Warrior Cats: The New Course (STILL UPDATING)

Chapter Twelve

A little shorter than usual, but I'm happy to finally update again! If you don't remember the previous events of this book, I recommend rereading whatever is necessary. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. And please do correct any silly mistakes I make! :)

The moon and silverpelt above were the only sources of light in the dark open Clanless territory. A strong breeze swayed the grass downward, brushing Icestar's fur in the wrong way. He stopped in his tracks, his belly pressed to the ground as he growled with frustration. Flameheart's warm pelt came beside him and pressed close, ears flattened against the wind.

"What now?" asked the warrior tom, green eyes dim and hard to make out. "Their scent washed away."

When two of them left camp, the moon was at its highest peak, and all of their Clanmates were asleep. The only cats to notice them go was Sharpfang, who knew about this mission, Redsky, who was guarding the camp entrance, and Lilyheart, who was watching the intruder. The two she-cats didn't question his departure, but nodded with silent respect as he passed by.

Now they were well past the borders where MoonClan and CloudClan met, in the direction they were hinted to go. A faint scent had been caught earlier, but it was hard to keep track of. The open land made Icestar wish he was back in camp, but he couldn't turn back for the sake of his Clanmates.

"We'll have to wait out the wind," Icestar murmured. The rogue scent was unreachable for him too. The winds had suddenly started up, interrupting their tracking, and the only thing that the two cats could smell was the stench of the nearby Twolegplace, with their disgusting monsters and mysteriously-shaped stone dens in the distance.

His eyes traveled to the outline of a few Twoleg dens, and his fur bristled with unease. These were the creatures that were digging under their territory. And somewhere nearby were the dangerous rogues that Icestar fearfully anticipated.

For a while, the two toms stood in silence, pressing close together for warmth as the winds blew. As they waited, Icestar thought about them. They were mysterious rogues, and their goals were even more mysterious. Although he only had a slight idea of what they were here for, they troubled him. The rogue prisoned in MoonClan's camp had the malicious intent of hurting his kits. Not only that, but the second rogue they came upon said something troubling . . . and Icestar couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally, the wind died down, and Flameheart kept up, nose pointed outward as he tried to catch the scent once more.

"This way!" he said, catching it at once. He whirled and followed the sharp yet unfamiliar cat scent. Icestar dashed after his friend, careful not to step on anything pointy or loud. They ducked beneath the cover of a large patch of tall and unruly grass and darted forward.

Flameheart's rusty orange pelt disappeared in the dark grass at once as he quickly followed the scent of the rogues. The only thing to be heard was the slight rustle of the plants he trampled, but other than that, his paws treaded on the earth as light as a feather, so one would have to listen really hard to hear him quickly padding through its cover.

Icestar followed the tip of Flameheart's tail, for that was all he could see through the grass. Flameheart was going too fast. Trying to keep up, Icestar trotted quicker, but before he could call out to his friend, Flameheart disappeared completely.

Icestar stopped in his tracks, ears pointed forward, then to his sides, but he couldn't hear a single thing at all.

Very quietly, he whispered, "Flameheart?"

There was no response, and Icestar didn't want to risk calling out to him any louder. Mouse-dung, he cursed under his breath. He tried to pick up a scent. All he could smell was the tall grass. Both Flameheart's scent and the rogues' scent was masked by the strong odor of the grass, and he couldn't see a thing through this darkness. Where could he have gone?