A/N: Thank you to coniferous - Redfeather for Dust, Whitetail, Flicker, Talon, and Sharp, Guest for Bluebell, Brookshine, North, and Brightpaw, Wolfpirate for Wolfcreek, and Gorseslash for Doom Moonwatcher and Sunwatcher.
Also, if you're curious, this story takes place like a year after A Vision of Shadows.
"Come on Whitetail-"
Heathpaw's ears pricked up, he didn't hear the rest of what the tom said, because his mind was reeling with the name he just mentioned. Whitetail was the name of his mother's mother, could she be here on this island?
He raced towards the source of the noise, being careful to avoid the trees this time.
"Where are you going?" Cider asked, as he started running beside him. Heathpaw suppressed a groan, wondering if he should slow down to match Cider's pace, or to keep running at his own, to be able to see Whitetail faster.
"Sorry, I can't talk right now," he meowed, belting forward as fast as his legs could carry him. Cider could wait, Whitetail couldn't. In the quarter moon he's been here, he's learned that the island was super huge, and if he saw a cat, he might not see that cat for awhile. Like Snowdrop and Silverstorm, he hadn't seen them since they were all trying to work out why they were there, but Cider, he seemed to be everywhere he was.
He then had another thought, why waste his energy, when he could just call for Whitetail? Throwing his head back, he yowled.
"WHITETAIL!"
"Yes, what is it? Do I know you?"
A stab of disappointment hit Heathpaw's belly, when he found himself looking at a long haired white she-cat who looked a little like his Whitetail, but wasn't her.
"No, just go away," Heathpaw spat, more angrily than he intended. Whitetail's green eyes widened, and she took a step back.
A white and ginger tabby tom bounded over to them, and stuck his muzzle in Heathpaw's face.
"Do you have a problem?" he demanded with his eyes flashing.
Whitetail rested her tail over his back.
"Calm down Flicker, he's probably just scared."
"I'm not scared," Heathpaw protested, he was though, he was terrified, he was in a strange place, with no one he knew.
"Hey, when did you all get here?" Cider asked. For once, Heathpaw was glad he was there, now he had an excuse to get away from these two cats.
"We just arrived here, do you know where we are?" Whitetail asked, as a dark brown tabby with amber eyes padded over.
"I asked around, no one knows where they are, or how to get off this island," he meowed.
"Have they tried swimming?" Whitetail asked.
The dark brown tom nodded.
"Climbing as high as they could on a tree, to get a better vantage point to see if there was any land nearby?" Flicker asked.
"Don't you think we've tried everything already?" Huckleberryfern sighed, stepping forward with a bird in his jaws.
He dropped the bird and shook his head.
"I've been here for many, many moons, and I've seen no way off this island, so I decided to just hunt, and patrol, like I would in BerryClan, and try to live as normally as possible."
"How can we live normally when none of our clanmates are here?" Heathpaw spat.
"My clanmate is here!" Mistpaw mewed excitedly, racing over with a dark brown tabby with large golden eyes.
"This is Brookshine, they're a medicine cat."
"What? A medicine cat for RiverClan? I thought you said Mothwing was the medicine cat!" Heathpaw exclaimed.
"She is, so is Willowshine, but Brookshine is also a medicine cat."
"Well, WindClan has such formidable warriors, and Kestrelflight is such an amazing medicine cat, that we don't need multiple medicine cats like RiverClan and ThunderClan," Heathpaw meowed, remembering hearing that ThunderClan had like seven medicine cats now or something.
"I remember ThunderClan, that used to be the clan that I was in," Whitetail meowed.
Great, not only was she not his Whitetail, but she was also a ThunderClan cat, Heathpaw thought bitterly.
"I'm from ThunderClan!" a white she-cat with ginger splotches exclaimed.
"My name is Brightpaw," she continued, "I was named after my clanmate, Brightheart, everyone says we look just alike!"
So there were multiple ThunderClan cats, and multiple RiverClan cats, but he was the only WindClan cat that he had seen, and there were no ShadowClan, or SkyClan cats that he could recall.
