The Ruby of the Woods

    Hunter paced silently up and down the room. He thought quietly to himself, They’ll be trying to stop me soon but they won’t get away with it. I’ll be unstoppable. Right at that moment as he was thinking, his army was working and trying to get a special powerful gemstone, the Ruby. The rabbit clan owned the Ruby and the clan harnessed the power of fire that could be used at will and controlled easily by anyone.

Meanwhile, Truffles the badger was in his burrow preparing afternoon tea for himself. His home was more of a hole than a burrow, but he called it a burrow. His home was under a fine maple on the edge of his small village so he could look up and see a star of tree roots. Truffles easily walked outside with a tray of tea and some small crackers. He liked it here in Maple Village, known far and wide for its fine trees famous for their orange leaves in the fall. As he sat down he saw Huckleberry, the youngest of the blue birds that also lived in the village.

“Hello Huckleberry, back from berry picking I see!” Truffles called as he nibbled a cracker.

Huckleberry nodded, her beak full of her favorite berries, blueberries that she had picked. Her family was known for harvesting the syrup from the maples, but she picked berries. Her feathers were bright blue unlike the badger who had fur of black stripes running down his back. Even though their personalities were quite different, they were quite fond of each other. Huckleberry was talkative and bright, while Truffles preferred his calm, subtle way of life in Maple Village.

“I think that I’ll go for a walk in the woods later today after tea, care to join me Huckleberry?” Truffles called taking a sip of tea.

“I think I will, Truffles. I wasn’t planning anything,” Huckleberry called back excitedly after putting down the basket.

“Well then, I will see you in the woods!” Truffles declared resting his back on the trunk of a maple tree.

When they got to the woods (after Truffles told Huckleberry many times not to dart off into unknown parts of the woods) they discovered that it was very quiet. Even the usually rushing river was very quiet today.

“It’s the quietest it has been for a long time. I’m so used to hearing the river rush. Now I feel like my ears aren’t working properly,” Truffles chuckled.

Huckleberry was behind him staring off into the trees. Why is that leaf there? She thought to herself. it’s not a maple leaf. And it’s yellow like it’s almost dead. The leaves of the woods were in fact a nice bright green today instead of yellow as they are only that color in the fall, and it was the spring.

“Hurry along Huckleberry, I’m going to keep walking even if you don’t follow so don’t get lost. I recommend staying next to me and not wandering off! Huckleberry?” The badger couldn’t hear her high voice among the trees.

She had wandered into the trees to observe the leaf. Truffles saw her blue tail right as it disappeared into the woods. He immediately started walking after her. When he reached her she was bending down looking at something.

“Truffles, what kind of leaf is this? I don’t think that I’ve seen it before,” Huckleberry asked curiously.

“It looks like an oak leaf,” he explained. “Look there’s another!”

Huckleberry went to that one as well. “And another, it looks like a trail,” she thought aloud.

They followed the leaves deeper and deeper into the woods. Finally, it ended, next to a camp. Rabbits were bustling around doing things here and there.

“Ah, you have arrived. We have been waiting for you. We are in desperate need of your help,” a rabbit said the moment they set foot on the camp.

“Wait, what?” Truffles asked as he appeared through the bushes.

“My name is Thaila, and you could help us. The world could be destroyed and never come back! Hunter’s clan has stolen the Ruby from us. It has the power to control fire and be used at will. I am the keeper of the gem but with me being a rabbit and them being wolves I could not withstand them. They got away with it and are probably learning how to use it this second.”

“Okay, and you want us, who are random creatures to get it back from wolves that could burn us to a crisp with it in a minute or even less?!” Huckleberry cried.

“Well, one, not random. I put a spell on the leaves to communicate to whoever found them first to help us. Two, there is a way to steal it without them seeing you so they won’t burn you,” Thaila explained. “Wolves’ strength is in power and not wisdom. With the right kind of mind you could easily outsmart one with almost no advice. With there being two of you I think you’ll find a way to do it. Hunter especially, he wants power and riches more than anything.”

“So we walk into the den, get the Ruby, and come back here?” Truffles asked.

“In a simplified manner, yes but it will be harder than it seems, they have very good ears,” Thaila warned.

