What happens when a Starclan prophecy turns out wrong?
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 extinctio...
"Which cat is it? Why... how?" Tinypaw voiced just how confused Crescentpaw felt. Behind them, Cheetah was asking questions about why they'd stopped and who they were talking about. But just this one time Crescentpaw ignored her.
She lowered her head and shoulders and began creeping across the lawn, up to the house and near the front porch. When she heard no sound of twolegs she began circling towards the back of the massive den, inspecting the backyard fencetops.
But there was no cat on the fences. Behind the Twoleg nest was a flat expanse of rocky, squared-off terrain. The driveway habited two cars, one silver and one red. Atop the shorter red car was a she-cat, her bushy tail flicking as she lazed there with half-closed eyes.
It was a golden striped collared kittypet with sandy-white accents. Her ears were small and daintily framed her fluffy muzzle and face, which were coupled with two amber-orange eyes.
The she-cat looked exactly like Goldenheart. She didn't seem to catch sight of Crescentpaw at first, but when her companions rounded the house's edge she stood up with fright. Fur bushed, the medicine cat stepped off of the sun-baked car to join them in the silloute of shade. The smooth white cement beneath Crescentpaw caused her toes to prick with tenderness, but she ignored it while the kittypet halted.
"Hi, Tinypaw and Crescentpaw. Have you two joined a Twoleg nest nearby? It's lovely to see you again," she sounded innocent and polite as she approached them. As if nothing was out of the ordinary.
She's hiding the reaction that she had on top of the monster.
Crescentpaw's brows dropped as she stared challengingly at the medicine cat. The sun scorched the bright, nourished grass out on the lawn behind them. Barely a cloud streaked the sky as all of the cats behind her stiffened.
"You were supposed to come back from the Moonpool, Goldenheart. Is this where you've been the entire time?" Crescentpaw didn't hide the accusation in her voice. She let it sit in the hot, still air between them until Goldenheart responded.
"That's none of your business." The yellow she-cat's mew was quick and flustered. Turning tail, she scrabbled her hind-paws against the concrete and fled. Crescentpaw was met with a spray of grit in her face.
"Wait!" She yowled, but it was no use. Goldenheart was racing for a flat side of the house, where she grabbed some ivy trendils. Snaking up the wall, she began to climb them.
Tinypaw and Crescentpaw bounded after her but it was Caracal that reached the bottom of the towering brick wall first. She craned her neck upward, reaching with her forepaws to yank Goldenheart down. When the she-call fell back down against the driveway, Caracal grabbed a thick mouthful of her fur, dragging her away from the Twoleg den by the scruff.
"Thought you'd run up to the roof, did ya? Not just yet, dearie. My companion apparently had a question that you haven't yet answered." Cheetah twitched her whiskers behind her grand-cat, approaching cautiously.
"WOW, Caracal! I never knew you could take down a cat that large!" She sounded envious.
As Crescentpaw crossed the sun-baked grass toward them, the medicine cat clawed and squirmed. Caracal released her but blocked the she-cat from fleeing back towards the house.
"Nah, she's all fur and fat. There's no muscle." The elderly spotted feline squinted at the two Riverclan apprentices as they approached. "I'm sure your friends could teach you a lot more about fighting than I can at my age."
Crescentpaw paused and swished her tail uncertainly, avoiding the spotted kin's gazes. She stepped around them and pushed into Goldenheart's personal space.
"Look, if you don't want to answer why you abandoned the clans at their worst time of need then so be it." She bit her tongue, looking away before fixating a quelling fiery gaze on her. "Just know that if Riverclan is still without a medicine cat, it's your fault." Crescentpaw stared down in disgust at the former clan cat turned kittypet. Already a shiny silver collar clutched the she-cat's striped golden neck, wrapped around it like a trophy.
"But you're going to tell us where the clans are to make up for that fact. Tell us which direction, Goldenheart." She let her mew turn hard and icy. It wasn't hard; she had used the same tactics with Tidepaw and the other bullies. Sure enough, Goldenheart shrank back. She knew that she could not win against two partly-trained apprentices and another pair of kittypets.
Her eyes flashed around their shoulders, but the other three were lined up behind the tabby-and-white apprentice. Waiting for her to attempt an escape.
Nervously, Goldenheart flattened her small cream-colored ears.
"Fine. But let me go after this and never return here. Don't tell the clans where I am or what I did, please! Just say you found my body or- or-" Clearly ashamed, Goldenheart rushed to find a solution that would aid her own avoidance.
"Yeah, sure we will. Now, what way is it- Kittypet?" Crescentpaw lashed her dark tabby tail.
How repulsive that any cat could abandon their clan for a life like this. It's against the warrior code! She wasn't going to let her clan die: she wasn't going to abandon her position. She wasn't going to turn tail and run away from some doltish wolves; not when only a few cats in Riverclan were her clan's last hope!
_________________ ~Crescentpaw~
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
