bleeding?!"
"You tried to eat me then ran ran into a tree." Diana said. She didn't bounce around the topic much.
Chicago shrugged. "Okay, then." She sniffed the air. "Where'd that other wolf go?" She trotted down to the river and sipped some water, then grimaced and spit out blood.
"Other wolf ran away," she said looking up stream.
Freezestar growled at the deer. It began to run. Freeze ran after it.
Chicago started to trot back up to Diana, then suddenly stopped, her eyes rolling back up into her head. She collapsed on the ground, coughing violently. No longer able to support herself, Chicago rolled back down and into the river.
Diana ran to the river. She attempted to fish Chicago out. He paw pads were burnt. She couldn't step in the water. She panicked.
Freezestar let the deer be and sat near the river.
Chicago choked on the water, struggling to surface. Somewhere between Freezestar and Diana, Chicago felt teeth pulling her to safety. Then, blackness.
Diana ran down stream still in a panic state. Freezestar huffed and froze the river solid. She crossed it and sat down on the other side.
[hr:2f90e69a][/hr:2f90e69a]
Chicago was unconsious when her savior dragged her into a cave, but was awake a few minutes later. She coughed, then heard a feminine voice. "Oh, good. You're awake. For a minute, we weren't sure if you were going to make it." Chicago rolled over and gasped. "You!"
Diana bounced from the river to the bank. It stung everytime her feet touched the water. Then Freeze's power took control. Her feet froze, locked in the ice. Diana yipped.
Chicago gaped up at the wolves before her: Blaze and Misty. "You guys! I haven't seen you in ages! What-" here, Chicago heaved with coughs and had to stop talking.
Diana jerked upwards. She yelped in pain. The ice was solid. Freezestar twitched her ears hearing faint screaming. "What the heck is going on?"
Chicago tried to get to her feet. She cold hear faint yelling. "That's Diana! She's in trouble!" Misty laid a paw on Chicago's shoulder. "You're much too weak to go. Let Blaze do it."
Diana jerked up again. Her paws strained to rip out of the ice. She grit her teeth and pulled upwards. "Come on! Come on, break!" she growled.
Blaze rolled his eyes, but left the cave. He ran along the river- since that was where Misty had found Chicago, that was where Diana was most likely to be. Sure enough, Blaze soon found Diana, with her paws embedded in a frozen river. "Hold on! I'm coming!" Called Blaze, but he hesitated at the river's edge. He had always hated dealing with ice.
Diana continued to jerk upwards. If she put enough force into that for too long shed break her paws. She yelled at Freezestar "YOU IDIOT UN-FREEZE ME!"
Blaze tentatively placed one paw on the ice. His power, which raised his body temperature in cold areas, showed immediately as a plume of steam arose. He scooted Slowly across the water until he could see Diana. "Hold still, miss. I'll have you free momentarily."
Diana stopped squirming. "That Ice-type is going down" she mummbled to herself. Her struggle had not casued her to break her bones, but she had ingured some.
Blaze felt the ice start to give. He ran, overshot Diana, managed to get back to her and free her from the ice... then fell through.
Diana shot her feet up. She watched the ice fall through. "Freezestar you idiot!" she growled as it did.
Blaze coughed as he spit out water. "Now I helped you.. it's your turn to help me!" He called as he tried to tred water. "I can't swim!" Then he started to sink.
Diana shot a glance at Blaze. She tunneled her way through the water. It was hard to see. She a a blurry figure and began to propel herself towards it.
"Help..." Bubbled Blaze. He could only barely see Diana, but she was so far away... He couldn't hold his breath much longer...
Diana kicked off the bottom of the river to gain momentum. She grabbed Blaze's scruff and threw herself to the surface. Freezestar stood at the top, nose to nose with Diana. Dianas eyes narrowed. "See what you caused?!"
Blaze found he was breathing air. He gasped for breath and struggled to his feet. "I do NOT want to do that again. Why was the river frozen, anyway?"
Diana growled again. "This smart one..." she spoke in a cross voice. She pointed to Freezestar. Freeze laid her ears back.
Blaze sniffed Freezestar. "No doubt about it. She's most definately a water-type. But you already knew that." Blaze checked that his fire-crystals were still in place, then started to walk away. "Oh, by the way, my mate and I saved Chicago from the river earlier."
Diana nodded. "I'm thankful." She turned her attention back to Freezestar.
