Kurano let go just long enough to say,

"Oh calm down, Kioko."

He then quickly grabbed Kirano's tails again, getting an even better hold on them than before.

-----

Lyanti was scant inches behind the slowest deer, still chasing after it with a huge grin on his face. He then heard a gunshot echoe between the trees followed by a WHUMP as the deer he was chasing collapsed to the ground. Since his flash-step was still recharging, Lyanti was unable to avoid it and he tripped over the body and was sent flying several meters forward to land snout first. With a groan, he struggled to his feet, blurry eyes looking around for the source of the gunshot. He could already feel the thief tugging at its reigns but he forced it back, unwilling to let it out a second time. He called out to Ouka,

Humans... run!

-----

Fayte heard a gunshot, and her mind was instantly set on Lyanti, though her heart was torn between returning to her pups, and helping her mate. She knew that Ouka would tell her if Lyanti got hurt, but Maple and Medina were with her pups, and she was sure they were safe with her. She suddenly had an idea. She closed her eyes, flapping her wings steadily to keep her in place.

Kirano? Can you hear me?

Kirano let go of his brother when he heard a voice that he *censored*umed was his mother's.
Y..yeah? Why?

Fayte opened her eyes, and started toward where she had heard the gunshot, staying above range, so she could find Lyanti first.
Can you tell me if anything happens? Anything bad?

Sure....

Thank you. You don't know how important this is.
And she was sure he didn't.

Kioko was about to retort to her brother when she heard the gunshot. She whined and jumped to her feet, glancing nervously at Maple and Medina.
"What was that?"

Maple instinctively growled at the sound of the gunshot.  Worry shot through her for Aeren, but she knew he could hold his own.  Jumping up she looked to the skies to see Fayte fly off.

"We need to get the pups out of here."

~~~

Ouka cursed under his breath for not noticing them before.  Need any help? he quickly asked Lyanti while taking off. He looked at Aeren and jerked his head back towards where they came from.  He knew he would understand.

~~~

Aeren glanced towards Lyanti, but took off as instructed.

Medina flet her heart stop as the gunshot echoed between the trees. Quickly agreeing with Maple, she picked up the twins, one in her mouth the other between her paws, and took off, heading in the opposite direction from the source of the threatening sound.

----

Kurano sensed his brother's connection to someone else and asked, as he was being picked up by Medina,

Who were you talking to?

-----

Aurora began shivering at she felt a kind of instinctual terror appear in her chest at the sound of the gunshot. She watched Medina leave with her brothers and turned to Maple, eyes wide with fear, not for herself bu for her parents who were both out there.

-----

Lyanti replied to Ouka,

No... just run, get back to the den.

He heard an all-too familiar bark echoe above the trees and he looked up to catch a glimpse of wings. Before he broke the connection with Ouka, he let one name escape him,

Fayte...

He changed direction instantly, taking him towards his mate. He yelled at the top of his lungs,

"What are you doing here? Are you insane?"

Fayte landed, then shook her head, serious.
"The pups are safe, I'm sure. But the gunshot was so close to where you guys had gone hunting...."
She trailed off as the thought of what had could've happened pas-sed over her.
"But we can't sit here talking. We have to get out of here."

Lyanti nodded and started running. He called over his shoulder,

"You take to the skies and find Medina, she's probably getting the pups to safety right now."

After a moment, he angrily added, "But stay BELOW the tree line!!"

Ouka, hearing Lyanti's last word, hit the breaks and whirled around.  He watched as Lyanti and her worked something out, then took off seeing all was well.  He wanted to get back to Medina as soon as he could.

~~~

In one swift motion, Maple picked Aurora up and followed after Medina, getting as far away as she could. She paused and looked back to see if any other pups were left behind.

~~~

Aeren was way ahead of the others and attempted to get back to the den before everyone left.

((Aw. Poor Kioko! Okay..just leave her there. I have an idea.))

Kioko watched as Aurora was taken and she was left alone. She decided to stay in the den, in case they came back for her. She laid down, her little orange body shaking with fear. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, and when she opened them, she was looking stright at the face of a hunter. She whined, and the hunter looked over his shoulder, calling strange words over his shoulder to his companion. He came over and they looked at Kioko, talking again in their strange language. One picked Kioko up by the scruff, and she was too paralyzed by fear to do anything. They dropped her in a crate and put it in the back of a truck, among other crates.

((No one do anything, please.))

((I have an idea....))

Kioko heard Aeren, and howled. It was more like a squeak, because of her size and fear, but she thought it was a howl.