“So we sneak in then get it?” asked Huckleberry

“Yes and you can stay here till you are ready to depart, Hunter will be looking for you and expecting you. He knows that we would do anything to get it back,” Thaila said.

“I don’t want to do this, but if it’s for the world then fine,” Truffles answered grumpily.

After staying in the camp for a few days, they decided to set off on their adventure. After Thaila reminded them what to do, they departed. Their plan was to stay in the forest even though it was a longer path. That’s what they thought would be safest. The forest looped around a large plain that stretched for many miles. At the other side of the loop the wolf den lay there in the hills, secretly hidden by a door almost impossible to find.

Truffles and Huckleberry had made silent communication signals so that the wolves wouldn’t hear them talk. They made signals for things most important on their journey, such as: stay quiet, hide and they’re gone.

They had to sleep for five to six hours at a time against trees and eat while walking, yet they only got a couple of miles a day. Shortly after their trip started, they knew that it would take a long time to get there. No word was heard or hint was seen of the wolves, until the third week. Then they saw wolf tracks on the ground.

“Looks like they passed through here on their search for us. They seem to be heading towards where we came from,” Truffles observed.

“Does this mean we’re safe for now? I’m getting tired,” Huckleberry said. “I don’t know if I can keep going much longer.”

“It doesn’t mean that we’re safe, but we will probably stay here, I’m getting tired as well,” said Truffles.

The next morning they continued their journey slowly but steadily. Eventually, they stepped into a part of the wood that seemed quieter and darker. The trees looked as if they were birch and the sunlight diminished as they went deeper into the woods. The trees’ bark seemed really brown for birch though, and the white part seemed sticky as well above the brown.

Huckleberry was starting to get nervous. “Truffles, is the white of birches meant to be above the black, and why does the black look like brown?”

“The white is meant to be over the black but it shouldn’t be sticky,” Truffles replied, touching one of the trees. As he pulled his hand away it stuck, leaving a long gooey trail. “I don’t like this place any more than you do.”

“I’m getting tired. Should we stay here?” Huckleberry asked sleepily.

“Fine. I’m getting tired as well,” Truffles said with a yawn.

They woke up and saw the ground over their heads. They seemed to be in some kind of sticky gold sack. Truffles woke up to see Huckleberry struggling in her sack. Then he noticed that they weren’t wearing their packs. They hadn’t taken them off last night; they were so tired. It turned out that they were hanging in bundles from the branches of trees. Huckleberry was struggling in her bundle and trying to cut it open with her beak.

“Truffles where ar–” Huckleberry started, resting from her struggles for a bit.

“I don’t know everything about the wilderness!” Truffles interrupted.

“Well how do you know so much?” Huckleberry was curious. Since Truffles had helped them along on their journey since the start she thought that she could rely on him.

“My grandfather. He was Axestone. He taught me a lot about the wild,” Truffles explained. “The last journey he went on he never came back from.”

Huckleberry was stunned. All she knew about her friend, and she never knew that he was related to Axestone. Axestone was a journeyer from Maple village. It was starting to feel like a legend though. Not very many people really spoke of him anymore.

Huckleberry had to run this through her mind a bit before speaking, “Wow.”

“But, I do think that we are in the lair of one or two spiders. Wait no, two. And giant Goldweavers,” Truffles explained.

“Do you know how to get out of here?” Huckleberry asked.

“Yes but it’s not easy,” Truffles mumbled.

“Anything!” Huckleberry pleaded. “I just want to get out of here! Please tell me!”

“I had a feeling you’d say that,” Truffles chuckled wondering if she’d actually do it.

By the time the spiders returned, Truffles and Huckleberry were already acting out their plan. Goldweavers like to eat their prey alive and if their prey isn’t alive then they let it go. Truffles and Huckleberry were acting as dead as possible. Truffles just let his body go limp while Huckleberry did the same and finished it with sticking out her tongue.

After ten minutes Truffles started tapping his fingers for ‘just stay quiet.’

‘Are you sure?’ Huckleberry signaled back, ‘We have been here for an hour.’

‘Trust me,’ Truffles tapped. Ten minutes later they were lying with their faces on the ground, waiting for the spiders to leave.

“Well that went better than I thought that would,” Huckleberry sighed with relief. “I thought we would die!”

“I hope that you’re ready to start marching again, we have to leave the spider’s territory today,” Truffles explained.

