To Find Healing

Morning was slowly giving way to afternoon when the two unlikely heroes finally set out on their journey. Fortunately, the thick covering of trees laid an intricate latticework of shadows over the ground, providing good camouflage for them. Well, for one of them, at least. While October’s orange fur was perfect for blending with the autumn foliage, he had a feeling Cameron’s blue coat was going to be as visible as a neon billboard to anyone in the area.

October shot a sidelong glance at his new traveling companion, who was trotting along happily beside him. He found it a bit unsettling how Cameron could embark on a dangerous journey to a forbidden magical forest as calmly as if they were going for an afternoon stroll.

“He’s obviously not entirely sane,” Ayaz chimed in.

October scoffed. “Says the possibly-imaginary voice in my head,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Cameron asked.

“Nothing.” October’s tail twitched in irritation. “Was just thinking out loud.”

Cameron nodded. It was impossible to tell if he bought the excuse or not; he seemed as carefree now as he had a moment ago. There was something October couldn’t trust about this tokota.

No one is really this happy-go-lucky, are they? he wondered. Or so naive? Surely no one is as stupid as this idiot pretends to be.

They walked in silence for several minutes. A nice, peaceful silence. It wouldn’t last long.

“Ahh,” Cameron sighed dramatically. “I love this forest in autumn. The scent of maple in the air, the colorful trees, that funny crunching sound the leaves make...”

“I get it; it’s pretty,” October snapped, hoping to cut off any further conversation.

Cameron either didn’t pick up on his tone, or simply didn’t care. “It is,” he agreed. “The coastline is absolutely beautiful this time of year.”

He couldn’t help his curiosity. “Were you born in this region?”

“No, not exactly.” Cameron paused and, for a moment, October thought he might have actually found the one topic this tokota wouldn’t ramble on about. He collected himself a moment later, though, and continued, “I was born farther north — in the Taniya Mountains — towards the end of the war. My family… well, we had to relocate farther south when I was still young. The southern forests have been my home most of my life.”

“So what’s up with this Moonfall Pack we were told to avoid?” October asked, sidestepping a fallen branch. The soft thud behind him told him that his companion hadn’t reacted as quickly. Whatever. October certainly wasn’t going to go out of his way to pick up the klutz. “Not that I’m concerned, of course,” he called over his shoulder. “With stealth skills like yours, I’m sure we have nothing to worry about it.”

Apparently unbothered by the remark, Cameron quickly caught up, falling into step beside him again. “They set up base right across the river from us last spring,” he explained. “They have a pretty big territory already, but they’re always looking to expand. And now that autumn is setting in, and food is going to get scarce for a while…”

“They want to expand their hunting grounds even more,” October finished for him. He humphed softly as he processed that information. It might prove useful, if he chose to stay in this region after the seasons finished changing. “And that would be why we’re having to sneak out of this forest?”

“Yeah. The fighting has calmed down, with everyone concentrating on gathering resources for winter, but it’s still not a good idea to be caught in enemy territory. Mostly, we’re sticking to our own territory, but we’ll have to cross some land Moonfall claimed last moon. I guess my packmates were worried we’d get caught trying to slip through.”

October considered this bit of news. Hearing about the territory fighting certainly explained the disorganized mess he’d witnessed at Ashtree Hollow; if they were too busy fighting for hunting grounds, they obviously wouldn’t have had much time for anything else. However, his primary concern was the idea of traversing miles of forest without running into some of these rival gangs of tokotas. He cared nothing for their pointless territory dispute, but he also didn’t want to run into trouble that could be avoided.

“Okay,” October said, pulling to a halt. “Change of plans. We’re going north.”

“What? Why?”

“Because, you idiot,” Ayaz broke in, “the idea of you being able to fight off a pack of angry tokotas is as likely as a walrus fitting into a shoebox.”

“Or a polar bear,” October agreed.

Cameron stared at him in confusion. “Um, what about polar bears?”

