Beyond the Mountains | A Warrior Cats Fanfiction

꧁ ✧ Chapter 34 ✧ ꧂

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Dawnheart yowled in alarm, stumbling wearily to her paws. Willowpaw yelped as his amber eyes disappeared, the wind carrying him away. Willowpaw shoved Dawnheart down roughly, knowing she would be faster to save the kit's life, as Dawnheart was an older queen. She raced out of the Nursery, and was almost blind to the sandy rain. She was immediately battered by the force of the storm, but knew she couldn't go back. She scanned the deserted clearing, before running out of camp, calling out to the lost kit.

''WOLFKIT! WOLFKIT!'' She cried, imagining the sweet, sassy kit all alone. Or dead already. She ignored the thought and searched in every bush and thicket around camp, checked the dirt place. Nothing. Where could he be? She questioned as she ran out of camp, lost in her surroundings. Suddenly the wind dropped, and leaves floated in mid-air, before dropping the the floor. She stared around, confused. Light broke out, and she squinted at the sheer brightness of it. I'm... I'm in the eye.

The storm continued to rage in a wide circle around her. She didn't even know where she was, she couldn't recognise this destroyed part of the forest. She heard a wail, and pricked her ears, standing tense.

''Wolfkit?!'' She called out, spinning in a circle as she willed him to call out to her.

''Help!'' A tiny yowl sounded from inside the storm, which was racing back towards her. She narrowed her eyes, bunched her muscles and leapt back into the storm. She was immediately disorientated, and tried her best to keep her ears as tall as she could in the strong winds.

''Help me!'' She heard Wolfkit's terrified voice just over the storm, and tried to head in the direction, water up to her ankles, and willed herself to canter towards the sound. She caught sight of a small bush, just about clinging onto the earth. Admist the small thorny branches was Wolfkit. She accelerated forward, but stopped dead at a creak, despite seeing Wolfkit's weak, scared gaze peering from the leaves. The bush was at the base of a great copper beech, which creaked ominously in the wind. It's leaves were all but gone. With a great crack, the tree came toppling down, cracking its branches on other trees, as if trying to save itself. Wolfkit howled in fear, and as she noticed, he was trapped in the bush behind entangled vines. She raced forward, running as fast as she could, her muscles already burning and shaky from the overexertion. The tree loomed closer, and she looked up at it as it plummeted towards her. Her mind whirled like the leaves attacking her, wondering if she could go back. But she saw Wolfkit's petrified eyes and her heart hardened. She leapt for the bush, feeling the tree brush her tail. She leant down as she ran, shoving her muzzle through the brambles and biting down on the first soft thing she felt. She bit down hard, and he squealed in pain as he was yanked through brambles. She closed her eyes to protect them while thorns ripped through her muzzle as she dragged the kit out. She heard the last crack at the base of the tree, and she surged up, soaring over many tail-lengths, just to escape a terrible death for both her and the kit. She stumbled, yelping but not letting go as the ground disappeared beneath her feet. She swung her head and Wolfkit to her chest, wrapping her paws and body around him to protect him as they plummeted down a steep slope, created by a landslide. She held him tight as she rolled down a jagged hill, ripping roots and sharp rocks jutting out from soft, loose mud. Willowpaw cried out in pain, and briefly heard Wolfkit whining. She was dropped off a ledge into a fast flowing stream, full of sticky watery mud. It was too deep fro her to stand, and with mud coating her face she couldn't see a thing as she struggled with Wolfkit now in her jaws. She choked on the mud, unable to find a bank. We're going to drown! She thought as she paddled around blindly, the wind blowing water onto her face and Wolfkit. She tried to throw her head, trying to get Wolfkit to get onto her shoulders. He understood, shaking terribly as he dug his claws into her shoulder, climbing onto her back where he crouched. She choked on the water, coughing and reaching out her paws, desperately searching for a bank. Finally her claw struck soft mud, which disintegrated almost instantly under her touch. She growled and kicked forward in the same direction. Her claws brushed a harder mud wall, still underwater. She could make out a dark shape looming towards her. Her nose bashed into the wall, and to her dismay she found that the wall surged up out of the water, and was a tail-length high above water. She panicked, pacing in the water. But her energy was running out, and she knew they would soon drown if they didn't get out. She leaned forwards, and found a flimsy root. Thats as good as it's going to get. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed onto it with her teeth, and lifted herself out of the water a bit.

''Hold on!'' She spoke through chattering teeth. She felt Wolfkit's grip tighten, and hoisted herself up, leaning on the facade of the mound. She raised a paw, and dug it into the earth above her head. She clenched her muscles and pulled, driving her back legs into the earth. Her eyes watered at the pain of Wolfkit's claws sinking deeper into her flesh. She rested her chin on the top of the dirt, sighing for a moment, her neck tensed as she only used her paw and her head as an anchor to keep herself up. Thunder growled, and she snarled back as she pushed up, getting her shoulders up, her belly, and at last her legs.

She collapsed, her muscles trembling from the overexertion, Wolfkit falling off her back, unhooking his tiny, sharp, needle-like claws. She panted on her side as Wolfkit hurried over, leaping over her back to crouch beside her belly. Lightning flashed, striking a tree. Energy sparked into her, and she stumbled to her paws as a gust of wind tried to shove her back down, violently. She persevered, her legs trembling from the effort as she grabbed his scruff, choosing a direction and speed stalking forward, keeping close to the ground to avoid flying branches.

She ran onwards, dodging trees as they suddenly loomed infront of her, as she couldn't see a tail-length in front of herself. She kept running, the only thought in her mind was herself and Wolfkit's safety.

The violent storm of sand and rain lashed at Willowpaw's fur as she struggled to make her way through the thick undergrowth. Her heart pounded in her chest, her paws slipping on the wet ground as she desperately searched for cover. Lightning crackled overhead, illuminating the sky in a blinding burst of light as thunder roared in the distance.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the forest as a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, setting it ablaze. The heavens opened, the sky lighting up with a blast of brilliance, blinding her briefly. A deafening boom shattered her eardrums, the sound reverberating in the air, followed by a large branch came crashing down, striking Willowpaw on the head and knocking her to the ground. The world spun around her, darkness threatening to consume her as the rain pelted down on her fur. She squinted, writhing in pain on the ground as Wolkit took cover in her belly, crying out wildly, assuming her dead. Her ears rang with a high pitched squeal that blocked out all other sounds, making her eyes water as her nerves froze, and she lost feeling in her paws. She clenched her jaw through the pain, but fell unconscious.