Chapter 3
Alex stood the best he could in the small box. He went to the door and craned his neck to see what was happening. He could see much, but he heard the housefolk yelling and crying to each other.
"Hey let us out!" Alex yelled, "Please! Let us out!" Alex scratched the cage in desperation of trying to get the housefolk's attention. There was the rustling around out side the cage and then Alex heard one of the housefolk say his name.
"What…who?" Cody mumbled waking from his own nap.
"The shiny pelt stopped," Alex told his brother. Immediately Cody stood and began to cry for freedom with Alex. Just then the back to the shiny pelt opened. Expecting to see one of their housefolk Alex was surprised to see an entirely new housefolk. This new housefolk picked up the cage and began to walk away.
Out of fear Alex reached as far as he could out of the cage door holes and clawed the housefolk. Yelling out in pain, the housefolk dropped the cage. The box went crashing to the ground. As soon as the box hit the housefolk black path it shattered. Scared and shaken from the fall, Alex and Cody ran as fast as they could away from the housefolk.
The blackpath scratched Alex's pads and his lungs heaved from the running, but fear enveloped Alex forcing him forward. As he ran he had not noticed that him and his brother had left the blackpath and into a woods.
"STOP!" Cody yelled. Coming back to reality Alex stopped, his paws ached and his pads were bleeding. His lung felt like they had lead in them from all the running. Judging by Cody's patting and moaning when he moved his paws, Alex guessed that he felt the same way. Alex began to like his paws, wincing as he rubbed his tongue on the scratches.
"Do you think the housefolk will chase us down for attacking him?" Cody asked when he got his breath back. Alex opened his mouth and drank in the smells. There was plenty of mice, rabbit, and other small creature scents, but no housefolk.
"No, I don't smell any housefolk near by," Alex replied. Alex looked up to see the sun was low and the stars were beginning to show. It was going to be night soon.
"Come on let's head back and find our housefolk," Alex said.
"It's going to be night soon though, and what if that housefolk is still their and is angry with us?" Cody protested, "We should sleep out here tonight and go back tomorrow. No matter how bad he wanted to get back to their housefolk, Alex knew Cody was right.
"Fine we'll camp out here tonight," Alex said, "Come on let's find somewhere to nest."
Alex woke the next morning stiff and hungry. He and Cody had not eaten since yesterday and were now starving. Not ready to leave his brother by himself, Alex laid back down pressing his fur against Cody. Alex's stomach growled as if angry at Alex. Alex couldn't take it for long. He went over to Cody and like his brother's ear trying to wake him. Cody woke immediately.
"Morning," Alex wisped, "Come on we need to get up and find some food, I'm starving."
"Me too, and we'll need to start heading back soon," Cody replied. The white tom stretched and followed Alex outside the small den. "You think we should split up and hunt?" Cody asked.
"We don't know what's outside or even this place, we should stick together," Alex meowed. Cody nodded and the both of them began to make their way through the woods. Soon Alex heard something, and gestured for Cody to stop with the flick of his tail. Alex crouched and began to slowly get closer to the noise. Alex scent that it was mouse and stalked quietly to it. When he saw he signaled Cody by flicking his ear. The small creature hadn't noticed Alex yet. Alex hunched his back and pounced. The mouse saw his and tried to scurry away, but Alex was faster. He scooped up the mouse and pined it to the ground, and finished it of with a bit. Alex heard some more rustling around that told him the Cody had caught something also. When he found Cody he saw that he saw he had caught a rabbit.
"Nice kill!" Alex meowed.
"Thanks! I never know I had it in me! I thought it was the mouse you had, but when I pounced there was the rabbit," Cody said. They ate their kill and began to head back to the housefolk. Alex and Cody were walking through the woods when they heard a branch snap. Surprised, the two cats turned to see a fox! Alex's fur bristled and he unsheathed his claws and saw his brother do the same, but the fox made no move to attack. It stood there staring at Alex then turned and ran. Follow the fox the she-cat's words echoed in Alex's head, and he understood. Alex let his fur lay back.
"Come on Cody! We need to follow that fox!" Alex yelled to his brother as he began running after the fox. Cody began running also, but slower than Alex.
"Why do we need to follow that good for nothing fox? We need to head the other way if you ask me," Cody meowed.
"Just trust me," Alex replied. Besides Comet, Cody was the only one that would trust Alex enough to chase after a fox two times bigger than him, and Alex was thankful for that, but just how long would his trust last? The two cats ran through the woods barely able to see the fox ahead. Soon they began to loose site of it. Then Alex smelled something. Something that he had just smelled yesterday and wish he had never smelled it before. Blood!
