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Chapter 14: Mouth in the Earth

"What?"
A cats screech cut through the night air.
"They escaped?"

A trembling voice.
"Y-yes m-m'lord. T-twas all chaos. There were so many cats…" his voice trailed off weakly.

The cat screech again, followed by a cry of pain and a hollow thump. A two-leg yelled, and the screech quieted.

Two cats slipped from the shadows of an alley, an old black tom and a younger ginger and white tom.

"Dogheart" the black cat snarled, "throw that cat to the Beast, before he wakes up and puts up a fight. If he does, tell him I warned him."

From where he stood, so the black cat couldn't see him, the ginger splotched tom rolled his eyes, but answered politely, "The Beast is gone Lord, with the Shadow."

With a snort, the black growled, "Then give him to the other wolves, as a treat."

"Yes Lord. What about the other three cats?"

The black sighed. "Since these dung-brained cats can't do it, I will go after the rest, with a party of wolves and cats. You will come with me. We will stop in that canyon. I captured that Beast when I was younger than you. I know he can survive far worse than a fall."

Far away, in a dark canyon, a limp shadow suddenly twitched, rose stiffly, and, throwing back its head, howled to the moon, telling all that his hunt was not yet done. (a/n- obviously this is all happening while they are traveling to the alleys, not while they're at the alleys or leaving them)
"Thunderfoot," Riverstripe yowled happily, "I smell forests and rivers!"

Windheart purred. Three weeks of hard traveling had brought them to the forest they had seen from the alleys. She blinked in surprise as the smell of a moor was brought to her nostrils.

"And moor!" she yowled. Beside him Sheba, who had taken control of the Clan of the Fighting Cat, added dully, "Swamp and marsh too."

Windheart moved over to give the she-cats ears a quick lick of assurance. "Shadowpelt would have been proud," she murmured. The she-cat, despite her grief, had pulled the Clan together and led them on. Sheba sighed. "Its just…" her voice trailed off, and then she wailed, "There were four cats in StarClans prophecy, not three!"

Riverstripe trudged ahead, lured by the smell of fresh clean water, and the sound of running streams.

Beside her Wren murmured, "The first thing I'm going to do when we get there is claim whatever water there is as ours."

Riverstripe blinked. She hadn't thought that this would be their new home. She hadn't even thought of finding a new home for a long time, only getting through another day.

She purred. "It will be good to settle down again. But a few things will have to change." Wren nodded, then glanced up at the night sky. "We'll follow the stars," he murmured. "StarClan has guided us this far."

"Riverstripe, Windheart, I smell… well I'm not sure what it is, but…" Thunderfoot came panting up. "It smell like wolf, but there are many more, and it's a little different. Less bloody, more woodsy. And it smells as if the things are always highstrung."

Bristle, Fernpelt, and Moren stepped forward. "Show us where this is Thunderfoot."

He nodded, and Windheart mewed, "Wren, you're in charge until we get back."

Riverstripe followed Bristle through the leaves. It couldn't be more wolves could it?

"Here," Thunderfoot murmured. The three Medicine Cats stepped forward. They sniffed carefully around the clearing for a moment, and Riverstripe shifted with impatience.

At last they came forward. "Coyote," Moren grunted. "Fresh too. We should find a place to shelter for the night."

Thunderfoot nodded. "I found a series of caves up ahead." His eyes widened slightly. "It was like a mouth in the earth." He grinned. "Like Bristle when she yawns. A Mother's mouth." Bristle batted him playfully, and he went on. "The smell of two-legs is about a moon old. It looks like there was Stone- I mean horses, there, but its completely deserted now." He sighed. "I wish Shadowpelt was here. I need someone with good night vision to make sure that the cave is safe."

Sheba stepped up. "We grew up together. I can see as well as him."

Windheart blinked. "You're willing to enter a tiny tunnel in the side of a cliff and follow it to an ending that might not be there?"

It was Fernpelt that spoke next. "The first thing they would do, if they had any sense, was make a second passage out, in case of cave-ins, and to keep the air flowing."

When everyone stared, she grumbled "When I was an apprentice, we were making those underground tunnels for cats who got trapped there in a storm, or in case of fires, which we had a lot then. I had to learn how to stay safe."

