Tigerheart’s Shadow

Tigerheart pushed back the fear pressing in his chest and headed down the alley. The three-pawed monster was still sleeping at the side. He tasted the air as he approached the rot piles, pleased to find only Dash’s scent lingering there. Mae, Floyd, and Scrap had clearly found new territory to scavenge. Past the rot piles, he found the loose mesh where he and Dash had squeezed out. Lifting it with a paw, he let the others inside. “Keep going until you reach the next mesh,” he called, his mew echoing along the narrow tunnel. He followed them in, his belly tightening as the rush of scents washed over him. For a moment, terror gripped him as he remembered arriving. The shock of the sounds and scents had overwhelmed him. They threatened to overwhelm him now. But he had to be brave. Dovewing and the kits were depending on him. “Have you found the mesh?” he called as he saw her shape silhouetted against the harsh light streaming in at the far end.

“I think so.” Dovewing’s ear flicked nervously.

He hurried toward her, squeezing past Ant, Spire, Cinnamon, Blaze, and the kits. Their fear-scent filled the space. He pushed against the mesh at the far end and let them into the big bright tunnel beyond.

A pair of Twolegs clip-clopped past them, heading toward the wider space. Tigerheart faced the group. “We have to stay bunched tight,” he warned them. “There are a lot of Twolegs here. And the lights and scents and movement will be disorienting. Don’t lose sight of one another. I’m going to lead us to Dash. He helped me when I first arrived. He can help us find the right Silverpath out of here.”

“I’m not scared.” Pouncekit puffed her chest out. But her pelt was bushed. So was Lightkit’s. Shadowkit cowered against Dovewing’s legs, his eyes wide with alarm.

“Let’s carry the kits.” He scooped up Shadowkit, worried at how cold his pelt felt. Tucking in his chin to hold the kit close, Tigerheart headed along the tunnel.

He retraced the steps he’d followed with Dash, eventually leading the cats into the great arching space where he’d first scented the station cat. Glancing past the Twolegs hurrying in every direction, he recognized the brightly lit Twoleg den at the side of Dash’s nest and hurried toward it, hoping that Dash would be there.

The station cat’s scent touched his nose. Hope flashed beneath Tigerheart’s pelt. Picking up his pace, he headed for the gap in the wall where he’d first met Dash. He dropped Shadowkit inside as soon as he reached it. “Dash,” he called into the darkness.

Yellow eyes blinked ahead of him, and Dash’s scent filled Tigerheart’s nose as the black-and-white tom scrambled to his paws.

“Tigerheart?” Dash looked alarmed as his gaze slid past Tigerheart and rested on Dovewing and the others crowding behind him. “What are you doing here?”

“I found my friend,” Tigerheart told him quickly. He didn’t want to scare the station cat. “We need your help.”

Dash slunk from the shadow and squeezed out past Tigerheart. He stared in surprise at Shadowkit, Pouncekit, and Shadowkit. His ears twitched. “Are these yours?”

“Yes.” He nodded to Dovewing. “This is Dovewing, my mate. We’re taking them home.”

“To the forest?” Dash narrowed his eyes as he looked at Spire, Blaze, Ant, and Cinnamon. “Are they going with you?”

“Yes.”

Dash tipped his head. “City cats in the forest?” He sounded unconvinced.

Cinnamon flattened her ears. “We just need your help, okay? We don’t need your opinion.”

Ant glanced at the Twolegs swarming her. “Let’s be polite,” he warned Cinnamon.

Dash was looking at the kits. “Do you want me to show you which train to get on?”

Dovewing bristled. “We’re not taking our kits into the belly of a Thundersnake.”

“Then how will you get home?” Dash looked confused.

“We’ll walk,” Dovewing told him firmly.

“There’s nowhere to walk,” Dash argued.

Tigerheart shifted his paws. He didn’t like lingering here. A strange Twoleg yowl was echoing around the den. “We’ll walk on the paths the Thundersnakes use.”

Dash’s eyes widened. “You want to go into the tunnels?”

“They lead out of the city, don’t they?” Tigerheart blinked at him.

“It’s dangerous!”

“I’ve been in tunnels before,” Tigerheart meowed breezily. “When Thundersnakes came, I just crouched at the edge. Thundersnakes never leave their path. It’s easy to keep out of their way.” Please, StarClan. Protect us. His heart seemed to beat in his throat. He hoped no one guessed how scared he was.

Dash narrowed his eyes doubtfully.

“I just need you to help me find the Silverpath that brought me here,” Tigerheart told him firmly.

Dash looked thoughtful. “I didn’t see which train you came out of, but if you lead me to the ledge where you got out, I can take you into its tunnel.”

Tigerheart frowned. “Have you been in the tunnels before?”

“I hunt for rats there,” Dash told him.

Dovewing’s ears twitched suspiciously. “You told us the tunnels were dangerous.”

“I’m used to them,” Dash told her. “I’d never take kits or strays in there!”