The five Warrior Clans are going extinct. Gatherings and Moonpool visits are inacessable, with leaders falling left and right. The lake territories are being wiped out to the brink of extinction by new, large predators that have migrated into their...
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Crescentpaw didn't know how she got through that week of on-and off torment, because the twoleg forgot their white tablets every other day or so. Most of the time all she felt was burning, searing affliction on her claw-tips. Like they were still being wrenched out anytime she moved.
But she also felt the touch of the other cat's fur as they crouched beside her, comforted her, and gave her water or kittypet food. They did the same for Tinypaw. And once the elderly she-cat even caught them a mouse from the basement.
On the the fifth day of laying on the carpet writhing in a throbbing heap of exhausted turmoil, Crescentpaw had nearly lost hope. However, on the sixth morning without her claws, she jolted upright. She took in her surroundings once again, and this time her paws stung a lot less.
She pressed them firmly to the ground, feeling the hard floor beneath the cushioned carpets. Her missing claw-tips ached a little but the blinding agony no longer engulfed her. Her vision was sharper after she had eaten a full meal of kittypet food the previous night, despite its bitter taste and greasy residue. She felt well-rested.
"Tinypaw!" Crescentpaw bounded lightly over to her sister. "How do your paws feel now?"
She was surprised to take in the fact that they had lain in the middle of the den-floor for almost an entire quarter-moon. Cheetah and her grand-cat often climbed atop the stairway rails or down the cement steps to the basement. They jumped atop windowsills and ran across the Twoleg's tables. They even hid between and underneath furniture, dodging objects around the den walls as they traversed.
But we couldn't do that with our paws hurting so badly, and our foreclaws missing. Does this mean we can never climb again?
"They're actually a lot better now. Yesterday after the twoleg forgot our herb-rock I thought they were infected," Tinypaw admitted. "But now it only stings if I strike them firmly against the ground." She demonstrated by whacking a tiny black paw against the carpet and twitching uncomfortably. However, Tinypaw looked back at her with focused eyes that weren't crinkled with the edge of a painful glint; like they had been night before.
"Then we've got to get out of here today. Now, even! As soon as the twoleg gets up we'll wait for her to open the door." Crescentpaw had the impulse to knead her paws into the carpet excitedly. She felt a frown cross her muzzle as she remembered that she couldn't do that anymore.
"Okay," Tinypaw agreed, but her kin was now feeling a spasm of grief. The tabby-and-white apprentice fought to expel her negativity. Whatever the clan thinks, worry about it later! She told herself firmly. We aren't staying here. We have to get back outside, at least. And out of this Twolegplace.
Caracal and Cheetah were dozing on the stairwell that led upstairs. Crescentpaw meowed for them, and they both leapt down in unison after a quick stretch.
"Ohmygoodness look they're finally walking around! Does this mean you guys feel better? Better enough to tell me more about the Clans?" Cheetah squeaked, sounding ecstatic as she waved her blotchy tail.
