Following Clans
-Prologue-
"Crystal!" I yowled as loud as I could in fear, as
the big, evil cat- Slice- sliced his claws down my back and knocking the air out
of my lungs. I gasped for air.
I quickly raked my claws down Slice's
belly. He howled and reared back. I ran into the bushes blindly.
I could spot Crystal. She was clawing Fire, a ginger tom.
Crystal yowled for me, as Fire tried to claw her neck, missing just a mouse-length. I leapt
from the bushes onto Fire's back. I tried to hang on as I clawed his back. Fire
flung me off. I gasped. My hind leg felt broken. I limped over to Fire, and
nipped his hind paws one by one, then I rolled off. Crystal was running to the
bushes. Fire and Slice backed away, menace in their eyes. I joined Crystal,
limping fiercely. She flopped to the ground. Then I let out a wail as I spotted
Alex on the ground, motionless. I limped out to the clearing and collapsed next
to his cold dead body. Crystal joined me, blood bleeding heavily from one
eye.
"Gorse," she meowed. "I can't see from this eye anymore." I
looked at her. I didn't want to look at her. The skin surrounding the eye was
ripped, and her eye was scratched over.
I looked at Alex. He was the
strongest of us. He looked frail. I dragged him away and dug a hole for
burial.
"We must seek help from the Clans," Crystal mewed. "Yes. We
have to."
-Chapter One-
I bounded forward. "Come on, Crystal. WindClan is not
much further."
My sister nodded, and walked a bit faster. I spotted
the high moor- it was empty. I scent was a bit stale. I looked at Crystal
agitatedly. "Let's go to RiverClan territory, perhaps we can find them there." I
suggested.
Crystal nodded, padding after me. To my surprise, there was
a Upwalker thing digging up the soil. "RiverClan is not here," a black cat shot
out of the reeds and hissed. "I am the Housefolk's pet. Go away!"
I
gasped. The black cat shoved me away and a ran off with Crystal at my
heels.
We went to the border between RiverClan and ThunderClan. Huge
Upwalker stuff was cutting down the trees. "They have gone!" I meowed
disbelievingly.
We went to the direction of the Moonstone, the clans
called them.
We spotted a barn. We went over, there were two cats, a
black cat and his friend. "Hello, I'm Ravenpaw." smiled the black cat. "You're a
Clan cat!" I gasped.
Ravenpaw shrugged. "I am
Not a Clan cat, but I
was a Clan cat."
The other cat, a black-and-white tom, thrust himself
in front of Ravenpaw. "I'm Barley. What are your names?"
"I'm Gorse.
And this is Crystal." I meowed.
"We are looking for the Clans,"
Crystal explained, flexing her claws in and out. Ravenpaw frowned. "Aren't they
in the forest?"
I shook my head no. "Perhaps they've went in the
direction there." Ravenpaw pointed to northwest. "I scented them there a few
days ago. I thought they were going to Highstones." I sighed. "We need their
help, and the WindClan cat, Onewhisker, was a friend of ours."
Barley
shook his head helplessly. "Look for them."
I nodded. "Please take a
mouse or two, it'll give you the energy you need." Ravenpaw offered.
I
thanked him and hunted about five mice and stuffed myself. Crystal caught lots,
too. We stayed till the next morning. "Safe journey!" Barley and Ravenpaw
chorused.
-Chapter Two-
Crystal and I set off. I looked up at the sky;
it was sunhigh.
Crystal yawned, jaws wide. "Let's hunt." I meowed.
Crystal agreed. I stalked off, my jaws wide to taste the air. A scent of mouse
hit the roof of my mouth.
I spotted the mouse. I started the creep
forward. I pounced, and... "Reow!" yowled a Siamese she-cat furiously.
Startled, I stumbled and the mouse scrambled out of both of us's
grasp.
The Siamese cat held out a paw with unsheathed claws. I
realized immediately a long time ago she had lost a claw.
I reared up
and swiped, missing her face a mouse-length. I raked my claws down as a leapt
past her back. I let out an eerie caterwaul.
Crystal came bounding
over. I didn't even know. I just batted the cat and clawing. She Snapped at my
tail. I yowled in agony, but I quickly clawed her underbelly. The she-cat reared
back... Then when I looked up, a flurry of swipes blinded my eyes. Crystal was
battling the she-cat. I heaved myself to my paws a nipped as her hind legs and
pounced on her back. She quickly tried to crush me, but I leapt clear. Then I
saw Crystal do a tactic Onewhisker told us that Firestar, leader of ThunderClan
knew...
She crouched low, pretending to surrender. The Siamese cat
licked her jaws. "Easy prey for Apricot." she hissed. She leapt forward, and at
the same time Crystal reared up, clawing Apricot on a flurry of swipes. I ran
down Apricot's side, leaving claw marks. I saw Apricot rip Crystal's ear and the
blood blinded her. Yowling, I jumped on Apricot, trying not to fall because my
hind leg seemed strange... Maybe broken.
Apricot backed away, snarling
defiance.
I stepped forward with every movement Apricot took. "Get out
of my territory," she snarled, blood dripping out of her nose.
