Beatrix woke up shivering. He felt a cold wet nose touch his cheek.

“Wake up,” Yolanda whispered in his ear. He shook his head and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He lifted his head and noticed it was pitch black outside the den. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, he smelled the crisp air and it stuck to his nose. 

“It’s Nights Sky Eve!” she exclaimed.

Beatrix stood up and followed Yolanda outside. He was greeted by the intense warmth of a flickering fire. It was gigantic, it made him worry the trees would light up. Everyone was gathered around the fire, there were faint sounds of chatter and laughing, smiling faces were everywhere. Even though the air was cold and Beatrix could see his breath, his insides felt warm and his heart was full. 

Yolanda and Beatrix joined Kian in front of the fire. 

“Have you eaten?” Kian asked, his grey mane looked like burning embers in the glowing heat of the deep orange fire. 

“Not yet,” Yolanda answered. 

Kian pointed his nose over to a small blob in the night a few tails away, “Foods over there,” he said with a smile. Beatrix felt a flutter of butterflies rush over his cheeks and into his stomach, Kian’s eyes were glimmering with the confidence of a flaming phoenix. 

“Eat! Eat, you’re too skinny!” Called Bartholomew from behind them. In his mouth was a large juicy leg of a unicorn. 

Kian’s eyes shifted from Beatrix’s to Bartholomew’s, whose smile dropped for a moment. 

“Eat well, little pup,” Kian said in a soft voice as he strode away between the crowd. Beatrix was smiling wide as a kitten with a new ball of yarn. Bartholomew again smiled and dropped the leg in front of them. 

“Thanks, this looks delightful,” Yolanda shoved her face into the thick thigh of the leg and tore right through the tender meat. 

“Thanks!” Beatrix said cheerfully. Bartholomew nodded and watched him eat. 

After some time of talking, Blaine came out from his den and called to the people. 

“Tonight is Night Sky Eve!” 

Everyone cheered, they stomped their hooves and grunted their happiness. Blaine came from his den to the fire and everyone gathered around him. 

“Tonight we have many new members joining us; Beatrix, Cardium, Morgaseet, and Remu. We welcome Beatrix and the new calves to their first Night Sky Eve fire.” 

More cheering, and the calves were ecstatic with joy and excitement, the fire gleamed in their eyes like their burning passion. Beatrix sat and listened eagerly to everything Blaine was saying, his tail wagging with joy and anticipation. 

Kian came out of the bushes and came into the circle and stood beside Blaine with a large leaf full of thistle bush berries. 

“Come take some berries, you will eat them and say a prayer to the Tengoku, your dream tonight will guide you forwards,” Blaine shouted for all to hear. Everyone began to line up in front of Kian as they put their snout into the leaf bag and took a couple berries. It was a long line but because Beatrix was a tenderfoot, he, Yolanda, Bartholomew and the rest of the tenderfoots were behind the Moguls, who were behind the calves. 

Beatrix put his nose into the leaf bag and the smell was unlike anything he smelled before. It smelled tangy, like the word zip. They tested bubbly, they made his tongue buzz, he didn’t particularly like them, but they were not terrible. 

I pray, dear Tengoku, to know if I belong here, and if I will ever have to leave. 

After everyone ate their berries Blaine began to speak again. 

“Now, we will feed the fire and receive the message from the Tengoku. They will tell us our next moves and give us their knowledge,” He told everyone. They cheered again. He stepped to the fire and spilled the berries into the fire. It immediately burst into cold light blue flames, just like the ones on Beatrix’s stomach and tail. 

The head of the Kasai Tengoku appeared as pure white in the blue flames, “Hello everyone!” His voice boomed through the crowd. Everyone bowed their heads, and Beatrix followed suit. “I have a warning to give you,” Everyone lifted their heads and eagerly listened. “The Kukan have found residence outside of the Poisonmush Forest,” Everyone gasped and looked fearful into each other's eyes. “I fear they are coming close to your camp. They have started the hunt for Beatrix, and I am sorry to say that they may find you,” The whole crowd erupted into shrieks and screams, the calves were whimpering close to their fathers. “Jikan Tengoku says you have one full moon cycle to complete as much training as you can…Then, I'm afraid, Beatrix must go and continue his journey.” 

Everyone went quiet, the forest lost all noise, not even the nearby pond could make the frogs croak.

“What…do we do when our time is up?” Blaine asked as he tried to steady his voice. 

“I have no more to say, but a new story will appear in Beatrix’s book, then read and you will know what's next.” This was the last instruction from the Kasai Tengoku before the fire turned back to orange and it began to die out. 

The stench of fear and disturbance was thick in silence that followed the dreadful conversation. They began to sweat, some were glancing between Beatrix and Blaine, the moguls rushed their children into their den, the adults were whispering. There was a loudness in Beatrix’s ears coming from the whispers. His heart plummeted down to, what he felt, was a hard stone floor underneath his heart. His lungs were small and tight and his heart was frantically banging on his rib cage. He began to feel dizzy again, and sleepy, his face drooped and he couldn't feel his face. He began to walk towards the tenderfoot's den, but each step was like walking further outside of his body, the closer he got to the den, the farther his soul was from his body. He didn’t feel the steps he took, and he felt as though he was seeing, without understanding anything of what was in front of him. He made it into the den, the darkness made him blind, but he continued to stumble forward until he bonked his head on the back of the stone cave. He felt around with his paws for his moss bed, which was on the left side of the cave. He found it and collapsed into it. Tears were forming under his eyes, but they felt fake, they felt like he wasn’t crying, but his body was crying, his mind was gone, and his body took over for him. 

His eyes shut and he buried his face into the soft edge of his moss bed. He soon fell asleep.