Warriors: The Hidden Danger [Being re-worked]

Chapter 9 (old)

Brokenfang was standing at the edge of the stream, drinking the cool, clean water. Troublepaw was with him, sniffing the air just for fun. They were out on a hunting patrol, and had seperated from the others. They were preparing to find the others and go back to camp.

"The loners have recently been here," Troublepaw reported suddenly. Ice's and Pine's scent were quite strong here, which means they've probaly marked it. "I really hope they had a good reason to drown Runningtail." She remembered when she had met them as a kit, and they had seemed really nice. They taught her the hunting crouch, and she was grateful for that, but now, she was afraid of them.

Brokenfang looked up, water dripping from his mouth. He opened his mouth, and sniffed the air. "You're right. There are both new and old markers around here. They must have a den nearby."

"Hey, Brokenfang, Troublepaw! Are you ready to go back?" A black-and-white tom mewed, while holding a mouse by its tail in his mouth. Every cat knows there's only one tom in ClawClan with that pelt; Patchtail. He was given a challenge, to lead a hunting party, and if he succeeded, he'd be allowed to go to the next gathering, as long as he behaved properly too.

Whitetail and Owlpaw came after him, both holding two freshkills. The brown-gray apprentice put down his squirrel and vole, to open his mouth and mew, "I promised Darkpaw to show her the best battle moves this evening, so you better be ready."

Brokenfang nodded. "Yes, we were just about to go and fetch our freshkills. I was thirsty, so I took a drink from the stream first," he told them. "You can go ahead-"

A loud, angry shriek came from farther downstream, the opposite direction of Thunder Hollow. Troublepaw recognized Dewsplash's voice, and so did the others. The whole patrol started running towards the sound of fighting cats, to find the two newest warriors and Snowstripe fighting viciously with an orange, well-muscled tom and a pale silver she-cat. "Murderers!" They heard Willowfur yowl.

"Stop the fight!" Patchtail yelled, to be heard over the screeches and mewling. Snowstripe noticed the patrol, and signaled to her daughter and the small silver warrior to back off from the loners. The Clan cats formed a line, facing the other pair.

Pine hissed, and his eyes scanned them suspiciously. His mate was in a defensive pose, but she looked as frightened as a kit facing a badger.

"What were you doing, attacking a ClawClan patrol, rogues?" Patchtail demanded. He was struggling to remain calm, as he flexed his claws and dug them deep into the ground. He had been forced to admit his secret meetings with Runningtail, a BreezeClan warrior, but the night the other tom was murdered, he hadn't been able to get out of the camp, and the news about the loners murdering him had made him furious. But he had promised to try and be a better Clan cat.

"We're not rogues!" Pine's eyes were blazing in anger.

Ice stepped in front of the orange tom. "P-please don't hurt us..! We were just hunting for our k- For ourselves and then we were ambushed. We had to defend ourselves with tooth and claw!" For a moment, her gaze fell onto Troublepaw. She must have recognized her, because she gave the apprentice a warning look. The young she-cat did know about their kits, which was a secret to every other Clan cat.

Snowstripe took a step forward, holding her tail high. "Why did you kill Runningtail?" She asked, glaring at the pair.

As usual, Pine was the first to speak of the two. "We didn't-!" There was a glint of fear in his eyes for a second, and his voice betrayed his anxiety. Ice had silenced her mate with a quick glance, and then she looked straight into the eyes of the patrolling cats.

"Pine did kill a Clan cat, but he did it for the- their sake... He was protecting me and- me, and the den. That tom and his friend always came too close," she told them. When the other cats started getting hostile again, she quickly mewed, "If he or that black-and-white tom discovered our nest, they could have told the Clans, and my kits would be in danger! I, uh... I mean... Ah, f-forget that. They're just a moon old, those poor things. We want to protect them, that's all."