guessed she ment her and Toner, and probaley Amarie. "I don't know. Dawn was sold and that was the last I heard of her." May said. Crysa thought she heard regret in her voice. She must miss her, she thought. Miliko placed his paw over May's and Crysa suddenly felt anoyed. "I'm going to go see the pups." she stood and walked off the porch. I know shes feeling sad about loosing her mate and daughter, she told herself. But why did she have to choose my dad to be her conferter?

"A.J, are you sure about this?" April asked. After hearing her brothers plan, she wasn't so sure she liked it. A.J grunted and shoved the plank of wood a little. "Relax, will ya?" he said, slightly out of breath. "It's just a little mud and all in good fun." He turned to Breezie, who was slapping a ball of mud together. "But what if it makes her mad? What if she leaves?" Kisha asked worridly. A.J rolled his eyes and sighed. "Honestly, you'd think we were going to actully hurt her the way you two are acting. Now, help me get this mud on there." he instructed. "Breezie, you keep watch and let us know when shes in position." Breezie nodded and scrambled under a bush. April carefully grabbed some mud with her paw and placed it on the wood. Kisha and A.J did the same, though she noticed that A.J's was a much larger wad of mud. After a bit, there was a small lump of brown slop on the edge of the plank. A.J scrambled up onto a rock and crouched, waiting for Breezie's signal. Kisha shifted uneasily and glanced at April, who felt something was going to go, horribly, horribly wrong. Suddenly, Breezie bolted out from under the bush, knocking April back. A loud crack sounded as her paw landed on a stick. "She's here!" Breezie barkerd at A.J.

Crysa wheeled around as she heard a crack behind her. "Who's there?" she called, exspecting one of the pups to come crawling out. She heard a bark. "Welcome to the family!" a voice called. Crysa took a step foreward, there was a flash of brown and then something struck her in the face. "Agh!" she yelled. It burned her eyes as her paw flew to her face and tried to rub it off. It was sticky, and Crysa felt all the blood in her body burn with rage. Mud! "You little rats!" she screamed. She couldn't see but she heard them clamering around the bushes. Every hair on her back was raised and she growled. Then she lunged. She heard a little scream of terror as her paws conected with something soft. It must have been a tail bacause it slipped right threw. She quickly picked up on the scent. Crysa snarled before giving chase. She didn't know which pups had done it, but their were four different scents in front of her.

"Crysa!" Toners cry of suprise sounded, but Crysa didn't stop. She could hear the short breaths of a worn out pup in front of her. She bunched her muscles and lunged foreward. Her teeth grabbed the scruff of a shaking pup. "Crysa! What are you doing!" Crysa turned around, the pup still clamped in her jaws. The mud had been blown out of her eyes a bit, and she could make out the blurs of Miliko, May, and Toner. Junie and Amarie were smaller blurs behind them, with three shaking blurs crouched by their legs. The pup in her jaws whimperd fearfully. It was shaking violently, but Crysa didn't drop it. "What are you doing with A.J." Miliko asked, his voice sounded shocked. A.J! So that was the pup that had done this! Crysa roughly dropped him. The pup looked up at her fearfully before darting between his fathers legs. "The little rat threw mud at me." Crysa growled. "So you attacked him?" Toner asked in disbelif. Crysa's eyes still burned from the mud that had gotten into them.

"I-I didn't mean to hit it her in the face!" A.J's voice trembled as he spoke. "It was just suppose to hit her in the back!" Crysa glared at him. He was nothing more then a shaking black blur between white ones. "You really threw mud at her?" Miliko asked sharply. A.J nodded, still starring fearfully at Crysa. "You should know better then that!" May told him sternly. Crysa's blood was boiling. "If thats how these little rats are going to act, then they can rot for all I care!" she snarled. Ignoring the gasps of shock from Junie and Amarie, Crysa turned and bolted away.

"Sit still." Crysa winced as the black female squeezed the water soaked moss onto her eyes. "Honestly, I can't belive your little siblings did this." Mena said in disbelif. Crysa glared at her. "Don't call them that." she hissed. Charley sighed. "Crysa, I can't heal your eyes unless you stay still!" Crysa turned back to her as she pressed the moss over her eyes. The cool water felt good, and with the spongy moss it felt even better agasint her sore eyes. "And your Aunt didn't belive you when you told her A.J did it?" Mena asked angerly. Crysa brifly shook her head. "She thinks he's a little angel, and that it was more likley just April, Kisha, and Breezie's doing." Crysa growled. "He's a absalut darling. Always clean while the rest of that bunch is always dirty." she said, quoting what Aunt Margret had said. Crysa snorted. "Yeah, I'll belive that. Probley because A.J's always flinging mud at them." she said crossly.

