So. I discovered... That you're allowed to type and post FF's in CTY! YAY!
So, here ya go!
Written By: Naturethorn
Edited By: Windbritsle
Moonpaw spoke to Nightpaw for the rest of the day, since neither of them were on patrol due to their injuries. They talked about everything from Fuzzball to Moonpaw's conversation with Hollyflower. Through their relentless chatting, something seemed off about Nightpaw, but Moonpaw wasn't quite able to pin it down. As sundown approached at an alarming pace, Fuzzball joined in on their conversations. Moonpaw was able to notice how much he knew about all four clans, though he didn't bother to hide the fact that he was a kittypet, either. As the dusk patrols padded in, Moonpaw managed to bring up the topic of Fuzzball's return to the twolegplace. "So, Fuzzball, if you want, we can go out and explore the forest tomorrow at sunhigh, as long as we aren't on any patrols then."
"Oh! Sure, that would be great! I've always wanted to explore the forest, but Cloud would always tell me that it was much too dangerous," Fuzzball answered at an accelerated tone. "Now, remind me who Cloud is again?" Moonpaw inquired.
"Oh, yeah, Cloud was my old friend. She actually looked sorta like you, except her fur had white tips. She would always tell me stories of how there were two cats here, from separate clans, that would always meet secretly. She was great at that!" Fuzzball remembered, memories reflected on his sky-blue eyes. "But she would always remind me of how they were just stories, myths made up from the deepest imagination of her mind…." He continued, with a sad tone to his voice. "Well, don't worry about that," Moonpaw said cheerfully, trying to distract his mind from the increasingly sorrowful topic. "We can take you on a tour of the forest" She continued. "Yeah, and we'll take you to the twoleg place, too!" Nightpaw added, understanding what Moonpaw was trying to accomplish.
As Nightpaw curled up in her nest in the apprentice's den that night, she felt a small nudge at her back. "Do you think that Fuzzball's going to be ok?" She asked quietly, careful not to wake the apprentices sleeping beside her. "Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine," Nightpaw replied, glancing over to the spot where he was beginning to doze off. "He's a perfectly capable cat, and he always knows he can find help with you," She teased playfully.
The next morning, both Nightpaw and Moonpaw were informed with the news that because of his rancid injury, Falconflight would not be able to take Nightpaw out to training or patrols that day. As Dewstripe quietly told the two regretful apprentices, he added at the end with a small twitch of his whiskers and a lowered voice, "And Icestar is going to let you three- as in you two and Fuzzball- explore the forest for the rest of the day."
"Really? Tell him I said thanks!" Both Moonpaw and Nightpaw whispered excitedly as they bounced up and down on their toes, excited for the day to get started. At the sun's zenith, the two apprentices ran up to Fuzzball, who was in deep slumber at the back of the apprentice's den, and rapidly told him of Icestar's decision.
As they padded back outside of the den, Fuzzball now trailing along, Dewstripe padded over. "On one condition!" She added. "You are all still young; You must take a cat, older than 14 moons, with you." At this, the three cats sighed. "Do we have to?" Moonpaw questioned. "Please?" Nightpaw and Fuzzball pleaded, eyes wide with innocence. "No, Icestar specifically told me to tell you to take a cat of the requested age along. Now, I'll be watching you three when you exit the bramble barrier, and you better have a cat with the required experience. I would hurry along and find the cat soon." Dewstripe answered blandly, hiding any emotion beneath the surface.
"So, which cat are we taking?" Nightpaw asked the two cats as they were padding away from Dewstripe as a unit. "I don't know…. Perhaps Yellowdawn, since she isn't used to leading," Moonpaw suggested. "Yeah, Yellowdawn is about 16 moons, as far as I know, so she won't be used to being in charge. We can just ask her to tag along," Nightpaw responded. "As long as she isn't on any patrols," Fuzzball added meaningfully. The three apprentices hurried to the warrior's den, where Yellowdawn was presumably either sleeping or waking up. They reached the den entrance, where Moonpaw quickly said, "It's better if only one of us goes in. It's a small den, and we don't want to wake up any unnecessary cats."
