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Description
Chapter 3
     It was midnight when Mora rose from her bed, put on a light travelers cloak, her bag of herbs and her haversack of food and snuck past her mothers room,  and went out into the square to meet Zircal. He was standing in the shadows and motioned for her to keep quiet and to come closer. She ran silently towards him and whispered
     “Well? Did you get the stuff?” Zircal pulled a large coil of rope out of his pack, flint and steel, a bow and arrows, and a long, lethal looking dagger. Mora smiled and nodded.
     “Well, lets go.” and in the dead of night, the two friends escaped into the forest to go to Ekars castle.
    An hour before dawn the two travelers were far away from the village and deep into the forest. Their footpaws were already tired and sore.
     “Hey Zircal, any chance of having breakfast? I’m starved!” Mora panted.
     “Me too. Come on we’ll find a good place to rest and eat.” Soon they found a small clearing, and after checking for booby-traps, set out some food and break-fasted. They were just clearing up when Mora stopped suddenly. She looked behind her and saw a pair of eyes staring at her from the trees. Zircal saw them too and notched an arrow in his bow. A small quavery voice said
     “Please, don’t shoot! I mean no harm! I just saw that you had food and I was....erm...wondering if...uh....” Zircal un-notched his bow and said
     “Let me guess, you were wondering if you could have some food.” The eyes bobbed up and down, indicating that the creature was nodding. Mora was still wary about the creature.
     “Well, come into the light so we can see you better.”
The bushes rustled and a small, runty looking fox stepped into the clearing. Upon seeing the fox, Mora felt her heart go out to the poor thing. He was only two years younger than Mora but was in a pitiful state. His fur was ragged, he was nothing more than skin and bones, his ears were notched, and his left footpad was bleeding terribly. He was wearing a white shirt with baggy sleeves and a pair of black trousers.
     “Sweet mother of foxes!! What happened to you?” Zircal said when he saw the young fox. He yelped as Mora trod on his footpaw. The ragged fox looked frightened but stood firm, his eyes burning.
     “Ekar happened to me, and my whole family too! He ransacked our den a month ago and killed my family. I only survived because my mother shoved me in a closet. That wretched wolf killed my father, my mother, and my baby sister. She was just a newborn and he killed her! I shouted at him to leave her alone when he went towards her cradle, and he caught sight of me, said ‘Who? This little pup?’ and before my very eyes, he ...” his voice broke at this point. “HE KILLED MY NEWBORN, NOT-EVEN-OLD-ENOUGH-TO-DEFEND-HERSELF, BABY SISTER!!!!” Now the young fox broke down completely and sobbed into his paws. Mora felt tears leak out of her eyes at this story. How could Ekar be so cruel? She glanced at Zircal, he, too had tears in his eyes. Mora knelt down to eye level with the fox. She put a paw under his chin and pushed it up to face her.
     “You and I are in the same boat friend. My father was killed by Ekar just two days ago. I know how you feel.” The small fox looked Mora in the eye.
     “Did you have any siblings?”
     “No, but some of my friends at the village were slain. By the way, I’m Mora.”
     “My name is Veransi.” Zircal spoke up,
     “What was your baby sisters name?”
     “Marina. Why?” Zircal looked up to the sky. The stars were beginning to fade. He pointed at a tiny, new star.
     “Look up there. See that little tiny star right there? That’s your sister’s star now. And when ever you want to talk to Marina, You can look for that star.”
     “I see it! The Marina Star!” Mora looked at Veransi’s bleeding footpad.
     “Hmm. That wound doesn’t look good. When did you get it?”
     “When Ekar attacked my family.” Mora exploded.
     “What?! A whole month on a slit footpad? Do you realize you could be crippled doing that?!” Veransi looked scared again and sat down.
     “It wasn’t so bad when I first got it. It was only a scratch then. I guess it got worse after I tried walking on it.” Mora took the foot in her paws. It was cut and bleeding badly. She could see a large amount of dirt and grime in the wound and thought, ‘That crazy little fox! This could be infected.’ She turned to Zircal
     “Zircal, find me some water and get it boiling. And fetch me my bag of herbs too.” As Zircal ran of to get the ingredients, Mora set up a place for Veransi to lie down so she could do her work.
     “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked. Mora was setting up a fire to boil the water on. Zircal came back with the water and Mora’s bag.
     “Of course I know what I’m doing. Now stay still while I make this poultice.” She ground up some herbs and mixed them with water to make a paste. She then spread this on the wound.
