NO ESCAPE. THE RUNAWAY

CHAPTER 11

The next morning Rain bolted awake at the smell of fresh vole entering her nostrils as she stretched and rose to her mitts out of her nest.

"Morning furball!" MountianCreek purred and passed her a juicy vole.

"Thanks!" She chirped and gobbled down the vole.

"All fed?" Lime asked, seems he and Surak have been up first.

"Yup!" MountianCreek nodded.

"Let's head out then." Lime smiled. The group padded off, Lime and Surak at the front, DawnThorn and TurtleJaw behind them, then MountianCreek and Rain behind them and VampireTooth at the back. DawnThorn smiled and padded up to MountianCreek, her flank briefly against his.

"Morning MountianCreek!" She purred.

"Alright we can stop here and rest for a bit. To the trail to the Puddle where Sunlight Reflects." Lime informed. MountianCreek and Rain padded up to Lime and Surak to rest beside them.

"So...what did StarClan show you about why you need to come to the puddle where Sunlight Reflects?" Lime asked.

"Not sure. StarClan is not good at giving hints of exactly to what it might lead." MountianCreek shrugged.

"It will be clearer once we get there. But we have a long way to go." He sighed.

"How many landmarks are there?" Mountain asked.

"About 4." Lime sighed.

"Then we should get going now. I think the break has lasted long enough." MountianCreek chirped. "You all rested?" he asked, beckoning his head to the cats.

"Sure. Theres no time to lose anyways let us head out." Rain nodded. DawnThorn glared at Rain with a raised brow but said nothing more as the group of cats padded off within the clearing with Lime and Surak at the head. HawkTail sighed and got fed up with DawnThorn and MountianCreek's cuddliness and pushed between the two.

Few hours later the cats came across a large hill with Two-Leg nests below.

"There is a few Two-Leg nests with dogs near them. I know exactly when they come out. Which is during this time. But I have a plan to steer us away, just follow my lead and the worst that will happen we would just do what we did in the forest." Lime muttered and padded down the hill with caution. Lime steered around the aggressive barking, making sure to creep behind the dogs. At the end of the group was VampireTooth as she abruptly stopped. She sniffed the air and heard small, tiny squeaking underneath her.

"RATS!" VampireTooth yowled. Everyone turned around to see the small creatures crawling underneath them. Rain smacked away a rat that bit down on her shoulder. MountianCreek hissed and leaped down, smashing his paws down on the rats as they suffocated under his large paws. After the rat attack was over the dogs heard Vampire's panic and sprinted at the cats with his lolled tongue and aggressive barking. The cats ran for the trees, Rain being the only one left to limp up the tree, almost getting caught by the huge dog. MountianCreek leaned down the tree and smacked the dog with an unsheathed paw, grabbing Rain by the scruff and dragging her up the tree. The two panted heavily.

"Thanks." Rain panted.

"We all good?" Lime asked. The cats slowly nodded. "Good...let's get moving...the next landmark is about a day away. We can find some shelter before reaching it since it is getting dark." Lime nodded.

"Alright...Lime leads the way. Everyone else, lets focus on getting to the puddle where sunlight reflects...HollowWood and Heather do you mind finding an herb for Rain's shoulder?" Mountain asked.

"Alright..." HollowWood nodded. Heather just shrugged and followed.

"I'll come with them...the rest of you can go ahead of us and we'll catch up." VampireTooth nodded and the three cats set off.

"You heard her. Let's get moving." MountianCreek nodded. HollowWood, VampireTooth and Heather searched the clearing behind Two-Leg place to find herbs.

"Search for burdock root. That's best for rat bites." HollowWood informed. VampireTooth sniffed the long leaves. She scrunched her nose and picked the roots, coming back to HollowWood.

"Nice job!" He purred and dropped his roots in the pile.

"Give them here! I can mix them together!" Heather smiled, grabbing the pile of roots, and crushing them in her paws to make a weird gooey mixture.

"Why'd you want to come with me anyways?" HollowWood smirked while Heather was bringing the mixture in some sort of clear bag when they padded back to the group. VampireTooth looked merely surprised when he asked that question. VampireTooth raised her paw to ruffle HollowWood's head fur.

"It's cause I wanna protect your furball. Plus, it makes me feel better that everyone's safe, but you are especially." She smiled and started to strut away. "Come on, don't wanna keep them waiting!" She chirped as the three bounded off. The cats arrived at one of the landmarks, Rain laying helplessly on the ground as she winced at her rat bite. Heather took the mixture and spread it on the wound gently. The bite healed almost immediately. The blood red color disappearing as Rain relaxed.

"Thank you..." She breathed a heavy whisper at Heather.

"Let's rest...we're almost halfway there...and we can stay here under the tree for tonight." Lime informed. The sun had begun to set, the hazel and red colors still streaked across the sky as the cats rested along the tree, all huddled together. Lime and Sini were cuddled together, VampireTooth and HollowWood were both cuddled next to each other for warmth, Surak was forcing Rain to cuddle because of how cold he was and as well as TurtleJaw and DawnThorn who were cuddled together. They all laid their heads down. MountianCreek glanced at HawkTail who was shivering. He smiled and laid next to him, his tail curling on the toms brown body and cuddling up next to him for warmth. HawkTail felt his ears grow hot but smiled and warmed up a as everyone finally drifted to sleep once the streaks of blue and purple all colored for the night sky.