Warrior Cats: BloodClan Hunger Games

Chapter 9 - Surrounded

I had come back with a bundle of soft moss by the time the sun was at its highest point. Somehow I had missed most of it on my first trek. I assumed it was my high paranoia distracting me. The voices had left me for the amount of time I was concentrating and trying not to worry. I realized I just needed to keep myself occupied.

Laying on the branch, I finally had some spare time to relax. The sun was barely touching my fur but it was still warm where it did brake through the thick branches. 

"Feathertail, whats that smell?" Icepaw's whisper came from the hollowed tree. I opened one eye to see her head poking out of the den. She must be done making our nest and cleaning the tree. 

I sat up, lifting my chin into the air and parting my jaws to take a whiff. Immediately, I got some kind of... raunchy smell. I wasn't sure what it was; no creature had ever smelled like that before. "I'm not sure," I answered in a low voice, scanning through the trees with narrowed eyes. 

"I'll go check it out, stay here," I whispered, climbing down slowly and quietly. My tail was quivering. Heart quickening, the voices came back... 

"It's probably the dead smell of Loudbelly and Frostfur," One snickered. "Maybe they are alive again, but their bodies are rotten?" Another suggested, it's voice deep and raspy. "Maybe it's Crowfeather coming to kill you," A she-cat purred menacingly. "Oh, Feathertail! Let me eat your flesh and we'll be live an eternal life together!" The first one chimed and then the she-cat sneered, "Haha! She can only dream of that!" 

The voices had become more annoying than frightening. "Shut up, will you?" I snapped, landing softly on the ground. They kept going. "We don't do as we're told," The raspy tom hissed. A new voice came, one that sounded like a young tom, "Yeah! Why don't you just go and sob in the tree and wait for Crowfeather, or maybe Hawkpaw, to end your misery?" 

"Maybe you should go back and lie in grief?" The she-cat retorted, letting out a purr. 

"Yeah, and make Icepaw do all the work because you're so lazy!" The young tom mewed and then an almost normal sounding tom spoke, "You act like such a kit, a selfish one too." 

Don't they ever shut up? I looked around, focusing on the world around me. Just ignore them, they'll go away when I don't respond.

I felt the ground tremble and the branches above shake. Could it be The Horror? Getting into a stalking position, I pushed myself forward. The fur along my spine spiked up as my instincts told me to run and hide. The voices had finally shut up, so I took that opportunity to listen as intently as I could. 

A screech rose through the trees just tail-lengths away. I knew it wasn't Icepaw, it was more of a tom's voice. What ever was stomping around beyond the trees was definitely deadly and had attacked one of our enemies. Good for Icepaw and I, but at the same time... just as bad. Once it's done with them, it will be looking for its next meal...

The sound of tearing flesh made me gag, but nothing came out. As I gazed up, I spotted the creature tearing at its prey. It couldn't have been The Horror because it looked almost like a lizard that I had been forced to eat so many times in the muddy, marsh territory Scourge had taken for our "camp". Except this... lizard was massive, possibly five or six cats combined, just to explain the length... It's long tail had small spikes that probably wouldn't do any damage, but as it swung around, I knew it could knock the life out of any cat in its way. The legs looked like thick frog legs, but with dark green scales with occasional light green spots. Its back also had five rows of dull spikes lining from its neck to its tail.

As the monster feasted on its meal, it let out long, raspy groans. My curiosity got the best of me; I leaned in farther to get a better look. It's legs were too short to attack prey that way, so I assumed its mouth must have been its weapon...