Stolen (Book 1 of the Outcast Quartet)

Chapter 6 (Wispkit)

“Wispkit, I dare you to put some burrs into Sandpaw’s nest,” Petalkit meowed.

            “What?” I gasped, startled at the sudden suggestion. Here we were, playing with a moss ball when Petalkit randomly suggested something like… this. “N-no way!”
            “It’ll help you get over your fear of him, if you can’t conquer your fear, than you won’t be able to do anything for your Clan,” Petalkit declared.

            “So I just need to put some burrs into his nest, right?” I mumbled, if I did it secretly, no one would know I had done it. “Wh-when should I do it?”

            “When he’s out training,” Petalkit declared. “That will be the perfect time.”

            “Will you come with me, I don’t think I can do it alone,” I muttered.

            “Of course,” Petalkit purred. “I could never leave a friend in her time of need.”

            I stared at Petalkit, before suddenly realizing something. “Where do we get the burrs?”
            “Leave that to me,” Petalkit exclaimed. “Wait for me, over there,” she signaled to a small dark patch near the camp wall. “I’ll come back with plenty of burrs.”

            “That’s reassuring,” I mumbled while slowly padding towards the area Petalkit had indicated. Why she was suddenly making me do this, I did not understand. Nor did I understand why I was so willing to do this, was it because I wanted to be braver or maybe because I wanted to be accepted by the others. I looked up at the cloudless sky, my mind wondering back to the deep sadness I had felt earlier.

            “Alright, I’m back!” Petalkit purred as she trotted up to me, her pelt covered in burrs. “I hope I got enough.”

            My whiskers twitched in amusement at her burr covered pelt, she almost looked like a skinny hedgehog.

            “This will get Sandpaw reeeeaaaaal good!” she continued. “I heard that he’s out hunting now so this is going to be one of the most perfect opportunities we’ve got.”

            “Wonder how this will end,” I mumbled softly.

            “Huh, did you say something?”

            “Nothing, let’s go already,” I swiftly trotted past Petalkit, might as well get this stunt over with and continue with life normally. I didn’t like doing these kinds of things, but Petalkit always enjoyed a good prank and if she liked them, I didn’t see why I shouldn’t. We crossed through the large, emptyish clearing without too many problems. Most of LightClan’s members were out at the time, doing patrols, hunting or training. There were only about five cats left to guard the camp, not counting the queens.

            We arrived to the learner’s den; a large den shared by all of the learners in the clan, on its right was the warriors den and to its left was the rescuers den. The warriors den was a hollowed out log, the learners den was a large bush of some sorts and the rescuers den was a well woven clump of twigs. Careful to not make too much noise I pulled back the lichen in front of the log’s entrance to allow Petalkit to trot past.

            My heart hammered with nerves, I didn’t know why I was so nervous, was it because I never did this before.

            “Help me get these burrs off,” Petalkit commanded once she reached Sandpaw’s nest.

            Without protest I slowly started pulling the burrs off of Petalkit and tucking them into Sandpaw’s nest. I was shaking by the time we finished; afraid someone would randomly appear and catch them in the middle of their prank. “Alright… I got all of them,” I let out a heavy sigh and stepped back from Petalkit and the nest. “Happy?”

            “Very much,” Petalkit purred. “Anyways, let’s hurry and go before he comes back!”

            With no hesitation I bolted out of the den, glad to have finally finished this awful deed. I will never play a prank, it’s just too nerve-racking.