Warriors: Clockwise

< ------ Chapter Twenty-Four --->

"We have to go back," Hero choked out, as Smokewhisker half-dragged him away from the scene. Screeches echoed from the building, and the harder he tried to block them out, the deeper they penetrated his skull.

"We can't go back," Smokewhisker grunted, releasing a shuddering breath as he released his grip on Hero, and the tabby tom did all he could not to slump to the ground. "There won't be anything to go back to. We'll... we'll come back for them later."

Hero's heartbeat felt hollow in his chest.

Estelle nudged Hero's shoulder comfortingly. "We have to keep moving," she murmured softly, "Dusk and Lilypool bought us some time, but those cats are going to come after us again."

"She's right," Smokewhisker agreed, glancing over his shoulder at the building behind him, the fur on the back of his neck bristling in anticipation. "They'll be after us before long, we need to-"

"Estelle!"

The shout nearly made Smokewhisker jump, and he whirled to face the small black-and-white she-cat with such violent speed that she nearly tripped trying to leap out of the way.

Estelle stepped past Smokewhisker, shooting him a look as she proceeded to approach the frightened cat, who seemed to relax upon seeing her. "Firefly, do you have something to report?"

"Took me ages to f-find you," Firefly informed her, then to keep from stuttering, paused to take a few breaths. When she looked back up at Estelle, her fiery amber eyes were wide with urgency. "The tremors have reached the North District near the plantation, they're headed towards the North... nor..."

Smokewhisker darted towards Firefly and managed to catch her before she collapsed, chest heaving as her pupils narrowed to slits. "The North Faction camp?"

Firefly nodded absently, confirming Smokewhisker's suspicions, and Estelle helped him to stand the small she-cat upright again.

Hero caught Smokewhisker's gaze. "That's where Tags' team is headed."

"Right," Estelle murmured, "Firefly, there's a safe point down on Liberty street, can you get there?"

Firefly nodded again, breath still small gasps, though she managed to remain on her paws. A faint smile flitted across her features. "Course I can, I'm the fastest cat in Haven."

Estelle smiled back, and flicking her tail in farewell, Firefly started off at a trot down a darkened side street. Once she was out of sight, the cats all turned to Hero.

"Right..." Hero said, pacing slightly as he thought. "We can either rejoin the main battle, or go and help Tags and her cats, despite the dangers the tremors pose."

Snowfeather spoke up. "It's not just Tags' team, Swiftstorm and Jayflight are there, too. We have to help them!" He turned appealingly to Smokewhisker and Estelle, who were nodding.

"We can't leave them," Smokewhisker added.

"It's foolish to head into a danger that you can't fight..." Estelle began. "But we can't leave our cats behind."

"Then let's go!" Hero said, bounding through the streets towards the North Faction, ignoring the jolting pain that each step sent through his body. He tried not to focus on the dull ache that was spreading not through his body, but through his heart. Lilypool was dead. Foxspring and Annelyse were dead. Bling was a traitor. And now Swiftstorm and Jayflight were in danger. Would it never end? Would the deaths keep mounting and mounting, until none were left?

Hero's paw caught on a rock, and he stumbled, shaking his head slightly to clear it. Get your head in the game, he told himself, putting Lilypool and the others into the back of his mind. As they ran through various streets and side alleys, the ground began to shake slightly, causing debris from various buildings to come raining down upon the pavement.

"Over here!" Estelle cried, bounding a few tail-lengths down a side-road and crawling underneath the belly of an abandoned twoleg monster. As the other cats followed, Hero hesitated. Abandoned or not, monsters were still dangerous, weren't they? Unbidden, memories of Lilypool filled his mind. Her dying words to him, the look in her eyes. The way her fur shone in the light, the way she held herself with poise and confidence. 

"Hero, come on!" Smokewhisker yowled, as the tremor grew stronger and more debris began to fall. Hero turned on the spot slowly, blinking uncomprehendingly at the cats' beseeching faces peering out from under the monster.

Snowfeather darted out from underneath the monster and forcibly shoved Hero forward, causing the larger cat to come to his senses and clear his mind of Lilypool, bounding forwards to crawl under the monster, Snowfeather at his tail. As dust and rock continued to fall, Hero turned to the white tom crouched behind him. Though the various bits of falling debris were unlikely to kill at cat, Hero could have very easily been injured had he stayed out in the open longer.

"Thanks for that, Snowfeather. I suppose this makes up for the time that I had to save you when you got your paw stuck on the train tracks."

Snowfeather smiled. "No problem."

"You've grown so much since then. You started out as a silly apprentice, constantly having to be watched over, and now look at you. A strong, young tom who's watching over me."

Estelle coughed, dissolving the moment. "I don't mean to interrupt, but the tremor is dying down." Hero realized she was right, wondering how he had missed the obvious lessening of the shaking and falling debris. He crawled out from under the monster, making sure that it was safe for the others to come out.

Once they were all back out in the open, Hero flicked his tail. "Come on, let's move." He and the other cats resumed their journey to the North Faction, occasionally skirting around fallen objects and leftover twoleg things. At one point, they heard voices and paw steps approaching, and managed to slip behind a small building before the cats spotted them.

As the approached the Faction camp, a large courtyard with two large buildings on either side came into view.

"Swiftstorm! Jayflight!" Snowfeather cried out happily, and relief filled Hero as he saw the two she-cats standing unharmed at the opposite end of the courtyard. The pair began trotting happily, albeit wearily, towards Hero's group when, suddenly, the ground began to shake.

Hero looked around frantically for cover, but there was none in sight as dust began to fill the air and the tremor got stronger, knocking Snowfeather off his paws. Jayflight and Swiftstorm were still nowhere close to the larger group of cats, the courtyard being larger than it had at first appeared. Just when Hero thought things couldn't get any worse, the loudest sound that he had ever heard filled the air, making him yowl in pain and surprise as the sound split his ears.

With horror, he realized that one of the buildings which flanked the courtyard was falling, falling, and the two she-cats were directly underneath it. In seemingly slow motion, the building fell sideways, crashing into the building parallel to it across the courtyard, and giving the two she-cats just a few extra seconds of time. But it wouldn't be enough.

The last view Hero had of Jayflight, she was grabbing Swiftstorm's scruff and shoving the smaller she-cat forwards, across the courtyard and out from underneath the peril of the fallen building. The next moment, the building collapsed with a sound like the roar of a great predator, and a monstrous cloud of dust filled the air, blocking all view of Jayflight.

Ey cliffhanger

This was brought to you by le Amazing Annco, hope the last paragraph made you die slightly inside :D