By the time they had reached a safe resting place, they fell asleep immediately.

The next morning they came to a small cottage in a small clearing. It had a straw roof and the walls were stone. There was a small garden and a couple of animals roaming in the clearing: several cows, a few chickens and a goat with long mohair on its back. A window was open, and the smell of a blueberry pie was floating through the air. Truffles could tell that Huckleberry’s mouth was watering.

“Maybe we could sneak up and get that pie? Or even just a little taste?” Huckleberry whispered desperately. “I need some.”

Just then a fox walked out of the cottage and started toward a small stream next to the garden. He was whistling a little tune as he filled up a bucket, then dumped it on to parts of the garden. Before he dumped it on the rest, he pulled up some turnips. When he was done with the garden work, he headed to the chicken coop.

“What are we doing here?” Huckleberry asked.

“I’m thinking, maybe we could stay here for the day. If they trust us, we could get some good things for our journey,” Truffles explained.

“Or they could be on Hunter’s side!” Huckleberry countered. “I don’t like it here.”

“Why not? I think we should stay here for the night. Even here where they can’t see us!” Truffle said, setting down his bag.

“Fine,” Huckleberry groaned, setting down her bag as well. “I just don’t like staying next to foxes when our enemy is a wolf.”

The next morning they woke up to foxes staring down at them.

“I told you they weren’t dead!” a young fox said excitedly, ignoring his parents’ looks. “Their bags are full and if the wolf clan came, they would be empty!”

“Yes, now run along, Peter, we’ll help them out,” an older fox said with an annoyed scowl on his face.

Truffles and Huckleberry just sat there, stunned, not able to move.

After about half a minute, Truffles tapped his hand for, ‘should we run?’

Huckleberry signaled, ‘no.’

“Hello there, we’re the Foxes and you look like you need some help,” another fox explained. “I’m Mrs. Fox and this is my husband, Mr. Fox. Now what would a bird and a badger be doing in these parts?”

“Well, we’re on a bit of an adventure and we really need to leave soon so we should probably go,” Truffles tried to persuade them to let him leave. He didn’t like this place.

“Now wait a minute. You’re a friend of Thaila’s aren’t you?” Mr. Fox asked. “She told us that a badger and a bird might come along. We don’t like wolves either. We’ll help you if you need it.”

“Oh, thank you so much. Yes, we’re that bird and badger and we could use a rest,” Huckleberry said excitedly. She liked this place and really wanted some of that pie.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox led them into the house. There were beds set up for them and the house was quite cozy. The floor was wood planks and the walls were stone. The ceiling was made of wood to keep the straw from falling when it rained. When they had settled in, they laid down on the beds and fell into a sound sleep. When they woke up they could smell finely-cooked chicken. When they walked into the kitchen there were three foxes sitting around a table. There was Mr. and Mrs. Fox along with Peter, their son.

As they walked in Mr. Fox spoke, “we were just about to come get you.”

After dinner, Huckleberry got her pie and they went to bed for the night. The next morning Peter was already halfway done with his chores. Mrs. Fox was running errands in the village not too far from their home. Mr. Fox was tending the garden. When they walked outside they decided to walk around the farm to explore their surroundings. In the back of the house there was a waterwheel that they hadn’t noticed before. They could see the village. The house was on a hill that was crowned with trees. Down the hill they could see several houses. There was one thing that troubled them, there were no trees except on the hill, meaning they had left the forest.

When Huckleberry found out where they were, she got nervous. “We were trying to go in the center of the woods all the way around, right?”

“We were.” Truffles wasn’t pleased with this either. They were planning to stay in the center. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

The next morning they started their journey again. They went back to the forest with new supplies that the Foxes had given them. The Foxes also had told them where they were. It turns out they were almost halfway to the end of their journey. They noticed that they might need to move a little faster if they were to make it to the wolves’ den on time, so they started to get a little less sleep and start walking earlier in the day. They made it to the wolf den only five days later.

“Okay we go in, sneak up to the wolves and get the Ruby,” Huckleberry thought aloud. “Not like we’re going to die.”

“Relax, you just have to stay quiet,” Truffles explained.

“And you think that’s easy?” Huckleberry whimpered. “I don’t want to die.”

