The Search for Jetfur

Chapter 27

 While Flamepaw and Mothwing remained gone in search of cobwebs, Tigerstripe attempted to sleep. He had hoped a mid-day nap would soothe him, but it was hard to quiet his thoughts, especially with Krait's death flashing in his mind again and again. The sleep he was able to fall into was restless and short, and while awaking from yet another failed attempt at sleep, he let out a groan.

Tigerstripe glanced around, watching the others napping or talking quietly among themselves. Lupin seemed to be in less pain, but he at times let out a low growl. Tigerstripe still worried that the wolf was unsafe.

Tigerstripe rested his head on his paws, trying to fall back into sleep, when a faint sound came from behind him.

"Cat!" it called faintly.

Tigerstripe jolted upright, frightened. He glanced around, but saw no one. Curious, he headed through the bushes, wondering where the sound had come from. Dusty caught his glance and followed him.

"Hello?" Tigerstripe called as he padded through the bushes, glancing around. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes fixated on the sight before him.

In the distance, there were two-legs carrying various cages. One carried a dog, others some badgers. All the animals inside, however, appeared not to be moving. Were they all dead?

Amongst the animals, Tigerstripe could recognized the auburn coat of a fox.

"Cat!" came the faint call again.

Tigerstripe paused, realizing the sound had echoed from the caged fox's mouth. Tigerstripe paused for a moment, wondering why the poor animal was calling to him, when he suddenly recognized the fox's voice. It was Rain!

His heart leapt with anticipation, and he let out a shout, "Rain!" Suddenly, his legs began to move from under him, and he was off and running toward his trapped friend.

Dusty ran after him, completely confused.

"Who's Rain? Where are you going?" he called.

Tigerstripe ignored Dusty and kept on pursuing Rain until he arrived at the cage. Hers had not been taken yet, and it seemed the two-legs had not returned to fetch them yet. He came to a pause at the gate and fixated his gaze on Rain.

"Cat!" she exclaimed joyfully. In the few moons she'd been gone, Tigerstripe was surprised to see how much different she looked. She seemed to be fully grown now and much larger than Tigerstripe.

"Get down! They'll see you!" she whispered.

Tigerstripe paused and glanced over, noticing the two-legs had returned. The two-legs, however, did not seem to notice Tigerstripe as his pelt seemed to blend in with the bushes. Still, Tigerstripe didn't want to endanger Rain any more, and so he slowly crept down in the bushes, Dusty doing the same. Rain, meanwhile, watched helplessly through her cage.

As one two-leg grasped its hand around the candle of her cage, Tigerstripe couldn't take it anymore and launched at the two-leg. Dusty made a move to stop him, but it was too late. As Tigerstripe's claws sliced into the two-leg's thigh, the two-leg stumbled and threw the cage to the side. Rain shrieked and was slammed to the side of her cage as it began to roll away.

Tigerstripe ran after Rain, watching as the cage slowly descended down a hill. With a leap of faith, he leapt in front of the cage and let it hit him. He fell to the ground with a thud, and his entire body ached, but upon glancing up, he noticed the cage had slowly come to a standstill.