Featherlight's lover

Viper's escape

      "I decided that two warriors will guard Viper in the day and two in the night. Nightpaw will take care of Viper, which means he will feed him our prey and give him a nest to sleep in" Cloudstar announced. Many cats yowled in protest but Cloudstar faced it through. "Mouse dung!" Nightpaw grumbled. Honeypaw nosed his cheek in comfort, "That filthy kittypet is already spoiled by his Twolegs already." "Cloudstar, why should we let Viper eat our prey? Why don't we just let him back to his Twolegs?" Flywhisker objected. Cloudstar slowly turned his head to Flywhisker and gave him a warning look. "I need to know why he's here. I don't want any other objections or complaints." Cloudstar muttered under his breath, "Clan meeting over" Cloudstar stalked back into his den. Clara and Featherpaw stared at each other nervously across the camp. Flywhisker began assembling the clan for morning patrols. "Ambermoon, Larclaw, you guys will be guards for Viper till dusk. Poleice, Cinderheart, you two will be Viper's guards at the start of dusk, remember that. Larclaw, pick some cats for your border patrol. Blazefire, Sleekpelt, you'll lead hunting patrols. I will lead a border patrol too. Poleice, Featherpaw, Sparkpelt, Honeypaw and Velvet, you guys will come with me." He walked across camp, the cats chosen following his tail. Featherpaw looked back to check on Nightpaw. He and Blazefire were talking quietly to each other. Blazefire whispered something, licked his ear and trotted away with his patrol, leaving Nightpaw sad at his paws. "Featherpaw, let's go. We don't have all day." Poleice said and nudged her forward so she'll walk. Featherpaw felt bad in the guts for Nightpaw but was also relieved to not have that job. Sorry Nightpaw but have fun Featherpaw smirked and cantered to Honeypaw.
        "Some cat do it on that tree." Flywhisker ordered. Clara walked over to a trunk next to the Windclan border and put a scent marking on it. Poleice nodded his head towards the tree to Featherpaw. She walked over to it and rubbed her scent. They continued down the border until they finished. Just as they were done, a rabbit from the marsh was running straight at the Thunderclan border. Swifttail, from Windclan, chased after it with his apprentice Willowpaw at his tail. The rabbit went through the border into Thunderclan territory. Honeypaw killed it right at the spot and triumphantly smiled. The Windclan cats started to get close to crossing their boundaries so Flywhisker and Poleice came in front of them. Swifttail looked in surprise and halted, making Willowpaw crash into his mentor. Flywhisker growled, "Don't get too close to the border Swifttail." Willowpaw looked over at Honeypaw, seeing her hold the dead rabbit in her jaws. "Hey! That's our rabbit!" Willowpaw hissed. Honeypaw just looked away and smirked. Willowpaw looked ready to spring at her, crouching ready to leap. Poleice took one look at Willowpaw and looked at Swifttail. "Control your apprentice please. You wouldn't want us to tell Marshstar about him attacking our apprentice for not stealing any prey." Swifttail had a alarmed look in his eyes and nudged his apprentice away from the border, hissing at him, "It's only a rabbit. There's plenty here on our territory." Willowpaw shrank back with guilt and walked back over the hill with Swifttail, looking back at the Thunderclan patrol angry. "Let's get back to camp." Flywhisker said and turned back to camp. Honeypaw walked over to Featherpaw. "Willowpaw needs to learn how to act and not whine like a kit. It was clearly caught on Thunderclan territory." Honeypaw scoffed, holding the rabbit secured in her mouth. Featherpaw muttered, "I wonder how he's going to be a warrior." "Does he even know the warrior code correctly? When a prey runs from a clan territory into another, it's the other's clan prey." Honeypaw hissed softly. By the time they got back to camp, the fresh-kill pile was stocked. Featherpaw's stomach yowled in hunger. Flywhisker nodded his head towards the pile and every cat raced to it. Featherpaw took a blackbird to share with Jasperpaw. She looked around, hoping he was back from patrol but he was nowhere in sight. "You want to share that with me?" Honeypaw asked beside her, "Or are you looking for someone else?" Honeypaw's eyes squinted with hesitation. Featherpaw didn't want her to feel bad so she just smiled and said, "Of course I want to share with you. Don't be unsure of yourself." Honeypaw smiled back and they sat near the fresh-kill pile with the blackbird, eating bite by bite. Nearby, Featherpaw twitched her ears as she heard Poleice, Spotflower, and Firecloud speaking quietly with each other. She couldn't help but slightly lean forward to eavesdrop on their conversation. Honeypaw saw her and did the same, trying not to be obvious by eating the prey still. "I don't clearly understand what Thornclaw was trying to tell me but the vision definitely mean danger."Firecloud spoke seriously. Spotflower took a mouthful of her squirrel nervously. "The black, white, and orange might be a fox."she murmured, "And since all the colors turned into multiple orbs, what if that means that many foxes will come and attack? Like clans of them or something." Poleice stared at his littermates and took a bite of his rabbit. "Maybe we should tell Cloudstar about this."Spotflower suggested. Poleice shook his head. "We have to figure this ourselves before telling Cloudstar. I don't like it involving with the clan." Firecloud snorted. "About time you become close to the clan Poleice. You're acting like an outsider." Poleice just stared at him and licked his chest fur. Just then, Nightpaw walked in between Featherpaw and Honeypaw, and Firecloud, Spotflower, and Poleice, breaking up the eavesdropping. Featherpaw and Honeypaw stared at him as he snatched a mouse and ate it up viciously in seconds. "What's wrong with you?" Honeypaw looked at him confused. "Viper is so annoying." Nightpaw complained. "He keeps rambling about how bad I am at this job. I have to drop out of my apprentice duties just because of him!" Before Nightpaw could continue, Larclaw yowled out loud to the whole camp. "Viper escaped!" he screeched. Many cats gasped and rushed over to the hollow stump. Featherpaw, Honeypaw, and Nightpaw all looked at each other and raced to where everyone was. It was true, Viper had really escaped. The brambles was still in place so Featherpaw didn't really know how he escaped. "Every cat back up!" Cloudstar yowled and thrust himself through everyone. He was followed by Flywhisker, Alderheart, and Lilyheart. He nodded to Ambermoon to cut the brambles open. Ambermoon unsheathed her claws and swiped at brambles and thorns. The cats went in to investigate while Featherpaw's clanmates surrounded the stump. Featherpaw slid out the commotion and walked around camp, looking at the edges or the camp. She looked back at her clanmates, noticing Jasperpaw wasn't there. Featherpaw looked at the hidden exit Jasperpaw showed her and looked back at the hollow tree stump. Featherpaw kept looking back and forth until the answer clicked in her brain. 