A Twisted Fate (Warrior Cats)

Chapter 5

*Unedited

~~

Thanks for commenting, Veralidaine! :) This is for you.

    Birdpaw fell face-flat onto the dirt as she tried tackling a mouse but missed. She muttered under her breath, and scuffed her paws along the ground. This was her third time trying to catch a mouse, and the third time she failed. She glared at the ground in frustration, fur pricking up along her spine.

    "Your crouch was good, but you need to make your paws lighter and softer, as if they are gliding across the ground," her mentor, Blacktail padded up to meow. He crouched, and stalked forward silent as a shadow. Birdpaw gazed at it, trying to imagine how to make herself do the same.

    Blacktail straightened up and shook his muzzle. "Now you try it," and sat down a bit further away, next to a pine tree. Last time Birdpaw tried to stalk, she focused so hard on the ground she pounced on him in mistake. Her mentor clearly didn't want that to happen again. Birdpaw sighed, and shifted into the position. She creeped along for a few badger-lengths, and then stood up, glancing at her mentor for comments.

    He nodded thoughtfully, and remarked, "I think that was great. Shadeclan cats are all built fairly light and agile, able to stalk silently in the woods. You're very light, but your paws are a bit clumsy, so I think you need to work on that a bit more." Then he motioned how to step lightly, and how to avoid certain obstacles.

    Birdpaw nodded, and was about to practice it again when she saw another plump mouse, nibbling on a beech nut some tail-lengths away. She glanced at her mentor for approval, and he gave a brisk nod. Birdpaw dropped down to her crouch and began to glide forward as if she was the wind. One paw after another...now this one...getting closer...NOW! and when she was less than a fox-length away, she pounced on the mouse. It looked up, frightened, and tried to make a dash, but Birdpaw snagged its tail in her claws and sank her teeth into its throat. She made a catch!

    "Well done!" Blacktail praised as he padded over to admire the fat mouse. "I think this will feed quite a few cats," he commented. As Birdpaw scraped earth over her kill, she suddenly heard a yowl of pain and snarls coming from the borders. She saw that her mentor had heard too, because his ears were pricked up and his eyes alert. She listened further, craning her neck, and thought she recognized the voice somewhere.

    Birdpaw looked to Blacktail for advice, and he flicked his tail, motioning for her to follow him, and the two bounded off, in search of the strange yowls.

                                                                                      ~*~

     Birdpaw skidded to a stop at the edge of the slope with wide eyes. Falconwing was wrestling with a tight knot of cats all at once at the bottom, and he clearly was losing by sheer number. She was about to dive into the battle but was blocked by Blacktail. She looked  at him, puzzled, and he hissed into her ear, "If both of us go now, there will be no cat to drag Falconwing back to camp, and we'll all be doomed. I'll go, and you stay here. If you think it's safe, get down there as fast as you can and drag Falconwing to some sort of safety. Then, you can join the fight, because Featherpelt was with him, so she must have gone back to camp for help." Before Birdpaw could protest, he had already streaked down the hill and had pounced on a tortoiseshell she-cat, clawing at her furiously. There's no choice but to do what Blacktail told me to do, she thought.  

     Birdpaw studied the battle scene. There were four cats still in the clearing, including Falconwing. The dark brown tabby was slumped at the edge, fainted, while Blacktail was grappling with the two other cats somewhere on the other side. She saw her chance, and began to creep down. Birdpaw got closer and closer, and suddenly she was knocked over by another cat, hissing and snarling at her. It was a bright ginger tom with piercing green eyes. He hissed at her some more, but never motioned to attack. She gazed at him, confused yet cautious.

    The stranger whispered at her, "Take your clanmate and go. If you don't go now, the rest of the gang will kill him. Now go!" and he shoved her hard. Birdpaw came back to her senses and seized Falconwing by the scruff, slowly dragging him up the hill.

                                                                                   ~*~

     Birdpaw was splayed out by a bush, Falconwing still asleep by her side, exhausted. She decided to wait for her mentor here, because there was no way she could drag a full grown warrior back to camp all by herself. As she waited, thoughts on the battle sprang into her mind. They didn't look like clan cats, she thought. The ginger tom had said something about a "gang", whatever that was. Speaking of him, who was he? Why did he help her?

                                                                                          ~*~

Falconwing's POV

     Falconwing woke up, groggy, and realized he was back at camp as his eyes refocused. He was staring at the ceiling of the medicine den, he guessed the shuffling noises was Violetfoot who was sorting herbs. Hmm... he thought. Some cat must have carried me back to camp when I was unconscious. He tried to sit up, but his legs collapsed under him.

    "Hey! Don't try to sit up yet!" a crisp mew greeted him. Violetfoot had padded over to sit by his nest with a few leaves in her mouth. She set them down, and scolded, "What in Starclan did you think you were doing, taking down a whole patrol of rogues at once?" When Falconwing just laid there, sheepishly, not answering, she snorted, and muttered under her breath something that sounded like "young cats these days...thinking they're so great....".

     "Well, it's already happened! There's nothing anyone can do about it now..." Falconwing protested, feeling slightly ashamed. "I already feel very guilty."

     "Good. Now, eat these herbs." she instructed, voice slightly warmer. He obeyed, licking up the foul tasting leaves. Violetfoot knows best, he said in his head. After all, she's the medicine cat, isn't she?

    Just then, the most annoying cat in the clan had padded in, a mouse in her jaws. She marched over and set it down, then opened her mouth to speak. "Aren't you going to thank me?"

    "For what?" Falconwing looked at the mouse, then her, then realized. "Oh. The mouse. Well, thanks." then he bent down to eat. It was nice and plump, and tasted very good. The meat was warm in his mouth, and he chewed with relish.

    Birdpaw waited a few moments, then prompted. "Well? The mouse, you're welcome. But what else?" she flicked her tail irritibly, then sighed. "I saved your life."

   "What?"

   "I. Saved. Your. Life." she enounciated clearly and slowly. It took a bit to sink in.

   "So you were the one that dragged me from the  battle to camp?"

   "No, but I did drag you to safety, and helped you back to camp with Featherpelt."

    "Oh. ....so?"

   Birdpaw rolled her eyes. "So? So aren't you going to thank me?"

   Falconwing suppressed a slight purr. "No! It's what every clanmate ought to have done to each other."

   Her pelt started to bristle. "Well, I wouldn't have. I thought maybe you could be less arrogant and at least express gratitude to your life saver. Too bad you're so stupidly proud not a single cat could persuade you to let it down!" She whipped around and stalked out of the medicine den, fur sticking up on end. Falconwing stared after her, confused. He was only joking!

   "It's okay. She's always been a feisty and stubbornly proud one. She'll calm down sooner or later," Violetfoot called from where she was sorting out her herbs. She shook her head in exasperation, and returned to her work. Falconwing nodded, and concentrated on finishing his mouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HaHa!!! I finally got to update. :D I'm sorry for keeping you so long, just that school's been kinda busy and I don't have time to get on Wattpad. Sorry! Next update...I'm not sure. So...stay tuned, and meanwhile, Comment, Fan, Vote! Thanks for readin my little story! ~cinna