Fletcher Farthing peered through the damp, misty forest as he strolled along on patrol. The other members of the patrol walked in front of him while his brother, Cadan, jogged beside him.

“See anything?” Cadan asked, wiping his wet paws, white like the rest of him, on an equally damp leaf.

“Nothin’,” replied Fletcher.

“What do we do if we run into wolves?” questioned Cadan worriedly.

“We lead them as far from Cloud Mountain as we can,” Fletcher answered. “We can’t afford to let any get in there, especially with all the lords gathered.”

They continued on through the bracken, squinting through the dense fog on either side of the path.

 After a little bit Fletcher said, “Jog up ahead and tell Captain Garter all’s well back here.”

As Cadan ran ahead Fletcher thought about the events of the past couple weeks: the coming of the Longtreaders and the gathering of the lords of the secret citadels. Suddenly he saw a commotion ahead. Before he could react, he heard a rustling behind him. His khaki fur bristled, and he spun around. 

Behind him a tall wolf sneered at him. Fletcher cried out. The wolf charged towards him, and Fletcher drew his sword with a shout. As the wolf leaped at him, he held the sword out and ran the wolf through. He turned and sprinted for the front of the patrol. When he got there it was utter chaos: wolves charged from all sides, and the rabbits were turning and doing battle. He rushed to Captain Garter.

“We need to lead the wolves away!” he shouted over the clash of sword against sword.

“Where to?” Garter asked as he battled a wolf captain. “We should try to get at least some of us to safety.”

“I can lead the wolves away,” Fletcher said, parrying a blow from the wolf. 

Fletcher looked around and realized Cadan was missing, “Where’s Cadan?” he cried.

“I sent him off to keep him safe,” replied Garter.

“Thank you,” said Fletcher, “I don’t know what I’d do without him. Now if I’m to lead them off, I need all of the others to follow me and then to make for Cloud Mountain when we hit a thick patch of the forest.”

Garter nodded and gave a call. Most of the rabbits gathered towards them. He shouted a quick explanation and they jogged off with Fletcher leading and Garter at his side. The wolves howled and charged after them, the lead two reaching the rear guard just as it made the forest. The guard turned and slew the two wolves before hurrying on through the mist.

Fletcher nodded at Garter who nodded back.

“Good luck,” said the captain. He nodded at the other members of the patrol who followed him off.

Fletcher continued on, making as much noise as possible and trying not to lose the wolves. He stopped briefly and turned. Seeing several wolves he spun and sprinted on. As he reached a small clearing, Fletcher looked over his shoulder once more and counted only ten wolves following him.

“We must have killed more than I thought, ‘else I lost some of them along the way,” he thought to himself. “Well, that makes my job easier anyway.”

He looked again and saw three hawks circling above. He grabbed his bow off his back and, whipping out an arrow, shot at one of the hawks. It screeched and fell towards him out of the sky. At that moment one of the wolves paused and fired an arrow at him. Fletcher ducked and ran forward. With a wizz the arrow flew by and thudded into a tree. The bird barely missed him and landed with a crunch on the ground. He returned his bow to his back and ran under the cover of the forest. 

Pretty soon he heard heavy breathing behind him and, turning, he saw a towering wolf almost upon him. Fletcher reached for his sword and swung it in a large arc. The wolf jumped back but the sword left a gash in its stomach. The momentum carried Fletcher sideways, and the wolf took the opportunity to slash at him leaving a deep rift in Fletcher’s right side. Fletcher continued his spin and came around with a stab at the wolf. This the wolf wasn’t expecting, and the blade found its mark. Fletcher withdrew his sword, wiped it on a leaf, and sheathed it.

Returning to his unknown path, he bounded ahead, putting some distance between him and the remnants of the pack. As he ran, he glanced down at his side. It was a nasty wound and still bleeding. He glanced behind him and, seeing nothing, paused to tear off his sleeve. He bandaged the cut quickly before jogging on.

Fletcher continued on for a few minutes looking behind him every once in a while. Suddenly an arrow whizzed past. He spun and saw four sizable wolves on his tail. He unslung his bow and shot at the lead wolf. It dropped dead, and the three others jogged forward. Reslinging his bow, he drew his sword, and with a cry he charged the frontmost wolf. It swung its own sword, nearly missing Fletcher. Fletcher dispatched the wolf with a quick thrust and ran forward. The next wolf was bigger, but Fletcher made easy work of him. The last of the four was clad in black armor and had a helmet to match. Fletcher dropped low as the wolf lumbered toward him. When the wolf was almost on top of him, he thrust his sword upward. It slid underneath the armor, and the wolf howled as it collapsed.

As he turned to run on, he heard a high pitched cry. One of the hawks soared through a break in the trees. Fletcher stood his ground as the hawk rushed toward him with fierce eyes. He struck out at it, and it veered to the right. Fletcher had been expecting this and whipped his sword in that direction. The hawk dropped dead. 

