[TB] DAWN -- Chapter 14 (Patreon)

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The patrol hurried through the forest, quiet as mice. Stoneheart felt a sense of joy flooding his pelt as he ran beside Mistyfoot and Crowpaw, feeling their muscles flex in time with one another like they had on the journey. Sandstorm led the way, her tail up confidently, always a stride ahead. Onewhisker, though thinned by hunger, was still just as fast as any other WindClan cat, and Swiftfoot seemed propelled by determination alone, his eyes burning. Wolftooth ran beside them, his thick fur streaming in the wind, while Falcontail took up the rear, bounding through the forest with sure paws.

It did not take long before the patrol left the safety of the trees. The transition from undergrowth and the shelter of the leaves was jarring – suddenly the world was clear and barren, littered with stumps and broken trees, with weak leaf-fall sunlight beating down without restraint. With no trees, the forest looked like a cat shaved of their fur – every pit, hill, or stone... all of it was suddenly starkly exposed.

Stoneheart had to force down a wave of emotion. Though he was ShadowClan, he knew this land, too. He’d grown up here, hunted and played and learned here... and now it was all gone. He could barely recognize ThunderClan’s hunting trails, even as they passed over several on their way.

It took Stoneheart too long to recognize the training hollow without the oaks and ferns that had encircled it. Now, it was just a sandy spot in a sea of nothing. It didn’t even smell like ThunderClan territory anymore.

“Don’t look too hard,” Mistyfoot huffed. Stoneheart could see that his sister was in just as much pain, if not more, as they leaped the dry streambed outside the training hollow. “We’ve already said our good-byes.”

Stoneheart nodded in understanding, pushing himself to move faster. Dawn had passed, now, and the sun was rising through the pale blue sky. The roar of monsters was in full swing, but from the sounds of them they were further away – Stoneheart prayed to StarClan, hoping his warrior ancestors would do all they could to keep those beasts at bay.

Soon enough, Sandstorm called the patrol to a halt with a quick signal from her tail. Snakerocks rose up ahead – or what remained of them. Stoneheart was both grateful and sad that such an important place had been shuffled about and destroyed, the jumble of rocks rearranged to remove the natural caves that they had made. As the patrol fanned out, keeping themselves low, though, Stoneheart’s gaze focused on something far more important.

There was a structure in the center of Snakerocks, not unlike a Twoleg den – it was longer than the dens that were in the Twolegplace, and thinner besides; a big, boxy shape that reflected the sunlight strangely. There were some tiny windows on the long sides, but from this distance Stoneheart could not see what was inside. The rectangular door stood open, though, and a few Twolegs dressed in white fabric were milling in and out. There was a monster, but it was silent – a strange creature, big and boxy, too, with a glossy white pelt. It’s back was open, and the inside was like a cave.

“It looks quiet,” Onewhisker murmured, neck craned above the drying grass for a good look. “Crowpaw?”

“I only see two Twolegs,” the WindClan apprentice reported. “And inside that den... I see shiny things.”

“Are they boxy?” Wolftooth asked. “Are there cats inside them?”

“It’s hard to tell,” Crowpaw answered. “But the Twolegs are messing with them.”

Stoneheart’s heart was thudding in his ears, and he sank his claws into the earth with anticipation. Branch, you had better be right!

“What do we do?” Falcontail asked, pulling forward to Sandstorm’s side.

Before Sandstorm could answer, there was movement in the den – one of the white-clad Twolegs had emerged, carrying with them a large box made of shiny webbing, like some Twoleg fences that Stoneheart had seen on the journey. Inside that box...

“Brightheart!” Stoneheart had to put himself in front of Swiftfoot to stop the ThunderClan tom from lunging forward. Stoneheart felt Swiftfoot’s claws digging into his pelt as he forced the black-and-white tom back.

“That answers that question,” Onewhisker muttered, hunkering down even more, wary of the Twoleg’s sight. Even a WindClan cat must feel exposed here, Stoneheart guessed. “This must be where the missing cats are.”

Stoneheart felt Swiftfoot’s heartbeat increase as Brightheart’s cage was put into the cavernous monster. The white-pelted Twoleg lingered for a moment, making noises, but soon enough turned away to return to the den. Another Twoleg with another cage passed him, but Stoneheart did not recognize the golden cat inside – they did not seem happy, though.

Recalling what Branch had said, Stoneheart came to a terrifying realization – The Twolegs are taking them to Twolegplace!

“We need to go,” Swiftfoot growled, pushing against Stoneheart with shocking strength. “Sandstorm!”

