Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #2: Thunder Rising (6 page)

C
HAPTER
5

Thunder exploded from the trees, hard
on Shattered Ice’s paws, and raced up the slope, his paws pounding over the wiry moorland grass. He could still hear the dogs barking, but he couldn’t see anything until he reached the ridge.

Pausing to catch his breath, Thunder looked down the hill. Now he could see the dogs in the distance, and hear their yelping and growling more clearly. Beyond them he spotted the small figure of a cat, hobbling and totally exposed as he tried to reach the camp. He kept glancing back over his shoulder as the dogs’ powerful legs ate up the distance between them.

“That’s Jagged Peak!” Thunder exclaimed, pointing with his tail. “What’s he doing out here?”

“Never mind that. Come on!” Shattered Ice mewed. “We have to head off the dogs before they catch him.”

Together the two cats rushed into the valley. But before they reached the dogs another cat appeared from the direction of the hollow. He was much closer to Jagged Peak, racing toward him with his belly fur brushing the grass and his tail streaming out behind him.

“Gray Wing!” Thunder gasped. “Oh, no! What’s he doing?”

Gray Wing dashed straight past Jagged Peak, who halted to stare at him. Gray Wing yowled something at him and hurled himself at the nearest dog, a leggy brindled animal with a lolling tongue. Reaching out a paw, Gray Wing swiped his claws across the dog’s nose, then instantly doubled back and darted away. Faintly Thunder heard him snarl, “Take that, flea-pelt!”

The brindled dog let out a howl of pain and fury and began to chase Gray Wing; the second dog—a small white creature—gave chase too, leaving Jagged Peak free to struggle on unharmed.

Shattered Ice reached the valley bottom and veered to one side to come up beside Gray Wing, but Gray Wing waved him off with a lash of his tail. “Help Jagged Peak!” he yowled, and pelted on with the dogs panting close behind him.

The air reeked of dog-scent. Thunder was close enough to see their gleaming eyes and the spittle flying from their open jaws. He shuddered at the thought of those murderous fangs sinking into Gray Wing.

Hurtling along behind Shattered Ice, Thunder saw Gray Wing heading for a copse of windblown trees on the ridge. The dogs were snapping at his paws as he reached it and scrambled up the nearest tree.

Crouching on a low-lying branch, Gray Wing looked down at the dogs, who were yelping and throwing themselves at the tree trunk.

“Flea-pelts!” he spat. “Useless mange-faces! Go away and leave us alone.”

Thunder and Shattered Ice caught up with Jagged Peak, flanking him on either side; Shattered Ice let the injured cat lean on his shoulder. “What are you doing out here, you stupid furball?” he asked.

“I can go where I like!” Jagged Peak gasped.

Shattered Ice just snorted in reply. Jagged Peak’s neck fur was bristling, but Thunder could see that he was too exhausted to argue anymore.

“Not far now,” Thunder meowed encouragingly. “When we get to camp we can hide in the dens.”

But to his horror Thunder heard the yelping and whining of the dogs turn to full-throated barking. Glancing back, he saw that they had abandoned Gray Wing in his tree, and were heading back in their direction. “They’re coming!” he gasped.

Jagged Peak bared his teeth. “Get out of here!” he snarled. “I can take care of this.”

Thunder couldn’t believe what he was saying. “We wouldn’t ever leave . . . ,” he began to meow.

Before he had even finished speaking, Shattered Ice put on a burst of speed, abandoning his place beside Jagged Peak. In moments he’d vanished over the next hill. Thunder stared after him disbelievingly.
I never thought Shattered Ice was a coward!

“I’m not going,” he growled at Jagged Peak. “We’ll do this together, so get over it.”

The dogs were drawing closer, eating up the distance with enormous bounds. Thunder realized that he wouldn’t be able to get Jagged Peak back to the camp before the dogs caught up with them. Glancing desperately around, he spotted a narrow hole between two rocks that jutted out of the moorland soil.

Thunder threw all his weight against Jagged Peak, thrusting him across the grass and down the hole, then turned around and crammed himself in tail first. He had managed to push the two of them a tail-length from the opening when the dogs loped up, whining in excitement.

Most of the light from the hole was cut off as the big brindled dog shoved its snout inside. Thunder met its maniacal gaze. He could hear its excited panting and feel its hot, sour breath washing over him. It stuck a paw inside the hole; Thunder shrank back, barely able to stay out of reach of the thrusting claws.
If it gets in here, we’re done
, he thought.

