Chapter 5
Cedarpaw was walking through the forest. He wasn't out here for any particular reason; he was just on a walk.
He saw a flash of pale yellow fur.
Cedarpaw instantly crouched into an attack stance. "Who are you, and what are you doing on MarshClan territory?"
The strange cat stepped out from a bush.
It was Echotail.
"Echotail?" Cedarpaw stood, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Tell Pondstar that he has to move the Clan to a safer place. This place is too dangerous for cats to live. This place is beyond the Twoleg places, and it is safe for cats to live in, and it isn't this forest. All I know is this forest will also be taken over by twolegs also."
He faded, and Cedarpaw woke up.
He sprang out of his nest, darting over to Pondstar's den.
"What is it, Cedarpaw?" the gray tom mewed. Cedarpaw panted. "I saw Echotail in a dream, and he said that we have to move to a different place, and it's not the forest."
Pondstar stood up in his nest. "Is that so?" Cedarpaw nodded. A curious expression wiped over his face. "In fact, why did you choose for us to settle here?"
Pondstar shook his head, padding past him. "Because I'm a blind leader,"
"Every cat who is old enough to swim in the pond, gather around to hear my words."
Every cat, one by one, gathered by Pondstar. "Cedarpaw had a dream where he saw Echotail, and he told Cedarpaw that we shall move to a different place."
Murmurs spread through the Clan like a breeze, and Cedarpaw heard a cat yowl, "It hasn't even been a year since we came here!"
Pondstar lifted his tail to silence them. "Leafheart, Acornfrost. What do you think about moving?"
Leafheart sprang to her paws. "Yes! Let's get out of this place!" Acornfrost sat beside her, her tail curled over her paws. "I think we should stay here for at least another moon, to see if anything gets any worse,"
Pondstar gave her a nod, and turned to his Clanmates. "It is settled. We will move in a-"
The leader was cut off by twoleg kits passing by, right in front of camp. Cedarpaw could hear them giggling and mewling to each other.
He looked to where they were coming from. There were more coming.
"Hide in your dens, now! And keep quiet!" Pondstar yowled, and raced into his den.
Cedarpaw quickly grabbed Blossomkit and Aspenkit, Darksky holding Beechkit and Whitekit, Cherryfur lifting up Larkkit. They pelted over to the nursery, setting them down.
"What's happening?" Blossomkit mewled, fear thick in her voice. "Hush," Darksky replied, her voice low.
Cedarpaw looked out at the camp. It was deserted, and he was relieved that all of his Clanmates were safe in their dens. But what if they were already taken by the twoleg kits? he thought, but quickly pushed it away. If a twoleg had been in camp, he would of heard it by now.
What about Scratch? Cedarpaw felt a pit in his stomach, like a rock. She's fine. She's probably notanywhere near the twolegs. But what if she has kits? She'd have dropped them off at camp by now. But if she just did, the twolegs would've taken them away!
Anything he thought of led to another conflict in his mind.
He looked back out of the Nursery, where the twolegs had been.
Besides one catching up to the others, no other twolegs were left.
It had been longer than it had seemed.
He saw Pondstar emerge from his den. "We are going tomorrow, at sunrise," he yowled, and cats who heard his announcement whispered it back to other cats who didn't hear it.
As Cedarpaw padded back to the Apprentice's den, he thought of what he would encounter on his journey.
He took a minnow from the fresh-kill pile, quickly scarfing it down, and ate another one. I want to get prepared for tomorrow, he thought.
Cedarpaw padded into the Apprentice's den. Night was already falling, casting a purplish color in the sky.
Will there be any danger? If there is, will it cost a cat's life?
