Escape from the Blood Rouges
Chapter three
Blazepaw woke up in her nest of bracken under a heather bush, she gave a long stretch. Blazepaw walked out of the bush and looked around, she saw Cola standing over by the remands of last night's fresh kill pile. "Where are the others?" Blazepaw asked as she walked over to Cola.
"Your brother is over by the river with Mapleshade's kits and she and Stream and Brook went hunting and as for Sparkie I think she's still asleep." Cola meowed. "Thanks Cola." Blazepaw meowed and walked over to the river bank. The three kits saw her and ran over to her, the kits jumped up and down around her.
Blazepaw gave a little murmur of laughter, "Are you three being good for Smokey Cloud?" she asked them.
"Yes." All three of them chirped up. Blazepaw nodded, "Ok, then Petalkit how about we go find Sparkie and Larchkit and Patchkit go play with Smokey Cloud." Blazepaw meowed. "Ok." The kits meowed. And Blazepaw and Petalkit went looking for Sparkie. Blazepaw enjoyed spending time with Petalkit; she reminded Blazepaw of her sister who had died along with their mother when the two leg nest they live in fell on them. When Mapleshade and the others returned the cats all ate and then continued on their journey to find Honeyclan.
They had been following the river for some time when Sun high rolled around and Blazepaw's paws where starting to get sore and it didn't help that she was carrying Petalkit by the scruff. After a while of walking Mapleshade's kits had gotten tired and it was decided to carry the kits so that they could keep walking. "Do you need some help?" Blazepaw heard beside her and looked to see Sparkie. Blazepaw gave a look up gratitude and gave Petalkit to Sparkie, then she looked ahead to see Brook standing at the top of a hill. Blazepaw walked up to where Brook was and saw a twoleg place not far from where they were.
"I think we should go around the town, Mapleshade's not use to being in them." Blazepaw told Brook. Brook nodded and turned to the others, "There's a town up ahead, we'll be going around the town." She meowed and then turned to lead the cats around the town.
Mapleshade walked up to Blazepaw, "What's a town?" she asked.
"A town is what kittypets and strays call a twoleg place." Blazepaw explained. Mapleshade nodded and fell back to where her kits where.
The small group was traveling around the twoleg place when bushes on their other side rustled and a black and ginger tom stepped out. "Well what do we have here?" he asked. A moment later two more cats came out a black tom and a brown she-cat. Brook stepped forward to meet the cats, "My name is Brook and these are my friends." Brook meowed. "Who are you?" she asked the tom.
"My name is Weasel." The black and ginger tom meowed. "This is Buzzard," he mowed pointing his tail at the black tom, "and this is Arrow." He said pointing to the brown she-cat. "What are your friends called?" Weasel asked Brook.
"This is my brother Brook, and theirs Cola, Sparkie, Smoky Cloud and his sister Blazepaw and then Mapleshade and her three kits." Brook meowed as she used her tail to indicate each cat as she named them.
"You all look tired, why don't you come with us and get some rest?" Weasel meowed. Buzzard and Arrow flanked the group on either side after Weasel flicked his tail. Weasel then turned around and walked back into the undergrowth, not sure what to Blazepaw and the others followed Weasel. After a while Weasel led the group to a small clearing where Blazepaw picked up the smell of a few cats.
Weasel then led them to a den, "This is the kit den, it's where she-cats care for their kits." He meowed, a moment later a grey she-cat walked out of the den, "Good timing," Weasel said, "This is Moss she's our only she-cat with kits. Mapleshade you can stay with her and her kits." Weasel meowed before leading the others to a different part of the camp Blazepaw looked behind to see Moss and Mapleshade talking.
Blazepaw looked forward to see another den, "This is the training den, it's where the young cats in training sleep. Blaze, Sparkie this is where you will sleep. Fox, Flame and Claw are out training right now but when they get back they can show you around." Weasel meowed and then walked off with the remaining of the group.
"The names Blazepaw." Blazepaw meowed once Weasel was out of earshot. She then felt a tail on her flank and turned to see Sparkie looking at her with a sympathetic look. Blazepaw gave her a small smile, then the two friends started to share tongues. As the sun started to set a small group of cats walked into the camp with a grey tabby she-cat, three of the cats, one a ginger she-cat and ginger tom and the third was a brown tom.
"Who are you?" the brown tom said with the hint of a hiss.
"Claw, Flame, Fox their you three are." Came a meowed, Blazepaw and the other cats looked to see Weasel walk over to them, "Claw, Flame, Fox, these are Sparkie and Blaze. My patrol found them by the town and then we brought them here, I what you three to show them around and help them adjust to living in the Blood Rouges." Weasel meowed then walked away.
"The Blood Rouges?" Blazepaw asked.
