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Morningpaw was anxiously awaiting news about her injured Clanmate's outside the medicine cat's den alongside a few others who were equally concerned about the attacked patrol. From the way that the attack happened it sounded premeditated, but Morningpaw couldn't comprehend as to why Twolegs would go out of their way to do something like this.
"Why do Twolegs do anything?" Whiteclaw spat as he dragged his claws through the dirt. "When I get ahold of one of them I'm gonna make them think twice about ever coming near another cat for the rest of their lives."
Morningpaw nodded, understanding her Clanmate's anger and want for revenge. The flame-pelted apprentice strained her ears, trying to pick up even the faintest of sounds coming from the medicine cat's den.
Both Crookedstar and Oakheart had entered the medicine cat's den not long ago. More than likely to discuss with the patrol and to also go about how to remedy the situation with the Twolegs. Morningpaw would give anything to be a part of that discussion, even if it meant ending up in the medicine cat's den, again.
Morningpaw felt as though they had been left waiting for a quarter-moon until finally someone emerged from the medicine cat's den. Those being Crookedstar and Oakheart with Leopardfur and Silverstream trailing after their leader and deputy.
Morningpaw and Whiteclaw nearly toppled the silver-and-black tabby she-cat warrior in their haste to speak to her, but both hurriedly backed away and gave her space as they were quickly reminded that Silverstream was still injured as she let out a hiss of pain when they pressed against her wounds by accident.
"Are you going to be alright?" Whiteclaw was the first to ask, and Morningpaw let out a sigh of relief as Silverstream nodded.
"Only a few scratches and a twisted paw that Mudfur wants me to stay off of for a few days. However Stonefur has it the worst." Silverstream meowed, grimacing as she mentioned the injured pale blue-gray tom. "Mudfur had to put him to sleep due to the pain he was in. I don't know much beyond that about his condition."
"We have to do something about those Twolegs! They can't get away with this." Whiteclaw was practically seething with anger, and Morningpaw didn't fault him for it for she herself was also burning with the desire to avenge Stonefur and the rest of her Clanmates who were injured in the attack.
"Crookedstar is going to--" Silverstream didn't get the chance to finish as Crookedstar was already calling a Clan meeting.
Morningpaw was eager to hear a report of the incident and what Crookedstar was planning to do to remedy the issue with the Twolegs. Twolegs could be very accommodating and kind towards cats, both kittypet or strays alike, but they can also be dangerous and cruel. This would be a slippery slope to navigate, especially with Twolegs being the ultimate predator the likes of which Morningpaw has ever seen. Nothing alive could possibly stop a Twoleg. Well, perhaps one of their monsters.
Crookedstar waited for the Clan to gather together. Then he recounted what the border patrol had encountered and the imposed threat that the Twolegs had on the Clan and what they could do to counter their attacks, which seemed very bleak in RiverClan's favor. There wasn't much a cat could do to a Twoleg that a Twoleg couldn't retaliate tenfold. Avoidance was the best option that RiverClan had and it would put a strain on the patrols to have to watch out for them and go about their warrior duties also.
Morningpaw hoped that the Twolegs would leave sooner rather than later.
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"This is getting frustrating." Morningpaw grumbled as she hid in the reeds, watching as a group of Twolegs lounged up and down the riverbanks, making loud noise and throwing stones in the river, disturbing the fish.
It's been about a quarter-moon since the Twolegs arrived and they showed no sign of leaving anytime soon. They stayed in makeshift dens made of sticks and Twoleg pelts, they left Twoleg rubbish around the area, stinking up the place and chased away prey or outright stole it with their nets that caught the fish in the river.
They haven't patrolled Sunningrocks at all during the entirety of the time that the Twolegs remained here. It was too dangerous to approach anywhere near the Twolegs that set up camp right on the river separating RiverClan and ThunderClan territory. For if a warrior were to be spotted then they were sure to give chase or outright attack. It was too risky and for their safety they had to remain at a distance.
