Jaypaw woke up that morning with Hollypaw and Lionpaw as they were going to do something very important for Firestar. They soon exited the den as dark gray clouds were over the sky, it was clear a storm was coming soon. Jaypaw was hoping that this would be done quickly so they could get back in case the storm began. Leafpool and Firestar were waiting with Squirrelflight, Brightheart, Birchfall and Whitewing. The cats soon took off as the others went along with their assignments. Jaypaw had the thoughts running along in his head. There was lots of set up of Thunderclan accusing Windclan but due to the switch, they knew they had to stop them from attacking Riverclan.
The group of cats soon encounters a Windclan patrol. Crowfeather was leading it along with Harespring, Tornear and Whitetail. Crowfeather was pleased to see Leafpool but Firestar knew he had to get the point across.
"It's nice to see you Leafpool." Crowfeather purred to the medicine cat. Leafpool raised her head high as she knew she was welcomed to Windclan. Crowfeather was also pleased to see the three again. The other Windclan cats weren't too sure but Firestar soon went up to him to speak.
"I know you seem welcoming as usual but we need to talk to Onestar about some business we have regarding Riverclan. I don't want any blood being shed. So where is Onestar?" Firestar asked Crowfeather wondering where their leader was. Crowfeather bowed his head with respect as he soon padded along.
"He's back at camp, follow me." Crowfeather responded as he lead the patrol as well as the Windclan cats back to camp. Leafpool trotted ahead as she wanted to speak to Crowfeather.
"Crowfeather? How's Breezepaw holding up?" Leafpool asked wondering how his other kit was doing. Crowfeather turned his head to face Leafpool.
"He doesn't seem to be like his usual self. It's clear he must be lonely. When I spoke to him about his time in Thunderclan, he admits that he misses you." Crowfeather spoke to her about how Breezepaw felt, it was clear he was miserable without Leafpool. Leafpool turned her head to Crowfeather as she soon spoke to him.
"I'm guessing he's just lonely without you to back him up, I heard he is also going to miss Ashfur and Honeypaw a lot too." Crowfeather told her what he heard from the apprentice when they were swapped back the day before.
"I mean, I did a lot for him, he always told me how he felt back home that the moors were an empty desolate place where Nightcloud's evil grin is always watching him. It's not himself that is being driven to madness, but rather his own mother. Honeypaw gave him some confidence but not enough. He seemed happier in Thunderclan than in Windclan. He also admired Ashfur a lot to add the cherry on top. Hollypaw on the contrast really liked Nightcloud and she would so anything to get to her instead of me. I think the swap was a good thing but something could have been better." Leafpool explained on what happened during the swap and the results that was gathered. Crowfeather soon nodded as he knew that it was a good idea but they knew they needed to keep it a secret.
They soon arrived in Windclan camp as Heatherpaw and Breezepaw were nowhere to be seen, they were sent on solo hunting missions to prepare for the storm. Onestar soon came out of his den to greet Firestar. Nightcloud raced out to reunite with Hollypaw. Crowfeather happily sat as he wanted to give some insight on what was going on.
"It's nice to see you again Firestar." Onestar spoke. Firestar nodded as he wanted to speak to him about Riverclan.
"So why you wanted to attack Riverclan?" Firestar asked Onestar about this. Onestar soon took a couple of moments to think about it as he soon came up with a response.
"We thought that Riverclan had Hollypaw and we wanted to get her back before the swap ended so all the apprentices could return back to Thunderclan safe and sound." Onestar responded. Crowfeather was listening in on this as Firestar spoke.
"Tell your warriors to cancel the attack since Hollypaw is back with us. Squirrelflight had retrieved her from Riverclan yesterday. If we're going to bring this up, might as well do it at the gathering so we can figure out what Leopardstar intended to do. For now, back off." Firestar told Onestar about this. Onestar nodded as he knew he had to turn the situation around. Onestar also spoke.
"Also I didn't order the attack on Thunderclan before. I only showed up seeing most of my clan was missing. We had to pull them out. I questioned Nightcloud about this but she said that they wanted to do this just so Windclan can legally eat squirrels. I could have lost a warrior in that fight." Onestar admitted telling Firestar what happened. Firestar was surprised; it was Nightcloud who was organizing those raids. Firestar soon nodded as he went to finish his statement.