𝑽𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚! She gasped softly and looked back at the stump. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏? Featherpaw wondered. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 She sighed and went behind the warrior's den, and grabbed a vine in her mouth firmly. 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕, 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒘. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 Featherpaw climbed up the rocky steps, and traced a faint scent of Jasperpaw. Because she didn't clearly remember the route, she followed his scent trail until it got stronger and stronger. Then, she reached the mountain and went in the hole. And there he was, Jasperpaw sitting by himself and staring at the forest beyond. "Jasperpaw! There you are." Featherpaw panted and walked up to him. He looked surprised to see Featherpaw and got up to his paws. "Uh Featherpaw!" he stuttered. "Why are you here?" "I've been looking for you. Viper escaped from camp, using the vines!" she exclaimed. Jasperpaw's jaws opened wide. "H-How?" he stammered. "We were behind the warrior's den!" "The vines were high enough for him to see us" Featherpaw looked down at her paws worried, "It's all my fault. I should've never ran out of camp and found him." Jasperpaw looked at her apologetic shined in his emerald eyes. He licked her ears in comfort and stood close to her. "It was never your fault Featherpaw," Jasperpaw whispered. "Seeing him put prey in the herb store was a big purpose. You should be proud of yourself from discovering it and killed the prey before it could damage more herbs." He rested his head on Featherpaw's while she stood speechless beside him, thinking about herself. "Come one, let's get back to camp. "Jasperpaw prodded her towards the exit. He walked with her all the way back to camp. Back there, their clanmates started to get better with the gossip, though there was still a few cats whispering, and the sun has set. Jasperpaw and her littermates were all in their nests while Featherpaw laid in her's impatiently. She waited until every one of her clanmates were going to their nests except for the camp guards. Featherpaw wanted to go to the prison to find evidence of how Viper escaped. It was soon pitch black and the moon has gone up. Featherpaw tiptoed her way out the den and quietly went to the trunk. First, Featherpaw carefully examined the outside until she felt it, a scraped claw mark that was dug in the wood. Viper could've climbed his way out or jumped. She looked at the sides on the top. 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒑 Featherpaw walked outside and saw really light paw prints on the ground. She sniffed the ground and smelled a faint trace of Viper's scent, leading her around the edge of the camp to the vines. Just as she thought, he escaped with the vines. Featherpaw felt guilty as she remembered when Jasperpaw climbed up. She wanted to prove herself it wasn't her fault like Jasperpaw said so Featherpaw climbed up the steps and ran towards the unknown land across Thunderclan's border. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 Featherpaw started to slowly regret going out of her nest but kept determinedly running to Viper's Twoleg nest. Featherpaw gasped as she crossed her border, smelling new air around her. It was just one nest, not far from a Twolegplace across the Thunderpath. When she got close to a tall, flat wood row, a familiar scent filled her nose. Featherpaw remembered Briarlight calling it fences, from what Polestar told her when she was a young warrior. "You can't do this because of one decision I made!" someone wailed softly. Featherpaw became curious to see what was behind the fence. While she paced around to find a way to get over, she pricked her ears over the conversation. "You chose him over me. Say one word, and I will leave your clan and your kin alone." a tom said with a edge to his tone. Featherpaw saw a sharp rock. If she could jump off the edge of it and get a grip on the top of the fence, she could leap over. Featherpaw jumped on it and crouched her hindquarters, and leaped to the fence. She almost fallen over the other side head first but a bush broke her landing softly. Featherpaw panted in relief and looked through the bush. What she saw shocked her. Clara was talking to Viper! In the middle of the night! "Never. I love Cloudstar and you can't stop me from my love for him." Clara croaked. Viper just stared at her menacingly. He slightly curled his lip into a snarl. Clara looked at him desperately. "I always loved you and wished one day you'll be my mate. You even promised that when we were kits. Now look what you done." he snarled and looked away. Viper looked as if his heart was full of hurt but also revenge. "Now, I'll get my revenge from you Clara. This is all your fault." Viper walked away inside his nest, leaving Clara looking down at her paws sadly. Featherpaw slowly rose up from the bush and walked over to Clara. Clara didn't bother to look at Featherpaw. "Viper wanted to be my mate or else he will kill everyone one of my kits and Cloudstar." Clara spoked softly. "I just want to protect them but I will never be that fox-heart's mate." Clara growled in anger, trying to be confident with herself but knew she was helpless. Featherpaw felt bad for her and leaned close. "Let's get back to camp Clara." Featherpaw whispered and lead her to the fence. Featherpaw truly felt scared for Viper's revenge. Is this going to destroy Thunderclan after so long of rebuilding it?