Flamepaw's Destination

Chapter 11

            Flamepaw awoke to another day, finding Barkpaw still nestled close to her. They had spent the night in a tiny clearing after yet another long day of walking through the forest with what seemed like no destination.

            Once again, Flamepaw and Barkpaw had heard or seen nothing of RiverClan, just as Flamepaw expected, and she was beginning to become anxious. She was just wishing that something would happen or that Dusty knew where he was taking them. What was the goal of the group of cats? Was it to find Krait's kits? Was it to find Jetfur? Flamepaw didn't even know anymore.

            Within a few minutes, Barkpaw had stirred beside her, muttering a sleepy, "Good morning," which caused Flamepaw to laugh and lick his cheek in a loving manner. If it weren't for Barkpaw, she wasn't sure how she'd make it through the day.

            As soon as the cats were up, they wolfed down a quick breakfast and began on their journey once again. Flamepaw sighed and rose to her feet, assuming the usual traveling position in the back with Barkpaw. Tigerstripe had not tried to make any more contact with them, which had pleased Flamepaw since she was frightened by the tom, but at times she still felt sorry for him, that he was going through this all alone.

            As they walked along the forest, Flamepaw watched as the sun slowly began to disappear from the sky and was replaced by rolling gray clouds. She sighed, hoping it wouldn't rain soon. She knew the cats would not stop unless the rain was terrible, and she didn't exactly want to hike through the pouring rain with her pelt soaking.

            The rain didn't come though, but the temperature cooled down, and a wind began to pick up. She watched Tigerstripe tense at the signs of a coming storm, wondering if perhaps that he, the strong, scary tom, was frightened of storms. She laughed a little thinking about this.

            As they came up a hill, Flamepaw watched as Dusty froze suddenly, his ears pricked. Before Flamepaw could question why he stopped, she began to hear a distant sound of barking.

            "What was that?" Dusty asked.

            Barkpaw pricked his ears, then shrugged. "I'm not sure."

            Flamepaw kept her ears pricked, wondering what that odd sound had been. It had almost sounded like...dogs.

            As soon as these thoughts went through her brain, the barking became louder, and immediately recognized it as the sound of dog barks. In fact, she and the other cats were even able to make out some of the words being spoken.

            "POSSIBILITY! BUT, UM, VERY SLIM! YEAH!" came large shouts. Flamepaw shuddered, knowing more than one dog had to be present. She imagined it coming at them with its sharp teeth and ripping them to shreds.

            "What is that?" Tigerstripe asked, annoyed.

            The voices began to sound like they were coming closer, and Flamepaw jumped as she heard one say, "Come on!"

            "Should we check it out?" Dusty asked curiously.

            "Of course!" Krait answered quickly.

            "Yes, dear," Dusty muttered quietly.

            Tigerstripe, Flamepaw, and Barkpaw began to follow Dusty and Krait toward the growing sound, but Flamepaw grew more nervous with each step. Were they insane going after these dogs?  Didn't they know two-leg dogs were dangerous and could rip them to shreds?