Aaaand, chapter four!
Whiskers brooded about camp, skulking. Her amber eyes were dull with boredom. Okay, so it was her own fault she was being held prisoner, but she still thought Shootingstar was being unfair. Sorta. Finally, she had enough. She padded over to sit next to her guard, a shadowy black she-cat.
"Hi," she mewed. Shadowclaw glanced at her. "Hi."
After a few moments of silence Whiskers went on. "What's your name?"
"Shadowclaw. What are you doing, anyways?"
"Talking."
"Don't you have anything better to do?"
"No, not really."
Silence followed.
"Shadowclaw?"
"Now what?"
"Have you ever played I Spy?"
"What?"
"I Spy! It's very fun. You see, I say something like... 'I spy something green' And then you look around and try to guess what it is!"
"And… Why would I play I Spy?"
"Because. I'm bored. You're bored. We're all bored!"
Shadowclaw stared at her. Taking her silence as a signal to go on, Whiskers looked around. "I spy something… Orange, white and black."
Truly bored out of her mind, Shadowclaw looked around. "Is it… Petitefire?"
"Who's Petitefire?"
"That warrior, over there."
"Oh. Yeah, Petitefire. Your turn!"
"My turn? Oh, okay. I spy something… Green."
"Oh, boy. This is going to be tough!"
"Yep."
"Do I get a hint?"
"Nope!"
"Mouse dung!"
The two sorta-friends giggled and played the game as the sun dipped towards the horizon. Whiskers was so used to her other friends style, she found playing with Shadowclaw was quite exciting. She got stumped for a long time on "I spy something orange and white!" Which turned out to be her.
Sadly, Shadowclaw was replaced by a white cat with gray on her ears and tail. This turned out to be Spottedlilly. Not long after, Spottedlilly and Whiskers were giggling like kits as they watched the tom cats march around camp, showing off their egos. Spottedlilly was then replaced by young Milkfrost, and again the two became friends.
I could get used to this thought Whiskers, grinning.
"Who would have known, three days back, that we would be here, on a patrol with WindClan?" mewed Lilo. Pepper beamed. The two kittypets were on patrol a with Mothtwister and Tallpaw. Descriptions of Princess, Qweenie and Whiskers were now known among the WindClan cats, and everybody was searching for them. Unfortunently, there was not a trace. Pepper and Lilo knew it was not only possible, but very likely that their friends were in another Clans territory. But who said they couldn't have a bit of fun? Fogstar didn't seem to mind if they went training with the apprentices, or go on patrol. Tallpaw loped in between Lilo and Pepper, talking excitedly with Lilo.
Pepper couldn't help but smile whenever Tallpaw looked at Lilo. The off-white tom's eyes would light up whenever he saw Lilo, and Pepper was no fool – He knew the WindClan apprentice liked Lilo.
"Have you ever seen a badger, Tallpaw?" Lilo was asking. Tallpaw shook his head. "No… I'm not sure I want to. They're scary!"
Lilo looked at him, puzzled. "You're afraid of them?" she mewed. Tallpaw nodded.
"Well, you shouldn't be. You're a Clan cat! The conquerors of the forest."
Tallpaw ducked his head, looking ashamed. "I'm afraid of a badger, Lilo!" volunteered Pepper, trying to make Tallpaw feel better. Lilo hardly glanced his way.
"Yeah, but you're also afraid of bees!" she mewed. Tallpaw giggled. "Hey, Lilo, did I tell you about the pheasant I caught once?" asked Tallpaw. Lilo shook her head and Tallpaw launched off into another story. Pepper sighed and continued to watch the horizon.
He blinked. Was that his imagination? No… there was something out there! "Mothtwister!" he mewed. "Look!"
The she-cat did. "It's a cat!" she mewed in surprise. Tallpaw and Lilo shut up at once. "What do we do?" mewed Tallpaw, looking nervous. Mothtwister didn't reply, but started towards the still form. Pepper and the other two followed at a brisk pace. Mothtwister reached the gray tabby first and prodded him. Pepper drew in a sharp breath. The cat was covered in blood!
"Wake up!" mewed Mothtwister gently. Lilo looked striken, Tallpaw, wary. The young tabby moaned and rolled over, looking at them with blue eyes. "Help me!" he whispered, before passing out.