Behind him he could hear a continual muttering from Jagged Peak. “What do you think I am, a rabbit? Stupid, mange-ridden dogs . . . we should have stayed to fight. I could rip the throat out of one of them, no trouble. . . .”

Thunder flicked his ears. Despite Jagged Peak’s words, he was happy to be safe in the tunnel.

Thunder had never been down one of the rabbit burrows before. Even discounting his fear of the dogs, he didn’t like it at all. It was so different from the wide, comfortable tunnel mouth where he slept with Hawk Swoop and her kits. His fur itched with the dirt, and the damp walls seemed to press in on him from all directions. The dog’s panting echoed loudly and he could hear it start to scrape at the earth around the hole.

“Please get me out of this,” he muttered, then wondered who he was talking to.
I’m so scared I’ve got bees in my brain!

Sliding out his claws, Thunder braced himself to attack the dog if he had to. More muffled sounds penetrated from outside, and he recognized the voices of Twolegs. The ground quivered with the stomping of their huge paws. There were angry noises, then Thunder glimpsed a Twoleg reach out and drag the dog away. The creature gave a howl of protest, but a heartbeat later light flooded into the burrow again as the dog’s nose was withdrawn.

Thunder heard more Twoleg voices and another flurry of barking. They seemed to be growing more distant; the ground stopped shaking.
Are they really leaving?
He couldn’t see any dogs or Twolegs through the narrow mouth of the tunnel. But he wondered whether they might be crouching outside, waiting for the cats to emerge.

“What’s going on?” Jagged Peak asked.

“I’m not sure.” Thunder felt too scared to poke his head out of the hole. His heartbeat was so fast and strong, it felt as if his chest was going to burst open.
Clear Sky said I was too young to look after myself. Maybe I am
. Then a spark of confidence began to flicker inside him.
But I saved Jagged Peak, didn’t I?

“Do you think the dogs are definitely gone?” he asked the injured cat.

Jagged Peak let out an exasperated sound. Thunder looked around to see his haunches pressed against the side of the tunnel, his pelt clogged with soil. “How would I know?” Jagged Peak asked in a muffled voice. “I’m facing down the tunnel, mouse-brain. I can’t see a thing!” He paused and added, “We should probably wait a while, just in case.”

The two cats crouched motionless in the burrow. Thunder strained his ears to make out what was happening outside.

“Thanks,” Jagged Peak mewed at last. “For staying to help me.”

Hot embarrassment flooded through Thunder from ears to tail-tip. It felt wrong that Jagged Peak had to thank him—he’d only done what he would have done for any cat. Except they both knew that most cats in their camp weren’t permanently injured. Most cats would have been able to run away. “That’s okay,” he mumbled. “I’m sure Gray Wing would have led the dogs away again.”

“I’m sure he would have tried,” Jagged Peak meowed. A couple of heartbeats later he went on reluctantly, “One thing I’ve learned since I was a kit is that not even Gray Wing can fix everything.”

Thunder squirmed uncomfortably.

As if Jagged Peak’s words had summoned him, Gray Wing’s head appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. He looked thoroughly shaken. “It’s okay to come out,” he meowed. “The dogs have gone. And what in the world were you thinking?” he added angrily to Thunder. “Going off like that without permission. I ought to claw your ears.”

Thunder’s belly clenched. “Sorry,” he muttered as he scrambled out of the burrow at once, relieved to shake the dirt out of his pelt. Thin trickles of soil fell from the roof as he emerged.

“Where’s Shattered Ice?” Gray Wing asked.

“He . . . he ran back to the camp,” Thunder replied.

Gray Wing’s eyes clouded. “Without you and Jagged Peak?” he asked incredulously.

“I told the others to go away and save their own lives,” Jagged Peak called out angrily from his place in the tunnel. “At least Shattered Ice
listened
to me.”

Gray Wing let out a sigh. “I never thought he—”

A loud yowl interrupted him. Thunder looked up to see a long line of cats appearing at the top of the hill and sweeping down the slope toward them. Shattered Ice was in the lead; Thunder recognized Dappled Pelt, Jackdaw’s Cry, and Rainswept Flower. To his surprise, Wind and Gorse were with them too.

