Warriors: Frecklesky's Heart

[ 25 ]

Frecklesky unburied the single mouse she'd caught and padded back to join the rest of the patrol. Fallenbreeze had a raven, while Adderspring stood empty-pawed, his whiskers twitching in discontent.

"Looks like leaf-bare is taking a toll much faster than we expected," the older tom sighed, wind fluttering through his fur.

Frecklesky nodded absently, her ears flicking as she detected an odd silence. "Did any of you make a racket while hunting?" She asked, her spine prickling slightly.

The two warriors exchanged glances. "No," Fallenbreeze mewed. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I think something's coming." Frecklesky ducked down just as a shrill squeal cut through the air. A short, lithe black shape lunged straight for her.

She swatted the rat away with a frenzied claw-swipe, her pelt bristling as a swarm of shadows flooded towards the three warriors. Adderspring snarled in alarm as a rat seized to his hindleg, sinking its long fangs into his heels, while another leaped onto his back.

"Fallenbreeze, Frecklesky, we need to get away!" The older tom shouted over the sudden eruption of noise, ripping the one off his back as another lunged for his throat.

Frecklesky yowled out in alarm as she tripped over one of the wriggling bodies, snapping her head around to rip a rat from her tail as another fastened its teeth to her shoulder. Their fangs were long and fierce, digging agonizingly into her skin. It hurt even worse to rip them off, sending blood spurting everywhere.

With every one rat she threw away, another two clambered onto her, sinking their teeth into her flesh like they'd never eaten in their lives. Their beady black eyes glistened with murderous rage. There was a reason Larkstar never wanted the Clan to hunt in Carrionplace—and this was exactly why. Rats were vicious beasts who would attack in swarms the instant one of their own was killed.

They must be reacting to Rainpaw's kill, Frecklesky realized as she fought through the writhing mass, searching for her mouse.

"Frecklesky, fall back!" Adderspring's voice sounded distant over the squealing and ringing in her ears. She wasn't sure whether it was the pain or the sound that was nauseating. Maybe it was blood loss?

She looked down at her paws. Rats were struggling to climb up her legs, gnawing to her bone in agonizing bites. She shook a few off.

Suddenly, teeth seized into her scruff, dragging her away from the mob as she nearly lost her footing to the agony. She twisted her neck around, seeing Fallenbreeze struggling to drag her away. The silver she-cat's ear was torn, dripping blood down her face while rats swarmed over her back.

"There's a rat—"

Before she could finish, Adderspring ripped the rat off the back of Fallenbreeze's neck before it clamped down. "Come on, let's go!" The tom snapped, turning tail and racing off to the marsh.

Fallenbreeze freed her hold of Frecklesky, and the two warriors leaped to their paws, fighting away the closest wave of rats before running together into the marsh. Frecklesky's injuries throbbed with every bound, and she gritted her teeth against the pain.

After what felt like a lifetime of running, the three warriors finally pulled to a stop, blood dripping slowly onto the ground. Frecklesky spluttered for breath.

"And that," Adderspring panted, "is why we don't hunt at Carrionplace."

Frecklesky's whiskers twitched, her adrenaline still pumping through her veins. "Well, in hindsight, it was pretty fun," she gasped, stretching her aching neck to look back. The rats hadn't pursued them, fortunately. The thrill of battle still trembled in her claws, but her legs were already beginning to wobble from the run.

Adderspring shook his head faintly in disbelief, and instead said, "Let's get back to camp, these wounds are nasty."

Too breathless to argue, Frecklesky nodded her head and followed the two warriors as they all limped towards camp. Thick blood dripped from her pelt, and as they padded through the damp marsh, she realized just how tired she felt. All of her energy was drained, and each step was a great effort.

"Adderspring! Are you okay?" Willowsong padded out of what appeared to be nowhere, her golden eyes bright with alarm.

Frecklesky snorted, her words faint as she muttered, "Do we look okay?"

Willowsong regarded her with a sideways glance, but kept her eyes on the senior warrior.

"No, we need to see Fallowstep and Heronwing," Adderspring grunted. "We were ambushed by rats."

Willowsong flicked her tail earnestly. "Right. Okay," she twisted her neck around and shouted over her shoulder, "Hawkwing! Get back to camp and fetch the medicine cats!" She returned her eyes to the injured, smiling. "I'll stay with you guys until help is here."

Frecklesky flopped to the ground with a pained grunt. "We don't need to be baby-sat," she growled, but again, the young warrior ignored her.

The tortoiseshell warrior settled her head on her forepaws, lazily watching the distant horizon as she waited for her sister to come 'to the rescue.'