Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Let me shred them to bits!"

"Why would anyone bring them here?!"

"Mama, those cats look ugly!"

Hawkpaw flattened her ears to the ground as she made her first few steps into CometClan camp. Each of those words would have made her wince long ago, but Hawkpaw had begun to simply accept them as the truth.

Her and Smokepaw were being filed into camp in a neat line, heads bowed, eyes lowered to the ground. Thick vines also wove around their neck and wings, giving them no opportunity to fly away, while also letting the CometClan cats pull them along, keeping the ends of the vines in their teeth.

They had made a quick stop at a cave where the CometClan warriors had grabbed the vines. Some of the CometClan cats had a sixth claw on their paw, which allowed them to manoeuvre the vines in ways that normal warriors couldn't.

A harsh yank on the vine from Flamepaw, who was the one in control of her, made Hawkpaw suddenly stumble forward. She usually spread her wings when this happened, but it didn't work, since they were tied to her back. Instead, Hawkpaw crumpled to the ground. She heard a matching thud as Smokepaw fell somewhere behind her.

Flamepaw pressed an unsheathed paw into her head, and raised his other one in triumph. "We have caught FalconClan cats!"

Several jeers and chuckles came from the CometClan warriors as they moved in to form a ragged circle. Hawkpaw's muzzle was pushed into the dirty snow, so she could only see their angular paws and long legs.

"Bring in the Thorn Cage!" A black and white she-cat yowled.

Thorn Cage?! Hawkpaw shivered deeply, though not from the cold. She felt a sinking feeling in her gut, heightened exponentially by the fact that Smokepaw was about to have the same fate as her.

As Flamepaw got off of her, still holding fast to the vine in his jaws, Hawkpaw saw exactly what the CometClan cats planned to do. It only made her chest feel tighter.

A small dark brown she-cat and Stonespots were carrying in a small bramble enclosure of sorts. The brambles formed walls and a top to the extremely small enclosure, and it seemed as though there were brambles that got placed in the ground to stop cats from simply pushing the trap off of them.

As Hawkpaw stared at the dark brown she-cat through slitted eyes, she saw the blood that was dripping down her jaws from where she desperately tried to move the large enclosure. Even more bizarre, she didn't seem to have the build of the other CometClan cats, and there were scars that criss crossed her back.

"Come on, Adderpaw," Flamepaw muttered under his breath.

Hawkpaw watched as the slow progress was made with Adderpaw and Stonepots trying to move the enclosure. Several warriors even jeered and mocked their own clanmates at their lack of efficiency.

Suddenly, another cat barreled into Hawkpaw. Looking up, she saw Smokepaw being shoved in her direction. As the two cats collided, they rolled together in a tangle of fur and paws. Hawkpaw felt Smokepaw's fear scent rolling off of her in waves.

The instant they stopped, Hawkpaw felt a rush of wind around her. The bramble cage fell onto her and Smokepaw, trapping them, right in the middle of all the CometClan warriors.

Smokepaw let out a terrified screech, and instantly, Swiftslash loomed above her.

"That's it," she muttered. "I'm going to get you a vine muzzle if it's the last thing I do."

Several chuckled edied from around the crowd.

Hawkpaw found that she had just enough room to move around in a full circle. As she did, she saw all the tight circle CometClan warriors looking down at her, scrutinising everything about her.