A third cat approached, emerging from the burnt trees and bushes that hid the thunderpath border.
"Ivywing," murmured Wildfire. Yes, of course, they were both of ThunderClan. They did seem quite reckless, after all, all so unaware of the consequences of their own actions. They just did. No thinking involved, no, none at all. The only thing they knew how to do well was fight, and that, too, was concerning in its own way.
"I followed your scent here!" Ivywing went on, her gaze drifting excitedly over the eight cats she was now facing. "Though I couldn't understand why there was rogue scent there, too—"
"Rogue scent?" asked Ryespring and Leafwillow at once. The whole group seemed suddenly alert; Ryespring wondered how a cat could possibly be this stupid. He felt his sister stiffen at his side, and knew that she, at least, would not have made such a terrible mistake.
"You've led them straight to us." Sharpsight glared at Wildfire and Goldenthorn. Ryespring thought he saw Poppypaw leaning in to whisper something in his ear. What, he could not hear. This greatly bothered him; as far as he knew, these two had been in a secret relationship of some sort ever since this exile Poppypaw had so briefly mentioned, which, in turn, was very much against the Warrior Code both had sworn to follow, and warriors who broke their own code simply could not be trusted.
"We can't just stand here," said Honeydusk, one of the few cats beside his own sister who Ryespring could tolerate. In her usual, honey-like voice, she continued, "there might not be too many of them here as of now, but I think we should leave before more of them come. We can't risk any battle wounds right now."
"I agree," Raindrop meowed. This surprised Ryespring; his sister, usually so quiet, always keeping a neutral stand whenever arguments broke out — well, maybe except when Sparkclaw had been involved, but that had been between them and them alone — speaking up on such a matter before agreements had even been made. Thinking of Sparkclaw felt both wrong and was at the moment no cats' top priority, so Ryespring shook his head to clear his thoughts just as Goldenthorn mewed:
"We need to get away. If we go further that way—" she scanned the hilly landscapes surrounding them, her gaze landing on the direction that would lead them even further away from their own, known territory —"they'll give up on chasing us, surely."
"They could be listening right now—" Leafwillow began, but Goldenthorn had already turned and now ran in the opposite direction of where she had just looked. Ryespring thought it was a decent plan at best.
They all raced after her.
YOU ARE READING
The Surviving Few (Warrior Cats)
FanfictionThe five clans lived by a lake. Until one day, they didn't. The clans have been destroyed. Rogues have claimed the land surrounding the lake as their own. When the clans refused to give up their hard-earned territory, the rogues fought. They fought...
