Warriors: A New Beginning #1: The Beginning

Chapter 32

"Wavepelt! Wake up!"

Wavepelt sat bolt upright. It had been quite a while since her dream with Wolfpaw. Her legs were now pretty much fully healed. She could walk without pain, but she ran with a limp.

Trinity was in front of her.

"What?" Wavepelt asked.

"It's dogs!" Trinity's eyes were wide and her fur was bushed out. "They're in Ray's house!"

"How did they get inside?"

"I don't know. But he needs your help! I know you don't like him." Trinity stared pleadingly at Wavepelt. "But you need to help him. What about your warrior code? Does it say something about helping cats?"

"It says that warriors should reject the life of a kittypet," Wavepelt mewed. "Not to insult you or anything."

Trinity rolled her eyes. "Please, Wavepelt!"

Wavepelt gazed at the kittypet and realized how much this meant to her.

"All right," she decided. "Which way to his Twoleg nest?"

She shot out of the catflap, leapt onto and over the fence, and headed in the direction Trinity was going. As they got closer, Wavepelt started to hear barking. Dogs!

***

They reached the garden of Ray's Twoleg nest to see it ravaged.

There was a gaping hole in the fence, and the plants were all dug up, strewn all around. Trinity gasped.

"We need to find Ray!" Wavepelt exclaimed. Even though he's obnoxious.

She raced into the nest and saw it destroyed like the garden.

"Oh no..." she breathed.

The table was on its side and the chairs were everywhere. A sofa was ripped to shreds and dirt was all over the floor.

Trinity went up to Wavepelt's side, her eyes widened. "Ray's in terrible danger!"

Wavepelt tore off through the nest, following Ray's fear-scent and the dog scent. How did dogs get here? And why here?

"Ray?" she called.

Trinity was following behind her, surprisingly fast for a kittypet.

Barking and howling answered Wavepelt's call. How many are there? she thought. It sounds like thousands!

"They're upstairs!" Trinity realized.

Wavepelt nodded, running up the stairs as fast as she could. Stairs were unfamiliar to her, with their sharp hills all the way up.

She reached the top and stared in horror at the scene before her.

Three enormous dogs were facing Ray savagely. One tried to bite his neck, but the orange and white tom dodged and clawed its nose. He was fighting bravely, but Wavepelt could see that Ray was getting tired.

"We need to help him!" Trinity exclaimed.

"I need to help him," Wavepelt corrected. "You don't have any fighting experience. I don't want you to get hurt."

Trinity nodded slowly and dashed to cover.

Wavepelt lunged at the nearest dog, unsheathing her claws to dig them into the canine's pelt. She had never faced a dog before— it had the quickness of a fox and the strength of a badger.

The dog howled and shook, trying to throw Wavepelt off. But Wavepelt gripped it firmly, planting her jaws in its neck to end its life. She hadn't felt this alive for so long... and she was determined to destroy or drive these dogs off.