[the siege]

vii. chapter seven

Adderpaw's whiskers twitched with annoyance as Snakepaw looked back at her, ungraciously shoving the mouse towards her, his fur bristling with undisguised fury.

"Take it," he jerked away and stomped out of the thicket.

Adderpaw and the other apprentices were being assessed by their mentors and Adderpaw had just tracked down a mouse that was scurrying around a tree when she had caught it skillfully. Then, Snakepaw had shown up out of nowhere, claiming that the mouse was his and that Adderpaw had dug it up from where he had buried it.

Adderpaw had just scoffed with disbelief—did Snakepaw not smell the scent difference? A mouse that had just been caught would've smelled differently than one that had been buried. And why would Adderpaw do that anyway if she knew that the mentors would be watching her—or hers would be at least.

"Whatever," she mumbled, scraping a pile of dirt over top of the mouse to cover it. She would come back for it later. But for now, she was going to try and find something else.

Adderpaw crept through the undergrowth, she suddenly scented an odd smell. At first, she thought that it was prey, but then, when she took a deeper whiff, she realized that she had not scented it before. Adderpaw perked her ears, trying to listen for some kind of sign for what it might be. Even though she had never smelled dogs before, she knew what to expect. Dogs weren't stealthy—she would've heard them crashing through the forest before she scented them. And she had smelled fox before. No, this smelled more . . . sour, almost. And more organized, somehow, as if the cats smelled differently based precisely on where they were located and who they were.

"What in StarClan . . ." Adderpaw trailed off, sniffing around in the foliage, trying to figure out what she was smelling. Then, her expression grew solemn and she lifted her head slowly.

What if it was a rogue? Or, perhaps, there were multiple of them. Adderpaw definitely scented multiple distinguishable odours. They all smelled almost the same—sour, tangy, and dead. But there was a slight difference between them as if each of the cats had spent time in different territories.

Then, she heard a terrible yowling. Adderpaw trembled as the cry sent shivers down her spine. It sounded as if it were coming from Frogpaw. The screech came again, but this time, it was different. Another cat. Adderpaw looked around, paranoid. What's going on? She thought frantically.

Suddenly, Adderpaw felt teeth clamp around her tail and she howled with pain, her vision clouding with red and white spots. Adderpaw whirled around to face her attacker—only to see a mangy brown tabby. It was snarling at her ferociously, showing its yellowing teeth.

"Who are you? What are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" Adderpaw hissed, trying to sound menacing, although it sounded more like the terrified mewling of a kit.

The cat's eyes narrowed and it snarled back, "Oh, so you're part of the Clans? Pathetic. Well, at least I know who I'm dealing with." The cat leapt forward, startling Adderpaw.

The rogue, Adderpaw presumed, overtook her and dragged her into the bracken. Adderpaw's thoughts were overtaken by petrified screaming. Not all of the screams were coming from Adderpaw, either. Some of them were from Frogpaw and a cat that sounded like . . . Snakepaw!

Adderpaw tried to turn around to see where she was going but her attacker was dragging her by her tail backwards. A sharp pain seared through her tail and she howled out from the agony. She hoped that some cat might hear it and come to her rescue. Then, they could go find Frogpaw and Snakepaw and defeat these ruthless rogues, but no one seemed to hear, or if they did, they were too far away to do anything.

Adderpaw realized with dismay that she was helpless in this situation and that she would have to wait it out and hope for the best. And so she continued letting herself be dragged through the forest, over sharp rocks and around towering oak trees.