“We can cross the East River where it intersects with the Deadrun River. After that, we’ll have a straight path through to our destination. No rival packs to worry about.”

“It’s also a lot longer going that way,” Cameron argued. “Heading that far out of our way will add at least a few days to the journey. Not to mention having to cross a stretch of mountains along the way. Lothal doesn’t have long before the infection will be too severe to treat. We can’t afford to waste time on detours. Following the coastline is our best chance.”

“You realize he’s probably dead either way, right?” October said calmly.

“Not if we can help it.”

“Is that more of your blind optimism, or are you actually that naive?”

“And is that more of your snarky attitude, or are just that much of a jerk?”

“Jerk or not, you know I’m right. All the irritating enthusiasm in the world isn’t going to get your friend his magic cure. I’m the one who actually knows what I’m doing, so we do this my way.”

“So you think you know all the answers, huh? You come in with your orange fox-looking face and your broody attitude and think you can call all the shots? Being an emotionless asshole doesn’t make you more right than me.”

October blinked in confusion, the sudden anger taking him off guard. “That’s... Nevermind. Regardless, we go north.”

“No, we go south!”

The two tokotas glared at each other; neither willing to back down on this issue.

It didn’t take long for October to realize that Cameron was dead set on completing this foolish quest of his. The wannabe healer truly believed he could cure Lothal’s illness, and he wasn’t going to let anyone stop him. But October was also determined to complete his own agenda here, and to do so meant keeping on the blue tokota’s good side. He really didn’t want to tangle with a bunch of territorial scouts, but maybe it was worth it to keep Cameron on track.

“Fine,” he huffed. “But if I end up murdered by some overzealous scout, I’ll come back and haunt your brainless self for getting me killed.”

Cameron smiled, all his former animosity apparently forgotten. “Well, hey, at least I’ll never be lonely then.”

October rolled his eyes. “You’re hopeless.”

“I know.” And the obnoxious idiot actually had the nerve to look proud of himself.

“Alright,” October said with a sigh, “I guess we’re following the coastline."

---

They set off at a much quicker pace after that. Heading through enemy territory during the day would be dangerous enough, but attempting it after nightfall would be suicide. The need for stealth prevented further conversation between them — something for which October felt very grateful. Aside from occasionally tripping over logs and rocks (and even his own paws) Cameron really did seem to be trying to keep quiet.

After a few hours, they came across a creek and were forced to halt. The creek wasn’t very deep, but the sharp stones scattered across the bed made the current rough and fast. It wouldn’t be safe trying to cross unaided. A few yards downstream, a crudely built footbridge rested over the water.

October’s ears folded back unhappily. “We’ll have to find a less dangerous spot to cross,” he said.

“No need,” Cameron responded, already heading towards the bridge. “We can use this to get over.”

“You’re kidding, right?” October said with a scoff. Seeing his companion’s confusion, he almost choked. “You’re really not kidding.”

Cameron’s gaze flicked toward the bridge and then back to October. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you have no survival instincts? This far from your pack’s base camp, that bridge was almost definitely built by your not-so-friendly neighbors. Or worse, scavengers.”

“Okay. So what?”

“So there’s no telling what they may have done to it. It could be booby-trapped or guarded.”

Cameron laughed. “Oh, come on. You’re not even sure who built it. It could be left behind from before the war. And even if Moonfall did build it, why would they bother rigging it against other tokotas?”

“Because others are unpredictable like that,” October informed him, as if explaining den rules to a pup. “Nobody does anything without some ulterior motive — even if they’re not aware of it themselves. There is no such thing as a truly selfless act. Everyone has something to gain or lose.”

Cameron eyed him curiously. “Wow. That’s… um… quite a unique viewpoint.”

“I’m not using the bridge.”

Silence stretched between them another minute before the blue tokota heaved a sigh of defeat. He immediately perked back up as he began trotting along the creek bed. “All right, then,” he called over his shoulder. “Let’s get moving. There’s gotta be a safer crossing point farther downstream.”

