Chapter 21
"So how is he?" Hawkstar asked the Thunderclan medicine cat. Goldenfur had Nightpaw in her den. She was checking on his injuries.
"His forehead is bruised and he is covered in small scratches. Other than that, he's fine," she explained looking at the Windclan apprentice who sat in the corner of the den.
"Alright," Hawkstar muttered. "Get someone to take him back to the other den."
Hawkstar walked out and was heading for his den, but his deputy, Thistlescar walked up to him.
"Is he well enough for our plans?" The scarred warrior asked.
"Yes, Nightpaw is fine."
"The plan was first intended to work with the medicine cat, not the medicine cat apprentice. Will this change anything?" Thistlescar asked.
Hawkstar has been so occupied with the plan; he forgot to tell to his deputy his plan changes. The two toms walked into the leaders den to talk.
"Our original plan was to keep the medicine cat as a prisoner and only give her back to Windclan when they agree to whatever we ask of them. Every clan needs a fully trained medicine cat. Since we only have the apprentice, they may not act as quickly. So, I intend to persuade Windclan a little more," the Thunderclan leader said after he sat down in the den, facing Thistlescar.
"Persuade how?"
"The next gathering is soon. When it comes, I will tell them we will send Nightpaw back unharmed if they do what we want. But if they wait too long, we'll have no choice but to convert to violence on the apprentice. Windclan is weak; they care too much about the well-being of every single cat. They will be forced into doing what we want. From giving us free access into their territory to delivering us prey." Hawkstar smiled sinisterly at how well his plan was working out so far. Everything was going along so smoothly. Windclan will soon by in his claws.
"Brilliant," Thistlescar commented. "We must make sure Nightpaw is constantly guarded. Windclan will probably try something to rescue him."
Hawkstar nodded and Thistlescar walked out of the den and into the snow-covered clearing.
He gathered up a few warriors and brought them to the den Nightpaw was in. After telling them to stay and watch him, he left.
The den was now guarded by four warriors; Mudfoot, Greyshadow, Skypath and Tigerstripe. They surrounded the den by all sides so Nightpaw couldn't sneak out, and no one else can sneak in.
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Redshade stood at the edge of camp, searching for his sister, Willowleaf. She got her medicine cat name days before the attack on Windclan. He saw her walking by and called her over.
"What is it?" She asked when she joined him.
Redshade made sure no one was watching or close enough to hear them before turning to Willowleaf.
"I need you to do me a favor…"
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After Icefur and Flowerfrost returned to camp after their failed attempt to rescue Nightpaw, they turned to Ashstar and Heatherwish for help to make a new plan. The four of them discussed what to do for a while but they were all having trouble thinking of a good plan. Icefur and Flowerfrost were both tired from their little adventure and Heatherwish suggested they should get some rest until farther notice.
The sun was already going down by the time Icefur sat down with a rabbit.
She felt like she wanted to be left alone but was happy to see Breezetail, Bramblestripe and Rowanpelt walk up to her. They all sat down next to her.
"How are you doing?" Bramblestripe asked her friend.
Icefur sighed. "I'm fine, I guess." The white warrior took a bite out of the rabbit in front of her.
Breezetail glanced at his sister, unsure what to say. "Everything will go back to normal eventually," he muttered.
Icefur didn't reply. She knew her friends just wanted to see her happier like she used to be, but she just couldn't cheer herself up. For now, anyway; maybe after she rescued Nightpaw. Cloudheart would want her to.
Breezetail was about to say something more, but Gravelstone walked up to them. "Breezetail, Bramblestripe. There is a hunting party led by Leopardflower. Would you join them?"
They both looked over to Icefur who was just looking at her paws. "Sure, we'll go," Bramblestripe replied, not wanting to say no to the deputy.
Icefur and Rowanpelt sat in silence for a moment before he spoke up. "I know you really miss Cloudheart," he started.
"Of course I do," she said loudly. "She has always been there for me and the one time she's in trouble, I wasn't there to save her!"
"It's not your fault, Icefur. It's mine," Rowanpelt replied. "I was there. I should have done something to stop the Thunderclan cats from killing her. But I didn't."
Icefur looked at him. She knew he was right and she actually felt sorrier for him then she did herself.
"She knows you tried," Icefur said.
"I know," Rowanpelt sighed. "And she's still with us. Never forget that." Rowanpelt stood up and walked away.
Icefur was glad he talked to her. She felt better now, thanks to him.
She finished the rabbit and stood up, about to see how Ashstar and Heatherwish were doing with the plan, but she stopped when she saw Stonepaw was running up to her. "Icefur, I'm glad I found you," he said, out of breath.
"Why were you looking for me?"
"There is a cat at the border who wants to talk to you," Stonepaw told her urgently. "I told her I would come get you. She seemed nice enough..."
"A cat at the border?" Icefur muttered. She couldn't think of any she-cats from another clan who would want to talk to her. "Where is this cat now?"
"Waiting for you at the border with Fourtrees."
