Warriors: Storm Coming - Rising Dawn

Chapter 10

Creekpaw was stressed; after running through the Twolegplace, the cats had run into a dog. Emberpaw had gotten a nasty bite on her shoulder, Leafpaw had aching, scratched, bleeding paw pads and Perchpaw had several scars down his pelt. Creekpaw tried her hardest to remember her training.

The cats had taken shelter in an abandoned Twolegplace towards the side of the other Twoleg nests. Creekpaw had started her own herb collection with what she could find in Twoleg gardens.

Creekpaw had collected some cobwebs; she had collected chervil too just in case Emberpaw's wound was infected. She ordered Emberpaw to sit down, which Emberpaw did. Creekpaw pressed a cobweb against Emberpaw's bleeding shoulder wound. Emberpaw squirmed as she did so. "Stop squirming!" Creekpaw meowed, pressing the cobweb down onto her shoulder. "I haven't got time for this."

Creekpaw moved on to Perchpaw and began to press cobwebs against the bleeding scars on his pelt. After she was satisfied with her work, she turned to Leafpaw. "I have collected some dock," she meowed. Creekpaw chewed the leaves in her mouth and spat them out. She rubbed it onto Leafpaw's paw pads.

"Ow, that stings!" Leafpaw yelped, flinching away.

Creekpaw continued, despite Leafpaw's protests. "It will sting, just calm down," she meowed.

Leafpaw began to relax then let out a sigh. "That feels better,"

"Can we keep moving along?" Perchpaw meowed.

"Yeah, we need to," Thistlebreeze agreed.

Larkpaw looked up from his spot. "I think this is a useless journey, we should go back to our clans," he argued. "They are probably worried about us,"

"We can't just give up," Emberpaw argued back. "We're already far out,"

"I don't think we should be here," Larkpaw meowed.

Creekpaw flashed a glance at him. "But StarClan sent us—"

Larkpaw stood up. "That's it, I'm going back to my clan," he meowed.

"But Larkpaw—" she meowed; she had to talk some sense into her brother.

Larkpaw looked down at her. "I'm returning to my clan, they need me. And I need Shimmerpaw," he meowed, padding out of the abandoned Twolegplace.

Creekpaw looked after him, suddenly feeling the pain Leafpaw had felt when her new friend, Tiger, had left.

"Great StarClan, did he really just leave?" Perchpaw murmured to Thistlebreeze.

Thistlebreeze turned back. "He's mouse-brained,"

"Let's keep going," Emberpaw meowed.

"She's right," Leafpaw meowed. "We have to finish this quest."

Creekpaw got up. "Alright, let's go." She turned to face the others sternly. "Tell me if any of you get injured, even a single scratch."

Perchpaw rolled his eyes as he got up. "Whatever, Creekpaw," he meowed.

The cats began to file out of the abandoned Twolegplace. Creekpaw glanced behind her, half-expecting to see Larkpaw but he was gone.

Thistlebreeze suddenly stopped in his tracks. "This might be crazy, but this monster is going in the direction of where we are going. Should we hop into the belly of the monster?" he meowed.

"It's risky, but worth a shot," Emberpaw meowed.

One by one, each cat leaped into the back of the monster. They sat there silently, careful not to make a sound. The monster continued to move forward, roaring. Creekpaw's fur bristled slightly.

She curled up beside Leafpaw, Ivypaw and Perchpaw. She found herself asleep, her eyes closed.

"You're on the right track," a voice whispered in her ear.

. . .

Creekpaw opened her eyes and found herself in the back of the monster, now asleep. Her and the others began to slowly creep out of the monster.

"What do we do now?" Emberpaw meowed.

Creekpaw found herself in the middle of the forest, beside the other cats. She look around and spotted some Twoleg thinks. Sticks holding up weird-looking red pelt things. She gasped as she saw fire sparking from a bunch of twigs in a circle.

Perchpaw twitched his ears. "Only Twolegs would purposely light a fire," he meowed.

Twolegs walked around, yowling.

"Let's get out of here," Thistlebreeze meowed, breaking off into a run.

Creekpaw didn't know how fast or long they ran; their paws thundered across the ground. They were swift, quick and agile on their paws, running fast. The cats were determined to reach somewhere safe from Twolegs.

Creekpaw skidded to a halt, breathing heavily. "That is tiring," she hissed under her breath.

"Come on, we have to keep running," Emberpaw meowed.

Thistlebreeze twitched both his ears, including his left ear with a torn tip. "Let's keep going," he meowed. "Twolegs are nearby,"

"Why are Twolegs so mouse-brained?" Ivypaw meowed.

"I don't know," Leafpaw meowed. "Twolegs make no sense,"

Perchpaw flicked his ears impatiently. "Instead of discussing mouse-brained Twolegs let's get a move on before said Twolegs come," he meowed.

Creekpaw took a final gaping breath before she ran off again, following the others.

A cream-colored she-cat with green eyes and a purple collar approached. "Who are you all?"

"We are clan cats on a journey," Creekpaw meowed.

"A clan?" the cream-colored she-cat meowed.

Perchpaw sighed irritably. "Yes, a clan is—"

"I know what a clan is," the she-cat interrupted. "There's a clan nearby,"

Leafpaw glanced at the others, her ears twitching. "Another clan?" she meowed.

The she-cat nodded.

Ivypaw glanced at the she-cat. "Well we should get going," she meowed. "Thank you for informing us of this other clan,"

Ivypaw ran off again, followed by the others. Creekpaw struggled to keep up, her paw pads aching as she ran. Her paws thundered on the ground.

"Stop!" she suddenly yowled.

The cats came to a halt, skidding and turned expectantly toward her.

"I need to check all of you for injuries," she meowed.

One by one, she checked each cat. She found the proper herbs for each cat's injuries. She rubbed dock on injured, cracked paw pads, she put cobwebs on bleeding wounds and she used chervil on infected wounds.

. . .

After each cat being checked by her and them hunting, Creekpaw settled down with a fish that Leafpaw had caught for her since Larkpaw was here. As Creekpaw looked down at the fish, she saw it was a very messy, small catch since Leafpaw had never caught fish before, but she was grateful.

She nibbled on the fish, enjoying the taste. She let out a soft content purr and continued to eat. She lay down on the grass, eating to her heart's desire. After a few minutes, she finished the small catch and got up. She stretched, glad to not have to run.

"Let's keep going," Emberpaw meowed.

Her, Perchpaw, Ivypaw, Emberpaw, Thistlebreeze and Leafpaw began to pad on, continuing to journey deeper into the forest.

"Why are you here?" a voice meowed