Chapter Twenty-four
That night, Darkstar made his way to the exit out of camp, only to find that Brighttalon, Snaketail, Wolffang, and Tornadoclaw were waiting in front of it. Snaketail and Tornadoclaw were arguing.
"I am going to go help fetch her!" Tornadoclaw insisted.
"We can't risk you getting caught also, you can't run as fast now that you're pregnant."
"Everyone that goes runs the risk of getting caught, including our leader, deputy, and medicine cat! And I'm not so slow yet as to be unable to outrun a human."
"Neither of you are going." Darkstar interrupted. Both she-cats turned to look at him, objections ready. "I said when the patrol came back earlier today that I'm the only one going to get her." That started a flood of complaints.
"She's my mate!"
"You'll need someone to watch your back."
"I'm not leaving my person behind."
"I, too, object to the idea of sitting back and doing nothing."
Darkstar waited until they all quieted down, then spoke again.
"Right, some of you have valid points. Brighttalon, Wolffang, you're with me. Snaketail, Tornadoclaw, go back to your nests." Snaketail and Tornadoclaw opened their mouths as though to continue arguing. "Enough! I made up my mind. You two stay. You two come with me. I will bring Silverfire home safely."
Before either of them could speak, Darkstar ran through the tunnel, followed by Brighttalon and Wolffang. The three of them ran hard until they reached the place where Snowlion had waited until Crimsonclaw came to relieve her.
"They're still here?" Darkstar asked.
"Yeah," Crimsonclaw responded. "The tent just recently went dark."
"Okay, thanks. Have you seen any sign of Silverfire?"
"I heard her voice earlier but no, they haven't let her out." Darkstar nodded in grim acknowledgement and led his patrol forward slowly until they were on the edge of the woods. Crimsonclaw tagged along with them.
"Brighttalon, I want you, Crimsonclaw, and Wolffang to wait here. If I'm caught I'll give a yowl. If that happens, send Crimsonclaw first. Of you three, he's the least likely to be noticed." Brighttalon nodded and Darkstar moved forward alone. He approached the tent cautiously, surprised at how strong human-scent was. Once he got to it, he tapped gently at the walls, trying to find a place where he could slip underneath. Unfortunately, the tent was built with the walls attached to the floor except where the zippered door was. Darkstar looked at the zipper and was relieved to find the it closed top-to-bottom. Darkstar grabbed the zipper in his teeth and, using his paw the hold the plastic taut, unzipped a small opening. With his paws and nose, Darkstar pushed the opening bigger until he could slip in. Sniffing at the air, Darkstar soon located Silverfire. She was inside a cardboard box with folded clothes strewn around it.
"Silverfire!" Darkstar hissed quietly. There was no response. Darkstar tried again, slightly louder, and there were muffled groans from inside. Darkstar tried one more time and Silverfire finally replied.
"Who's there?"
"It's Darkstar. Can you push the box over?"
"I tried, there's something in the way." Darkstar looked around at the clothes. He hadn't paid them much mind before but now he noticed that they were stacked around the box in such a way as to prevent it tipping over.
"Okay, I'll try to move the obstruction. When I give the word, jump at the wall on your left."
"'Kay." Darkstar immediately went to pushing at the clothes on his right, tossing or shoving the away from the side of the box. After doing this for a short while, he realized that he wouldn't be able to get enough done in time.
"I'm going to need help." Darkstar informed Silverfire. "I've got cats waiting outside so I'll be right back."
"Alright." Darkstar ran back out of the camp and to where the patrol was waiting. However, when he got there, the three other cats were snarling at a gray fox that had just arrived. Darkstar joined them in threatening it, hoping that the fox would decide that four strong cats weren't worth messing with. Then the fox did something unexpected.
"You need not worry any." The vixen insisted in an odd accent. She sounded somewhat upset that they would be scared of her. "Your friend is imprisoned, correct? I can help."
"Why would you help?" Darkstar asked, stepping forward cautiously.
"Your friend is one of multiple imprisoned by the furless ones." The vixen's growl was closer to what Darkstar had expected in the first place. "For my help I would request assistance in trade."