October stared after him in surprise. He’d been fully expecting to have to find his own way across the water. At the very least, he would have expected Cameron to show a bit more frustration at having to detour off their route.

He shook his head and set after him.

They had to slow their pace considerably, the thick underbrush making it almost impossible to walk. They tried to stay as close to the creek as possible, so as not to lose sight of it, but this made the journey even more difficult. The bank of the creek became steeper and more eroded the farther they walked; October was surprised it didn’t cave out from under them. If they didn’t find a crossing soon, they might have to double back and try something else.

He almost walked right into Cameron when the blue tokota halted without warning. He barely managed to catch his balance, preventing a tumble down the steep bank. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

But Cameron’s attention was fully focused on a nearby bush. “Blueberries!” he exclaimed happily.

October barely resisted the urge to slap him. “Did you seriously almost send us into the creek because of some berries?”

“Blueberries,” Cameron reiterated. “Hold on a minute.” He pulled his pack off his back and began filling it with the treats, carefully biting off bunches of berries without damaging the main plant.

“You couldn’t have waited until you got home for that?” October asked with a huff.

“They don’t grow in Specter Pack territory. And these things are better than candy. Try a few.”

“No.”

“C’mon, Grumpy Fox. Just try one.”

“No. And don’t call me that.”

Cameron shrugged, sliding his pack onto his back once again. “Your loss.”

“Can we proceed now?”

Shaking his head, Cameron walked over to a nearby tree and sat up on his hind legs. “Not yet. Give me a sec.”

“What are—”

He didn’t have a chance to finish his question, as the other toko was already pushing himself off the ground. He latched onto the tree trunk much farther up, his paws scrabbling for purchase on the rough bark. October watched in amazement as the tokota somehow managed to scale the tree as quickly — if not quite as gracefully — as a jungle cat. Once perched on a thick branch, Cameron quickly set to work, filling his pack with another type of strange berry growing on the branches.

“How did you do that?” October couldn’t help asking.

“These are also pretty good,” Cameron mumbled around a mouthful of berries, apparently ignoring the question. “Not quite as good as blueberries, but almost.”

Sighing, October cast a glance around the area, making sure they were still alone with the wildlife and plants. “Will you get down here already? This is a stealth mission, in case you forgot.”

Cameron strapped his pack on again and easily shimmied back down the tree trunk. It was impressive how someone so clumsy was also that unnaturally adept at climbing, but October wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of admitting it out loud. Especially not with that cocky grin plastered on the blue toko’s face.

October turned to study the creek instead. The bank was still uneven and eroded, but they might get down it safely if they were careful. Several large stones rested in the water, forming a natural bridge that they could use to get across to the opposite bank. The stones were close enough together that they shouldn’t have any trouble jumping from one to another.

Cameron stepped up beside him, also looking down at the rock bridge. “Might work,” he agreed to October’s unspoken suggestion. “We can at least give it a try.”

October nodded his agreement and began working his way down the steep slope. It was rough going, but he made it without too much difficulty. One leap landed him atop the first large rock. The surface was a bit slippery from moisture and he only barely managed to keep his grip on it. A few careful jumps later, he was across the water.

He had just reached the opposite bank when he heard a loud splash behind him. Rolling his eyes, October turned around to see Cameron sprawled in the water. Luckily, he was jammed against the rocks, keeping him from being swept away in the current. The blue tokota scrambled to his feet, fur dripping wet. He attempted to shake himself dry, causing his thick mane to stick out at odd angles.

“You have got to be the clumsiest idiot I’ve ever seen,” October grumbled, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. He had to admit, the klutz looked hilarious with his disheveled mane and dripping coat.

“I meant to do that,” Cameron defended weakly.

“Sure you did.”

October stepped back onto the first rock and grabbed some of Cameron’s wet scruff in his teeth, helping pull him out of the creek. As soon as they were on the bank again, the orange tokota stuck out his tongue.

