A/N:
Time to reply to some dear reviewers before the next chapter begins!
swirlspot88: I'm glad you took my advice. I'm betting you're glad you did. :D And your cliffhanger horror has now come to a end!
That's all for now... I won't really reply to any comments unless you have a question, basically, or if I feel like I can put a good answer out. ;)
On with the show!
Dawn cracked open a bleary eye, looking at the blurry world through tired eyes. Why am I so tired? Why haven't Windy and the kits woken me up yet to move? And why does my side hurt so much?! Dawn attempted to sit up, but the pain that had sunk deep into her side pressed harder, forcing her down to the ground once more.
She groaned. Where's Windy? And Ice, Bird and... STORM!
Dawn forced herself up, ignoring the trickle of blood that wound it's way down her side.
"Storm!" She called weakly, gasping at the pain. Windy suddenly rushed to her side, supporting her. "Ice! Come!" Windy yowled, turning her worried gaze upon Dawn.
Ice barreled through the nearby weeds, flattening them out, skidding to a stop by the pair. "Mom! You're awake!"
Dawn's son and friend laid her gently back onto the ground, Ice pressing some cobwebs to Dawn's side.
"W-W-here's Storm?! T-Tell me!" Dawn glared half-heartedly at Windy, who sighed, lowering her head in sorrow.
"Storm... was taken... by Scourge."
Dawn instantly leaped to her feet, reopening her wound and sending blood coursing down her stained white fur. "Why aren't we going after her?!" She hissed, attempting to shove past her friend's solid body.
"We couldn't. We stayed here, taking care of you! Now, lay back down, now, and let us take care of you!" Dawn relented, collapsing to the wet earth with a thud.
"Must... find Storm... quickly!" She gasped, before fading back into the peaceful black place again. The last thing she heard was, "Poor thing. She's worn herself out with all that activity."
-Storm's P.O.V.-
I was carried for a long ways, swinging helplessly from Scourge's jaws. He bit too tightly, his thorn-sharp teeth piercing into my scruff.
Blood would occasionally drip down from my neck onto my paws.
Finally, Scourge stopped at a small, rocky cave, buried deep beneath a fallen log. He shoved me into a hole, hissing a warning to me about leaving, before he left to hunt.
I cowered in the deep, dank hole, shivering, as I imagined all the horrible things that Scourge would do to me.
Finally, I fell into a uneasy sleep, the crickets seranding me to sleep. I woke when Scourge jabbed me roughly in the side with his paw. "Get up. Eat. Then we train."
As I finished my meal, I heard a snuffling sound in the brush outside the 'den'. "Scourge?..." I whimpered, too quiet to hear.
"Scourge!" I said, loudly this time. "What!?" He snapped, looking up from his drawing in the damp earth. "There's something out there!" I squished myself back into a corner.
Scourge scoffed. "There's nothing out there! Stop being such a twoleg!"
At that moment, a pair of huge, snarling dogs burst from the underbrush, sending twigs and earth flying as they bore down on Scourge and I.
The first dog grabbed Scourge, flinging him into the air before Scourge landed on the dog's back, clawing up his head and eyes horribly.
The second dog grabbed me before I could think, shaking me back and forth before throwing me to the earth and biting me fiercely.
I shrieked, blood flowing, before I mercifully passed out. Scourge killed the first dog, then chased the second one away from his kit's corpse.
He sniffed it with disintrest before turning to go. "I always knew those kits where weak anyways."
He left, rather disgruntled that he went all that way for a kit that died before he could even train it.
Dawn carefully stood, eyeing the three large scars that where barely covered by her fur.
"Can we go after Storm now?" Bird asked, pressed up against her older brother.
"Yes! Let's go!" Dawn herded the three others down the trail toward Scourge's direction. "Oh, I think I'll save you the trouble!"
Dawn hissed angrily, fur poofing out at Scourge's voice. "What are you doing here Scourge?!" The anger in Dawn's voice was enough to kill a twoleg.
"Oh, here to collect another kit. The first one died." Scourge ignored Dawn's horrified gasp and Bird's wail. "I suppose she wasn't strong enough. The male might do however."
"Over my dead body!" Dawn hissed, placing herself in front of Windy, Ice, and Bird. "That can be arranged!" Scourge yowled, lauching down from his perch in a tree.
Dawn prepared to attack, but a grey blur launched past her, tackling Scourge. "Go!" It was Windy. "I'll hold him back! Go to the clans!" Windy yowled, dodging a blow and delivering one of her own.
"Windy! I can't leave you too!" Dawn sobbed, staring at her best friend. "Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" Windy yowled back, not seeing Scourge's paw in time as it slashed down across her face.
Dawn howled in angony of leaving ANOTHER family member behind, but she ran off anyway, her two remaining kits in tow.
Deep summer. The night birds sang, the crickets sang, and Starclan shone especially bright in the black sky.
Dawn, now gaunt and weak, led her two equally gaunt and weak kits into Thunderclan territory. They had had no food for almost a month, and were nearly dead.
In desperation, Dawn had stolen from Windclan, but had been caught. Now, she was headed for Thunderclan with her kits.
She wandered aimlessly, bumping into bushes that were in her way.
Scenting a cat, Dawn stood in front of her kits, preparing to protect them with all that she had left. A patrol came into view, bristling and hissing when they spotted her.
"Help... us." Dawn said, placing a paw foreward. Behind her, Bird collapsed. With a moan of desperation, Dawn sank down beside her daughter.
Ice bravely remaind standing, leaning back and forth as he squinted at the patrol.
"Don't just stand there! Move!" The lead cat rushed forward, picking up Bird, while another picked up Ice, and then the rest helped Dawn.
They hurried to the camp, setting the trio down in Cinderpelt's den.
Now the three were in the walls, but would they be able to stay?
A/N: Well, that's that. Sorry for the short chapter. :(
But, here's my excuse.
I'm staying up all night, writing this at 6:00 in the morning after watching Avatar, and playing two games. Three, I mean. One of them was Minecraft.
Also, I'm starving.
How's that for a excuse? :D
Sorry. :P
But anyhoo, I bet no one has ever said the above as an excuse! Whoo! I think.
Bye! 'Till next time cats!