Dawnpelt's Anger

Chapter 6

Jayfeather awoke to the sound of quiet whispering. He pricked his ears and heard Dawnpelt and Ginger murmuring quietly to not wake the others. Jayfeather sat up, still feeling a little drowsy from the poppy seed.

"Ready to keep traveling?" Jayfeather asked them.

"Yes." they chorused.

Jayfeather prodded Briarlight and she stirred. "Time to keep moving." he meowed, "We're almost to the mountains."

"Can I go with you guys to the mountains?" Ginger asked, grooming his thick, ruffled fur.

"Sure. We'll need the extra help." Jayfeather meowed gratefully.

Ginger let out a little mrrow of excitement. Briarlight sat up and started licking a paw.

"Let's go." Jayfeather meowed.

They pushed their way out of the bushes and headed through the woods towards the towering mountains. Dawnpelt, Ginger, and Briarlight chattered like squirrels, while Jayfeather stayed quiet. Jayfeather brought up the rear, making sure nothing was following them.

"When I was a rogue, I had to fight off a group of feral cats once!" Ginger meowed proudly, "There were five of them and I beat every single one. I didn't kill them though."

Arrogant fleabag. Jayfeather thought, whiskers twitching.

"If I could, I'd like to join a clan. I love fighting and hunting. Dawnpelt told me about your clans, but I prefer to live where it's cold so I won't join you guys. I'm thinking about just living alone up in the mountains. I was just a little kit last time I was in the mountains, but now I want to live there. I only moved to twolegplace because I was too young to survive. I was a loner ever since I was one moon old because my parents abandoned me. I have no idea why... I was too young to remember. But anyway's, I'm thinking about forming a clan of my own up in the mountains! It's nice and cool there and I-"

Jayfeather slapped his tail over Ginger's mouth but he still kept talking, his voice muffled. Briarlight and Dawnpelt purred with amusement.

Finally, they reached the mountains and started climbing. Jayfeather felt the cool autumn breeze turn into cold, icy air as they got higher. At about sun-high they had made it to the snowy part of the peaks.

"It's so cold!" Briarlight exclaimed shivers rippling her brown fur.

Ginger was confidently stalking about, his thick pelt keeping him warm and he leaped easily over boulders and small rivers. Briarlight was panting and struggling to keep up, though they were going at a slower pace for her. Jayfeather closed his eyes against the high wind, knowing it wouldn't matter anyways since he was blind. Snowflakes flurried down from the thick- clouded sky, soon sticking to their pelts, turning them white. They pushed on, clustering together to keep warm.

It's colder than I remember, Jayfeather thought, sneezing, I wonder how the tribe is doing with prey.

They stopped by a stream and drank, even though it was so cold it stung their throats. And they kept on trudging, the snow up to their belly-fur. Jayfeather pressed against Briarlight, knowing her leg may get frost-bite from this snow storm. He did not want Graystripe and Millie to loose their daughter, and he definately didn't want another death to be his fault. After a while, even Ginger was shivering, snow clumped in his thick pelt.

Do we even know where we're going? Jayfeather wondered, regret stabbing him.

A robin chirped above them and Ginger leaped swiftly into the tree and caught it, slamming it to the ground.