By then the rest of the wolves were just behind him. One of the wolves drew a bow and fired. Before Fletcher could react, the arrow hit him full on in the shoulder. He collapsed with pain and from the force of the arrow. He would be no match for five wolves especially wounded. 

Suddenly, out of the forest flashed a white blur. A silver streak sliced through two of the wolves as Cadan Farthing stood between them and Fletcher. A third wolf fell before the other two could leap back a good distance. Cadan turned to Fletcher.

“We better get out of here fast!” he said.

“Well hello to you too,” Fletcher teased, getting up. “I thought Captain Garter had sent you back. Thanks for saving me by the way.”

“I couldn’t just leave!” Cadan responded, as he helped Fletcher along, “besides I had to keep you out of trouble.”

“Keep me out of trouble? I’m supposed to keep you out of trouble,” cried Fletcher. “Does the captain know you're here?”

“Actually, yes,” said Cadan, “I reported to him as soon as you led off the wolves. He actually sent me to help you when I made it clear I wouldn’t just leave you. But it doesn’t matter now; those wolves ‘ll be on us soon if we don’t pick up the pace!”

They ran on in silence for a few minutes.

“Do you hear that?” Fletcher asked suddenly, “It sounds like a river.”

“It must be the Gale,” said Cadan, “I see it through the trees. Looks like we’ll have to make a stand.”

“It’s not just the wolves though. There’s a hawk as well,” warned Fletcher, “It’ll be dangerous out in the open.”

“I have a plan,” responded Cadan. “You wait up in the trees. When the bird dives past, leap on its back.”

“What about you?” asked Fletcher.

“Don’t worry about me!” called Cadan as he ran out and stood on the bank.

Fletcher leapt up a tall tree. The wide branches spread out over the clearing, almost to the river bank. If Cadan’s plan worked, Fletcher would be able to leap onto the bird’s back.

“What even is his plan?” wondered Fletcher. “He better know what he’s doing. Oh, silly me, of course he doesn’t.”

Fletcher watched as the two remaining wolves ran out beneath him.

“Where are those rabbits?” muttered the one.

“There’s the white one,” growled the other, obviously the captain. “Get ‘im!”

The first charged towards Cadan with a howl. Cadan gave a shout and brought his sword up. The wolf slumped. The captain catapulted forward bringing his claymore above his snarling face. Just as he reached him, Cadan sidestepped neatly, letting the wolf’s momentum carry him over. The wolf fell down the steep embankment with a howl and then a splash. Cadan slid the collapsed wolf in after the captain.

All of a sudden the hawk appeared over the tops of the trees. Fletcher watched it as it circled. Cadan ran toward the tree line. The bird dove suddenly, in hot pursuit of Cadan. 

Fletcher timed his jump perfectly, landing on the bird’s back precisely in the middle. The bird started to fall but swept upward regaining his balance. Fletcher, still flying with his back to the woods, unsheathed his sword and then turned. He brought the tip down into the bird as it was almost upon Cadan. The bird was killed instantly but its momentum carried it on, crashing into Cadan.

“You could’ve killed it earlier,” he groaned from underneath the dead hawk.

“You’re welcome for saving your life,” Fletcher retorted, helping Cadan up.

“Is that all of them?” Cadan asked, “Did we kill ‘em all?”

“I think so,” responded Fletcher. “Now we just need to find our way back home. Follow me.”

“I wonder if Cloud Mountain’s safe,” said Cadan.

“We’ll see when we get there,” replied Fletcher.

They wandered for over an hour and eventually found the path from Decker’s Landing. They followed it and at length came upon a gathering of rabbits outside the entrance to the Savory Den. They saw Captain Garter and others from their patrol and walked over, past injured rabbits being treated. Captain Garter looked up and grinned at them. 

“What took you so long? You missed all the fun,” he said.

“That’s a long story,” said Fletcher. “But first, what happened here?”

“Turns out those wolves were reinforcements for a much larger group that attacked here,” Garter explained. “They attacked the entrance and made it all the way to Hallway Round. That's about when we got here. Suddenly they got a signal to retreat and began to do just that. We all pursued them down the mountain. Just as we were getting back, the Longtreader girl came rushing up the mountain with her arm in a sling and told us that Jupiter’s heir was in danger at Jupiter’s Crossing. Lord Vincent gathered a hundred or so of our best rabbits and took off for there, leaving me and some other units behind to guard. But other than that, nothing much,” he added with a laugh. “But what about you and the wolves?”

“Well,” began Fletcher, “We— Wait, Jupiter’s what? Anyways, you can explain in detail later.”

Then Fletcher told them of his adventures, how Cadan had saved him, and how they had defeated the remaining wolves and hawk. The other rabbits were all amazed and gave a cheer when he told of his flight on the hawk's back.

“Well it sounds like you two have had quite an adventure,” said Captain Garter. “And it also looks like both of you are wounded. Get yourselves over to Emma. She’ll get you patched up.”

The End,

For Now…

My first Fanfiction so it's maybe not great.