bloodied rose || warrior cats

chapter 11

two white birds

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WHEN A LARGE GROUP OF CATS with sharp teeth and claws comes charging, it really wasn't hard to decide the next move. Spinning around, Rosefrost sprinted in the opposite direction - which just happened to be BreezeClan's land - as fast as her legs could carry her.

Her heartbeat elevated crazily as she ran; her ears twitched with unstoppable anxiousness; she could feel jaws snapping at her tail, which was streaming out behind her. Soon enough, however, she began to pull ahead.

This was BreezeClan's territory, after all. A moor which she'd run countless times throughout her life. Her long legs pulled her ahead, and she could dart around the rabbit holes as easily as she could breathe, whereas the rogues tripped over them.

Eventually, she felt a certain sense of pressure alleviated from her. Only sparing a glance over her shoulder, Rosefrost saw that the rogues had slowed to a stop. Fox's eyes beamed out from the dark at the brown tabby, and Rosefrost heard her yowl a command to her cats.

"Let her go." The ginger feline's voice grew quieter as Rosefrost increased the distance between them. "She'll lead us right to BreezeClan's camp."

Fox wasn't wrong. Rosefrost's only goal right now was to get Dovepetal and get as far away from this wretched territory as possible; she cared little about the fate of BreezeClan at the moment, and what would happen should she lead the rogues there.

The only issue now is how to get past the guards at the camp entrance.

As she neared the camp, Rosefrost slowed down to a walk, creeping towards the entrance slowly as her mind raced, trying to to come up with an idea. She could sneak in through the dirt-tunnel? Alert Dovepetal somehow from outside the camp?

As she crept forward, a small flurry of snow started to fall, and Rosefrost's pelt twitched thankfully. The white flakes should help hide her from the rogues, so that was one less thing she had to worry about.

Adrenaline kept her warm from the cold, so her step didn't slow; she was at the camp's entrance before she knew it, and still didn't have a strong idea for what to do. The best choice of action would be to go through the dirt-tunnel, but in order to circle around to there, she had to go past the entrance.

Taking a deep breath, she crouched down, ready to sneak over, but as she crawled past, she spotted two familiar, friendly faces standing guard at the front.

Dovepetal and Craneflight.

The two cats were huddled close to each other - sharing heat - and their heads were bent low and near as they whispered in the freezing night.

Rosefrost's tail whisked with excitement. This was perfect. Finally, something was going her way. Standing up, she called quietly, "Dovepetal! Craneflight!"

The two cats' heads lifted in a flash at the sound of the brown tabby's voice, shock and startlement echoing in both their eyes. When they caught sight of Rosefrost, Craneflight pushed himself up to standing from his sitting position.

"Rosefrost?" His voice was tainted, sharp with disbelief.

The brown tabby nodded happily, hopping forward to give her best friend's nose a flick. "Hey, I've missed you."

To her surprise, Craneflight didn't return the affection. Instead, he stood stiff. "What are you doing here?"

Rosefrost blinked a little at his coldness, before turning to the calico she-cat by his side. It'd been too long since she'd last seen her, but Dovepetal was as beautiful as ever, her green eyes glimmering in such a way that made Rosefrost want to stare into them forever.