"What's it like living in a clan?" Cider asked.
Using this opportunity to get away from the kittypet, he slunk away, only to run into Twix.
"Hey Heathpaw!" the light brown tom called.
"Hi, Twix, how are you doing?" Heathpaw asked with a light sigh.
"I'm great! I was just talking with Munchkin, he's a house-cat like me and Cider!"
"That's nice," Heathpaw meowed, padding along, feeling irritation rise in him, as he nearly bumped into another tree.
He hated this island, he missed feeling the wind in his face, and having wide open spaces where he could run and run, without bumping into any stupid trees.
"Everyone get their tails over here! We have a challenge to conduct!" the sharp yowl of Pepper rang out.
"Oh no, not another challenge," Twix groaned.
"What do they mean by a challenge?" Heathpaw asked, as he padded over to where Salt and Pepper were standing.
"There are some points in time, where if Salt and Pepper are super bored, they'll think of some challenge for the rest of us to do, and the cat who comes in last well," Twix looked at the ground, "We don't see them anymore."
"You mean, they kill them?" he hissed.
"I don't know, I just know that they take them away, and that's the last we ever see of them."
"What happens if you don't participate?" Heathpaw asked, wondering if there was a way he could get out of this.
"You have to, or they will make you disappear anyway."
Heathpaw's fur was still bristled, when he reached Salt and Pepper, but he willed it to lay flat, not wanting to call attention to himself. Looking around, he saw that there was many cats who he didn't recognize, and a lot he did. He could see Silverstorm and Snowdrop again, but he saw no cats from WindClan much to his dismay. Or maybe it would be better if they weren't here, he didn't want any of his clanmates having to go through this.
"Good, you're all here," Salt meowed.
"Moonwatcher isn't here," a white she-cat with orange tabby splotches muttered.
"Moonwatcher was the cat to lose the last contest, that's Sunwatcher, her sister, she's still broken up about it, and she's been searching for her ever since it happened," Twix meowed.
"Is there a reason why you're not listening?" Pepper spat.
Twix shook his head and slunk back.
"Good, for this challenge, I will pair you all in groups of two, and the winner from each team will move to one side, and the loser from each team will move to another. Then, after that round, I will group up all the losers, one on one, and all the winners one on one, until there is one ultimate winner and one ultimate loser.
That sounds simple enough, Heathpaw thought, hoping that Salt and Pepper would pair him up with a kittypet. No, he shook his head, that wouldn't be a fair fight, if he had to fight someone, he'd want it to be a clan cat.
"First up is our reigning fighting champion Silverstorm against our best hunter, Huckleberryfern!"
"Next is Foxkit and-"
"Wait," Mapleshine stepped forward, "You're making kits fight?"
"You can't make kits fight!" Duskflight exclaimed.
"Yes, kits are fighting, and so are elders," Salt jerked his head over to Grayfur.
"Grayfur, you're against Foxkit."
"I will not fight a kit," Grayfur gasped.
"You better fight him, unless you want us to make you disappear," Pepper growled, flexing her claws.
"I don't care, I will not fight him," Grayfur meowed firmly, making no attempts of moving towards the kit.
Pepper nodded.
"Very well then," she jerked her head over to Salt, "Take him away!"
Heathpaw watched in horror as he large white tom grabbed Grayfur by the fur on his back, and picked him up as though he were nothing more than a piece of prey.
"I can walk," Grayfur spat. Salt didn't let him go though, and he continued to carry him away.
"Since Grayfur is out, does that mean the challenge is over?" Mintpaw asked.
"No, it just means two cats will leave us today, and there will be more prey for the rest of us," Pepper meowed, "Now, continuing on, since Grayfur is gone, I will now be pairing Foxkit and Twix!"
Twix sighed and padded over to stand next to Foxkit. Heathpaw wasn't sure who had the advantage, a kit or a kittypet with no claws.
"If the two kits have to fight, can't they just battle each other?" Flicker meowed.
"No!" Pepper spat, "Moving on, Wolfcreek against Brookshine."
