God, I have not been on the roll when it comes to updating. I'm trying, I promise!

CHAPTER 13

"Run!" Dawnpaw screeched. Thrushpaw turned and darted out between two of the dogs with Sedgepaw and Beetlepaw close at her heels. Her heart racing, she headed toward the Thunderpath. She could hear a dog's jaws snapping and heavy paws thudding against the grass. Thrushpaw smelled fear coming off of the two cats scampering behind her. She gave a yowl of terror and ran faster than she felt her legs could carry her.

"There's a Twoleg den!" Sedgepaw gasped. "Maybe the dogs belong to them! We could run past them and maybe they'll wake up and call the dogs back in!"

"It's worth a try!" Thrushpaw agreed, praying to StarClan that the plan would work. She let out another yowl and led the cats toward the Twoleg den. She glanced at the hole in the wall that seemed to lead to the inside of the den. Please, hear us!

Beetlepaw and Sedgepaw shrieked and yowled behind her, which only made the thick, golden-furred dog bark even louder. Dust sprayed from the cats' paws, and Thrushpaw's claws tore at the grass as she raced for her life.

Suddenly, the barking stopped, only to be ebbed into whimpers of protest. Thrushpaw halted and turned, gasping for breath. A Twoleg in a long piece of pink cloth had grabbed the golden-furred dog by the collar and was now dragging it toward the den.

"Yes!" Beetlepaw panted. Thrushpaw glanced at Sedgepaw. "Great idea, Sedgepaw." The pale gray tom ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Let's find the others." Thrushpaw felt pangs of fear for her brother and sister. Were they being torn apart this very heartbeat? She began to run in the way the cats had come from. She could still hear howling and wailing. "They're being attacked!" she gasped. She dashed as fast as she could toward the yowling.

"There they are!" Thrushpaw could see Lightpaw, Thistlepaw, Petalpaw, and Stonepaw huddled in a small bundle. In front of them was a snarling black and white dog. It looked even more vicious than the one that had chased Thrushpaw.

"Thistlepaw!" Sedgepaw whimpered. Suddenly, he gathered up his haunches and pounced, claws outstretched, onto the dog's back. It gave a bark of surprise and anger, and turned wildly, trying to snap its jaws at the cat on its back. Thrushpaw and Beetlepaw darted forward between the dog and the terrified apprentices, and yowled, "Go! Run!"

Thrushpaw waited for all the apprentices to dash past her, but Thistlepaw seemed to be preparing to leap onto the dog. "Thistlepaw!" Sedgepaw gasped as he battered at the dog's ears with his front claws. "No! Run!"

"No way! You're my brother!" Thistlepaw sprang at the dog's legs, its jaws just barely missing her long, thin tail. She weaved between its clumsy paws, trying to trip it. The plan worked. The dog fell to the ground, its ears raked with long claw marks but not bleeding, and whimpered. Thrushpaw turned and followed Thistlepaw and Sedgepaw quickly and blindly through the darkness. The cats stopped at the base of a tree, gasping and panting, their fur sticking out in every which way.

"What about the others?" Stonepaw asked. "Where have they gone?"

"We're here." An exasperated voice interrupted the cats' thoughts. Dawnpaw and Ashenpaw stood before the cats. They both looked tired and weary, their eyes dull but wide in alarm.

"Is any cat missing?" Dawnpaw asked, panting. The apprentices glanced around. "Grasspaw!" Petalpaw suddenly squealed. It was the first time Thrushpaw heard Petalpaw's voice.

"Where could he be?" Beetlepaw's voice shook with fear for his brother. Thrushpaw imagined the young black and white tomcat being torn apart by a huge black dog. "I'm sure he's fine." Thrushpaw wasn't convinced by her own words, though.

"We've got to look for him!" Thistlepaw meowed. "But we can't split up. We can't afford loosing another cat."

"You're right," Dawnpaw agreed. "We need to stay together. And be quiet, in case the dogs hear us and come back." The nine cats began hurrying through the long grasses, passing the occasional tree, until Beetlepaw exclaimed, "Petalpaw scents something!"

"What is it?" Dawnpaw rushed over to the small white she-cat. Petalpaw lifted her head. "Grasspaw was here!"

"Follow the scent, Petalpaw!" Beetlepaw urged. Petalpaw lowered her muzzle to the ground, inhaling deeply, and began to pad past a group of undergrowth. She led them into the brush a couple times, weaving in and out of them, but finally she stopped.

"What's wrong?" Beetlepaw asked.

"It's gone." Petalpaw stared sadly at her paws. "The scent is gone."

"No!" Beetlepaw whimpered. "It can't be! Grasspaw couldn't just disappear!" His dark blue eyes were wide and filled with desperation and sorrow. "Keep trying to scent him!"

Petalpaw began padding in a circle, sniffing everything in sight (which was just the few bushes and a tree), but didn't scent anything. "He's gone."

Thrushpaw sighed. Great. It was just the beginning of their journey and one cat was gone. How long would it be before she was gone? Or Lightpaw or Ashenpaw? She shuddered and tried to imagine the thought of one of her siblings missing, not knowing where they were and never seeing them again. Living with the burden that they were most likely dead.

"Let's keep going," Stonepaw meowed. "We'll probably find him in a little bit. We need to get away from any place the dogs could still be."

--

"I still have a bad feeling about this." A white she-cat with black-spotted fur sat beside a tortoiseshell she-cat, her tail-tip flicking restlessly. Her bright pink nose twitched in anxiety. "Do you think Crookedstar made a right choice choosing these apprentices, Dapplepelt?"

The tortoiseshell she-cat sighed. "He wouldn't choose such young and immature cats for no reason, would he?"

"I still don't understand why. I mean, why couldn't he pick Sneezepaw or Mallowpaw? The chosen cats just became apprentices, what, a half a moon ago? I don't understand why…"

"He must've had a reason to pick them." Dapplepelt looked only half-confident in what she was saying, as if she were assuring herself rather than her friend. "There must be a reason. Hopefully, the RiverClan apprentices will prove that soon."

Wow, actually a cliffie for once! –grins-

xx-Starfall-xx