A Twisted Fate (Warrior Cats)

Chapter 20.5 (short!)

If you've read the latest message on my board, you'll understand what's up with this ridiculously short chapter. (:

If situations were less urgent, I would post this a few days before I post a full chapter to reward you guys for being so patient with me. I guess that's not possible ;A; but think of this little bit as an apology cookie...apology because I take so long and cookie because they're small too.

Anyways, let's get to ittttt.

"Wake up!" a voice hissed urgently in Birdpaw's left ear. 

"Hold on, I'll be right there..." she mumbled sleepily, shifting her position a little and waving her tail dismissively before settling down again to sleep more comfortably.

In her groggy state, Birdpaw thought she heard a faint snort of annoyance, before something soft and furry started waving itself in her face and Birdpaw felt just a little bit...

Achoo! she sneezed, before hauling herself up to a sitting position with an irritated shake of her pelt. "What's gotten into your fur? It's not even sunrise yet!" she growled at Falconclaw, who just sighed before giving her a dirty look. Hazelpaw was standing behind him, her thick pelt acquiring a silver sheen in the soft rays of moonlight that shone through the den entrance.

The tabby tom shook his head and brought his tail in front of Birdpaw's mouth, as if to silence her, before turning around and exiting the den without a single word of explanation. Hazelpaw beckoned to Birdpaw with her tail in the same strangely mysterious way, before making her way out as well.

Birdpaw sighed, and with one last, longing look at her comfortable nest, stumbled to her paws and followed suit.

                                                           ~*~

"Is everyone here?" Nightpelt eyed the rest of the group warily, as if he suspected that a Rogue was nearby. Lifting his chin, the black warrior sniffed at the air carefully, before giving a slight nod and relaxing his almost defensive stance.

Falconclaw dipped his head respectfully to the senior warrior before meowing, "Yes Nightpelt. I made sure to stay quiet so that we wouldn't attract much attention."

Birdpaw, however, was thoroughly confused. "Can't we just meet in the daytime? I don't see much difference between now, which should be precious sleeptime, and tomorrow at sunhigh, when we'd all be more awake." She yawned, as if to emphasize her point.

Almost instantly, Birdpaw could feel Falconclaw's amber gaze boring into her. The tabby tom let out a small huff, before meowing, "All the Rogues are resting right now. Therefore, there is less of a chance for us to be discovered like this. If it was sunhigh, who knows how many ears are listening? Birdpaw, please mind your words."

Ouch. That last sentence probably held the most formal tone that the tabby's used with her in a while. Although he wasn't insulting her and he did have a valid point, Birdpaw felt hurt by his cold demeanor, and her ears flattened as she glared at the ground in silence.

Clearly feeling uncomfortable by the direction that this conversation was going into, Hazelpaw tried to change the subject. "Nightpelt, is there anything specific that you'd like to inform us about?" she asked.

"Yes," Nightpelt answered, and both Falconclaw and Birdpaw fixed their gazes on him in order to pay attention.

"Please listen carefully to my words, as we don't want, and quite frankly can't afford, another accident to occur among the lot of us. As you can see, there are still many members of the Rogues who do not trust us right now, and for rightful reasons. We're not going to be able to discover any of their secrets if we don't gain their trust first. As a result, I want you to go out and socialize, pretending to be one of them. Use the friends you gain to your advantage and be on your guard if you happen to make any enemies," he gave Birdpaw a knowing look before continuing, "But no matter what you do, always remember to never ever get too close to a Rogue, as you never know who's going to turn their back on you in a single heartbeat."

Birdpaw felt her pelt start to prickle with worry, and not because Nightpelt somehow found out about, and indirectly made a reference to Hawk. Her gaze dropped to the floor again, and her mind was swimming with a mixture of conflict, guilt, and most of all, an unexplainable feeling of pain that seemed to stab at her when she least expected it.

"Any questions?" Nightpelt asked, and when no cat voiced his or her concerns, declared, "Then this meeting is over. We will meet here at every half and full moon to report on any new findings, and emergency meetings will also be held if needed be. You will be notified of this if you find a pinecone in your nest."

"We understand. Can we split up right now, though? So that if any of us get caught, we won't be seen all together and it would arouse less suspicion," Falconclaw suggested. The rest of the group murmured their approvals, and Birdpaw found herself nodding numbly.

As she turned to make her way back to camp alone, Birdpaw felt a sense of dread creeping up on her. Nightpelt's last words still echoed in her brain as she suppressed a sigh. Blaze...can we still be together despite all the ties that restrain us?

But another, more ominous thought nagged at Birdpaw from the back of her mind.

...Or would not seeing you at all be a safer idea?

~~

Okay, arguably not my best writing recently. However, I hope you guys enjoyed it as this was a critical scene in the story.

I can't promise you when I'll update again, but I can promise to continue on the best I can. (: For example, since I don't have a lot of time to be writing, I'm now going back to slowly edit my previous chapters (wow I really did suck). I think I've told you all this before but if you're ever bored, you may go and reread from the beginning of this book, as you may find some unexpected changes (hopefully for the better)! For example, the very first section of the Prologue (indicated by ~~~~~~) should now be close to its final, polished form. :3 

Anyways, best of luck to me, yes? :/

With a few sighs as to what the future holds,

Rainii