Chapter Five
Fox
Wren and I were alone, for the first time in our lives.
It had been almost a moon, and I still had trouble believing it.
I had no idea where we were going, and neither did Wren. We were just walking. Every day we walked farther and farther from the place we had grown up in. Which wasn't a problem. I wanted to be as far away from that place and those murdering cats as possible. But Bear, leaving Bear was different. He had seemed pretty sure that he'd be safe with the twolegs. Wren had agreed. So I forced myself to believe them.
We had met few troubles on our journey. All we'd really had to deal with was live monsters and a cat who had tried to chase us away from his twoleg nest. Not that he'd managed. All I had had to do was hiss and flick my tail a couple of times, and he was off. It had been easy.
Wren was walking ahead of me. Occasionally she'd pause and glance back, to make sure I was still following. It was one of those times, one of those quick moments when she wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her, that she was attacked.
A huge dog leapt out of the bushes and picked her up in its jaws. I heard Wren yowl in terror, but she sounded strangely faint and distant. I rushed forward, cursing myself for letting her get so far ahead. I jumped at the dog's shoulder once I got close enough, and dug my claws in. I felt it jerk in surprise, and saw it drop Wren.
She fell to the ground with a quiet thump, and didn't move.
The dog turned its head to snap at me, forcing me to jump off its shoulder. I tried to duck around it and get to Wren, but another dog had appeared. Smaller than the first, nearly the same size as me, and much more annoying.
It pranced around, trying to nip at my tail as the larger dog moved towards Wren again. Instinctively, I spun around and lashed out at its nose, causing it yelp and run off. I turned, ready to attack the larger dog again. It had closed in on Wren, and was nudging her with its nose. I started to move towards it.
Pain suddenly burst in my shoulder. I could imagine my three long scars, seemingly healed, ripping open. I stumbled.
The dog was getting ready to pick Wren up again. I hissed at it angrily and I struggled to my feet, hoping to draw its attention. But it didn't care about me, it only care about my sister's body.
Something red brushed past me. For a moment, I thought it might be the little yappy dog returning, but when it stopped running to strike at the large dog's head, I saw what it really was. A red tabby tom, bigger than Wren but still smaller than me. He slashed at the dog's face, over and over again, swiftly ducking out of the way of its snapping jaws between each swipe. I got over my surprised and, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, threw myself back into the fight. I attacked both the dogs right legs as I moved up to join the red tabby.
The dog took a step back and regarded both of us, as we stood side by side in front of Wren. It seemed to decide that fighting us wasn't worth getting to her. It growled at us one last time, then turned and walked off as if it had forgotten all about us.
I turned to Wren instantly. She was breathing faintly, I could see her side rising and falling. She seemed unhurt, a few scratches from the dog's teeth.
"You're welcome."
I pulled my gaze from Wren's body in order to meet the red tabby's bright green eyes. "I didn't ask for help." I didn't mean to sound ungrateful, I knew I would have lost Wren if it wasn't for his arrival. But I didn't want to admit it.
He shrugged. "That doesn't mean that you didn't need it. Personally, I think we made quiet a good team. Now, maybe we should move her off the thunderpath? Monster's don't come 'round here too often, but if one does, it'll flatten her." He took a step towards Wren, and then paused as if waiting for my approval.
I nodded. "Then we should move her." I agreed.
Together, we half lifted/half rolled Wren to the ditch at the edge of the thunderpath, where we managed to tuck her safely against a twoleg wall.
"She'll be all right," the tom meowed. "Hit her head when she fell, that's why she's asleep. But she'll be all right... I'm Fox, by the way."
"Shatter," I replied, then I nodded towards Wren, "My sister, Wren."
"Pleasure to meet you both," Fox meowed. "How 'bout you stay here with her, and I'll go find us something to eat." He didn't wait for me to reply, just jumped up onto the wall and disappeared.
I sighed, settled myself down next to Wren, and started to lick her wounds.