Blossompaw's Escape
Part Two: The Mission
Blossompaw and chance sat in the alleyway while Blossompaw checked Chance over for wounds. He had several deep punctures in his legs where Shane's snarling cats had bit him. But in the end they were no match for the giant dog, despite him being old and blind in one eye. They had fled before the fight could get much darker, but they would be back.
"We have to keep moving," Blossompaw urged while glancing around in paranoia, as if a cat would leap out at any moment and grab her. Chance snorted and flopped onto his side.
"I'm an old dog, I ain't going nowhere,"
Blossompaw frowned in annoyance but didn't have any choice other than to stay with him and stand guard. She watched dutifully, her blue eyes peeled for any signs of Shane's return. Her paws kneaded the smooth ground anxiously.
"How did you find me?" she blurted.
"Wasn't you I was lookin for exactly, I was lookin for Via. I stumbled across your scent and followed it into the city, just in time too," he explained.
"Chance I'm sorry," Blossompaw blurted and wrenched her eyes away from the ground to meet his gaze. It was more gentle than she expected, it held none of the resentment it carried when she left him and the pack.
"Did you find what you were lookin for?" he asked softly.
"Not yet...how's the pack?" she asked with a quick change of subject. She didn't want to delve into the topic of Flint and Shiver just yet.
"They're good, a real family now. They can handle themselves Blossompaw, you don't need to worry about any more night terrors for them. It's you I'm worried about. What were you doin in the middle of the city at night anyways?"
"I wasn't alone," Blossompaw defended herself. Chance eyed her suspiciously.
"Well where are these companions now then?" he pried. Blossompaw hung her head in shame. There was no point in hiding anything from Chance, he'd see right through her lies.
"I drove them away. I was such a mouse brain!" she growled at herself. Chance remained silent, but it was a cue to go on.
"After I left I found a small twoleg place. These two siblings named Flint and Shiver sort of took me in. Their old friend Whisper helped cure my sickness. I was getting dreams from my father and another cat from Starclan. They needed my help in a mission to rebuild Ashclan,"
"From the stories?" Chance said, bewildered. Blossompaw nodded and continued.
"I made a deal with Shiver and Flint that I would destroy the testing facility. If I succeeded they would help me rebuild Ashclan and act as my guides through the city. I managed to burn the evil place down, but Shiver and Flint were anything but thrilled to hold their end of the bargain. Whisper convinced them to keep their promise and we headed out to the city. I was so caught up in this thought of saving a clan, I was so hostile and pretentious, I would've gotten us all killed. I drove them away,"
"You have a habit of doing that," Chance remarked. He stood up and shook out his ragged pelt, his joints popping. "Only thing to do now is continue on,"
"So then you'll help me?" Blossompaw asked eagerly. Chance nodded with a slight smirk.
"But if you try any of that sass on me I'll knock you upside the head," he warned. Blossompaw was too excited to care about his halfhearted threat. She jumped around his paws like a kit letting out squeals of delight.
"My my," a deep velvet voice purred. Blossompaw stopped her cheering immediately and spun around. It wasn't Shane, this was a she cat. And she was alone. Her fur looked as smooth as cream, but her eyes were dark and cold.
"A cat and dog, friends, how odd," she said dryly. Chance moved in front of Blossompaw, shielding her. But the creepy she cat made no advances. She simply stood and padded back down the alley way, leaving both Blossompaw and Chance very afraid.
"Niko," Blossompaw guessed. Shiver and Flint had mentioned both Shane and Niko as city threats. If they'd encountered Shane already this was undoubtedly his counterpart.
"Time to leave," Chance barked once Niko was out of sight. Blossompaw couldn't agree more. They hurried down the thunderpath to get out of the slums of the city and towards someplace relatively calmer. The two rounded another corner and ran full on into one of the cats who had fought them in the alleyway, he was small and gray - one of the first to flee. The cat turned to run but Blossompaw clamped her jaws around his tail and held him fast.
"You came back to finish us off?" Chance demanded. The cat shook his head wildly.
"No I was just supposed to make sure she left!"
"I will go wherever I want," Blossompaw hissed through a mouthful of tail fur.
"Not you! Niko!" the cat said in a panic. "She isn't supposed to be in our territory, it makes Shane real nervous. Her cats stick to the North side, we got the South. That was the deal. Someone spotted her wandering around and Shane sent me to make sure she wasn't planning on staying,"
"Yeah we saw her too. What does she want?" Chance said gruffly.
"There were two cats, a tom and she cat, seen around these parts. Shane takes the toms to fight in his gang, Niko gets the she cats to be a part of her fela. But the two were siblings of something and didn't wanna be separated. Shane just took em both and Niko came to claim the she cat," The cat explained as quickly as he could. Blossompaw mulled it over. Niko and Shane were not friends then, but enemies. The cat managed to wiggle out of Blossompaws grip and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"No use following after him," Chance sighed and began walking again. Blossompaw was rooted to the ground as his words replayed over and over again in her head. There was only two siblings she could think of that would refuse to leave each others sides.
"Shane got Flint and Shiver," she gasped in shock. They must not have made it out of the city before getting captured, and now they were both in Shane's clutches. But why would she help them again? They abandoned her in the city, if they had stuck together none of this would've happened. She saw a figure standing before her with the faintest outlines of stars in his paws. It was Ashstar, just as quickly as he came a breeze carried him away and shattered the vision.
"Flint and Shiver? Weren't those the cats who left you out here? Good riddance," Chance said gruffly.
"We have to rescue them," Blossompaw interrupted. Chance looked at her disbelievingly, but she didn't change her mind. If Ashstar came to me it means he wants them. I trust his decisions better than my own, she thought to herself.
"How are we supposed to find them?" Chance demanded and twitched his tail. He was not enthusiastic about wasting energy and effort to save two furballs. But he would help Blossompaw if she thought they were important enough to be saved.
Blossompaw remained deep in thought. Wherever Shane is keeping them would be close to his lair so his gang can keep an eye on their prisoners. It would be easy to access but hard to get out of. It could be anywhere in the South side of the city! There was only one way they could truly find out where the prisoners were being kept.
"Easy," she smiled, whiskers twitching. "We surrender,"
