Chapter 10

Taken

(Sun-high – Sun-fall)

Dappleheart, Flamefur, Wildclaw, Stormpelt, Stripedtail, and Heather were walking deeper into two-leg place. Heather had told them that she knew a few of the herbs Shinningwater had mentioned a few of the herbs that they would need and Heather said that she knew where a few of them were. Shinningwater had stayed back at camp to get the new medicine cat den prepared for all of the herbs that were hopefully going to be brought back. The calico she-cat said that they would meet up with Pepper shortly. Wildclaw noticed that Flamefur seemed to like that fact. The two toms have been getting along surprisingly well.

"Not much further now." Heather meowed and Flamefur nodded.

The patrol was keeping to the sides of the two-leg dens and Wildclaw constantly kept giving a 360 degree sweep of his gaze of all the surrounding area. The tabby form of Pepper emerged from behind a two-leg thing that the rouges called a "shed" and he walked over to them.

"Greetings, Earthclan cats." He meowed in his usual happy and casual tone. "This way, please."

Pepper look the lead of the patrol and led them towards a white two-leg den. He motioned with his tail towards a group of plants growing in a square.

"What is it?" Dappleheart asked.

"It's called a garden. Two-legs grow them for food. Heather knows where some herbs are."

Heather nodded and stepped forward and looked at some bright yellow flowers.

"There's the marigold that you were looking for. There's plenty of that."

Heather was right. There were at least four large bundles of it surrounding the den.

"Over by that shed over there is some catmint and poppy seeds." Dappleheart nodded and looked at Flamefur.

"Flamefur and Stormpelt, you come with me to get some marigold. Wildclaw, you go get the catmint, but not too much of it. Stripedtail can get the poppy seeds. Grab as many of those as you can."

The dark brown tom nodded and the cats hurried off. Wildclaw trotted alongside Stripedtail and they made their way to the shed, which was next to the two-leg den. Wildclaw easily found the catmint by it strong scent.

"Wildclaw, look."

Stripedtail meowed and they looked up at the big den. A long-haired gray tom was looking down at them with wide eyes.

"A kittypet."

Wildclaw meowed and twitched his ear before he noticed that it looked terrified. The gray tom was shaking his head at them then looked towards Pepper and Heather then back at them. The two cats were standing a good distance away from Wildclaw. Wildclaw narrowed his eyes. Was this a warning? Wildclaw looked across the yard into a different window and saw another cat looking even more terrified. What was going on?

"Stripedtail, I need to talk to that kittypet."

He whispered to him and Stripedtail hesitated before nodding.

"Fine, but hurry."

Wildclaw nodded and hurried off towards the entrance. There was a small door just big enough for him to fit through. It groaned as he pushed his way through it, telling that it hadn't been used for a long time. But why? He couldn't answer that himself as he made his way up some sort of steps. Wildclaw peered through an open door and scents flooded at him. He began to creep out until he shot back to where he was. He cautiously peered around the corner again to see a big yellow dog. Wildclaw shook his head in disgust. How could a cat stand living with a dog? The dog was asleep so he ran past it and walked into another room. The floor here was soft under his paws and he saw the tom from a moment ago. The gray cat whipped around and hissed. At that second two more shapes jumped at him and pushed him to the ground.

"Do you think that you can just walk into our home without asking?"

A she-cat hissed.

"Get off me!"

Wildclaw meowed and easily pushed the cats off him. He stood up in front of three bristling cats.

"Great…"

He muttered and forced himself to relax his fur so that he didn't look as hostile. These cats looked totally different compared to him. His large, muscular frame was nothing like the small, clean shapes of these kittypets. He realized that not all kittypets were small; they were just born that way.

"What has Strike sent to do now?"

The smallest calico she-cat growled, her fur fluffing up to make her look twice her size. The tom stepped forward and shook his head at the she-cat.

"He's not with the Shadow Stalkers, or Pepper. They're just more victims."

He growled with a shake of his head. Wildclaw's fur bristled instantly.

"Victims? What do you mean?"

The she-cats furs were settling down. A second white and calico she-cat looked petrified standing in front of Wildclaw. He eyes were as round as the moon and she stood tense and ready to run if needed. Wildclaw shuffled his paws and she flinched, about to spring off.

"You are definently not from around here. How many of you are there?"

Wildclaw hesitated before answering, "a lot."

The tom nodded. "That would explain all of the movement that has been going on with the Shadow Stalkers. They are moving twice as much as usual, and much more during the day."

"What do they plan to do with us?"

He asked and suddenly the big yellow dog ran trotting in. Wildclaw hissed and crouched down in defensive position.

"Relax."

The gray cat meowed with a slight grin of amusement. "He's one of the reasons why the Shadow Stalkers don't come around us much. He knows who is good and who's bad. That' also why Pepper and heahter stayed far back."

"How do you know about Pepper and Heather?"

Just then Stripedtail ran around the corner.

"Stripedtail!" Wildclaw exclaimed in surprise.

"Wildclaw, we have to go, now. Pepper's looking for us. I heard everything too."

Wildclaw could see that his clanmate knew that something was strange with these helpful rouges.

Wildclaw nodded and looked back at the three kittypets.

"We have to go, but we'll be back later."

The small she-cat shook her head. "No! You can't come back here! They'll be watching you and us!"

