last to run to safety, made it just in time. His tail disappeared into the tunnel just as the ceiling broke at once, preventing any other escape.

In the darkness, the animals waited until their eyes grew used to the lack of light. Midna could see slightly better than the Karrots, so he led the way. Camo coughed every now and then, closely followed by a groan of pain. He was supported by his two sisters.

At last, Midna could not bear to hear Camo's pain any longer. "We'll go round this bend, then--" Midna was cut off by the sight in front of him.

Crystals that covered every wall and ceiling were emitting a soft glow. In front of them were so many tunnels that they didn't dare to count them. Unfortunately, the tunnels were not lighted by the odd crystals.

"Which way do we go?" Vixie piped up.

"We don't," Karen replied. "We'll rest here, in the light, and choose a tunnel later. Camo needs to catch his breath."

Camo was grateful that his older sister didn't say the truth; that he couldn't go on without collapsing from exhaustion. Between the shock, fighting, bleeding, and hopelessness, Camo wasn't sure if he'd have time to lay down before he fell asleep.