Hi, everyone! This is my first Warriors fanfiction on this site. It is an AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors. There, I said it.
The badger clawed at the walls, desperately and pointlessly trying to get out.
It had been years since it had been trapped in this dark, endless maze of caves. It could have been centuries, even. Eons. It had no sense of the time that had passed; in fact, the days seemed to overlap, since they were filled with nothing but the agonizing struggle to get out of the terrible place and into the sunlight. Actually, all thoughts had left its mind long ago. Except one.
The memory of the beings that had trapped him here, who had left him to live on forever in the darkness of the caves.
Cats.
"Greetings, my friend."
The badger whirled around, searching for the voice. It had been so long since it had heard any voice but his own. His own torture-filled voice, echoing through the tunnels. This voice spoke his language, but it did not sound like a badger's voice.
"I have a deal for you."
There it was again, that calm, stately voice, surely not a badger's voice. But it was in the badger's tongue, and anyone who knew how to speak it was surely a friend.
"Anyone who speak my tongue… friend of mine," said the badger shakily, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "What deal?"
"My name is Tigerstar. I have some… ah… enemies that I need to get rid of. If you would destroy them for me - which will not be too hard, I assure you – I will set you free of these caves."
"You… you set me free?" exclaimed the badger. After years of struggle, of horror-filled days and nights, this… Tigerstar person would set him free?
"Indeed, I will," said Tigerstar. "I will show you what these enemies look and smell like, so that you will be able to find them."
Suddenly, something appeared in front of the badger.
It was dead. Its small body was covered in thick, black fur, and its green eyes were lifeless. The badger stood over it, wondering if this day had truly come, or if this was just another dream.
"Her name was Hollyleaf," said Tigerstar coolly. "We found her, dead, in these very tunnels. I'm surprised you didn't find her first."
"I kill cats!" yelled the badger. "I kill any cats you want. I kill them all!"
"Good," said Tigerstar, and the wall that the badger was standing next to began to break. It jumped away as the rocks tumbled down, crumbling and crumbling, until the cave was illuminated with bright sunlight. "The cats are near. Go now!"
And the badger ran, screaming, into the sunlight.