Heartstar's rise : Book one

Ch. 54

            "Heartpaw, wake up," someone said into Heartpaw's ear. He moved away and looked up at Rio. He groaned but slowly got up. 

             "What?" he asked. 

             "Remember that task I had for you?" Rio said. 

             "Yes but you didn't tell me what it was," huffed Heartpaw, feeling grumpy. 

             "Come," said Rio. He led Heartpaw to one of the openings, which Lavender had called a window. They jumped onto the sill and looked down at giant Twoleg dens. Rio jumped from the window sill onto another Twoleg den roof. He padded on the top on a pipe and turned to Heartpaw. 

              "Come on," Rio called. Heartpaw looked down. The drop was high. He gulped. 

              "Can't we walk from the ground?" Heartpaw said. Rio shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he crouched and launched himself onto the other side. He landed and balanced himself. Rio watched him then started running to the other side of the roof. Heartpaw ran after him. Soon, they had crossed at least five Twoleg dens. Finally, Rio stopped on the roof of the highest one and they watched the world below. 

              "See that house over there?" Rio asked. Heartpaw raked his mind for the word "house". Twoleg den. He nodded. 

               "Yeah," he said. 

               "You need to go in and get into the bedroom, into the cupboard and get the fluffy fake fur coat and bring it back," Rio smiled. "Easy." Heartpaw frowned. He hadn't understood half of what Rio has said. Rio saw his confused look and sighed. He sat down. 

              "The bedroom is where the Twolegs sleep, or HUMANS," Rio explained. "The cupboard is where they keep their clothes, or pelts, if you like. A coat, is one of their types of pelts. One of their pelts in the cupboard is going to be very fluffy and you're going to get that. And bring it back." Heartpaw slowly understood and nodded slightly. He watched the den from above. It was quiet and there seemed to be no movement inside. Rio sighed. 

              "Look, inside, there will be stairs, which are like the ones in our house or den, if you go up, then the bedroom will be one of the rooms. Now go," Rio said. "I'll be back at sunset." Rio slipped away, leaving Heartpaw alone. How was he to trust Rio? He thought about running away. But he couldn't, could he? No. He'd just do this last thing for Rio, how hard could it be? He looked down and leapt onto one of the overflowing bins. He padded towards the house and crawled under a wire fence. He walked up to the front door and was happy to find that it was very badly protected. A small flap, slightly bigger than Heartpaw, let him slip in easily. He looked around. Different smells came to Heartpaw's nose. The smell of..., food, delicious food and dusty, murky smell. But mostly, Twoleg and... DOG! Heartpaw's fur rose. He could smell the sharp scent of dog. He sniffed harder. It was mostly to the left. He went to the room on the right. The floor was cold and white. The walls were white but there were some sort of High Stumps all around the wall. And there was a large white pressed onto the wall. It smelt strongly of food, although the food didn't smell fresh. The smell of food in there was overwhelming. He slipped into another room cautiously, looking around. The floor was brown now. He took careful steps as he passed another room. Inside, it was dark, he peered in and his eyes adjusted. There was some sort of large nest in the middle. He walked up to it and jumped onto the flat surface. But it wasn't hard. It was soft and comfortable. The room smelt of warmth and dust. He slipped away and suddenly, he heard something. A soft sniffling. Then some scratching. Then whimpering. He looked at a door in front of him. The noise was coming from inside. He looked up at a small metal stick on the door. He frowned. He knew you had to push it somehow. He leapt at it and his paws scrambled at it but the door didn't move. There was a small whimper and more scrambling on the other side of the door. Heartpaw knew he probably shouldn't open the door but the curiosity was overwhelming. With one more leap, his paws pushed the metal thing down and the door swung open. He landed on the ground then heard some licking and heavy breathing. His eyes opened wide when he stared face to face with a white, fluffy creature. Heartpaw's mind raced. Dog! The dog's tail was wagging angrily and its tongue was lolling out of its mouth. Without thinking, Heartpaw raced off. The dog cocked his head then scampered after Heartpaw. Heartpaw raced into another room to find himself trapped. The creature raced to him, giving small barks. Heartpaw's heart raced. Then the dog pâwed Heartpaw amiably and licked him. Heartpaw shuddered and stood still. He took a deep gulp. Then he hissed angrily. His fur rose. The dog took a step back and started to whimper. Heartpaw ran away. He raced up some stairs and into another quiet room. A low growl resonated. He turned around and squeaked in fear. He leapt up and scrambled onto some wooden thing. He looked down at the biggest dog he'd ever seen (he'd only seen two dogs in his life, including the small one downstairs). It had brown and black fur and big brown eyes. It had a long tail and large paws. Heartpaw quivered on the wooden thing. The dog barked and growled. It snapped its jaws up at Heartpaw. Heartpaw stood still, rooted to the spot. Fear slowly swirled in his mind, taking over. The dog then jumped up, His front paws almost resting near Heartpaw. It brought its head to Heartpaw. Its jaws opened and a big growled resonated. It snapped at Heartpaw. Its teeth were long and sharp and his mouth wet with saliva. It flung itself angrily at Heartpaw's brown thing (which was a desk). Suddenly, there was some shouting. Twolegs. A hand grabbed the dog and the dog whimpered but glared at Heartpaw. Another Twoleg brought the dog outside. Then slammed the door and came back in. Then they both watched Heartpaw, murmuring to themselves. Heartpaw shivered with fear, watching the Twolegs with anticipation. His tail beneath his two hind legs.