“It’s Shattered Ice!” he called to Jagged Peak in the tunnel. “He’s not a coward after all. He went for help.”

“Jagged Peak, you can come out now,” Gray Wing added.

Scuffling sounds came from the tunnel.

“It’s not easy, trying to back out of one of these little rabbit dens,” Jagged Peak grumbled. “Especially with a bad leg. I—” Coughing drowned out whatever he was trying to say.

“What’s the matter?” Gray Wing asked.

“Nothing.” Jagged Peak’s voice sounded muffled. “I just got a mouthful of dirt. It’s getting sort of dusty in here,” he added nervously.

There were grunts and noises of discomfort as Jagged Peak wriggled his way to the entrance. Thunder wondered whether it might have been a bad idea to shove him in quite so roughly.
But what choice did I have
?

There was a small yowl of displeasure, and then a noise that made Thunder much more worried—a creaking, groaning sound that came from the ground itself.

Gray Wing darted a glance to where Thunder had gone to sit on the bank above the hole. “Get away from there—quick!” he ordered.

Thunder leaped off. He crouched to look into the hole. More earth was dribbling down from the roof of the tunnel. “Jagged Peak, hurry!” he mewed.

“Come on, come on,” Gray Wing added, glancing anxiously at the bank. Thunder couldn’t believe it: The packed earth was sinking into a hollow before their eyes. The tunnel was . . .

A soft thump sounded. A cloud of dust billowed out into the open as the mouth of the burrow suddenly collapsed.

Jagged Peak was buried alive.

C
HAPTER
6

This can’t be happening. Not to
my brother . . .
Gray Wing stared disbelievingly as the ground sank into a hollow and soil closed up the entrance to the tunnel. “Jagged Peak!” he yowled. His heart was pounding with fear as he flung himself at the mound of earth where the opening had been and began digging frantically.

Thunder was beside him, loose soil spraying everywhere as his paws scraped with all their strength.

But the earth was too soft. As quickly as they tried to dig out a hole, the loose dirt collapsed in on itself. His fear mounting, Gray Wing realized they were making very little headway.

How much more time do we have
?

Gray Wing had only gone down a rabbit burrow once, when Wind was showing him how she hunted. He remembered how uncomfortable he had been, close to panic, and his heart broke for Jagged Peak, trapped beneath the weight of earth. He kept on clawing and digging, even while he was fighting despair.

“Jagged Peak, we’re coming!” he yowled, hoping the young cat could hear him.

There was a scuffling sound behind him and then Shattered Ice and the other cats were crowding around, all trying to reach the collapsed burrow and dig.

“Let us help,” Jackdaw’s Cry gasped, shoving in front of Gray Wing.

Gray Wing found his way blocked, and when he tried to get closer to the tunnel he was almost knocked off his paws by Rainswept Flower. She was clawing frantically, her paws moving in a blur. Cats were screeching in panic, and even though he realized they were trying to help, Gray Wing knew they were only making this worse.

Time’s running out
, he thought, picturing Jagged Peak crushed down in the dark, his mouth choked with dirt.

Then a cat’s voice—Wind’s—rose up above all the others. “Get back, all of you! Let us deal with this!”

When the other cats paused, startled, Gorse and Wind sprang past them and began digging farther up the tunnel, above the place where Jagged Peak had been when it collapsed.

“We know these tunnels,” Gorse explained rapidly as they dug. “We’ll reach solid ground quicker this way.”

“There’s room for one more cat,” Wind added. “Jackdaw’s Cry, you’ll do. The rest of you keep away.”

Gray Wing worked his claws impatiently into the moorland grass. It seemed to take forever for the three cats to clear away the soil, but at last he glimpsed a patch of gray fur. “Jagged Peak!” he gasped, starting forward.

Wind raised her tail to halt him. She and Gorse leaned over the hole they had dug and carefully lifted out the limp form of Jagged Peak. His head lolled and his fur was caked with dirt; Gray Wing couldn’t see him breathing.

“He’s dead!” he choked out.
I’ve already lost Clear Sky! I can’t lose Jagged Peak, too.

The mountain cats gathered around sorrowfully as Wind and Gorse laid Jagged Peak gently on the grass. He looked so small and thin, with his pelt plastered to his sides by soil. Gray Wing remembered how tiny Fluttering Bird had looked in death, and a pang of grief shook him from ears to tail-tip.
Why do things like this happen?
he asked himself.

