Chapter 24: Calm Down...

I looked there for a few moments, I knew what this meant... I knew it was the end... I hoped, I was here, but I was too late for the kits... I hoped they would forgive me, there was only so much that I could have done. I shivered and looked down at the ground.

Holding the tansy in my mouth, I let it down for a few moments. Then I picked it back up, I had to go now, if Starclan did not want be to save the kits, than that was Starclans decision, but I would do my best to try to help them... I do not know how many they had already lost.

Was Starclan even real? Or was it just some figment of my imagination, I shook my head, I knew they were real, there is to way I could have coincidentally found the cats, and the places that I had dreamed off, if it were not for Starclan.

They sure did have a strange way of helping me though. It seemed like sometimes, they wanted to help me, and sometimes they wanted to hurt me. I knew what they said, a part of what it was that they had said was right, they told me that at some point I would have to learn some thing on my own.

But, they kind of tricked me to be fair, I was not sure if I was to go after Youngtail, or if I needed to find the kits first. Of course, I made the wrong decision, and I would pay dearly for it... If I had been just a few moments earlier, it would not be too late to save that kit.

I closed my eyes, or maybe it would, I did not know the actual cure to save the kits, I just had a medicine that could hold them off a little longer. Maybe it was destined by Starclan for the kits to die, and for Oister to pass away as well. It did not make sense though, we had gone this far, Kettle would surely leave us if I failed to save his mate, it had to be correct right?

What was I doing? I sure was wasting a lot of time... I do not know how many kits had passed on, I would do my best to save them, maybe me giving them the medicine would give me enough time to talk to Starclan and find out what the herb was that I needed to save all of them.

No one would follow me as a leader, if I failed to help, and save the other cats that were around me. I did not blame them for it either, I was a failure as a leader. I opened my eyes, and then began moving towards the broken down twoleg place.

It looked just like the one that I had seen in my dream, I knew that it would not be a fluke, like the other twoleg place had been. Those cats had threatened me, told me they would kill me like the other cats... They were lying, probably doing it just to scare me off their land.

I did not blame them, they might have kits that they needed to protect for all that I know. I kept on walking, trying to only think about the kits. It was hard, I was not going to lie, I had so many other things on my mind right now, they were just trying to slow me down.

I heard monster come near me, it was very loud. It made me stop in place, I was at an abandoned twoleg nest, I thought... Maybe it was just going down its normal path, it was just a bit louder than usual. Maybe it was just one of those bigger monster that I had seen before.

I closed my eyes, Figuring that it was probably nothing at all to be worried about. It had most definitely slowed me down on trying to help the kits out, and at this point, every moment mattered. But then I heard a but of a louder smash, like I normally heard when my owners came back home from wherever they went during the day.

I turned around to see what it could possibly be, as I heard loud footsteps of a twoleg coming over to me. They were coming after me! I thought as I turned around and saw one coming toward me with something in his paw.

It looked like it was some sort of trap! What were they trying to do to me? I moved back, a little bit scared, thinking back on one of my owners. He used to attack me and Tristan, this one was coming after me with the exact same attitude.

Then I saw a 2nd one right behind him, he also had something in his paw, but this one was much smaller than the one that the first twoleg had. I stood completely still for some reason, I did not know what to do, they were clearly coming after me for some reason.

The monster that was behind them, that they had been clearly inside of for a while, was a much larger monster. Were they trying to get me into that? Thing became a little bit of a reality to me as I started to realize what was going on.

I then began running back, away from the twolegs, the front one tried swinging at me with its trap before I did, but I had just managed to get out, right before he had the chance to do that. Then I turned around, I was at the far side of the abandoned twoleg nest now.

The twolegs were coming at me again, this time they looked a little bit more angry. The one in the back began doing a fake meowing impression, while the one in the front began laughing at it. I began moving past to the end of the twoleg nest.