"Qweenie! Hey, Qweenie!"
The kittypet turned and smiled when she saw her friends, Goldpaw and Eveningpaw.
"Hey Qweenie, guess what?" meowed Goldpaw, skidding to a halt in front of her. "Our mentors said you can come training with us!"
Qweenie jumped to her paws, tail twitching. "Wow, really? This is great!" she purred. Eveningpaw nodded.
"You better get something to eat first," she mewed softly. "We're going to be at Sunningrocks all day."
"Doesn't Sunningrocks belong to ThunderClan?" asked Qweenie, puzzled.
"It used to. Come on!"
After a meal of yummy starling, the three young cats left with their mentors, Quietangel and Raindancer. Qweenie kept close, exploring the forest inch by inch. The Clan cats laughed when she ran and hid from a startled mouse. Qweenie didn't feel excluded one bit – It was as though she had grown up in the Clan her whole life.
Soon, they reached the river. To get to Sunningrocks, they had to cross the river – By swimming.
"Uh… Guys? I have a confession to make… And it's called 'Fear of water'" meowed Qweenie, shying away from the river's edge. The Clan cats turned to look at her.
"Well, this is lovely," mewed Goldpaw. "Come on, Qweenie. It's not that bad." He added. Qweenie padded gingerly to the rivers edge and put a paw in the water. "Yijeebies! It's cold!" she yelped, leaping away from the water. This time Quietangel tried to persuade Qweenie into the river. But this time, she started sinking into the wet sand and ran away in fear of 'Quicksand'.
"This is pathetic, we're wasting time!" meowed Raindancer irritably after many more unsuccessful attempts to get Qweenie across the river. "Quietangel, go on and take the apprentices. I'll escort Qweenie to the stepping stones."
Ashamed, but relieved, Qweenie followed Raindancer to the stepping stones where they ran into the dawn patrol.
"Good morning, Raindancer, kittypet," meowed Redcloud stiffly. "I hope you're not going to Sunningrocks."
"Why not?" mewed Raindancer. "We'll be on our territory. Besides, the apprentices have been looking forward to training outside the hollow."
Redcloud's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, before closing it again. "You're right. If ThunderClan get all upset about that, that's their problem. Good hunting, Raindancer," he mewed unexpectedly. Then he turned and led the patrol away from the river, back home.
"Come on, Qweenie," mewed Raindancer.
"We thought you had gotten eaten by quicksand or something!" Goldpaw teased when they arrived.
"Qweenie was afraid of the stepping-stones." Raindancer explained. "Come on, it's already sunhigh!"
The training session went well. They were heading back to camp with their jaws full of plump prey from the rocks. Qweenie herself held a water vole she had caught herself, purely by chance.
"The hunting was wonderful today!" mewed Goldpaw through a mouthful of fish. "They prey was practicly dancing in front of our noses!"
Quietangel purred. "Come on, lets hurry. Qweenie, stay close!" she warned. The Clan cats quickened their pace, and Qweenie found herself having a difficult time. "Wait!" she called, dropping her catch. It was to late, they had run ahead.
"Oh well," muttered Qweenie, picking up the vole. "They'll come back for me."
The sun was setting, sending streaks of red across the darkening sky. Silence filled the forest, making Qweenies breathing sound loud and labored. Shadows crept across the land. Qweenie gulped. She could swear the shadows were whispering to her. She hurried on, trying to inore her fear. A twig cracked. Qweenie spun around, dropping her vole. "Who's there?" she whispered. No answer. Was she imagining it, or did she hear someone elses breathing? Not wanting to find out, Qweenie turned and fled.
She ran as fast as she had ever before run, her heart in her throat. The wind whistled in her ears. She was utterly terrified. "Goldpaw, Eveningpaw, Raindancer, Quietangel! Anyone!" she yowled.
Something brought her to a halt. A sense of foreboding was in the air. Right ahead, there was a clearing. She stepped gingerly forward, sensing that something was about to happen. Her fur prickled with fear. In the middle of the clearing there was a silvery body, covered in more blood then Qweenie had ever seen in her short lifetime. Pain racked her heart as recongnition came over her.
"Azuresun!" she gasped.
Thats a cliffy. oO Please R&R!!