The Warrior Games

Chapter 5

Snowpaw was walking through the trees at a brisk pace. It was morning and she didn't want any cat to hear here running so she had decided to just pad, quickly. Where in the name of StarClan was Brambledust? She hadn't seen her tributemate since the Games had begun. 

As Snowpaw walked through the forest, looking for signs of Brambledust, she caught a glimpse of a strange red fruit that seemed to be growing from a mysterious, large plant. Knowing a lot about deathberries, Snowpaw began to approach it, slowly. She sniffed it, cautiousely. It didn't smell like deathberries. And Snowpaw was hungry.... 

Leaning closer to the strange fruit, Snowpaw opened her mouth to bite into it, when she heard something rustling from the strange-looking plant. She shut her mouth almost immediately and began to back away. There was a strange sound that seemed to be coming from inside the bushy plant. Snowpaw had never heard an animal that sounded like this before.

Suddenly, Snowpaw saw a paw strike out from underneath the bush. Snowpaw jumped and almost yowled in fright as a gray and white striped creature the size of a possum leapt up and out of the bush. The ThunderClan apprentice froze for a moment - and met eyes with the strange vicious-looking creature. The creature's bushy tail fluffed up more before it bared it's teeth at the white she-cat. Snowpaw didn't need a second warning - she turned tail and fled, bolting towards the nearest tree and dug her claws into the bark, pulling herself up.

It wasn't long before she reached the first branch, and she grasped onto it firmly before climbing onto it. Panting, Snowpaw looked down at the ground, only to see the strange gray and white creature had vanished. For a moment, Snowpaw was puzzled, and she frowned. 

"I guess it's gone. Thank StarClan ThunderClan taught me how to climb." Snowpaw whispered to herself. She turned back around, only to come face to face with the snarling face of the gray and white creature. Snowpaw froze in terror. The tree-animal had her trapped. There was nowhere to run now. There was only one thing to do now; Fight. 

Snowpaw unsheathed her claws and thrust a paw forward at the animal. She managed to claw its face, which only made it more angry. WIthout warning, it leapt at the white apprentice, clawing and gripping at her back once it had landed on her. Snowpaw screeched and tried to reer onto her hind legs to knock it off. But this animal was too heavy and strong to be knocked off easily. Snowpaw squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying not to yowl in pain as the creature tore away at her fur. She knew she had to do something or the animal might kill her.

Thinking fast, Snowpaw twisted and glanced at the side of the tree. She leapt off the branch and for a moment she was falling in midair - the creature had stopped attacking her, but it was still gripping onto her back. Snowpaw thrust her claws out and jammed them into the side of the tree, hanging there for a moment, the gray and white animal now clutching onto her hind legs and tail. Snowpaw took a deep breath, and, using all her energy that she seemed to have left, she forced her hind legs to kick out, one of them hit the strange animal square on it's muzzle. 

If the creature made a cry of terror, Snowpaw didn't hear it. She dared herself to look down, where the gray and white animal was slowly crawling and limping away from the tree. 

Snowpaw forced herself to hold onto the tree side for just a little bit longer before slowly sliding down the bark until she reached solid forest floor, where she almost immediately collapsed. Panting heavily, she lay on her side and closed her eyes, before she became unconscious. 

***

Darktail followed Scorch and Fang through the woods. The two BloodClan cats were going to team up with him for now. Scorch had said that at the end of the Games after all the tributes had been slayed, he, Fang and Darktail would fairly face off, and whoever would win that fight would win the 17th Anniversary of the Warrior Games. Darktail chuckled under his breath as he followed them. Fools! Darktail himself had a plan to kill both Scorch and Fang the night before the 'face off'. Then Darktail would win - oh and his father would be so proud of him! 

"Where do you think the next Warrior will be found? Have we found a scent trail yet?" Darktail asked the two BloodClan cats. 

"We're looking for one." Fang hissed, irratatebly, "We haven't found any scent trails yet. Why don't you try to help, Darktail? You're not being very useful." The reddish she-cat flicked her tail. 

Darktail growled, "I'll show you useful..." he said, quietly enough so that Fang wouldn't hear him. 

"Hey! I miss smell cat!" Scorch had stopped moving and was sniffing the air for the scent. 

"What Clan?" Darktail asked, impatiently. The sooner they could hunt down these cats, the sooner Darktail could get to winning the Games. 

Scorch grinned, "Another WindClan! Ha! It's probably that lousy apprentice. I always knew WindClan was useless but I didn't think they'd fail this badly in the Games." 

"Then what are we waiting for?" Fang bared her yellow fangs, "Do we want to win these Games or not? Let's get after that apprentice!"

"Yes! Let's show her what real Warriors are made of!" 

And the three cats crept stealthily through the undergrowth as they got closer and closer to where Runningpaw was curled up, dreaming of the Clan she wished to return to someday.