"I don't think there's enough space at the top to get through," Breezepaw argued, "If a kit got swept down over the rocks, it might die!" I could understand that the fiery grey tomcat was afraid, but he didn't understand the real threat in the situation.
"Oh Heatherpaw, there's nothing to fear." Tigerstar purred quietly, and I took one glance at the large tomcat before quivering.
"Heatherpaw, this is Tiger Strikes." Hawk's Shadow said, dipping his head.
"N-no, this is Tigerstar." I mewed almost silently, fear making my voice very hoarse.
"Are you sure? Heatherpaw, this is Tiger Strikes. He was my mentor when I lived by the lake."
I blanched, looking at Hawk's Shadow. You've never really seen Tigerstar, you've only heard the nursery stories… and Hawk's Shadow is your friend.
"I don't agree with Hawk's Shadow, Heatherpaw." The new tomcat glared at the seemingly younger version of himself. "To serve your Clan, you must serve it with every breath in your body. There is another way out, but Hawk's Shadow is too afraid for you."
The white-chested ghost looked away, down at the floor while the cats around me yowled and scattered.
"He is afraid because the only way out is through the river. The exact way the ThunderClan cats were going to kill you."
I nodded slowly… fearing the black water myself. "T-they wouldn't kill the kits though…. Right?"
Tiger Strikes shook his broad head slowly. "We can't see the future, Heatherpaw. Only what they planned to do when they walked in these tunnels. They fear an attack by your Clan, the kits that these three apprentices bring back could be used as hostages. You've already seen how they've prepared for battle, and are all too ready to attack your Clan." His thick tail draped over my shoulders like a haze, and I could almost feel it. "What if Lionpaw was the one that led the kits down here?"
"How would he do that?" I meowed. The guilt of revealing the tunnels to the kits laid heavily on my mind.
"How did he do that." Hawk's Shadow gently corrected her.
"Heatherpaw, haven't you noticed that you are always the first to leave after your little meetings? He watched and waited… and then, one day, he went through the tunnels, into your territory. He got close to your camp, he found your kits wandering, and he led them to the tunnels." The silky tone of Tiger Strikes was so convincing. "He had everything to find them again; Jaypaw sniffed them out within heartbeats, yes?"
I had been wondering how the grey tabby had found the scent so quickly, when I had needed Hawk's Shadow to guide me…
"But imagine his surprise when he found you and Breeezepaw? He couldn't risk the kits getting away. It was ThunderClan's perfect idea, a perfect way to control your Clan. And it was easy enough! The apprentices thought it up for StarClan's sake."
The kits… WindClan would never risk the future of their kits. ThunderClan said they didn't want war… and this was their way of stopping it? They wouldn't need to fight at all…
"Of course, once they found you, Lionpaw knew that he couldn't keep you around. Instead, he quickly planned how to get rid of you, without leaving marks or evidence. He would push you and Breezepaw into the river, letting the current pull you away." Tiger Strikes' eyes were dark with sadness. I couldn't doubt the sentiment that seemed to pour from the elderly tom, and could only nod mutely. Everything made such dreadful sense now.
Hawk's Shadow pushed his nose into her cheek. "I couldn't let that happen to you, Heatherpaw. You're my best friend!"
I returned the gesture to Hawk's Shadow, my heart shaken with grief. The merciless ThunderClan cats… they planned to use the kits as prisoners! "I have to get the kits out," I muttered, my voice stronger than my body felt.
"Heatherpaw, the tunnels are filling. You will survive, but you must act quickly," Tiger Strikes mewed, his deep voice edged with a taunt note. "You must find this exit for yourself though; Hawk's Shadow and I never had the chance to. We perished in the cave, but you, you will live."
Hawk's Shadow smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. I couldn't blame him, and instead, knew that he had wanted the help that he was supporting me with at the moment he had died in the raging waters himself.
"Thinking won't move boulders!" I turned to the other cats, attempting to act panicked once more. I stared around the cave, at Breezepaw, who was still attempting to get up the blocked tunnels. "We're trapped!" I clarified, in case the three siblings had had any other ideas.
"We could wait till the cave floods and swim up to the hole in the roof," Hollypaw suggested. What a great idea, wait for us to drown. I glanced up to the hole in the ceiling, as if to judge the size.
"It's too small to escape through," Breezepaw said for me, glaring at the black she-cat with insolence. Only I spotted the glance toward me, and I nodded again.
"And the kits might drown!" I added for a good measure. The ThunderClan cats wouldn't hesitate to push us into the water and watch us drown first. But the moment the kits were in danger… their bargaining chip.
"We'll have to swim!" Jaypaw shouted from his place beside the river. I nearly growled, flattening my ears to my head involuntarily at the suggestion. The ThunderClan cats were just desperate to get Breezepaw and I into the water.
"Swim where?" Lionpaw spluttered from the other side of the river, his pelt still drenched with the rainwater dripping from the ceiling, and the flume from the river that was still steadily rising.
