There were more kits than they had expected. Thunderstorm's tail twitched as he considered this. It would take too long to find their mothers and it might be futile to begin with. However, they couldn't let these kits go off on their own.

Windstorm seemed to realize this as well.

"We'll figure something out when we get out of the city," he mewed to Thunderstorm quietly. "But our first priority has to be to get out of here safely."

"How?" the other tom wanted to know. "We'll be easily noticed if we move in a group and I don't think the kits have the stamina to make such a long journey. It took us quite a few suns to leave the sea and cross the mountains and that was after you and Rainstorm had been traveling for a while."

Windstorm glanced back at Rainstorm. Her wound was no longer bleeding but he could tell that it was causing her pain.

"She's going to hold us up," he mewed to himself.

"We're not going to leave her behind," Thunderstorm hissed, ears flattening. Windstorm snarled at the insinuation.

"I never said that's what we're going to do," he spat and then jumped in fright as a loud noise rang around the area. Thunderstorm's nose twitched as he recognized a familiar smell of salt and he began to climb on the piles of two-legger junk. He purred when he spotted what was making the noise and then climbed down to rejoin the group.

"I think I know of a way to get to the sea without crossing the mountains," he announced.

"How?" Rainstorm asked. She had found Oakkit and was busy licking him clean with her tongue. The action took her mind off of the pain.

"There's a two-legger monster just a bit away," Thunderstorm explains. "It would have enough room for everyone and it goes to the sea regularly. There's a tom that rides in it and says that it doesn't stop for more than a night before returning. I think that it's here."

Windstorm flicked his tail, signaling for Thunderstorm to lead the way.

"Follow Thunderstorm," Lightning mewed to the kits. When they didn't move her ears twitched. "Lichen, lead the way," she ordered. "It won't hurt you."

"But he says that it'll go past the mountains," Lichen mewed. "Aren't we going back to the mountains?"

"Yes, just not right away," Lightning replied. "Now lead the way." Her companions marveled at how patient she sounded. It was a form of patience that they hadn't seen from her before.

As Thunderstorm and Windstorm herded the kits off, Lightning approached Rainstorm.

"That looks bad," she commented, gesturing to the wound.

"If I was back in the forest, I could be treated," Rainstorm said. "But I don't know the first thing about how to do so."

"Can you walk?" Lightning asked.

"I'd need help and I wouldn't be able to go fast," Rainstorm replied. "Maybe it's better if I just wait until I get better and then catch up."

Lightning's tail flicked Rainstorm's ear.

"Don't be mouse-brained," the mountain cat said. "We have a way that will cut down on the time it takes to travel and we'll help you. No one's getting left behind."

"I should have expected that someone would get hurt," Rainstorm said. "We were lucky to get this far with nothing too bad happening."

"Let's hope that luck continues," Lightning mewed. "Now let's go before this monster leaves."

Leaning against Lightning, Rainstorm managed to limp her way to the monster. Her ears slunk back when she realized that she would have to jump up to get to the others. Lightning's tail twitched as she recognized the problem as well.

"It's not that high," she mewed.

"It's high enough," Rainstorm replied. "I'll be fine staying here on my own."

"No, you won't," Thunderstorm and Lightning said at the same time. Lightning left Rainstorm over before starting to nudge a large object toward the she-cat. When it was next to the monster, Lightning looked at Rainstorm meaningfully.

"Get on it," she ordered.

"What for?" Rainstorm asked. "What'll that do?"

"It'll get you higher up and then Thunderstorm can drag you onto the monster," Lightning explained. "While I push you up. We'll make it work."

Lightning needed to use her head to push Rainstorm onto the large object but they managed. Rainstorm held back a whine of pain as Thunderstorm's teeth gripped the fur behind her neck and she tried to remain as still as possible. It took a few tries but with Lightning's help, Thunderstorm was able to tug Rainstorm onto the monster.

"Is she okay?" a voice asked. Rainstorm looked around and saw a fat tabby tom sitting with the kits.

"Who are you?" she demanded, fur beginning to rise on her spine.

"Friend of Thunderstorm's," Windstorm explained. "And she'll be fine. She just needs to rest."

"You might want to hide her from the two-legger," the strange tom said. "It doesn't mind other cats catching rides but if it sees that she's hurt, it might take her to another two-legger."

Rainstorm shivered at the possibility and hobbled to the most secluded area that she could find in the monster. Thunderstorm helped her along.

"Are you going to be okay, Rainstorm?" Oakkit asked.

"I'll be fine," the older she-cat replied, beginning to lick her paws clean. "Are you excited to be going home?"

"This place is scary," Oakkit mewed. The other kits mewed in agreement. "The older ones were so mean and they kept talking about killing for their leader."

"Hopefully they'll no longer kill again now that their leader is dead," Thunderstorm mewed. Rainstorm and Windstorm watched Lightning carefully. She had found Lichen again and was making sure that the she-kit was uninjured. That had been her first kill and so far it seemed that she didn't fully understand what had just happened.

The tabby tom mewed brightly as a light was shone into the monster. There was a deep rumbling sound before the light faded. Heartbeats later, they could feel the monster come to life.

"It's okay," Rainstorm mewed as she felt Oakkit shiver. "We'll be fine."

Thunderstorm looked at the unnamed tabby tom.

"How long do we have?" he asked. The tabby tom blinked his green eyes before replying.

"We should be there at sunrise."