The sun had set and the moon was rising. Leaning heavily on Stardust's shoulder, Moonshadow limped. After fighting an eagle and a very aggressive weasel he was already battered, and then facing his long forgotten ex-lover, Icefeather, things had gotten much worse for both him and Stardust. The scarred wolf would be coming for him and he still had a score to settle with Icefeather. Sometimes I wish I lived down south, far away from the north, Moonshadow thought sadly to himself, but I can't live without the snow and the mountains; it has been my home ever since I was born.

"Do you want to stop here and rest?" Stardust mewed, "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble today."

"It's okay, wasn't you who made you run away in the first place, you never wanted to get caught in a trap or get yourself in a battle." Moonshadow answered weakly.

"But I was the one who just decided to run off," Stardust insisted, " if I hadn't run off, I wouldn't have gotten myself in a trap and get you in a battle, I'm so sorry."

"If we had stayed in the nest, probably all three of them would come and we'd be trapped, we'd be much worse that way," Moonshadow answered.

They walked slowly in silence through the pine forest, away from the woodpecker nest; Moonshadow's wing was too badly injured for him to use and fly up to the nest, Stardust couldn't carry him up and the scarred wolf's followers had tracked them to the nest - it would be too risky to go back and live at the nest again; they could be attacked anytime.

Soon, they left the pine forest behind them and found themselves in a small forest of birch trees, the white wood of their trunks glowed eerily in the darkness.

"This way," Moonshadow hooted quietly, " we're nearly there."

Turning around a corner of thick brambles, a fallen tree lay in front of them. There were daisies growing around and a honeysuckle tendril draped the tree, a few thorny bushes grew nearby and Moonshadow could faintly see a small hole underneath the bushes. Nearing the hole, Moonshadow hooted loudly, there was a rustle underneath the bushes and out of the hole, popped out a dusky burrowing owl. She had dark spotted wings and tail feathers, bright yellow eyes and a short curved beak.

"Hi Dawnwing." He greeted her.

"Moonshadow!" Dawnwing exclaimed in surprise, "what are you doing here and-" she broke off when she saw Moonshadow's wounds, " quick, come inside and I'll patch you up."

She led them towards the hole under the thorny bushes. "Follow me and don't wander off, there are many tunnels down there and you can get lost easily," Dawnwing instructed, "Moonshadow, don't worry, I've dug these tunnels bigger so that you can fit in, unlike last time."She hooted with amusement.

Moonshadow recalled the last time he came; he had complained endlessly that the tunnel walls were squashing him and he couldn't breathe properly underground, the space between the tunnel walls were too small for his size and he got stuck countless times-  especially around curves and turns.

"Come down slowly, it's a bit steep but the ground will flatten out soon and it will be easier to walk on." Dawnwing's hoot brought him back to the present. Slowly, he dropped down the hole and limped downwards, Stardust following silently behind him. The tunnels were dimly lit with glowing fungus at the bottom of the tunnel walls, Moonshadow could only see a few centimetres ahead of him and Dawnwing's short spotted tail. The ground soon flattened out and they could walk easily along the tunnels, Dawnwing led them through a series of curves and straight paths, sometimes through complete blackness where the fungus hadn't grown yet. Looking ahead, Moonshadow realised that the tunnels were getting lighter and he could see Dawnwing and the tunnel walls clearly. They walked a few more inches ahead and they arrived in an underground den, ivy tendrils grew on the stone walls that surrounded the den and there was a small waterfall that flowed off a mountain of rocks, below the waterfall, fallen rocks were gathered together and created small rock pools, a cluster of moss was soaked in one of the rock pools.

"Your den is... so much bigger than the last time I came." Moonshadow murmured as he gazed around the den.

"Wow," Stardust mewed with excitement, "this den is awesome!"

"Oh thanks," Dawnwing hooted with pride, she hopped over to a large flat rock."I dug this den all by myself and built the waterfall. Right, Moonshadow, come over here and I'll clean you up."

Moonshadow limped over towards her and sat down on the flat rock. Dawnwing picked up some soaked moss and washed his wounds, then she fluttered towards a high cleft of rocks and came back with some herbs in her beak. She made a poultice out of the herbs and rubbed it onto the wounds, then she flew back to the rock cleft and returned with a fluffy wad of cobwebs. She covered Moonshadow's wounds with the cobwebs and after that, Moonshadow looked like he had stumbled into a cave full of spiders.

"Moonshadow looks really fluffy now with those cobwebs," Stardust mrrowed.

"Yes, Moonshadow looks like a fluffy rain cloud now."Dawnwing agreed, "Moonshadow, I'll make you and your companion a nest, you can tell me your story tomorrow morning."

Dawnwing hopped away into a corner and returned with huge clumps of moss in her beak, she dropped the moss in a pile and went back to the corner to get more moss. When she had collected enough moss, she divided the pile into two stacks and flattened each one into a soft, warm nest.

Moonshadow and Stardust thanked Dawnwing for her hospitality and instantly fell asleep in one of the nests, Moonshadow was really grateful for having a friend like Dawnwing and he wondered what he could do to show his thanks to her. I'm very worried about what would happen soon, Moonshadow thought anxiously. After all, it won't be long before the scarred wolf comes back to hunt us down.