"Where?" Flame's voice was tense as he questioned the two warriors, and Jay couldn't help but visualise him, fists clenched, eyes wild with feral light. Spider took another gasping breath.
"By the Sky oak." He eventually reported. Jay whipped his head around as he heard the sound of a gate slamming, and the anxious voice of Bramble entered the scene.
"What's going on?" he asked, and Flame informed the deputy of the happenings.
"Thorn and Spider found City-dwellers by the Sky oak." The two warriors nodded furiously.
"They parked their vehicle by the tree and started putting up these flapping green dens." Thorn added.
"What harm can a couple of stupid City-dwellers do?" questioned the boy as he heard the anxiety in the warrior's voices.
"They'll scare away all the animals! They go stomping around, thinking it's alright to just throw their litter around and shout all they want because they get all their food out of packets!" Muttered Holly through gritted teeth, the words hissing and harsh. By now, most of the clan members had heard the news, and had gathered in the garden, calling out opinions and murmuring anxiously amongst themselves.
"We can't just let City-dwellers overrun the forest! We'll have no food!" Fern shouted out, worry clear in her voice.
"We must drive them out!" Called out Bramble, and cheers of agreement rose into the frosty air, rousing clan-cries, designed to raise the spirits.
"Bramble is right. They mustn't settle in the territory!" More cheers. This time, Jay joined in, lifting his stick into the air to make his presence known.
"Bramble, organise a patrol to talk to the City-dwellers. If they refuse, you all have your weapons." Flame gave his orders, and Jay listened intently as the deputy began to round up clanmates to join the patrol.
"Can we go?" Jay heard the voices of Mouse and Poppy, and felt excitement snap inside of him as Bramble agreed.
If apprentices can go, then maybe we can! Hearing footsteps thunder away, Jay felt his hands itch in frustration.
I may be small, but I can fight! Suddenly, Lion, voicing his brother's thoughts, spoke up.
"We're not getting left behind! Bramble!"
"What?" The deputy's voice was snappy and impatient, but Lion was unfazed, and stated loudly;
"We want to help!" He exclaimed.
"We're almost apprentices!" Bramble's reply was sharp and scorning.
"Nearly isn't enough!" Lion gave a small, sad sigh, and three's father's voice softened.
"How about you guard the camp? We don't want the City-dwellers coming near the house." The brown-eyed boy seemed convinced and bounced back over to his siblings with a spring in his step.
"Bramble wants us to guard the house!" He announced proudly. At that news, Jay snorted mockingly.
"You never learn, do you?! 'Guard the camp' is basically Bramble telling us to stop getting under his feet!" Jay heard a heavy bump, and guessed that his brother had slumped to the ground.
"I thought he wanted us to help…" He pouted, a childishly disappointed tone to his voice.
"Well, you never know! They might come close to the house! We could alert everyone and chase them off!" Jay moaned dramatically at Holly's statement.
"You're just as bad as Bramble!" He snapped harshly.
"Stop trying to pretend that we're useful to the clan when we're not!" Holly let out an irritated breath and folded her arms, tossing her raven hair over her shoulder.
"We will be important someday, though." She vowed, and Lion suddenly sprung to his feet, voice filled with excitement.
"We'll be important today!" He declared, word brimming with determination.
"We'll go and chase the City-dwellers off the territory ourselves!" Holly gasped, horrified.
"We couldn't! We'd be breaking the code in so many ways!" Lion laughed.
"How?! It's for the good of the clan, and if that's against the code, I'm a rabbit!" Holly still seemed uncertain, so Jay called out his own idea.
"Anyway, we're not even apprentices yet, never mind warriors! We don't have to follow the code just yet!" Holly gave a chuckle.
"I'm convinced!" Her two brothers grinned widely, and threw their arms around her shoulders.
"There's my sister!" Laughed Lion, pulling gently on her hair, whilst Jay smiled at her indignant exclamation.
"Anyway, I say we sneak into the house, grab something out of the weapons cupboard, then we go out the back way into the forest." Jay stated his plan, and Holly nodded.
"Sounds good. Weapons?" Jay smirked and walked towards the house, stick extended in front of him. He ducked into the doorway, and headed towards the cupboard under the stairs, and threw open the doors, chuckling at the awed gasps from his siblings. Reaching in, he skimmed his fingers over the blades of daggers, before deciding on a suitable one and snatching it up and slotting it into his pocket. He waited until his siblings had made their choice of weapon, and began to creep towards the back of the house, running out of the door, along the fence, then, using his stick, vaulting himself over the wood. Hearing a thud, he grinned.
"Now what?" Questioned Lion, glancing around. Trees bent over branches spreading out like fingers in a lattice across the sky, and the air was thick with the silence of winter.
"We should stay away from the main paths, so nobody sees us." Jay raised one eyebrow at Holly's suggestion.
"That would help if we knew where the main paths were."
"We follow the least down-trodden ways." Inputted Lion, and Jay nodded, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration as he swept his stick in a wide arc in front of him.
"That way." He stated simply, pointing in the direction where the undergrowth was thicker.
"How do we know that it leads to the sky oak, though?" Jay smirked.