Sandstorm’s ear twitched. “I know,” she hissed at her Clanmate. She turned her green gaze back to the scene before her, clearly thinking. “I have no idea how many cats are in that den – we'll need to work fast. Onewhisker – you, Mistyfoot, Crowpaw, and I will distract the Twolegs. Wolftooth, I need you to lead the others in breaking free the cats. Can you do that?”

Wolftooth drew forward, narrowing his eyes at the cages. “I think I’ve seen these sorts of cages before,” he meowed. He looked to Sandstorm, his eyes flashing with determination. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Good,” Sandstorm mewed. She looked back at the patrol, and meowed, “There’s every chance that as soon as we begin, the Twolegs will call for a backup patrol. We can’t be caught – rescue every cat you can, and waste no time. Understood?”

Every cat nodded.

“What if we can’t get them all?” Onewhisker wondered, a tremor in his voice.

Sandstorm’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not an option.”

Sandstorm raised her tail again, and Stoneheart stepped away from Swiftfoot to take his place in the line. Heart thudding in his ears, his eyes focused on the Twolegs crossing in and out of the den, he barely heard Sandstorm’s signal over straining every sense to see if Rowanclaw was in any of those cages.

“Now!”

The group surged forward – Sandstorm and Mistyfoot broke off immediately, heading for the Twoleg putting the golden cat's cage inside the monster. Onewhisker and Crowpaw rushed for the door of the den, yowling in unison and frightening the emerging Twoleg so much that they dropped the cage they were carrying – it bounced against the dirt, unlatching itself and releasing the cat inside. The Twoleg stumbled, taking off after the two WindClan cats.

“Cloudtail!” Swiftfoot yowled.

The thick-furred she-cat had to take a moment to shake out her fur and regain her paws. “Swiftfoot?” she meowed, starry-eyed at her mate. “Is that really you? What’s happening?”

“There’s no time,” Wolftooth growled. He lashed his tail at the den. “We need to get everyone out!”

Stoneheart barely heard anything else – he was already inside the den, claws skidding against the hard floor. On each wall were cages upon cages, stacked one atop the other. The sight of so many shiny lines dazzled Stoneheart’s eyes for a moment, but soon enough he could tell that, thankfully, not every cage contained a cat.

The scents inside the narrow space were overwhelming – he could barely tell what was cat or what was Twoleg, and the commotion outside had the cats inside yowling all at once:

“Get us out of here!”

“Help!”

“I want to go home!”

One voice pierced through all the others, though, stabbing into Stoneheart’s very core:

“Stoneheart!”

Rowanclaw!

The dark ginger tom was pressed against a cage in the middle row, one of his paws extended as if to wave. Stoneheart was below him immediately, and wasted no time climbing the cages to look his mate in the eye after so, so long. He balanced himself on the thin wooden ledge between each layer of cats, pressing his muzzle in between the shiny webs to touch noses with Rowanclaw.

“You came,” Rowanclaw whispered, eyes round and shining with emotion. “I prayed to StarClan every night that you would...”

“I’m here,” Stoneheart breathed. For a long moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Rowanclaw – he looked unharmed, and smelled fed, even if that food was Twoleg pellets. He breathed in Rowanclaw’s scent and immediately felt himself relax. Everything would be okay, so long as he could get Rowanclaw out.

“Move, lovebird!”

Stoneheart felt Wolftooth’s body force its way up next to him. Stoneheart edged backwards, suddenly aware of the rest of the patrol gathering up on the floor. Each looked up with wide, curious eyes as Wolftooth stared at the latch holding Rowanclaw’s cage shut.

“I’ve tried,” Rowanclaw sighed, “but I can’t open it from the inside.”

Wolftooth nodded. “It’s all right,” he breathed, “I can do this.”

Stoneheart watched as Wolftooth opened his jaws as wide as they could go. Carefully, he placed his teeth inside strange looking loops positioned over the latch – when he clenched his jaw and pulled, the door sprang free, nearly hitting Stoneheart in the face.

Rowanclaw leaped out, purring, and Stoneheart sprang down to meet him. He butted his head against his mate as soon as his paws hit solid ground, rubbing his cheek against Rowanclaw’s furiously. For a moment, this was all that mattered – but the situation they were in reared its head quickly:

“Get moving!” Wolftooth shouted. “Get them all out – and be careful, you could break a tooth doing this!”

The other cats spread out and, reluctantly, Stoneheart had to part from Rowanclaw. He crossed over to a sleek black cat, stretching his jaws wide to pop the latch and let him out. The black cat gave no thanks, speeding out without a word. Stoneheart sighed, and moved on.

