Read Online Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #2: Thunder Rising by Erin Hunter - Free Book Online

protect Jagged Peak. I’ve failed.  . . .
    “We can’t give up hope,” Wind meowed, her tone brisk and bracing. “He may not be dead.”
    While she was speaking she slipped her paw into Jagged Peak’s mouth and clawed out some of the dirt; she gave his nose a lick, clearing that too. Gray Wing waited tensely, then let out a gasp of relief as Jagged Peak started to cough, gagging on the soil, and vomited some of it up. A heartbeat later his eyes blinked open and he rubbed at them feebly.
    “He’s okay!” Rainswept Flower exclaimed. “Oh, Wind, thank you!”
    Wind dipped her head. “You’re welcome.”
    We owe these rogues so much , Gray Wing thought. I’m going to talk to Tall Shadow about letting them join us. We’d be crazy not to welcome such generous cats .
    Wind and Gorse stepped back as the mountain cats gathered around Jagged Peak, using their paws and tongues to clean the earth off his pelt, and giving him comforting licks around his ears.
    “No need to fuss,” Jagged Peak grunted as his strength began to return. He tried to pull away from his denmates and sit up. “I’m not a kit. I can groom my own fur.”
    Gray Wing knew his young brother wasn’t trying to be rude and ungrateful; he understood that Jagged Peak was quivering with embarrassment because he hated to seem weak.
    “You shouldn’t have been wandering around by yourself,” Jackdaw’s Cry meowed. “What if something happened and no cat was there to save you? You’re lucky that Thunder and Gray Wing were nearby.”
    Jagged Peak flinched, and Gray Wing glared at Jackdaw’s Cry. “Jagged Peak has a brain,” he mewed. “He would have figured out a way to get away from those dogs if he had to.”
    Jackdaw’s Cry opened his jaws to protest, then clearly thought better of it.
    “It’s time we went back to the hollow,” Gray Wing meowed roughly.
    Before any cat could move, Rainswept Flower turned to him, with a sidelong glance at Jagged Peak. She’d worked harder than any cat to free his brother from the collapsed tunnel.
    “I think Jagged Peak should lead the way back, don’t you?” she asked.
    That’s mouse-brained , Gray Wing thought, then a heartbeat later realized how clever Rainswept Flower was being. Taking the lead will give Jagged Peak his dignity back . “Good idea,” he agreed. “Jagged Peak, we all dashed here so quickly, we’re not sure of the best way back. Can you show us?”
    Jagged Peak struggled to his paws and gave his pelt a shake. “I guess so,” he muttered, as if he was reluctant, though Gray Wing could see his eyes brighten and his tail begin to rise with pride.
    “Thanks, Rainswept Flower,” Gray Wing murmured into her ear.
    “It’s the least I can do,” she responded.
    Jagged Peak began tottering toward the camp, with Rainswept Flower and Shattered Ice springing to support him on either side. As the other mountain cats followed, Gray Wing flicked his ears at Wind and Gorse, beckoning them over to him.
    “I thought when the dogs arrived you went to hide in the undergrowth,” he began. “How did you end up coming with the others to help save Jagged Peak?”
    Wind and Gorse exchanged a glance.
    “We decided we couldn’t just abandon you,” Gorse explained. “After all, we’re good friends now.”
    Wind nodded. “So we went to the hollow to see how you were, and got there just as Shattered Ice turned up, out of breath and yowling about Jagged Peak stuck on the moor.”
    “Thank you,” Gray Wing meowed from the bottom of his heart. His paws itched to invite the two rogues to join their group, but he knew that he would have to discuss it with Tall Shadow first. “Is there anything we can do to show you how grateful we are?”
    “If it’s possible, we’d like to join you,” Wind responded, as if she had followed Gray Wing’s thought. “We’d do all we can to hunt well and help out.”
    “That’s right,” Gorse assured Gray Wing. “Life has gotten much harder since the new