Come back to me

Chapter 4- 'You could never understand!'

Ring collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. He tried to crawl over to Iris but a pair of claws raked his side causing him to come to a painful halt. He screeched as the claws lashed again. They came to a stop after he gave one last growl and let his body go limp. He felt Broken set his unsheathed paw on his shoulder and pressed weight to it, claiming his prize. Ring moved his head ever so slightly to look over at his family. 

His mother and father were backing Rag and Break towards the entrance, backing them up with powerful blows with their fore-paws. Ring glanced up at Broken, he had a look of utter confusion on his face, like he was trying to decide if he should leave Ring to help his group or not. 

"Get away from him!" A soft voice screamed. Ring jerked his head over to the rock. Despair filled his eyes as he saw Iris tare across the grass in his direction. Broken had taken no notice of his sister, giving him the few precious seconds he needed. With a yowl of fury he twisted around and slashed his claws blindly aiming for Broken's head. Ring felt his claws land in something soft and the scent of blood caught his nose. With a spark of success he quickly pulled himself over and bit down on whatever it was. Feeling something hard hit his teeth he guessed it was Broken's shoulder and a cater-wail concluded it. 

Broken shook and jerked but Ring refused to let him go. Then a spiky soft object crashed into Ring's side, causing him to jump in surprise. Ring twisted around to see Iris. Ring let go and crouched in front of her. Since they were so close to the bramble wall Broken crashed into it when Ring had let him go. He immediately jumped to his paws but stumbled, falling to the ground. Ring wasted no time, he grabbed Iris by the scruff and ran into the den. He dropped her roughly causing her to let out a squeak. 

"Look, no matter what you do not leave this den! You hear? You do not leave unless I say so!" Ring hissed urgently but tried to keep his voice calm. He knew she was in shock but her little nod made him so relieved. Ring crawled out of the den. Before he could even look around he crashed to the ground. He twisted his body around so he could see who it was. His eyes widened in fear.

"Well aren't you a bluebell?!" Rag meowed. Ring froze as terror griped his muscles. Rag's lips curved into a smile. 

"Look, were we live it's not good digs so we're gonna be in your territory for a while, k? Good!" Rag snarled, not waiting for Ring to answer. Everything was happening so fast. Ring saw out of the corner of his eye his mother, Violet, running towards him.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Violet hissed. Rag swung around but it was to late. Violet barreled herself into Rag's side causing them both to crash to the ground in a heap of fur and claws. Ring scrambled to his paws and looked around. His father, Cedar, was keeping Break at the entrance of the grassy clearing but Broken was behind him making quick blows as he turned away to fend off Break. Ring felt rage burst inside his chest. He felt his claws sink into the ground.

"This ends now!" He yowled as he tore across the grass. Broken, Break, and Cedar all turned in surprise to see Ring running at them at full pelt. At the last second, and thankfully, he turned towards Broken. Broken tried to dodge him but Ring managed to ram his unsheathed claws into Broken's side. The force from the run caused them both to barrel past the entrance. Ring stood up and shook his head. Glanced down he saw Broken was dazed, landing a few finishing blows while he got the chance before he stood up and stalked back to his fathers side. Since he had the chance he glanced at his father. There were two long gashes on his left shoulder, one down his flank, and a deep gash on his chest, just below his neck. 

Ring and his father whipped around when a scream cut through the air. Ring made out Rag's stubby tail disappearing into the den and his mother was lying on her side, panting heavily. Ring charged across the grass and into the den. Rag was raking his claws along Iris's spine. She screamed in pain. Ring charged into Rag's shoulder, them both crashing into the far wall of the den. Ring twisted his body with one quick motion and grabbed Rag by the scruff. Ring dragged him out of the den, anger fueling him. Rag hissed and howled in protest.