Ako could feel breath, hot on her ears, urging her to get up.

Something was not right.

Ako felt a hard nudge on her side. "Ako, get up! We have to go!"

Ako looked up to see a dark gray fox with lighter flecks peering at her with anxious light brown eyes. Her sister, Acorn.

"Why?" Ako found herself asking hoarsely. "What's wrong? Why can't we stay in the burrow?"

"It's not safe, Ako," Acorn practically begged. "Come on. Get up, go and follow Mommy."

Ako stood at another prod from her sister's sharp nose and swayed, unbalanced for a moment. Then, with a glance at Acorn, she trotted up the burrow's dirt hill and into the night. She shivered; although it was still warm, it was quite colder than it was in the den. There was a soft grunt as Acorn followed her out of their home.

Ako could see her mother's figure in the darkness.

"Acorn! Ako," her mother, Basil, yipped quietly. "Come on. We must get away from here."

Ako attempted to move forward on her clumsy paws, but when she stumbled and nearly fell, Acorn swept low and gently took her scruff in her jaws, carrying her much faster than Ako herself could have run.

"Is this some sort of game?" Ako squeaked quietly. "Because if it is, I'm not sure I like it!"

"Hush, little wildflower," Basil chided. "Acorn, we'll have to cross the river. Can you carry her? She can't swim on her own yet. She's too small."

"I'm plenty big to swim on my own!" Ako yapped, squirming in her sister's gentle jaws.

She was shaken slightly in the air as Acorn nodded.

Basil turned her concerned gaze onto Ako. "Little one, you can't be so loud. Here, think of it this way. This is a hiding game. How do you stay hidden? You must be quiet. We can't be found."

"What happens if I win?" Ako asked cautiously.

"I'll find you some eggs to have, all on your own." Basil promised, her voice even more hushed than before.

Ako, suddenly finding herself with a prize to be won, clamped her tiny jaws shut and nodded vigorously.

Basil turned around and headed off into the underbrush on silent paws. Acorn followed, clutching Ako and holding her above or below swinging branches that would sting if they hit. Ako slowly realized she could hear the snapping of twigs and deep, quiet voices that she couldn't understand, although she could hear them clearly. She pulled her ears back to her skull as she was carried closer to the sounds, then further away.

She began to relax as the voices dimmed and she could no longer hear them in her sensitive ears. Then she tensed, her eyes growing wide at a deep growl, very close, and very understandable.

"Fox."

Acorn froze, and up ahead, Ako could see that Basil had stopped as well, her neck twisted so she could look back at her daughters. A few quick, frightened sniffs from Ako's nose gave her a scent understanding of the animal: wolflike, but not a wolf.

A large exhale of air, then the sound of sniffing, followed by another deep growl. "I know you're there, you conniving creatures..."

Acorn was giving off powerful fear-scent. So was Basil, Ako could smell.

If even they were afraid of it, how bad was this going to be?

A few seconds passed of no sounds at all from the strange snuffling wolf-creature. Then, a loud, deep, wordless but alerting volley of barks rang out into the night.

Basil screeched, "Go, Acorn! Run!"

Acorn leapt into action, pushing off of the ground and shooting forward at a frightening speed. The now-loud creature was still barking as it gave chase, roaring out threats of its master finding them. Ako could hear the footsteps of another creature pursuing, could hear the shout of a voice that she did not recognize. She could feel Acorn's teeth digging into her scruff, and she squeaked in slight pain, although she held her tongue and instead closed her eyes tightly, willing the frightening and dizzying swaying to stop.

And then it did. She opened her eyes, startled. Basil was crouched at the tiny entrance to a tree hollow, and Ako and Acorn were inside with her. Basil's tail was twitching wildly, her hackles lifted in alarm. Ako felt her heart thrumming in her chest as she held her breath for what her mother would say. Acorn's breath was hot on her neck, as she still held her much smaller sister in her jaws. Ako realized slowly that she could no longer hear the barking, but footsteps were sounding quietly toward them.

