Hidden Clan Writing Challenge: Clan Capture
This is my first challenge as an apprentice of HiddenClan. No one has to read it unless you are apart of the Clan and feel the need to. :) I don't mind; it gives me extra practice. I like receiving unusual prompts or things that I would never thing to write about.
This is the first challenge out of five I believe, and to make it easy for everyone concerned, I will make one giant story and post all the short stories in it as chapters.
Unfortunately, I am afraid I did not reach a requirement: I went over 1000 words. I apologize sincerely, but I just could not convey what I wanted to say in the story in that amount. I only went over a small bit and hope I don't get points deducted for it. Thank you.
I do not own Warriors.
Where am I?
Am I dead?
Frogpaw blinked open his eyes only to be met by more darkness. For a moment, he was bewildered as to why he greeted with more blackness. Am I blind? How long have I been out? How did I get here? Similar questions rushed around his brain as he struggled to make sense of what was going on. The last thing he remembered was hunting by the stream in RiverClan territory. He remembered his mentor scolding him for ordering his littermates around, and sent him out on a solo hunting expedition for the rest of the day, banning him from battle training. He could remember feeling so angry, and then terrible pain… and then… he couldn't remember anything after that.
What happened to me?
"The prisoner's awake," a voice meowed from the shadows, causing Frogpaw to nearly jump out of his pelt. "Would you like to see him, my lord?"
"Who's there?" Frogpaw called cautiously. He unsheathed his claws just in case he would need them. I don't know how I'll fight them! he thought with despair. There must be more than the two of me, and they sound like full-grown cats. They'll shred me!
"Shut up, kit!" a new voice snarled from the darkness.
This made anger flare through the gray apprentice's body. "I am not a kit!" he growled. "I am a RiverClan apprentice, and I demand that you let me go! If you don't my Clan will come looking for you, and they will destroy you all!"
The cats ignored him. "Let me see him," another new voice spoke from the darkness. This voice was deeper than the others and sounded as if it belonged to a fearsome senior warrior. Slowly, the broad shoulders of a cat loomed out of the darkness. The shoulders were soon followed by the shape of a head, and then long, strong forelegs. Frogpaw could soon make out the emerald green eyes of a tortoiseshell tomcat as he made his way forward.
"Frogpaw of RiverClan," the tom greeted him as if they had known each other for years, only this was not a very warm reception. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
"How do you know my name?!" Frogpaw snarled, his hackles rising. Everything about this tom screamed danger and deception. Why am I here?! What does he want from me?!
"I know your mother, Duckfeather. We were close once upon a time… now we've grown apart… In fact, that is why you are here. I'm using you as a form of ransom to get her back," the tom explained.
Frogpaw could not believe his ears. "You're what?!" So… I'm just a bargaining chip in a failed romance?
"You don't understand, Frogpaw. Your mother and I were more than friends—we were mates… I wanted her to come with me and live in the wild as a 'rogue' or whatever you foolish Clan cats call us, but she refused. She stayed in the Clans and I didn't return for her at first. After a while, I missed her presence and returned to look for her, but she had taken a new mate, but she had still bore and birthed my kittens—you and your sisters."
Frogpaw stood there and suddenly felt as if his limbs had turned to jelly. Did he just say what I think he said? "You're… my father? No… My mother never mated with any flea-ridden, mangy rogue!"
The tom growled low in his throat and stepped closer. Frogpaw noticed that his pelt was a mixture of oranges, reds, browns, whites, and blacks. The array of colors that made up his pelt wasn't exactly a very artistic or majestic look to it, but it wasn't ugly either. "Do you think that I would lie about this?" he snarled. "Do you think that you would even be here if it were a lie?"
The apprentice instinctively recoiled from the larger cat. After a moment of cowering, however, he shook his head to clear it of fear. "I don't believe you're my father. I don't!"
"Well I am, kitten!" he muttered. "Get used to the idea, because I don't intend on going away! With you here at my mercy, Duckfeather won't be able to stay away! She'll come to protect you."
Frogpaw stood there, unsure what to say. How on Earth do you respond to your long-lost father telling you that he's going to use you as ransom to get your mother back? His father turned away from him, and with an unspoken command, his cronies came forward and ushered Frogpaw into a narrow tunnel. His sight failed him in this new, advanced darkness, but his hearing and sense of smell remained stronger than ever. According to his nose, his father padded along a few tail-lengths in front of him, and Frogpaw paid close attention to his movements, and the directions he took.
After many twists and turns in the labyrinth of tunnels, Frogpaw could see the faint light of day at the end of the passage. His ears immediately perked up, and his eyes began adjusting to the light. For a few moments, he walked blindly, but once his sight returned, he saw his father speaking to a large brown tabby tom.
"Did you go to the Clan?" his father demanded in a soft voice.
"Yes, my lord! I believe that there are warriors on their way here now," the tom replied before shooting a dubious glance at Frogpaw.
"Shade!" a familiar voice yowled. A few moments later, Duckfeather burst out of the ferns. When she saw her son, she let out a hiss of rage. "Are you serious?! Have you lost your mind?! Using our son as a bargaining chip?! How dare you, you worthless fox-heart!"
"Duckfeather," Shade purred as if she had never spoken. "Nice to see you again."
"Nice?!" Frogpaw's mother caterwauled. "If this is your definition of 'nice' you're insane!"
"Enough niceties!" Shade hissed. "If you return to me, I will let your son go."
"I will never come back to you, Shade!" Duckfeather spat. "I have a new mate! Now let my son go!"
"I'm afraid that wasn't a part of the bargain…"
Just as the words passed Shade's lips, Frogpaw felt a sudden pain in the back of his head. He fell to the ground, and everything faded away to black. The last thing he felt was warm liquid oozing from a wound somewhere on the back of his neck.
A/N: I won't give the full regular speech I do at the end of a chapter. If you aren't in the Clan and clicked on this out of pure curiosity, I would greatly appreciate it if you clicked on my username and checked out my other fics. :)