But then I walked right into a fence, I turned around a looked at it... It was a bit of a high fence, I turned back around, the twolegs were too close to me now for me to run and then jump over the fence.

To the left of me there was another fence, so there was no way out that way either, and to the right of me was the twoleg nest.

But I saw a small little window I could get through, if I could just sneak around the twolegs real quick. I knew that the twolegs were quite slow, maybe they would not be able to catch me if I ran past them and went through the window.

That would make it dangerous for the cats that were inside to, I was not sure if the twolegs would follow me in or not. I had to at least try, I had no other choice at this point, I knew where they were taking me, I knew what they would do to me there. The exact thing that I was trying to do when Owl took me to that place.

I missed Owl, I wondered what might be going on with him right now. I hoped that he was okay, I'm sure that he was, he was in a safe place. Very much unlike me, but if I let the twolegs take me, maybe that would be different.

I thought about it for a few moments, maybe it would not be so bad of an idea for me to just let them. I then shook my head and blinked for a few moments, I could not just let them do that. I had a destiny, a goal, that I had barely even started. Oister needed me, the kits needed me.

I had a mate, she was back waiting for me to come back, safe... Expecting me to come back with the cats, and the kits, and Oister, all of them with big smiles on their faces. They needed that, they all would die, it was all up to me right now.

I nodded, and just before the twoleg swung at me to trap me in, I sprinted past them. I was past the first one now, I just had to maneuver around the 2nd one... I ran around him, and then I ran towards the window, to try to get into the abandoned twoleg den that I was here for in the first place.

I began getting closer and closer to the window, going faster than I had ever gone before. Faster than even Mint maybe, I blinked not thinking about it, I was just a few tail lengths away now, just close enough for me to hop over.

But just as I thought about it, something shot me in my right pelt. I stopped in place, in a fair amount of pain. I wondered what it might possibly be, I turned towards the twolegs, they were not close enough to trap me... What was that?

They were smiling for some reason, I looked at them a bit confused, but now my vision was starting to get a little bit groggy. Things were now coming as a blur, I looked at the spot on my pelt that I had felt a sharp object seem to almost stab into me.

There was something not that big, but it had done a big amount of pain. It was stabbed and stuck into my pelt, I tried to grab it out, but just before I had the time to do so, I fell down to the ground, and everything went black for me.

I woke up, I was not sure where I was at. I looked around, trying to spot some familiar objects that might tell me where I was at. I was in small little area, and I could smell the lake near me, but I could not tell exactly where I could be at.

I sat there for a few moments, had the twolegs thrown me out here for some reason? Maybe they had been kind enough to just throw me back in the wild. I looked around, I did not feel the pain in my pelt anymore.

How long had I been out for? I was not hungry, nor was I thirsty either. I shivered, not too sure what was going on. I needed to get back, and at least save Oister, if I could not save the kits. But first I needed to figure out where I might be at.

I looked around my sorroundings, and then I realized where I was at, I saw a few water streams flowing around me. For some reason they had taken me, and dropped me off in Riverclan territory... This was the worst possible place for me to have been dropped off at by the lake.

I was nowhere near the twoleg place in Shadowclan... By the time I would get there, Oister would be gone, and the kits would have found a new home... Or they would have passed along. I had to get out of here...

I began moving, but I realized that I was stuck... Wow! That shot must have really passed me out, I could not move one bit. This was bad, I was about to give up, until I heard the paw steps of another cat coming towards me.

I spun around to see who it might be, I could not tell, the light was flashing right upon me, and the sun was dropping, meaning I was just about out of time to save the kits... But at this point, those kits were about the least of my worries.

I squinted trying to block out the bright light of the sun, and to see what cat was coming towards me. I wad not sure that I recognized this cat, and the smell from him did not seem all too familiar to me, but a lot of that could be do to the fact of the territory I was in, and the fact that the sun was burning brightly on my eyes.