“We all came safely through the cold season,” Dappled Pelt murmured, her tail drooping. “And now Jagged Peak dies like this.”

It’s my fault
, Gray Wing told himself.
I left the mountains to protect Jagged Peak. I’ve failed.
 . . .

“We can’t give up hope,” Wind meowed, her tone brisk and bracing. “He may not be dead.”

While she was speaking she slipped her paw into Jagged Peak’s mouth and clawed out some of the dirt; she gave his nose a lick, clearing that too. Gray Wing waited tensely, then let out a gasp of relief as Jagged Peak started to cough, gagging on the soil, and vomited some of it up. A heartbeat later his eyes blinked open and he rubbed at them feebly.

“He’s okay!” Rainswept Flower exclaimed. “Oh, Wind, thank you!”

Wind dipped her head. “You’re welcome.”

We owe these rogues so much
, Gray Wing thought.
I’m going to talk to Tall Shadow about letting them join us. We’d be crazy not to welcome such generous cats
.

Wind and Gorse stepped back as the mountain cats gathered around Jagged Peak, using their paws and tongues to clean the earth off his pelt, and giving him comforting licks around his ears.

“No need to fuss,” Jagged Peak grunted as his strength began to return. He tried to pull away from his denmates and sit up. “I’m not a kit. I can groom my own fur.”

Gray Wing knew his young brother wasn’t trying to be rude and ungrateful; he understood that Jagged Peak was quivering with embarrassment because he hated to seem weak.

“You shouldn’t have been wandering around by yourself,” Jackdaw’s Cry meowed. “What if something happened and no cat was there to save you? You’re lucky that Thunder and Gray Wing were nearby.”

Jagged Peak flinched, and Gray Wing glared at Jackdaw’s Cry. “Jagged Peak has a brain,” he mewed. “He would have figured out a way to get away from those dogs if he had to.”

Jackdaw’s Cry opened his jaws to protest, then clearly thought better of it.

“It’s time we went back to the hollow,” Gray Wing meowed roughly.

Before any cat could move, Rainswept Flower turned to him, with a sidelong glance at Jagged Peak. She’d worked harder than any cat to free his brother from the collapsed tunnel.

“I think Jagged Peak should lead the way back, don’t you?” she asked.

That’s mouse-brained
, Gray Wing thought, then a heartbeat later realized how clever Rainswept Flower was being.
Taking the lead will give Jagged Peak his dignity back
. “Good idea,” he agreed. “Jagged Peak, we all dashed here so quickly, we’re not sure of the best way back. Can you show us?”

Jagged Peak struggled to his paws and gave his pelt a shake. “I guess so,” he muttered, as if he was reluctant, though Gray Wing could see his eyes brighten and his tail begin to rise with pride.

“Thanks, Rainswept Flower,” Gray Wing murmured into her ear.

“It’s the least I can do,” she responded.

Jagged Peak began tottering toward the camp, with Rainswept Flower and Shattered Ice springing to support him on either side. As the other mountain cats followed, Gray Wing flicked his ears at Wind and Gorse, beckoning them over to him.

“I thought when the dogs arrived you went to hide in the undergrowth,” he began. “How did you end up coming with the others to help save Jagged Peak?”

Wind and Gorse exchanged a glance.

“We decided we couldn’t just abandon you,” Gorse explained. “After all, we’re good friends now.”

Wind nodded. “So we went to the hollow to see how you were, and got there just as Shattered Ice turned up, out of breath and yowling about Jagged Peak stuck on the moor.”

“Thank you,” Gray Wing meowed from the bottom of his heart. His paws itched to invite the two rogues to join their group, but he knew that he would have to discuss it with Tall Shadow first. “Is there anything we can do to show you how grateful we are?”

“If it’s possible, we’d like to join you,” Wind responded, as if she had followed Gray Wing’s thought. “We’d do all we can to hunt well and help out.”

“That’s right,” Gorse assured Gray Wing. “Life has gotten much harder since the new cats came to live here, and we need allies.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Gray Wing promised.

Racing past the other cats, he headed for the camp, where he found Tall Shadow standing at the edge of the hollow. Her ears were pricked alertly and her gaze swept across the moor, constantly watchful.

