My Tail Leads, Chapter Twenty Nine
Threepw lay curled beneath the twoleg bridge, his tails over his black. He wasn't asleep, instead he was thinking about Icepaw and Mousefoot.
He raised his head at a loud, hyper cry. He saw a cloudy shape crashing toward him, splashing through the water and spraying droplets everywhere. Threepaw sat up, rigid, his teeth bared. "Who are you?" He snarled.
"It's Icepaw!" Panted the white she-cat. "Well, Icepaw, and Spiritpaw too. We've come to help."
Threepaw blinked at her crossly. "Why would you need to help me when there is nothing wrong?"
Icepaw growled and swished her tail. "Of course there is something wrong. Why else would you be sleeping under the Twoleg bridge?"
Threepaw glanced around. "Alright." He said, then told her all about Mousefoot and what he had done, and where the Clan was.
"I'll help," Icepaw said, "I have to! What Mousefoot is doing isn't right!"
"Me too," Spiritpaw came to her side and sat down. "Even if I never was part of ThunderClan, I know it is your Clan, and Icepaw's former one. It deserves as much respect as any Clan."
Threepaw stood up and twisted his tails together. "Guys, its not a big deal. I can handle it. Just...go home and stay safe."
Icepaw snarled and leaped foreword, throwing him to the ground. "No WAY!" She snarled dangerously, "It's a huge deal, and you can't handle it, and we ARE going to help you!"
Threepaw struggled and spat. "Fine then! But do you have a plan?"
Icepaw released him then looked nervously at Spiritpaw. "Uh...well...we mean to say..."
"That you don't," Threepaw hissed. "Sure." He glared then turned around. "You really arn't helping."
"No!" Spiritpaw gasped, "I know what we need to do. We need to go and surprise attack some of the cats in the hollow, and well, kill them, then slaughter Mousefoot. It won't be hard."
"But..." Threepaw knew he could no longer protest to them. "Alright. Thats sounds ok...I guess. Come on."
With a mutter of triumph, Icepaw bunched her muscles and sprung up the ridge, heading into ThunderClan territory. She led the way and the other two streaked after her. Icepaw bounded through the leafy trees, wrinkling her nose as the stench of death drifted up and curled around her. It was so depressing she flattened her ears. How could she have left when Threepaw needed the most help?
Threepaw followed her through the forest, and they halted quickly at the edge of the hollow.
"Come on." Threepaw muttered and they followed him as he pulled himself slowly through the thickest of the brambles. They stopped and he poked his nose into the fresher air of the camp.
He had to keep out a wail of surprise when he saw what was happening.
Mousefoot stood on Highledge, proudly staring out into the clearing. Inside was the whole of RiverClan. Some seemed panicky, struggling in the grasps of other RiverClanners who seemed to want to be there.
"You all," Mousefoot yowled out to the cats, "Are here to help me, be it against or with your will. You are to fight off any enemies that try to attack us. You will work and serve me and the new Clan I have created. If you dare defy or leave, you will be slaughtered, and your body will rot in the center of camp."
A thin wailing came form the crowd and a small tom, mad with terror, tried to struggle form the cats. As he made to dash out of the clearing, A huge tom leaped at him and crushed him. There was a crack and a moment later the tom lay dead, split nearly in half through the middle.
"There," Mousefoot said, "You have had a visual aid. Do you understand the commands I am giving you?"
Silence.
"Good," Mousefoot hissed, then retreated to his den.
"This may be more difficult then we thought," Threepaw meowed, pulling his head back in to speak to his friends, "Mousefoot now has all of RiverClan serving him. Most of them seem pretty weak and scared, so it shouldn't be to hard to beat them. Let's just kill Blackclaw, and drive away some of the big warriors, then I'll go for Mousefoot. Come on."
Leading the way, Threepaw quietly slunk down through the brambles. There was a second when the moonlight fell full on him, but then he slipped into the shadow between two rocks, and looked back at Spiritpaw and Icepaw. He could just see there glinting eyes.
"Spiritpaw, do what I did. Icepaw, do it even faster after him, because you'll stand out with the white coat. Hurry!"
Spiritpaw was shivering with fear as he slipped through the light then into the hidden crevice. Threepaw pressed against him.
Icepaw stepped onto the rock, but less then half a second later, she was hiding.
"We did it," Threepaw said, then looked down to see where they would have to go next. "It's a big jump, but it's in shadow and there are no loose rocks that will make noise. Come along."
He didn't much his muscles, knowing that with the force in which he landed, there would be noise. Gently, he slid off the rock. Air whistled past him, then he bumped onto another, shadowy little ledge. He sighed with relief.
"It's fine!" he called up to them in a whisper.
Spiritpaw copied him easily, doing it just as quiet.
Icepaw dropped from the rock, but as she did, her claw scraped the stone. There was a loudish grating sound. Shaking if fear, all three apprentices pulled themselves further into the darkness.
They waited for a long time. Nobody seemed to have heard them, so Threepaw came out and looked down.
"Oh!" he said happily, "Most of the cats are going off to bed, so we can be less careful."
"Good," Icepaw whispered.
"Threepaw looked down. "Darn, the next ledge is really far down...and its in light, but I don't think that that's a bid deal now, with most everyone gone. Let's see...there's ice on the ledge. That stinks, so just land claws out."
He jumped gently down, feeling the moonlight wash over his fur. His claws hooked the ice and he grunted. But then his stomach plummeted as his paws slipped under him. He gasped and yanked himself together, then he slid over to the shadows. The ice is more slippery then I thought...he thought numbly, heart pounding.
He looked up, waiting for Spiritpaw, but saw Icepaw going instead. She leaped down close to the rock ledge, so when she slid, she did not slide far at all.
"Good," Threepaw muttered, then looked up again for Spiritpaw.
He came to the edge and leaped, paws out and claws splayed. He landed and looked at Threepaw, eyes glittering with fear. he slid over, but as he did, he lost his footing. Without a sound, he slipped from the rock. Threepaw ran foreword and saw him fall over the edge. He banged hard into a ledge and his eyes closed. He crashed over it and landed, unmoving on a ledge.
"No!" Threepaw cried as Icepaw yowled, "SPIRITPAW!" he skidded from the rock, bounding clumsily down the rocky slope as pebbles sprayed through the ari. His claws tore as he slipped over the edge and landed beside Spiritpaw. The tom was still, his red eyes closed in peaceful silence.
"Uh-oh," Threepaw muttered. There were dark stains on the toms pelt. Threepaw touched one and his paw came up wet and red.
"Icepaw!" He gasped, panic swirling through his blood. "Run. Run and get help! Go to Horseplace and get ThunderClan! Run! As fast as you can! HURRY!"
xREVEIW! Sorry for the lack of updates, I lost my traveldrive so I had to rewrite like all of my work. GRR...REVIEW PLEASE!
