Warriors: The Gates of StarClan

Chapter 13

Ivysplash woke early the next morning to the sound of frantic yelping.  She was on her paws in an instant, trying to get the other cats out of the makeshift den.  "Dogs!  We have to get out of here!" she gasped as another bark pierced the still morning air.  Tigerpelt's eyes flew open as she leaped to her paws and helped to wake Lionstorm, Ravenfrost, and Fernpaw.

When all five cats were out of the den, Ivysplash pointed with her tail toward a Twoleg nest with a tidy garden and a white fence.  A Twoleg appeared out of the nest and opened a neat rectangular hole in the fence.  A large black dog followed obediently, padding through the fence and barking happily.  Ivysplash remembered stories of the ThunderClan elder Brightheart who had been attacked by a dog pack when the great leader Firestar was ThunderClan's deputy. Ivysplash shivered at the thought of what a dog like that could do to a cat.

"Run!" Fernpaw's frantic yowl shocked Ivysplash back to reality and the danger she and her friends were in.  "This way!"

The dog was hard on their paws as they raced down the unfamiliar Thunderpaths of the Twolegplace.  Suddenly, the sprinting cats heard a voice.  "Quick!  This way!"

Ivysplash veered toward the voice and saw a gray-and-white kittypet motioning for them to follow her.  "Now!" she hissed.  "Come with me!"

Ivysplash called to her friends, "Follow me!"  They trailed behind Ivysplash, the dog close behind.  The Clan cats followed the kittypet to a wooden lattice stuck to the wall of a Twoleg nest.  The kittypet darted nimbly up the lattice with Ivysplash and the others followed close behind.  The dog's yapping still sent shivers up Ivysplash's spine.  She looked down at the dog as its tail quivered violently.  Then the dog turned in the direction of the faraway voice of its Twoleg and raced away, still yipping blithely. Ivysplash turned to the kittypet and dipped her head.  "Thank you," she mewed.  "Without you, that dog would have caught up with us."  The other cats nodded their gratitude.

The kittypet purred.  "I'm Chloe," she meowed.  "Even though I live with my housefolk, I like to wander the town during the day."  Looking Ivysplash up and down, she mewed, "You look as if you're going somewhere far away."

"Yes," Ivysplash replied.  "We're going on a journey to the place where the sky meets the water. We call it the sun-drown-place.  A prophecy told us to go there."

Chloe nodded.  "Are you some of those cats that live around the lake over there?"  She pointed with her tail in the direction of the lake.

"Yes." Tigerpelt answered.  "You seem like you know this...town a lot better than we do, so would you like to travel with us?"

Chloe thought for a moment, twitching her tail.  Finally she lifted her muzzle and fixed Tigerpelt with her blue gaze.  "I'd be glad to help you out of the town, but I must not leave or my housefolk will worry about me.  I think I know your sun-drown-place.  My housefolk call it the 'ocean'."

Lionstorm muttered to Ravenfrost, "See, I knew it was the awshin or something."

Ivysplash dipped her head toward the gray she-cat.  "Thank you, Chloe."

Chloe let out a purr.  "You're very welcome."

Ravenfrost cleared his throat and said, "We'd better get going, if we want to reach the 'ocean' by nightfall."