"The river runs to the lake, it'll carry us there!" Jaypaw glanced in the direction of his brother, his bright blue eyes unfocused and cloudy. His voice was sharp with fear and anger, and he switched his gaze to the dark hole that the equally murky water disappeared into.
"But it disappears underground!" Breezepaw's fur was standing on end as he stared after the water as well, his claws leaving notches in the stone below them.
"It comes out in the lake!" Jaypaw's voice echoed through the cavern as he patted the water again, the spray turning his fur dark and damp.
"We're not RiverClan. We can't swim!" I screeched, making my standing obvious. There was no way I was going near the water!
The three siblings drew close to each other, Lionpaw touching Jaypaw on the shoulder with his tail. Breezepaw stalked closer to make sure he wasn't left out, but hissed out a retort to whatever Hollypaw had just said.
"If we don't do something, we're all going to drown!"
"Let's try it!" Hollypaw looked a little too eager as the kits let out their complaints too. Lionpaw attempted to console them, but their complaints only got louder. He showed the kits how to padedle through the water, while my thoughts turned bitter. If he's going to kill me, I'm going to make him feel guilty for it.
"I'm scared," I sauntered up to Lionpaw's side, rubbing alongside his flanks like I had when we had been seeing each other only a few sunrises earlier.
"It's going to be okay, our time together will be something I remember even when I'm with StarClan." Oh, how romantic. It's more like when I meet StarClan. His pelt was pressing into mine, the cold fur giving off anything but warmth. The stench of ThunderClan was cloying, and almost made me gag. Two can play at that game.
"There will be no borders between us there," It sounded so much like a goodbye, like he didn't think that I knew what was coming, that I trembled in anger. It was a lucky break when Jaypaw screeched, "We have to go!"
"Line up on the edge of the river," Hollypaw mewed, taking charge. She waited until each of the cats had lined up, the kits cowering behind me. I couldn't blame them, as one of the only two cats from their actual Clan, they probably felt safer with me. "Lionpaw, you take Sedgekit, I'll take Thistlekit, Breezepaw take Swallowkit."
Fear flashed across my pelt. I didn't have a kit. Hawk's Shadow had warned me that that made me expendable. "What can I do?" My last attempt at saving my own life was out now.
"Hold on to my tail, we'll help each other." Jaypaw muttered, and I agreed quickly. I grasped the edge of his striped tail in my mouth gently, but firmly enough not to let him go when we hit the water.
"I'm not going!" Swallowkit turned and pressed herself to the ground, speeding away on her long WindClan legs. Breezepaw caught up to her in a second, one stride equaling a few of the little kit's. "Don't worry, Swallowkit," he mewed, bringing the little cat close and pushing her into the fur at his chest, "I won't let you go. There's no way I'm going to let you drown."
His eyes met mine over the head of the little she-kit, amber eyes wide with fear. I understood what he was thinking and a burst of protectiveness- over Breezepaw and the three kits that looked at the water with giant eyes. They would make it, even if I didn't ThunderClan as a whole would pay for these three apprentices' stupid ideas.
"Heatherpaw," A soft voice said just behind me. Without turning, I knew that it was Hawk's Shadow, and Tiger Strikes couldn't be far behind him. "This is where we say goodbye."
I nodded sadly. I knew that this would come sometime, but I was hoping that it would be later rather than sooner.
"I'll miss you Heatherpaw, I won't forget you, but you can't come back here after this. I'm sorry." Hawk's Shadow sounded depressed, although now he had Tiger Strikes to accompany him in the tunnels.
"You're doing the right thing, Heatherpaw," The larger tom murmured into the fur in my ear, making me shiver. "I'm proud that Hawk's Shadow and you had become such good friends. This river will lead you to the lake; make sure you get the kits home as soon as possible." I nodded silently, gripping Jaypaw's tail again. He was beginning to wade into the shallows of the river, and when it reached his stomach, it reached my paws. I could feel the current growing stronger and stronger as I waded in deeper, and the tomcat in front of me, clinging to the shelf of rock below his paws so the water didn't pull him away.
"Ready?" Lionpaw's mew was almost intelligible over the rushing of water.
"Yes!" Hollypaw muttered around her kit.
"Jump!" Jaypaw mewed, and hurled himself into the dark water. I hesitated a bit, and felt Jaypaw's tail tug in my mouth.
"Go," Tiger Strikes muttered,
"And save your Clan" Hawk's Shadow mewed.
Jaypaw was being pulled away by the water, and I hurled myself in towards him, moving my paws like I was running across the moors. The water closed over my head quickly, silently, and everything became bubbly and distorted. Kicking up, my short fur made it easier for me to rise. I tilted my muzzle up to find the air, and caught a breath, just before the light of the cave vanished. Behind me, as we tumbled through the water, I spotted the two toms that I knew, and saved my life, turn to smoke and fade into the darkness.
AN: BORED. Sorry, the end will be annoyingly Canon, but whatever. There'll be a chapter afterward that I think everyone will find... interesting xD
No one ever wondered why Heatherpaw was so hateful, but never got ot the Dark Forest? I shall show you the way ^.^