Lost Hope: Book 5: Forest of Vipers

Chapter 24

Violethshadow gathered up her apprentice before dawn two days later. She was expected to be back before sunhigh so she figured now would be an optimal time to leave. Servalpaw didn't seem overly excited to get up this early, but he didn't complain, just stretched briefly and followed Violetshadow out of the camp and into the empty forest.

    The only sounds were birds chirping in the early light and the slight crunch beneath the two cats' paws as they trotted out of EchoClan territory.

    When they crossed the scent line, they sat and waited.

    "I suppose we didn't have to get up this early if it was going take them forever to get here," Servalpaw commented.

    "Tarantulaclaw isn't the best planner, and his territory is farther away, but he should get here soon," Violetshadow said. She hadn't been thrilled that Tarantulaclaw would be coming, but she had to admit that Viperfang was right in her reasoning. The plan was to distract the Clan by rescuing Foxflame and Lilacsnow from the rogues' barn, but if they put up a struggle then it would be helpful to have more than one full grown cat to deal with them. The point of the distraction was to take care of EchoClan's current deputy. That was were Servalpaw came in, she just hoped he'd be able play his role convincingly enough.

    Dahliapetal came up to them from the right, from FernClan's territory. She wore a grim frown and sat down beside Violetshadow without saying a word.

    Tarantulaclaw arrived soon after, slightly out of breath, as if he had sprinted all the way here. "Let's get this show on the trail, shall we?" he said, smiling at Violetshadow.

    Violetshadow let her mouth quirk up slightly and nodded. "We shall."

    The barn was a little closer than the Town, but still quite the distance, and Violetshadow knew her apprentice was starting to get tired. He didn't have good stamina yet and his legs were shorter than everyone else's. She almost offered to carry him, just so he wouldn't collapse, but then she saw the barn in the distance and sped up.

    When they reached the large opening of the barn, Violethshadow took a breath, inhaling all the scents. Foxflame and Lilacnsnow would be one of the farthest stalls down, guarded by one cat by the name of Cactus. The rest of the rogues had evacuated earlier, they had a different role to play in this show.

    "Servalpaw," Violetshadow said. "Stay here and catch your breath. If you see anything or anyone that may disrupt our plan, call for me."

    "Yes, Violetshadow."

    Violetshadow gave him a little nod and led Tarantulaclaw and Dahliapetal into the barn.

    It was wooden floored with hay scattered about the place. Stacked along the walls, strewn around in nests and just leftover scraps everywhere.

    A little farther down was were the stalls began. Little compartments larger than typical den sizes, but they were made of wood and polished stone. Some of them were locked, but some of them were open and more nests were made in them.

    Violetshadow, Tarantulaclaw and Dahliapetal quickly made their way down the length of the barn were Cactus was standing. He started shaking when he spotted them.

    It was not completely necessary for them to attack the poor cat, but they did have to give Foxflame and Lilacsnow the impression that they were actually rescuing them.

    Tarantulaclaw shot her a glance, smirking, then he leapt.

    Cactus fell to the ground with a shriek and Tarantulaclaw growled menacingly. Violetshadow thought he was overdoing it a bit, but he was getting the job done, so it's not like she could complain.

    Violetshadow and Dahliapetal bounded into the stall where Foxflame and Lilacnsnow were already on their feet, glancing around wildly.

    "Violetshadow?" Foxflame said in disbelief. "What are you doing here? And is that a FernClan cat?"

    "You're being rescued," Violetshadow said, giving Foxflame a shove. He startled forward, but then he walked out by himself. Lilacsnow gave Violetshadow and Dahliapetal suspicious looks before following her brother.

    "Took care of the guard for you," Tarantulaclaw said, coming to stand beside Violetshadow as she took the lead again. She rolled her eyes.

    The five walked swiftly out of the barn. Violetshadow was a little surprised by Foxflame and Lilacsnow's compliance, but she didn't comment on it in case they started asking questions.

    Servalpaw was waiting by the entrance as instructed. "No trouble, Violetshadow," he said, eyeing Foxflame and Lilacsnow.

    "Good. Come along."

    "Where are we going?" Lilacsnow asked.

    Here we go. "Back to EchoClan, of course," Violetshadow told her.

    She felt Lilacsnow's eyes burning into her back. "Funny that you finally realized we needed rescuing."

    "Yeah, I mean, we were there for awhile," Foxflame said.

    Violetshadow didn't reply. She continued on her good pace, her eyes flicking up to the sun occasionally to check that they were on time. It was getting close to sunhigh and they still had a quite the distance to cover before they reached to forest. Foxdung, Tarantulaclaw and his bad timing. She shot a glare at the tom.

    "What?" he asked, his voice high pitched.

    "It's your fault if we don't get back in time."

    "What do you mean?" Tarantulaclaw protested. "If you're talking about me the slightest bit late—"

    "Of course that's what I'm talking about," Violetshadow said. "If you hadn't, we'd actually be on time."

    Tarantulaclaw gave her a surly look and turned his eyes back to the path.

    "On time for what?" Lilacsnow asked.

    "None of your business," Violetshadow snapped. She tried not to let her temper get the best of her, but if she screwed this up, she wouldn't get a second chance.

    "Come on," she said and sped up. It was a race against the sun.