     “Yowch! That stings!” Veransi yelped. Mora started binding the cut with bandages.
     “Oh don’t be such a kit. That just means it’s doing it’s job. That poultice is made of herbs that will clean the cut and speed in healing. Now, have something to eat. You need your strength.” She unpacked a few tarts, some fresh bread, and some apples. Veransi ate ravenously. When he had finished, Mora stood up.
     “Come on Zircal, we’re losing valuable time. I think this is were our paths separate Veransi. May you live long and cheerfully.” She and Zircal had already started to walk away when Veransi’s voice halted them.
     “Stop, please!” They looked behind them and saw
Veransi walking towards them, leaning on a large stick. “There is no way I’m letting you go without me. Mama, Papa, and Marina would want me to avenge them.” Mora sighed.
     “Veransi, it’s too dangerous for you. You’re too young.”
     “I can help! Really, I can! I can throw knives quicker than you could blink. Please let me come.” His eyes were imploring. Zircal stepped up,
     “But you don’t have any knives. How can you be a knife thrower if you don’t have any knives?” Veransi smiled.
     “I keep them in my den. Come see!”
     “We don’t have time go on side trips!” Mora said impatiently.
     “It’s not a side trip!” Veransi shouted. “You’re standing just to the left of it.” Mora looked to her left and saw a small, cunningly camouflaged hut. Veransi hobbled over to it and held open the door.
     “Ladies first.” Mora entered the small hut and saw a bunch of cattail rushes in one corner that must have served as a bed and on one wall, a belt was hanging. In the belt were six throwing knives. Each one had a different colored pommel stone. There was a ruby set on top of the first knife, an orange topaz on the second, a yellow topaz on the third, an emerald on the fourth, a sapphire on the fifth, and an amethyst on the sixth. Veransi took three out of their sheaths and began to juggle them. He tossed two towards Mora and held the third in one of his paws. The two blades thudded into the wall a hairbreadth away from her head. Holding the third blade, he tossed it expertly towards Zircals face, clipping one of his whiskers. The knife thudded, point quivering, in the door. Veransi bowed to the two astonished foxes and retrieved his blades.
     “Well? Can I come?” Mora and Zircal exchanged looks and said together.
     “Of course you can!!” and soon the trio were on their way towards the castle of Ekar.

Description
Chapter 3
     It was midnight when Mora rose from her bed, put on a light travelers cloak, her bag of herbs and her haversack of food and snuck past her mothers room,  and went out into the square to meet Zircal. He was standing in the shadows and motioned for her to keep quiet and to come closer. She ran silently towards him and whispered
     “Well? Did you get the stuff?” Zircal pulled a large coil of rope out of his pack, flint and steel, a bow and arrows, and a long, lethal looking dagger. Mora smiled and nodded.
     “Well, lets go.” and in the dead of night, the two friends escaped into the forest to go to Ekars castle.
    An hour before dawn the two travelers were far away from the village and deep into the forest. Their footpaws were already tired and sore.
     “Hey Zircal, any chance of having breakfast? I’m starved!” Mora panted.
     “Me too. Come on we’ll find a good place to rest and eat.” Soon they found a small clearing, and after checking for booby-traps, set out some food and break-fasted. They were just clearing up when Mora stopped suddenly. She looked behind her and saw a pair of eyes staring at her from the trees. Zircal saw them too and notched an arrow in his bow. A small quavery voice said
     “Please, don’t shoot! I mean no harm! I just saw that you had food and I was....erm...wondering if...uh....” Zircal un-notched his bow and said
     “Let me guess, you were wondering if you could have some food.” The eyes bobbed up and down, indicating that the creature was nodding. Mora was still wary about the creature.
     “Well, come into the light so we can see you better.”
The bushes rustled and a small, runty looking fox stepped into the clearing. Upon seeing the fox, Mora felt her heart go out to the poor thing. He was only two years younger than Mora but was in a pitiful state. His fur was ragged, he was nothing more than skin and bones, his ears were notched, and his left footpad was bleeding terribly. He was wearing a white shirt with baggy sleeves and a pair of black trousers.
     “Sweet mother of foxes!! What happened to you?” Zircal said when he saw the young fox. He yelped as Mora trod on his footpaw. The ragged fox looked frightened but stood firm, his eyes burning.
