Wingscratch crawled against the forest floor, the soft grass feeling more comfortable than any wood would ever. She lifted her head and looked around, trying to spot prey. She sniffed the air and caught a whiff of what she believed to mouse. She hoped it was.
She followed the trail. Soond, she spotted the mouse eating a beech nut under a beech tree, nibbling the seed. Wingscratch smiled and licked her lips. Finally! My first taste of mouse!
Wingscratch stalked it, keeping herself low. She wiggled her haunches and pounced, landing square on the mouse. The small rodent squeaked as Wingscratch bit the mouse's throat. The DuskClan warrior smiled and grabbed her prey.
A low growl sounded from some nearby bracken. She turned around and frowned, "If one of you is here to scold me for ground hunting then shut it. I caught prey."
The growl continued and Wingscratch huffed and walked over to the bracken. As she looked she could see russet colored fur and a thin, yet well-muscled build. It must be Alderspark. Figures. He's always on my tai!. The white-and-grey she-cat thought.
She stood in front of the bracken, "Come on, Alderspark. You can stop."
The bracken shook and the figure stood up. It was much taller than any cat and its muzzle was long and narrow. Wingsratch's heart stopped and her fur spiked as she realized this wasn't Alderspark. Its stench wasn't anything like Alderspark it's eyes were smaller. But most importantly...
It was a fox!
The fox curled its lip and snapped its jaws at Wingsratch. Wingscratch squeaked in fear and turned around quickly, racing through the trees. Wingscratch made flurries of leaves fly up as she pounded her paws against the forest floor. She could hear the excited yips of the fox and could hear the snapping of its jaws, ready to sink its fangs into Wingscratch.
Wingsratch jumped up onto a boulder and jumped onto a taller boulder, climbing up another and another. This is the way to the High Boulder! She thought.
She looked back to see the fox two boulders down, its claws clittering on the rock surface. Wingscratch gulped and continued upwards. Soon, the tree stopped and she reached the last boulder. At the end, it went flat and pointed outwards, looking like a cliff. She looked back to see the fox heaving itself on to the boulder, energy in it's eyes and its teeth bared.
Wingscratch backed up and arched her back as the fox stood up straight.
With a yip, the fox charged towards the DuskClan warrior. Wingscratch hissed and ran towards it, slinking under the fox's stomach and biting its tail. The fox yipped and snapped its jaws at the grey-and-white she-cat. Wingscratch swiped out with unsheathed claws, hitting the its russet muzzle and leaped up onto the fox's back, biting its scruff. The fox circled, trying to snap at Wingscratch. It clamped it's teeth on the she-cat's plumy tail and pulled, jerking Wingscratch off, a chunk of fur ripping off of the fox's scruff. Wingscratch hit the stone floor and slid towards the cliff edge. She spat out the fur and saw the fox letting out a yelp, blood pouring from its scruff. The fox faced Wingscratch and curled its lip and snarled. It came running at her.
Wingscratch scrambled up onto her paws and jumped out of the way. The fox whipped its head around and tried to catch Wingscratch in the air but missed. The fox slipped and its back paws went off the ledge. It yelped as it began to fall off the ledge. It tried to hold on with its paws but it couldn't hold on. With a wail of despair and fear the fox fell down and plummeted to the ground.
Wingscratch stood up, panting with tiredness. Blood welled on her tail. The she-cat padded over to the cliff edge and saw the fox's neck was at a crooked angle, its neck broken on some rocks scattered around the bottom.
Wingscratch sighed and flopped down, taking time to catch her breath. She blinked and stood up with a grunt of effort. She shook out her fur and her amber eyes looked across the ground. She walked over to another side of the boulder and crouched, spotting a tree branch not too far off. She wiggled her haunches and leaped. Her paws caught the branch and she had to scramble and heave herself onto the branch. She took one look back at the dead fox, a crow already pecking at its body, and turned around, running through the trees.
With years of experience and practice, she leaped gracefully from tree to tree, landing squarely on large branches and continuing forward. Some leaves stuck in her pelt but she didn't mind, getting used to finding leaves in her fur everyday.
Soon, she recognized an oddly large and wide sycamore and jumped onto the grass. She scurried as fast as a mouse and scrambled up the trunk, sinking her claws into the bark. She heaved herself onto a very large, at least a fox-length in width, branch. She crouched down and peered into the tree, the inside completely hollowed out by StarClan.
She scrambled down into the inside and landed on the dirt ground, roots making it bumpy. Wingscratch took a deep breath and walked forward, ready for any kind of scolding she would be given the faint fox scent on her.
