Chapter 2 Lost

That morning was cooler, it was beggining to feel like fall finally though the trees remained covered with leaves for now. Jessabelle stretched and shook her pelt out, again wincing as her shoulder throbbed, forgetting about her wounds briefly. She turned and began to lick the irritated skin clean until no dirt was in or around it, licking her paw and swiping gently along her jaw. She did this over and over again until she no longer tasted blood and hoped she had cleaned that well enough too. She then began to pad back towards the direction she thought she remembered coming from in hopes to come across a member of her pack or one of her parents. Thankfully so far she hadn't ran into any rouges but that could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you looked at it. On one end it ment she wasn't in danger, on another it ment she could have ran farther than she thought or was going the wrong direction.

She walked for a long time before she turned around, looking for something familiar. Maybe she had gone the wrong way, nothing looked any closer to her territory than it had when she began walking. If anything it looked entirely different. Turning around Jessabelle began to head from where she came again, retracing her step. She continued in that way for what she felt was the same distance but again nothing looked familiar. She couldn't find where she had slept even. That was one thing she hadn't really learned well, tracking and things of that manner, why would she when she knew her packs territory. They never left their own land, what was the need? Now she was paying for that lack of knowledge by getting herself more lost than she already was.

With a whine she howled out, stopping afterwards with ears pricked forward to listen for an answering howl. She waited but nothing. Again she tried, hoping someone would hear her but they never did. She sniffled lightly, eyes beggining to tear up again but quickly held them back. She couldn't afford the leisure of having time to cry like a pup, she had to find someone before they moved to find another area for a temporary or permanent camp.

Jessabelle stood again and once more her paws carried her across the land, though no matter the direction she could never seem to find anything familiar a second time. She searched and called, walked on and on for hours until her belly grew empty and her paw pads grew sore. She stopped to sit for a few moments while she rested her paws when the hunger struck her, stomach growling expectantly. She sniffed the air some and looked around before trying to search for a scent. She sniffed around brush and tree trunks, passing scent from mice and small like creatured until she eventually came across the scent of a squirrel. Perfect, something small to get her by and easy to hunt. She followed it quietly through the forest, spreading out her paws and shifting her weight to her hind quarters to help silence her steps. She kept her head low and her tail straight, minding where she walked. She had always been exceptional at hunting, that wouldn't be an issue for her in this unfortunate circumstance she was in.

Eventually she came across a squirrel, lightly scurrying around the space between a few trees where seeds or nuts had fallen from it, nibbling on one. Her mouth began to salivate and her stomach grumbled hungrily again as she watched it. Slowly her steps drew closer, remaining silent as she could and stopped once she was in position. She waited patiently for the perfect opportunity when it's back was to her, little hands pushing around the leaves and grasses along the forest floor as it searched for more food. At that time she lunged outward from where she hid amongst the underbrush, quickly landing above it and snapping her teeth down onto the squirrels small frame. It didn't take much effort to just quickly give a hard clamp of her jaws, ending it's fear and suffering. She sat right where she had grabbed it up from and began to hungrily tear a peice of her meal off, chewing it quickly. She didn't have time to enjoy the taste or anything, she had to find her parents. She made quick work of the meal and licked her maw before she stood to begin walking yet again.

Jessabelle sighed softly as she quickened her pace, determined once more with her stomach settled for the time being. She ignored the dull ache in her shoulder for now as well, though eventually she would need to stop and rest in hopes it would cease it's throb. The sound of her pawsteps became background noise after some time along with the normal sounds of birds and small prey about. She was pleasantly surprised that she hadn't run into the first rouge but then again it also ment there was possibly only her for ancestors only know how far. Her day consited of walking and resting her shoulder until it began to darken out again. A whole day of searching and she was no closer to finding them than she was when she started. She began to cry again, feeling lost and Hopeless in this fragile moment. She was so alone and lost, how would she ever find any of them? She couldn't even find her way home, she could have kept walking further and further from where she lived. She had no idea where she was at and therefore had no idea which direction to even take.

Her crying eventually stopped and she sat there in the dark, staring at the ground between her paws until she just layed where she was, curling into a tight ball. She closed her eyes, mentally exhausted again, and drifted off into a sleep filled with the same nightmares as the night before.