Terra's Adventure - Bravestar ("Luna") (books to read in your 30s .txt) 📗

Terra walked over and sat next to Hinta. He looked around nervously, then back to Hinta. "Listen, Hinta...I'm going to leave the Clan for a little while. I don't know when I'll be back or where I'm going or what dangers I may face along the way, but I have realized something. Finding Luna has gotten me to start thinking about my other two littermates, Aqua and Sol. I need to find them and, if possible, bring them here. Don't try to talk me out of going, because I have already made up my mind. But I don't know when I'll be back...if at all." He stared into Hinta's eyes. "Goodbye, Hinta. I'll see you; if I never see you again in this life, I'll definitely see you in my dreams." He walked away before she could make this parting any more painful. He stepped into the nursery and smiled. "Hey, Luna."

Luna looked up and beamed at him. "Hi, Terra! Look at Featherkit, she has the same eyes as you!" She pushed Featherkit towards her uncle, and the tiny kit looked up at him inquisitively with the same brilliant green eyes as Terra.

Terra smiled. "How wonderful! But listen, Luna..." He repeated almost the same thing that he had told Hinta.

Luna nodded. "Good luck, my brother," she purred, standing up and pressing her head against his. "Tell Aqua and Sol 'hi' for me if you find them. And, most importantly, take care of yourself. I want these kits to grow up with an uncle."

Terra nodded. "Don't worry about me. Love you, sis," he murmured as he stepped out of the nursery. He gave a final goodbye nod to Hinta and walked out of camp, not sure if he would ever make it back.

~*~*~*~

Terra padded through the shadowy forest, swiftly placing his paws on the cold, fallen leaves. He sighed and looked up at the patchy light filtering through the leaves. I wonder if I will ever see Hinta again,

he wondered. He mentally added quickly with a flash of embarrassment, Or Luna and the kits.

He shook his head and kept on going.

He sniffed the cool forest air and detected the scent of rabbit. He followed it through a dense line of bushes and spotted a fat rabbit nibbling on a stalk of grass in a clearing. He silently purred at the thought of a good meal soon and slowly crept forward. He was almost right behind the rabbit, ready to pounce, when a fierce growl came from the trees. The rabbit sat up quickly and scurried into the bushes. Terra growled in annoyance and spun around, searching the shadows for whatever caused the noise. He started to walk slowly towards the source of the growl and crouch, when another male panther leapt from the bushes and pinned Terra to the ground.

The strange panther put his nose right next to Terra's and roared, "Why are you hunting on my

territory?!"

Terra cowered under the stronger male's challenging roar. "I-I didn't know this was your territory. If you l-let me go, I-I'll leave..." He struggled to free himself.

The other panther shook his head and glared down at Terra with fierce amber eyes, as golden as the sun. "No," he hissed. He raised a forepaw and unsheathed his claws, keeping his other paws on Terra to hold him down. "Intruders like you

need to be taught a lesson!" He spat the word you

and sliced his deadly claws across Terra's face. Crimson blood filled his vision and the pain seemed to race through his entire body.

Terra had noticed something...familiar about those bloodthirsty amber eyes. Could it be...?

He looked back up from being knocked to the ground by that powerful blow and gazed straight into the other panther's eyes. "Wait..." he mewed weakly. "Is...is it you, my brother? Sol?!"

The panther named Sol growled again, his tail sweeping the ground in annoyance and brushing up dirt onto Terra. He got off of Terra in shock, but still watched him warily. "How do you know my name?!" he hissed.

Terra dragged himself to his paws and shook his head, sending drops of blood across the clearing. He looked Sol in the eyes again and meowed weakly. "It-it's me, your brother Terra. I've been looking for you!" He stumbled forward and pressed his nose into his brother's midnight pelt.

Sol flinched and unsheathed his claws, considering giving his brother another wound. Instead, he merely jumped away from Terra's touch and met his hurt look with a look of disdain. "Why were you looking for me?"

"I wanted to come find you again. I found Luna, alive with kits of her own! I'm looking for Aqua, too. I want both of you to come join me in this Clan that Luna found called AshClan, and-"

Sol interrupted him. "First of all, I am not

joining any stupid Clan. Panthers are supposed to live alone. And second, I am not

going anywhere near that flea-bitten, deformed waste of fur you call 'sister' anymore!"

Rage filled Terra until he could no longer stand it. He glared at Sol through fierce, fiery green eyes. "Don't talk about Luna that way! She's not that way anymore! She's a fine warrior, and she can run as well as you now!" He looked challengingly into Sol's eyes. "Perhaps better."

"Mother should have just killed her while she had the chance!" Sol retaliated.