Bristle looked thoughtful. "So there has to be a place out, no matter what tunnel she takes?"

Fernpelt nodded. "If these two-leggers are as smart as we hope, everything should work out."

Sheba stared at the gaping mouth of the cave.

Her heart hammering in her ears, she thought that maybe she shouldn't have volunteered. She looked back at the hopeful faces of the Clan cats, and hardened her heart.

With a deep breath, she dived in. She felt as if she was being swallowed by a huge beast. She could see nothing, good vision or not, but she could smell the slightest breezed. She was nervous. Her limbs shook, making it hard to move over the stony ground that she couldn't see.

After a particularly bad fall, in which she scraped her paws, she stopped and forced herself to calm down. In the quiet she gasped. The breezed seemed to carry to her whispers, all so tangled that she couldn't make them out, but she heard them and for some reason they reassured her. She continued.

Now, though, he limbs began to shake from cold. It was colder than the darkest night in the winding tunnels.

She went and went, the thin air making her light-headed. Again she began to panic. What if the two-leggers hadn't made a second tunnel? Or she had made a wrong turn? She would be stuck in these narrow tunnels until she died!

Panicking, she bolted, not even realizing the change in scent until she burst from the tunnel. The sudden light dazzled her.

It had been almost dark when she had entered the tunnels, and now it was completely night. But the moon shone through a hole in the roof, down on a gleaming rock, it's many shining faces bathing the dark cave in light. It looked like a cat had taken a pawful of stars and clumped them together. For a long moment she stared.

Then she heard it.
The yelping of dogs. Her eyes widened. The Clans! Turning, she bolted back through the tunnel, paying attention to nothing, the time or where she was going.

The breeze voices urged her on. At last she erupted from the tunnel, expecting to see a bloody clearing of fighting and dying cats. But all was peaceful. A queen bathed her kits near the edge of the trees, while two apprentices play-fought beside a couple of Hunters and Soliders sharing tongues.

She felt foolish as Thunderfoot, Windheart, and Riverstripe walked up to her with the Medicine Cats. "Is everything okay? You came out of that tunnel as if you were being chased by StarClan!"

Sheba sighed. "I thought I heard-" her voice was cut off as a series high, excited yips. "Into the caves!" she howled. The Clan cats scrambled to their paws. "I'll go first to make sure everyone turns the right way. You'll follow?"

Windheart nodded. "Go!"

Thunderfoot watched as a queen's tail disappeared into the cave. He glanced over his shoulder. Suddenly, the baying grew and what had to be the coyotes burst from the trees. A huge pack of small wolf-like animals, though they didn't seem as bloodthirsty, but just as mean rushed toward them.

Immediately, a line of cats leapt forward. Thunderfoot wanted to join them, but he had to get the rest of the cats to safety. Plus, if the dogs broke through the line, he had to be here, not there.

He ushered the last trainee in, the glanced around. The coyotes had been pushed back to the tree line.

"SwimmingClan cats, pull back to the tunnel, one at a time." First one fighter, then another, broke away. Now only FightingClan, HuntingClan, and RunningClan cats remained.

"HuntingClan cats," he yowled, knowing that the FightingClan cats would be the best to defend the cave, while the RunningClan cats could bolt faster than any coyote when he gave the signal. One by one his Clan disappeared into the cave.

The cats were begin pushed back. "FightingClan," he yowled. They followed without complaint. He glanced at the RunningClan cats, who were now rapidly being pushed back.

"Hurry," he hissed. At long last, the coyotes now only two tail-lengths away, he yowled, "RunningClan cats!" The cats bolted, one at a time, until they were down to only five and being pushed back by the second. They ran for the cave at his yowl, and he plunged after them.

With a shiver, he heard the click of jaws barely missing his tail, and warm breath on his flank.

He hurried deeper into the mouth of the earth.

They had made it.

This chapter may seem a bit empty of use, but they discover the Moonstone and Mothermouth. Also, something happens with it in the next chapter, but this seemed like a good place to stop. R&R and I'll update faster. Oh, I've posted another story (oneshot songfic) I want to know if it is good or not.. I only have two reviews, and they both say its good, but I don't like it that much. Maybe you could check it out and tell me what you think...