Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.

Chapter 19

"There they are," Lani breathed, staring up at the huge, pointed and jagged rocks stretching sky-lengths before the large group of cats. Ravenstar couldn't look away. He hadn't expected them to be so big. The black tom hadn't seen anything like this in all his seasons of living.

"They're pretty dangerous, those mountains," meowed Russell as he padded up to stand next to Ravenstar. The black tom nodded. "I take it you've been there before, then?"

"Twice. I was born there, actually. When I was just a kit, my mother took me away from the mountainous area, thinking they were to dangerous for a kit. I went back there when I got older, just to look around, you know? What a mistake that was."

"Mistake?" Ravenstar questioned.

"Oh, yes." Russell then began to talk in a hushed voice that only Ravenstar could hear. "Wolves, everywhere! I even ran into a lion once, but I got away before it scented me."

"Great StarClan!" Ravenstar gasped, looking nervously at the mountains.

"I didn't mean to make you have doubts," Russell mewed apologetically. Ravenstar flicked his ears. "That's alright. No matter what, I have to get this Clan across those mountains safely and find the other Clans. That's all the matters right now."

"The Clan's seem very interesting." Russell mused quietly. Lesier's voice drifted up to the front of the group, calling for her mate.

"Later, Ravenstar," Russell meowed as he bounded towards the gray tabby. Ravenstar swallowed his fear quickly, not wanting to show his Clan that he himself was afraid. He looked back, to make sure every cat was with him, when he noticed their expressions for the first time. Lani's was one of interest, while the rest of the cats had looks of complete horror.

"You can't be serious, Ravenstar," Caddie meowed in fright, pressing Nia closer to her.

"Let go of me!" Her daughter protested, swiping her paws in all directions. Caddie whacked Nia on the forehead with her tail. "Knock it off," she scolded. Nia's ears flattened.

Sible shook away her frightened look and bounded up to Ravenstar. "When can we leave? I can't wait to get to the mountains!" Ravenstar thought that Sible had put a bit too much enthusiasm into her mew, so much so that the excitement sounded fake.

She's scared out of her fur, she's just hiding it! Ravenstar sighed at the thought, looking at his paws uncertainly. Can we really do this?

"After we hunt," Ravenstar decided, beginning to split up the group into hunting patrols. He made sure that he put Owl and Aria in a separate group, and that he put Moss with his father. He didn't want anything else terrible to happen.

After Ravenstar caught a mouse, he realized how scarce prey was becoming. "It's nearly leaf-fall," he muttered to himself. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find anything other than the single mouse. With his tail drooping, he padded back to his Clan.

"I'm sorry," he mewed guiltily, "this is all I could find."

His green eyes scanned the small clearing, and it seemed all the cats were back by now. He had been the last to return. Not every cat had a piece of prey, and they all looked nervous.

"Will there be prey in the mountains?" Misty asked in a high pitched mew.

"We can only hope," Ravenstar answered. He flicked his tail for Lani to come share his mouse with him. There wasn't enough for each cat to have one piece of prey for themselves.

"I'm not hungry," Nia mewed, staring at the prey as if it were crow-food. "Who wants my share?"

Hawk looked up hungrily from where he was sharing a pigeon with his brother, Owl. Ravenstar watched as Caddie pressed Nia to eat, although she wasn't hungry. The golden she-cat said that not only Nia, but all of the cats needed to keep their strength up if they were going to make it across the mountains.

He bent down to take a bite of the mouse, and noticed Lani hadn't taken a bite yet. Her gaze was fixed directly on the mountains. Ravenstar then remembered when he'd first met Lani, she talked as if she'd come from the mountains herself. She had seemed to know a small bit about them, and Ravenstar wondered if she'd come from the Tribe of mountain cats that Brambleclaw had told him about.

"Lani? You need to eat." He meowed softly, stepping back from the mouse, inviting Lani to have the rest. The brown she-cat sighed and nodded, reluctantly moving her eyes to look at the prey.

As soon as every cat was finished, they continued to walk nervously toward the huge, looming mountains.

XXX

The cats stopped a fox length from the rising slope. It looked slippery and unwelcoming. The huge gray cloud above them, that threatened to pour rain any moment, didn't look welcoming either. In fact, that would make their walk up to the mountain top even more hazardous.