Wildclaw opened his mouth to say something but Stripedtail burst in.

"Wildclaw, now!"

He turned and ran towards where they came in.

"Thanks for your help." Wildclaw meowed to the kittypets and turned and ran.

"Wait! What's your name?"

The tom asked and Wildclaw answered, "Wildclaw."

"I'm Zack and this is Callie and Maisey."

Wildclaw nodded then turned and ran out. The big yellow dog was waiting for him at the entrance and he looked at him with floppy ears.

"Weird…." Wildclaw muttered and disappeared out of the door.

He rounded the corner in a flash and stopped next to Stripedtail, trying to look as though he wasn't out of breath. Pepper appeared from the corner with Heather.

"Ah, there you are! Were did you two run off too?"

Wildclaw swollen and answered, "We saw some birds so we went after them. We weren't able to catch any though."

Pepper paused before nodded.

"Bad luck, eh. Lets get going then."

He turned and headed towards where Dappleheart and Flamefur were. Heather stayed where she was before following Pepper. Wildclaw and Stripedtail picked up their herb bundles and trotted after her. Wildclaw gazed towards the window and saw Zack looking out at him with worried eyes. Wildclaw looked away and met up with the group. The patrol started to head back and after a few moments Pepper stopped and looked at Flamefur.

"I actually think I know where some more herbs are. Wildclaw and Stripedtail could come with me to collect some more. Heather and I can carry their bundles."

Flamefur nodded instantly and looked at the two toms.

"Go."

Wildclaw and Stripedtail dropped their herb bundles and trotted off after Pepper. Pepper was leading them back in the direction they came and they rounded a few new shed. "Almost there." The tabby tom meowed and stopped suddenly as two cats stood in front of them. Two more walked behind them. Wildclaw hissed and unsheathed his claws. Pepper jumped on top of a fence and looked down at them.

"Pepper!"

Wildclaw snarled up at him, his eyes flashing. The brown tom looked down at them.

"I'm sorry, Wildclaw. If you didn't know so much this wouldn't have happened to you."

Stripedtail snarled and took a step forward, daring the cats to come forward. Wildclaw curled his lip and lunged for the top up on the fence and he grabbed onto his leg and pulled him down with a thud.

"You piece of crow-food!" He yowled and dug his claws into Pepper's back before a screech filled the air.

"Callie!"

Wildclaw yowled and he released Pepper and lunged at the cat in front of him. Stripedtail took the other and the two toms pelted forward. They couldn't go back now. Their clanmates would be outnumbered and they wouldn't be expecting it. Wildclaw heard a wild barking as they neared the two-leg den. The yellow dog came info view as did the other Shadow Stalker cats. Zack, Maisey, and Callie were being pushed away by four vicious looking cats. Zack had snarled and pushed one of them to the ground and swiped at the other one, but was held down with an iron grip. The dog was growling and jumping at the nearest cat, a small gray tom, who screeched in pain as he was thrown away like a mouse. The tom lay motionless on a thunder-path with blood covering his fur. The dog charged at them, but actually realized who they were. At the moment of the dog's hesitation three cats lunged at him and dug their claws in anywhere they could. The dog yelped and grabbed on cats tail and began to drag it. The cat dug his claw pitifully into the ground as he was pulled, just making it worse for him.

Wildclaw leapt at a very white she-cat and she collapsed from the impact of his weight. Another dog's barking sounded and a huge black dog came running towards the yellow dog. The yellow dog turned to him with a snarl and they collided with each other in a vicious wrestle. Wildclaw's eyes were wide with surprise and anger. He had never seen a dog fighting another dog and especially cats and dogs working together. Two-leg place was truly a mad place. Claw dug in his back as two cats pushed him down, face first into the ground.

"Move and we'll shred you."

A tom hissed and they pushed him towards where Stripedtail, Zack, Callie, and Maisey were all huddled, surrounded by cats.

All three of the kittypets bore wounds that showed that they tried to protect themselves against the brutal attacks, but were unsuccessful. "I'm sorry." He breathed to the kittypets.

"No, this isn't just because of you. We've helped cats escape from them before more than once. They've finally had enough of it, especially when it dealt with such a large group of cats."

Callie watched as the yellow dog was pushed back against the two-leg building and collapsed besides it.

"No!"

She yowled and tried to get away from her captors, but couldn't. A low, deep barking came from the yard next door and a huge multi colored dog with a white muzzle appeared. He snarled something them growled and the black dog that stood in front of the other stepped back. The black dog snarled finally and turned and ran. Callie sighed relief.

"That dog's name is Twister. He doesn't like the cats any more than we do."

"Let's go."

A black cat growled and Wildclaw noticed him from an earlier encounter.

"Hello again, Heather."

He growled as the calico she-cat fell into step besides the other guards. Heather looked at Wildclaw and looked quickly away.

"It's not what you think." She meowed quietly and Wildclaw snarled and slammed into her side, plowing her over.

"Then tell me about it!"

Two cats grabbed his scruff and pulled him off her with difficulty and the larger of the two slashed his claws across his muzzle.

"Do that again and I'll shred your ears."

Wildclaw growled and fell into step besides Stripedtail. Stripedtail kept on shaking his head.

"How could we have been so mouse-brained?"