Wow, time for another chapter already? I guess you guys really like this story.
Lightpelt, Mayheart, Honeyfur, and Shortleg crashed back into the WindClan camp to see a scene of chaos. Cats were fighting in every corner of the camp. Snowstorm was fighting off a warrior while her kits, almost apprentices, fought bravely next to her. Sleekheart was fending off two other cats as she fought to protect her unborn kits. Threetoe, Darktail, and Tallfang were protecting the elders den as best they could. The apprentices bunched together in a group and fought next to Foxnose. The rest of the cats were fighting bravely against the oddly multiplied number of enemy cats.
As Lightpelt leapt forward, he found the reason. His nose told him that not only ShadowClan was here, but RiverClan as well! Feeling rage, he flung himself at a RiverClan she-cat's shoulder and bit it down to the bone. The cat ran off, screeching. Another cat bit into his hind leg and there was an audible crunch. Lightpelt screeched in pain and flung his neck around and sunk his teeth into the cat's tail. Yowling in pain, the cat turned his claws to Lightpelt's back, but the calico warrior rolled over, crushing the enemy beneath him. Flipping back over, he clawed the warrior's ear to shreds before he ran off in pain.
Lightpelt looked around, keeping his injured leg off the ground. It looked hopeless. WindClan was being overtaken and surrounded by enemy warriors from RiverClan and SadowClan. A sudden battle yowl sounded from the other side of the wall, and Spotstar came bounding over the hedge in a single leap, followed by the ThunderClan warriors. Lightpelt was thinking that now it was certain they were going to be driven out, but Spotstar, with a second yowl, leapt toward the RiverClan leader, Mudstar. His warriors followed, and the battle-weary cats from RiverClan and ShadowClan were no match for the new energetic warriors.
Soon, RiverClan was gone, followed closely by Skystar leading ShadowClan away in a quick run. Now it was only WindClan and ThunderClan. Spotstar walked over to Kinkstar and dipped his head in greeting. Kinkstar did the same as he began to talk.
"You have my thanks for aiding us, Spotstar."
Spotstar flicked his tail in understanding. "One of my warriors heard the sounds of a battle, and decided to see what was wrong. It was when he gave his report to me that I decided to come. It is not a noble thing for two Clans to attack one."
Kinkstar dipped his head and looked around. Lightpelt did the same. The camp was ruined. RiverClan and ShadowClan had torn down an entire section of the wall, and the mount of dirt that led up to the cave that was Foxnose's den had been demolished. The medicine cat was already circling quickly around the cats of both Clans, with Whitefang, the ThunderClan medcine cat, doing the same. It wasn't until then, seeing the cats tending to the hurt, that Lightpelt realized he was still holding his left hind leg in the air. He brought it down a little too quickly, only meaning to test it, and a flash of searing pain jolted through his entire body. He crumbled to the ground.
Foxnose and Whitefang came rushing over.
"Stay awake, Lightpelt. It'll be easier to get you to where I can treat you better, seeing as you can't jump into my cave."
Lightpelt nodded, not trusting his stomach enough to open his mouth. He pulled himself up with a grunt and, bouyed up between the two cats, hopped on three legs to the ground beneath Foxnose's den. The orange and black cat jumped above him to gather his supplies, while Whitefang ran off to check up on the other cats, his bushy white fur glowing.
Lightpelt laid himself down, careful not to put any weight on his injured leg. Foxnose soon came back out with some poppy seeds and some other plants Lightpelt didn't recognize.
"Eat those." Foxnose said, pushing the poppy seeds in front of him. "I'll be back in a few minutes to see what I can do with you leg."
Lightpelt obliged willingly and gulped down the seeds in front of him. He watched Foxnose running around the see who was the worst case, and he ended up having to get Whitefang to help him carry Snowstorm back to where Lightpelt was lying. The white queen had fainted, and her three kits, though they were almost apprentices, were following her body around as though they were still suckling.
After laying Snowstorm down, and assuring her kits that she would be fine, Foxnose came back to Lightpelt. The effects of the poppy seeds were beginning to set in, and the calico was beginning to feel drowzy. But no sooner had Foxnose nosed his leg, Lightpelt jolted awake and let out a sharp meow of pain.
"Well, I have to see what's wrong, don't I?" the medicine cat asked, nonplussed. Lightpelt simply grumbled a reply and rested his head on his paws, ready to sit through whatever other pain threre was in store.
