The two days after Bearpaw's capture were miserable. They forced him to eat the mice they caught, and every day they brought in more and more ShadowClan cats.
"Why are there so many ShadowClan cats, but only a few RiverClan cats?" Bearpaw asked Pigeonwing one day, after they had been allowed to lie in the sun for a little bit.
"I guess ShadowClan patrols this border more than we do."
"If we ever escape this place, we should tell ShadowClan to stop coming here. It's getting overcrowded!"
At first, when Bearpaw came to the camp, there had only been two or three ShadowClan cats. Bearpaw couldn't make out their scent, though, because the scent of all the prey they had eaten covered their own. Now, there were at least six. One of them was Beetlepaw, now known as Beetlestalk. Beetlestalk had told him that not long after he and Darkpaw left the RiverClan camp, Darkpaw got sick again and died. Only a few ShadowClan cats were friendly enough to speak to Bearpaw, while the others only sat in a tight circle, speaking quietly amongst themselves.
"Hey, Thistlefur?" Bearpaw once asked a ShadowClan queen who was taken three moons after she had kitted.
"What is it, Bearpaw?"
"Do you miss your kits?" As soon as Bearpaw meowed the question, Thistlefur lay down.
"I do. They need me." Her voice became choked. "How could've I let myself be taken, then gorge myself on prey!" She stopped speaking as her mew began to crack.
"It's not our fault we were taken." Bearpaw soothed. "Plus, if we don't eat the prey they give us, they force feed us the food. None of this is your fault. I'm sure your kits miss you, but are being taken care of."
Thistlefur purred, and Bearpaw knew she was still worried about her kits.
"What are their names? The kit's names, I mean." Bearpaw asked, trying to get the queen to think of happier matters.
"Snapdragonkit and Crestedkit."
"Those are beautiful names."
"Thank you. The credit is all to their father, Emberspark. Oh, how I miss him…"
Bearpaw left Thistlefur and lay down next to Pigeonwing, who was being watched by Scarlet while he ate a large sparrow.
"Don't you think about helping him finish that bird off." Scarlet snarled at him.
"Why do you eat your own kind?" Bearpaw snapped at her.
"We do it to survive. We-" She used her tail to point at the other captors, "Don't particularly enjoy the taste of prey. But when we first tasted cat blood…" Scarlet licked her lips. "We can't seem to quit. So, we borrow a few cats, and they live with us for the rest of their short lives." Scarlet leaned in towards Bearpaw. "You seem to be almost ready. Maybe a moon or so until you say your final goodbyes to the cats in the hut." The hut was what the captors called the strange, den-like stick structure they were keeping their prisoners and food in. Scarlet was right, too. Bearpaw was already looking fatter than usual. His stomach was almost twice its size during Leaf-bare.
"That Honeyripple, though… I don't know if she will ever be plump enough. We've had her here for nearly twelve moons." Mewed a tom named Socks, who was one of the cats who was keeping them prisoner, who was sitting right outside the "hut" with Nook.
"She'll be ready in maybe seven days. By then, She'll have expired." Scarlet called back to Socks.
"What do you mean, expired?" Bearpaw asked, horrified.
"Honeyripple will have found a way to escape by twelve moons. We've learned that from experience. We don't want any of our prey to escape our grasp, so after twelve moons we are forced to eat them a bit early."
"You're monsters. All of you." Bearpaw said flatly. Pigeonwing shook his head frantically, indicating Bearpaw should stop speaking. Bearpaw ignored him. "I'm going to escape one day, and when I do you'll be sorry you ever met me!"
"Well Bearpaw! We do not tolerate this kind of disrespect!" Scarlet looked behind herself, at the two guards stationed at the entrance. "Socks, Nook, hold him down."
The two larger cats rushed at him like a bird swooping down on a worm. Socks pinned his shoulders to the rocky earth, while Nook crouched on his back. Scarlet stalked up to Bearpaw's lashing tail, and caught it with one paw.
"This is what happens when you disobey the rules…" The cruel she-cat mocked before sinking her teeth into the tip of his tail. It felt like Bearpaw's tail-tip was on fire. Searing pain made him screech, and struggle against the guards even harder. He felt like someone was tearing at his tail, and when he looked back, Scarlet pulled the little piece she had bitten off his tail. She chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. Bearpaw lay, panting as the guards retreated. He slowly got to his paws, and wobbled a little bit.
"The pain will make you dizzy for a second. Don't try to move." Pigeonwing advised. Bearpaw tried to follow his companion's instructions, but he fell on his side.
"Bearpaw, if you want to keep the rest of your tail, you need to be obedient. The rule here is if you try to escape, or disobey any of the rules, a piece of your tail comes off. We will tolerate nine escape attempts and being disobedient, but on the ninth time, you will have more than your tail to say goodbye to." As Scarlet said this, she extended one claw, and brushed it against his still tender tail-tip. Bearpaw grimaced in pain, but kept still.
"Can I go sleep now?" He said through clenched teeth.
Scarlet glanced at the setting sun. "I suppose." She said as she moved to sit beside Nook and Socks.
Late one night, one moon after his tail-tip was bitten off, Bearpaw awoke, panting. He had dreamed he was traveling with many other cats from RiverClan, and Plumeshine was there too. They were trekking along a rocky cliffside. "Promise me you'll go to the place of rocks and stones to create new life." Shiningpaw's last words came back to him in a flash. Bearpaw sat up in his crudely made nest, and shook moss from his fur. Honeyripple shifted beside him, making a swimming motion with her paws. She must be dreaming about being back in camp. Bearpaw thought sadly. She must miss it badly. Bearpaw tried to get up, but stumbled. His belly looked like he was about to have kits. Bearpaw groaned, and heavily padded over to the far side of the hut. He stretched luxuriously, and shivered. The chilly night air ruffled his fur. Bearpaw moved to wake Pigeonwing, who was going to be eaten any day. Pigeonwing's stomach looked just as bloated as Bearpaw's. Pigeonwing lifted his head, and before he could speak Bearpaw put his tail over Pigeonwing's mouth.
"Why did you wake me up?" Pigeonwing whispered.
"I don't know. I just felt like waking you up." Bearpaw admitted, smirking sheepishly.
"Well, I have something to tell you." Pigeonwing sat up.
"What is it?"
"I heard Socks and Nook talking about a strange cat who was pacing outside the hut. They drove him off, but not before tearing off a piece of his fur. I went out later and found some of his fur." Pigeonwing took out from under his nest a tiny, shaggy strand of fur. He pushed it over to where Bearpaw was sitting.
"Do you recognize the scent?" Pigeonwing tilted his head. Bearpaw sniffed the small hairs and gasped.
"It's Plumeshine's fur!"
"Plumeshine? Who's he?"
"Plumeshine is Plumekit! He was banished after accidentally killing Shiningpaw." Bearpaw's tail sagged at the memory.
"I-I'm sorry for your loss," Pigeonwing stammered. "But what is Plumeshine doing here?"
"I think he's here to save us."