The unmistakable stench of ShadowClan hit Heathpaw's nose as a scarred black, white, and grey she-cat padded forward. So, there were ShadowClan cats here.
"So, we meet again Wolfcreek," Brookshine meowed calmly.
"That we are, how have things been in RiverClan since I left?" Wolfcreek asked.
"Better, much better."
The scarred she-cat let out a yowl, and threw herself onto Brookshine. Heathpaw stared at her with surprise, he couldn't believe that a cat would attack a medicine cat, all the stories he heard were true, ShadowClan cats were no better than rogues.
Pepper continued to call out names, and Heathpaw stopped listening, until he heard his own name being called.
He snapped his attention back to Pepper, and Salt, who had come back.
"Fighting Heathpaw, will be North!"
A tall and very thin white tom, padded forward.
I can probably take him easily, he's skinnier than a lot of cats in my clan. Heathpaw thought to himself, until he saw the cat's collar, it was red and embedded with dog teeth.
His heart started pounding in his chest, he had no doubts that this cat was from BloodClan, a blood thirsty despicable clan he had heard many nursery stories about.
He couldn't fight this cat! BloodClan cats had no morals, they were worse than ShadowClan, worse than a rogue, this cat would tear him to shreds.
He couldn't back out either though, if he backed out, then Salt and Pepper would make him disappear just like they did with Grayfur.
He slowly padded over to North, with his heart pounding harder in his chest with each step, he was pretty sure than everyone around him could smell his fear scent. He didn't care though, they'd probably be afraid too if they had to fight a vicious BloodClan cat.
"This is going to be easy," North snorted, lunging at him with his claws unsheathed.
Heathpaw screeched, and flattened himself to the ground, wincing as the white tom's claws raked down his side.
"You win!" he exclaimed.
"Wow, that was fast, I'm disappointed, go sit with the other losers until the next round," Pepper sighed.
Heathpaw's heart started slowly returned to its normal pace. He was relieved that he had survived his fight with North. He also felt ashamed, he should have fought back, instead of just giving up. He didn't see how he could possibly have beaten him though, he was only an apprentice, and North was from BloodClan.
"Hey, so you lost your fight too, huh?" Twix meowed.
"Yeah," Heathpaw sighed, wondering if Twix was actually beaten by a kit, or if he let the kit win.
"I hope Foxkit wins, I don't want him to disappear," Honeykit mewed with fear shining in her blue eyes.
"There's no way any cat is beating Snowstorm, he has won every fighting contest," Huckleberryfern sighed, turning his head to lick a bleeding scratch on the back of his shoulder.
"And you've won every hunting contest, but don't worry, I will win one of them one of these days," Hawk meowed.
"How often are these contests?" Heathpaw asked, wondering how there were still so many cats, if Salt and Pepper always made the losers disappear, then again, multiple new cats had showed up after he'd gotten there. So maybe it was like the new cats were replacing the ones who disappeared, or something.
But then, if Salt and Pepper could make them disappear off this island, then that must mean that they know how to leave.
He felt like the breath was knocked out of him, when he realized something, they didn't want to leave, they enjoyed taking control of the other cats.
He would have to go back to his plan of befriending them, maybe if he got close enough to one of them, they would tell him how to get home.
He couldn't think about that right now though, right now, he had to focus on not coming in last for the battle challenge.
"Round two!"
Pepper sorted through the teams again, and Heathpaw found himself being paired up with Cider.
"Sorry about this," he meowed, throwing himself onto Cider. He held him down, and opened his jaws to bite his ear, when the kittypet started yowling.
"You win! You win!"
"But I didn't even do anything," Heathpaw meowed, letting Cider up.
"I know, but I don't think I had a chance against a clan cat, I was just doing what you did with North, and taking myself out of the fight, before I could get hurt."
"I wouldn't hurt you," Heathpaw meowed, he wasn't sure if that were true though, when he got angry enough, he went into a rage, where he didn't feel like himself when he fought with another cat. He could feel their pelt rip beneath his claws, hear their wails, but he couldn't stop it. Thankfully, he never killed another cat during one of his fits of anger.