"We need to keep these cats under control so more incidents don't happen." Firestar made his final statement.
Jaypaw was being introduced to Nightcloud through Hollypaw. Jaypaw was unnerved as he didn't like her that much.
"You know she shares my same aspirations for following the warrior code and it is something I would want to do in the future." Hollypaw told Jaypaw. "Plus she treats to my every need because I don't want to change my own bedding." Jaypaw felt his anger building up as Hollypaw was the most spoiled sibling that he had ever known, even more spoiled than Breezepaw. Jaypaw soon screamed.
"YOU KNOW WHAT? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LIVE WITH THIS FILTHY FOX HEARTED CAT WOULD YOU? I CAN'T EVEN STAND YOU IT'S THE REASON WHY YOU ARE SO KEEN TO FOLLOWING YOUR PRECIOUS CODE! THE CODE MEANS NOTHING TO ANY OF US AND YOU'VE BROKEN IT ALREADY AND YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY LIKE THIS?" Jaypaw yelled at Hollypaw. Nightcloud hissed as she was protecting Hollypaw like she was her kit. Jaypaw soon turned around as he had made a fatal mistake, his yelling had scared away all the kits in the camp. Without the charming morality brought to them by the kittens, Windclan decided to aim their horrible death laser at Riverclan territory. Gorsetail was running around as she panicked looking for the kits.
"Moltedkit? Sedgekit? This isn't funny!" Gorsetail called out as all her kits were missing. Lionpaw soon noticed one thing, he lifted his tail signaling his littermates to follow as there was paw prints heading out of the camp, he had come to one conclusion, (Suddenly this fanfiction becomes one of those nightmares that I have where I have 15 kittens and they're all in the middle of the highway and every time I save two of them one of them gets out) anyways, the real kittens were in the hole.
Lionpaw leads his siblings into the Roleplay Tunnels as they knew they needed to navigate this network of tunnels to try to locate the kits. The cats were stuck together so they wouldn't get lost. He knew he needed noise to locate the kits.
"Hello?" Lionpaw called out, his calls echoed throughout the tunnels, no response. He knew he needed to try again to get their attention. "Hello?" Soon a noise responded back as Lionpaw knew it could be the lost kittens as he soon continued calling out wondering where the voices would lead him. He knew there was very little light in the tunnels and he only had an oil lamp that he borrowed from Windclan which made navigating the tunnels a bit easier. Soon he saw a shining light wondering if was the kits but it turned out that it was another cat with another oil lamp. It was Heatherpaw.
"What are you doing here Heatherpaw?" Lionpaw mewed to her as he was navigating the tunnels trying to look for some lost kits. Heatherpaw looked at him as she as holding her lamp around her neck.
"Looking for some lost kits." Heatherpaw responded as she knew she was on the same mission as Lionpaw and his siblings.
"Weird, we're looking for some lost kits too." Lionpaw responded back to Heatherpaw. Heatherpaw knew that she had to lead these cats away as she signaled Lionpaw and his siblings to follow her as they continued to move their way deeper into the tunnels. The tunnels were bright in some areas but the cats soon heard thunder booming above them, it was clear it was beginning to rain. Another cat with an oil lamp was up ahead as he was navigating the tunnels too. Heatherpaw and the apprentice were sent into the tunnels to look for the missing kits. She soon caught up to him as he was pushing his way through the tunnels.
"Hey Breezepaw, find the kits yet?" Heatherpaw mewed as she and Breezepaw were assigned to search for the apprentices. Breezepaw looked at her as he knew that they didn't have time to ask questions so they decided to keep pushing onward through the tunnels. Hollypaw was pissed.
"So Heatherpaw brought Breezepaw along just so he can piss all of us off." Hollypaw growled as she knew she hated Breezepaw. Heatherpaw silently slapped her tail across Hollypaw's muzzle as she wanted to keep her quiet.
"I have two words for you Hollypaw, Shut, Up." Heatherpaw soon followed Breezepaw and the others followed Heatherpaw.