"Okay, now blink a couple times." Charley instructed. Crysa did as she said. "How do they feel?" Charley asked as she soaked the moss some more. "Better, but they still sting." Crysa said, still blinking. Mena stepped foreward and looked. "I'll say. The look as red as a cherry." Charley shoved her aside and placed the moss back over Crysa's eyes. Crysa sighed with relief as the cool water ran over her eyes. "That feels good. Where'd you learn this stuff?" she asked. "One of the females in town showed me it when I got dust in my eyes. I think her name was Trixie." Charley chuckled. "She thought it'd do me good to know something before I got in any more scraps." Mena shot a mocking look at her. "Which you have very well succeded in doing." she teased. Charley swatted a paw at her playfully. Crysa laughed. The two females were as different as day and night, but they got along by teasing each other good naturedly.

"Alright, blink some more." Charley said as she removed the moss again. Crysa obayed. "Well?" Mena asked. "Much better." Crysa said with relief. Charley smiled. "You wouldn't have gone blind or anything you know." Crysa nodded. "Okay, now just soak them before you go to sleep and again in the morning." Charley told her. "They should be fine in a few days." Crysa smiled gratefully at her. "Do you want us to walk you home?" Mena offerd. Crysa hesitated. If Aunt Margret was there, then Mena would no doubt unlease her rage upon her. On the other hand, she really wanted the company. Finnaly, she said yes and the three head across the yard.

"You happy now? I met them, they nearly blinded me, and now we all know eachother! Happy day!" Crysa snapped. Toner winced and Junie glanced at her paws. The two had come home and Crysa had unleashed a wave of pure rage on them. "But Crysa, they didn't mean it." Junie insisted. Crysa laughed mockingly. "Oh really? Sure sounded like it to me!" Now Junie was the one to cringe. "Are your eyes okay?" Toner asked quietly. "Charley said they'll be fine in a few days." Crysa said crossly. "Which is more then i can say for A.J, Kisha, April, and Breezie, after the scare you gave them." Toner commented lightly. Crysa's fur prickled along her spine. "If your saying I should apologize, then you can save your breath!" she snarled. Junie starred at her sister. She had never seen her like this. She was ussualy good temperd and looking for ways to annoy Aunt Margret. This wasn't Crysa, not this angry, growling dog.

"Crysa, please, A.J pulls pranks on everyone. He doesn't mean any harm." Toner said gently. "No harm huh?" Crysa growled. "Thats funny. Then I must have imagened my eyes burning!" Toner sighed and turned to leave. "I'll be at Amarie's." he said quietly before heading out the door. Once he was gone, Junie wheeled on Crysa, her brown eyes blazing. "Why are you acting like this?" she demanded. "This isn't like you at all." Crysa growled in her throat. "In case you haden't notcied, our fathers run off with some petite female and had a litter of mangy rats! Tossing us aside like trash!" she snapped. "You know thats not true!" Junie's voice rose defensivly. "He tried to be with us! It's all Aunt Margrets fault he wasn't!" Junie's gaze softened. "I know your shocked that moms gone, so are Toner and I, but just because dad found someone else doesn't mean he betrayed her, or us." she said softly. Crysa lept of the bed and landed in front of Junie, her eyes blazing. "You don't seem to think mom being gone matters! You and Toner seem perfectly happy with dad's new family!" she growled.

Junie's eyes widened in shock. "Of course we care! She was our mother!" she said defensivly. "Then how come your acting like it doesn't matter?" Junie was suprised to hear a crack in Crysa's voice. "How come you and Toner are acting like nothings wrong? How can you let May replace mom?" Junie stepped back, her ears lowerd. "May's not replacing mom." she said quietly, though her heart pounded in her ears. Was this why Crysa was so upset lately? Had the news of their mothers death been that hard on her? But how could it be? Junie asked herself. She didn't know her any longer then Toner or I did. Crysa was starring coldly at Junie. "You may let that prissy dog and her rats replace mom, but I won't!" Crysa shouted, then ran past Junie. She needed to get away, and there was only one place she knew that let her do that.

"A.J you idiot! Look at you've gotton us into!" April snapped. After Crysa had bolted away, their parents had pulled A.J, Kisha, Breezie, and her aside while Toner and Amarie rounded up the other pups. Breezie and Kisha had exsplained the whole story, since April had been to stunned and hurt by Crysa's