Terra had had enough. Even though his next move could be his last, he couldn't let Sol talk about his own sister like that! He unsheathed his claws and lunged for Sol, catching him off-guard and letting Terra pin him easily to the ground.

Sol growled in surprise and twisted from under Terra's paws. Before Terra could do anything else, Sol leapt on his back and flattened Terra to the ground. He leaned down to whisper in Terra's ear. "You are obviously too weak as well. A newborn kit could beat you. You know what? I think I'm going to finish the job that Mother never completed. I'm going to find your little AshClan. Then I'm going to kill Luna, and her precious kits, and then I'm going to finish off the rest of the Clan. And after you have watched all of that, you're next."

Terra narrowed his eyes as uncontrollable fury flooded through his veins. No! Not Luna...not the innocent kits...and definitely not Hinta!

He spun onto his back and took Sol with him, putting Terra on top of his brother. He sliced his claws across Sol's neck, creating a deep gash in his throat. He drew back quickly and stared at his bloodstained paws in horror, realizing what he had done. "Sol...Sol, no!

I didn't want this to happen!"

Sol's amber eyes were starting to become dull and lose focus as blood poured from his neck wound. He turned his dimming eyes towards his brother and hissed weakly, "This isn't over. Wait until my mate finds out. She and our unborn kits will find you." He collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood. "This isn't over..." he repeated. He then closed his eyes, never to open them again.

Terra backed away slowly, shaking his head. "No...no..." he murmured over and over. He closed his eyes, hoping against hope that when he opened them, his brother would be standing before him again, alive and with no blood but Terra's own staining his pelt. When he finally accepted that Sol was dead, he started pacing. I killed my own brother! Why did I do such a thing?!

Terra suddenly realized why. He threatened my new Clan, my sister, and...and Hinta.

He felt a little better, and the grief and overwhelming guilt started to subside when he realized that Sol was a murderer anyways.

Terra sat down and started to lick his paws. His brother's blood was bitter in his mouth and added to the guilt. I must never let Hinta or Luna know of this,

he vowed. Sol's last words echoed through Terra's mind again and again.

"This isn't over. Wait until my mate finds out. She and our unborn kits will find you."

Terra shuddered, despite the sun warming his dark fur. Who is his mate?

he wondered. Does she know already? Could she be on her way now to kill me?

He looked around anxiously and jumped when he heard a twig snap behind him. He dashed up a nearby tree and peered over the side of his branch. He sighed with relief when he realized it was just a squirrel. Exhausted, Terra laid down on the branch and was soon asleep.

~*~*~*~

Terra woke up with a start when he heard something on the ground below. He stared towards the noise and saw angry, bright blue eyes glinting in the moonlight. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he noticed that it was a pregnant female panther leaning over Sol's body. Terra tried to back away against the trunk of the tree. One of his paws slipped, and he stopped himself from hissing in pain as the bark scraped against his skin.

Those unsettling blue eyes turned his way, sending a chill down Terra's spine. He ducked and hid behind some leaves. He prayed that she didn't see him, for an angry, grief-stricken she-panther was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

He watched as she sniffed Sol's body and cried softly. "Sol, Sol, I promise you this," she whispered through her tears. "Before our kits reach the age of six moons, whoever took your life from you will be dead." She buried her face in Sol's fur and continued crying.

Terra trembled in his perch, and his heart was pounding so loudly he was surprised that Sol's mate did not hear. If she finds out what I did, I'm dead!

He heard her murmur again and listened closer.

She had turned her face to the moon, yet her eyes were closed. "Sol? Sol, who was it? Who killed you?" There was a long pause that seemed to stretch for moons for Terra, until she finally spoke again. "Your brother? Terra? Don’t worry, my love, I will

find him."

Terra couldn't stand it anymore. He slid down his tree and ran through the forest, shaking the entire way and whimpering in fear. She knows!

he thought, panicking. She knows what I did! Sol told her!

He spotted an entrance to a small cave and dove inside, laying down and resting his tail in front of his face. His last thought before he fell asleep again was, I'm a dead panther.

~*~*~*~

Terra woke up and stretched, squinting as the late-morning sunlight filled his tiny cave. He stood up and walked outside. He immediately caught the scent of squirrel in the misty morning air. He followed the smell to a rather large squirrel. Terra purred with delight and crouched. He padded silently forward and pounced, killing it quickly. Glancing around warily, he ate his squirrel in a few hungry bites. He stood up and licked his lips. Sighing, he continued on his journey; but he couldn’t stop himself from glancing over his shoulder at every suspicious noise. The fur on his spine was sticking up, and his tail was fluffed out to nearly twice its normal size. He jumped at every sound, and twice he climbed a tree out of sheer terror.

After three days, Terra was starting to lose hope that he would ever find his