Once upon a time, I was a kit. I, along with my brother and sister, were born in a dark cave. Only the bats knew of our entrance into this world. We didn't know it then; our frail, tiny newborn bodies couldn't possibly know, but we were destined for something far greater than living in a cavern beneath Ting Wu Dai. The land there was lush and green. All manner of life lived above. Their songs floweddown into our little nook, and my sister would find herself sitting within the entrance, gazing out upon the fields. I and my brother on the other hand, preferred the pasttime of wrestling. Her curious ways astounded me. And I took no notice of them. That is, until that day.

Mother was a huntress. A daughter of kings. She would leave us for weeks on end, her father calling her to the hunt. The hunt where she would escort foul beasts back into the underworld where they belonged. And when I say escort, I mean banish. The fox pack was the only guardian of Ting Wu Dai, keeping the nightmares away from the humans. The humans didn't know. And they might never have found out, except for sister's death.

"Brothers, I long to hunt with mother." She would say as she gazed out into the blue sky.

"And you know better, sister," brother said, "than to dream silly fantasies. We shall never be welcome on the hunt."

"And why not? After all, we're just as capable of banashing a nightmare as most of those ruffians are." She snarled.

"Sister you dream too much." I laughed as I gnawed on a bone. "Go catch a bat and hunt that."

"Oh, the bats are no fun." She scratched at the ground. As her claws glided across a rough stone, her face illuminated. Not in an excited expression, no. An actual light began to light up her face. She froze, her nails still touching the stone. My tail fluffed up, and brother stood at my side. No one spoke.

The light, which was now growing larger, eventually lit up the whole cavern. I turned around and there before me stood a nightmare. A dark, hissing creature with no face and long, hideous, sinuous arms that scraped the ground. Its bony legs lumbered along as it held a lantern in its raised hand.

"Run!" I barked, and the three of us ran side-by-side out the cavern entrance. Out in the fields we found ourselves, stumbling through tall, waving grass. Screaming out for mother. We had no idea of where to find her. The hunt travelled for miles, and they could be anywhere. But we searched. The nightmares had found our dark home, and now we couldn't return. Not until the hunt banished them.

We soon found ourselves stumbling upon a human cemetary. A large, garden-like area where they would bury their dearly departed. It was a solemn place, full of the spirits of the dead. Chills ran up my spine as we walked through.

"Do not walk upon the stones," Brother said, "for they are consecrated. Do not foul them with your presence."

And so we did as he said. It wasn't hard to stay away from the moss covered stones that made up the monuments for the dead.

The nightmare continued its pursuit. We continued our frightened run. And yet, we couldn't outrun the creature. No matter how hard we pushed ourselves, no matter how much fear coursed through our veins, sending us farther and faster than ever before. As we neared the large shring of the temple guardian, something felt odd. Brother skidded to a stop before us, and I slammed into the back of him.

"Brother, why do you hold back?" I panted.

"Look" He nodded over his shoulder.

Sister and I turned round to see what brother saw. The nightmare lay on the ground; an arrow deep within its chest. And a human stood over it. He smirked at the nightmare, then glanced up at the three of us. Brother tensed, but sister's tail began to wag.

"That skin man saved us!"

"Human man, sister." Brother said. "And no human is to know of this. We must be rid of him."

...He bared his teeth.

"No brother!" Sister cried, "He has saved us! You would not ki'll him! Not now!"

The man approached the three of us.Now dirty and grass-stained, he probably took us for ordinary fox pups. Not that I could blame him. He was human, after all. He didn't know better. He lifted sister by the scruff of her neck and studied her, then he placed her in a small basket he held at his side. He picked up brother, whose teeth were bared and he growled loudly. He too, he placed into the basket. And then it was my turn.

So there we were, three pups, being taken to none of us knew where.

End of chapter one: part one. There will be another part to chapter one.

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