The three she-cats immediately turned to look at each other before Greysight took off into the trees with Lostheart following closely behind. Roseclaw blinked at her much faster clanmates and rushed to keep up with them.
Greysight ran through the forest towards the sound of Mintpaw's scream, her heart pounding in her chest.
They should have never let Mintpaw go out on her own! If anything happened to her, Greysight would never forgive herself.
Lostheart trailed behind the blind she-cat, knowing well that Greysight would be able to pinpoint the location of the noise.
The two she-cats burst into a small clearing close to where the forest broke off into the fields. Lostheart and Greysight immediately froze when they noticed another figure standing in the shade. Greysight felt her heart stop when she realized they were standing over a still body.
Greysight felt her blood boil and turned her attention to the cat standing above Mintpaw, growling menacingly. Lostheart watched as the cat looked up in surprise.
"Get away from her you worthless piece of foxdung!" Greysight hissed, crouching into a fighting position as she unsheathed her claws and bore her teeth viciously.
The cat let out what sounded like a small laugh and stepped out of the shadows. Greysight and Lostheart were both surprised by the pale she-cat that came from the darkness. Her worn, matted fur was a pale shade of grey and her eyes were closed as she entered.
This cat was unfamiliar to either of them, her scent unrecognizable.
'A rogue,' Lostheart realized.
Neither Greysight nor Lostheart had ever come across a rogue before, let alone a cat not involved with any one of the clans- an outsider.
Lostheart and Greysight watched suspiciously from their position as the she-cat slowly opened her eyes. Inside, Lostheart felt a feeling of shock as she looked into the she-cat's gaze
There were two separate colors.
One was a silver- a greyish sort of blue- while the other was the same , but a considerably darker shade.
Lostheart thought she could see the she-cat have a momentary lapse of surprise as her eyes met Lostheart's, but they became vicious when she noticed Lostheart and Greysight's threatening forms.
Roseclaw had padded up behind the two she-cats and was now watching frozen from behind. The she-cat's eyes flickered over the three opossing cats and she smirked.
A cat who looked like they didn't know a thing about fighting, a blind cat, and a cat with only one good eye. Even though she was outnumbered, she knew she could take them easily.
"Make me."
Greysight snapped and let out a howl of rage as she ran at the unknown she-cat. Lostheart wasn't surprised by Greysight's outburst and quickly followed behind to back her up.
Not only was this she-cat trespassing on their territory, but she had attacked Mintpaw as well. They couldn't let her get away.
The rogue's eyes became serious and she crouched down, preparing herself for the attack.
Was this a joke? She couldn't believe these cats were actually about to try and fight her.
Her eyes widened as the two she-cats flew at her, confirming her doubts. Their speed was surprisingly impressive. She ducked out of the way of the blind cat's attack but wasn't quick enough to avoid the slash from the other cat that tore through her side.
She hissed in pain and leapt away from the black cat, instead choosing to attack the blind one. Greysight easily slipped through her outstretched paws and pushed her into Lostheart, who made an attempt to grab her and pin her down.
The rogue swiveled around and flicked her claw in a strange motion neither of DarkClan warriors had seen before, luckily Lostheart was able to avoid her claws by jumping back quickly.
The rogue didn't know how these cats were doing it, but she soon realized she had picked a bad fight to be outnumbered in.
Roseclaw watched in fear on the sidelines as the three cats fought in the clearing, but her eyes soon rolled over to Mintpaw's body. Warily glancing at the fighting cats, Roseclaw hurried over to where Mintpaw lay.
The young apprentice was lying very still, but didn't seem to be injured in any way. Roseclaw tried to wake her by prodding her with her paw, but Mintpaw did not respond.
Roseclaw figured she was unconscious and gently grabbed hold of Mintpaw's body, proceeding to sneak off into the woods. She felt bad about leaving Greysight and Lostheart behind, but she knew she had to get Mintpaw out of danger.
The rogue hissed in pain as she was shoved to the ground by the blind she-cat. She instantly felt claws at her throat and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.
Greysight hissed at the rogue and tightened her grip, preparing to end her.
"Stop."
The sound of Lostheart's voice made Greysight freeze and relax her grip lightly. The rogue under her warily opened one eye, sure the blind cat was about to kill her.
"We're taking her with us," Lostheart meowed.
The rogue's eyes widened slightly and she made a move to push Greysight off of her. The black she-cat felt it coming and easily pinned her down.
"It's useless," Greysight growled at the rogue. The pale grey cat said nothing and glared hatefully up at her, tail flickering irritably
The rogue said nothing as Greysight stepped off and allowed her to stand, begrudgingly. The rogue she-cat towered over Greysight, and was even one or two inches taller than Lostheart. She could have even been taller than Roseclaw.
Greysight stood by the she-cat with her claws outstretched. Lostheart padded up to them and looked at the she-cat coldly.
"Try anything and I won't stop my clanmate from killing you," she warned.
The rogue narrowed her eyes, but said nothing as she was pushed forward by Greysight. She wasn't stupid enough to try and escape; she had no doubt that the she-cats would be able to catch her easily.
Roseclaw had taken Mintpaw to the medicine cat and placed her in her nest. The young apprentice had yet to wake up, but Roseclaw knew it was only a matter of time.
