Monday, May 13, 2019

the sun trail: part two

A blizzard comes and Gray Wing insists he must leave anyway. Quiet Rain and the others overrule him, pointing out that Jagged Peak will have to wait for it to pass as well. After the storm passes Quiet Rain walks with him for a bit. When they reach rushing water only one cat can cross the ice, which is breaking apart. Gray Wing says goodbye to his mother and crosses, but as he does the ice breaks, plunging him into the strong current. He gets out immediately and tries to tell Quiet Rain he is fine, but the water is too loud and a mist blocks his view. He has to hope that she knows he crossed. He starts to follow the path of the other cats but he cannot scent Jagged Peak. He realizes Jagged Peak probably didn't cross the ice and went around instead, so he looks around for him. He sees an eagle above and quickly realizes the eagle is after Jagged Peak. He races over and attacks the bird but gets caught himself. Jagged Peak attacks the eagle, saving his brother.

Gray Wing assures Jagged Peak that he isn't taking them home and they settle down for the night. When they wake they go on their journey and try to reach the other cats. Jagged Peak struggles but does a good job despite how young and small he is. They find the path the other cats took and Jagged Peak follows it since he is the better tracker. They settle down and Gray Wing dreams he can hear the cats talking. When he wakes up he realizes he can still hear the other cats. He excitedly wakes up Jagged Peak and they immediately find their tribe mates. Everyone is happy to see them.

As they continue on their journey they learn things about themselves that they never knew. Having lived in the cave there were skills they never needed to try before, and now that they have an opportunity to try them they are discovering what they are good at (such as fishing) - which they find very eye opening. While crossing a dangerous part an eagle attack occurs. Gray Wing saves Dapppled Pelt and then everyone takes shelter. The eagle won't leave and more arrive, so Clear Sky puts forward the idea of attacking the eagles. His plan has some cats luring the eagles away while others attack the distracted birds. Clear Sky is in the group who will attack while Gray Wing and Bright Stream (who is pregnant, but no one knows this other then herself, Clear Sky, and Gray Wing) are placed in the group who will lure the birds away. Everything goes fine until Gray Wing stumbles because he was paying more attention to Clear Sky then to what he was doing. Bright Stream saves him but gets grabbed by an eagle herself.

Gray Wing tries to save Bright Stream but cannot reach her. Cloud Spots and Turtle Tail stop him from running off of the mountain edge. Clear Sky arrives, triumphant that his plan worked, and looks for Bright Stream. Gray Wing tries to tell him what happened but it is Turtle Tail who has to break the news. In shock, Clear Sky insists on going after her since she is carrying his kits. This revelation shocks everyone. Everyone comforts Clear Sky since nothing can be done. Turtle Tail comforts Gray Wing, who blames himself for the loss of Bright Stream. The next day the cats get ready to leave. Shaded Moss asks Clear Sky if he wishes to return home, but he wants to move forward. Gray Wing cannot find the words to talk to his brother. They eventually leave the mountains and as they go they discover new skills (swimming and running fast). Gray Wing catches a squirrel, to the amazement of his tribe mates, but no one is hungry enough to finish it. As they leave the remainder of the rabbit they are shocked that there is so much food in this land that they cannot eat it all.

The cats reach their first thunderpath. Clear Sky and Gray Wing help everyone to cross, and Gray Wing hopes that this will heal their relationship, but once everyone is across the strain returns. Shaded Moss announces that they are going to a group of stones in the distance. Everyone is amazed at both how far they have to go still as well as how far they have come. Clear Sky and Tall Shadow decide to climb a tree to scout ahead. Everyone is shocked over how well they do it. When Clear Sky and Tall Shadow come back down Gray Wing notices they are evasive in their answers about what lies ahead. The cats push on, crossing paths with a dog. This leads them to Twoleg place, which Gray Wing realizes they must have seen from the top of the tree and decided not to mention. The cats realize they need to find a warm, dry place the spend the night. In the morning they will continue their journey.

I did not expect Bright Stream to die like that, but she should never have agreed to help with the eagles. However, that is clan logic so maybe it isn't tribe logic? But everyone was pretty horrified when they found out she had been pregnant. I understand Gray Wing blaming himself but of course Bright Stream tried to save him - just like if their positions were reversed he would have tried to save Bright Stream.

I wonder how much longer they have to travel for? And what will they find when they reach there? This is supposed to be the birth of the clans but I'm not seeing much of that so far. However, they are still on their journey. Brambleclaw's journey annoyed me with how long it dragged out for. Hopefully this one doesn't drag so much.

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