"That's what our group is called." Claw meowed. Blazepaw didn't like the sound of that. "Tomorrow we'll teach you how to be Blood Rouges." Claw told them before he walked into the den. After Claw's tail was out of sight the ginger tom stepped forward, "Hi, my name is Fox and this is my sister Flame." He meowed.
"My name's Sparkie and this is Blazepaw, and you might what to call her Blazepaw because she hates it when cats call her Blaze." Sparkie meowed.
"Blazepaw, that's an unusual name." Fox meowed.
"It's a clan name." Blazepaw explained. "Well when Weasel calls you Blaze you better not argue." Flame replied. "Why?" Blazepaw asked.
"He doesn't like names like that, the only time he allows it is when it's a combing of two names from the cats parents, or other relatives." Fox meowed. Blazepaw nodded, "We should get some sleep." Flame meowed, and the four cats entered the den.
Blazepaw then woke up in a forest clearing; at one end of the clearing she saw a ginger tabby she-cat. Blazepaw walked over to the she-cat, "Hallow Blazepaw, my name is Honeyleaf."
"You're the one that Brook was talking about." Blazepaw meowed shocked. Honeyleaf nodded, "Follow me." She meowed. Honeyleaf turned around and walked off, Blazepaw followed her. After following Honeyleaf for some time they finally reached another clearing where three other cats where waiting.
Honeyleaf walked over to the other cats, "This is Swallowflight," she meowed placing her tail on a long-legged black tom, "He was one of the cat that followed me when Skyclan first broke up." She explained then she walked over to a ginger she-cat, "This is Sunpelt, she died in the battle with rats that ended up being the last thing that the old Skyclan ever did, for right after the battle Skyclan was disbanded." Honeyleaf meowed.
She then walked over to the third cat, a white and grey tom, "This is fallensnow, he also died in the battle with the rats." She then walked over to Blazepaw. "Even in a place of fear every cat has tooth and claw and only they can chose how they use them." She meowed and then she and the others started to fad.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Blazepaw asked, but they where gone and a moment later she woke up in the den for the Blood Rouges trainees.
"Are you ok?" Blazepaw looked around to see Sparkie as will as Flame and Fox, all three of them where looking at her with concerned looks. "I'm ok." She meowed, she looked around again to see that Claw wasn't there, "Where's Claw?" she asked.
"He already went outside." Sparkie meowed.
"Good," she meowed. "There's something I need to tell you." She then told them of her dream that night, and of what Honeyleaf told her.
"What do you think it means?" Sparkie asked.
"And what's Starclan?" asked Fox.
"They are the ancestors of the clan cats." Blazepaw meowed. Fox nodded, "Fox, Flame, Sparkie, Blaze, it's time to get ready for practice." Came a meowed that Blazepaw recognized as Weasel. "Let's go, we can talk about this later." Blazepaw meowed. The others nodded and they all left the den. Outside Blazepaw looked around to see that the Blood Rouges and her friends were gathering around a small pile of pray and what looked like leftovers, Blazepaw and the three other young cats walked over to the pile.
"Good you four are up, now Buzzard you will take Cola, Sparkie and Stream to train at the river; Grey you take Smoky Cloud, Brook and Blaze and train in the forest meadow." Weasel meowed. The cats that were going out ate their share and then walked out of the camp; Blazepaw followed Grey to a small clearing that was covered in grass and flowers.
"This is the forest meadow." Grey meowed to them. "This is where you will be trained to fight on land. When you go to the river you will learn how to fight in water." Grey showed them some battle moves and then had them practice them until sun high.
After they where done practicing Grey had them do some hunting before returning to the camp, once they got back to camp they dropped off their prey on the pile and toke a piece for themselves. Blazepaw walked over to where Flame, Fox and Sparkie were.
"Hi guys, where's Claw?" she asked.
"He went out with Weasel and Arrow." Flame meowed.
"Good I need to talk to you." She meowed. Blazepaw soon told them that she was formulating a plan to escape.
"Are you sure this will work?" Sparkie asked, "And how do we know that we won't be betrayed?" she asked.
"We won't betray you, some of us don't want to be here either." Flame meowed. Blazepaw nodded, "Then lets tell only those who want to leave." Blazepaw meowed. The others agreed and then Blazepaw ate her piece of prey and then walked over to where her brother Smokey Cloud was eating a rabbit with Mapleshade.
"Smokey Cloud, I need to talk to you and Mapleshade. And Mapleshade were are your kits?" Blazepaw meowed.
"Moss is looking after them." Mapleshade meowed. Blazepaw nodded and told them of her dream and how she was planning an escape.
"You were visited by a member of Starclan?" Mapleshade asked. Blazepaw nodded. "Are you sure that some of the Blood Rouge will be willing to help us?" Smokey Cloud asked.
Blazepaw nodded, "Flame assured me that some of them want out too and they may be willing to help us." Blazepaw meowed.
