Warriors: Calling Wild

Chapter Twenty-Four

     Thorn and Sootpaw padded onward, and Sootpaw could smell a clan cat, he recognized it as DropClan. MoonClan territory would be much farther upland. Now they would just have to make it through enemy lands back home. Plus, they still needed to cross the river. Sootpaw wasn't sure of his leg was going to let him jump over the rushing water, but he would have to hope for the best.

     Thorn still bounced around really hyper, even though he hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Sootpaw guessed he had to do something with his energy or else he would explode. At least he would never get tired of doing things. Sootpaw thought about what Kara had said about his father. He must've gone there after his birth, because she knew his name. But it was like she recognized him from how he looked. He was sure he had never seen him before, but she had definitely seen him before.

     He shook his head from those thoughts and focused on the ground beneath his paws. They were still in DropClan territory, getting into DesertClan territory. There would be less water in the river while they walked through the hot sandy desert that DesrtClan cats called home. They were adapted to the heat, so it didn't harm them, but it caused other cats to be dehydrated quicker which makes them weak. After DesrtClan, they would need to go through ClawClan, and then NightClan. After that they would be safe at camp. So long as they didn't run into any patrols.

     "We should hurry before we run into a patrol."

     Thorn didn't ask any questions and he quickened his pace. But Sootpaw feared he had spoken too soon. He smelled the hostile scent of DesertClan cats before they appeared from behind a tall cactus with a single pink flower on it. There were five of them, and he recognized all of them from the one gathering he had been to: Streakpelt, Dewpelt, Whitenose, Birdpaw and Meerkatmask. They approached the two intruders slowly, and Birdpaw had his hackles raised. He had been talking to Steamclaw at the gathering.

     Birdpaw lowered them with a strict look from Dewpelt. From the looks of it, Streakpelt was leading the patrol. He seemed super nice at the gathering, maybe he would let them go easy. Meerkatmask took the back if the patrol and Whitenose, Birdpaw and Dewpelt spread out in a line, pushing the two toms against the river bed. Streakpelt stepped forward, eyeing the apprentice and his friend. He spoke with an edge to his voice, like he was angry, but it was subtle enough.

     "Who are you and what are you doing on DesertClan territory?"

     Sootpaw opened his mouth to speak, but Thorn beat him to it. He spoke quick and was right to the point.

     "I am Thorn and this is Sootpaw." He paused looking at Sootpaw momentarily. "We are heading to MoonClan, so we are just heading through."

     Streakpelt nodded briskly, and motioned for Birdpaw, Dewpelt and Meerkatmask to head back to camp. They bounded over the hot sand and towards their home. Whitenose stepped forward to stand next to Streakpelt, and they were shoulder to shoulder.

     "We will escort you to the ClawClan border."

     Streakpelt took the lead and Whitenose followed more slowly. The black and white tom stood out clearly beside the golden sand, but Meerkatmask, along with most DesertClan cats were very pale in color. Whitenose and Streakpelt were the exception. The few who were easily spotted among the sand specialized with herbs or fighting. That way ever cat had a job to do.

     The cats padded along in silence, until Sootpaw smelled the scent marker. Streakpelt stopped and stepped aside to let the two cats pad forward, into ClawClan territory. Spruce trees were popping up and a forest grew before long and Sootpaw stayed as close to the river as he could.