When Truffles had convinced her to come along, they silently opened the door.

‘Only use this communication here,’ Truffles tapped, he didn’t want her to talk in case the wolves heard them.

‘Okay,’ Huckleberry agreed.

When they reached the Ruby, Truffles signaled to Huckleberry, ‘Stay there.’ He crept closer, silently. Hunter was sleeping calmly with the Ruby sitting next to him. It seemed as if a fire was burning inside it. Truffles reached for the Ruby but as he did someone spoke out.

“Do you smell that?” a deep voice growled.

“Yeah, it smells like a bluebird and badger,” another voice exclaimed.

“Well look what we have here.” A wolf appeared with Huckleberry already in his hands.

“No! Let her go!” Truffles cried.

“Run or I’ll get you too.” Hunter had woken up and he didn’t look very happy.

“Fine I’ll leave,” Truffles said with his arms in the air. As he backed away, he slipped a wink to Huckleberry.

I wonder where they keep their prisoners. Truffles had been wondering about this for a long time. Not close to the entrance. They could escape too easily. On the other hand, they don’t have smarts. He would have to rescue Huckleberry at some point and the only way to find the dungeon was to go in again. Their dungeon would be easy to escape so what if he turned himself in. Why not?

Knock, knock. Truffles tapped his knuckles on the door.

“Who is it?” asked the wolf from earlier. “Oh, It’s you. What do you want?”

“I want to turn myself in,” Truffles exclaimed, his mind racing with plans.

“Okay, and I suppose you want the same room as the bird,” the wolf said, not really questioning though it sounded like it.

“If possible, I would be much obliged,” Truffles answered.

“Fine, follow me,” the wolf grumbled. They walked down a long corridor until they came to a room with barred doors. “In,” demanded the wolf. “Now.”

Truffles walked in and saw Huckleberry snoring quietly on a wood board that was on two chains hanging from the ceiling. It was just a small square room with stone walls and the only light came from a small, barred window that had a little green grass poking in showing Truffles that they were underground. Truffles sat down in a corner, closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep. It was easy because it would be impossible to actually sleep on the damp ground.

“Hey boss, come here!” the wolf shouted down the corridor. It left a long echo as it bounced down the hall.

“What Howler? I was enjoying my nap,” Hunter’s voice growled.

“Look sir! We got him! Now can I have that raise?” Howler asked, smiling slyly.

“Fine, whatever,” Hunter snorted. “I’m just happy they’re here.”

Eventually when Hunter and Howler left, Truffles woke up Huckleberry and they made their plan.

Truffles silently scurried over to the sleeping guard. He slid his hand through the bars to the loop of keys hanging from the belt of the wolf, then unhooked it and slid it to the lock. Choosing a key, he fumbled it in the lock. It was up to Huckleberry now. She could use her flight to go higher than the wolves if they saw her. She quickly swooped out of the cell and up the stairs. When she made it to the top she made sure to stick to the ceiling. Then there it was, the Ruby. She quietly swooped down to get it. As she flew back up with it in her talons, Hunter awoke.

“Guards catch that bird!” Hunter shouted. “And make sure the badger is still there!”

But it was too late, Huckleberry was already halfway out of the den and Truffles was waiting at the exit. Then Huckleberry flew out! They were now on the return journey.

After stopping at the fox’s cottage and avoiding the Goldweavers, they made it back to the rabbits.

“Truffles! Huckleberry! You made it back!” Thaila exclaimed excitedly. “With the Ruby!”

After their journey they lived a fine peaceful life until…

“Whoa!” A mole had drilled into Truffles’ burrow. “Sorry ‘bout that. Never know when I’ll reach somewhere.”

“Hello, I don’t think you live here,” Truffles answered.

The mole then looked at him. “Oh yes, I’m so sorry. It’s just, I’m looking for Truffles and Huckleberry.”

“And I would be Truffles,” Truffles explained.

“Oh what luck!” the mole cried gleefully. “I think Huckleberry should be here too before I explain.”

When they found Huckleberry who was coming home from berry picking the Mole continued his story. “I’m Monty, the keeper of the Sapphire and Thaila told me you could help,” Monty exclaimed.

“You ready?” Truffles asked Huckleberry.

“Born ready,” Huckleberry answered, smiling.