Thundering Darkness

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"I think this one is broken."

Pebblepaw looked up to see the smirking small brown and cream tom who was shoving her from behind. She had only stopped for a drink from a small puddle of water, but it seemed that these cats could care less about the well-being of their 'hostages.'

The small tom poked her from behind, "are you even listening?" he sniffed. "We're doing you a service, you know, letting you come here instead of being driven out with the rest of your ex-clan."

Pebblepaw muttered out a small, "sorry," and hurried to catch up with the rest of the cats.

They were apparently going out to a sandy hollow to do training for the battle with ThunderClan. It was clear that all the cats felt a deep sinking weight in the pit of their bellies. Everything was going downhill. Pebblepaw watched as the two young WindClan kits jumped up and down at Mack's paws, excited for the training.

"I'm so glad we're getting out of the stinky den!" Dewykit squealed.

"Do you think we'll have to be mean and scary like the Thundercats?" That was Lavenderkit's anxious mew.

For the past quarter moon, Pebblepaw had been thinking, planning. She wanted to go home to where things weren't so bad, but more than that she wanted to help out all the cats in need. So far though, all her mini patrols around the two-leg den had proved futile; there was no sneaky exit. She felt so forlorn, and desperately missed the cheerful smile and easy happiness of Min.

I'll keep on fighting until I have nothing left to give to keep my friends safe from these cats. Pebblepaw continued padding forward through the oaks and occasional pine. She looked up from her daze to see a massive sandy clearing, Ravenfire and a few other ThunderClan Fierce-Protectors and Swift-Runners looked up brightly.

Pebblepaw winced as she slipped on a pebble and slid, unceremoniously, into the sandy hollow. She was training with Mike, Spike, Blue, and the kits. It had been made painfully aware to her that these kits were going to be used in some way in the battle. Not if I can help it! Pebblepaw would die before these kits were hurt. They were so young, so innocent, and they weren't likely to live.

"So, y'alls know the drill," an old scarred blue-grey tom named Cloudstorm meowed. When no cat spoke, he snapped, "let's get to it!"

Lavenderkit pressed up against Pebblepaw, her indigo eyes round. "Do we really have to fight?" she meowed.

Cloudstorm fluffed up his pelt. "Yes, you do." he snarled. "All cats must contribute regardless of size, just as our magnificent leader, Mightystar, has always done."

All the hostages, even the kits, dipped their heads and meowed. "Mightystar is so wise and noble."

With that the training exercise would soon begin. Pebblepaw had only been through it twice, but she knew the drill. The hostages would team up with one Fierce-Protector, and they would 'guide' them to fight the rest of the ThunderClan warriors.

Ravenfire blinked casually. "Let's see, I'll take the RiverClan apprentice and the kits. See how they fare against the rest of you."

"What?" Dewykit meowed, scraping at the sand excitedly with his paws. "What're we doing-ing?"

Ravenfire sniffed. "I said, you're fighting with these cats and with me as your guide,

mouebrained kit."

Ravenfire had always disliked that Dewykit was a bit hard of hearing, seeing it as an imperfection. Pebblepaw didn't mind, it just meant that she needed to speak up when talking to the kit.