Crowstar's Mission {COMPLETE}

Chapter 23

Crowpaw, Rudy and Flint arrived back at camp after a short walk, Leo spotted the trio and quickly padded up, looking at Rudy's wounds. They weren't deep and stopped bleeding during the walk, but they looked nasty. "What happened?" Leo questioned, looking at his mate with concern brewing deep in his eyes.

"Ran into Ripper and one of his rogues." Rudy explained. "Crowpaw thinks they're trying to start a fight."

Leo tensed and looked at Crowpaw. "You do?"

Crowpaw nodded. "Both of them threatened us, they think we're hoarding the prey."

"Which we're not." Flint put in. "They're mouse brained, we barely have enough prey to keep ourselves fed."

"Hunting is probably harder in the twolegplace." Crowpaw pointed out. "They keep picking fights with us and think that we're the hostile ones." He sighed. I don't know what to do here. He thought. This would be like if LichenClan was trying to steal our prey, but these aren't Clan cats. There's no borders, no warrior code. "We should talk to Cooper."

"I'm pretty sure he's sharing prey in his den with Ivy." Leo pointed out, he nudged Rudy with his large muzzle. "You should have Ivy treat your injuries."

"I will." Rudy purred. "Come on," She motioned at Crowpaw who followed behind her. He felt nervous about talking to Cooper, he was a leader, yes, but what would he do? Rudy and Crowpaw stepped into the den. "Cooper?" She called in as they walked in.

Sure enough, Cooper and Ivy were sharing a vole. Ivy looked up, her eyes sparkling at Crowpaw, for a moment he forgot why he even came here. "What is it?" Cooper's eyes travelled to Rudy's leg. "What happened to you?"

"Ripper." Rudy replied. "He and another rogued tried to steal the vole that Crowpaw caught, we chased them off but they threatened us."

"Threatened?" Cooper narrowed his eyes. "How so?"

"They told us that we couldn't keep hoarding the prey, and they said they're going to take it and slaughter any cat who gets in their way." Ivy tensed as Crowpaw spoke.

"I see." Cooper flicked his tail and stared at his paws for a long time, after a moment he lifted his head. "Ivy, go treat Rudy's wounds. Crowpaw, we're going to discuss this with the others."

Ivy nodded and looked at Rudy. "Let's go, it doesn't look bad but we don't want any infection." As Ivy walked out of the den, her pelt brush against Crowpaw's, leaving sparks along his fur. He wasn't sure if she intended to do that or not. Crowpaw noticed Cooper staring at him suspiciously. Did he notice that? Crowpaw and Cooper followed them out, but went into the clearing.

Cooper sat down and raised his voice. "Can I have everyone's attention?" The scattered loners looked up from what they were doing to focus on Cooper, Crowpaw felt awkward sitting next to him so he moved to sit beside Raindrop. "Rudy, Crowpaw and Flint got into a scrape with Ripper and another rogue and in this fight they threatened to attack us and take our prey, and said they wouldn't hesitate to kill us."

Sabra wrapped her tail around Starlight and Firefly, alarm flashing in her eyes. That's right, these rogues don't follow a code. They'll kill kits. Crowpaw shuddered at the thought. I won't let that happen.

"We need to decide what to do." Cooper continued.

"We have no idea how many rogues they have behind them." Raindrop called out. "We are a very small group, and we have four kits to protect."

"I was thinking the same thing." Cooper nodded. "It may be best for us to relocate."

"What?" Crowpaw couldn't stop himself from speaking out. "You're going to leave?" He stared at Cooper. "This is our home!"