Chapter Twenty^Four

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Screams of terror and fear filled the air, swallowing up the camp swiftly.Smoke filled Spiderpaw's lungs as he gazed at the nursery, its walls crumbling to a fiery pit before them all.

"My kits!"Magpieheart and Ashentail were running all around, desperately looking for their kits.They claimed they weren't in the nursery at the time of the fire, but yet they were nowhere to be seen.

"Leafkit!? Marigoldkit!? Branchkit!?"

"Graykit!? Splotchkit!?"

"Everyone evacuate to the stream! Elders first!"Wonderstar yowled, thrusting their head toward the entrance.

Ripplestrike slipped through the crowd of cats, entering the elders den.She then popped her head out. "Elders den is empty."

As cats started swarming for the entrance, a patrol of RavenClan cats rushed in the camp, eyes distressed.

"Our nursery is in flames, too!"Swirlbelly wailed, eyes lit with fear. "All are kits are missing!"

Silverheart and Darkfinch shifted uneasily, the nursery fire dying down a bit.It luckily didn't seem to be spreading.

"Let's get out of here and look for our kits."Wonderstar ordered, heading the the exit. Every-cat followed, the thick, smoky air making it hard to breath.

Spiderpaw hung nervously in the back, straining his ears to hear the conversation going on between Wonderstar and Silverheart.

"They couldn't of gotten far."Wonderstar mused, parting their mouth wide open to breath in all the scents around them.

"Unless they were taken,"Silverheart growled, whisking her tail around in the air. "The Shadow Paws probably used the fires as a distraction to steal all the kits and kill them!"

As they all raced through the woods, most broke off to get to the stream, where cats from the other Clans were already gathered. Wonderstar dipped their head, sending Ripplestrike with Spiderpaw, Sunpaw and Owlgaze to search for the kits with the RavenClan patrol.

"Please find them, I trust you will."
their eyes shone with determination.

As they began searching, they stumbled upon a HawkClan patrol, and they said the same thing: their kits were gone and the nursery on fire.

Wiltedsap, Snakescales, Wolfpaw and Skunkstripe raced behind them, noses to the ground, up in the air and literally everywhere.They frantically searched everything.

-/-/-/-/-

"Do we have them all?"Maplestar's cruel, cold voice hissed, her gaze raking harshly over the kits gathered before her.Her black tail flicked slowly as she let out a sigh.

"Yes.Every single on of them."Viperclaw nodded, eyes narrowing as Thistlekit whimpered, pressing closer to her littermate, Silentkit.

"Silentkit and Thistlekit from RavenClan, Burnkit, Smokekit, Freezekit, Blizzardkit and Ashkit from HawkClan and Graykit, Splotchkit, Leafkit, Branchkit and Marigoldkit from FalconClan."Slatescar stuck out her tongue, glancing in disgust at the crying bundles of fur.

"I want momma!"Marigoldkit wailed, toppling over Leafkit and landing on Branchkit.

"Let us go!"Graykit squeaked, puffing out his chest and glaring at Shatteredfur, who frowned at the kit.

"What about that...other one? The un-Clan cat one.."Maplestar squinted, running a paw through the dirt and flicking muck onto Ashkit's chest.

"Bubble?"Leafkit tilted his head, gazing at Maplestar with big, sad blue eyes.

"Yes....Bubble."Maplestar lifted her chin. "Where is this Bubble?"

"She was in the medicine den!"Branchkit squeaked. "We haven't seen her in a bit.She's really sick!"

"What are we going to do with all these kittens? Because they're really getting on my nerves, especially this one."Shatteredfur grumbled, waving a paw at Graykit, who stuck his tongue out.

"Kill them,"Maplestar yawned, eyes bored. "That'll show those filthy Clan-rats!"she cackled. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."
She whisked Freezekit closer to her with her night-black tail.

"Starting with you, hmm?"
she whispered, drawing a small circle on the kit's neck with a red-stained claw.

Freezekit wriggled, blind eyes wide with fear. "L-let go of me, monster!"he squeaked, Blizzardkit taking a shaky step closer to him.

"Grab one and kill it."Maplestar ordered, releasing the blind kit to grab Blizzardkit. "I like this one best...She's a rebel, like me!"

Blizzardkit glared at Maplestar, unsheathing her tiny white claws as Maplestar sunk her own into the white she-kit's back.

Slatescar lunged for Marigoldkit, placing a paw heavily on her head, crushing her face into the ground, large grin on her face.

Shatteredfur cuffed Graykit over the head, quickly placing a paw on his throat, a small smirk on his face.Graykit wriggled, desperately trying to break free.

Shakenpaw watched this with uncertain eyes, fidgeting awkwardly beside Branchkit and Leafkit.

Viperclaw scooped up Burnkit in his paw, letting out a low chuckle as the she growled and bared her teeth.

Wolfscar, quick as lightning, had pounced on Silentkit, and had ripped her throat out before anyone could react.He spat out blood, the tiny body underneath him trembling.

"No! Silentkit!"Thistlekit wailed, staggering forward to fall onto her mute sister's body, tears streaming down her already soaked face. "No!"

"Awwww...How sad."Maplestar pouted, then snorted, throwing Blizzardkit troublesomely aside, her limp body smacking against a birch tree. "If only your mothers were here to help you."

All the kits began screeching and wailing their heads off, Freezekit stumbling blindly into a pile of leaves, his meow of alarm cut off by Maplestar grasping his scruff and holding him down.

"Step away from the kits, and no one gets hurt!"Ripplestrike snarled, pushing through the bushes with a large amount of cats behind her, all angry.

"It was fun while it lasted, I guess." Maplestar huffed, letting go of Blizzardkit and nodding to her companions.

They all took off running, Viperclaw bending down to grab Smokekit on the way.

"Should we chase them?!"Wolfpaw growled, stepping toward where they ran.

"We should, but we're not going to."Ripplestrike shook her head. "Let's get these frightened kits back to their mothers.Everyone grab one."

"Even the....not breathing ones?"Owlgaze shivered, eyes landing on Marigoldkit's limp body.

"Yes.They deserve to be shown to their mothers before burial."Ripplestrike dipped her head, grasping Silentkit's scuff gently.

Spiderpaw glared in the direction of the Shadow Paws. "I can't believe they did something so dark...."

He padded over to Leafkit, letting him climb on his back and grabbing Branchkit's scruff.

"Let's get back to the stream....Wonderstar has to hear about this."






Word count: 1045

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