“There’s Robinwing!” called Swiftfoot, popping the WindClan she-cat free.

Some of the cats that were freed stayed to help others, but soon enough the den was empty but for the Clan cats – Stoneheart's jaws ached from pinching so many latches, and he scanned the cages. “Where’s Tawnypelt?” he asked, looking to Rowanclaw and Robinwing.

“I don’t know,” Robinwing admitted.

Rowanclaw frowned. “I think they took her out first!”

“I thought Brightheart was the first!” Cloudtail wailed, her eyes wide.

Swiftfoot did not wait – he plunged through the crowd, muscles flexing. Stoneheart followed him outside, feeling the hot breath of the others on his hind legs. The monster outside had roared to life – one of the Twolegs had escaped from the distracting patrol and was inside, trying to get his beast to move. The other Twoleg was still struggling, Crowpaw and Onewhisker clinging stubbornly to their legs.

Mistyfoot and Sandstorm were inside the monster, trying to get Brightheart’s cage open. As Stoneheart leaped into the monster, Falcontail and Swiftfoot beside him, he saw that Tawnypelt was trying to get her cage open from the inside, sticking her paws awkwardly through the webbing to no avail.

“Brightheart’s is stuck!” wailed Mistyfoot. “We can’t get it open!”

Swiftfoot wasted no time – he pushed Sandstorm and Mistyfoot aside and set to work, clawing at the latch. Stoneheart didn’t have time to think about how strange it felt to be inside the rumbling monster – he headed for Tawnypelt’s cage.

“Hurry!” the tortoiseshell cried. “The monster!”

Stoneheart’s jaws shook as he clamped down on the latch. He gave a tug, and found it sticking stubbornly. Sore, he pulled back and cried, “Falcontail! Help!”

The dappled tom, who had been keeping watch on the edge of the monster, jolted; but soon he was by Stoneheart’s side. Stoneheart grasped the latch again and, with Falcontail’s help pulling at the door, the two of them managed to pull it open – Stoneheart fell onto his back, dazed and breathless and feeling as if his jaw had been broken.

If my teeth don’t fall out after this, I’ll be shocked!

The monster gave a sharp jolt, and Brightheart let out a wail of panic. Stoneheart tried to get to his paws, but the monster lurched. To his horror, he saw the land outside start to move. His heart leapt into his throat: The monster is trying to run!

With a frustrated snarl, Swiftfoot switched tactics – instead of trying the latch, he whirled around the cage and slammed his shoulder into it. Seeing what he was trying to do, Mistyfoot joined him – together, with a few shoves, they managed to push Brightheart’s cage – and themselves – out of the monster and onto the ground. Brightheart’s cage broke open like Cloudtail’s, and the ginger-and-white she-cat sprang free on shaking legs.

“Run!” Sandstorm yowled.

The monster was chugging now. Stoneheart dug his claws into the interior, watching as, slowly, the cats he’d rescued were being left behind. For a moment, he was terrified of jumping out – then he locked eyes with Rowanclaw, and saw how terrified his mate was.

I am never leaving you again!

Stoneheart leaped, landing awkwardly on the ground and stumbling onto his side. He got up, though, huffing dust and monster stink. He looked back. The monster was still crawling along the earth, slow like a beetle, but Tawnypelt, Sandstorm, and Falcontail were still inside!

“Jump!” cried Mistyfoot. “Sandstorm, jump!”

“Come on!” howled Robinwing.

Brightheart was shaking as she screeched, “Go, go!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Stoneheart saw the second Twoleg finally break free of Crowpaw and Onewhisker. The two WindClan cats were breathless, hunger sapping their strength – they couldn’t give chase as the Twoleg sprinted after the monster, wailing and waving their paws.

Stoneheart saw Sandstorm’s mouth moving, but couldn’t hear what the ThunderClan deputy was saying. The running Twoleg was getting closer and closer to the cavern inside the monster, clearly aiming to jump inside. Falcontail was bristling, and Tawnypelt opened her jaws, too, as if in argument.

The Twoleg crossed in front of the cats, catching up to the monster. When the Twoleg leaped, springing off awkwardly on their two legs, Tawnypelt and Falcontail jumped out of the monster around them. Stoneheart saw a flash of ginger fur – Sandstorm tried to jump, but the Twoleg blocked her with its paws and massive body.

The monster’s doors shut behind them, trapping Sandstorm inside. Bumping along the dusty landscape it, and ThunderClan’s deputy, were soon out of sight.