"Your
territory? No border markers. If there was border markers, it was stale." I
insisted.
Apricot clawed impatiently on the ground. "Why did you come
here anyway?"
Crystal and I exchanged glances. Then I shrugged. "Well,
we were looking for the Clans, and are passerby. " I meowed.
Narrowing
her eyes, Apricot replied, "Those noisy cats? With four different scents?" She
sniffed. "Yes!" I meowed, my heart lifting. "Where'd they go?"
Apricot shrugged. "Then went to the forest, yep, then went Northwest."
"Thanks!" Crystal exclaimed delightedly.
"Heh. Glad I could help." "Do
you like the clans?" I meowed. "What's Not to hate?" she muttered
angrily.
"Once you see them you'll see how great they are!"
Apricot started to look a bit more thoughtful. She flexed her claws in &
out.
Then, a music came on. "Last Friday Night," Apricot murmured
anxiously. "My housefolk plays it every time
I have to go and have
lunch."
"Please come with us!" Crystal pleaded. She let out the
softest purr. Apricot looked determined as she meowed, "Yes!"
My eyes
grew big. "Thank you, Apricot." Apricot mewed, "Wait."
She bounded
away towards her housefolk, or Upwalker, as we ducked behind the Long grass. She
held a paw and purred. Then she
Indicated with her tail at the forest. The
Upwalker made a sad, soft sound then let go. Apricot wrapped her tail round the
Upwalker's pink paw before leaping towards the two. "come on! " Apricot mewed.
The Upwalker looked a bit upset as he walked back into the house, then a calico
tom appeared. "Apricot!" he yowled. "I'm going." Apricot replied, not turning
back. "Stay with Ben." The tom let out a wail. Apricot turned around. "Spot, you
can stay with him. He's already sad I'm going. I know you'll be safe."
Spot looked sad, but he nodded. He bounded back to The Upwalker, and nuzzled
him. He bent down and hugged Spot. I knew it was a tearful time.
-Chapter Three-
A moon after Apricot joined us, we passed by a
Upwalker canyon, or a Town. I shrunk back. We'd get lost in there.
Crystal twined her tail with mine. Apricot led the way as we walked through the
canyon. Then we spotted the end of the canyon a quarter moon after.
I
dashed forward, and in front of me was a brilliant landscape of mountains.
Apricot gasped, Crystal yowled and I let out a purr.
Apricot looked
up, and meowed, "Oh my!" I can still scent the strong smell of Clans, on the
path we were on, so hesitantly, paw by paw, we approached the mountains. We
climbed up with difficulty and reached the top. A different land opened before
me and I realized i could see everything.
"A lake" Crystal exclaimed,
then I turned and saw. The shine of a light blue lake and an island in the
water, a log balanced between the island and the land.
"It is the
perfect place, for the clans to settle down, let's go and see what's there, and
maybe they are there."
Apricot smiled and I led those two down, it was
a diffucult path, and we made our way through everything and we finally saw the
sparkling blue.
-Chapter Four-
I bounded forward in excitement, and Apricot smiled
at the water. It was the most water I've ever seen and I gasped when a black
head poked up.
"Trepassers!" he yowled and a patrol appeared. I
snarled and hissed and challenged them, until a familiar shape came.
"Onewhisker!" I exclaimed and the tom looked at me. "Gorse, Crystal! And another
lone cat."
"Shes Apricot," I explained, "a strong long limbed
Siamese." Apricot flicked her tail on my shoulder, and said, "Greetings,
Onewhisker."
"He's not Onewhisker now," a smoke black tom hissed,
"He's Onestar, the leader of WindClan."
I bowed my head to Onestar,
and he licked my ear. I touched noses with him, and Crystal said, "It took us
ages to find you, why'd you leave the forest? It was a difficult journey, and
we're lucky we got her." Crystal indicated Apricot. "O sorry Gorse and Crystal,
and this pretty cat, the Twolegs ruined our home? And that is it." Onestar
explained.
"Can we join the clan? Please?" I begged.
"Ok!"
Apricot looked happy. "Thanks! I see you're a 'star."
Onestar nods, and Heathertail, a pretty she-cat told us, "He had to fight for
his leadership."
Then she looked at Crystal's eye. "Does it
hurt?" Crystal nodded, that's when I noticed shudders of pain down her
face.
"I'll take you to our medicine cat." Heathertail meowed. "No..."
"Yes. Come with me. Now." she demanded gently.
***
A moon after
Onestar had named us, Gorseheart, Crystalfrost and Apricotfaith, WindClan was
getting on well with us... Except grumpy Crowfeather.
Apricotfaith can
run very quickly now, even faster than Onestar. I wanted to be a tunneler, but
Onestar said the tunnels were no more.
Heathertail beckoned to me. "
there are tunnels around here. " "Does other cats know about it?" I asked. Grief
crashed over her, so strong that is flowing to me in waves.
"Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Hollyleaf of ThunderClan. But it was all a mistake. I
should've never fallen in love with Lionblaze."
I nod. Heathertail's
eyes were dull with sorrow, so I left and joined Crystalfrost and
Apricotfaith.
-Chapter Five-
I hope clan life is better than rogue life!
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