Fayte heard Aeren's howl, and beat her wings in a faster tempo. She was going at such a speed, that she had to turn around, as she pas-sed the den. And she still slid when she landed.
"What happened?"
She was panting so hard that she was barely able to breathe.

Aeren, fighting the urge to run after the truck, looked at Fayte with wild eyes. 

"The hunters took Kioko."

~~~

Ouka, hearing Aeren, silently asked him what was wrong. After a mental exchange, he extended his mind as far as he could, touching Lyanti as well, hoping he could hear the pup if Ouka was able to touch him.

Kioko! Can you hear me?! Kioko!

~~~

Maple arrived back at the den and nearly had a heart attack when she heard about Kioko. Setting Aurora down, she promptly anounced,

"I'm going after her. Now."

At this she started to run after the truck.

Lyanti went at top speed when he heard Aeren's howl, rocketing into the clearing in a blur of motion. He sensed the tension between everyone who was already there and he instantly demanded,

"What's going on? Is someone hurt?"

---

Medina glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Aeren's howl and turned around, flying back. She landed in front of the den, carefully depositing the twins on the ground. She was abotu to ask the same question Lyanti had when she noticed the heavy scent of humans right in front of the den. She also noticed Kioko was missing. She gasped, her voice a whisper and said,

"Oh no..."

----

Aurora tried to call out to Maple that she had forgotten Kioko but she had been too terrified to say anything. She trembled as she thought about her sister, all alone in the hands of those demonic humans. She looked over to her brtohers, who had arrived with Medina.

----

Kurano knew what had happened when he accidentally brushed Medina's mind. He instantly relayed the info to Kirano, eyes wide with fear.

Kirano laid his ears back, and would have whined if not mute. He cowered, and laid down, laying his head on his paws. He looked toward the path that the human scent came from.

Fayte growled, and took to the air instantly. She flew over Maple, and called to the other female.
"You get Kioko. I'll distract the humans."
She flew ahead and was soon right behind the truck. She barked, both to attract to humans' attention, and to tell Kioko that she was here. Fayte was avoiding many bullets, but she glanced at the crate with Kioko, and one bullet his her right wing, another in her left shoulder. She managed to land on the truck just enough to cut the ropes tying Kioko's crate. She grabbed the crate, and managed to get it on ground before she collapsed. She couldn't turn her head to look at her wing, it hurt too much. She laid on the ground, and fell unconsious.

((Been a while since she was unconsious....))

Maple ran as fast as possible to catch the truck. She cursed herself for not being able to fly as Fayte did. Fighting her instincts to run from the bullets she sped after the truck, stopping only after Kioko's crate hit the ground.  She barked at Aeren to get his help for Fayte, then picked Kioko up, setting her down in a safe place a bit from the road. Then she ran back to Fayte, trying to pull her into the woods with her daughter.

~~~

Aeren, who was following Maple the moment Fayte took off, was instantly on the scene helping his mate pull Fayte to safety.

~~~

Ouka, still far off, groped with his mind to reach Kioko.

Kioko!

Kioko was shaking with fear, and never struggled. When she heard Ouka's mind, she relaxed a little.
Uncle Ouka?
She was terrified, and suddenly a small flower grew at her feet, a bright shade of grey. Not really bright but...yeah.

Kirano, unable to hear the shots, didn't know what had happened to his mother. He closed his eyes, laying his ears back.

Ouka nodded mentally. Still trying to reach her father as well.

Yes it's me. Are you ok? Where are you? Lyanti? Can you hear me to?

((gah i hate being on the far side of the time difference XD ))

Lyanti started chasing after Fayte, about to tell her to stop, but he wasn't watching as he ran and tripped over something, silencing him. With a growl, he got back up to his feet and ran on, making it to the scene just in time to see his mate crumple to the ground. Anger burned in his chest and he chased after the humans, knowing that Maple would take care of Fayte. He heard Ouka and mentally growled,

I'm getting rid of these demonic two-leggeds once and for all. This is the last time they hurt my family!

----

Medina stayed by the pups for as long as she could bear it. Then the gunshots rang out. In a flurry of feathers, she took off, finding Maple and Aeren dragging Fayte's limp body to the trees and out of sight. She coudl see Lyanti off down the road, an aura of fury burning around him. She returned her attention to Fayte and asked Maple,

"How bad is it?"

----

(hmm i think someone forgot the other pups :P )

Aurora wanted to follow the adults to save her dearest big sister, but she was too scared. She looked over at her twin brothers and asked,

"Do you think there's anything we can do?"

----

Kurano looked up at the sister that had not been kidnapped and replied,

"I don't know. Kioko was always the leader."

He looked to his twin, begging him to think of something.