Annette watched as Scott helped Mitzi across the camp so she could work on her exercises.
"Annette!" Her head snapped in the direction of the voice. It was Elder Paw, he was motioning her over. Once she crossed to him she noticed Amara standing by him, looking troubled.
"Yes Elder?"
"Amara had a troubling nightmare last night and was wondering if you knew anything that happened. Like-well I'll just let her tell you." He stepped back giving Amara the floor.
"So my nightmare started by our human shared border with flashing blue and red things and there were two types of people talking. One type was dressed up in protective clothing and the other wore long white coats." Amara paused and shivered.
"I ran through the forest to get back home to warn you guys when I tripped. I tried to stand up but this metal jaw was clamped to my foot and it wouldn't move whichever form I took. The coated figures closed in on me and the next thing I knew I was in a cold dark gray room. And then it changed and I was on a table with sharp metal objects above me." Amara hugged herself. Annette waited for more but when the healer said no more she thought.
"That had to be police officers and their cars in the beginning. The coated figures are probably scientists. They captured you then proceeded to run tests on you." Annette guessed.
"How did they capture her?" Elder Paw asked.
"Traps!" Annette's eyes widened.
"We need to tell everyone to beware of traps! Be extra careful." While Elder Paw made the announcement Annette's mind kept thinking. If someone does get caught how are we going to rescue them? No stop! No one's going to get captured! She shook her head. To clear her head she accepted Spot's invitation to a hunting patrol. Stalking through the forest killing small animals to eat surprisingly helped her forget about Amara's nightmare.
"Hey, stop worrying. We'll be fine, as long as we know there's traps out there." Spot mumbled as he and Annette padded back to camp. A squirrel swung from Spot's mouth and he fought the urge to sneeze. They froze as their sensitive ears picked up the sounds of metal clanking and human footsteps.
"We're too close to the border!" Annette hissed. Turning quickly they sprinted back to camp, careful not to leave tracks. Annette ducked into the main part of camp and rain sprinkled down onto her thick fur coat. She found shelter under a tree at the edge of the clearing and stared up at the cloudy sky. As the rain started to pour down hard Spot joined her under the tree after shaking out his fur.
"I told Elder Paw about the humans at the border." Annette's ear flicked in response. Her brown eyes were closed against the rain blowing under the tree. Spot watched as Scott helped a limping Mitzi across the camp into her little cave forge. Her licked Annette's ear and stood up,
"I'm going to go see how Mitzi's doing." Annette's eyes opened and watched Spot's tail disappear into the cave. Annette silently purred to herself and looked back up at the sky.