"Yeah, I get what you mean," Both Nightpaw and Fuzzball answered. Moonpaw was not sure how Fuzzball said that with such confidence, but she and Nightpaw had once woken up Hawkeyes while he was sleeping… And it was not very pretty. After a second thought, she realized what he thought she was saying: Stay out, kittypets are not welcome in the warrior's den. Moonpaw stuck her head in the den, whiskers twitching as she searched for Yellowdawn's scent. "Ah, there," She said, spotting the ginger cat at the edge of the circle of nests. "Yellowdawn?" She asked, gently prodding the sleeping cat. "Come with us to show Fuzzball the forest. Icestar's orders," Moonpaw added, knowing that it would catch her attention. "What? Oh, right. One second, I'm coming," She said, along with a large yawn, which displayed her thorn-sharp teeth. She stood up slowly, shaking out her fur before walking out through the entrance with Moonpaw. "Are you all ready to go?" Moonpaw asked, digging her claws into the ground to keep her from bouncing up and down. "All ready!" Fuzzball answered.
With that, the small group of cats padded through the bramble entrance, along with an approving nod from Dewstripe. "Can we go see the lake first? I've always wanted to see it!" Fuzzball said, heart pounding with excitement. "Um.." Nightpaw and Yellowdawn exchanged glances. "We've had some…" Yellowdawn paused mid-sentence, then continued, "...Difficulties with RiverClan, so I think that it would be better if we showed you WindClan's border first."
"Oh, all right…" Fuzzball answered, most of his enthusiasm vanishing. The patrol of cats continued, pointing out various landmarks. "Oh, that's the clearing where we train!" Moonpaw pointed out. "That's the huge tree that fell down during that storm a few moons ago!" Nightpaw added noisily. "If we keep up at this rate, we'll scare away all the prey from here to Riverclan!" Yellowdawn scolded in a teasing tone. "Let's just not talk as loudly, ok? We don't want to disturb the hunting patrols," She added more meaningfully.
The cats padded on for a while, continuing as they had been doing previously, but making sure to tone down the volume. This, however, did nothing to dampen their excitement. They stayed out until most of the gloriously warm sunlight had gone, and night had fallen. "It's time to get going," Yellowdawn suggested. "It's not safe to be this close to the border at nightfall," She warned.
"Oh, it's fine, it's not that big a deal!" Nightpaw protested.
"No, I think that Yellowdawn is right. We're all tired and hungry, and we should probably bring some prey back to camp to make up for the lost day of work," Moonpaw agreed.
Suddenly, there was a rustle coming from a bush near the border. The cats were suddenly swamped in a strange scent that Moonpaw recognized from the twolegplace. "Hide!" Yellowdawn exclaimed. Fuzzball looked around in confusion. "Oh, it smells like the town! I wonder if we're nearby?" He inquired, mostly to himself. "Just hide!" Nightpaw yelled, dragging Fuzzball down into a small, abandoned rabbit burrow. She looked over to where Moonpaw was hiding among the large roots of a huge tree. She nodded, then Nightpaw switched places with Fuzzball to cover up his shiny, noticeable fur. All the cats crouched down low and flattened their ears as the two twolegs walked cautiously into the clearing. They muttered some strange sounds, then seemed to be agreeing with each other.
Nightpaw flattened herself farther into the hole, trying desperately to hide Fuzzball, as well as herself, as the larger twoleg strolled over to their hiding spot. As Nightpaw was doing so, a brown, dried maple leaf crackled beneath her. She froze fearfully as the twoleg paused, looking around for the source of the sound. He called to the other twoleg, who jogged over to him. Then, seemingly noticing at the same time, they looked straight down at Nightpaw. She, in turn, looked back up at them with wide amber eyes and hissed weakly in fear, her hackles rising. They muttered some more strange sounds, then while one bent down and scooped up a struggling Nightpaw, the other took out a mesh bag hidden in the bushes and shoved her carelessly into it.
Nightpaw struggled vainly against them, clawing at whatever she could find. She heard a yelp from a twoleg as both Yellowdawn and Moonpaw leapt out at them simultaneously. The cats struggled against the one holding the bag, Moonpaw clawing at the twoleg's strange, pink paws while the other raked her claws across its even stranger-looking face. Fuzzball quietly crept out of his hole, careful to not attract either of the twoleg's attention, then darted off as fast as he could. Moonpaw, seeing the flash of silver fur, was easily distracted. She felt a twoleg's paw slam into the side of her head as she was watching the spot where Fuzzball had run out of. She felt her grip on the twoleg loosen as she began to feel dizzy. A heavy wave of nausea swept over her, and the second twoleg easily scooped her off the twoleg with the bag, and threw her back into the forest. She felt a fresh burst of pain as she collided into a tree, midair, then fell, completely limp, to the ground. She heard Yellowdawn's cry of pain as she, too, flew threw the air and landed beside Moonpaw. She had a chance to hazily think, Where did Fuzzball go?, before feeling herself slip into unconsciousness.
Didn't have time to edit... So yeah, there's also problems with copy-and-paste with italics and bolds. Please bear with me! *Bows*