Warriors: High Tides

Chapter 16

Ivystream woke up to someone shoving her hard in the ribs. She blinked open her bright eyes and looked up; it was Sun, standing over her.

"Time to go?" She meowed softly, standing up and stretching out. Sun nodded and turned, walking out of the den. The others were waiting outside for her, grooming or talking.

She sighed as Sun took the lead again, with Ice just behind him. Ivystream took her place at the back of the group, behind Gorsewhisker this time. She wished she was still in RiverClan; when the rivers had been full of fish and they didn't have to keep a big secret from the other Clans. If they knew about us stealing from the Twolegs, she thought nervously, Would they ever respect me or my Clan again?

She shook her fur and kept walking.

Suddenly an acrid smell hit her nose. She cringed deeply, flicking her tail back and forth; it seemed the smell had hit the other cats as well, as they all grimaced and hissed in disgust.

Sun peeped his head through the line of shrubs before dissapearing entirely to the other side. The Clan cats followed nervously, unsure what was on the other side.

Ivystream recognized it immediately. "It's a thunderpath," She meowed in surprise. "Like the one we crossed during the attack on the farmcats."

"Huh," Bramblefoot meowed. "I wonder how many there are in the world?" She mused. "I don't like them."

"Neither do I," Gorsewhisker growled, twitching his tail angrily, Harekit blissfully ignorant between his paws.

"I suppose this is where I leave you," Sun meowed. "I'll make sure you cross safely. Then I'll be returning home."

Ivystream watched as Ice and Sun hooked their forepaws together and bumped foreheads, their whiskers intertwining like the limbs of two trees. Ivystream remembered being close to her Clanmates, curling up together in the Warrior den, grooming at sunhigh, protecting each other during patrols.

She felt bad for Ice, honestly. They were dragging the poor Prey Hunter away from the only home he'd ever known.

"Do you have to go?" Bramblefoot asked as she looked at the Thunderpath nervously, being sure no great beasts were coming to cut them down. She nodded as Gorsewhisker darted across with Harekit, landing safely on the other side.

"Of course I do," Sun mewed as Waspwhisker skittered across, her belly jiggling a little with the weight of developing babies.

"But it's not fair..." She mewed softly, and Ice hopped across the Thunderpath, shaking his paws as he reached the othet side.

"My Tribe needs me," Sun assured the Medicine Cat as Rookheart bolted across, Thistlepaw in tow.

Bramblefoot seemed to relent to this reality as Ivystream ran across, feeling the sticky tar as it clung to her pads. The acrid stench of the Thunderpath made her want to vomit, and the memory of the broken farmcat molly made her head spin.

Bramblefoot, oddly enough, shared the tender goodbye with Sun that Ice had. Ivystream flicked her ears, wondering how they had grown so close in only- what- three days? But she didn't ask aloud when Bramblefoot ran across nervously. She's a medicine cat, and technically so is he, she thought. Maybe they have a connection of some kind.

As they started padding down the length of the thunderpath, Bramblefoot turned and called out, "Goodbye, Sun! Thank you!"

Sun raised his tail and purred. "You're welcome!" He replied before dissapearing into the undergrowth.

Ivystream pondered as they walked along the Thunderpath; she had the feeling that her back was, to an extent, pointing at the Lake. They were going in the opposite direction of their homes, and that hurt her deeply. She just wanted to go home.

Suddenly Bramblefoot- she had taken the lead- raised her tail for a pause. "Wait! There's something ahead. It looks like the building at the Horseplace, but lots of them."

Ivystream felt her heart leap. "It's a Twolegplace." She meowed, twitching her tail excitedly. "We have one really close to RiverClan's territory." She trotted to the front of the pack, tail high with much-needed familiarity.

The Twolegplace was bigger than the one by RiverClan, but that was alright. She walked down the Thunderpath, smiling a little. This was something she recognized - something she could get used to.

"I think we should shelter here for a while," She meowed thoughtfully.

"In a Twolegplace?" Gorsewhisker growled in horror, lashing his tail. "What are you, a kittypet?" He snarled.

"No," Waspwhisker mewed, "She's being resourceful. Twolegplace, as strange as it is, has a lot of things to offer. Ever wonder why kittypets don't need to hunt?"

Gorsewhisker grumbled softly but said nothing directly to them. Ivystream smiled and quickly took the lead, glad she could finally be of assistance - glad she could guide without entirely revealing her Clan's secret.

She walked them through the forest of twoleg dens, her eyes scanning everything. Eventually she recognized something: an abandoned dumpster on the side of a decrepit building, clearly not in use. One of its topflaps was gone, and the inside was empty.

"We could use this as our den," She meowed, peering inside. It smelled relatively nice, and it was empty and shady.

Gorsewhisker forced past her and curled up tightly around Harekit in the corner. He lashed his tail as Waspwhisker entered next, with Rookheart close behind. Waspwhisker lay down next to Gorsewhisker while Rookheart took up the other corner. Ivystream entered at that point; Bramblefoot followed, and Thistlepaw came with her. Finally Ice entered, looking nervous. Ivystream understood fully; she was the only RiverClan cat there, and everyone else from the Clans had a partner of some kind.

"I could nurse Harekit if you'd like," Waspwhisker offered gently. "I have plenty of milk for him, since I don't have kits yet."

Gorsewhisker stared hard at the queen before nodding and gently setting Harekit against the she-cat's belly. "Better than a Tribe cat, I suppose."

"Our queens are no different than your own," Ice interjected huffily, licking at his paws.

"They pass around their kits like freshkill," Gorsewhisker growled lowly. "I watched one queen take the kits of another like it was no big deal. Our queens only nurse kits that belong to them- you know, the right way."

"What does it matter to you how the queens nurse?" Ice meowed huffily. "You aren't the one nursing him, are you?"

Gorsewhisker growled. "You don't have kits, do you? You don't understand."

Ice looked stricken, and Ivystream decided to interrupt. "Our groups are different," She meowed, "Deal with it! Now go to sleep and shut up!"

Gorsewhisker hissed at her angrily, then curled up tightly in his corner, growling about 'strange-minded Tribe kits,' but didn't say anything else.

"Sorry about that," Ivystream meowed to the dark brown pointed tom.

"It's alright," Ice purred softly. "Just go to sleep."

Ivystream sighed as she did just that.