Warriors: Clockwise

<------ Chapter Twenty-Eight ------>

They stood there in silence for a moment. Nothing could be heard except the sound of rushing water and their own heavy breathing.

Then, suddenly, they engulfed him with yowls of happiness. 

"You did it, Hero! You did it!"

He felt his whiskers twitch into a hesitant look of happiness, seeing the pride evident on every one of their faces. He'd done it. He really had.

He was a Hero.

He let them congratulate him for a few more minutes before deciding enough was enough and shoved them away gently. Now he looked at them with excitement. "What about you? What happened?"

Swiftstorm dipped her head weakly. "Well, I lived," she mewed rather unnecessarily. "Estelle is an excellent healer." She glanced down at her foreleg. "Though she used an awful lot of bandages."

Hero nodded. "I can see that," he mewed, almost instantly regretting the sarcastic tone in which he'd spoken.

Swiftstorm didn't mind, of course.

"And you guys?" asked Hero, gesturing to Jayflight. "I thought you'd been..." His voice trailed off.

He'd thought she was dead.

Jayflight shrugged. "I made it out."

Well, that's obvious. Hero bit back the sarcastic comment and waited for her to elaborate. She didn't speak. "Well, that's good." Details, please?

"And she hardly had a scratch!" broke in Smokewhisker. "I was so relieved..."

Huh.

Hero glanced at Jayflight curiously again before deciding that she was just a bit rattled by the near-death experience.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if it had been something more...

"Wait," mewed Hero suddenly. "Where's Estelle?" The black-and-white she-cat was nowhere to be seen, which struck him as a bit odd. He didn't think her the type to abandon someone in pain.

Snowfeather and Swiftstorm exchanged glances. "I don't know," admitted Swiftstorm. "Last I saw, she was going to try and help some others out of this place." She ducked her head, muffling a cry of pain when it pulled something. "We...ah, left to got find you after that."

Hero considered that for a moment before nodding his head. "Well, that does sound like a good idea." Seeing the others' confused looks, he added: "To help the others." He gestured with his tail to the land below, and was greeted with nods.

"Yeah, let's get off this roof," shivered Snowfeather. He turned to Swiftstorm, and Hero could just hear him mutter: "I don't think I'm ever going to like heights again."

He couldn't blame him.

He led the way down the stairs. In the initial confusion, Hero couldn't even remember how he'd gotten here, but he noted with worry that the stairs were awfully steep.

Not great for a cat with half their body wrapped in bandages.

Swiftstorm waved him ahead feebly. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine," insisted Snowfeather. "Here, I'll help you." He pushed on her side sharply, and Smokewhisker quickly took the other.

They were doing quite well until the whole building suddenly shook.

With a cry, Hero oppled over and only just managed not to fall down the rest of the stairs. Smokewhisker had somehow managed to say immobile and be an effective barrier against Swiftstorm and Snowfeather's weights.