Chapter 12: Wooden Cages

Tsovo escorted Misty back to the prison den, Misty ignoring him the whole way. She didn't speak a word and neither did he, which was fine with her; she didn't want to hear what he had to say.

The words from Majaka still rang in her ears: "the way out is right in front of you." What did he mean by that? Is he implying that it's obvious? she thought. Because it certainly isn't...

"Well, here you are," Tsovo spoke up as they stopped in front of the jail.
Misty didn't say anything else in response as she headed towards the den, chin held up and completely ignoring the Chief's son, not even giving him a "goodbye" or a "thanks".
As soon as she walked in though, she noticed how different things looked.
Everyone was separated. There were box-like objects - like cages - all linked together in the den. They were big enough to hold one animal each. One had Campbell, another held Rhett...each cage had one member of the group, except for Tiggerpaka, who shared a cage with Lilypaka at the back. Tiggerpaka didn't appear happy with this, as he kept muttering and pacing.
There was an empty one in between Adele and Koro, which Misty figured had to be hers. "You're in cages now," spoke up Tsovo, coming in behind Misty. "Head in yours."
"Why are we?" Misty demanded, turning on him.
Tsovo once again gave an emotionless look. "Harder for you to plan something while separated."
Misty scowled and reluctantly got into her cage and Tsovo swung the door shut behind her. "You can't open it from inside," he explained.
"Wonderful," Misty muttered.
After that Tsovo left, and as soon as he did Campbell spoke up, not too far from Misty. "Where were you?"
"Chief's den apparently," Misty replied.
"Why were you in there?" Rhett's voice asked.
"Got beat-up. Tsovo took me to Nahuel," Misty responded.
"Okay, why would he take you to get your injuries patched up?" Lephos wondered aloud. "I mean, we're technically enemies of--"
"Because he likes Misty," replied Sidew. "And you wonder why I think you're slow."
Misty felt embarrassed and slunk back in her cage, retreating into the shadows in hopes that it may somehow erase her from the conversation.
"The whole thing is gross," said Campbell in disgust.
"You're really sensitive," came Ophir's sarcastic voice.
"You don't get an opinion," Campbell growled back.
"And why's that, dear?" Ophir asked.
"Because your opinions are wrong."
"Hate to break it to you, but--"
"Shut up, both of you," snapped Rhett.
"Right, because you're the boss of me, how?" Campbell said dryly.
Misty was relieved that the attention had been lifted off of her. "Rhett's right. You two do need to quit arguing," Koro spoke up from next to Misty.
"You don't have the right to talk either," Campbell snapped.
"I'm the leader," Koro said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Guys, just stop fighting!" Bracken protested.
"What do you know about stopping fights? Your fath--" Campbell began, but came to a halt, seeming to realize what she said, and silence fell over them. Even Misty was taken by surprise; no one seemed to talk about Bracken's father to him, as everyone was worried about how he'd react to it. His father, Ironfang, had been a murderer. And Misty knew Ironfang was the total opposite of his son.
"I barely knew my father," Bracken murmured. "In fact, none of you knew him!" he cried out. It was the first time Misty had heard Bracken raise his voice; let alone start to cry over something. He was always too happy to be negative about anything. "So you can't talk about him either!"
But Misty knew Campbell was one of those animals who could never admit she was wrong, even when she herself knew she was. "But we heard stories, didn't we?" Campbell insisted.
"Dad is dead now. Put it behind us," Bracken insisted, voice shaking with emotion. "They killed him. He's dead..." He seemed to be trying to assure himself more than  the others.
"Who's Ironfang?" Lilypaka's voice asked.
"A weakling," Tiggerpaka snorted. "He was easy to defeat. It just took one swift kick to the--"
"We need to talk about something else," Misty spoke up. "Bracken's right. Ironfang is in the past; and Bracken doesn't deserve to be remembered for the things his father did."
"Misty's right," Koro agreed immediately, making satisfaction fill Misty. "This is irrelevant to what's happening now."
"So how do we get out of here?" Lephos wondered.
"It's simple," Tiggerpaka snorted. "But of course, you minions aren't smart enough to hear my plan to get us out of here."
"Of course," Campbell muttered.
"Hold on," Lilypaka spoke up.
"Oh Lilypaka. Do not speak, you may make a fool of yourself again," said Tiggerpaka.
Lilypaka ignored her brother. "Tiggerpaka, where do you keep getting your grubs?"

Author's Note:
Cliffhanger...
Also, check out my new pages I have. Especially the "survey" one. Barely anyone's been on that.
I linked some new story blogs also~
And be sure to check my other blogs. Go to my Blogger profile.
Sorry this chapter is kinda short. And pointless.