Stoats were busy digging through the tunnels as their machines were building new caverns as the cats continued to walk through with their lamps. The stoats scattered as the cats continued to walk. They soon came to a junction as the cats didn't know where to go but it was the hub of the stoats as they were busy getting dirt up. Their so call contraptions rattled loudly as they were busy getting some resources up.
"I can't hear you the noise of the contraptions is going to make me deaf! Did you see some kits pass their way through here?" Heatherpaw asked the stoats wondering if they had any directions on how to find the lost kits. The stoats nodded no because they didn't remember some of the kits coming through this way. Jaypaw began to sniff the air as he was picking up the lost kits scent then all of the sudden, Fallen Leave's ghost of unknown alignment appeared from nowhere as he began to lead Jaypaw down one of the tunnels. That tunnel had the scent of the lost kits. Jaypaw soon began to follow Fallen Leaves as he continued to explore the tunnels. Lionpaw followed Jaypaw as they continued to walk down the tunnels.
This part of the tunnels didn't have any lighting at all as there were barely any stoats in them. The only light there was coming from their lamps or the stoat's stationery light as they were building in the tunnels. Jaypaw continued to lead the way as Lionpaw kept the path lit for him as they continued to wander the tunnels. Soon a faint weeping was heard as Jaypaw soon turned his head as he began to work his way to the weeping was being admitted. Could he have found the lost kits? Hitching way up the tunnels, he knew he could have been getting close. Soon he heard the sound as they were right on top of them. Jaypaw saw a huge rock blocking the way as he puts his front paws on it as he began to push it. Lionpaw and Breezepaw decided to help him as they put their paws on the boulder as they continued to push it. The three apprentices heaved and panted as they got the heavy rock out of the way, behind it to their surprise was the kits. Covered in dirt and trapped.
"We fell through some of the dirt on top of the tunnels bringing us down here." Moltedkit explained what happened. "We were trapped as we were crying for some cat or something to come to our aid." Jaypaw inspected the kits as he was glad none of them were hurt but they were filthy.
"It's okay, we'll get you home." Breezepaw mewed trying to make the kits more relaxed. Lionpaw gave his oil lamp to Jaypaw as he would be leading the way as the cats soon took the kits by their scruff as they all began to work their way back to the surface. However, they were against the clock as the tunnels were beginning to flood.
Jaypaw lead the way through the tunnels as he was keeping an eye out. They headed down as the stoats had abandoned the tunnels and taken the lamps with them leaving the cats on their own. They soon began following the main cable wondering if it would lead them to the surface. Soon Heatherpaw puts the kit on her back as she felt something odd in her paws.
"Anyone feel anything wet?" Heatherpaw asked. Jaypaw took a step forward as he felt a splash on his paws. He looked down to see that his paws were partially submerged in water, he soon continued as he mewed to Heatherpaw.
"Heatherpaw let's keep going." Jaypaw suggested. Heatherpaw gulped as she continued to follow the apprentices as they navigated the tunnels. The splashing sounds continued to get louder as they arrived back into the main hub of the tunnels where the stoats were as the stoats have mostly evacuated the area as a few battled to keep the water down. The stoats there decided to leave the positions as it was clear they weren't going to win. It was clear the water wasn't going to stay down for very long as the cats knew they needed to follow the stoats to the surface.
"Let's follow the stoats to see if they could lead us to the surface." Breezepaw suggested. However his ideas were dashed as the watertight bulkheads soon slammed closed as it was clear they didn't want the water flooding up more of the tunnels. The cats knew they were trapped.
"Okay, we need to find another way out." Lionpaw mewed as he knew that with the bulkheads closed, they needed another escape route. Soon the lights in the tunnels began to flicker as the water was messing with the stoats electrical circuits as the lights went out completely, the only light that was left was the oil lamps and even they were running low on oil and would soon go out. If the glass protecting the flames broke, the light would be snuffed out completely. It was clear that the water was rising fast.
"The tunnels are flooding! Just like in Moonkitti's nightmares!" Hollypaw was beginning to panic as she raced around trying to find a way out. Fallen Leaves began to freak out as he starts to evaporate. Jaypaw wanted invite to die along with him for some reason. Breezepaw knew he didn't want to die in a watery grave with the cats he does and doesn't like.
