[TB] DAWN -- Chapter 11 (Patreon)

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“Great StarClan,” Wolftooth breathed.

Stoneheart stared down at the camp, panting, the blood roaring in his ears. Smaller monsters, their pelts bright yellow, were crawling all over the barrier that had been built up by ShadowClan cats for seasons beyond counting.

The training area was already gone, buried beneath the paws of a great, big monster with a massive tail. Stoneheart watched as that tail rammed its silver tip against a nearby pine tree, sending a spray of pine wood into the air. The smell of sap clouded Stoneheart’s nostrils, and he could hear the screeches and yowls of his Clanmates over the scream of monsters.

The usual camp entrance was blocked by a Twoleg monster, and with the training grounds taken over... there’s nowhere for them to run, Stoneheart thought, his heart plummeting.

“Nightwing!” Pinewhisker howled.

The young tabby tom burst past, before Wolftooth or Stoneheart could stop him. Bristling, Wolftooth cursed and followed.

Stoneheart scrambled down the slope and towards the camp, putting on speed until it felt like his paws weren't part of his body any longer. He recalled Crowpaw’s instruction – stretch your legs to your limits, he’d said. His limbs definitely felt like they were at their limit, now.

With no safe way in, one had to be made – Wolftooth and Stoneheart caught up with Pinewhisker behind the elder’s den, and together they plowed their way through the bristles and brambles that surrounded the camp. Stoneheart grimaced, feeling thorns pulling at his pelt, but he ignored it – he and Wolftooth wedged their claws into the tightly woven branches and pulled with all their might until something snapped and gave way. The tang of blood was in the air when the three toms had finally managed to force their way in.

“ShadowClan!” Russetstar was yowling, above the scream of the Twoleg monsters. She stood on the Clanrock, her spine bristling with alarm. “ShadowClan, rally!”

It felt as if no one could hear her – Stoneheart stumbled into the clearing, eyes wide – his Clanmates were struggling to get their bearings, tripping over one another in their efforts to find someplace to go. All around, the Twoleg monsters loomed, their Twolegs milling about and shouting at one another. Did they not notice the cats inside the thicket they were destroying?

“Behind the elder’s den!” Stoneheart shouted into the crowd. “Hurry!”

He had to repeat himself thrice before some cat – Talonstripe – heard him. The younger warrior took up Stoneheart’s message, spreading it through the alarmed cats with a strong yowl.

Atop the Clanrock, Russetstar glanced Stoneheart’s way, her eyes sparkling with gratitude. “ShadowClan, evacuate!” Russetstar yowled, her voice strained. “Behind the elder’s den, now! Blackfoot, get Littlecloud! Orre, the elders! I’ll handle the queens!”

She leaped off of the Clanrock and into the crowd. Stoneheart lost sight of her – the Clan was surging as one, finally armed with orders and a place to go. Blackfoot ducked into the medicine cat’s den, and Stoneheart heard Littlecloud’s panicked mew as he was suddenly thrust out into the open, leaves scattering around his paws. Orre and Skipnose immediately began to herd the elders, pushing at Runningnose and Boulder – but Brick stumbled, falling behind.

Stoneheart put his paws to work, pushing through the crowd. He protected Brick with his body while he helped her to her paws. The old she-cat was trembling, gasping for breath, with eyes wide to their whites. She couldn’t speak, she was so panicked and pained – Stoneheart had to slowly, slowly push her towards the break in the barrier his patrol had made.

“I’ve got her,” Orre promised at the hole. Boulder and Runningnose were already outside, panting in a ragged circle. Orre grasped Brick by her scruff, pulling her through. On the other side, he meowed, “Get the kits!”

Stoneheart nodded. He turned about and nearly tripped over Duskwhisker and her son, Smokepaw, who were making their way through. Behind them was Redpaw, her eyes wide and her legs trembling. Stoneheart pressed himself up against the elder’s den to make room. Wolftooth, Cedarheart, and Finchsong came next, with Willowkit and Rushkit dangling from their jaws. Stoneheart brushed his muzzle against Finchsong’s - there were no words for this destruction.