"I need to talk this over with my clanmates." Darkstar said. The vixen nodded and sat back. Darkstar turned around, trusting his friends would watch his back.
"What do you think?" He asked them.
"I don't trust her." Crimsonclaw warned.
"I'm not sure I do either." Brighttalon agreed. "But-"
"But she could help!" Wolffang interrupted. "If she's willing to help, let her! We need to save Silverfire!"
"We will get Silverfire." Darkstar promised. "With or without her help."
"Actually, I agree with Wolffang. I don't trust her but we could use her help, and we can take as many cats with us as we feel necessary when we go to help her."
"Alright then, let's do it." Darkstar turned back to the vixen. "We'll accept your help and we will help you later but we'd like to get the chance to fetch more of our clanmates before we help you."
"Agreed, that is audibly just. But your friend must be retrieved tonight. These furless ones only ever stay a short time at suntime dens like this."
Darkstar nodded and led the group to the tent, where the zipper was still open enough to admit a cat. The gray fox, whom was only barely bigger than a cat, fit easily enough.
"We need to move the clothes away from this side of the box." Darkstar whispered, already scraping at the cloth. The other cats joined in with their paws while the vixen grabbed bundles of fabric in her teeth and tossed them aside with sharp jerks of her head. With all of them working together, they finished just as the earliest birds began singing dawn.
"Silverfire?" Darkstar asked.
"Do I jump yet?" Silverfire replied. Darkstar waved his tail at the others and they moved out of the way.
"Yeah." The box tilted to the right but corrected itself.
"Try again." Darkstar suggested. The box tilted again and this time Wolffang jumped forward and sank his claws into the top, pulling it over. Silverfire tumbled out.
"You okay?" Wolffang asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's-" Silverfire stopped when she saw the vixen and bristled up.
"Relax." Darkstar soothed, stepping in between Silverfire and the vixen. "She helped us."
Silverfire blinked doubtfully at the vixen but did calm down. They all jumped as one of the twolegs turned over suddenly and mumbled something. Darkstar led the way out of the tent and to the relative safety of the woods.
"Will you retrieve allies and reconvene at this location?" The vixen asked.
"Yes." Darkstar promised. "We'll return as soon as we can." The vixen didn't answer verbally but sat down and curled her tail around her paws. Darkstar signaled to the other cats and they ran back to camp as fast as they could.
"Right, Silverfire, I want you to check in with Snaketail, send her to me, then get some rest. Wolffang, send me Wildear and Sandpelt, then you do the same." The two warriors nodded and went to the separate dens. "Crimsonclaw, I want you to come with me to help the vixen." Crimsonclaw frowned but nodded. "And Brighttalon, I dunno how long we'll be gone, so you're in charge until we get back." Brighttalon nodded solemnly.
"Take care." Brighttalon suggested. "I don't particularly feel like being leader yet, what with all it entails."
"I'm always careful." Darkstar insisted with a smile. Then the cats Darkstar had sent for arrived.
"What'd ya need?" Sandpelt asked, still tired.
"While we were fetching Silverfire, a female gray fox asked for our help in return for hers. I agreed to give her help but I wanted to bring some other cats with me in case this is a trick. Would you all come with me?"
"I'll come." Wildear volunteered eagerly.
"Yeah, I will too." Sandpelt agreed.
"I'd love too," Snaketail replied after some hesitation. "But I really should keep an eye on Silverfire. Her left hind ankle is sprained and running on it did her no favors. Could Nightpaw go in my place?"
"I'm reluctant to bring an apprentice, but alright. If you'll take care of Shadowlion too. She's special to me and I want to know she's safe."
"I'll keep an eye on her." Snaketail promised with a smile. Then she returned to her den and Nightpaw emerged soon afterward.
"Snaketail explained." Nightpaw said as she approached. "So we're going to help a fox, how different." Darkstar nodded, looked at each member of his patrol, then turned and led them back to where the vixen was waiting in the pre-dawn light.
"You have returned." She sounded happily surprised.
"I promised I would." Darkstar responded.
"Please come." The vixen trotted quickly back the way the cats had just come.
"Where are we going?" Darkstar asked, catching up.
