High Speed Winds

Chapter 3

Vines dangled from the lush trees, and water splashed down onto Hopeglow's already damp fur.

Her gray fur was clinging to her bones, and hunger hollowed in the she-cat's belly.

I need food.

All of a sudden, a frog leapt in front of her paws, making a brief croaking sound from its throat. The slimy creature was blue, and it's back was speckled with black spots.

Immediately, the medicine cat sprang at the frog, and grasped its neck in her jaws. Hopeglow jerked her head back, snapping the frog's neck. Warm blood flowed into her mouth. It tasted like she was taking a drink of muddy water.

Abruptly, Hopeglow got dizzy. The medicine cat staggered to her paws.

The scarred she-cat fell to the ground, and the frog's blood trickled from her mouth.

I need Stinging Nettle.

The medicine cat remembered that lesson with her former mentor, Autumnbreeze. Maplepaw had been sick from eating crowfood, and they had had to use stinging nettle to cure her.

Hopeglow staggered to her paws, slipping on the frog's blood and almost tumbling over her own legs.

The medicine cat padded deeper into the jungle, swaying dizzily on her paws.

********

Sharp leaves stabbed Hopeglow's paws. Her vision blurry, the she-cat glanced down. Her dreary eyes lit up with surprise to see the Stinging Nettle.

Hopeglow bent down, her body swaying. She opened her mouth and grasped the nettle in her jaws, nearly missing.

The sharp tang of the nettles flooded her nose as she bit off the stem.

Eat it, right?

Hopeglow laid down on the ground and swallowed the Stinging Nettle. It's sharp tang remained in her mouth after she swallowed the bitter herb.

The black that swarmed her vision began to fade, and she saw more clearly. Hopeglow stood up, her dizziness gone.

"I'm never gonna eat frog again." She muttered, her words slurring.

All of a sudden, a voice sounded from above her.

"What are you doing on our territory, MistClan scum?"

The medicine cat looked towards the snarl, to see an orange tom with a white tail glaring at her from the trees.

"I-I didn't know this was a territory." She meowed innocently. Instinctively, she hid her unsheathed claws behind a large leaf.

"Have you been hunting on our territory?" He began to climb down, clearly not believing what she said.

"Our?" Hopeglow followed his gaze to her bloody paws. She looked back up with the tiniest taunting glimmer in her eyes, and a small smirk on her lips.

The tom let out a snort of annoyance. "We are Fogclan. Didn't Curlstar teach you of the most feared Clan in the jungle?" He sneered.

A growl rumbled in her chest, and she moved her claws from behind the leaf.

"Who are you?" He meowed before she could remark.

"I am Panicscar. Who is Curlstar?" The scarred she-cat spat, and alarm filled her chest as she realized what she had said. Before she could correct herself, the tom went on.

"Well, Panicscar. Where do you come from? Are you a spy?" Now the orange tom was in front of her, and the she-cat could see his glowing amber eyes.

"I come from DrizzleClan!" She declared, in a somewhat indignant hiss.

"Well. I am Vineclaw, and you are coming with me." He hissed and turned back towards the jungle. The orange tom waved his white tail, beckoning her to follow.

Panicscar let out a hiss, her claw flexing in and out. She hesitated to follow Vineclaw, but slowly padded after him.

Maybe I still am Panicscar... The thought suddenly popped into her head as she walked, like a rabbit's head slowly peeking out of its den. Perhaps Hopeglow was just a mask to the truth.

The FogClan cat led her through the dense undergrowth. Droplets of water clung to her fur, and Panicscar let out a hiss every time she stepped on a thorn. I cannot let him think I'm weak.

The she-cat sniffed the air, and narrowed her eyes when she smelled a familiar scent. The scent of rogues.

Not turning her head, Panicscar glanced over to Vineclaw to ensure that he wasn't looking at her—which he wasn't—before whipping her head around in the hopes of finding the source of the smell. She almost stepped on another thorny branch when she spotted the scent's source.

Three strikingly black cats stood ominously in the shadows, their unblinking stares fixed on her. Two looked like twin tabby toms, with the same posture and light gray eyes that were filled with a mischievous look.

The last cat, a she-cat, stood in front of the twins, her posture tall and sure. She was also much bigger than the other two cats, and was clearly the leader of their rogue gang.

But all her other features aside, one thing about the she-cat stood out more than anything else.

Her eyes.

Although they were the same gray as that of the twin cats, they had an undeniably familiar sharpness and seriousness.

"Where is he?" Panicscar heard the large she-cat hiss under her breath, baring her thorn-sharp teeth.

Before Panicscar could reply, Vineclaw snarled from behind her, "Get a move on, or else I'll have to drag you there myself."

She jerked her head around, flicking her tail with disapproval and relief at the tom as she realized that he hadn't noticed the trio of jet black cats.

She heard the slight rustling of brambles, and glanced to the side warily to see that the cats had disappeared into the shadows of the jungle, not a trace of their existence left behind, not even a scent, as if they were never there.