"Jaypaw! Do something!" Breezepaw growled. It was clear he was beginning to panic as well. Fallen Leaves was completely gone as Rock soon appeared and in his paws was the stick. Jaypaw was wondering what Rock was doing, was he going to mark them to die? Jaypaw soon saw rock take the stick as he began to carve some scratches into the stick as if he was writing something. The four kits were huddled onto Lionpaw as he was serving as the ground as he was hanging onto the kits.
"Are we going to drown?" Sedgekit squeaked nervously. Hollypaw was slamming around as if she was looking for a way out as Breezepaw's lamp was the first to go out. Soon Rock finished scratching into the stick as he turned it to Jaypaw. It said SWIM IDIOTS on it. Jaypaw soon got an idea.
"We should swim!" Jaypaw called out to them. Rock soon vanished as he took the stick with him.
"Swim? But were trapped!" Breezepaw mewed as fear was taking over him. Soon Heatherpaw spotted something as she swam over to it. It was a lever but for what, will it work. She soon opened the lever as it was slowly being opened but she lacked the strength to open it all the way.
"Hey Jaypaw will this work?" Heatherpaw asked him. Jaypaw soon waddled through the water as the water was up to his body. Jaypaw soon inspected the lever. Heatherpaw knew there needed to be another lever somewhere. Jaypaw soon called Hollypaw and Lionpaw over.
"Hollypaw, Lionpaw over here!" Jaypaw called. He soon scooted the kits to him as he wanted to protect them. "Hang on tight, I'll get you out of there I promise you." Jaypaw mewed to the kits. Something terrible happened; Jaypaw's oil lamp soon went out as he knew Heatherpaw had the only functioning lamp on her. She was the only source of light as Jaypaw began paddling around. Heatherpaw and Breezepaw had found a similar lever.
"Over here Jaypaw!" Heatherpaw called out to him. Jaypaw inspected the lever as he knew it was their only way out. Heatherpaw and Breezepaw were on the lever as they were waiting on Jaypaw mark.
"Okay on three, we open the levers in the hope that it will lead us to the lake." Jaypaw soon announced his plan; he knew the lake was the only way to get out. Breezepaw wasn't too sure about this but it was worth a try.
"Are we going to drown?" Swallowkit squealed with fear. Jaypaw knew he had to keep the kits calm.
"Hang on to me upon which we will all wash our safely." Jaypaw replied. The kits nodded as they were going to trust him. Jaypaw stood firm as he was paddling on the surface as the water continued to slowly seep through. "On three. One! Two! Three!" Jaypaw announced. Hollypaw and Lionpaw struggled to get the lever open as Heatherpaw and Breezepaw did the same. Jaypaw tried to swim as the kits clung onto him. Soon the was a popping sound as the levers were finally slammed into the open position when the worst thing happened, Heatherpaw's lamp finally went out as it was now pitch black in the room when a rumbling sound was heard, a huge torrent of water came down as it soon swept the 9 cats out through the escape hatch that Lionpaw and Hollypaw opened.
The kits clung on as Jaypaw was being swept along. Breezepaw and Heatherpaw clung to Jaypaw as they tried to keep their heads above the water. Lionpaw was trying his best not to wail but Hollypaw was having fun as she swept along the drainage. Soon the cats soon resurfaced as they realized it was still raining but they were in the lake, they had made it out. The kits popped their heads out as they were freezing and unable to move. Breezepaw soon resurfaced as his eyes had opened. He began to swim along as they had the lamps around their necks.
"We made it out!" Breezepaw yowled with excitement, He soon paddle with Jaypaw to the shore as Jaypaw puts the kits down as Breezepaw soon rested his head on Jaypaw. "I knew I could trust you!" He puts one of his front legs over Jaypaw as he knew the plan worked, even though their lamps were dead but they were grateful to survive and so did the kits as they were cold but they knew they were lucky to have made it. Hollypaw, Lionpaw and Heatherpaw soon came to shore.
"I never knew it would have worked." Heatherpaw mewed as she was surprised. Lionpaw came forth as he was excited.
"You did it!" Lionpaw yowled as they all began their way back to camp. They knew the Windclan cats would be happy when they knew the kits would be returned.
"Jaypaw stumbled into camp as he was exhausted but triumphant. Onestar and Firestar looked at them as they were worried that they went missing but glad to see them have returned.