Sharpclaw woke up to find her fur pleasently warm, and she looked around to see Mercedes sleeping not far off, and Carmen watching her from a distance. He seemed to be scrutinizing her, trying to memorize every detail. He then realized that Sharpclaw was staring back at him, and he stood up and walked past her to Mercedes, nodding at her as he passed. Sharpclaw heard a loud, low growl emit from Carmen, and Mercedes awoke, yawning.
"You ought to be waking up now, Mercedes." Carmen said in his own language.
Mercedes stretched and yawned again, then walked over to Sharpclaw. "Our human will be here soon. She brings home good things to eat."
"How do you know it's a she?" Sharpclaw asked, but before Carmen could answer, there came a noise from the wall where they had come into the house, and the strange voice of a Twoleg was heard. Mercedes and Carmen rushed into the room with the slippery floor, not sliding at all. Sharpclaw followed the two animals at a much slower pace, and soon enough, she saw the Twoleg crouch down several tail-lengths in front of her, making strange noises, and hold one of her very large Twoleg paws.
Sharpclaw felt her fur bristle and her tail became very large in alarm, but from she gathered about this Twoleg from Carmen and Mercedes, she had the sense not to hiss or scratch. She stared at the large paw for a few moments, while the Twoleg made low soothing sounds, and eventually the cat, with a glance at the reassuring look on Carmen's face, stretched her muzzle forward and gave a cautious sniff. Her fur began to lower itself back into position, as Sharpclaw sensed no danger and she scented the Twoleg's paw.
She inched closer, almost eager now to smell more of the strange scent that just days ago would have been revolting to her, when the Twoleg began to reach her paw out further. Sharpclaw stopped, and the paw came closer and closer, until Sharpclaw just closed her eyes. No sooner had she done so, than she felt the weight of the paw on her head, just between her ears, and she opened her eyes. The Twoleg paw was actually on top of her, and Sharpclaw began to feel threatened again, her fur fluffing up to show this. The Twoleg took no notice, and instead slid her paw back down the back of Sharpclaw's head and past her neck. It was when the paw reached her shoulderblades that Sharpclaw took off with a hiss.
She thought at first of running toward the wall to the outside world, but at the last moment, she changed her mind and darted back toward the fire, sliding at first on the slippery floor, but she made it back to the softer floor without pursuit from the Twoleg. Mercedes and Carmen followed her a few moments later.
"Why do you run?" Mercedes asked her. "She would not hurt you."
"I'm sorry. I've just never been around a Twoleg this closely before. I lived in the wild. Away from Twolegs and their houses and in the trees. It's really amazing now that I take the time to think about it."
Mercedes was staring at her with a curious look on her face, and so Sharpclaw ended up telling the black dog along with Carmen all about the four Clans of the forest, and about her life in WindClan. Carmen was silent throughout her tale, a thoughtful look on his face, but Mercedes was a young dog, and much too excited to keep quiet. She kept interrupting Sharpclaw with her questions and comments on what used to be everyday life for Sharpclaw.
"It sounds amazing." Mercedes said when the black cat finished her tale. "But if you seem to have loved it so much, why are you not there now?"
Sharpclaw sighed. "I ran away because..." She stopped herself, shaking her head. Her own life wasn't a story you could tell backwards. She would have to start at the beginning. And so she told them everything, starting from the tales she'd heard of her mother Crownstar turning her back on Tallfoot, her father, and him stealing her and her brother, up until she'd first met Mercedes.
No sooner had she finished speaking than a shout from the Twoleg was heard, and Mercedes went running into the room with the slippery floor.
"What's going on with her?" Sharpclaw asked, turning to Carmen.
"Right now is the time the Twoleg usually gives us food, and just now you heard her calling Mercedes to come and get her food."
Sharpclaw blinked in understanding. Mercedes had told her that the Twoleg called her 'Sasha,' and now that she thought about it, the shout had nearly sounded like 'Hassa' to her ears.
Carmen stood up as another shout came, this one sounding like 'Paradel' Sharpclaw cocked her head in confusion as Carmen turned to look at her.
"She's calling me now. You'd better come along too if you're hungry. I think I can hear her calling you, 'kitty.'"