"Ok then, what's the plan?" Smokey Cloud asked.
"I don't know yet , I'm still formulating it." Blazepaw meowed. "Ok tell us when you have a plan." Smokey Cloud meowed. Blazepaw nodded and walked back over to Sparkie and the others.
"How are things going?" she asked.
"It's good, we talked to some of the others and other then Grey, Claw and Buzzard I think we can count on them helping." Fox meowed.
"Why not them?" Blazepaw asked.
"Because Grey is Weasel's mate and Buzzard is his second in command as for Claw he actually likes killing, and their all loyal to Weasel." Fox explained.
Blazepaw nodded, "Ok, then we leave them out." She meowed. Some time later Weasel and the others returned with two new cats, one was a cream and ginger she-cat and the other was a ginger tabby tom. Blazepaw noticed that both cats were looking novice, Blazepaw turned to the others, "Those two don't look like they want to be here." She meowed to her three young friends.
"Probably forced to join like the rest of us." Fox meowed.
"I'm going to ask Smoky Cloud to talk to them." She meowed before she walked over to her brother.
That night Blazepaw lay awake in her nest trying to come up with a plan. Unable to think of anything she then fell asleep. When she woke up she was in the same clearing as where she meet Honeyleaf, then out of the undergrowth came a tortoiseshell she-cat.
"Who are you?" Blazepaw asked.
"My name is Pebblesplash." She meowed.
"Are you a Starclan cat from Honeyclan?" she asked.
Pebblesplash nodded, "I was born into Honeyclan shortly after Honeyleaf and the others left Skyclan, along with my brother Rockkit."
"You have a brother?" Blazepaw asked.
Pebblesplash nodded, "He died before we became apprentices." She meowed.
"Sorry about your brother Pebblesplash." Blazepaw meowed.
"It's ok Blazepaw, we're together now in Starclan." Pebblesplash meowed to Blazepaw. "Now, I know that you are having trouble coming up with a plan to escape from the Blood Rouges, right?" she meowed. Blazepaw nodded, "Well Blazepaw, all you need to now is that every cat can fight if they have something worth fighting for." Pebblesplash meowed before she disappeared. Blazepaw then woke up in her nest.
"Blazepaw, wake up Weasel wants every cat outside." Came a meowed. Blazepaw looked up see Fox looking down at her.
"Why?" she asked.
"Training." Was all Fox meowed before he left the den, Blazepaw yawned and then stretched her back and paws before she walked out of the den. She saw the others including Cream and Phoenix sitting around Weasel.
"Good, your up." Weasel meowed with the hint of a hiss. Then he turned to Grey, Arrow and Buzzard and gave orders for them to take the others out training.
Blazepaw, Flame, Phoenix and Stream went with Arrow to the river training ground. As they walked to the river training ground Blazepaw talked to Arrow, "Arrow how do you like being a part of the Blood rouges?" she asked.
Arrow didn't say anything she just looked at the ground, "Arrow?" Blazepaw asked her.
"It's heard, I don't like killing, but Weasel wants us to kill any cats who don't agree with him." She meowed. "I'm not the only one who doesn't like killing." She told Blazepaw.
"If you don't like living that way then why not leave?" Blazepaw meowed.
"It's not that easy." Arrow meowed, "If we turn against Weasel he'll have us killed."
"Not if enough of you stand up to him, than you could leave without fearing him." Blazepaw meowed.
"It's not that easy,"
"But it can be Arrow, last night a Starclan cat came to me in my dream and told me that every cat can fight if they have something worth fighting for and the night before another Starclan cat told me that 'even in a place of fear every cat has tooth and claw and only they can chose how they use them'. Both our groups have kits and young cats who are just learning how to survive, but Weasel is trying to turn them into killers but we can save them, all we have to do is work together to stop him, and I think that's what the Starclan cats where trying to tell me, that we have a better chance of we work together." Blazepaw replied.
"I'm with Blazepaw." Flame meowed.
"So are we." Phoenix meowed. Arrow stared at them in shock, "Do you even know what your talking about?" she asked them, "You'll all be killed."
"I told you, not if we all work together to brake free." Blazepaw meowed. "You don't have to be afraid, you can fight back and I know that if we all work together we can win."
"Let's just get to the river training ground." Arrow meowed. Blazepaw looked at Arrow's retreating form before she and the others followed.
Later that day after their training session Blazepaw walked over to the fresh-kill pile and then walked over to where the other young cats in training were. "Where's Claw?" she asked.
"He got injured during training, so Grey is treating him." Fox meowed. Blazepaw nodded.
"I've got a plan for dealing with the Blood Rouges." She meowed. She told them her plan, "So spread the word tomorrow we leave the Blood Rouges." She meowed.