The fighting continued on, until on the winner side, Silverstorm and North were the only cats left, and on the loser side, Honeykit and Cider were left.
"Come on Honeykit!" Mapleshine exclaimed.
"You can do this, Cider!" Twix yowled.
Heathpaw didn't know who he wanted to win between Cider and Honeykit. Cider was sort of his friend, he was annoying and clingy sure, but he wasn't a bad cat, and Honeykit was just a kit, he didn't want her to disappear before her time.
"The winner is Silverstorm!" Salt exclaimed.
Heathpaw couldn't believe his ears, their fight had just begun, and he beat North? He stared up at the pale silver tom, feeling both awe and fear course through him. This cat had just defeated a BloodClan member.
A short time later, Pepper yowled.
"The loser is Cider!"
"No!" Twix wailed, attemtping to jump on Salt, who knocked him away easily with a massive paw.
He scrambled back to his paws, and started racing at Salt again, only to have his path blocked by Huckleberryfern.
"It's over, there's nothing you can do, if you try getting in Salt's way, he'll make you disappear too."
Heathpaw swallowed down the lump that was forming in his throat, feeling a hole of emptiness grow in his chest.
He felt guilty about how rude he was to Cider, when all he wanted was to be his friend, now, he was gone, and he would never see him again.
Salt and Pepper made Cider disappear.
A jolt of fear surged through him, when he realized that he might be next.
Lost Island Cats
Salt - large white tom with yellow eyes
Pepper - large black she-cat with yellow eyes
Grayfur - elderly dark grey tom with a lighter grey, due to age, muzzle, and green eyes
Huckleberryfern - black tom with green eyes
Cider - golden tom with amber eyes, has a black and white collar with a bell
Twix - light brown tom with amber eyes, has a pink collar
Silverstorm - skinny light silver tom with pale blue eyes
Snowdrop - white tom with green eyes
Coralpaw - cream colored she-cat with green eyes
Reefpaw - cream colored tom with green eyes
Mintpaw - brown she cat with light brown paws and tail tip and mint green eyes
Munchkin - red tabby Scottish fold with amber eyes
Mimic - tortiseshell tabby Scottish fold with green eyes
Apple - orange tabby tom with right white forepaw, green eyes, and minimum scarring
Bucktooth - black tom with a tuxedo white spot on his chest; no back claws, deaf is left ear
Hawk That Soars at Midnight (Hawk) - small, lean, white she-cat with pale blue eyes, and scarred shoulders
Artemis - pale, silvery she-cat, with moon-shaped amber eyes and webbed paws
Cricket - small she-cat with mostly black, scraggly, tortoiseshell fur
Freespirit - yellow tom with a red stream running from his forehead to his neck, and dark, almost black eyes
Duskflight - orange she-cat with red streaks and blue eyes
Mapleshine - red she-cat with white-tipped tail and ears, and black paws
Sparkpaw - tan she-cat with a red dash on her chest and blue eyes
Foxkit - orange tom with bright green eyes
Honeykit - yellow she-cat with a light red tipped tail and blue eyes
Heathpaw - small dark brown, black, and white, snowshoe looking tom with blue eyes
Dust - dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Whitetail - long-haired white she-cat with green eyes
Flicker - white and ginger tabby tom
Talon - elderly tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws and amber eyes
Sharp - ticked blue tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Rocky - white and gray tabby tom with green eyes
Bluebell - lithe silvery gray she-cat with a blueish tint and green eyes
Brookshine - chubby dark brown tabby with a sleek, glossy pelt and large golden eyes
North - tall and thin white tom with a messy pelt and yellow eyes, has a dull red collar that is loose and full of dog teeth
Brightpaw - small fluffy white she-cat with ginger patches and blue eyes
Moonwatcher - black she cat with scattered siver speckles on her belly, chest, paws, and ears
Sunwatcher - white she cat with orange tabby splotches and amber eyes
Doom - pure black tom with very dark green eyes
Wolfcreek - grey with dark grey, black, and white stripes and spots, scarred all over and blind in one eye, has a yellow and green eye