Warriors:Into The Wild AU (2024 Rewrite)

Chapter Five

The long-awaited Rusty vs Longtail fight is here! As well as a surprising addition!

The large golden tabby led the way nimbly down the boulders to the bottom of the ravine, and pushed his way through a thick patch of gorse. Rusty followed, then Briar, and Whitestorm took up the rear. As her sides scraped against the prickly gorse, Briar looked down and noticed that the grass beneath her paws had flattened into a broad, strong-smelling track. This must be the main entrance to the camp.

Beyond the gorse, a clearing opened up. The ground at the center was bare, hard earth, shaped by many generations of pawsteps. This camp had been here a long time, perhaps even longer than the Twolegplace. The clearing was dappled by sunlight, and the air felt warm and still.

Rusty and Briar looked around, their eyes wide. There were groups of cats everywhere, sitting alone or in groups, sharing food or purring quietly as they groomed each other.

"Just after sunhigh, when the day is hottest, is a time for sharing tongues," Lionheart explained.

"Sharing tongues?" Rusty echoed.

"Clan cats always spend time grooming each other and sharing the news of the day," Whitestorm told them. "We call it sharing tongues. It is a custom that binds the members of the Clan together."

The cats had obviously smelled Rusty and Briar's foreign scent, for heads began to turn and stare curiously in their direction. Suddenly shy of meeting any cat's gaze, Briar looked around the clearing. It was edged with thick grass, dotted with treestumps and a fallen tree. A thick curtain of ferns and gorse shielded the camp from the rest of the woods. The whole place seemed strangely comforting to Briar, as though she was meant to be in this place.

"Over there," meowed Lionheart, flicking his tail toward an impenetrable-looking tangle of brambles, "is the nursery, where the kits are cared for."

Briar swiveled her ears, one black, one white, towards the bushes with excitement. She couldn't see through the knot of prickly branches, but she could hear the mewling of several kittens from somewhere inside. As she and Rusty watched, a ginger she-cat squirmed through a small gap in the front.

That must be one of the queens, Briar thought. A tabby queen with distinct black markings appeared from the bramble bush. The two she-cats exchanged a friendly lick between the ears before the tabby slipped inside the nursery, murmuring to the squealing kits.

"The care of our kits is shared by all of the queens," meowed Lionheart. "All cats serve the Clan. Loyalty to the Clan is the first law in our warrior code, a lesson you both must learn quickly if you wish to stay with us."

"Here comes Bluestar," meowed Whitestorm, sniffing the air. Rusty sniffed the air too, and was pleased that he was able to recognize the scent of the gray she-cat a moment before she appeared from the shadow of a large boulder that lay beside them at the head of the clearing.

"They came," Bluestar purred, addressing the warriors. Whitestorm replied, "Lionheart was convinced they would not." Briar noticed the tip of Bluestar's tail twitch impatiently.

"Well, what do you think of them?" she asked.

"Both kept up well on the return journey, despite their puny sizes. Briar didn't even flinch when we crossed the stream," Whitestorm admitted. "They certainly seem strong for kittypets."

"So it is agreed?" Bluestar looked at Lionheart and Whitestorm. Both cats nodded.

"Then I shall announce their arrival to the Clan," Bluestar leaped up onto the boulder and yowled, "Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting."