Warriors: War of the Clans - Darkness

Chapter 9

Fox crouched down, ears pricked for any signs of ThunderClan cats. No one seemed to have heard him, so the red tom relaxed. Still crouched, he stalked through the forest carefully, an idea coming to mind.

He stopped when he found a pathway, heavily scented with ThunderClan cats. This must be the entrance to their camp, he thought. He carefully stalked around the camp entrance.

Soon he was aware that he was standing by an edge. He cautiously looked down the sheer drop into the camp below.

The camp was a bustle of activity. Kits were play fighting in the clearing, while older cats were gathered around the pile of prey. He saw Frozenpaw and Snowpaw with another tom. They were laughing and talking. As he watched, two other cats their age joined them.

Fox watched the camp in awe. He had never seen these many cats together before. Obviously, there were more cats in Dreaded Night, but they never actually gathered in one place. He leaned forward to get a better look.

Some of the rock crumbled under paw. Fox immediately stepped back as the rock tumbled into the clearing. All of the warriors looked up to where Fox was standing. Fox retreated into the bushes, heart thumping. He didn't want to become these cats' enemies!

He heard a cat call for a patrol to check out his hiding place. Fox looked around wildly. He looked at the tree next to him and started climbing as fast as he could. He climbed as high as possible and covered himself with branches.

Soon the patrol came. It was led by an orange cat, and had the tom Frozenpaw and Snowpaw were talking to. He was white with light gray spots. Fox gripped the tree branch harder.

"See anything, Blizzardpaw?" The orange tom inquired. The apprentice tasted the air.

"No..." Blizzardpaw frowned. "I swear I saw movement up here."

The orange tom sighed. "Alright. I'm not getting anything either. The rocks must have crumbled." He looked at the cliff.

Blizzardpaw nodded. "Let's go back. Someone else can take care of the cliff." The two Clan cats headed back to the camp entrance.

Fox wondered for a moment why they didn't pick up his scent. Then it hit him. I've been living in the tunnels. Rocks don't leave scents, so when I went in here, I started to smell like ThunderClan. Fox leaped down the tree, and started to walk back home, thankful the encounter was over.

<|........|>

Lion blinked her eyes open. She sat up in her nest made of hay, and looked over at the scarf. She touched it cautiously with one paw, and felt hat it was dry. Lion sat back for a moment, wondering how to put it on. She picked it up with one claw, and wrapped it around her neck. She frowned as it unraveled.

"Want me to help?" a voice behind her asked.

Lion jumped, whipping around to see Mud standing there, looking politely concerned.

"Yes, please," Lion replied, flattening her ruffled fur. Mud padded over to the scarf. She wrapped it around Lion's neck, tucking the end in. She carefully pulled on the scarf to tighten it. Then, she stepped back.

"You look beautiful," Mud purred. She rested her tail on Lion's shoulders. "Come on, let's go."

Lion looked back at her nest, noticing a mouse someone placed by it. "I'll be right out." Mud nodded, leaping down the haystack to the barn door. Lion turned back to her nest and ate the mouse in a few quick bites, savoring the warm barn taste. These mice were different than forest mice. They were much easier to catch and had a lot more meat on them. They tasted like a warm home rather than a forest song. Lion finished her breakfast and walked outside.