“Bleh,” he said. “Wet fur tastes gross.”

“Oh, you prefer dry fur?”

The innocent way he asked the question made it seem like yet another instance of genuine misunderstanding from him, but then October caught the mischievous twinkle in those purple eyes. Wait. Was he being facetious? Was that ridiculously unassuming ball of blue fluff maybe not so brain-dead after all?

“Come on,” October huffed. “We still have miles of enemy territory to sneak through. If we’re gonna be mauled by a pack of angry tokotas, I’d rather get it done before nightfall.

“Aw, that’s the spirit,” Cameron said, shoulder-bumping him playfully. “Way to keep the morale up, Grumpy Fox.”

“Shut up.”

---

Cameron really wasn’t sure what to make of his new traveling companion. The foxy orange tokota was difficult to get a read on. When he wasn’t being an emotionless wall, he was unleashing uncalled for levels of snark and cynicism. And yet, Cameron had managed to draw him into conversation a few times, and October had shocked him a few times by joking back when Cameron teased him.

The daylight was quickly fading as evening settled over Briarwood. They’d been walking most of the day and hadn’t yet made it to the East River. Cameron was glad they’d kept to the coastline; at this rate, there was no way they could have taken the longer northern route and still made it in time.

In the fading light, he could just make out a large boulder ahead. It was mostly overgrown with weeds and bramble, but the many scratches carved into its surface were still visible. Cameron paused and let his eyes travel over the marred rock.

“What is it?” October asked.

“Morden Rock,” Cameron replied shortly.

October frowned. “Morden? That’s Ancient Tokotnan for death.”

Cameron glanced at him in surprise. “You know Ancient Tokotnan? There aren’t a lot of tokotas nowadays who bother to learn it. At least, not in this part of the world.”

“I get bored,” he responded with a shrug. “What’s with the rock?”

“It has to do with a war that broke out among the packs of this region years ago. Back when I was just a pup, when the worst of the fighting was happening...” He paused and took a deep breath. “This is where one of the worst battles took place. Three different packs were involved. The scratches on the rock were added later, to represent the tokotas lost that night.”

He didn’t elaborate further. For once, he really didn’t feel like talking. He didn’t want to explain the horrible bloodbath that had occurred here. Didn’t want to think about how many tokotas had lost their lives that night. Didn’t want to remember his father’s body being carried back to camp the next morning.

Shaking off the mournful thoughts, he turned away from the rock. October was watching him silently. His expression was as blank as before, but Cameron was surprised to see an almost... sympathetic?... look in his eyes.

The orange tokota cleared his throat. “We should keep moving,” he said. “Unless you want to make friends with these plants as well. Wouldn’t put it past you. You’d talk the ear off anything that didn’t run at first sight.”

Cameron smiled, grateful for the obvious attempt at distracting him. “Nah,” he teased back. “Weeds aren’t nearly as good of conversationalists as berry bushes.”

“Sadly, I’m not at all surprised that you know that.”

They set off again, picking up their pace a bit. Being so far into autumn, night tended to fall quickly at this time of year. It didn’t take long for the forest to darken.

---

October lay down at the edge of a grassy overlook. The soft, cool blades felt good against his aching paws.

A cool evening breeze drifted through, stirring the plants and knocking a few fireflies off their path.

“We didn’t make it as far as I was hoping today,” Cameron commented from behind, where he was finishing up the last of their dinner of berries. They hadn’t dared light a fire for fear of bringing every enemy scout and scavenger in the area down on them. “I wish we could’ve at least crossed the river before nightfall.”

“Relax,” October said, nodding his head towards the forest stretched out below them. “It’s only a few more miles. We can start before dawn and get across before Moonfall starts patrolling the area.”

There were no more arguments, but October had a feeling his companion was still unhappy about it. They hadn’t been given much choice, though. With the sunlight gone, there wasn’t enough light to safely navigate the forest. Their best bet was waiting for morning.

