Warriors: Back to the Wild Book#3

Chapter 9

Mousepelt woke up near the Moonpool. She looked up to see it was a full moon tonight. There would be Gathering tonight and Mousepelt knew she wasn't invited, or welcomed. She got to her paws as padded away from the starry pool. There was no sign of Clawface, Thistleclaw, Silversol, and Deathmask. She let out a sigh of relief. If it's one thing she didn't want it was them.

As Mousepelt padded to ShadowClan camp she noticed the stone wall that separated Mousepelt old Twoleg nest from ShadowClan and ThunderClan. Her heart lurched. How could the Twolegs love her? If they cared about her at all she wouldn't feel so lonely. She jumped up on to the stone wall and looked at her old home.

She began questioning where she belonged. All this was because Amberheart wanted to go live with ThunderClan and Mousepelt had no choice but to go to ShadowClan. She did what the warrior code told her to do, but they still didn't like her. She starved for moons, but they just thought she was being selfish. It took saving those kits from drowning to get the Clans to look her. What did Amberheart do? Get accused of being a kittypet? The golden warrior had no idea what real pain was! Mousepelt had lost the tom she loved for moons, her mother, who abandoned her, lived in her Clan, her first apprentice joined Silversol, two cats wanted her and Ravenclaw dead. Amberheart has no idea how much Mousepelt had to sacrifice to get to where she is today.

The brown speckled warrior looked back toward the island. Were they wondering where she was? Did any cat care if she ever came back?

She jumped over the wall to the Twoleg nest and lied down. Mousepelt curled up in a tight ball and drifted off to sleep.

"Hey..... Hey.... She-cat?" Mousepelt opened her eyes to see a younger white and grey tom standing in front of her. "Mornin'!" he purred, his amber eyes shining. "What are you doing here stranger?"

"Get lost." Mousepelt grumbled. The Twolegs must have taken in another cat.

"Don't want something to eat?" He asked. "These Nofurs really like cats, they'll even let you stay if you want."

"Why would I want to be cooped up in that thing?" Mousepelt sat up, licking her paw.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, stranger, but you look pretty thin, at least come in and eat."

Mousepelt could hear her stomach growling. She was hungry and she didn't want to go back to the forest. She bowed her head and sighed. "Fine."

"Names Ace," the tom mewed, making his way to the Twoleg entrance, "what's yours, stranger?"

Mousepelt looked back to the forest. Her heart in pain and her mind wondering if any cat was looking for her. "Mouse... My name is Mouse."

The Twolegs seemed pleased to see Ace bring a new friend to their nest. They gave her food and water. She rested on the kittypet nest. Big Boy was still there, but he didn't seem to remember her. She didn't care, she wasn't planning on staying long. Ace began asking where she had come from, or where she got her scars, or asking why she looked bigger than most she-cats.

She stayed for the whole moon. She looked out at the snow and wondered what was going on in the Clans. Were more cats lost to green cough? Did it quickly turn to white cough?

Mousepelt walked out the den and jumped up on the stone wall, looking out to her home. She lowered her ears. Nothing mattered to her anymore. All the cats could die for all she cared. Mousepelt needed to get stronger.

Ace jumped up beside her and looked at the forest. "Forest cats are pretty scary huh?" the white and grey tom asked. "Eating bones, killing house cats, they're terrifying."

"Let me ask you, Ace," Mousepelt lowered her head, "if you were given the choice of leaving this place to live with those cats and found out they weren't exactly what you thought and they needed you, but, they didn't treat you like they needed you... Would you stay?"

Ace took a moment to think. "If they truly needed me, they wouldn't treat me like nothing... But I would stay only until they didn't want me anymore."

Mousepelt looked down, her ears lowered. She would return. But she wasn't going to ShadowClan. She'd train in the tunnels with the Dark Forest cats and she didn't care what happened after she killed Silversol. She was going to end this!