Sabre: The Grasslands Book 1

Chapter 7

"Humans?!" Kypress cried. Renn's wide eyes got even wider. Kypress looked over the sheer cliff. There they were, a whole pack, drinking water and the females picking Berry bushes by the forest. One male looked stronger than the rest. Animal skins dangled from his body, he had a hard face and was carrying a sack. Something writhed within the sack. A sharp meow/growl came from the bag. "It's Tara!" Renn growled. 'Tara?! Great.' Kypress thought sarcastically. "Cmon Kypress'! We need to get her back! Let's go!" Renn said as she tried jumping down the rock. "Noo!" Kypress growled as she pulled Renn back. " We can't chase him here, let's go to camp. We will attack tonight if we have to." Kypress told Renn. Renn pulled back and nodded. They both raced back to camp. "Go get Lunea, tell her that you are going." Kypress told Renn. "But, mom won't let me go! Please, just let me go with you!" Renn pleaded. "Fine. But, when I tell you to stay, you stay." Kypress growled. She raced up to the high rock. "Leader! Dagzer! We have found Tara! She is with the humans. Me, Renn, Kife, and Carp will get her back." Kypress told Dagzer. Dagzer roared. Kypress flinched. "Tara must be brought back, she is the only skilled warrior cub that we have! Go! But, don't even think about losing Renn." Dagzer told Kypress. "Yes, we will be quick." Kypress told her leader. Dagzer nodded slowly. Kypress told Carp and Kife. She sharpened her claws on the hard rock and breathed deeply. 'My first mission. I can't let Renn get caught.' Kypress thought as she closed her eyes. Renn was still tiny and not even an adult yet, she was strong and fierce though. Kypress wasn't even a full adult. Kypress lead Carp, Kife, and Renn through the forest over to the cliff. The four climbed down on the slick rock silently. They could hear the water rushing below them. The human growled at the bag and the meowing got louder. The human yelled at the bag and the bag got louder. 'Tara doesn't like being told what to do.' Kypress thought. Kypress nodded at Carp. Carp jumped down on the human and slashed his eyes. The human dropped the bag. Tara's tiny, fur covered head poked out. Her bright green eyes scared. Kife snatched up the bag and ran through the river. Renn snarled at the human and blocked him off. The women that were behind the man, fled in terror, their long black hair shimmering as they ran into the forest and started screaming at one another. Kypress soon realized they were calling for backup. Kypress jumped onto the man and swiped her sharpened claws against his legs. The man crumpled to the ground, shaking and covering his bloody legs. Carp ran. The man looked at Kypress with a strange, creepy smile. Kypress stared. The man looked up. Kypress did too. In front of Kife was another man, he was a young adult and looked like the warrior man's son. He grinned wildly at Kife before whipping out a spear from behind his back. Kypress ran at the man and bit his hand, she tore and ripped. The man cried out and jabbed the spear at Kypress . The spear hit Kypress's bruised back. She yowled. Kife started running again, but, Tara shifted in the leather bag and Kife slipped on a rock. Kife fell and the man jumped at the bag. The man picked up the bag and grabbed up his spear. He ran off with the bag. "Hey! Come back!" Renn snarled as she chased after the man. 'Renn!' Kypress screamed in her mind. Carp and Kife followed Kypress. Kypress pounced and pinned down Renn. Renn snarled. "Let me go!!!! I need to get Tara! She'll be killed!" "Stop! We will get her back. It's too dangerous! He was heading to his human camp! We all would've been killed." Kypress told her. Renn stopped squirming. They all walked back to camp, defeated. Renn told the leader about Tara. The whole camp was talking about Tara. Lunea was sad that they didn't retrieve Tara, but was proud that her daughter helped. Kypress decided to take a walk. She left the dense forest and hard rock. She strode into the grasslands. A group of mice squeaked an ran when they saw her. Kypress caught two and snapped their fragile necks. She gobbled one and saved the other one for Renn. She looked at the snow capped mountains. The lake. TarTribe's territory. Kypress remembered TarTribe. They had wanted to kill Kypress. SwiftTribe had only been kind because she saved Vice. That was it though. When Kypress got back to camp, it was midday. GrassLily limped out of Killira's den. "Mom!" Vice said happily. GrassLily smiled and rubbed against Vice. Lunea glared at GrassLily. Kypress had been noticing how Lunea despised GrassLily. For whatever reason, Lunea hated GrassLily. Kypress hadn't realized that Carp was behind her. "You noticed, didn't you. No one ever told you why they hate each other, did they?" Carp whispered. Kypress nodded slowly.