     “Ekar happened to me, and my whole family too! He ransacked our den a month ago and killed my family. I only survived because my mother shoved me in a closet. That wretched wolf killed my father, my mother, and my baby sister. She was just a newborn and he killed her! I shouted at him to leave her alone when he went towards her cradle, and he caught sight of me, said ‘Who? This little pup?’ and before my very eyes, he ...” his voice broke at this point. “HE KILLED MY NEWBORN, NOT-EVEN-OLD-ENOUGH-TO-DEFEND-HERSELF, BABY SISTER!!!!” Now the young fox broke down completely and sobbed into his paws. Mora felt tears leak out of her eyes at this story. How could Ekar be so cruel? She glanced at Zircal, he, too had tears in his eyes. Mora knelt down to eye level with the fox. She put a paw under his chin and pushed it up to face her.
     “You and I are in the same boat friend. My father was killed by Ekar just two days ago. I know how you feel.” The small fox looked Mora in the eye.
     “Did you have any siblings?”
     “No, but some of my friends at the village were slain. By the way, I’m Mora.”
     “My name is Veransi.” Zircal spoke up,
     “What was your baby sisters name?”
     “Marina. Why?” Zircal looked up to the sky. The stars were beginning to fade. He pointed at a tiny, new star.
     “Look up there. See that little tiny star right there? That’s your sister’s star now. And when ever you want to talk to Marina, You can look for that star.”
     “I see it! The Marina Star!” Mora looked at Veransi’s bleeding footpad.
     “Hmm. That wound doesn’t look good. When did you get it?”
     “When Ekar attacked my family.” Mora exploded.
     “What?! A whole month on a slit footpad? Do you realize you could be crippled doing that?!” Veransi looked scared again and sat down.
     “It wasn’t so bad when I first got it. It was only a scratch then. I guess it got worse after I tried walking on it.” Mora took the foot in her paws. It was cut and bleeding badly. She could see a large amount of dirt and grime in the wound and thought, ‘That crazy little fox! This could be infected.’ She turned to Zircal
     “Zircal, find me some water and get it boiling. And fetch me my bag of herbs too.” As Zircal ran of to get the ingredients, Mora set up a place for Veransi to lie down so she could do her work.
     “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked. Mora was setting up a fire to boil the water on. Zircal came back with the water and Mora’s bag.
     “Of course I know what I’m doing. Now stay still while I make this poultice.” She ground up some herbs and mixed them with water to make a paste. She then spread this on the wound.
     “Yowch! That stings!” Veransi yelped. Mora started binding the cut with bandages.
     “Oh don’t be such a kit. That just means it’s doing it’s job. That poultice is made of herbs that will clean the cut and speed in healing. Now, have something to eat. You need your strength.” She unpacked a few tarts, some fresh bread, and some apples. Veransi ate ravenously. When he had finished, Mora stood up.
     “Come on Zircal, we’re losing valuable time. I think this is were our paths separate Veransi. May you live long and cheerfully.” She and Zircal had already started to walk away when Veransi’s voice halted them.
     “Stop, please!” They looked behind them and saw
Veransi walking towards them, leaning on a large stick. “There is no way I’m letting you go without me. Mama, Papa, and Marina would want me to avenge them.” Mora sighed.
     “Veransi, it’s too dangerous for you. You’re too young.”
     “I can help! Really, I can! I can throw knives quicker than you could blink. Please let me come.” His eyes were imploring. Zircal stepped up,
     “But you don’t have any knives. How can you be a knife thrower if you don’t have any knives?” Veransi smiled.
     “I keep them in my den. Come see!”
     “We don’t have time go on side trips!” Mora said impatiently.
     “It’s not a side trip!” Veransi shouted. “You’re standing just to the left of it.” Mora looked to her left and saw a small, cunningly camouflaged hut. Veransi hobbled over to it and held open the door.
     “Ladies first.” Mora entered the small hut and saw a bunch of cattail rushes in one corner that must have served as a bed and on one wall, a belt was hanging. In the belt were six throwing knives. Each one had a different colored pommel stone. There was a ruby set on top of the first knife, an orange topaz on the second, a yellow topaz on the third, an emerald on the fourth, a sapphire on the fifth, and an amethyst on the sixth. Veransi took three out of their sheaths and began to juggle them. He tossed two towards Mora and held the third in one of his paws. The two blades thudded into the wall a hairbreadth away from her head. Holding the third blade, he tossed it expertly towards Zircals face, clipping one of his whiskers. The knife thudded, point quivering, in the door. Veransi bowed to the two astonished foxes and retrieved his blades.
     “Well? Can I come?” Mora and Zircal exchanged looks and said together.
     “Of course you can!!” and soon the trio were on their way towards the castle of Ekar.