"I'm scared," Misty whimpered, pressing into Mint's side. The small blue-gray cat stared up at the mountain with wide, frightened eyes. Yet, she still seemed determined to comfort her sister. "It'll be okay."

"Are you all ready?" Ravenstar called out. He heard uneasy murmuring spread through the group, and Kelsha called out impatiently, "Yes, could we get a move on, already? I don't suppose we'll be stopping to sleep on this slope, will we? The sooner we start climbing the sooner we'll get to the safety at the top."

Ravenstar's heart lurched. All these cats thought that they were going to be safe once they got to the top of the mountain. Only he and Russell knew the truth, and they couldn't hide that from the Clan.

"Listen, all of you," Ravenstar meowed loudly, trying to catch every cats' attention. "The top of the mountain isn't safe. Not at all. Sure, it'll be a bit more stable than this tall slope, but nothing is safe about the mountains. Oh, and don't attack every cat you may see on the way. There are cats that live in these mountains; they're a tribe. I'm sure they'll welcome us into their den for a few days if they know that we're a Clan."

Kelsha looked uncertain now, as if she wished she hadn't spoken out earlier. Ravenstar saw the worry in her eyes, as she stared at her own daughter, Precious, who was carrying kits.

Am I really about to put all of these cats through this? When three of them are expecting kits? Great StarClan, what am I doing?

"Lets go," Owl snapped, pushing to the front of the group and beginning to climb to the top of the mountain.

"Be careful!" Almost every cat meowed out after him, staring with big eyes.

"Owl and Kelsha are right, everyone, we need to get a move on." With that, Ravenstar dug his claws into the marshy ground and trudged upward. It was more of a slant than like a wall to climb, and Ravenstar was grateful for at least that much.

Suddenly, there was a huge crack of thunder, and rain started pouring down from the puffy gray cloud above them.

"Oh, for StarClan's sake!" Ravenstar hissed, and glared up at the sky. The cloud seemed to be moving quickly, and the black tom hoped that the rain would leave with it as it passed. His and all the other cats' pelts were soaked in moments.

Ravenstar heard Tally's horrified screech, and he whipped his head around to see her slipping on the rocks. There was no more soft grassy ground, it was all mountain rock now.

"Tally!" Bane gasped, lunging for his mate desperately.

"Don't let her fall!" Mint cried out, crouching low to the ground. Ravenstar breathed a sigh of relief as Bane sank his teeth into Tally's neck fur and hauled her up onto the nearest stable rock.

"Thanks," she panted, shaking out her wet fur, and then wincing. "Oh, this is just wonderful! I think I've wrenched a claw!"

Tally shook her paw, trying to relieve it from stinging so badly, and Ravenstar stared piteously at her. Everything bad seemed to happen to Tally. First, her tail was run over by a monster and broken beyond repair, and now this.

"It doesn't seem too serious," Bane meowed, looking over her claw intently.

"I'll be the judge of that," Rowena meowed, padding up to Tally, while trying to cling to the rocks with her claws. Rowena took a quick glance at Tally's paw, and then started to lick up the blood from it.

"Oh, Rowena, I could do that myself," Tally mewed embarrassedly. Rowena shook her head and meowed, "Nonsense. But, Bane was right, your injury isn't too serious. You'll just have to lean on him the rest of the way up the mountain."

Both cats nodded, and Tally delicately padded off the rocky ledge to lean into Bane. When Tally was ready to travel again, the cats set off.

By now, they'd been traveling up the mountain top for what seemed like moons, and the younger cats were starting to complain.

"Look, my kittens, we can see the top, now. We're nearly there, it's just a bit longer." Caddie mewed soothingly. Surprisingly, Ravenstar himself was reassured by Caddie's words. Sighing, he trudged onward, mud-streaked and soaked, up to the mountain top.

XXX

"We're here, finally!" Sible exclaimed, out of breath, and collapsed on the rocky ground. Lesier padded up beside her sister, panting, and lay down gratefully. Ravenstar sat down and stared up at the sky. The moon shone brightly, and the gray rain cloud was no longer in view. It had passed a while ago, leaving the cats drenched and muddy.

