Island Territory: Lost Stars (Warrior Cats)

Chapter 21

Photo up there is Sweetkit guarding the nest

The badger charged after Icekit, and she finally broke free of it's penetrating gaze. She ran, and ran, faster then she had ever done before, but the badger easily kept up.
She desperately needed help, but Icekit could never drive this thing towards her sisters, it would put them in too much danger, too much of a risk...
As she desperately ran, she could hear the badger, racing after her, it's jaws open, and ready to swallow her whole. Icekit could barely even have a chance to blink, let alone breathe.
The badger was big, huge, and certainly scarier than Mistytail had described, when she was listening to her stories in the warriors den.
It barely even seemed to try and keep up with Icekit, who was running for her life up ahead of it by a few cat-tails.
Frantically scanning the area, Icekit tried to find a place to hide, and wait the badger off. But every spot she found, either seemed too big and obvious, or too weak, whilst the badger could easily break through it.
Praying with all her might that she wouldn't run into her sisters, Icekit dashed away, towards the opposite way that they were supposed to meet up.
Distantly remembering Mistytail's way of diverting the badger, Icekit scrambled straight towards the tree, hoping the badger was too stupid to follow, and made the sharpest turn she could muster.
Narrowly evading the tree, Icekit pelted away, and didn't even stop to watch the badger, as it collided with the huge tree, which shook under its forceful blow.
It roared angrily, which was the only thing Icekit could hear, other then the blood pounding in her ear.
Soon, it turned itself over and continued pursuit of Icekit, who was a few tail lengths away, and running for her life.
Icekit felt strangely weak, and could barely keep her legs propelling her forwards. Though Cloudclan cats were known to be faster than most, they couldn't run forever.
Finally coming across a spot of undergrowth, Icekit scrambled to her feet, and dived into the grasses, hoping to Starclan that the badger wouldn't find her.
It was risky, for Mistytail had mentioned how the badger was known for its sense of smell, but Icekit hadn't cleaned her fur for the past couple of sunrises anyway.
After a few more heart-stopping moment of silence, Icekit peeked breathlessly out of the ferns, spotting the badger five or six fox lengths away, it's huge nose sniffing through the air.
At last being able to breathe freely, Icekit heaved in huge gulps of air, until it felt like she was swallowing thistles.
But then, to her fright, the badger swung its head around, and shot itself into the ferns where Icekit was hiding in, and she raced out, her heart pounding once again.
What does it want with me? I'm just a measly little kit! Icekit thought hopelessly, her paws aching terribly.
The badger on the other hand, did not look at all bothered with chasing a kit all over the place.
In fact, it looked like it wasn't even running yet, just jogging at a slow pace to conserve energy, and wear Icekit out.
If that was indeed it's plan, it was most definitely working, cause Icekit was feeling like she would join Starclan any moment.
Icekit tried to ram the badger into some trees again, however it didn't seem to fall for the same trick twice, and simply went around the tree, which was a huge disadvantage to Icekit.
Maybe I could climb the tree, and wait them out... Icekit thought, glancing at the looming trees ahead of her.
She quickly shook the thought off; there was no way she would be able to hang on for that long.
And, the branches were so far up, that Icekit would never on a million years , be able to climb so high, let alone stay on for that long.
Icekit swiftly snapped back into reality, as she narrowly missed the badger's huge jaws, snapping hungrily at her tail.
Yipping slightly, Icekit pushed herself forwards, trying to ignore her lungs burning like fire, and her throat that felt completely dry.
Not to mention how famished she was. She hadn't eaten a good meal for days ever since the flood, other then one or two measly pieces of prey.
Tucking her tail between her legs, Icekit racked her mind to try and come up with a move good enough to stop a fully grown badger, that worked for a kit.
Suddenly, Icekit stopped, and ducked down. Then, the badger came tumbling over her, barreling over a small bush, and rolling awkwardly down a small dip in the ground.
That was where I nearly fell in! All I have to do is just get back... A small ray of hope opened up to Icekit, and she pelted away, trying to lose the badger, and make it back to her sisters.
Luckily, the badger was still trying to get to it's paws, still tossing and turning in the small pit.
Icekit grasped this chance as tight as she could, and tried to retrace her steps, faster than anything she had done before.
To her surprise, she could find it quite easily. When she had crawling into those ferns, the muddy ground under the leaves had tainted her paw step, sending a small trail of brown following her every step.
But when she actually got to the ferns, she only had a vague thought of where to go. Icekit didn't really think of where she was going, so it was going to be a challenge to get back.
Nevertheless, she had survived, and that was good enough, for now. Slowing her pace down a bit, Icekit wandered throughout the small clearing, sniffing the air for her scent trail.
After a very long while of searching for the right scent, Icekit finally came across one that resembled her own, but was a bit more on the stale side then she would have liked.
It was quite a challenge trying to follow the trail; sometimes it was so distant, it drifted away. And the more she followed it, the more distant the scent trail was.
Icekit was starting to panic, and although no one was here to see her, she tried not to show how afraid she was, about being lost yet again.