When Tall Shadow spotted Gray Wing she took a few paces forward to meet him. “Are all the cats okay?” she asked, desperate anxiety in her voice. “Thunder and Jagged Peak—are they safe?”

“Yes.” Gray Wing rested his tail on her shoulder. “They’re both fine. And the dogs have gone.”

Tall Shadow let out a long sigh of relief. For the first time Gray Wing could remember, she sank to the ground as if her legs weren’t strong enough to hold her up any longer. “Thank goodness!” she breathed out. “I could never have forgiven myself if . . .” She couldn’t go on.

“They’re still alive,” Gray Wing reassured her. “Thanks to Wind and Gorse.”

He explained how Thunder and Jagged Peak had hidden in the burrow, and how the roof had caved in before Jagged Peak could get out.

“We were panicking, getting in each other’s way,” he meowed. “When we’ve all recovered, we might discuss making plans in case anything like that happens again.”

Tall Shadow nodded. “Good idea. Especially now that we’re living in these tunnel dens. But go on,” she added. “How did you get Jagged Peak out?”

“We didn’t,” Gray Wing replied. “We owe that to Wind and Gorse.”

He described to Tall Shadow how Wind had cleared the earth from Jagged Peak’s mouth and nose after she and Gorse dug him out. “And remember that they came to the hollow to help. They could have just looked after their own pelts. We owe these cats,” he finished quietly. “They want to come and live with us.”

Tall Shadow looked up at him, her eyes thoughtful. “They can stay and share the evening with us,” she mewed at last. “But then they must go. I need time to think,” she added, as Gray Wing opened his jaws to protest.

Gray Wing realized that there was no point in arguing. He knew how cautious Tall Shadow was, and letting the rogues stay for just the evening was a huge concession for her.

But is she too cautious?
he asked himself.

For the first time Gray Wing noticed that Turtle Tail had come up to him and was hovering nearby, waiting for him to finish his conversation.

“That sounds so frightening!” she exclaimed as he turned to her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Every cat is fine,” Gray Wing assured her. “Look, they’re coming back now.”

The sun was going down, casting red light across the camp. Jackdaw’s Cry was outlined against it as he appeared at the top of the hollow. He raced across to Hawk Swoop and their kits. As he began to tell his story, Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail listened with their jaws gaping in shock.

A moment later Jagged Peak padded into camp, helped by Dappled Pelt and Rainswept Flower. Shattered Ice followed, escorting Gorse and Wind, and led them down to the bottom of the hollow. Gray Wing padded up to Jagged Peak, with Turtle Tail close behind. “Come over here,” he meowed. “You must be tired now. There’s a soft patch of moss where you can rest.”

Jagged Peak pulled away from him. “You don’t have to look after me all the time,” he muttered. “I can take care of myself.”

Gray Wing twitched his whiskers. “Really? Did today prove that?”

Jagged Peak flinched. Without a word he staggered off and sat by himself on the moss, his back turned to Gray Wing, rejecting help even though his whole body was swaying with exhaustion. Gray Wing’s heart twisted to see him so proud and so full of hurt.
Stupid!
he scolded himself.
Rainswept Flower made him feel better, and now you have to go and put your clumsy great paw in it
.

To his relief, Rainswept Flower followed Jagged Peak and sat down beside him. Gray Wing saw them talking quietly, their heads close together.

Gray Wing felt a comforting paw on his back. “He’ll be all right,” Turtle Tail said gently.

The rest of the cats had made their way to the bottom of the hollow.

Thunder excitedly told the story of how the dogs had chased Jagged Peak. “You should have seen Gray Wing!” he meowed. “He dashed right up to that big brute and clawed its nose! The dog looked so surprised. But Gray Wing only did it so the dogs would chase him and Jagged Peak could escape. He was really brave!”

Gray Wing wanted to hide behind a rock as he felt the gazes of all the other cats turned to him. Lightning Tail and Acorn Fur looked especially impressed, their eyes wide and shining.

“That was well done,” Tall Shadow pronounced. “But don’t forget what might have happened. We could have been grieving for dead denmates tonight.”

Thunder’s head drooped. “I know,” he muttered, looking chastened.

Gray Wing knew that Tall Shadow was right, but he felt sorry for his young kin. “Why don’t you tell them how brave
you
were?” he asked Thunder. “How you stayed with Jagged Peak and hid in the tunnel with him?”