"Ugh! Look at my fur, it's ruined. It'll take moons to clean this filth!" Precious meowed in disgust, wrinkling her nose. Kelsha rolled her eyes, "Only you, Precious, would think of something so pointless in a time like this."

Kelsha sat down and closed her eyes. Ravenstar would have thought she was sleeping if she hadn't been panting so heavily. Each and everyone of them was on the verge of falling asleep, right in that spot. If Ravenstar didn't move now, they'd all be sleeping exposed in the mountains. It was especially dangerous for the younger cats out in the open, who would attract a hungry hawk from the sky.

Reluctantly, Ravenstar stood up and stretched out his legs. "Come on, we have to find a cave or something to sleep in tonight, we can't all sleep out here and look like easy prey for an enemy."

A few of the cats shuddered at the thought, while others just stared blankly at him. Their eyes were glazing over with exhaustion.

"Can't we just go to sleep?" Nia rasped, pressing her face into her mother's fur.

"Nia, are you alright?" Caddie asked frantically, shifting her position to examine her daughter's face. "Oh, no! Rowena, I think Nia is sick!"

If Rowena had been tired, she sure didn't show it now. She bounded towards Caddie faster than Ravenstar had ever seen her run, and stopped in front of Nia to check her over.

"It's a slight cold," Rowena was murmuring to Caddie, her face becoming grim. "But it could become serious if it's not treated soon, and I have no idea where we would find herbs up here in the mountains."

"I heard from stories that there's a cat called Stoneteller that lives with the tribe in the mountains. He's their leader and medicine cat, if I remember correctly." Ravenstar thought hard, trying to remember every bit of what Brambleclaw had told him all those moons ago. "If we can find him, he'll treat Nia for sure. He couldn't be that far away. I think we're near to finding the tribe."

"But Nia needs treatment now!" Caddie cried desperately. "We can't rely on just a thought of finding a cat, we need help now!"

"I'll be fine, Mother, I just need rest. I feel like I could sleep for a moon," Nia meowed, though her words were slurred with exhaustion. Caddie let out a low murmur and pressed Nia closer to her fur.

"It's so cold," Caddie shivered. "Can we find the cave, now, Ravenstar?"

Ravenstar nodded and began nudging the sleepy cats. "We have to find shelter."

It didn't take long to find a long-abandoned cave further into the mountain. It was muggy and warm inside, with a few piles of moss in the corners. It smelled of stale cat scent, and Ravenstar figured these cats wouldn't be back for a while, if ever.

"The young cats and Kelsha will get the nests of moss," Rowena meowed before any cat could rush to claim one of the warm, inviting nests.

"I don't need to be treated like a kit," Kelsha protested. "I can sleep on the ground and give the nest to Tally, she needs it more than I do."

"It's just my paw," Tally meowed to Kelsha. "I'll be fine."

"You're sleeping in the nest, and that's final." Kelsha growled. Tally's eyes widened and she nodded hurriedly, rushing towards the nest on the far left. Caddie pulled a nest to the far corner of the cave and Nia settled in it.

"Why can't I be near my friends?" Nia mewed, her eyes half closed.

Caddie sighed. "Because, you can't, dear. You don't want to get them sick, too, do you?"

Nia shook her head. "I guess not."

Ravenstar padded towards the corner opposite of Nia and lay down once again. He flicked his tail, motioning for Lani to sleep nearest to him, grateful for her warm fur pressed against his.

Before he fell asleep, Ravenstar sent a silent prayer to StarClan:

Bluestar, please make Nia well. She's a good cat. Always cheerful and bouncy, regardless of her past. If she dies, where will she go? StarClan? She doesn't believe yet. None of them do! Please, Bluestar, Spottedleaf, don't take Nia . . .

Wow, I actually updated quicker this time. Guess why! It's winter break, baby! (:

Anyway, what did you guys think of this chapter? I was planning on having a bit more stuff happen in it, but I'm tired of having shifty chapters, so I just left it at that. The next update should be in a couple days, so don't worry about me not updating for, like, another month.

GASP! Will they find help in time for Nia, or is she doomed? D:

Thanks to all who read and review!

xRyu