Sharpclaw got up to follow Carmen, but hesitated slightly, staring at the cream colored cat in front of her. He turned back, a slight smirk on his features. "She calls me Caramel." Sharpclaw smiled and trotted after him, her question answered.
Sharpclaw stepped onto the slippery floor to see Mercedes already eating from a bowl on the floor. Also on the floor were two other smaller bowls. Carmen trotted up to one and began eating out of it, in a much more reserved and quieter way than Mercedes. Sharpclaw looked up and saw the Twoleg staring at her before crouching down and pushing the leftover bowl a little bit toward her.
Sharpclaw, now remembering what Mercedes had said, and how much she and Carmen seemed to trust the Twoleg, didn't run, or even fluff her fur up. She remained as calm as she possibly could, and she took a step forward, sniffing the food in the bowl. To her surprise, it was not the dry kibble that she'd been told kittypets ate. It looked...moist.
With another glance at Carmen and Mercedes eating from their own bowls, and a rumble from her suddenly starving stomach, she leaned it to take a bite. It wasn't bad, actually. A little tasteless compared to the mice and rabbits of the forest, but it had it's own taste. Sharpclaw decided that eating it would be better than going out to catch her own, so she settled down to finish it off.
Carmen and Mercedes finished shortly before her. Mercedes simply licked her muzzle off and trotted back into the room with the room with the soft floor, not bothering to clean her fur, and it reoccured to Sharpclaw how different dogs really were. Carmen jumped up onto a table where the Twoleg was eating her own food and began to wash himself. Sharpclaw finished her own food and walked over to the floor just below him.
"Are you allowed up there?" she meowed cautiously. He stared down at her.
"Of course. She isn't very strict about me on her tables. Come on up if you like." Sharpclaw shook her head. She hadn't even really been here a day yet. She didn't want to intrude. But as she washed her paws on the floor, she kept glancing up at the table where Carmen sat. And she finally decided that staying on the floor when she could be on the table would be like a bird walking when it could be flying. So she jumped up beside the cream colored cat.
The Twoleg must have taken immediate notice of her, but it made no signs. Sharpclaw guessed she didn't want off the newcomer again. So she shrugged and resumed washing herself as she watched the Twoleg hold strange objects in her paws and eat her food with them. How very strange Twolegs were!
Sharpclaw looked over at Carmen, a sudden question forming in her mind. "Carmen, why exactly did you teach Mercedes our language?"
Carmen turned to her. "Once I decided that I would live here, I knew that I would have to live with her. So I listened closely to her, and eventually I came to understand what she was saying, so I decided to teach her how to speak my language, along with another dog, a friend of hers, Talon. Now we understand each other perfectly."
The Twoleg stood up, finished with its food, and Sharpclaw stopped to watch her. The paw came down again, but this time, Sharpclaw only felt the weight in the top of her head for a short time before it was gone, and the Twoleg walked off. She looked over at Carmen, but he had jumped off the table and walked to see Mercedes. Sharpclaw watched as he jumped up on another table and curled up for a nap. Sharpclaw followed his example and snuggled next to Mercedes in front of the fire for a nap.
She awoke some hours later to see Mercedes had left her side. She looked around. Carmen was watching her. Sharpclaw felt suddenly annoyed. Carmen did indeed stare at her and awful lot, and now she'd been awoken with one side warm from the fire, and the other cool from where Mercedes had left. She stretched and stood up. Carmen's expression changed immediately, and he jumped down in front. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sharpclaw beat him to it.
"I really wish you would stop staring at me all the time. It's annoying. I'll have you know I'm very well known back in the forest. I'm not a bad cat, you know. I'm kind, and I'm always loyal to my Clan, wherever I am. Remember, my mother was a Clan leader and my father was a great, strong, loyal ShadowClan cat."
Carmen meerly stared at her for a moment. Then he sighed. "They weren't your parents." he said meekly.
Sharpclaw stared back at him. He was crazy. He really didn't know what he was saying. Another rush of anger coursed through her. "Oh, and I suppose you know who my parents are." she said sarcatically as she turned her back to walk away.
"Of course I do. I'm your father, Sharpclaw."
Oooh, cliffhanger! Sorry I had to do that, but I just felt like the chapter had gone on for long enough, and that would be a good spot to end it. Anyway, why don't we try forfour reviews this time instead of three? I just feel like I'm being rushed cause you guys review so quickly. Not that that's a bad thing!