"The oak is near the lake, and the air is cooler in the direction of the water." He informed, and his siblings seemed impressed. Giving a light tilt of his head, he signalled for them to move.
oOo
"Stupid brambles!" Exclaimed Holly, pulling a thorny tendril from her hair.
"This had better be the right way, Jay!" The raven-haired girl threatened, and Jay scowled, Hacking and the thorns around his feet with his stick. Suddenly, Lion, who was walking ahead, let out a gasp.
"Guys, I can see it!" Jay looked up sharply.
"Where?" he demanded, and then waited, but nothing happened.
"If you're pointing at it, I'm blind, in case you haven't noticed." Lion looked guilty, and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, directing him so he was facing the tree. Holly stood up on her tiptoes and peered around, then gave an excited exclamation.
"I can see the vehicle!" Lion also strained upwards, and laughed.
"Me too! Jay, it's huge! It's big and black, and the City-dwellers are sitting near it." Jay grinned.
"Great! Can one of you go ahead and see if there is a way to get to it?" Holly opened her mouth to speak, but lion interrupted.
"I'll go. Holly, I can run faster than you at the minute." He gestured towards his sisters legs, which were cut by the brambles, then motioned towards his own, which were protected by his jeans. Holly nodded, slightly regretfully, and Lion raced away, his heavy footsteps ringing in Jay's ears. Listening closely, Jay narrowed his eyes at the sound of something coming from the vehicle. It was a loud, angry noise, with a thrumming beat that agitated his ears. Clamping his hands over them, he turned to Holly.
"Can you hear that?" He asked, and Holly nodded.
"It's some weird City-dweller music. Berry brought some back from the City and let me listen to it." Jay gave her an agitated scowl at the mention of the arrogant teenager.
"I didn't like it, obviously." Snorted Holly, and Jay laughed, but spun around as Lion emerged, panting, through the trees.
"There's these thick bushes all around. I can't get under them, I'm not small enough." Jay narrowed his eyes again in thought.
"I'm the smallest out of you three. I'll go, get their attention, and lead them into the trees." The boy scowled as there was silence.
"You think I can't do it, don't you?!" He raised his voice, hand flying to the pocket where his dagger was.
"No! It's just… how will you get their attention?" Jay knew that Holly was merely trying to cover her mistake, so snapped back a quick reply and darted away before any of them could stop him. Using his stick to slice away any brambles, he ran towards the music, flattening himself on the ground and slithering forwards on his stomach, chin brushing the ground as he wriggled into place under the bush. He could hear the sounds of raucous laughter from the City-dwellers, and vowed darkly to stop their enjoyment. Searching the ground with his fingers, he grinned as they brushed against a thick, short twig, fallen from the bush. Training his aim on the direction of the music, and hurled the twig. He cursed under his breath as it bounced off the side of the vehicle, clattering uselessly to the ground. Searching again, his hand closed around something cold and heavy. A rock. Aiming upwards this time, Jay pulled back his arm forcefully and let the rock fly. He grinned as there was the satisfying sound of splintering glass, and the music cut off abruptly. The City-dwellers leapt up, yelling amongst themselves. Jay heard Lion snort as one of them, with a deep, rough voice, started swearing loudly, stamping around on the ground. Jay also let out a chuckle, then froze as his sibling's amusement faded.
"Jay, move back. Slowly." Holly's voice hissed somewhere behind him, and he widened his eyes in shock.
He had been seen.
Grabbing his stick and whipping out his dagger, Jay scrambled out from under the bush, and screamed as the rough-voiced City-dweller let out a shout and footsteps thudded towards him. Turning on his heel, Jay raced off into the trees, breath rasping fearfully in his throat, heart jumping every time his foot snagged on a tree root or bramble. A hand suddenly grasped his arm, and he lashed out blindly with the dagger, gasping in dismay as it clattered from his grasp. Suddenly, the city-dweller gave a grunt, and let go of his captive, and Jay heard Lion shout out.
"RUN! Run, Jay!" Heeding his sibling's advice, the boy gathered his stick close to him and raced away, but the footsteps thrumming in the ground persisted. Suddenly, he heard voices.
Camp!
The word was magical in his mind, and he shouldered open the gate, Ash letting out a shocked exclamation as he stumbled into the garden, a City-dweller hot on his heels. The man wasn't giving up, and snatched out at the boy he was chasing, but Jay was ready this time, and slapped him over the wrist with his stick, however, in doing so, he stumbled, tripped, and backed up against the wall. Heart fluttering, Jay grasped out, closing his hands over the drainpipe, and hauling himself upwards, stick pressed close to his chest. The angry shouts of warriors could be heard below him, but he continued, arms aching, breath heavy and rasping. The wind whistled past his ears, hair fluttering in the icy breeze, and, despite being unable to see the ground disappearing below him, he was petrified, Suddenly, a splintering scream rose in his throat as the pipe gave a vicious sway and broke away from the wall. Air rushing around him, arms flailing, grasping for branches that weren't there, a few, panicked words flashed through his mind.
I'm going to die!
That was the last thing that flashed across his vision before pain exploded inside him and he smashed into the ground, his mind slipping into blissful unconsciousness…
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