There was a loud crack, and a groan – the air felt ominously still, for a long moment, and then there was a deafening crash, and a fresh wave of yowls from the cats that hadn’t yet evacuated. Stoneheart forced his way through the crowd and saw that the pine tree that had shaded the training area had been felled, its branches still quivering in a pile just beyond the camp walls.

The massive Twoleg monster that had hunted the tree was still for a moment, its tail, topped with a massive silver disk ringed with claws, hanging in the air. Then, it revved up again, roaring to life – the disk began to spin so rapidly that it was almost hypnotizing... before it stretched and moved itself over to the back of the twin pines.

Stoneheart’s heart leaped into his mouth. “Get out!” he screamed. “Everyone, get out now!”

He hoped he could be heard over the scream of monsters and Twolegs. Stoneheart forced himself through the crowd, passing Blackfoot and Littlecloud and Pansytail. The tortoiseshell she-cat grabbed Stoneheart by the tail, and he turned, staring into her wide, worried eyes.

“I can’t find Russetstar!” she yowled, her voice desperate. “Please!”

“I’ll find her,” Stoneheart screeched back. “Go!”

Turning back to the camp, Stoneheart was shocked – it seemed like almost every cat was gone. He’d never seen the ShadowClan camp so empty, not since he’d first stepped paw in it. Without the warriors in the shadows, or Russetstar on the Clanrock, it all felt so exposed and vulnerable.

He spotted a flash of ginger fur. Russetstar was backing out of the nursery, a kit in her jaws. Stoneheart crossed the clearing in three heartbeats, taking the kit from her mouth. It mewled and kicked and screamed, alarmed without its mother.

“Tallpoppy, we need to go,” Russetstar yowled into the nursery.

“Applekit is stuck!” came the queen’s cry from within. “She’s tangled in the briars!”

Russetstar’s jaws opened, but whatever she meant to say was lost in the scream of the monster’s tail ramming into the twin pines. Russetstar pushed her way into the nursery, but Stoneheart could do nothing with a kit in his jaws. He turned back to the elder’s den, heart pounding in his throat.

He passed the kit off to Oakfur, who was the only cat on the inside of the camp. Oakfur’s mouth was too stuffed with the kit to ask the question that was clearly on his mind – it was too loud to talk, so Stoneheart signed in pawspeak, “Go! I’m getting Russetstar and Tallpoppy!”

Oakfur nodded and pushed his way through. Stoneheart turned back, heading for the nursery again. He thanked StarClan – it seemed like Tallpoppy and Russetstar had managed to untangle Applekit. The two she-cats were coming out of the nursery now, Tallpoppy’s two remaining kits in their jaws. Stoneheart met them in the middle, taking Marshkit from Russetstar.

“Hurry,” Russetstar signed rapidly. “I need to see if anyone is left.”

Stoneheart insisted with his tail, “There’s no more time!” He gestured to the twin pines – when they crashed down, they would take the whole camp with them.

Russetstar faltered, but sighed. “Go, then,” she said, gesturing with a paw.

Tallpoppy needed no more encouragement – she rushed past, tail up, Applekit swinging from her jaws. Stoneheart paused, looking into Russetstar’s eyes. The dark ginger she-cat's gaze was filled with sorrow as she took in the camp – empty, falling apart. Did she think it was her fault?

Two cracks split the air, each loud as thunder.

Stoneheart had no time to react as two dark shadows fell upon the main clearing. Russetstar’s eyes flew wide to their whites, and she rammed into Stoneheart, pushing him clear just as the twin pines fell. Stoneheart was nearly shoved into the camp boundary as the pine nearest him bounced on the Clanrock and rolled his way, stopping just short of Marshkit’s whiskers by the blessing of its many branches.

There was silence as the dust began to settle – then Marshkit began to cry, and Stoneheart felt his limbs come to life. The twin pines had, as Stoneheart had thought, consumed the entire camp in their wake, their broken branches tangled into an impenetrable thicket while their thick trunks stuck out awkwardly around the Clanrock.

Stoneheart had known what fate would await the forest, but that didn't stop the destruction of his home from hurting so badly.

“What happened?” Pansytail’s head came through the hole in the wall. Her eyes widened, and she shrieked, “Russetstar!”

