Fight or Flight :: warrior cats fanfic ::

» 4. fight «

"...I've talked to Berryfoot about it, and he said he doesn't even know what's going on with Waspstar." Mothdapple picked up a bit of conversation as she padded into the stone den just outside of DrizzleClan camp, a misty drizzle falling from the sky. Waspstar had only said she was banned from camp, and lucky for her, Sparkfur had a den a few tail-lengths from the camp entrance.

      She gripped the blackbird in her jaws tighter-- she had been on a hunting trip since dawn and the only thing she had managed to catch was just one old bird.

"Sparkfur, I went all the way out to the Great Field but all I found was a b--" She was cut off as she entered the den, almost running right into a small, compact dark brown tom. He stood up from where he sat with his back to the entrance, dipping his head. "Oh.. Hi.. Briarfrost." She dropped the blackbird, recognizing the tom that she had spent her apprentice moons with along with several other cats. Sparkfur twitched her whiskers.

       "Hey, Mothdapple!" He purred, waving his tail. "I hope you don't mind that I'm here, I didn't want to drop by yesterday since you had just moved into the den." Mothdapple nodded deftly.

       "It's fine." She picked up the blackbird again, taking it to Sparkfur. The golden tabby was sitting neatly, her fur messy as if she hadn't bothered to groom.

       Mothdapple hadn't realized that Sparkfur was actually the 'Spark' character that her mother and the other former rogue queens told stories about, at least not until Sparkfur had said something about how 'she didn't drag a den full of kits to DrizzleClan for them to be mistreated.'

        "Sorry, there wasn't much out there. Too wet, I guess." The patched she-cat sat the dark feathered bird at the paws of Sparkfur, but the scarred she-cat pushed it away.

        "Probably. But we can all share it, anyway." Briarfrost's face lit up happily as he was invited to the meal, and Mothdapple twitched an ear. Sparkfur is different from the others. Usually a rogue born like me would never be allowed a sniff at another warrior's catch, but here I am, sharing a bird! I suppose I still need to get used to her though-- she does everything so differently. Mothdapple settled down wearily, glancing to Briarfrost.

      "Do you need help drying your fur?" Briarfrost asked, glancing up with yellow-green eyes. Mothdapple's pelt grew hot as she realized her fur was a spiky wet mess.

       "Ah... No," she drew her tail close to her body, vaguely aware of Sparkfur's burning green gaze.

       "So, you two were both in the Opal League as apprentices?" The golden tabby tucked her paws under herself. Briarfrost nodded, his mouth full of bird.

      "Yeah, it was a huge League though... Most of the rogue born cats were in it. But there were a few clan born cats in it, too," Mothdapple replied, dipping her head in the solid dark cat's direction. He let out a purr of amusement.

        "Oh, no, I'm rogue born, as well!" He chirped. Mothdapple flicked her ears with surprise.

      "But-- you're in the cedar den? I know all the rogue-borns in there..!" The white-and- ginger she-cat gaped. I was going to be in there, too.

      "Obviously not.." Sparkfur murmured with a purr. Briarfrost flicked her with his tail, and she shot him a defiant glare.

      "It's just a title anyway. I rarely ever sleep in there. Too crowded."

      "I wouldn't mind it...," Mothdapple mumbled, looking down at the mostly-eaten blackbird.

Sparkfur gave her a mixed expression-- something soft but at the same time determined.

       "I'm going to get you back into camp, and you'll forget all about this whole mess. Waspstar's just... Mislead." She growled. Mothdapple perked her ears.

"Are you and Waspstar... Close?" Briarfrost let out a giggly laugh, and the golden warrior gave him a rough nudge.

"I guess you could say that," Briarfrost let out another laugh, and Mothdapple narrowed her eyes. "Close enough that I can get you back into camp." She finished. The gingery-brown patched she-cat nodded, but her pelt prickled with happiness.

"The sooner the better...!" She purred.

"How are you going to get in the Cedar Den when you're allowed back in camp?" Briarfrost asked, drawing a paw over his whiskers.

Mothdapple blinked her yellow eyes, the question catching her off guard. I hadn't thought about that. Literally my only goal, and I have no idea how I'm going to get there...

"I'll earn my way in." She finally said. Sparkfur twitched an ear, standing up.

"Good luck. I'm going to go talk to Berryfoot, he's still a little down ever since Waspstar practically clawed his pelt off in the Leader Fight and demoted him." She flicked her tail, padding out of the den. Mothdapple dipped her head in a goodbye, shifting so that she was fully facing Briarfrost.

"You know, if none of the other cats will let you stay, you can just have my nest in the Cedar Den," the small tom murmured in the quiet of the stone den. The patched she-cat shook her head.

"No way, I wouldn't put you through sharing a den with Sparkfur. She came into the den soaking wet last night, way past moon high, woke me up, and when I asked where she had been, she said something about a willow tree." Briarfrost purred a laugh, nodding.

"Yeah, I suppose. Since Sparkfur's helping you get back into camp though, I'll help you get into the Cedar Den. I've got a lot of pull; Waspstar really likes me."

"I wish he liked me. Then I wouldn't have to worry about Den Hustlers. I can't believe Waspstar even took Carpsplash and Pipitfeather's story without listening to me...," Briarfrost's face was unreadable, but quickly a quirky smile appeared on his face. 

      "We could always prank them," he suggested. Mothdapple let out a small laugh, flicking her thick-furred dark ginger tail.

      "What did you have in mind?" Briarfrost jumped to his paws with excitement, his face completely animated with happiness.

       "Awesome, this'll be great! Here's what we could do..."

FIGHT  OR  FLIGHT

AN

Sorry if this was a little confusing for people who haven't read Spark and are just skipping to this one? I didn't really know how to explain some of the nods to Spark. So. Sorry guys.

Also if you didn't catch it, Mothdapple and Briarfrost were in a League together, but the League was quite big. Though, DrizzleClan does their apprentice stuff slightly different from MarshClan. They still have Leagues and the apprentices live off-camp to build survival skills, but rather than just a few warriors mentoring the whole league, in DrizzleClan every apprentice has their own mentor.