"To the furless ones' snowtime den, where they keep their prisoners." Before long they were swimming across the river but they passed the camp without the vixen even seeming to notice it. By the time the sun peeked over the horizon, they were just on the outskirts of the city. The vixen glanced warily at the sun, shook herself, then turned to address the cats.
"My kind do not regularly venture out in sunlight but I must overcome difficulties as you are so kindly doing. And now I think, I must explain. I am called Moon and my female sibling was caught in a death-trap last moon-cycle, leaving her kits unmothered. I came to retrieve and raise the young but as I arrived at their suntime den I saw the furless ones capture the last of the kits in a live-trap. I followed the furless ones as they returned to their snowtime den, but gray foxes are neither daylight creatures nor creatures of furless ones' dwellings. I needed the help of creatures of the dens of furless ones but those small enough to not chase me away fled. So instead I followed the furless one who imprisoned my kits until I saw the furless one's kits imprison your friend. Accompanied by this knowledge, will you still help me?"
"Of course." Darkstar replied without hesitation. "I promised you we would. Just show us which house." Moon smiled in relief, showing several sharp teeth, the turned and loped along the edge of the woods for a while. She stopped in front of a blue house.
"The snowtime den of the furless one's troop is the color of kit-milk when it is spilled and a quarter turn of the moon old. It is one and a half paws worth of claw-sheaths of snowtime dens past this one. It has a large live-trap on the far side of the den from the leaving-point. ...Am I expected to accompany you?" Moon seemed scared.
"What do you guys think?" Darkstar asked the other cats.
"I don't want to stick my neck out for a fox who's too scared to stick her own neck out." Crimsonclaw objected.
"Well gray foxes are nocturnal." Nightpaw argued. "We shouldn't force her to come into a place gray foxes avoid at a time that she would usually be asleep!"
"They're her cubs." Wildear said bluntly. "Well, almost."
"I think bringing her along would slow us up." Sandpelt commented.
"How do we even know the fox kits would come with us. They don't know us." Crimsonclaw pointed out.
"That's true, we don't." Darkstar agreed. "Alright, sorry Moon but it seems you will need to come with us.
"Your arguments are audibly just." Moon acknowledged with a reluctant nod. "I will accompany you." Together, the six of them made their way into the twoleg-place.
"So, how many houses do we need to pass?" Crimsonclaw asked.
"One and a half paws worth of claw-sheaths of snowtime dens past the first one." Moon responded without looking back at him. Crimsonclaw sighed, annoyed at Moon's odd words.
"So, how many houses do we need to pass?" Crimsonclaw repeated.
"Six houses after the first one." Nightpaw snapped. "We've already passed two." They walked in silence for a little longer, Moon jumping at every noise from the twoleg nests. At the fourth house they passed, a male twoleg came out, holding a large, full, black plastic bag. All of the cats tensed but Moon went streaking back the way they came, towards the trees. Darkstar immediately gave chase and the others followed his example. They caught up to Moon when she was already halfway up a tree.
"Come down." Darkstar yowled at her. Moon looked down at them, then cautiously climbed back down.
"My apologies for the flight. The furless one caused me fear."
"It's fine. The twoleg is back in his nest now so the way should be clear." Moon nodded and they recommenced their journey. Moon still fell behind after a while and Sandpelt used the opportunity to speak to Darkstar out of the fox's hearing range.
"How, exactly, do you know that the twoleg is back in his nest? He was still out when we left."
"He was just taking out the garbage. I'd be very surprised if he was still outside. 'Specially on a rainy morning like this." Sandpelt nodded, appeased, and they continued walking in silence. They reached the intended house before much longer. As Moon had said, there was a large wire enclosure in the back yard. A pile of soft, brindled gray fur was visible in the far corner. Moon, seeing this, threw caution to the wind and ran to the corner where the kits were huddled together. She emitted a few high-pitched yips and the kits, waking, responded in kind. They continued yipping at each other for some time until Moon finally came back to where the cats were waiting.
"My female sibling's kits report that the furless ones carried them in the live-trap to this snowtime den and acted strangely to Wind's leg, which held traces of a badgerbite from before the capture. As Wind said, the badgerbite stopped paining him a half turn of the moon after the furless ones acted strangely to it. After the badgerbite ceased to pain, all four of my female sibling's kits were placed in the live-trap. A furless one has given killed-prey to the kits each tonight. But they remain imprisoned in this live-trap."