It was driving Morningpaw mad just having to watch them. The flame-pelted apprentice didn't see why staying beside a river and doing practically nothing all day appealed to the Twolegs so much. Twolegs belonged in Twolegplace, away from the Clan's. Morningpaw had never had such problems with Twolegs in her past life in ThunderClan, apart from Twolegs occasionally taking their dogs for a walk in the woods. But even that was a rare occasion and was nothing compared to these Twoleg squatters.
"Crookedstar needs to do something." Heavypaw grumbled at her side. The brown tabby and Morningpaw had been stuck in the same spot since sunhigh. Having to hide when the Twolegs had suddenly awoke and the two apprentices were unable to leave as they were surrounded on all sides by Twolegs, luckily they hadn't been spotted, yet.
"What do you think he'll be able to do?" Morningpaw asked, remembering how dismissive the RiverClan leader had been over the last quarter-moon, repeating the same orders over and over, even when the Twolegs continued to occupy the area, disrupting their daily lives.
"I'm sure if we attack them enough, they'll leave." Was Heavypaw's reply.
Morningpaw wasn't so sure if that was a plausible solution. Twolegs were much stronger than cat's, and the flame-pelted she-cat doubted that a Clan of cat's could take down a group of Twolegs. Though it was nice to think about as they passed the time hiding.
"I bet everyone has noticed that we haven't been back yet." Heavypaw sighed, big belly flopping to the ground. "It's so boring…though it's nice to have you around, Morningpaw!"
Not for the first time, Morningpaw wondered how someone as laid back and nice as Heavypaw could be siblings with someone as agitating as Shadepelt.
Morningpaw had become closer to the other apprentices now that Shadepelt wasn't constantly there shielding them from speaking with Morningpaw. Heavypaw, Mosspaw and Emberpaw were nice to have a conversation with, although they were nowhere as close to her as she was to Whiteclaw and Silverstream, it was still nice to have them as company. Heavypaw being a surprisingly good substitute for the lack of Whiteclaw's presence in the apprentices den.
Recently Mosspaw had decided to switch out of her warrior training with Ottersplash to instead study under Mudfur to become a medicine cat. The long-haired light brown tom had readily agreed to take Mosspaw on as his assistant and has been training her these past few sunrises. The tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat was certainly talented, Morningpaw should know, the medicine cat apprentice had used Morningpaw as a practice test, as Mudfur had encouraged seeing as Morningpaw was always ending up in the medicine cats den one way or another and that they should get well acquainted with each other as they'll be seeing more of each other in the future. Or so Mudfur says.
Emberpaw was the most closest to Shadepelt and although the dark ginger she-cat didn't go out of her way to harass or bully Morningpaw like the former dark gray she-cat apprentice had, she also wasn't friendly, more indifferent as she outright ignored any sort of greeting Morningpaw would try to make. It was for the best the flame-pelted she-cat supposed.
"They might come looking for us." Morningpaw mused after a moment of silence.
Heavypaw snorted, giving Morningpaw a cryptic knowing look of sorts. "Whiteclaw will definitely come looking for you as soon as he finds out you're missing."
Morningpaw blinks slowly at the mention of her friend. "Of course he will, just like I'd go looking for him if he went missing, we're best friends after all."
Heavypaw appeared confused for a moment. "Best friend? Don't you mean mate?"
Morningpaw was bewildered by the startling claim. Whiteclaw and her, mates?, that couldn't have been farther from the truth of their dynamic. Heavypaw must have been greatly confused by their closet friendship and mistaken it for something else.
"We're close friends." Morningpaw meowed, correcting the brown tabby apprentice. "Neither of us have those kinds of feelings for each other."
Heavypaw looked doubtful, but gave a nod.
Tiredly, Morningpaw went back to watching the Twolegs only to spot something, or more like someone, weaving through the Twolegs and their stuff as though they went unseen. It looked vaguely like a cat, with a tortoiseshell-and-white pelt, although it was still hard to really tell by how fast they were moving.
"Hey, do you know who that is." Morningpaw meows too Heavypaw, gesturing towards the cat who was heading towards the opposite end of the Twolegs makeshift camp.
