Warriors: From Terror to Torture

Chapter three- the ground beneath our feet will run rivers of red

Cedarfur took the lead at the head of the patrol, but Bloodfang wasn't far behind him, trotting along eagerly. Tigerfang hung back, walking at a slower pace. Usually, Tigerfang would be at the head of the patrol, neck and neck with the red-brown she-cat. Today, she just rolled her eyes. It's so stupid, she thought, that these days we get excited over killing kittypets.

Not for the first time, Tigerfang found herself thinking about the old days. She was only an apprentice then, but still remembered the thrill of not knowing when the next battle would be. She remembered training with her father Froststar, mentor Quickflash, and Dark Forest cats, training to fight in the next battle. But then the battles ended. ThunderClan defeated all it's enemies, and they were at peace with ShadowClan. Still, Tigerfang trained, but there was nothing to train for.

Learning new battle moves was all well and good, but even that got boring when you had nothing to use them on. I wish there were warriors I could fight. Tigerfang and the other members of the Inner Circle had taken to scouting outside of ThunderClan territory, in search of rogues and kittypets to fight. But, as time went on, that became boring too. At least for Tigerfang. Peggy, Linda, Muffin, Rubble, Shrink, and Beetle. Those were all the cats that Tigerfang had killed. Three kittypets, three rogues. They were easy kills, the only cat that actually had put up a decent fight had been the loner Rubble.

And here we are, hunting kittypets once more. How boring. The patrol neared a wooden fence and sped up, so they'd make the jump. Tigerfang leaped, claws scraping the fence as she dug in, hauling herself up. She felt the grooves in the wood from the many times their claws had scored it. The ten cats thumped down onto the grass, finding themselves facing a wide twoleg den. The grass was short and fine, unlike the wild tangles in the forest. The twolegplace is so weird.

Bloodfang took the lead now, racing across the stretch of grass and up and over the other side of the fence. The rest of the patrol followed, and ended up on hard cream stone that stretched on forever. On one side was more patches of grass and rows of twoleg dens, the other was a thunderpath. A monster rumbled past, sending up a stinky cloud of grit and smog. Tigerfang narrowed her eyes. I hate the twolegplace. I don't understand why kittypets and rogues choose to live here.

Cedarfur swiftly took the lead again, crossing the thunderpath which was now quiet. The patrol followed him, and all ten of them squeezed under a sleeping monster. The ThunderClan cats had learned that as long as there were no twolegs in them, the monsters were safe to be around and wouldn't wake up. Still, it was unnerving to be crouched under them. "Last time we came here, I remember seeing a fluffy gray and white kittypet. He's only a few dens away from here," Cedarfur said.

"Then why are we here? Let's go get it," Bloodfang snapped, unsheathing and sheathing her claws impatiently. Cedar rolled his eyes but turned around, slipping out from under the monster. Tigerfang followed, and the patrol jogged down the white stone path. Soon, Tigerfang picked up the scent of cat. The patrol trotted up to a twoleg den, slightly raised above the ground. A fluffy gray and white kittypet was dozing on a soft looking twoleg object.

Stupid thing. It doesn't even know we're here. Kittypets have such dull senses. "I call this one," Bloodfang hissed excitedly, leaping up onto the twoleg den. The cat cracked open an eye, then yowled in surprised as Bloodfang threw herself on him. Tigerfang sighed, and turned away. The patrol would now split up, and find their own kittypets to terrorize. But Tigerfang didn't feel like doing that today. She padded slowly away from the group, thinking.

Sageweed? She called out in her mind. She waited. Nothing. Sageweed? Saagggeeweeedd? Third time was the charm.

Tigerfang? What do you want? You can't possibly want to learn a new battle move right now.