Hi everyone! Guess what's back! Back again? Tadpolefur's struggle is back! Go tell your friends!
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath the Clanrock for a clan meeting!"
Tadpolekit blearily opened her eyes, and then shut them again. The light sprinkling into the nursery felt blinding, and too make matters worse, her eyelids felt as heavy as boulders. Next to her, a loud yawn told her that Shadekit felt exactly the same way.
I can't catch my own prey anyway thought Tadpolekit blearily So there's no need for me to be at the meeting
A mew from the exit to the nursery temporarily halted her voyage back into sleep. "Aren't you coming to the clan meeting?" asked Tansyfoot.
Tadpolekit just could not bothered. It was not that much to ask for some extra sleep. She snuggled in deeper into her moss while letting Shadekit answer.
"We can't go, we can't catch our own prey" mewed Shadekit tiredly
"I'm sure it will be fine as long as you are with me," mewed Tansyfoot. Tadpolekit heard Shadekit get up, presumably to go with her to the meeting.
"Tadpolekit?" inquired Tansyfoot.
"Let me sleep, I'm tired" murmured Tadpolekit quietly.
Suddenly, Tadpolekit felt the scruff of her neck being pulled and felt that she was no longer in her nest, but in the air. She opened her eyes to see that she was being carried to the clan meeting, dangling from her mother's mouth. Below her, Shadekit walked alongside them, as he struggled to contain his laughter. Looking ahead, Tadpolekit saw that they were the last ones to the clan meeting; the whole clan could see her being carried by her mother. After heartbeats that felt like moons, Tansyfoot sat down next Aethernose, whose whiskers twitched when he saw Tadpolekit. Then, at long last Tansyfoot set Tadpolekit down. She instantly gave her chest a series of furiously embarrassed licks. On the Clanrock, Seedstar noticed that the whole clan was here, and began the meeting.
"Clan mates," began Seedstar, "as you all know, for the second moon in a row, WindClan have accused us prey stealing."
"No cat that I know has stolen prey from WindClan," continued Seedstar, "nor have we seen a rabbit on the fresh kill pile for quite some time. But, prey stealing is not allowed, and WindClan seem determined to believe that we have stolen prey. If any cat has stolen prey, I would like to invite them to my den to privately talk to me about it. There will be no consequences involved, assuming the cat involved stops the prey stealing. It is nearly leaf-bare, so we cannot afford these hostilities to continue. That is all. Stormfall, would you please set the patrols?"
The clan dispersed, and the patrols left camp. Shadekit padded up to Tadpolekit.
"Do you really think one of our warriors has been stealing from WindClan?"
"Of course not!" snapped Tadpolekit. "ShadowClan warriors would never do such a thing! WindClan are making this all up!"
Despite Tadpolekit's harsh tone, amusement glittered in Shadekit's eyes. "Well, I guess that settles that the then," he mewed. "The estimate of one two moon old kit has decided that ShadowClan are not stealing prey. WindClan will certainly back down now."
Tadpolekit rolled her eyes."Stupid fur ball," she mewed. Let's go find Honeykit. I want a rematch of last nights moss ball game."
Shortly after Sunhigh, Tadpolekit and Shadekit were wrestling, when a border patrol, made up of Lighteningrunner, Gorsewater, Sunfoot, Brambleheart and Frogeyes ran into camp.
"Seedstar!" said an out of breath Lighteningrunner. "We discovered WindClan scent on our territory!"
Seedstar, who had been sharing tongues with Ashclaw, leaped up, fury evident in her amber eyes.
"Where?" she growled
"Close to the thunderpath, not too far off the carrion place," responded Gorsewater
"Is there any sign of prey stealing?" asked the ShadowClan leader
"It doesn't look like it," mewed Sunfoot. "It looks like it is just one WindClan warrior. There's no sign of scent marking either. It's just as if he or she is looking around."
Seedstar's face was etched with concern. She looked at Stormfall. "Put border patrols that would normally be on the ThunderClan border on the WindClan border."
"What if ThunderClan tries something?" asked Stormfall.
"Swiftstar has her own problems," mewed Seedstar. "She just lost Sunning Rocks to RiverClan, so her warriors are injured. She won't try anything."
Seedstar looked at Lighteningrunner "Take me to where you found the WindClan scent." Lighteningrunner nodded, and the two she-cats left camp.
Tadpolekit and Shadekit watched enviously as Seedstar and Lighteningrunner left camp. Suddenly, Tadpolekit felt a surge of anger, which engulfed her like a caterpillar in a cocoon.
"Our leader can be a mouse brain sometimes!" she exclaimed.
Shadekit looked at her calmly, although Tadpolekit could see surprise flickering in his green eyes.
"What makes you say that?"
"We've got a WindClan accusing us of prey stealing, as well as an enemy warrior on our territory! The Clan needs everyone they can spare! We should be out there helping the Clan! If we were out there the clan could perhaps spare some patrols on the ThunderClan border!"
Shadekit looked surprised at the hard edge in her mew, but understanding began to fill his green eyes.
"You're right Tadpolekit," Shadekit mewed. "Stormfall is still in camp, maybe we could ask her what she thinks?"
"Forget it," Tadpolekit growled "She's too blind to realize that the clan needs us more than ever."
"She's the clan deputy," Shadekit mewed "I'm sure she's at the very least thought about it."
"Then what do you think she will say?" mewed Tadpolekit. Shadekit was silent and looked down at his paws. "Thought so. The clan will realize how much they need us when we bring back a few mice, or, even better, chase off that WindClan warrior! I have a plan on how to sneak out of camp. This is what we will do..."
Oh, Tadpolekit. It was quite fun to write her thinking she knew better than the clan leader and deputy. Once again, thank you for the reviews. I got pointed out some grammar errors which was helpful, I've corrected chapter 1 accordingly. I also got referenced to one of Erin Hunters new series, Bravelands, as well as praise, also nice. Anyway, please review, they keep me going. See you next chapter!
Thanks!
- Willowstorm
