Chapter 17

Hmm! A turning point in the story! :D HOMG! Thank you icefire! I accidentally reposted chapter 16, thinking it was chapter 17! XD Thank you so much for pointing that out! And also, thank you to everyone who reviews~~I hope you enjoy~~

"Bubblewing!"

At hearing her name, Bubblewing turned to see who had called her. Beartooth was bounding toward her.

"What is it, Beartooth?" she asked when the warrior had stopped running.

"Sapphirestar wants to personally look around the area to see where the strange creatures are coming from. She wants you to be in the group to look around," Beartooth explained.

Bubblewing flicked her tail in excitement. "Sure! Definitely! Of course! I can't say no to Sapphirestar!"

She walked over to the leader's den with Beartooth. Grassfur, Ribbonpaw, and Wreathpaw were going, too, by the looks of it. Sapphirestar called them into the den.

"So as you all certainly know, the forest is slowly being infected by creatures owned by Twolegs. And today, we are to do some investigative work to see if we can find the source," Sapphirestar meowed to the group of cats.

"But why do you want to come as well, Sapphirestar?" Grassfur asked.

"I want to see for myself what's happening around my home, especially since it's a potential threat to my Clan."

"I see," Grassfur meowed, her eyes shining with respect. "You're a great leader if there ever was one, Sapphirestar."

Sapphirestar smiled back at the warrior. "Thank you, Grassfur." She stood up and walked over to the entrance of her den. "Now, let's set off!"

They bounded quickly through RiverClan territory, and slowed down when they reached the border.

Beartooth sniffed around. "There are many strange scents mixed in with our own…some are stale, some are fresh."

Sapphirestar glanced around and then flicked her tail for the cats to start walking again.

Ribbonpaw was bouncing with excitement. "This is so cool! I can't believe it! I'm actually outside of the forest now…! I'm so excited!"

Grassfur smacked him on the head. "Shh, Ribbonpaw! Focus!"

"Right!" He completely straightened out his back and held his head high while walking in a march. Bubblewing couldn't help but to snort in amusement. He certainly was different!

After walking for a little while longer, they entered an area with an awful smell. Wreathpaw gagged.

"Th-that's disgusting!" Ribbonpaw exclaimed, attempting to cover his nose.

Sapphirestar opened her mouth and let the scent drift into it. After a moment of evaluation, she snapped it shut. "It's a mix of many different smells, including live creatures, dead ones, and droppings," she concluded.

"That's amazing!" Bubblewing gasped. "You could get that analysis just from breathing it in for a moment!"

Sapphirestar smiled at her. "It's not that hard, Bubblewing. You just have to concentrate. Now, I want to get closer. We must approach silently, and unseen. Crouch as low to the ground as possible." With that, Sapphirestar lowered her body to the grass and moved along, the others close behind her. As they closed in on the area, they spotted a large, caged area big enough for several forests, and a bunch of huge monsters and Twolegs carrying around cages of many different shapes and sizes. The cats were amazed by what they saw; some animals they recognized, and some were completely alien. It blew their minds and they stared in awe before gathering themselves again.

"It seems the Twolegs are bringing all these strange animals to this one place…" Sapphirestar meowed.

"But some of them are escaping," Beartooth finished her thought.

"So…what do we do?" Wreathpaw asked, concerned.

"We must develop a plan…but even then, it might be too much work for just us cats to handle. I mean, look at all those Twolegs and their monsters! Not to mention all the weird creatures that keep wandering into our forest." Sapphirestar glanced around again. "I want to get a closer look."

The seven cats stalked even closer to the horrid cage. Something rustled behind a box near them, and Bubblewing snapped her head in that direction.

Suddenly, a group of three animals jumped out from behind the box, screeching. They looked like smaller, furrier versions of the Twolegs. Bubblewing's fur bristled and she bared her teeth at the creatures while her friends hissed and yowled at them. But that didn't faze them; they kept charging at cats.

"We're going to have to attack them!" Sapphirestar announced. Beartooth leapt onto the closest one, digging his claws into it and biting down on its shoulder. Wreathpaw ran to help him and scratched viscously at the thing's feet. Ribbonpaw dashed over to another one and hissed at it fiercely. He started tearing at its leg with his claws.

Bubblewing and Sapphirestar turned to the last one and jumped at it from both sides, startling it and causing it to fall. They sunk their teeth into its stomach as it thrashed around, trying to grab at the cats.

Suddenly, a piercing yowl ripped through the air. Bubblewing whipped around to see Grassfur with a huge wound that was bleeding terribly. Ribbonpaw was frozen in shock, not knowing what to do. Beartooth and Wreathpaw were still busy with their opponent.

Grassfur wobbled and fell over. Bubblewing started to panic. She turned to the RiverClan leader, who was raking her claws down the persistent creature's arm.

"Wh-what should we do? No one can help her!"

"You can," Sapphirestar meowed calmly. "Don't worry about me; you go help Grassfur."

"But-"

"Do you doubt my abilities?" Sapphirestar asked sternly.

Bubblewing gulped and looked from the thing to Grassfur. She ran over to the wounded warrior.

"Grassfur, are you all right? Grassfur!" Bubblewing meowed to the she-cat. She moaned and Bubblewing looked around frantically for cobwebs. Finally she spotted some and dashed over to get them, then ran back as fast as she could.

"Grassfur!" Bubblewing called again, trying to sort out the cobwebs. This time she didn't even moan. "…Grassfur…?" Bubblewing prodded the warrior's side and turned her over. Her stomach turned to stone when she saw that the cat's eyes were blank.

Beartooth and Wreathpaw had defeated their creature and taken over the one Ribbonpaw and Grassfur had been fighting. The apprentice rushed to his mentor's side.

"…I'm…I'm sorry, Ribbonpaw," Bubblewing whispered to him, rubbing her head against his flank in comfort. "But she's gone."

Ribbonpaw's ears twitched and his voice trembled. "I-It's okay, it's not your fault, Bubblewing…that wound was way too big for even Honeyclaw to help."

The last two beasts screeched and ran off, and the other cats ran over to the body.

"Grassfur was a great warrior," Sapphirestar meowed. "StarClan will be proud to have her."

They lifted the body onto Beartooth's back. Then Wreathpaw noticed the leader was limping badly.

"Sapphirestar, what's wrong?" she asked.

"That monster twisted my paw around," Sapphirestar replied. Bubblewing's stomach churned. A dead warrior and a twisted paw-on their leader! It was too much.

"But at least we know where the source of terror is now," the leader continued. "So we must soon notify the other Clans."

"Yeah…"

They walked back to camp in silence.

As soon as they got back to camp, they broke the news about Grassfur to the Clan, and buried her body as well as sat vigil by it until the sun went down.

The next day, all of RiverClan crowded around the medicine cat's den, awaiting news of Sapphirestar's paw. Finally, the leader and Honeyclaw emerged from the den.

Sapphirestar's whole leg was wrapped in thick cobwebs. She limped over to Stone Mound, every other cat following in anticipation.

"I know you are all wondering what's going on with my leg," she meowed loudly. "And Honeyclaw has told me it will never heal properly. And so, with much regret, I am retiring as the leader of RiverClan."

GASP! OMG! Sapphirestar's resigning! XD Please review!