Now she was just waiting anxiously for Lostheart and Greysight to return. She had avoided letting the other cats see her sneak in with Mintpaw to prevent Darkpelt from flipping out, but she was sure the tom would find out sooner or later.
Browneyes, Darkpelt, and Longtail were all relaxing in the clearing right now. Roseclaw sighed looking down at Mintpaw's body and stepped out of the medicine cat den.
Her ear twitched as she heard the sound of pawsteps coming through the tree tunnel. She stood up to greet her friends, but froze when the two she-cats padded into camp with the rogue in-between them.
All the cats had turned at their entry and immediately rose to their paws at the sight of the stranger. The rogue herself had her ears back and was glaring hatefully around the camp.
Browneyes was watching the she-cats in surprise and flinched when he heard Darkpelt's low growl from behind him. He sighed as he watched the large tom stalk over to where the she-cats stood with fierce, cold eyes.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Darkpelt thundered, looking at the foreign she-cat.
Lostheart remained as calm as ever. "A rogue we found trespassing on our territory, she had attacked Mintpaw while she was out gathering herbs."
Darkpelt's deep blue eyes flashed in anger. "Why have you brought her here!?"
By now, all the attention in the camp had now focused on the four cats standing in the clearing.
"Enough."
Darkpelt's head swiveled around to see Sunstar standing tiredly on top of the leader's den, glaring down at the group. Darkpelt dipped his head respectively and stepped to the side.
"They have taken a rogue into the confines of our camp! A rogue who not only invaded our territory, but attacked Mintpaw!" he growled, tail lashing.
"A prisoner," Greysight meowed.
Sunstar remained silent as he observed the cats and his eyes flickered to the rogue who was avoiding the cats' gaze.
"You," he meowed. "What is your name?"
The pale she-cat remained silent and glared at Sunstar. Greysight jabbed her roughly in the side with her claws, causing the rogue to wince in pain.
"Answer him!"
The she-cat spat onto the ground and looked back up at Sunstar with one eye shut.
"I've got a lot of names," she growled.
Sunstar didn't appear to be swayed by her reluctant nature.
"Why have you trespassed onto my land?" he demanded.
"I was just looking for food, I didn't know there were cats who lived here."
Greysight's eyes narrowed at the rogue; she doubted the she-cat was telling the truth.
"Where do you come from? Twolegplace?"
The she-cat looked confused. "No, I came from the highrocks. I wandered down some cliffs and came upon this forest."
This seemed to catch Sunstar's attention.
"The highrocks?" He looked at the stranger curiously. "You come from the tribe cats," he stated.
Greysight watched the exchange in confusion; she had no idea what they were talking about.
"Yes..." the rogue replied.
Sunstar looked at the she-cat oddly with skepticism. "I can detect a trace of the tribe's scent on you, but I find it strange that you do not speak like a tribe cat."
The she-cat remained impassive to Sunstar's suspicions.
"I am not a tribe cat by blood, when I was young, the tribe was kind to me and took me in."
Sunstar seemed to be buying the rogue's story, but didn't question her any further. He turned his back to the clan and began to walk off the stone.
"We will keep her here with us. A new set of paws will be very useful."
The rogue hissed in anger and opened her mouth to protest, but she was cut off by Longtail, who up until this point was watching quietly from the sidelines.
"But Sunstar! The warrior code!"
The golden warrior whipped around, glaring at the Siamese. "Says nothing about taking other cats into your clan," he hissed. "I have made my decision. Greysight, I will leave it up to you to keep her in check."
He growled and leapt off the rock and into the darkness of his den.
The rogue backed away from the two she-cats. "You can't make me stay here!" she hissed. Greysight unsheathed her claws and eyed the cat dangerously.
"You don't have a choice."
The pale she-cats eyes flickered to the numerous cats around her. It would be impossible to get away with so many cats around, and frankly the large tom from earlier didn't look like a cat she wanted to mess with.
Darkpelt and Browneyes had padded up to the she-cat too and were both observing her with differing expressions.
"Sunstar has assigned Greysight to be your...makeshift mentor. Normally for a cat so skilled we would allow you to bypass this, but if you want to be acknowledged as a warrior of our clan, you must prove yourself to her and the rest of us."
The rogue hissed at the cats surrounding her. She didn't know why they actually believed she would help them. Her ear twitched as the strange black she-cat spoke up again.
"For now, we'll call you Moonpaw," she meowed, looking at the strange patch of darker fur on the rogue's chest that sort of resembled a crescent moon.
The rogue's eyes widened slightly and watched as the strange she-cat walked away.
Darkpelt snorted, completely ignoring this new 'Moonpaw'.
"Pahetic..." he growled.
Browneyes and Greysight were left with the rogue and led her to the warrior's den where she would be kept. Normally they would keep a prisoner in a separate den, but Longtail was already staying in the elder's den and Sunstar had banned anyone from entering the nursery long ago.
It was late when Greysight stepped into the medicine cat den and looked down at Mintpaw's still body.
Her eyes narrowed and her paws twitched in anger.
That worthless rogue had no business attacking a defenseless apprentice, and her sister at that! She had promised to keep her safe...
Greysight closed her eyes, holding back the guilt and fear she held for her sister. She sat in silence for a moment before her sightless, grey eyes snapped open.
It was at that moment that she decided that that rogue was going to have the hardest training of her life.