"Alright, thanks Stonepaw."
Icefur decided she would go meet up with this cat and see what she wants. This cat just wanted to talk, so no harm would be done.
The white she-cat ran out of camp and towards Fourtrees. It was somewhat difficult to run through the cold snow, but nothing she couldn't handle.
When Icefur got to the border, she didn't see anyone in the forest. "Hello?" she called. "I hear there is a cat who wants to talk to me."
She waited a moment, wondering if this was all a joke or something. But then a brown she-cat walked out of the forest shyly.
"Are you Icefur?" She asked. Icefur could tell this cat was from Thunderclan.
"Yes I am. What do you want?" She didn't plan on being very nice to this cat unless she gave a reason to. The cat noticed Icefur didn't trust her.
"Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Willowleaf. I'm a medicine cat in Thunderclan."
"Willowleaf?" Icefur repeated. "Like, Willowpaw... Are you Redshade's sister?"
"Yes I am. He asked to me to come here and find you."
Icefur remember back during the battle when she let him go after tacking him. She wondered if the reason for her coming here was so Redshade could thank her, but it seemed like a little much.
"Redshade and I don't like what Hawkstar is doing," the Thunderclan medicine cat explained. "We want to help you rescue Nightpaw."
"What?" Icefur asked, taken by surprise. "I can't let you do that. That's going against your leader. It's against the warrior code."
"That is why Redshade didn't come here himself. He asked me to come because I'm a medicine cat. Even Hawkstar can't go against a medicine cats' judgment."
Icefur mentally commended Willowleaf on her bravery. "Thank you but, are you sure you want to risk it?"
"I am positive," Willowleaf said boldly.
"Alright. So what did you have in mind?"
"Redshade and I already thought up a little plan," Willowleaf said.
"That's great, what is it?"
"At night when there are fewer warriors around, I would get through the guards who surround Nightpaws' den and tell them I need to check on his injuries."
"Injuries?" Icefur asked, worriedly.
"Oh yeah. He got some scratches trying to escape earlier today."
Willowleaf continued. "After bringing him into the medicine cat den, I tell him to escape through the back and where to go. Redshade will be one of the guards and will keep the others occupied so they don't hear or notice anything. Then Nightpaw will sneak out through the back of the den and meet up with one of your warriors somewhere and then go back to Windclan."
"Where will we meet him?"
"The Owl Tree: it's between camp and Fourtrees. It's a big tree where owls live; you can't miss it."
"And if something goes wrong?" Icefur asked, knowing it was a possibility.
"Depending on what happens, we'll just act in the moment," Willowleaf said and smiled.
Icefur smiled back. She would say the same thing.
"Alright, I'll go tell the others. Thank you so much for your help."
"Anything to restore peace," Willowleaf said.
"What if one of you get caught? Hawkstar isn't the most forgiving leader..."
"It'll be alright," the medicine cat assured. "Don't worry about us. If we're going to do this tonight, you better hurry back to your camp. The sun is almost down."
"Tell Redshade I say thanks," Icefur said, about to run off.
"I will." Willowleaf disappeared into the forest and Icefur spun around and ran back to camp.
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When Icefur got back to camp, the first thing she did was gather Flowerfrost, Ashstar and Heatherwish together to tell them the new plan. She didn't mention any names, but she did say a Thunderclan cat wanted to help them. Ashstar wasn't too sure if they should go along with the idea, thinking it may be a trap. But Icefur told him they could trust them. They had to.
Ashstar told Icefur and Flowerfrost the go to the Owl Tree and bring Snowpelt with them, just in case they need back up. He chose those three warriors because they would best blend in with the snow. Everything was set. Now all they had to do was wait for it to get dark.
While Icefur waited for the moon to rise, she decided to rest until it was time to leave. She was having quite a full day and it wasn't even over yet.
Her friends also came by to wish her luck and other encouraging things. Icefur appreciated it but she didn't get much time to enjoy it before Snowpelt walked over, telling her they had to leave.
When Icefur, Snowpelt and Flowerfrost all got together, then headed to the border of Fourtrees to cross into Thunderclan territory. Flowerfrost led them this time. She was the most experienced out of the three and has actually been through Thunderclan territory in the past. They could only wait Nightpaw will be able to escape.
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Redshade sat in front of the small den used for Nightpaw with three other warriors, Swiftpelt, Brackenpath and Flowermist. Most of the cats were sleeping right now. He would be dozing off too if it wasn't so cold.
Redshade knew Willowleaf would walk over to get Nightpaw any moment and he believed this was the right thing to do, but going against the leader, his mentor and friend made him feel sick.
He forced himself to push these thoughts aside when he saw his sister walking over from the medicine cat den.
She stopped when she approached the four warriors.
"What do you need?" Redshade asked.
"Goldenfur wants me to check on Nightpaws' injuries again," she said calmly.
"Hold on," Swiftpelt interrupted. "We're not supposed to let anyone in or out except for Hawkstar.
