Chapter 8
Cedarpaw felt dazed, his heart racing. He looked over, seeing Scratch and Acornfrost by Nightkit.
The little black she-kit coughed, her pelt more smoky than before. Scratch bent down to lick her, but Acornfrost stopped her. "Don't lick her. You'll get sick if you eat the smoke," Acornfrost looked around. "We need to get rid of it as soon as possible."
The amber she-cat looked over to where the Thunderpath starts, and she was delighted to see some leftover ran from last sunrise. "Here," she mewed, scooting Nightkit over to the puddle. "wash off in this."
Cedarpaw, Dustkit, and Snowkit walked over to where she was bathing. The soot was quickly washing off her, leaving spots of black in the water.
"She'll be fine," Acornfrost declared, but then looked down at Nightkit. "Did you lick off any of it?"
"No," the she-kit replied. "I was too scared to."
"Good, now, finish up, for we have to get moving again." Pondstar shouldered over some warriors who were watching.
A few moments later, Nightkit hopped out of the water, and shook off her pelt. Besides the soot and a few scrapes, she was barely hurt; the big black paws of the monster didn't crush her.
"Shall we continue on?" Pondstar's tail flicked in annoyance. "Yep, I'm ready," Nightkit trotted over to her mother.
Pondstar led the Clan farther, leaving Cedarpaw concerned at how indifferent Pondstar was about Nightkit nearly getting killed. What would he do if she actually did get killed?
The gray leader led his Clan in front of another huge Twolegplace. Cedarpaw had again noticed how much his stomach was growling.
When are we going to eat again?
A large white bird flew overhead of them.
"Bird!" Sedgespots yowled, and a few warriors and queens instantly hid the kits under them.
The white bird swooped down, Firetail launching himself at it, digging his claws into it. The bird screeched as it was pulled down to the ground, violently flapping its wings. Firetail bit the back of its throat, and the bird instantly went limp. "Fresh-kill," he mewed, and ripples of purrs and praise spread throughout the Clan.
Cedarpaw raced over to it, biting off some of it as Cherryfur, Darksky, Flintpool, and Silverpetal joined. Only Echotail is missing, Cedarpaw thought.
When his belly was full, the rest of the Clan got to take at least one bite of it.
After Ivysong buried it, the Clan continued onwards.
They came across another Thunderpath, leading two ways. Pondstar looked to the left of them, where there were plenty of trees and undergrowth. "There might be some prey scuffling around in there," he stated.
Leafheart scowled at him. "We just ate, and it's too early to settle here, even for today; not to mention too dangerous."
Cedarpaw heard her whisper, "Blind leader,"
"But we still need to cross the Thunderpath," he hissed. "you're stalling us more than Nightkit had."
Scratch hissed, and Cedarpaw could clearly see her trying hard to not lunge at him.
"You were the one who led us to this Thunderpath," the queen hissed between her teeth. Pondstar looked at her with a challenged look. "Then lead us back to camp, where you abandoned us,"
Dewmist leaped in front of her to prevent her from hurting Pondstar. Leafheart hissed. "I'd be a much better leader than you'd ever be,"
Leafpaw turned to Cedarpaw. "Do you think that?" Cedarpaw looked down at the ground. "In some ways, yes,"
Pondstar flicked his tail over Leafheart's mouth, and listened for a monster. There was one approaching, but it stopped, a few others behind it.
"Let's get it over with," Pondstar yowled and raced across, the monster not even trying to catch him.
The Clan sped after him, Aspenkit looking back as she ran. "What's the matter, too lazy to kill us?" Cedarpaw quickly hushed her.
After they crossed Pondstar signaled for them to keep going.
The Clan jumped over another fence, landing on more short-cut grass. They moved slightly to the left, now walking on a twoleg path, leading to another Thunderpath.
They again darted across. Cedarpaw was confused. There wasn't any monsters active, even though they were a few moments ago.
They came across another huge Thunderpath, multiple monsters dotting it. Cedarpaw shifted. He didn't feel comfortable around so many monsters.
His Clanmates seemed to agree with him, besides Pondstar.
"We're not crossing another Thunderpath. We needed to run across the other ones to get to the other side, but this is just a bit pathetic."
As Pondstar was rambling, Cedarpaw's neck fur bristled, suddenly realizing why he and his Clanmates were so troubled.
He heard barking, getting closer every heartbeat.
Dogs.