Alex stopped running. Cody stopped right in front of him.
"Come on the fox is getting away!" Cody hissed.
"Do you smell that?" Alex said. Cody began smelling the air. The blood was fresh, and defiantly a cat's, and many cats at that. By Cody's expression of surprise on his face Alex could tell he smelled it too. Then Alex realized they were upwind of the smell. He began to follow the breeze where the smell was coming from with Cody closely behind. As they went Alex noticed that there were many cats, but only two main scents that the cats' smells blended with. Soon the sound of yelling, hissing, and cats' yowling of pain came.
When Alex began to follow the sounds, he realized that these cats were fighting each other or something! As Alex got close to the fighting, a cat jumped from behind some bushes, and pounced on Alex. The cat bit down on Alex's shoulder. Yowling out in pain Alex pushed him off and turned to face the cat. The cat was a tall, ginger tom with brood shoulders. His claws were long and he looked lean, mean, and ready to fight anything.
Alex had fought many cats like this back at the woods around the housefolk nest and won many times, but Alex could see this cat was not anything like the cats back home. Alex unsheathed his claws and opened his mouth to speak, but the ginger tom had already pounced again. This time Alex was ready he dogged, the tom's pounced and jumped on his back, digging his claws into the tom's side biting as hard as he could on the cat. The ginger tom yowled out in pain and tried to shake Alex, but was unsuccessful. Then he bit Alex's back leg. Alex losing his grip dropped off the tom's back. The tom took his chance, and bit Alex by the scoff and pulled him to the ground, and pinned him there. Then Cody pounced on the tom, and the two started rolling around on the ground. Alex jumped on the tom and bit down hard on the tom's neck missing the spin so no the kill him. The tom burst free and ran away.
"Come on lets get out of here before that happens again!" Alex hissed when the tom was gone. Cody nodded and the two began to run away from the fighting.
After a while the brothers came to a river. Ever since they found the fighting cats Alex had smelled one of the two main scents that hung in the air. Now the smell was strong, and almost fresh.
"You smell them?" Cody asked.
"Ya," Alex said, "Hey does that smell fresh to you?"
"Yes." Just then a branch cracked and Alex and Cody froze. The sound, sounded too big to be a mouse. Alex fur bristled as he remembered the ginger tom that attacked. Alex and Cody were barely able to fight him off the last time how would they beat him this time if he came back to fight them. Then not one but six cat came out of the bushes. Each one shared the same smell.
"So Tree Clan sent a couple on apprentices to spy on us?" one of them said.
"We-we'r-we're not Tre-TreeClan apprentices," Alex said shakily.
"Right and I suppose you just smell of TreeClan, because you rowed around in their dens," another said. What is this TreeClan they keep going on about? Alex thought. Then he realized that the smell of the ginger tom was still clinging to his and Cody's fur.
"No we-" Alex tried to explain.
"Be quiet TreeClan scum!" a third said. The fist one that spoke hushed the third on with a flick of his tail.
"Whether you are TreeClan or not you're coming with us," he said. The cat was a tall, long haired, older tabby tom. He looked wise and strong and was obviously the lead cat here. "Forrestscare, take Smokefur and Adderpaw and take these two to camp, and show them to Hawkstar,"
"Yes Lionstripe," one cat said as he walked over to Alex and Cody with two other cats. "Come, and if you even try anything as mouse-brained as trying to run away, we'll rip your fur off." This tom was a brown cat with thick fur. One of the other two was a brow with white spots she-cat that wasn't much bigger than Alex and Cody. The third was a tall tortoiseshell tom. Lionstripe took the two other cats and headed away from the river.
The brown toms lead Alex, Cody, and the other two cats away, following the river. As they walked not one cat said a word. Alex could tell that the other cats felt as uneasy as him and Cody. They kept looking around when ever they heard a noise and kept their ears pricked. These cats looked lean, mean, and ready to fight. If something was making them uneasy then it obviously was not good.
"Where are you taking us?" Alex asked ending the silence.
"To our camp," the brown tom spat.
"Forrestscare, I think I should go and grab a few herbs for Longriver and Snowpaw. They're going to need them tonight," the tortoiseshell she-cat said to the brown tom.
"Good idea Adderpaw, but we need to get these spies to camp, you can go get them after we get there," Forrestscare told her.
"Were not spies!" Cody spat.