Basil pulled her ears back, and Ako caught a glimpse of dread in her eyes. Ako felt her paws brush the dirt floor as Acorn set her down, and she stumbled for a moment for footing before standing firmly on her own. Her tail whisking in fear, Ako took a few steps toward the entrance, only to be swiftly drawn back by her sister's quick paws and held carefully. Basil took a few steps back from the entrance, and another creature burst into the hollow.

At first, Ako could not recognize it, while both fear and the creature spinning to look rapidly around made her vision blur. Then the creature stilled, and as the initial shock wore off, Ako could finally see the face with clarity.

Daddy! Ako felt her tail wagging in relief. Whatever was making her sister and mother fear so much, they would be safe now that he was here; Ako was certain of it. Ako opened her jaws to welcome him, but, remembering her game with her mother, said nothing.

Her father, Trive, spoke quietly to Basil. Ako watched her mother shake her head and murmur something back. Trive took a breath, whispered more words. Basil slowly, ever so reluctantly, nodded. Then, with an affectionate glance over at Ako and Acorn, Trive turned and pushed his way back out of the hollow tree.

Basil watched for a moment, then turned to them. "He's going to go and lure them away while we cross the river."

"But he could-" Acorn started to speak back.

"He knows what he's doing," Basil said gently. "He'll be alright. Let's go."

Ako felt herself once again being lifted from the ground, and she curled her paws up to her chin, feeling a shudder run through her from ears to tail-tip. Who is "them"? She asked herself, wishing that she hadn't been so easily goaded into a game for the sake of a precious snack food.

There was the sound of yapping, and Ako recognized her father's voice in the distance. The much louder barking of the wolf-thing took hold once more, the deep tones of it reaching far within Ako's ear fur and making it pulse uncomfortably. A few seconds passed, then Ako found herself being swayed rhythmically as Acorn ran, Basil's tail flashing in front of her like a silver flag. The sound of barking faded until it was a murmur, and it was quickly being replaced by a much more dominant rushing sound. Just when Ako thought she couldn't bear the noise getting any louder, a splash pulled her into full consciousness. She blinked wide as she realized what the source of the rushing sound was: A river, and Basil had wasted no time in pausing at the edge. Acorn, however, slowed, and gently slipped her way into the bubbling stream. Ako felt the cold water lapping hungrily at her bottom paws as the bed grew deeper, and the width of the river seemed to grow wider. Ako felt Acorn's paws slip a few times on the stony riverbed, but the water never reached up farther than Ako's bottom haunch, which was uncomfortable enough for her. As the other side of the stream finally appeared, Ako felt her ear fur pulsing once more and heard the deep barks of the loud, snuffling creature. Acorn climbed onto the bank, trotted inland to where Basil had stopped under a hawthorn bush, set Ako down, and shook out her sodden pelt. Ako flinched as she was sprayed with the icy-cold water and gave herself a small shake, shivering slightly as she dried.

A loud splash sounded in the river.

Ako jumped, startled, and turned her gaze onto the rushing water. A few seconds later, she caught sight of her father, clambering up onto the bank and giving his fur coat a few disdainful sniffs. Ako felt her still-dripping tail give a few wags, until she spotted something glinting in the bushes behind her father, on the other side of the stream. She felt her brow furrow in confusion as she saw another glint of moonlight.

There was a small clicking noise, almost unnoticeable compared to the thundering stream.

Daddy must have heard it, too, Ako thought as she saw her father turning his head to glance sidelong at the bushes behind him.

It glinted once more.

Then a thunderous sound pierced Ako's consciousness, and she stumbled, pressing her ears flat against her head, her vision momentarily blurring. She then saw her father fall, saw a spatter of something deep red come from his body.

As Ako looked more closely, she saw that it was blood. A chill, colder than the deepest winter, ran through her, and her eyes stretched wide as a puddle of blood formed around her father's body, leaking out from underneath it and staining the ground red.

She felt paws drag her back, saw a tail shielding her gaze. But it was too late; much, much too late to save her from the horrifying details she'd drunk in and would remember for the rest of her life.