Tangletuft's Mistake; (complete)

Chapter fourteen

Rabbitfoot turned around in his den and faced Tanglepaw, his eyes a little crossed and his tail folded neatly over his paws.

"What is it?" Tanglepaw asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well..." Rabbitfoot hesitated, looking down at his paws "I'm not sure if I should tell you yet. I need a sign from StarClan."

"Why would you need that?" Tanglepaw asked, suddenly hearing paw steps near the camp entrance "Sagepaw! Can you please tell me this later? I need to see if they have my sister."

Rabbitfoot sighed, nodding "Go."
Tanglepaw gave him a thankful look before bounding out of the medicine cat den, and seeing only a young apprentice in the camp. It was Snowpaw.

"Graystar!" Snowpaw yowled, terror in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Tanglepaw ran up to the tom and began inspecting him. His white fur had been drenched in blood "You're covered in blood!"

"I'm fine really. It's not mine." Snowpaw meowed, nodding quickly before Graystar exited the Meeting Hollow, somehow knowing exactly what happened before Snowpaw even explained it.

"Okay take Rustlestep, Thymeclaw, Tanglepaw, Grasspelt, Smallfoot, Sorrelfall, Featherfall and Smokepaw." Graystar announced, watching as his Clan made the patrol.

My first battle! Tanglepaw thought, excited yet terrified.

"Wait..?" Smokepaw yelled on top of the crowd "Why isn't Graystar coming."

"Don't question the leader," Rustlestep replied "He knows what he's doing."
Smokepaw just rolled her eyes and muttered something to herself.

"Okay let's go." Snowpaw meowed at the head of the patrol, leading the cats out of camp.

It seemed odd, an apprentice leading the whole patrol. But no cat questioned it. The cats began running out of camp, wanting desperately to help their Clanmates.

Tanglepaw began falling behind, she couldn't run for as long as these cats, let alone how would she fight alongside them?

But the patrol had a stop on the hill above the battle. Tanglepaw peered down. It looked gruesome.

"Okay this is what I'm thinking," Sorrelfall stepped forward, making a map of the battle in her claw marks "So we can split into three groups," Tanglepaw watched as she drew the three groups into the dense ground "The first one will attack it head on. When the RiverClan cats try to flee, we'll have a patrol sneaking up behind them. And the third will wait and finish them off. Agreed?"

The whole patrol nodded before Grasspelt began putting the cats quickly into three groups. "Thymeclaw, Smokepaw and myself will be in the first group." She paused as she heard a bloodcurdling scream behind her. Hopefully it wasn't from her Clan "The second group will be Rustlestep, Tanglepaw and Featherfall. And the third group will be Snowpaw, Smallfoot and Sorrelfall."

The cats nodded before separating into their three groups.

The first group went first and gave out fearsome battle cries as they charged down the moor.

"C'mon we need to hurry." Featherfall meowed and led the three cats towards the RiverClan border.

Through the tall grass, Tanglepaw could see at small moments the battle. She saw Heatherfang battling a huge RiverClan tom, but speed had won this time, Heatherfang pinned the tom down before seeing the patrol in the bushes. He gave a curt nod and held the warrior in place like a leaf on a windy day, making sure it wouldn't flee away.

Tanglepaw also saw Breezepaw, her brother, battling against Mossypaw. She couldn't see much but the last thing she saw before the grass became too tall and thick was Breezepaw on the ground, and Mossypaw's bloody muzzle above him.

Oh StarClan no! Tanglepaw thought, her eyes spreading open.

"Okay we're here," Featherfall meowed, and just on cue to Sorrelfall's plan, the RiverClan cats began to flee to their border.

Tanglepaw jumped out of the bushes with her patrol and she charged at the cats.

At first she didn't know where to go, she stood there for a few moments just trying to figure out what to do.

She looked back towards her brother, he was still under Mossypaw's grand weight.

Tanglepaw narrowed her eyes before charging at the cocky RiverClan tom and bowling him over.

The two began in a frenzy, rolling over and over and clawing at whatever they could catch. And due to Mossypaw's weight, she was found under him, his teeth bared open in a snarl and his claws unsheathed.

"Well well well if it isn't Firestar?" Mossypaw added extra sarcasm on the last word "Looks like you're in a bit of trouble."

"Just make your leader give us back Sagepaw and this'll all be over!" Tanglepaw hissed, narrowing her eyes once more.

Mossypaw's grip tightened on Tanglepaw, making her yowl in pain "I will never obey a WindClan runt." He snarled furiously.

"Let me go!" Tanglepaw began thrashing under his weight hoping she would be able to get free but no such luck, she was locked under him.
Mossypaw just laughed, tightening his grip once more.

Tanglepaw felt the blood ooze out of her shoulders as he tightened his grip "You're breaking the warrior code!" She yowled, but it was true. "A true warrior knows when to give mercy towards another cat!"

Mossypaw began to look even more furious than before. He looked like he was about to kill her. His grip tightened before he flung her across the clearing with all his strength.

Tanglepaw fell to the ground with a hard thump.

For moments, her whole body felt numb as the wind had taken all of the breath from her body.

"Tanglepaw?" Snowpaw bent over to look at her, his eyes curious yet scared "Are you okay?"

At first, she couldn't speak. She felt too tired to speak. At the moment, she just wanted to curl up into her nest and sleep forever. She ignored the thought "I-I'm fine." Tanglepaw stammered, slowly regaining her strength as she pulled herself to her paws.

"Your shoulders!" Snowpaw exclaimed "Who did that?"

"Mossypaw. He tightening his grip so hard." Tanglepaw had to move her wounded shoulders as the burning pain came back to her.

She looked around herself, obviously the third patrol had arrived and the cats were brawling a fox length away, RiverClan was clearly outnumbered.
"RiverClan retreat!" The large cat who Tanglepaw had remembered Heatherfang beat before yowled and RiverClan cats began streaming out of the clearing and into their own territory.

"What about Sagepaw?" Grasspelt called after them.

"Come back here tomorrow at sunhigh with your medicine cat and one warrior or apprentice of your choice." The tom meowed back "We'll settle it then."

"But we won!" Smokepaw yowled in anger before stomping around the clearing like a small kit.

"Stop acting like a kit," Foxgaze snapped "Let's head back to camp."
The cats in the clearing murmured in agreement before they set off.

"Did you see my back-slash?" Breezepaw and Smokepaw were talking behind her excitedly "I clawed that RiverClan cat to shreds! They better give back my littermate soon or they'll see more of me!" Breezepaw stuck out his chest proudly.

Tanglepaw just silently sighed before padding forward on her own, her shoulders already sore.

•••

HOW DID YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER AYYYYE

okay now for the Q&A answers:
questions you guys commented:
How is life?
Good good except that I cut my finger really badly while cutting bread the other day.
Do these characters relate to you in any way?
Well, I like to think that Sagepaw would be like my older sister and then I'd be Tanglepaw. I think we have their relationship (especially during Sagepaw's snobby medicine cat phase). Also, I think that Mossypaw is exactly like this guy in my classes. Haha they're like so alike it's kinda scary.
Do you ship RedXTangle or SnowXTangle?
Personally, I liked RedXTangle more but SnowXTangle will always have my heart.