"Then what were two TreeClan apprentices doing in WaterfallClan territory?" Forrestscare questioned.
"We're not from this TreeClan that you keep on going on about," Cody said.
"Be quiet we can tell your TreeClan by your scent just give up," the one Alex guessed to be Smokefur spat.
"But-"
"Be quiet!" Cody kept his mouth shut the rest of the way. Soon they can to a housefolk bridge. The bridge was stone and look worn out and like no housefolk had used it for seasons.
"Go over the bridge," Forrestscare ordered Alex and Cody. They didn't hesitate. Alex and Cody went across the bridge the three over cats keeping in pace. When over the bridge the five cats made their way through more woods on the other side. As they went Alex noticed that the smell that the three strange cats shared was getting stronger.
"We're nearly there," Forrestscare said. Soon they came to a bramble bush with a rock hole in it. "Go in," the brown tom ordered, and Alex and Cody slipped through. Alex gasped. On the other side of the hole was a big clearing with more cats then he had ever seen in one place in it. They all had the same sent and the same one as Forrestscare and his cats had. All the cats lifted their heads to look at the new cats. As soon as they smelled the ginger tom's scent off of Alex and Cody they began to hiss and give evil glairs to Alex and Cody. Forrestscare came in the clearing with Smokefur and Adderpaw.
"Hawkstar!" Smokefur called to a slender brown and white spotted she-cat on the other end of the clearing. The she-cat stopped talking to the tom next to her and went over to the five cats. Alex also noticed a gray she-cat come out of a stone nest not too far away. When she saw Alex and Cody her face turned to surprise and alarm.
"Who are these cats?" Hawkstar asked Forrestscare, "They smell of TreeClan."
"Two TreeClan spies, we found them near the river heading to the twoleg Bridge," Forrestscare answered.
"We aren't from this TreeClan you mouse-brained cats keep going on about!" Cody spat, "We were attacked by a-"
"Be quiet TreeClan scum, and show some respect for our clan leader, didn't they teach you any respect in TreeClan?" Smokefur hissed.
"Enough, Smokefur. Let them tell their side of the story, and TreeClan or not they deserve some respect too," Hawkstar said. "If you are not TreeClan then how have you come to smell like them?" the she-cat questioned.
"This should be good," a small tom cat said as he walked up. Hawkstar quieted him with a flick of her ear.
"Go on," Hawkstar said to the two brothers.
"We were attacked by ginger tom before we were found by you," Alex explained, "We heard fighting and when we went to investigate we were attacked by him, and his scent stayed on our fur."
"A likely story!" the young tom said. As soon as he said that, Cody Hawkstar Forrestscare and several over cats began to start arguing, but Alex attention was not on the fight. The gray she-cat he saw earlier was staring at Alex and Cody. Soon she made her way over to fighting cats.
"Who are you two?" all the cats went quit to face the gray she-cat. Surprised Alex and Cody lost all words. "Again, I ask. Who are you?"
"Umm…I'm Alex…and he's my brother Cody," Alex answered.
"Why did you come here?" the she-cat asked.
"Why are you so interested in these cats, Longriver?" Hawkstar asked the gray she-cat.
"I am interested in them, because StarClan has sent me a message about them," Longriver answered, not dropping her gaze off Alex and Cody.
"What?" Smokefur asked surprised. Forrestscare and Hawkstar exchanged look.
"They show me images of these cats and whispered a prophecy to me," Longriver said.
"Ok what is going on?" Alex asked. The more these cats went on about this, Alex got more confused. When Alex looked to Cody he saw Cody was just as confused as Alex.
"Longriver come to my den so we can discus this further in private," Hawkstar said, "Silverpaw," beautiful silver colored she-cat the as big as Alex and Cody walked up.
"Yes Hawkstar," Silverpaw asked.
"Take these two to our spare den; I'm going to make a decision on what to do with then after my talk with Longriver."
"Yes, Hawkstar," Sliverpaw said. Hawkstar and Longriver went over to a dead tree on the other end of the clearing, and went into a hole in the side. The rest of the cat parted and went off to do something else. "Come on," Silverpaw said. Alex and Cody followed the silver she-cat across the clearing to a den in a pile of rocks.
"Stay in here I'll come get you when Hawkstar has made her decision." Silverpaw said and then left the brothers alone.
"What are we going to do?" Cody asked.
"I don't know, let's just wait till they decide and if it is something bad, then we leave," Alex said.
"Ok," the two cats didn't say anything else soon the two feel asleep despite their worry.