Hopefully her sisters would find her, before she went off in the wrong direction, and got even more lost then she was in the first place...
Tilting her head desperately, Icekit scanned the clearing, hoping that her sisters might show up right on time, like they always were. It was getting really late by then, perhaps her sisters might go looking for her, if she didn't show up...
It was best to stay where she was, where her scent trail was still faintly holding, rather then spiral off into a whole different direction.
Minutes slowly ticked by, and Icekit started to worry. The nights were getting colder, signaling for Leaf-fall, and the light of sun-high started to melt in.
Would it have been better, being eaten by that badger, or would it have been better to survive, and be lost in the cold? Icekit regarded this for a moment, and shook her head worriedly.
That's not going to happen to me. Icekit thought, her heart pounding at her chest. My sisters are smart, they'll find me soon...
A cold wind passed through her fur, sending shivers down her spine. Icekit couldn't help but think that this was an omen, of something bad happening... But she was far from a professional medicine cat, and even Snowkit might say that it was nothing.
"You're just being a bee-brain. Nothing's wrong, now stop hallucinating, you sound like a whining kit." Icekit imagined Snowkit there, yelling in her ear about how ridiculous she was being.
Smiling weakly, Icekit slumped over, lying feebly on the grass. The badger could come any second now, and devour her whole, without even trying.
Honestly, Icekit would have just given up, for her legs were too sore to keep running anymore, and her lungs still burst into flames every now and then.
Chest heaving a bit, Icekit stared up at the stars, wondering if her Cloudclan ancestors were watching over her tonight.
Sure, they were far away, but that also meant they could see far, and perhaps they could see Icekit there, and wish her luck on her journey.
Even if they didn't know where she was, they were sure to know that three kits had gone missing from Cloudclan, and must be searching for them, as all respectable warriors do.
Suddenly, a star shimmered in the bright sky, and Icekit widened her eyes, and rubbed them lightly with her paws, wondered if she really was hallucinating.
"Icekit! Oh, there you are!" Icekit scrambled to her paws, and turned, going face to face with Sweetkit, who looked very relieved.
Soon, Snowkit appeared beside her, frowning angrily, but a small light of ease crossed her face for a small moment.
"Oh, come on. Icekit, did you really just come out here to watch the stars? You could have done that anywhere, like, seriously, you scared us half to death!" Snowkit exclaimed, nipping Icekit on the ear.
Icekit reared back, and rubbed her ear, annoyance pricking at her pelt, but nevertheless, glad to see her sisters her with her.
"Hey! You didn't have to do that." Icekit complained her tail flicking in anxious loops. Snowkit simply rolled her eyes, and pushed Icekit along, along with Sweetkit, back towards their mini camp.
The camp looked very much the same, other then the fact there were still only two nests, but beside the two nests, stood a half made nest, which looked almost done.
Sweetkit looked very eager to hear what happened to her, her face lighting up when Snowkit had asked.
Snowkit on the other hand, looked like this was an utter waste of time, and should just immediately dump Icekit into a pit and make sure she never gets in trouble every again.
On the other hand, Icekit was more than ready to dramatize on how, and what had happened to her, beginning with her, going on a daring quest to find her nest.
And sure, Icekit may have added in some extra exaggerated parts, like how Starclan had said she was the chosen one, and how she had a daring fight with the badger, but other then those couple of parts, it was basically genuine.
"Wow! You outran a badger?" Sweetkit asked, eyes shining with excitement. At this, Snowkit scoffed curtly and playfully shoved Sweetkit a bit, before whispering loudly. "She's probably just pretending. You didn't really mount it's head on a spike, did you?"
Flushing sheepishly, Icekit pretended not to hear, and kept on babbling away, while Snowkit still kept her wry look on her face.
But to her delight, Snowkit also seemed a bit more on the doubting side, rather then the 'for certain she didn't do this,' side.
"...And, that brings me here to now." Icekit declared proudly, her eyes glinting in the light rays of the sunset.
Sweetkit purred with delight, trilling a bit in applause. Snowkit snorted, but purred too, brightening up Icekit, who smiled thankfully.
"So," Sweetkit started, eyeing Icekit carefully. "Is you nest still out there? Maybe we can get it back." Snowkit hissed a bit at this, and pointed her tail over at the nest she was currently working on.
Sweetkit took little notice of this, and looked up at Icekit, sho smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's still there, but it's broken, so I'd rather have a new one." she smiled over at Snowkit, who barely did anything back.
Nodding, Sweetkit padded away, dipping her head in thanks for Icekit's 'story', and trotted away. Snowkit followed suit, muttering somethings under her breath as she did so.
Icekit felt pleasure skim through her, and sent silent thanks to Starclan, for keeping her alive, and perhaps even letting her littermates find her.
Now that the thought had entered her, who did let her littermates find her? The star seemed a bit to obvious at the time, shining right before her sisters found her.
But if that truly was Starclan, then who was the star? She may never know, but was thankful anyways that it had guided her home.
Icekit padded away, smiling, and humming a small tune she heard the raindrops play the day before, plinking gently on her den.
Soon one day, maybe she would ask Snowkit about that warrior. Maybe she would know. But for now, she was glad to still be here, with her littermates.