"Where were you, first the kits went missing then the apprentices did you sneak off or something?" Onestar asked wondering where the apprentices went off to. Jaypaw was too exhausted to move but with what strength he had, he spoke.
"We went into the tunnels to find the kits." Jaypaw weakly replied. He soon scooted the kits off of him as Gorsetail rushed over to him.
"The kits are safe but cold, you seem cold too. We'll get Barkface to treat you all. The apprentice's action didn't go unheard of." Gorsetail mewed with excitement; the cats soon began escorting off to the medicine cat's den to be treated.
The apprentices and kits were wrapped around in moss blankets as it was keeping them warm. Barkface was changing and drying these blankets on a regular basis as he wanted to get their heat up. He had also started a fire in his den to boil some water and to dry out the moss blankets without burning them. Onestar padded over to them.
"I never thought that the oil lamps would have worked in a situation like this, I think we should explore more of the dark areas. However we need to restock these with more clear oil to make them useful again. I wonder if Stella has some." Onestar mewed as he inspected the lamps. He knew they were useful in a situation like this as they were easy to maintain but getting some of the supplies was a hassle. He soon turned to Jaypaw. "Where did you find the kits?" Jaypaw soon responded.
"We found them in the tunnels, there were also stoats living down there but we don't know that much about them as they were clearly digging through the tunnels." Jaypaw soon gave his answer on where they found the kits. Onestar smiled as he soon turned to Jaypaw.
"You did a good job making sure they got out safely. You and the other apprentices deserve a little reward for your bravery." Onestar told them. He soon poured them a vanilla mix into some small stone flasks as they began to lap it up as it tasted good but it was hot. The kits were given some of it too as the cats found it good. Breezepaw lifted his head as he turned to Onestar.
"Thank you." He mewed. Onestar turned away as Barkface continued to work on the nine cats as they soon drifted to sleep.
The 9 cats condition improved as the storm left. Lionpaw was preparing to go when Heatherpaw came to him.
"Lionpaw before you go, I would want to head out with you for a walk." Heatherpaw mewed wanting his attention. Lionpaw got up as he followed Heatherpaw. They soon walked out in the clear morning sky as they began to speak, the blades of grass were covered with water. Heatherpaw soon spoke.
"I would like to say, I'm sorry if I flipped out on you." Heatherpaw began. Lionpaw looked at her as if she was going to say something. She continued. "I didn't know it was the last night and I felt like I could have handled myself better, I was happy that we pulled ourselves together to rescue those kits." Lionpaw soon looked at her as he spoke.
"I would have done the same thing for any other cat." Lionpaw insisted. He soon turned as he spoke to her. "We really appreciate the fact that Jaypaw helped us out there. If we go to Starclan or Cat hell in the end, I hope we go together." Lionpaw soon walked up to the hole where he first entered with Heatherpaw. "I guess this means goodbye." Heatherpaw didn't want to break down in tears but she knew goodbye wasn't forever. She soon rested her head on Lionpaw's cheek.
"I'll miss you for sure." Heatherpaw responded as she soon licked Lionpaw's cheek. Lionpaw blushed a bit seeing Heatherpaw turn as he left. He soon scratched around the hole telling his Roleplay Hole goodbye. Tigerstar and Hawkfrost soon came out to celebrate.
"You did it; you have no friends, now you can focus on what matters most." Tigerstar began. Lionpaw looked at him as this ending seemed less sweet and more bitter like biting into a citrus fruit.
"Now I can focus on what matters most and that is being a good warrior for my clan." Lionpaw responded. Tigerstar soon turned as he smiled to Lionpaw as he knew he had goals in life. He knows how to speak properly but now he needed to focus on what mattered more.
"That's the spirit Lionpaw; I'll see you and Heatherpaw more often." Tigerstar smiled as he and Hawkfrost vanished. Lionpaw knew that the only direction in life that he was going was forward.
[A/N]: Given you a long chapter to feast your eyes on and I'm waiting on more reviews to see where this story is going. I am glad to say that we're going forward as Dark River has ended and Outcast will begin, two down one to go. I'll see you in the next chapter where we begin Outcast and let's hope we can get as many views as possible going forth. See you in the next chapter. Cheers.