Warriors: Pebblescar's Reality

Chapter 22

Pebblescar led the kits farther and farther away from the camp, further and further away from everything they had ever known.

"Are we there yet?" Pebblekit wailed, stumbling over his own paws and grazing his nose on a rock.

"Almost, almost," Pebblescar reassured. "You can ride on my back if you want," he told the young kit, crouching to allow him an easier passage up.

Pebblescar winced as the kit's tiny claws dug into his back, but he stayed silent. When the kit had finished positioning himself, Pebblescar stood and nudged Rainkit, who had been asleep on her paws, into motion.

His destination was the Thunderpath at the edge of RiverClan territory. The kits were too young to travel a safe distance away from patrols, so Pebblescar was relying on the noise and stench of the Thunderpath to hide himself and the kits.

They approached the Thunderpath and Pebblescar led the kits underneath a bush that grew near the edge of it.

"It's stinky here!" Rainkit mewed in protest.

"Exactly," Pebblescar replied. "You don't want ShadowClan to find you and kill you, now do you?"

The she-kit quickly shook her head. Pebblescar crouched down and Pebblekit went sliding off of his back, already asleep.

"Get some rest," Pebblescar ordered the exhausted kits, who quickly flopped into a pile and fell asleep. Pebblescar glanced at the sun, considering. Should he go out and hunt while the sun was still out and risk being seen by a patrol, or should he wait until nightfall, making it harder to see? He made his decision quickly when his stomach rumbled, leaving the kits in the safety of the bush.

He made it to the river without being spotted by any patrols, and he caught two fish, eating the first one as soon as he had caught it. He grabbed the other one, intent on taking it back to the kits, when he heard distant voices and crouched down, letting the reeds conceal him.

"...Pebblescar?" he heard a voice ask, but he was unable to hear the beginning of the question.

"Pebblescar is dead," another cat said dismissively. "Probably a fox or something."

"You saw the teeth marks on Bumblebuzz! No fox did that. And anyways, we would have heard the kits yowling."

"Whatever," the other voice muttered, and their voices faded away as they moved on... towards the Thunderpath!

Pebblescar followed at a safe distance, going from hiding spot to hiding spot. He was fairly confident that the odor of the Thunderpath would mask the kits' scent, but, just to be safe, he plotted what the best way to cause a diversion would be. Could he possibly lure a monster off the Thunderpath?

But, to Pebblescar's relief, no distraction was necessary, as the patrol walked right past the hiding place. Satisfied, Pebblescar went back to the riverbank to retrieve his catch, and the patrol was long gone by the time he returned.

He dropped the fish next to the pile of sleeping kits, none of whom stirred. Pebblescar laid down to sleep, still exhausted from carrying Pebblekit and trekking across the territory.

Before he could fully drift off, a monster roared by, spewing fumes and shining its lights. Pebblescar jerked upright, now wide-awake. He turned towards the kits to make sure they were okay just in time to see Reedkit fall off of Rainkit's back.

Pebblescar smiled and nudged the kit back towards his siblings; he now understood how queens could spend hours simply watching their kits sleep. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get any sleep, Pebblescar spent his time chewing up the fish so that the kits, unable to digest solid foods yet, would be able to eat it. As the sun rose, Pebblescar stretched, his joints stiff from sitting all night.

Pebblekit opened his eyes and yawned. "Can we go back to RiverClan now?" he asked curiously.

"You should eat," Pebblescar responded evasively, and the small tom frowned.

"But Minnowfrost isn't-" he began to protest.

"Not milk, fish!" Pebblescar interrupted impatiently.

"Fish?" Rainkit's head popped up. "I've always wanted to eat fish! Minnowfrost says it's delicious!"

Pebblescar forced a purr. "Well, come and eat it, then!"

"Yay!" Rainkit bounded towards the fish on unsteady legs, Reedkit quickly following; however, Pebblekit still lingered uncertainly behind his siblings.

"Don't you want to try the fish?" Pebblescar asked.

"Where's Minnowfrost?" the young tom pouted.

"You see," Pebblescar took the young tom aside, unnoticed by the other two kits. "When ShadowClan invaded RiverClan, they took Minnowfrost back to ShadowClan with her," Pebblescar quickly invented.

"We have to rescue her, then!" the tom exclaimed, jumping to his paws.

"We will, but we have to prepare first. You don't want to be taken, too, do you?" The kit shook his head, eyes wide.

"So what we're going to do is go away for a little bit so you can get stronger. Then, we'll attack those mangy fox-hearts!" Pebblescar could see his own urge for revenge brewing in the young kit's eyes.

"Yeah! We'll make them pay!"

---

After all of the kits had eaten, Pebblescar led them to the edge of the Thunderpath.

"I'm going to take you over one at a time, okay?"

Reedkit's eyes were wide. "Won't the monsters eat us?"

Pebblescar laughed softly. "You'll be safe with me, don't worry."

Pebblescar grasped Pebblekit by his scruff, waiting for a moment when the Thunderpath was clear. Now! Pebblescar raced across the Thunderpath, the few brief seconds it took feeling like ages. He set the kit down a safe distance from the edge.

"Wait here, okay? Don't wander off or the long-fanged kit-eaters might get you!" Pebblescar warned, enjoying the kit's fear of his made-up terror.

Pebblescar waited for an opening and raced back across the Thunderpath, doing this twice more to retrieve all three kits.

He led the kits to the edge of the tree-cut place, telling them never to go in or approach the horrible beasts that lived there. He followed the fence line around to the back, deciding to make a den in a hollow provided by the roots of an old tree. They were a scant three tree-lengths from the tree-cut place, but he hoped that would act as a deterrent to any curious visitors.

Over the course of a few days he managed to build them all proper nests, hunt enough to provide for them, and slowly gain the kits' trust while twisting their minds against RiverClan.

At first, they refused to believe what he said, but as time went on and he continually brought them special treats and odd little things to play with, they grew to trust his stories of the brutality of RiverClan and of the nobility of his own actions. True, they still refused to hear a word said against Minnowfrost, but Pebblescar was sure that he would soon be able to sway them in this, as well.

All he needed was time.

Written by le Amazing Annco!