"We'll look at the door to the cage and see what we can do." Darkstar replied. Darkstar led the others to the cage door and examined the latch carefully. The mechanism seemed fairly simple and would be no problem for human hands. It was one of those latches that is a strip of metal with a slit in it. The slit goes into place around another piece of metal that has a hole in it for a proper lock. In this case there was no lock, instead there was a piece of wire wrapped through the hole and around the metal of the cage that was nearest the latch.
"If you hold there," Sandpelt commented, poking the wire with a paw. "And I pull here, we could get the wire away from the bar and around this one."
Darkstar and Sandpelt tried out Sandpelt's suggestion and it worked well. The two of them continued working at the wire until it finally came away from the latch with a quiet springing noise. Darkstar tossed it aside and pawed at the latch.
"My paws are too big." Darkstar hissed as he failed yet again at working his paw under the latch.
"Let me try." Nightpaw said, stepping forward. Darkstar looked her over, then nodded and stepped back.
Nightpaw tried several times before finally managing to get her claws underneath it.
"It's stiff." She groaned, pulling it a little ways away from the cage. Wildear darted forward and worked her paw into the gap Nightpaw had made. Together they were able to pull it a little farther and suddenly, it sprang upwards and was unlatched. Crimsonclaw, Sandpelt, and Darkstar pulled the door open and held it up as Moon climbed in and rounded up the kits. However, before they could get back out, the back door to the house slammed open, startling everyone present. The twoleg who opened it gave a wordless shout and ran towards the group, waving her arms.
"Wildear, Nightpaw, Crimsonclaw, distract them. We can hold the door." Darkstar instructed. The three cats he named ran at the twoleg, hissing and spitting. The twoleg tried kicking at Wildear but she jumped out of the way and Crimsonclaw got his claws into the twoleg's ankle. Darkstar stopped watching the fight to check on Moon and was glad he did.
"Move!" Darkstar snarled at her when he saw that she and the kits were crouched, frozen in fear.
"Can you hold this for a moment by yourself?" Sandpelt asked.
"I think so." Darkstar replied, adjusting the way the door fell across his shoulders. Sandpelt leapt into the cage and slid in behind the foxes. He bit deep into Moon's tail until she broke out of her fear and turned on him.
"Run!" Sandpelt hissed. "Take the kits and flee!" Moon finally processed what he was saying and picked up one of the kits and dropped it next to Darkstar before going back for the next one. Sandpelt also picked one up and dropped it with its siblings before helping Darkstar hold the door open. Once Moon and all four kits were a safe distance from the door, Sandpelt and Darkstar dropped it and ran to defend her. While they were doing this, the twoleg dropped her coat on Crimsonclaw and, ignoring the other two cats as they struggled to reclaim her attention, ran towards the foxes.
"Keep moving them to the forest." Darkstar yowled at Moon as he and Sandpelt went to head off the twoleg. Wildear and Nightpaw dragged the heavy coat off Crimsonclaw and the three of them joined in the attack. Eventually the twoleg ran back to the nest, her legs bleeding. The cats fled the yard and ran back in the direction of the forest. Once there they found Moon crouched in a hollow under a fern plant with the kits.
"How are they?" Darkstar asked.
"The kits are full of health, but they are possessed of a tiredness suiting to the sun-height."
"I don't think they're safe this close to the twoleg-place. Twolegs like the one that came out don't like to give up on taking care of wild animals that easily. You can bring them to our camp if you'd like."
"The offer of hospitality is severely appreciated. We will accept. I am uncertain that my female sibling's kits can complete that journey though."
"We can help carry them."
"My appreciation is very severe." So saying, Moon picked one of the kits up and left the hollow. Darkstar ducked in and grabbed the next. Sandpelt and Wildear moved forward to grasp the remaining two. Crimsonclaw led the way to camp with the cats holding fox kits surrounding Moon as they followed him and Nightpaw followed behind to offer her help if any of the kit-holders grew weary.