Warriors: New Moon

Chapter Two

Iceberg walked silently through the thick pine forest. He looked back, unsure of which way he'd come. More fear and desperation shot through him. His paws ached, he was hungry, and Iceberg was very lost. A chilly wind ruffled his pelt as he brushed past a grouping of ferns.

All of a sudden, something shape hit him and sent him tumbling into a tree stump. When the trail of dust faded, he spotted a figure, small and sly. It jumped at him, claws unsheathed, teeth bared and ears back. Iceberg ducked and sent him landing awkwardly. It hissed and he smelled blood. It ran at him and Iceberg jumped on back. The cat rolled over, putting Iceberg on his belly. The cat, he realized, must be a forest cat.

The cat raked his belly and swatted his muzzle. Iceberg ran, but the white tomcat chased his. Then a black figure stepped out of the shadows. Iceberg could hear him say, "That'll keep that mouse-brain off DarkClan territory. He'll probably run back to its twoleg's nest. If he makes with those scratches, anyways."

'If he'll make it with those scratches, anyways'?! The sentence rang in Icebergs ears until the pines cleared. He saw an odd pine tree, it was turned at a weird angle. Iceberg shrugged and padded on, hoping to see some sign of home. His flank hurt so bad, his muzzle was battered up and there was a nick in his left ear. The moon rose high above the sky. Iceberg spotted a small stream, so he wadded slowly in.

It was ice cold, but it felt good on his wounds. The stream didn't even get up to his flank, but he was thankful for it. He wondered on, the forest trailed into a moorland. It was very windy and heather covered the long stretch of land. The mottled tomcat saw a lining of bushes and trees, that would be a good spot sleep for the night, he thought. The grey tomcat rushed over, but when he approached, he realized that it was thickly lined with brambles and ferns. He circled it and soon found a small tunnel-like hole that lead into the clearing.

He climbed in, it wasn't as tight as he'd thought it would of been, rocks covered the walls and grassy sand was the flooring. All of sudden, he heard cats chanting, "Goldenpool! Goldenpool! Goldenpool!" They seemed very excited and it seemed that their was many, many cats. He peeked his head through the tunnel opening.

A large, sandy clearing lay in front of him. Lots and lots of cats were nudging and licking a golden cat with white paws. A boulder was in the the middle of it all and a pretty orange tabby stood on it. Bushes and trees had even more cats in them and I figured this must be the Clan cat's home. A pile of dead rabbits, birds and mice lay near two very thick bushes.

The orange tabby cat turned her head towards him, and Iceberg turned to face her. He eye had a long, pink scar over it and her other one was pine-green. Fear shot through Iceberg as he remembered the other black and white cat who'd scratched him up.
The orange tabby leaped lightly down from the rock. "Who are you and why are in HollyClan camp?"

Words were stuck in his thought and he didn't know what to do. All the cats eyes turned to him and he shyly back away. "It's okay-we're not going to hurt you." She soothed. Iceberg relaxed a little bit. His eyes darted around then finally landed on the tabby in front of him. "I'm Iceberg... And-and I'm lost.." The orange cat nodded and looked at his collar.

"Are you, um, okay?" She asked, looking at his scratched flank. The other cats whispered to each other. The grey mottled tom thought he heard them say things like, 'kittypet' and 'he probably wondered into DarkClan territory' and 'why's Ashstar so worried about a mouse-brained kittypet?' He didn't know what any of those things meant, but he figure he might know soon.

"Some cat just started scratching me like a maniac... And it really hurts," a small grey speckled she-cat came up to the orange tabby asked if she should just Ravenheart. She nodded and soon a tuxedo cat came with a bundle of leaves and cobwebs. The black cat told Iceberg to eat a few of the black seeds she called poppy seeds.

"What will they do?" Iceberg asked, she looked up said, "They'll make you sleep, now eat up, kit," AH demanded and Iceberg did as he was told. Ravenheart lead him into a ditch that was lined with small holly bushes and rocks. The world started to close in with blackness and as soon as he plopped down in a very uncomfortable fern nest, he fell into a deep sleep.