War - Battles of the Wild - The Darkened Moon

CHAPTER TWELVE: ALENA

I look around, the winds from the sandstorm obscuring my vision, despite the goggles that I now wear. The goggles felt kind of weird and they annoyed me at first, but with the only alternative being  getting sand in my eyes everyone on the team had eventually opted to put them on. 

I could barely see Atlas pulling the cart of supplies and he was walking right next to me. Skysearcher pressed up against my side, trying to use my body to shield herself from the worst of the storm. OJ walked somewhere ahead of me, trying to hold his head up and tough out the whips and lashes of sand, but I could see the trembles in his step. Luna and Maya had been scouting ahead when the sandstorm hit, but I haven't heard back from either of them yet. 

...I hope they're doing ok. 

"OJ!" I hollered over the wailing winds. "Come walk beside me! You're going to tire yourself out like that!" 

OJ yelled something back at me, but his words were drowned out by the storm. I just gestured to my side where Skysearcher was, and, after almost being knocked over by a gust of wind, OJ reluctantly came back to walk at my side.

"We should find somewhere to stop soon, to wait out the storm!" said Atlas with his deep and powerful voice. Even with the raging winds, his voice still carried, as though he had authority over the winds as well as the Clan. 

"Alright!" I shouted back. The cats nodded as well. "But... What about the others?"

"It'll be easier for them to find us if we stay in one place."

We soon found a dune that shielded us slightly and set the cart down beside it to act as a wind breaker, and then we settled in between the two. Atlas pulled a big piece of cloth from the cart and draped it over us to try to stop some of the sand from getting in our mouths and noses. 

After a few moments of just the wind, I heard a faint voice. I pricked my ears and lifted my head. 

It's Maya!

I jump out of the makeshift tent. "Maya! Where are you!" 

A blurry, dog-shaped blob appears somewhere in the sand. "Alena? Is that you? Oh, thank the First Clan, I found you guys!"  

She kept her face low to the ground, her eyes sealed shut as she approached. 

"Come on, Maya," I say, getting up beside her to lead her to the others. "We have a tent and some goggles you can use."

"Wait, wait," she replies, stopping in her tracks, "When I was out there, I saw something strange. Some weird creatures. Like rats, but bigger, and with three eyes. They tried to kill me, but luckily I got away, but... What if... Luna..."

My blood ran cold. "Do you think you can make it the rest of the way to the tent?" 

"I'll manage."

With that, I took off at a sprint into the sandstorm, calling Luna's name. 

"Luna!"

What if she was dead. What if those rat things got her? 

"Luna!"

I'd never get to apologize for questioning her loyalty. She'd die thinking that I thought she was a traitor. 

"LUNA!"

I'd never get to be her friend again. I'd never get to... 

A quiet voice echoed through the storm. I whipped towards it.

"Luna! Luna! Are you there!?" I called, almost hysterical. 

A dark shape barreled toward me from the sand. "Run, Alena!"