The cat stopped in front of me, he did not say a word to me. I could tell that it was a cat of Starclan however, the sun was kind of blocking out the stars on his pelt, but I could still see it, just a little bit. The cat still did not look familiar at all, but I also knew that there was a lot of cats in starclan... Thousands of them, I could meet a new one at any moment.

"Hello Moon... Do not be afraid... I am Graystripe, I was once a part of Riverclan, along with being a part of Thunderclan..." The cat said to me. I looked at the cat and then nodded, it was indeed a cat that I had not met at all before.

I was not afraid at all, so I don't know where he might have gotten that from. Maybe he might have thought I was afraid because I had just been attacked by twolegs. Fair enough I suppose, but it kind of told me, that maybe Starclan cats were not perfect, maybe they could not read your mind...

"Hello Graystripe, am I in a dream? Or did the twolegs take me here?" I said to him. He looked at me for a few moments, and then he nodded, and he moved a bit closer so that I could see fully what the cat did look like.

It was one of the cats I had seen on the limb of the tree the first day that I had been out of my twoleg nest, I never saw him after that. But I did recognize him, he had saved me, so did the rest of the cats that I had not met quite yet either, maybe this was just the beginning for me.

"You are in a dream, you are currently with twolegs right now... I am just here to speak to you for a few moments." He said to me. I looked at him, and then I nodded to him. I looked down at the ground a bit sadly for a few moments, until he went over to me and lifted my head.

It was something I always did to help out Mint as well... But now I was the one in bad spirits... A part of me wanted to hope this was real, so that I was away from the twolegs and I could find the others, but a part of me also was fine with this not being real.

It would give me enough time for me to go and find the kits and save them, to save Oister as well... The problem would be, how could I get out of there? I can't think about it right now, I needed to speak to this cat, he clearly had something that he wanted to tell me.

"I was once just like you, I was trapped, the twolegs stole me from the clans. I was a deputy, and then I lost that role... There is a way out, I found my way out, and I found my way back to the clans, even if they moved forests..." He said to me. I looked at the cat, he was smiling at me.

I smiled back at him, though, I still was a fair bit scared. There it was, about the old forest, the place that I used to live at, I was related to the clans in one way or another. It was beginning to make sense why they had chose me to go and find the clans, to save them, it could not be a cat like Youngtail.

He still did not believe in the starclan cats, he was also old, cats would not listen to him if he tried to save the clans, plus he also looked fairly happy with the life he was having as a kittypet, I hated that type of life, I never wanted to go back to it.

"You lived in another area? Why did you move?" I asked the cat. He looked at me for a few moments, and then he looked down at the ground, clearly he was thinking back on some sad memories that he still had stored up in his brain. He then looked back up at me and nodded, notifying that he was listening.

I looked at the cat, I wondered what it could possibly be, did they just not have enough food? I was not all that sure, I closed my eyes for a few moments, feeling a bit bad for pushing the cat a little bit too much. But then he finally decided to start talking to me.

"The twolegs took over the forest... That is not the point I am trying to get at, I am just here, to let you know... That it is never too late, and there is always a way to come back home..." He said to me. I looked at him a bit confused for a few more moments, and then I nodded to him.

It made a fair amount of sense now... I did not really remember walking around the area, not remembering what exactly it all looked like, but it would make sense that the area would have been taken over by twolegs, they clearly did not care about cats.

I looked back up at Graystripe to talk to him, but he was already gone. I looked around, and things slowly began to get dark, I could not tell if it was because of it was starting to get dark outside, or if it was because I was fading out of my dream, or maybe it was both.

I closed my eyes anyways, it was time for me to wake myself up, it was time for me to find my destiny.

I woke up, I could here rumbling, and I could tell that I was moving around, because when I tried to get up, I slipped to the side of the small little cage that I was stuck in. I looked around a bit confused, I saw another cat on the other side of me, he was looking right at me.

"Buddy... This is normal... Calm down..."