Chapter 10

Faithpaw was left in the suspended cylinder cage for four moons. He gained weight, and tried to exercise it off by pacing his cage over and over, but that did not work. He himself aged, his fur became coarser, his midnight brown eyes less bulbous, and his scruffy pelt became a little thicker. The kink in his tail also bent back a bit.

Nobody came near him. He would occasionally see MidnightClan cats patrolling by in the distance, but they would leave soon with no more then a glance in his direction.

And he was left, suspended, trapped, in the cage. Occasionally he'd think about Siftpaw and get sad, then angry, because she hadn't even come to check on him. But that soon sunk away. She did have a Clan and a life.

But more then occasionally did he think about Moonfeather. His mentor had been dragged away, taken from him to who knows where. It was likely that she was dead, killed by angry MidnightClan cats sure she had been trying to manipulate Faithpaw into being her mate.

Things were looking pretty dim. Faithpaw was bored, lonely and sluggish. He itched to stretch his muscles. One night, after having been in the cylinder for a full four and a half months, he lay down in his over soft nest of feathers and moss. He stared into the darkening forest and sighed.

Suddenly, the sound of paws on dry leaves roused him from his stupor. He got to his paws and looked out through the bars of his cylinder.

A silver-grey she cat was padding slowly and calmly into view, looking up at the cylinder curiously with bright blue eyes.

"What are you doing up there, Faithpaw?" Siftpaw mewed.

He looked down at her, then gasped. She looked different somehow. Older. Her fur was more glossy, the scars on her body more pronounced.

"They trapped me," was all he could choke out.

She stared at him, then padded foreword and started to chew on one of the vines holding the cylinder to the tree. It soon broke with a snap, and he began to sag in his cage.

"Are you getting me out?" He asked gleefully.

"Of course," She mewed, gnawing on the other vine, "I really couldn't leave you hanging like that."

She jerked her head and vine snapped apart. The cage plummeted to the ground, and it collapsed as soon as it hit. The world burst into color as Faithpaw hit the ground, and his head spun wildly.

"Sorry about that," Siftpaw mewed, "Anyway, come on, let's get out of here fast."

"Where are we going?"

"We're running away."

The world twisted for a second.

"Running away? To where?"

"Somewhere beyond AirClan territory," She mewed.

"Am I going to be alone?" He asked, following her as she started off into the forest.

"Of course not. I'll be with you."

Excitement pulsed through his whole body and his mouth twisted into a grin that he tried to hide. There was absolutely no reason he should be feeling happy. Running away would take him from all contact of other cats.

…except Siftpaw.

"Hurry," She added over her shoulder, "We don't have much time."

He picked up his pace as she headed on through the forest, turning toward AirClan territory. The trees began to thin out and soon they were in the windswept moors of AirClan.

"Is this your Clan's territory?" he asked her.

"Yes," She nodded as she trekked over the hills.

"Do you like it?"

She shrugged. "Not really," She said curtly, "Everyone except Swiftpaw, my sister, is snobby."

"Oh." Faithpaw looked at her as he followed her across the territory. He stared at one spot on the back of her head, where thin dark grey stripes ran down the silver. He stared at it and found he couldn't look away, because when he stared at it he felt a leap in his stomach, and he never wanted to move his eyes from that one spot.

A warm, happy feeling started in his paws and spread up his body. He stared hard at the spot on her neck. Then he knew. He liked Siftpaw. There was nothing anyone could do about it.

…unfaithful…

"This is the edge of AirClan territory," Siftpaw mewed as the hill straightened out and the forest started up again, but denser and wetter then before. "We're going to find a nice place to be in this forest."

She had jolted Faithpaw from his thoughts. He nodded clumsily, forcing his absent mind to kick in.

"Where are we going to spend-,"

Faithpaw was broken out, because, with a scream/snarl, a black thing leaped onto him. He was forced in to the ground as rock hard paws pummeled his body. Screeching in rage, he felt claws tear into his flesh. He let out a yell and rolled over, attempting to throw the attacker off him. As teeth crunched into his shoulder, he heaved up as hard as he could and flung the cat away. She skimmed onto the ground, got up, but did not continue the battle. She was grinning.

"Faithpaw!" She said happily, staring at him with glowing eyes.

He stared back, confused and a little afraid. Who was this unknown cat that recognized him so well?

Then he saw the distinctive silver patches amongst the black and he gasped.

"Moonfeather?"

She grinned harder. "What are you doing here?" She asked, then, "How many kits are you the father to? Wait-let me guess. Sixteen?"

"What?" He asked, shaking his head.

"Didn't they force you to mate?" She asked.

"They put me in a cage and ignored me, Moonfeather," He said. "but why are you here? I was more then sure they had killed you…what happened?"

"Let's just say they tried to kill me," Moonfeather said proudly, licking her silver and black tail. "But I'm not like that. I got away. Barely, but I got away. And I became a loner!" She grinned up at him, and he surveyed her sharply. She was a whole lot more muscular because he hadn't seen her for four and a half months. She had also lost some hair and wasn't as fluffy. She was scrawnier too.

"But tell me what you're doing!" Moonfeather glanced at Siftpaw. "Running away?"

"You guessed it," Faithpaw said.

Siftpaw broke in. "You must be Moonfeather. Faithpaw spoke well about you. I was wondering, do you know any good places where two cats could hide and sleep?"

"Um..." Moonfeather fell silent, her face serious as she thought. "Yes! I do. Come with me."

Hurriedly, the loner raced along through the forest, brushing through ferns and flicking leaves back at the two apprentices. Bugs buzzed in Faithpaw's ears. He shook his head, trying to get them to go away but they only zoomed back.

Soon the trees began to thin out. Moonfeather had stopped walking and was staring down at something.

Faithpaw hurried foreword and stopped instantly. For now he stood at the edge of a cliff, staring down into a deep chasm, a deep gorge.

"You don't know how much I wish I could jump across here," Moonfeather sighed. He looked sideways at her, then she straightened up.

"Ok, it's just this way a little longer. Come along."

She walked along the edge of the gorge, but then the ground beneath their feet began to slope downwards. Faithpaw gasped as he realized it was a well trodden path carved into the of the cliff, criss-crossing down slowly.

It was a perilous, frightening climb. Faithpaw looked down and saw the river at the bottom of the gorge foaming and and roaring over rocks. But it was still so far below.

Behind him, Siftpaw let out a tiny scream. He whirled around as she slid on the path and fell right off the edge of it.

Siftpaw is in big, bad trouble. Read and find out more. Please review! Also, thanks to all who have reviewed, I know I should reply separately but it is hard to with so many reviews, so just know whoever who are rock and are in my thoughts. Lol :)