"Lilypaw, where were you? You promised to sit beside me!" a heavyset, wiry cinnamon tabby tom whined as Lilypaw caught up to the patrol of BranchClan cats.
"Sorry, Dapplepaw. Yellowpaw was bullying an AshClan apprentice."
He huffed and stomped ahead.
"Aw, did you upset your brother?" Adderpaw teased as she trotted up to him.
Lilypaw ignored her, instead focusing on the scents around him.
Stale mouse, seed, bird, fox, rogue, more rogue.
"Olivestar!" Lilypaw called, running up to the leader. "There's heavy scent of rogue!"
Olivestar paused, the patrol following her lead. "You're right. Quickly, back to camp."
As they approached the camp, a loud yowl of pain and fear sounded from the nursery.
"Pumpkinflight!" a long-furred, dilute tortoiseshell tom yowled, racing toward the fallen tree that served as an entrance to the camp.
The dilute tom grappled with a dirty, black appaloosa she-cat, her plumy tail missing clumps of fur.
Two rogues ganged up a large, feathery, gray tabby she-cat near the elders' den.
"Lilypaw, Adderpaw, help Pearfleck. Flashwillow, Brambleeye, help Lakesnarl. Slategaze, choose five cats to check the dens, take the rest to check out territory," Olivestar instructed, heading toward her den.
Lilypaw tackled the rogue off Pearfleck, burying his teeth in the she-cat's paw and drawing blood.
The she-cat attempted to claw Lilypaw's stomach, but his fur was too thick for her to reach his soft belly.
He pinned her down, keeping his teeth on her scruff to inhibit her movement.
"Olivestar, we've got the rogue!" Adderpaw called.
"There were only three," Slategaze, a slender, coarse black tabby tom, meowed, peeking out of the warriors' den.
"Why would you attack us?" Olivestar demanded, shoving her muzzle in the appaloosa she-cat's face.
"We're hungry! Life is hard as a rogue when you clan cats take up so much territory!"
"Pearfleck, show her what clan cats do to cats who attack our queens," the leader instructed, gesturing for the angry tom to attack her.
Blood spattered on Lilypaw's face as Pearfleck bit into her throat.
Lilypaw could tell that the tortoiseshell wanted to kill her, but held back.
"Sleepypaw, it's time for your assessment," Pearfleck panted, licking the blood off his chops. "Heal this dirt. No one can help you besides fetching herbs. Start now."
The other two rogues kicked their attackers off and scrambled away, making a large break in the thorn barrier.
"Lilypaw, Adderpaw, and Dapplepaw, fix the barrier," Olivestar instructed, retiring to her den.
The three apprentices started weaving thorns and brambles into it, shoving moss against the bottom so any stray kits wouldn't get hurt.
—~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~—
As Lilypaw weaved the last thorn branch into the now-fixed barrier, Dapplepaw flopped on the ground with an exhausted sigh.
"That took forever!" he whined, tossing a scrap of moss aside.
"You promised to teach me battle moves, Lilypaw!" a chubby, downy, pale black marbled tom mewed, barreling into the large apprentice.
"Calm down, Applekit. This isn't the time." He gently shoved him back towards his mother, a bony, spiky-furred, black tabby she-cat.
ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
Sundown
Hayran KurguThe four clans live quite disconnected from the others' affairs, each having their own code, which stands to reason why one of the leaders found it quite easy to switch it up and cement their rule. As the inevitable destruction from the leader's rul...
