Chapter 2

Icy woke with a start from her dream. She was breathing deeply. She looked around the barn and saw her sister and parents where already awake.

Though she didn't want to, Icy couldn't help but remember the dream in her mind. It was so clear to her, which only made it seem more frightening. What did it all mean? Those two cats she saw on the branches of the large trees stuck out the most to her. Who were they? And why did it feel like Icy knew them both from somewhere? She doesn't even know many cats. And no one like the two she saw last night.

The thought made her shudder. Whatever was in her dream, it did not seem good. Icy took a deep and tried to push the dream out of her mind. That only worked for a moment before she began thinking about it again.

She sighed to herself. Icy quickly decided to get the thought out of her mind by getting up.

She joined her sister who was waiting by the barn door for their parents. Lilly and Shadowthorn soon returned with four plump mice in their jaws. Finally something to get her mind off of it!

The family ate together. While she ate, Icy soon remembered what her father told her a few days ago. Icy and Cloud were too excited to eat slowly anyway, now that they realized what was going to happen next. Shadowthorn said he would show them some battle and hunting techniques the day after he came back from exploring. Though Lilly was never fond of the idea, Shadowthorn managed to convince her that if the kits knew of ways to protect and hunt for themselves, they would be much better off in the end.

Though as the three walking outside, a thought occurred to Icy. She was sure Cloud would do better at the training then she would. Cloud just seems to be a quick learner and Icy had to practice every time she tried something. Like when they started play fighting in the bushes on the hill not far from the barn. Cloud would always be the one to pin Icy down. Even when Icy was supposed to chase her and Cloud was supposed to run.

She sighed and followed them out into the field.

"So, let's begin," Shadowthorn said when he turned to the kits. "I showed you some moves before you were six moons, but now that you're both old enough, we can start to challenging stuff."

"Yay" Cloud and Icy cheered, glad to be learning something more advanced.

"I know how you two like the play fight, and someone always gets pinned down," Shadownthorn said, now sitting. "But with this, getting pinned won't mean the game is over." The dark grey tom quickly tackled Cloud with no warning and pinned her down.

"Hey no fair," complained Cloud as she tried to hold in a laugh.

Shadowthorn continued, "If you get pinned down, you can use your hind legs to kick your enemy off of you, or you can try to bite their front legs. But try not to go that far. I don't want anyone getting hurt if you're just playing." Shadowthorn let Cloud go and he moved back in front of both of them. "Now you two try it."

Icy was about to turn to Cloud, but she didn't get a chance two when she found Cloud already on top of her, holding her to the ground. Icy was expecting this to happen, though she didn't react quickly enough.

Icy tried to kick off her sister with her hind legs, as Shadowthorn showed her. It didn't take long for her to push Cloud off, but she could help but wonder if she let her push her off. Though whether she was right or not, Icy decided to just go with it.

She stood back up and faced Cloud, guessing she would want to try to throw her off too. Icy tackled her sister when she wasn't watching and was able to pin her down. Cloud was able to through Icy off right away because Icy was smaller than Cloud.

"It seems you two got it already," Shadowthorn told them, approvingly. "Of course, that was only one move out of many that I can teach you. Also, that was actually a simple one. Let's try something else now…."

Icy and Cloud sat patiently in front of their father while he thought of what else he could teach them.

"Oh how about the-" Shadowthorn paused when he heard a noise in the stalks of corn next to the field. "What was that?" Icy asked quietly.

The field was silent for a moment that to Icy, felt much longer than it actually was. Then the cats heard a growl and a shape started reveal itself from the corn.

Icy and Cloud gasped in fear at the sight of a dreadful beast slowly walked out of the stalks, snarling at the three cats.

"DOG!" Screamed Icy and Cloud when they saw it appear and raced back to the barn. The dog barked loudly and started to chase them, until Shadowthorn stole its attention back clawing its snout. The dog yelped from pain, but quickly retaliated and charged for him, baring its dangerous set of teeth.

Meanwhile, when Icy and Cloud got to the barn door, Lilly found them shaking in fear. "What happening out there?" she asked the kits, suddenly worried. Before either of them answered, Lilly ran out of the barn to see what scared the two so much. "Shadowthorn" she yelled when she saw him fighting off the vicious animal. Icy and Cloud trailed their mother to the door.

"Stay inside you two. I'll go help your father. But stay here," she told them, sternly.

"But I want to help," Icy complained. "We can fight," Cloud added.

"For your own safety, you must stay out of this," their mother said. And without giving them any more time to argue, the rushed into the field to help battle the dogs with her mate.

Icy and Cloud were forced to stay out of the fight, though they desperately wanted to help their parents. "What do we do now?" Icy asked her sister as they watched the fight.

"Mother told us to stay here…. That's all we can do now," Cloud sighed, obviously upset with her own answer.

Icy sighed and watched her parents fight the large dog. Was there really nothing she could do? She didn't want to drag Cloud into anything and didn't want her mother to be mad at them afterwards. Besides, it was only one dog…

Shadowthorn jumped on the dogs back and sunk his claws into its pelt. The dog jumped in attempt to get him off. The tom began to lose his grip on the dog and was eventually flung off. Then Lilly came charging over and leaped into the dogs back with such sleep, she pushed the dog back a little. She then jumped off, turned to the dog and hissed. The dog yelped and ran back into the corn stalks.

"Are you alright?" Lilly asked Shadowthorn who was getting himself off of the ground.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But they'll be back," he told her.

"They? What do you mean by 'they?"

"That dog is part of the pack I saw earlier. It'll be back with some friends," he warned Lilly.

"They we have to get out of here! Before they come back," Lilly told him.

Shadowthorn nodded and the two were about to run back to the barn to get the kits and escape, until they heard rustling in the stalks and three more dogs charged out but the two cats were ready.

Shadowthorn jumped at the lead dog and landed on its head. The dog shook its head fiercely, trying to get the tom off. While Lilly attacked the second dog by clawing at its side as she ran by. The dog turned and grabbed Lilly in its jaw by her back and threw her into the field of corn.

"Lilly!" Shadowthorn called when he saw her fly into the corn.

He angrily brought his attention back on the dog that was trying to shake him off. He clawed at the dogs eyes and it yelped and shook the tom off. In the moment of blindness, Shadowthorn was able to jump at the dogs side and claw through its fur, which convinced the dog to flee, though Shadowthorn knew it might be back later. He saw one dog running in the direction of Lilly. He began to run forward to stop it, but the third dog came up behind him and snapped its powerful jaws on his tail.

The other dog was sniffing in the tall corn stalks, looking for where Lilly landed. But it was distracted from a voice behind it. "Hey!" called the young voice. "Over here, you mouse-brained dog!"

Shadowthorn looked over to the voice as well and saw Icy and Cloud standing a ways away from the battle.

"Icy! Cloud! Get out of here," Shadowthorn commanded when he had a chance. The dog barked and ran towards them.

Icy and Cloud quickly turned around and started running towards the barn.

Wait, if we go in the barn, we'll be cornered, Icy thought to herself as she ran next to her sister. She quickened her pace, passing Cloud and began moving their route around the barn. Cloud got the idea immediately and followed in her path. They ran around the barn as the dog tailed them, getting closer and closer with every passing heartbeat.

They circled the barn and, having nowhere else to go, ran back towards the battle.

Shadowthorn was still fighting the other dog. He was injured and his grey fur was covered with blood from his and the dogs wounds, yet he refused to quit.

Icy's heart was racing. She quickly looked for a place where she and her sister could be safe. They were already heading towards the corn stalks, so she figured they could lose the dog in there.

Icy and Cloud sprinted into the tall corn stalks and the dog followed them, closing in on them. Cloud looked behind them as they ran through the field of corn and saw the dog stopped following them. They both stopped running and finally relaxed, hoping they gave their father enough time to fight off the other dog, so now he can fight off the last one.

Icys legs where shaking and she sat down next to Cloud.

The second dog eventually ran off. He noticed they seemed a little weak, or maybe tired, from the beginning. But the last dog came up behind him from the corn. Shadowthorn was breathing heavily and he had numerous wounds and scratches covering his body. The dogs put up a fight. He wasn't sure if he could fight off this last one. But he was still going to try.

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A/N: Well, I'm glad my chapters are getting longer. I could have added more to this one, but I figured I could just stop it here. I hope everyone is enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I have many surprised in store that no one will see coming! =D

Have a nice day~