With a kit in his mouth, Stoneheart couldn’t stop the tortoiseshell she-cat from clambering through the hole and over the nearest pine trunk, her dappled tail disappearing over the other side. In the distance, Twolegs were milling about the first pine, pointing and talking, and the tail on the tree-eater was moving again, heading for the last tree that stood over ShadowClan camp.

He felt a tug, and saw that Talonstripe was attempting to take his brother from Stoneheart. He gave up Marshkit willingly, thanking Talonstripe with a nod before he followed Pansytail over the trunk of the pine, ignoring the rough feel of the old bark against his belly.

Blood roared again in Stoneheart’s ears as he slid over the other side. What if Russetstar was dead? He prayed to StarClan that it wasn’t so, but even as his paws landed on flat earth, he saw Pansytail dragging Russetstar’s body out from beneath the tangled branches. She was covered in sap and needles, and blood was trickling out from her jaws.

No, Stoneheart thought, his heart dropping. He pressed his muzzle into Russetstar’s fur, feeling emotion welling up in him. The sap clinging to her fur made his eyes sting. She had pushed him out of the way, saved his life. It should be me beneath the tree, not her!

Beside him, Pansytail curled herself around her mate. “Please, StarClan,” she breathed, licking Russetstar’s ear. “Send her back... Please...”

As if StarClan heard her, Russetstar suddenly jerked – she took a deep, deep breath, and lifted her head. Her eyes, watering from the strong scent of pinewood, opened. Within them, Stoneheart saw something strange – a light, one of many, winking out. As Russetstar blinked sap from her eyes, that light did not return, and Stoneheart felt a strange prickle at the base of his spine.

Russetstar exhaled, and rasped, “I’m here...”

“Oh, thank StarClan!” Pansytail wailed.

Stoneheart pressed his muzzle into his leader’s shoulder. “I thought you’d died...” he confessed. “For good.”

“It’ll take more than a tree to kill me,” Russetstar declared. She pushed herself to her paws, gasping as she staggered. “We need to go. Now.”

Stoneheart nodded. He turned away, letting Pansytail support Russetstar over the pine trunk. Stoneheart helped Russetstar on the other side, using his body to break her stumbling fall. By the time all three cats were over the pine tree, the tailed monster had started up again – but before it could cut into the last tree, they were out of the camp and into the marshlands.

The rest of the Clan had clustered themselves on the hill that Stoneheart, Wolftooth, and Pinewhisker had paused at on their way back from the Twolegplace. At the sight of their leader, a cheer rose from the beleaguered warriors, though their eyes were glazed with pain.

“Everyone is accounted for,” Blackfoot announced, stepping forward. He swallowed, his eyes clouded with emotion.

“What do we do now?” asked Willowkit, who was trembling beside his mother. Beside him, Rushkit seemed unable to speak, or focus at all. Cedarheart licked his sons between the ears, and Finchsong pressed her muzzle into her mate’s fur.

Russetstar sighed. She raised her chin, stepping away from Pansytail. Her eyes scanned the crowd – her Clan, trembling and scared for their survival. Stoneheart saw the determination in Russetstar’s eyes, and felt a flame of admiration for his leader.

“We head for Sunningrocks,” Russetstar declared. “If ThunderClan and WindClan won’t leave with us, then we head for the lake on our own.”

“With those that we’ve lost,” Stoneheart added. Russetstar glanced at him, her eyes confused – and then they flashed with recollection. Stoneheart urged, “We know where they are, Russetstar.”

Relief passed through Russetstar’s gaze. “Good,” she decided. Turning back to her Clan, she meowed, “Let’s go. There’s nothing more for us here.”

Russetstar led the way down the slope, towards the Thunderpath. Stoneheart fell in step beside her, his limbs aching. Blackfoot followed them, his tail up through his eyes were downcast. Littlecloud stumbled by his side, murmuring a prayer under his breath. Pinewhisker was murmuring comforting words to Nightwing, who was limping, staring hopelessly into nothingness. Behind them all, ShadowClan clustered together, silent and scared.

As they walked away, a fourth and final crack split the air in two – the final tree crashed to the ground a few moments later.

The ShadowClan camp was destroyed, and not one of them looked back.