Heavypaw looked to where Morningpaw was gesturing but shook his head. "I don't see anyone."
"But they are right--" Morningpaw cut herself off as she suddenly lost sight of the cat, as though they had disappeared into thin air.
It was strange for a cat to just suddenly disappear as soon as Morningpaw's jade green eyes were off them, but it wasn't as though Morningpaw had the ability to give chase to the unknown cat, possibly a rogue or loner, so the flame-pelted she-cat apprentice decided to keep an eye out for the mysterious cat if they were to make another sudden appearance.
It felt like time was passing slowly as all Morningpaw and Heavypaw could do was wait out the Twolegs. It was when Morningpaw was on the brink of thinking that they would be having to wait until the Twolegs went to sleep before something changed. There was a commotion from the other end of the Twolegs encampment, in the direction that Morningpaw had seen the strange cat headed, and suddenly something silver and glittering came flying towards Morningpaw and Heavypaw's hiding place and fell right at their paws with a loud clunk.
They were little spikes on a silver hoop and Morningpaw vaguely recalled that they were used to open doors to Twolegs nests. Although she never really could figure out how those little things could open something so big and heavy as a door. But that wasn't the point as the flame-pelted she-cat began to panic. What was important was that these things were important to the Twolegs, important enough that Twolegs tend to get panicked whenever they were out of sight, and here they were, sitting innocently at Morningpaw and Heavypaw's paws.
Heavypaw didn't seem to recognize the severity of their situation. The brown tabby tom was looking down at them in curiosity, even reaching out a paw to dab at them and seemed to find enjoyment out of the chiming sound that the spikes made when they clanged together.
"What ar--" Heavypaw didn't get the chance to ask his question as there was instantly an uproar amongst the Twolegs that caused both apprentice's hackles to rise and their fur to stand on ends.
It was heart stoppingly terrifying watching the Twolegs charge towards them and being momentarily frozen in fear. Once Morningpaw managed to scramble herself together, she yowled for Heavypaw to run…but the brown tabby apprentice was still frozen in place. Terrified.
Morningpaw whipped back around, reaching out for Heavypaw just as one of the older Twolegs came across the two apprentices, the Twoleg yelled out something that Morningpaw didn't understand and Morningpaw watched in horror as the Twoleg reached down and grabbed Heavypaw by the scruff.
No! Morningpaw didn't know if she thought or shouted the word but the small flame-pelted she-cat sprung without thinking onto the Twoleg, sinking her claws into the uncovered flesh on it's legs and refused to let go even when Heavypaw was let go out of shock.
"Run!" Morningpaw could see the hesitation in Heavypaw's yellow eyes as Morningpaw gave him the orders to flee, but already the flame-pelted she-cat was being surrounded and only Heavypaw had a slim chance of getting out of here without getting caught.
Perhaps the brown tabby apprentice realized this because in the next second the chubby apprentice was racing away, leaving Morningpaw to fend for herself.
But a strong kick to her side was all that was needed to knock Morningpaw out cold.
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Fun facts:
Yeah!!! Morningpaw getting close with the other apprentice's now!!! Heavypaw of course being the third best friend she could get!!! Silverstream is basically Graystripe, Whiteclaw is basically Sandstorm, Heavypaw is sort of like Ravenpaw a good friend that you see time to time, but of course you'll still see plenty of Grayfang and Ravenwing so don't worry!! (Especially Ravenwing!)
Morningpaw being oblivious to the fact that everyone thinks shes in a relationship with Whiteclaw, even Whiteclaw, and just thinks they are friends.
Finally figured out the plot and how everything is going down!!! Just been winging it this entire time until inspiration struck and now the real plot begins!!!
Mapleshade just being her bad self!! (She's important to the plot though!! Also if you've not read any of the side books like Crookedstar Promise or Tigerclaw's Fury…yeah you should do so!)
Yeah, I think the next chapter will be in Crookedstar's pov again!!! (I did say that I'd switch povs! I know it was supposed to be Oakheart but Crookedstar will make more sense! Maybe another time)