Life of RavenForbidden (discontinued)

Chapter sixteen (Shadows POV)

"Raven, the brightclaw!" I screeched. To late. I watched as her body thudded to the ground. The brightclaw screeched away, not bothering to finish its prey. The Brightclaw sped down the path, leaving a silence in which I stared, horrified, at my mates body. There was no blood. I squeezed my eyes shut. It should of been me. A voice cried in my head. I forced my feet to move toward her. Even in this state, as Brightclaws whizzed past us and she laid there looking broken, she was still beautiful. "Raven?" I whispered. "Raven, wake up." I choked, nudging her side with my nose. "Raven, we're almost there." I swallowed hard. "I can't loose you." I slide to my paws and laid my head on her chest. "Well? Aren't you going to help me? Don't just lay there!" I jerked. A orange tabby stood next to Raven, her eyes alert and impatient. I stared blankly at her. She sighed loudly. "C'mon, flea-brain! help me carry her out of this.. This.. Brightclaw, is it? This Brightclaw place!" I scrambled to my paws and sunk my teeth into Ravens scruff. Together, we dragged her across the path. It was slow. We had to wait as each Brightclaw passed. Once on the grass, I let out a sigh. "Thank.. Thank you." I murmured, nudging Ravens cheek. Instead of repsonding with a snappy tone, she licked my ear comfortingly. After a moments silence, she flicked my nose with her tail. "C'mon, do you wanna save Raven or not?" She asked, her voice expressing more worry than I would have thought it would, coming from a complete stranger. I stared up at her, almost arguing that Raven could not be saved, as much as it hurt for me to even think that, it just might be true. Instead, I got to my paws and let the tabby hoist Raven onto my back. Together, we made our way to the entrance of the Nofur nest closer to the brightclaw path. "Wait. "I mewed, halting. "I'm not bringing Raven in there!" A dirt path led down to a bright colored wood entrance. Light flooded through the edges. "Listen.. Err.." I stuttered, not remembering the tabbys name. "Mitzi. Now, come on." Mitzi hurried down the path and started through a flap at the bottom of the entrance, but paused when she realized I was not following. Her eyes narrowed. "Heres the deal. My Housefolk are Ravens only chance of survival. Before you ask, they're vets. They fix cats." I stared at Ravens wretched body. "I'll do anything to save her." I said bravely.

The Nofur den was scattered with colored pelts bright, unnatural lights. I closed my eyes. For Raven. I opened my eyes. Mitzi was meowing up at two pink, hairless Nofurs. I snorted in disgust. Suddenly, one of the Nofurs, female, walked over, cooing gently, and slowly picked up Raven. I snarled and lashed out on instance. "Hey!" Mitzi protested, darting in front of me, her fur bristling. "She's just trying to help!" Sighing, I took a step back. "Right." I muttered. "Help." I stayed only a few tail lengths away from Ravens motionless body and the Nofur. We walked outside, and I breathed in the fresh air happily. But instead of feeling soft soil beneath my paws, I still felt the hard boards of the Nofur nest. I must of looked as confused as I felt, because Mitzi giggled in amusement. "Its a deck." She informed me. "Housefolk use them when they want to go outside..but.. Err... Still have it part of the nest." I sighed. The sooner we get this over with the better. The Nofur had laid Raven down on a fluffy pelt thing, right next the end of the deck. As I looked over it, I realized that the deck was over the cliff side over looking the Sun-Drown-Place. I yelped and scrambled backwards, away from the edge. "Are your Nofurs crazy?!" I gasped. "If someone fell, they'd.. Die!" Mitzi did not answer. She padded across the deck to where a few other cats sat. I ignored them to check on Raven. They where examining her shoulder, which jutted out at an odd angle, and her jaw. Cold realization hit me like a wave. If Ravens jaw was broken, and her shoulder broken.. She could die. I thought grimly. I watched as the male Nofur grabbed a metal stick-like thing and prodded her mouth open. Raven groaned. I almost yowled happily. She was alive! The blow from the Brightclaw had not killed her, just injured her. I turned away as they took out more Nofur things and stuck them into her mouth. To distract myself, I padded over to Mitzi and The other cats. They had their heads together like young To-Bes, whispering. They cut of aruptently as I approached. "Hello." I greeted them. The dark grey tom rose to his paws. "Hello. I'm Thorn, and these kits are Mudpaws-" The tom nodded to a tabby shecat. "-Storm-" The petite grey she cat was wrestling with the other kits. " And Smudge." Thorn dragged the black and white tom off of Storm. "They're beautiful." I meowed. "Thank you." Mitzi gushed. "Oh! And this is Hail." She prodded a black tom who was playing with the kits. He glanced up. "Hello." He rasped, surprising me. With his agile body and sleek fur, I would have thought he was younger than a... Well... Elder! "Hi." I mewed, extending my paw politely. "Oh!" Mitzi shrieked, practically leaping on me. "Your from the tribes, right?! Oh, my! Do you know Starry?" I shook the enthusiastic she cat of me. "Yes. Starry is Ravens sister." I flinched as I said Ravens name. I sent a quick prayer up to the Tribe of Endless hunting. Let her live.