Blaze started his jets to jump the stream, but they sputtered and died. "Uh-oh," Blaze muttered," I'm too wet! I can't keep a flame!"
Diana lept out of the water and shoved Freezestar in. "Have fun," she snarled. She sat down and mumbled to herself. She was in her own world.
Blaze sat next to Diana for a while, then tried his jets again. When they still didn't light, he tapped Diana lightly on the shoulder. "Miss, do you know a good crossing spot?"
Diana shook her head. "Not around here," she told him. Freezestar kicked her legs, trying to keep herself from drowning. "Why me?" She screamed to the wind.
Blaze frowned. "Thank you anyway, Ma'am. I'll just have to wait until I can dry off so I can fly across." He sat down next to her to wait.
Diana stood up and moved towards Chicagos scent. She looked down into the den. "Chicago? If I come in, are you gonna try and eat me again?"
Chicago stood up and wobbled out of the den, still a little shakey from her near-drowning and severe headache. She was blushing hotly. "I am SO sorry I did that! I can't even remember most of the time I was doing it." She avoided looking Diana right in the eye, and even looked straight down to keep Diana from looking into her eyes.
"It's fine, Chicago, you were starving," she flicked her ears. Her feather was gone. "Shoot, Don't tell me I have to go looking for that," she mumbled.
Chicago looked sad. "I was starving- that doesn't make it right. I'm sorry, Diana, but this has to happen." Without another word, Chicago went to the top of a hill. The sky darkened with heavy stormclouds, and there was an audible buzz: lightning building up. All of Chicago's fur started swaying and reaching toward the clouds.
Diana flicked her ear again, She heard the buzzing. She knew what that meant. She saw the storm clouds above the cliff. "Chicago, no..." she panicked again. She began to run on her damaged heels.
Chicago turned to Diana, her eyes all a-glitter with tears. "Diana, don't." She whispered, her voice carried to Diana's ears alone by the wind. The crackling grew louder, louder, and yet louder. Chicago's fur was practically pulling itself from Chicago's flesh. "It has to be this way."
Diana shook her head. "Chicago, don't," she couldnt let her friend die. "It was an honest mistake," the words flowed from her mouth. She didn't think about them.
Chicago didn't even pause. Strong gusts threatened to blow Diana back down the hill. A single tear fell from Chicago's eye, and she whispered, "Goodbye." There was a bright flash, loudly accompanied by thunder. Lightning kissed the hilltop nonstop for well over a minute.
Diana was forced down the hill. She struggled to fight it. She tumbled backwards and watched the lighning strike in horror. "CHICAGO!" she screamed. Her eyes softened and her throat burned. The tears came without a second thought.
When the lightning finally died down, almost nothing living sat on top of the hill. Most everything was burned to ashes, nothing remained. The only thing seemingly untouched by the burning that had only just occured here was a plant. It had sprouted where Chicago's tear had fallen. Its soft leaves rustled in the fading breeze, its scarlet shining bright.
It was a red fern.
Diana moved her feet slowly. Almost as if they weighed too much to carry. "Ch-Chiago?" she asked. She knew she wasn't there. She glanced at the plant.
From the base of the hill, Blaze watched in horror. He had at first thought that Chicago had simply used the lightning as a distraction to escape to her own exile, but then he had seen the plant. He thought back to what his old Alpha had told him about the red fern.
"The red fern only grows between two beings that really loved each other if one of them has died."
'Shes gone,' her mind told her. "Chicago..." she said. she sat down beside the plant and watched it. Hoping, that it would move. She knew it wouldn't. But her body was locked like that.
Blaze let Diana grieve. She had lost more than a best friend. She had lost someone close enough to be her sister. After a few hours, Blaze climbed the hill and gently prodded Diana down the hill, leading her clear of the river in case she decided to try anything Chicago wouldn't have wanted her to do.
Diana stuck her paw in the water and poked the stream with her nose. She didnt move from there. She kept her paw down and her head a few inches away. Eska watched from the bushes.
Misty silenly moved close to Diana. She had also seen what had happened, from the entrance of her den. She was prepared to use her powers to save Diana, should anything occur.
Diana stuck her tounge out and lapped up a few dropped of water. They slid down the back of her tongue and made her shiver a bit. Eska moved out her blue star on her hip gave her away. Diana didn't look up to see her.
Blaze watched the hilltop with a