Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #2: Thunder Rising Read Free

prey,” he began. “There’s bound to be something.”
    “There!” Lightning Tail pointed with his tail.
    Gray Wing turned to see a small flock of birds pecking at the grass near the rocky outcrop where the mouse had vanished. He nodded. “Go for it.”
    Lightning Tail at once dropped into a crouch like Thunder, as if Gray Wing’s instructions had passed right over his head.
    “Run, flea-brain!” Acorn Fur squealed at her brother. She took off, racing across the grass with her tail streaming out behind her.
    Watching, Gray Wing admired her speed, but she was letting out excited little squeaks as she ran. A few birds had already flown off at the sound of her first squeal, and the rest of the flock rose into the air long before she got anywhere near them.
    Lightning Tail, who had followed her as soon as he realized his mistake in trying to stalk, halted and turned back with a disgusted expression. “Now who’s a flea-brain?” he asked.
    Gray Wing shook his head, trying to hide his amusement. “You all still have a lot to learn,” he murmured.
    He was waiting for the two kits to come back when he was distracted by Thunder thrusting himself into a tremendous leap. Gray Wing saw that one of the birds had alighted a short distance away. Thunder’s front paws reached out and batted the bird to the ground as it fluttered up in a vain attempt to escape.
    The young cat straightened up with the limp body of the bird in his jaws. His eyes were shining. “I got one!” he announced, his voice muffled by his mouthful of feathers.
    For a moment Gray Wing couldn’t give him the praise he deserved. That massive leap had reminded him too much of Clear Sky, Thunder’s father. Like when he killed that hawk, not long before we left the mountains.
    The pain of remembering the days when he and his brother were so close washed over Gray Wing again. He hadn’t ventured into the forest or tried to see his brother since Clear Sky had refused to acknowledge Thunder as his son, and that had been before the cold season started. At their last meeting, Gray Wing had even declared that Clear Sky was no longer his brother. The loss of his closest family member felt like a thorn in Gray Wing’s heart, but he couldn’t forgive him for the harsh rejection of Thunder.
    Gray Wing sighed. I’ve been trying to raise Thunder to show kindness and compassion—but is Clear Sky’s character going to come out in him, no matter what I do ?
    A soft mrrow of greeting sounded behind Gray Wing, distracting him from his dark thoughts. He turned to see a tortoiseshell she-cat bounding toward him. His eyes widened and delight flashed through him like a ray of sunshine at the sight of her. Turtle Tail! She’d come with them down from the mountains and been a faithful friend, until . . . But no. I won’t dwell on that now.
    “Turtle Tail!” he exclaimed. “How did you find us?” She’d left the mountain cats before they’d moved into their new camp.
    “I went to the hollow where we used to live,” Turtle Tail explained, “and it was empty . . . just a trace of stale cat scent.” She shivered. “I thought at first foxes must have killed all of you. But I couldn’t let myself believe that, so I went on looking until I picked up a trail, and here I am!”
    “It’s so good to see you!” Gray Wing told her.
    Turtle Tail padded up to Gray Wing and touched noses with him. “It’s good to see you, too,” she purred. “It’s been a long time.” Glancing around at the kits, she added, “It looks as if you’ve got your paws full!”
    Gray Wing nodded. He hadn’t seen Turtle Tail since she helped him to rescue Thunder from the collapsing Twoleg den. Since then, she had spent all the cold season cozily in the Twolegplace, living the life of a kittypet. I still can’t believe she’d choose to do that , Gray Wing thought, shifting his glance so that she couldn’t see his expression. To choose a life where you didn’t have to hunt prey and