"If I remember correctly," Willowleaf said to the she-cat. "Hawkstar said Nightpaw was not to get any more hurt while he's here. If his paw gets infected, he'll have you to blame."
Swiftpelt was taken back by this and didn't want to risk it, now that Willowleaf mentioned the possibility.
"Uh, alright but be quick."
Willowleaf walked past them and into the den. Nightpaw was huddled up in a corner. She gently woke him up. When the Windclan cat looked at her, she could easily see the worry in his eyes.
"Come to the medicine den with me," she said plainly, not giving anything away. He reluctantly got up and followed her outside the den and back in the medicine den. The four guards followed but stopped outside the den.
Redshade looked inside and saw Willowleaf glance at him.
Then he turned to the other warriors, ready to do his part of the plan.
"Hey, what's that?" he said and ran over to the center of camp. He turned to the three cats. "Come here and look at this."
Swiftpelt and Brackenpath walked over. Flowermist stayed, unsure if it was alright to leave the prisoner even though he was with Willowleaf.
"What are we looking at?" Brackenpath asked when he joined Redshade.
"I saw something move over here," he told them.
"Maybe you're just seeing things," Swiftpelt mentioned.
"No way, I know I saw something in the snow. Hey Flowermist, come help us search."
Flowermist sighed and walked over.
Willowshade waited until the guards were farther away before turning to Nightpaw again.
"Listen closely," she whispered. "I'm going to help you escape."
Nightpaw suddenly cheered up but didn't say anything.
"While the guards are busy, you're going to sneak out of this den and keep going in that direction. Don't stop until you reach the Owl Tree. It's a tall tree filled with large holes. Some Windclan warriors will be waiting for you."
Nightpaw wasn't entirely sure if he could trust what the cat was saying, but he had nothing to lose at the moment.
"Are you serious?" he asked but already felt she was. "Thank y-"
"You can thank me at the next gathering, you have to go now. Run as fast as you can."
Nightpaw nodded and ran through the hole in the back of the den. Right outside, he saw another hole in the thorn bush and slowly crawled through, not wanting to get poked again. Once he was across, he ran straight, making sure not to make any turns. Last time he escaped, one of the warriors who found him told him he was just running in circles.
Nightpaw ran through the snow, jumped over bushed, dodged trees and was on the lookout for the Owl Tree. The thought of going home excited him to no end.
Meanwhile, Willowleaf walked out of the medicine den and snuck past the four occupied guards. Redshade was having trouble keeping them there but Willowleaf didn't need much time.
She walked inside the prisoner den and pulled a large grey rock out of a wall nearby and moved it partly behind a small bush. With a simple glimpse, any half-sleeping cat would mistake it for a sleeping apprentice. They were going to notice eventually but it didn't matter as long as Nightpaw had enough time to find his friends.
Willowleaf then walked out and back inside the medicine cat den.
"Alright, this is pointless," Brackenpath said and walked back to the medicine cat den.
"Yeah, I was probably seeing things," Redshade agreed and they all followed Brackenpath.
"Where is he?" Brackenpath demanded after noticing Nightpaw wasn't in the den.
"I took him back to his den," Willowleaf lied.
"And you just left him? He's probably running away as we speak!"
"Oh calm down," Willowleaf said. "I gave him some poppy seeds. He won't have the energy to run."
The four guards ran back to the den where Nightpaw was said to be and looked inside.
"Yeah, there he is," Redshade said, knowing it was just a rock. He resisted the urge to silently call them mouse-brains. Even though they wouldn't know he thought it, it would still be disrespectful to his misguided clanmates.
The others didn't seem to notice the difference. They just turned around and continued to guard the empty den.
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Sparrowfall just returned from a moon-high hunting party and went straight to Hawkstar. The leader was asleep but what Sparrowfall had to say was important.
"Hawkstar, wake up," he said when he entered the den.
"Ugh, what is it?" Hawkstar growled when he woke up.
"I saw an apprentice running through the forest on my way back here. Did you happen to send any out?"
"No I didn't," Hawkstar said, sitting up.
"The cat was grey and looked pretty scared."
Hawkstar put the pieces together and didn't like the most possible answer. He ran out of the den and past the warriors who were guarding Nightpaws' den.
Hawkstar pulled the rock out of the bush it was hiding behind and growled.
"You mouse-brains!" He yelled at the four confused guards. "He got away," Hawkstar hissed at them. "Go after him!"
Swiftpelt, Flowermist, Brackenpath and Redshade all scampered out of the camp to chase down Nightpaw.
"He couldn't have gotten far," Brackenpath said to the others. "It's dark, cold, and he doesn't know where he's going. We'll find him."
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A/N: Ohh, cliff hanger! Kind of. Maybe... Yeah.
Thanks for reading! I have been so happy with all the reviews and readers I have been getting. Thank you so much, guys!
Also, while Willowleaf was helping Nightpaw escape, the other medicine cat Goldenfur was not at camp that night, and had no idea about Willowleaf/Redshades' plan to help Windclan.
Have a nice day~