She could see Chesnutwhisker in front of the nursery, watching her kits, Duckkit, Smallkit and Blackkit play in the clearing. Besides her was the expecting Runningstream, smiling fondly at the kits. Adderpaw and Dustypaw were taking old moss out from the Elders' den, which was a hollow branch. She saw Flowerbird stick her head out the den and yowl at the apprentices to forget the bracken and to get some feathers. Nightleap and Dovefur were sharing a squirrel and Brightfield was feasting on a fat magpie. Heronleg was basking in the sunlight and Yarrowtail was exiting the Warrior's quarters, most likely going out for a hunt. She saw Alderspark speaking fearfully to the DuskClan leader, Ebonystar. The deputy, Softflight, and the medicine cat, Tallstorm were there as well.
"She's been gone longer than expected and I can't catch her scent on any of the north-west trees, Ebonystar. She could be in danger." Alderspark said with speed.
"Or she could be right there." Softflight mewed, looking at Wingscratch.
All three of them faced Wingscratch, making her feel rather uncomfortable with all the stares. Alderspark stamped over to her, "Where were you?" he growled. He sniffed, hsi nostrils flared. He stalked over to Wingscratch and sniffed her, recoiling soon after, "Why do you smell of fox?"
Wingscratch shuffled her paws, "Well…"
Ebonystar padded forward, "Did you run into the fox that was spotted in our territory?"
Wingscratch looked away from Ebonystar's gaze, "Sorta, yeah."
"You can't sorta run into a fox!" Alderspark snapped. He gasped, "Did you go onto the forest floor!?"
Tallstorm bristled, "Why would she?" he asked, defending his sister.
Wingscratch raised her tail to tell Tallstorm to back off. She looked at Alderspark, 'Yes. I went hunting." Realization hit her and she put her paw over her muzzle, "Fuck! I forgot the fucking mouse! Dammit!"
"To hell with the mouse! You broke our rule. We only go onto the ground in emergencies!" Alderspark growled. He faced Ebonystar, "She must be punished."
Ebonystar blinked, ignoring the russet-colored warrior, "What happened to the fox?"
"The dumb thing chased me and felll of the High Boulder. Broke its neck on the rocks down below." Wingscratch reported.
"So you killed it?" Ebonystar asked.
Wingscratch smirked and glanced at Alderspark before facing Ebonystar once more, "I guess I did, huh?"
Ebonystar faced Alderspark and Wingscratch, "Wingscratch was reckless, yes. But the outcome was for the good of the Clan. I see no reason to punish her for saving us from a threat."
Alderspark's jaw gaped and Wingscratch looked at him smugly and faced Ebonystar, "Thank you."
"Ok, we have to go to my den now." Tallstorm mewed.
"What? Why?" Wingscratch asked.
"Your tail is bleeding!" Tallstorm mewed with worry. Wingscratch opened her mouth to speak but her littermate stopped her and nudged her towards the medicine den, which was a small scoop in the wall with a hollow branch above it for sick or injured patients, "Come on now. No arguing."
Wingscratch huffed and walked towards the medicine den. She hopped onto the small, flat stone near the scoop where Tallstorm slept and jumped into the hollow branch. She waited until Tallstorm came back with cobwebs and marigold. He set them down and began chewing the red and golden flowers. He took Wingscratch's tail in his paws and dribbled the marigold onto her tail. He grabbed the cobweb and placed it on the tail, encasing a good portion of it with webs, "Did the fox do that?"
"No, it was moths. What the fuck do you think?" Wingscratch said with sarcasm.
Tallstorm frowned, "Just trying to make conversation. You're lucky that fox didn't tear you to pieces, Wing. You could've died."
"I wanted a mouse." the DuskClan warrior mumbled, setting her head in her paws.
"I would expect that response from a kit, not you." Tallstorm mewed.
Wingscratch faced her brother, "You callin' me a kit?"
Tallstorm chuckled, "Not at all, dear sister. I only have one thing for you to remember from this experience."
Wingscratch pricked her ears, "And that is?"
Tallstorm sat down and wrapped his pale grey tail around him, "We're safe in the treetops."
Wingscratch- White-and-grey she-cat with amber eyes.
Alderspark- russet-colored tom with green eyes.
Chesnutwhisker- Dark brown tabby she-cat with white paws and blue eyes.
Duckkit- Brown tabby-and-white tom with yellow eyes.
Smallkit- Small black tom with yellow eyes
Blackkit- Black she-kit with blue eyes.
Runningstream- Silver tabby she-cat with black paws.
Adderpaw- Golden-brown tabby tom with amber eyes.
Dustypaw- Pale brown tabby tom with green eyes.
Flowerbird- Old, yellow she cat with cream-colored paws, tail tip and blue eyes.
Nightleap- Black-and-white tom with green eyes.
Dovefur- Grey tabby she-cat with cream-colored underbelly and green eyes.
Heronleg- White tom with black mask with blue eyes.
Yarrowtail- White tom with blue eyes.
Ebonystar- Greenish-black she-cat with white muzzle and forest green eyes.
Softflight- Small fawn-point she-cat and pale green eyes.
Tallstorm- Pale grey tom with black chin and front paws and dark blue eyes.