Warriors: Sharptalon's Mist

Chapter 11

Dim sunlight broke through the tops of the trees. The leaves rustled and the branches creaked and swayed in the freezing wind. 

"Well?" Darktail sneered. 

Sharppaw flattened his ears. "You!" He hissed. "You're the one who tried to kill my friend, Stormpaw! You're an evil mange-pelt!" He snarled, flexing his claws. He wanted to leap at the rogue leader. 

"Calm down, Clan cat. I saved your tail," Darktail growled. "Or I could've just left you for the fox to kill," He suggested.

Sharppaw hung his head, his tail drooping. "Well I.... I could've beaten it myself!" He growled, lashing his tail. 

Darktail didn't reply. His icy gaze dragged to the two WindClan apprentices. He flattened his ears. "Flash and Spark?" He asked suspiciously. 

"I'm Flashpaw now," The dark ginger-brown tom meowed, his amber eyes shimmering. 

"And I'm Sparkpaw now," The spiky-furred ginger she-cat meowed, flicking her tail. She turned to Sharppaw. "Thank you for saving me and my brother!" She mewed.

"I'm Sharppaw by the way, an apprentice of ThunderClan," Sharppaw meowed. He flicked his tail. He didn't know that those two cats had been rogues before.

"You three are coming back with me," Darktail growled. 

"But-" Sharppaw protested.

"Come back with me, Sharppaw, or these two die!" Darktail hissed, throwing himself on the two young cats. He pinned them down, his claws unsheathed.

Sharppaw's heart pounded in his ears. "Ok, ok. Just don't hurt them. They're young," he pleaded. 

Darktail smiled, his blue eyes shimmering with happiness. "Follow me."

Sharppaw padded into a clearing surrounded by pines and oaks. Ferns and low undergrowth crowded in. Flashpaw and Sparkpaw crowded around him, shaking. 

Sleekwhisker was the first cat to walk up to them, her yellow eyes shimmering with suspicion. "Isn't that brown tom the cat that wounded you badly?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, and we're holding him hostage along with these two cats," Darktail meowed, flicking his tail. 

Sharppaw bristled, glaring at the rogue. "Holding me hostage?" He hissed, lashing his tail. Is he crazy? 

Darktail glanced at him. "Uh, yeah. Don't worry. It's not like your Clan would care if you were missing anyway." Darktail glanced at him, his blue eyes shimmering with a slight sympathy. "You slightly remind me of myself. My father abandoned me just like yours did," he murmured.

Sharppaw glanced at the rogue leader, blinking. He felt his belly growl. The pain in his shoulder was still flashing in his flesh. He clenched his teeth.

"Come on buddy, lets get you fixed up," Darktail meowed, blinking. He turned around and padded across the clearing, heading towards a tree with bracken and bramble crowding around it. Sharppaw followed him, hearing Sleekwhisker's voice.

"Come on, you two, follow me to the prisoners' den."

"Where are we going?" Sharppaw asked, his gaze dragging towards the sky. Rain started to lightly patter around them. Sharppaw quickened his pace, following Darktail into the den.

A light brown tabby tom was in the den. He had a white belly and paws. His amber gaze flicked towards them as he blinked open his eyes from sleep. He yawned. "Morning, Darktail. Who's this?" He asked.

"Sharppaw. An apprentice of ThunderClan. I found him with two of our runaways. We're keeping him hostage with the other two apprentices. I hope that ThunderClan can give us some of their prey, and if they do, they can take these apprentices back," Darktail meowed. His blue gaze dragged to Sharppaw, his eyes fixing on his shoulder wound.

"But he's our hostage, and we can't have him hurt in our camp, can we? Fix him up, Arch," he ordered, his blue eyes shimmering. Darktail flicked his tail.

Sharppaw shifted his paws. He didn't like being here, but if he left, the rogues might kill him. He shivered as Darktail rested his tail on his shoulders. He then wondered how the big white tom knew that his father neglected him. He didn't feel like asking though.

"Come foward, Sharppaw," Arch meowed, flicking his white-tipped tail. He had cobwebs wrapped around his paw.

"You put marigold on it first so it doesn't get infected," Sharppaw reminded. He glanced at Darktail, who was watching him intently.

"Hm. What other herbs do you know?" Darktail asked, his gaze sharpening with interest.

"Not many others. Just that you would chew marigold into a pulp and rub it into the wound so it doesn't get infected. Then you would dress it with cobwebs. Trust me, I've been in the medicine den many time to know this," Sharppaw meowed. He thought of telling them about borage or catmint, then thought better. If they had a stronger knowledge of herbs, they'd be more powerful.

Darktail blinked. "Think you can remember that, Arch?" He asked, flicking his tail.

"Sure," Arch meowed. He pulled marigold out of a hole in the ground. He brushed off the dust with his paws, then began to chew it. He shook out his paw before spitting out a chewed out pulp onto his paw. He slathered it into Sharppaw's wound.

Sharppaw winced as the juices sank in, but the pain soon faded. He felt cobwebs being applied to his wound. He hadn't noticed that Darktail left the den. 

"DarkClan! All cats gather around me for this important announcement!" Darktail yowled outside the den.

Sharppaw slightly pushed forward, peering from the den.

"Don't move too much," Arch meowed.

Sharppaw watched Darktail with interest. He caught the white tom's eye. He'd called this camp 'DarkClan'.

"I have found Flash and Spark, the two cats who left us about a half-moon ago. I found them with Sharppaw, a ThunderClan apprentice. I've decided to hold them hostage. We'll give back to ThunderClan in exchange for some of their prey!" Darktail yowled, his voice clear. 

The cats in the clearing exchanged excited glances. 

"It will make ThunderClan weak. Then we can attack them later and take over ThunderClan," Darktail meowed, satisfaction in his voice. 

Sharppaw looked away. Well good luck doing that. ThunderClan has many warriors. He rested his head on his paws, darkness swallowing him. He fell into sleep.