October tucked in his paws and curled his tail around himself. Tilting his head back, his gaze traveled upward to the canopy of twinkling lights overhead. There was something incredibly soothing about stargazing, it never failed to drain away his tension. Of course, he usually didn’t have an annoying little dimwit for company.

“Whatcha doing?” Cameron asked, trotting up in front of him.

“Nothing.”

“Nope. You were looking at something. What was it?”

“Nothing.”

“Pleeeeease tell me?”

Heaving a sigh, October decided that maybe if he answered, the little nuisance would go away. “I’m looking at the pictures in the sky.”

No such luck, apparently. “What pictures?”

October’s tail twitched.

“Don’t say anything,” Ayaz warned. “You know others won’t understand; they can’t see the things you can.”

“C’mon,” Cameron pleaded. “What pictures?”

Entire body tensed — so much for a relaxing evening — the orange tokota responded stiffly, “The stars form pictures that tell stories. At least, they do for me.”

A silence filled the space between them. It lasted a full agonizing minute. But what followed was not the reaction he’d been expecting.

Cameron flopped onto the dewy ground beside him. Rolling onto his back, eyes focused on the stars, he said, “Show me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I wanna see the pictures. Show me.” The eagerness in his voice left no doubt that he was completely earnest about this.

Recovering from his shock, October relaxed slightly and looked upward again. “You see that big blotch of color right there? That’s a dragon. The cluster of tiny stars underneath are the treasures he’s stolen. That big star is the tokota who needs to navigate through the dragon’s lair to get the treasure.”

“What kind of treasure?” Cameron asked.

October blinked. “What do you mean?”

Rolling slightly so he could peer up at his companion, Cameron said, “Well, he’s gonna risk his life for that treasure. It’s gotta be pretty important to him, right?” His gaze shifted back to the view overhead. “I’m thinking it has to be more valuable than some gold; you can get gold in any of the lakes near Spirit Falls. No, he’s after something personal. Maybe the dragon kidnapped his family?”

October stared down at the blue toko, sprawled haphazardly on the grass, and tried to process what was happening. Honestly, he’d never considered the full stories behind his star images. They were merely puzzles to him, a graphic problem to be worked out in his mind. He’d never tried to build around them.

He really wished he could be annoyed at the fact that his simple logic puzzles were being turned into flights of fantasy. But Cameron had not only listened to him without ridiculing his bizarre hobby, he was now eagerly participating in it. It should be annoying. But it wasn’t.

“He’s just messing with you,” Ayaz insisted. “He doesn’t really understand. No one else ever understands the way your brain works.”

But Cameron was still chattering away, and his voice was almost enough to drown out Ayaz’s taunting.

“...so, I think Kevin would need to sneak in the back way. He’s desperate to save his twelve cousins, but not enough to be stupid about it. Besides, he’s secretly afraid of dragons.”

“Wait,” he interrupted, trying to catch up, “Who’s Kevin?”

“That’s the hero of the story,” Cameron informed him sagely. “Now, where’s the entrance to the lair?”

“I don’t know.” October shrugged. “Why don’t you just pick a spot?”

“Uh-uh, that’s your job. You’re the one who can see the pictures in the stars, so you have to map out our story. My job is making sure Kevin doesn’t get turned into dragon s’mores.”

The last of the tension leaked out of October’s body as he settled more comfortably into the grass. “Alright, that star right there is the entrance. All the stars trailing behind it are the passages leading into the lair.”

“Ooh,” Cameron said excitedly. “This is going to require some extensive strategizing. Good thing you like puzzles, right? Let’s figure out the best route inside.”

In some part of his mind, Ayaz was still protesting vehemently against this idea. But October found it easier to ignore his jeers when he had Cameron’s nonsensical commentary filling his head instead.

As the night wore on, the two tokotas gradually fell asleep, their story of dragons and daring rescues still painted in the sky above them.