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.
Dusty finally jumped out of the bushes to help. He unsheathed his claws and bristled, hissed, and spat. One two-leg, frightened by his demonic appearance, bumped into another, causing both of the two-legs to clumsily fall to the ground. Meanwhile, Rain clawed furiously at her cage in an attempt to escape.
Tigerstripe rushed to the cage and did the same, clawing at it with all his might.
"We have to get Rain out!" Tigerstripe called to him.
Dusty stared back at him with a look of confusion. He was probably not so keen on helping a fox escape. Still, Dusty ran up to him in an attempt to assist him and the fox.
"That object there is called a lock," Dusty called as he inspected the cage. "Try to push up the latch!" he yelled as he headed back to the two-legs to distract them.
"What's a latch?" Rain yipped, panicking.
Tigerstripe gazed at the odd "lock" that Dusty had pointed out. He began clawing at it, and after a few seconds of clawing, there came a sound of a click, and the cage doors opened. Rain immediately broke free and dashed off, leaving Tigerstripe behind.
A moment later, she skidded to a halt and spun around, apparently forgetting about Tigerstripe.
"Let's go! Before the two-legs trap us again!"
Tigerstripe nodded and broke into a run. Dusty quickly followed, and soon, all three were running together. As they ran and slowly left the two-legs behind, Rain murmured, "I missed you..." Tigerstripe was felt with an incredible sense of guilt as he sensed the sorrow in the she-fox's words.
Unsure how to reply, he kept running. Once the two-legs were out of sight, they all came to a halt and began to walk.
"Did you find the cat?" Rain asked.
Tigerstripe shook his head, despair filling his body. At least he had found Rain...He froze suddenly, making an incredible realization.
"RAIN, YOU'RE TALKING NORMAL!" he exclaimed out of nowhere.
Dusty sat down, apparently interested in their conversation. He hadn't spoken since the escape, appearing to realize how important the two were to each other.
Rain blinked, as if she couldn't tell a difference.
"Oh, yes. I never was fully able to master and understand cat. But after we got separated, I ran into someone who taught me to better speak in cat. I never thought it'd come in handy again though."
"Did you see Jetfur anywhere?" Tigerstripe asked.
Rain shook her head, but something appeared to cloud her eyes.
"Are you sure?" Tigerstripe asked, wanting to make sure every detail was accounted for.
"Yes, I'm sure," she replied, her voice shaking slightly, probably from all the adrenaline.
"Excuse me, but I'd like to know how you know each other," Dusty spoke at last.
"Um, well, on my search for Jetfur, Rain found me as a kit and followed me everywhere. We got separated a few moons ago...before I ran into Krait. Well, maybe I left..."
"Who is Krait? Is she another fox?" Rain asked, somewhat panicked.
Both Dusty and Tigerstripe exchanged sorrowful glances, and Tigerstripe sadly shook his head.
"No, she's just a cat."
Dusty cleared his throat, attempting to break up the awkward conversation. "Maybe we should get back to the others."
Tigerstripe nodded. "Come on, Rain," he called.
The she-fox nodded, though her thoughts appeared to be already occupied. Tigerstripe and Dusty led the way, and once they were finally able to find their way back and get on the right track, it was already becoming dark.
Padding through the familiar bushes, Tigerstripe found the wolves still there as well as Flamepaw, Barkpaw, and Mothwing, who all seemed to be involved in a panicked conversation.
"A fox!" Flamepaw shrieked, her eyes falling on Rain. "Hurry, let's attack now!"
Tigerstripe bristled, snapping, "Woah, wait!" Flamepaw became very still as if she were more frightened of him than Rain.
"Tigerstripe, that's a fox," Barkpaw observed.
"I'm aware of what she is. This is Rain," he announced.
"You...know her?" Flamepaw asked.
"Yes," Tigerstripe replied. "It's strange, I know, but we've been close friends since she was a small fox kit. She's grown a bit, I guess. She's completely harmless, I assure you."
"Nice to meet you," Rain said, dipping her head.
"I'm going to bed," Flamepaw sighed, looking exhausted. "We'll...figure this out tomorrow.
"Good. I'm exhausted," Dusty exclaimed, letting out a large yawn.
Tired and exhausted, Tigerstripe padded over to them and laid on the cool ground. He flexed his claws and felt the earth beneath him, then closed his eyes to sleep.
Rain padded over next to him and curled up beside him, similar to how she had done moons before as a young kit. Tigerstripe smiled slightly, glad to have her back with him. And she appeared not to be upset about his absence either.
Warmed by Rain's fur, Tigerstripe soon found himself drifting into a real sleep, the tired snores of Dusty on the other side of him fading into nothingness.