Book 4: Sol's Revenge & Whisper's Path

Sol

They woke up at the crack of dawn like the chickens twolegs keep in pens. And it's always straight to work. These tribe cats like to keep busy busy busy. First it's cleaning their precious cave. I swear, there are ceremonies and rituals for everything. They even bury the bones of the prey we eat. Ridiculous. All the bedding is changed for fresh feathers, which isn't a problem except they expect me and Whisper to do this job. I knew we were prisoners. And speaking of our strange hostage situation, what reason did these crazy cats have to hold us on a frozen mountain against our will? Their 'tribe of endless hunting' or whatever they call it told them danger was coming? They just want the free labor.

I bit into the hawk's carcass, tearing feathers out by the mouthful and completely disarraying them. If they wanted fresh bedding they wouldn't be getting it from me. Whisper who sat next to me plucked each feather with care, a small neat pile accumulated by the stripped birds body.

"Do you think we'll be able to escape?" I asked my brother with a slight smirk. The so called cave guards weren't all that vigilante.

"Escape to what? A frozen cliff face and starvation?" he said without looking at me. The dead bird was far more interesting.

"What are we supposed to do, wait until they either decide to let us go or execute us?" I scoffed.

Whisper rolled his eyes. "You're so melodramatic Sol. The tribe has reason to believe there is a threat, and they're just making sure that it isn't us."

"This place is suffocating."

"Then ask to join a hunting party. They'd love to have you, the she cats adore you."

"Really?" I perked up immediately.

"Well they might if you stopped shredding their bedding," Whisper said pointedly.

"Why are you so keen on staying?" I asked, Whisper wasn't really giving me any good reasons why we were letting the tribe keep us here against our will.

"Why are you so keen on leaving?" he retorted.

I didn't hesitate before answering. "They're too clan like. All these rituals and spiritual leaders. And we both know we can't trust clans, Skyclan was evil. They betrayed me."

Whisper didn't respond for a few minutes.

"I'm going to take the feathers to the queens. You...you do what you like." he said before scurrying off toward the tunnels that held the queens and their kits. He waited at the entrance for permission to come in, and the queens welcomed him eagerly.

I didn't particularly want to go on a hunting party, and I wasn't exactly allowed to roam the mountains of my own volition. That left sitting in the cave and doing nothing until I either died of boredom or died of boredom.

I scanned the cave, it was oddly empty. Most of the tribe was out and about today, since for once the skies were clear and the sun was shining. I could feel a gnawing sensation creeping up my spine, the urge to do something was pressing. I glanced to my left, the tunnel that lead to the nursery. I looked to my right, Stoneteller's cave. I made sure no one was watching and I slipped stealthily into the right tunnel, my paw steps echoing along the smooth rock.

The cave was narrow and thin, I felt like the walls were barring down on me as I moved deeper into the tunnel. Stalagmites rose from the ground like pillars and I had to expertly weave my way through their pointed paths. I froze mid pawstep as I saw Stoneteller sitting by a pool of water. I quickly dove behind a stalagmite before he could see me. After a minute I peeked around the rock to watch Stoneteller. His eyes were wide and he looked lost as he gazed into the pool of water. Was this crazy cat just staring at his own reflection?