That night after Blazepaw laid down in her nest she woke up to see Pebblesplash looking at her, "Pebblesplash." Blazepaw meowed and ran over to her Starclan friend. "Not that I'm not glade to see you again, but…"
"Why I'm here now so soon." Pebblesplash finished, Blazepaw nodded. "I'm here because I have something important to tell you." She meowed to Blazepaw with a series look on her face, "I know that you have a plain to escape from the Blood Rouge, but you must be careful Weasel is ruthless. It doesn't matter to him if he is outnumbered, he will have the cats loyal to him fight to the death to kill any cat that does not show loyalty to him." Pebblesplash meowed as she started to fade.
"Wait, Pebblesplash what do you mean?" Blazepaw asked.
"You must be ready to fight for you friends." The Starclan warrior meowed before she faded completely. Blazepaw then woke up in her nest, with the first rays of sun light seeping in through the den roof. Blazepaw stretched and then walked out of the den and let the suns rays seep into her fur. As she looked at the branches of the trees that she could see from the camp the leaves where starting to change their colors, she realized just how fare into leaf fall that they where in. "It'll be leaf bear soon." She meowed to herself.
"I see your up already." Came a meow and Blazepaw looked to see her brother walking over to her.
"Smoky Cloud, how are you doing?" she asked him.
"A little nerves about today, but I'm ready to do what we have to do so we can leave and find Honeyclan." He replied.
"Before we left the town you didn't want anything to do with the clans, and now you want to find Honeyclan." Blazepaw meowed, "What brought out this change?" she asked.
"Before I though that we were meant to live in the town and that the clan wasn't for us, but now I see that it was just Thunderclan that wasn't for us but that Honeyclan is." He meowed.
"And a certain former Thunderclan warrior/queen didn't have anything to do with that?" Blazepaw meowed.
"I don't know what your talking about." Smoky Cloud meowed.
"Oh really, so you don't like Mapleshade?" Blazepaw teased her brother.
"No teasing Blazepaw." Smoky Cloud replied.
"What are you two talking about?" came a meow and the two siblings turned to see Stream walking over to them.
"I was just teasing Smoky Cloud." Blazepaw meowed.
"About Mapleshade?" Stream asked. "Not you too." Smoky Cloud replied, "What is it with you two thinking that I like Mapleshade?" she asked.
"Because Smoky Cloud you've been with her a lot since we left the town and your always helping with her kits." Blazepaw meowed to her brother.
"Hold up you two, Weasel's coming this way." Stream warned them.
"What are you three doing?" Weasel asked them.
"We just woke up a little while ago and we were just talking." Stream meowed to Weasel.
"Well don't just sit there wake the others and get ready for training." Weasel hissed at them. He then walked off.
"Blazepaw you get Sparky, Flame and Fox, me and Smoky Cloud well get the others." Stream meowed. Blazepaw and Smoky Cloud nodded and the three walked to the different dens.
"Flame, Fox, Sparky wake up it's time." Blazepaw meowed to her friends. The three friends slowly woke up and followed Blazepaw outside, Claw pushed his way out a moment later. Blazepaw ignored Claw and looked over to where her brother and Stream were with the rest of their cats, the only one's missing where the queens and their kits.
"I'm going to get Mapleshade, Moss and the kits." She meowed and walked over to the kit den, "Mapleshade, Moss you and your kits ready?" she asked them.
"We're ready Blazepaw." Came a meowed and Blazepaw saw Mapleshade and Moss herding their kits to the entrance, Blazepaw backed up to let them out. When all the kits where out they walked over to where the other cats where and Blazepaw was excited to see that Arrow was among them.
"What are you doing?" came an angry hiss and they turned to see Weasel with Buzzard, Arrow and Claw over by the fresh kill pile. "Get over here so that we can get training." Weasel told them.
Blazepaw stepped forward, "No." she meowed.
"What!?" Weasel hissed back.
"You heard me Weasel, we're not going to let you control us." Blazepaw meowed as she readied herself for a fight.
"You'll regret that." He hissed and then jumped at Blazepaw. Blazepaw jumped back at him then they rolled on the ground before Weasel pined Blazepaw down. Blazepaw bit down on his front leg, Weasel gave a yell and swiped at Blazepaw causing her to lose her gripe on his leg. She looked up at Weasel to see a look up bloodlust in his eyes and his paw ready to strike her. Just then a dark gray blur rammed in to him and then Weasel went limp and his weight was being pulled off of her. She got to her paws and looked to see her brother with Weasels body in his jaws, then he placed Weasel down and walked back over to Blazepaw.
"Are you ok Blazepaw?" he asked.
"Yah, I'm fine." Blazepaw meowed. She then turned to see Weasels cats being overpowered by her friends. "It's over you three can stay if you want, but the rest of us are leaving." She meowed and then she turned around and headed for the camp entrance with her friends from the town and the Blood Rouge cats who choose to leave behind her.
