Featherstars curse

Chapter three

"Come on!" I groan impatiently, I'm standing in a small clearing surrounded by bushes. "I'm coming!" Foxkit replies. I stamp my paw in frustration she is obviously taking her time about it, trying to annoy me. "I found a fox!" I shout. I hear a loud crashing chorus from the bushes behind me, from which a blur of russet fur skids to a halt. "WHERE!" Foxkit exclaims panting. I can't stop the huge wave of laughter that explodes from my mouth. My chest heaves by the end of it. Foxkits fur is still in end. "There's no fox then" she mews in frustration, this sends me rolling on the ground in giggles. Once I had managed to contain my laughter, I managed to get out, "I did find something though." I walk over to the middle of the clearing. I turn around a beckon foxkit with my tail. I peer down to the ground beneath me. There is a hole, roughly the size of six cats. It smells foul, and I can't see anything in its dark depths. The smell is strong, I managed to walk all the way here, just by following the odour. "What in starclans name could that be?" Foxkit mews, peering over the edge. "Well, once again there is only one way to find out!" I respond. I reach a paw down into its shadows. My heart drums in my chest. "I thought you would have learnt by now mouse brain!" Foxkit retorts. "Shut up already!" I shout. I am reaching my other paw in, when she gives me a shove and I go tumbling down into the tunnel, it's just a short fall but I am fuming. As I reach the bottom I feel myself go red with embarrassment. The smell is even stronger down here, so overwhelming it makes me want to faint. I have to squint to try and make out anything in the darkness. "Hey you piece of fox dung!" I shout to foxkit, the sound echoing across the walls. The space is narrower here, but still way too huge for my body. I take a few tiny paw steps. The odour gets even more overwhelming. As I carry on I start to hear a huge sigh, like an animal breathing. My heart starts drumming in my chest. "Everything okay down there?" Foxkits voice mews, although it's fainter than before. I don't reply I just carry on. I keep going for what seems like hours, the sound has gotten louder and the smell overpowering. I stumble bumping into walls, the rough texture of the earth rubs against my pelt. Then I realise. An animal made this den. A huge animal. And with that a whip around and try to make my way back up in a panic. Instead I scramble kicking up dirt. My paws cant seem to catch a grip on anything. My struggles come to a stop. Everything is silent. I take a nervous look behind me. Two yellow eyes loom over me. I Yelp and get to my feet, this time it's even harder. The earth just seems to erode underneath me. I can feel the warm breath of the beast on my back. Why won't it just eat me? I wonder. Maybe because he wants to play with his food. This thought sends a shudder down my body. I launch myself forward with a new found energy, well, he won't play with me! My paws land on the dirt, "RUN!" I shout to foxkit. I carry on like this inside the tunnel, and I think that I have lost him. I can hear a scrambling from above, as foxkit makes her escape. I burst out into the orchestra of birds, the light obscures my vision for a while. The trees are a beautiful shade of green and I realise how much I hate being under ground.

I turn around to face the animal. All I can hear is a frustrated grunting, but then a pair of two huge paws, that grip the earth. A black and white muzzle emerges from the tunnel, the Badgers jaws open wide in a huge roar. My heart quickens and I quickly scramble into a run. Is that a badger? I wonder as I race through the forest, the bushes scraping across my sides. I have only heard stories if badgers, big black and white, the beasts have claimed many cats lives. "Featherkit!!" I hear very faintly, "FOXKIT?!?" I yell back. "FEATHERKIT!" I hear, but louder. Before I know it I am slamming into a russet red body and tumbling to the leaf laden, forest floor. "Badger" I pant. Even with the forest filled with our heavy breathing I can still hear the loud trampling of the Badgers paws. "Quickly, split up!" Fox kit yells. I regain my balance and get to my paws. "Good luck!" I say and run off into the bushes. The leaves slam against me, making the escape harder. As I carry on my energy starts to flag. I push on through the forest, but then my leg finds itself trapped in a bramble trendil. I struggle in frustration, but nothing seems to work. I start to get frustrated and let out an angry yowl. Then I slow my action down and I can slowly escape the brambles grasp. I start up my running again, but find the same struggles as the bushes work against me. As I race, I slowly start to hear voices that get louder and louder. My muscles start to ache from the running, and my breathing becomes shallow. The branches from trees whip my pelt. I feel as though I have been running for hours before I race into a whole patrol of cats. "Woah!" One cat exclaims. "What's a kit Doing outside of camp!" Another choruses. I have to catch my breath before I can say anything. I manage a shallow "badger..." No one really hears me. A blue grey apprentice stands beside me. "It's okay, what's wrong?" He says cocking his head. "My name is blue paw ," he mews as I pant. "Badger! My sisters out there!" I manage a squeak. The cats around me let out a gasp of shock. "Badger!" One exclaims in fright. Badgers must be a rare creature to see in our territory of the cats respond like this. The group takes a minute to register the reality, before a cat steps up and starts giving orders. "Bluepaw you take her back to camp," the light brown tabby cat mews, he stands taller than the others, as if to make a statement. "But birchleaf what about her sister?" Bluepaw mews. "Cloudtail, you and hollyleaf go in search for her sister." A fluffy Snow White cat and a midnight black she cat step forward into the forest, the leaves swallow them up, and I silently pray that star clan is with them. I feel so small in front of all of these warriors. Bluepaw is the only cat I have taken a liking to so far. "Kit what are you doing out side of camp?" Birchleaf mews with a tone I can't describe. "Uh um.." I mew, looking down at my paws, as heat floods my fur. "Never mind, just take her back to camp, we will deal with the badger." He mews, "oh and make her wash up in some mud, we don't want the whole camp smelling like that," a dark brown Tom adds.

Bluepaw and I trek through the forest in silence. My fur, mud caked.