Chapter 4 (Read here first) Firepaw opened her eyes. She woke up in complete blackness, forgetting the previous events of yesterday for a second. Then it all came rushing back. She sighed. At this rate, they would be WARRIORS by the time they got out of this prison-den. ‘Firepaw?’ Icepaw’s breath was by her ear. ‘Yes?’ Firepaw snuggled towards her sister. ‘I….uh….want to tell you something.’ Her sister padded closer. ‘What?’ Firepaw could see the glimmer of Icepaw’s eyes in the darkness. ‘I…..I….I’ve been meeting this black tom. His name is Shadow, and he has the Element of Light.’ Firepaw’s eyes widened. ‘He showed me. Shadow said he could get us out of here. But he said we need to…leave someone.’ Icepaw continued. ‘Snowpaw?’ Firepaw guessed. ‘Yes.’ Icepaw admitted. ‘She’s gonna be fine, though. Did you SEE the way she looked all dreamily at Firenight? Plus, she’s almost a warrior and she doesn’t really chat around us much, so IceClan will probably take her in.’ Icepaw continued, her voice firm. ‘I guess you’re right.’ Firepaw finally agreed. Icepaw slunk off, limping. Firepaw narrowed her eyes. She’d NEVER seen Icepaw limped before. But she was determined that she would find out what her sisters were hiding from her. Firepaw’s stomach rumbled. She was STARVING. ‘Firepaw?’ Icepaw was back, limping less now. ‘What now?!’ Firepaw hissed, frustrated. ‘Cool down!’ Icepaw hissed. ‘Shadow says we can escape NOW! But we have to GO.’ ‘Fine, go get Waterpaw and tell her we have an “idea” to escape.’ Firepaw’s voice was cold. *** ‘Are you still SURE this is a good idea?!’ Firepaw felt stupid whacking a rock against the ground to ‘summon’ Shadow. ‘Yes.’ Icepaw whispered, clanging her own stone against the earth. ‘Icepaw, we meet again.’ A voice whispered by the sister’s ears. ‘Shadow! You came!’ Icepaw gave Firepaw a I-told-you-so look. ‘Icepaw said you can get us out of here. Can you, or was she lying?!’ Firepaw demanded. The voice dropped lower, now at Firepaw’s nose. ‘I can, but you’d better watch your tongue, kit.’ Firepaw took a step back. Only Forestdeath had addressed her like that. Ever. Waterpaw stepped forwards. ‘I don’t care HOW you address me, as long as we can get out of here.’ Icepaw nodded at Waterpaw’s words. ‘Take us wherever. I don’t care.’ Shadow nodded, and led the apprentices to the very front of the den. He rapped the door six times, then stepped back. The barricade vanished. Shadow whispered something to himself, and the cats vanished, like a flame that had been snuffed out. He crept across the camp, looking at the apprentices, expecting them to follow. ‘Well?!’ Shadow whispered. ‘Come ON!’ Firepaw nodded. They should go. Icepaw gave her a look, then followed Shadow, head down. Waterpaw followed her sister. *what did I do?!* Firepaw’s heart wanted to growl in her sister’s face. Shadow led them to a gap in the camp’s wall. It was their chance. ‘Now for the hard part.’ Shadow mewed. ‘I have to sedate you for this bit.’ ‘Sed….sed…sedate?!’ Firepaw hissed. ‘Why?!’ ‘Because I would rather not tell you what I’ve seen, going through this path.’ Shadow explained matter-of-factly. ‘…..’ ‘You can go back.’ He flicked his tail back at IceClan camp. ‘Fine.’ Shadow gave each apprentice poppy seeds. They were snoring in seconds. *** When Firepaw awoke, she was lying in a bed of moss at the edge of IceClan territory. Her sisters were in nests beside her, but Shadow was no where to be seen. ‘He left us!’ Firepaw poked her sisters awake. ‘Let’s go.’ Icepaw struggled to her paws groggily. ‘HE LEFT US!!!!’ Unknown fury blazed through Firepaw like a forest fire. ‘WE DON’T KNOW WHERE WE ARE, WHAT WE’RE EVEN DOING!!!’ ‘I could help with that.’ An icy voice full of poison responded. Forestdeath and Thunderstep fought through the foliage. ‘But how can I trust YOU?’ ‘Well, I only fought you because you were trying to murder US.’ Icepaw responded, a blizzard behind her words. ‘Under our leader, or ex-leader’s orders.’ Thunderstep butted in. ‘Fine. Tell us, and we’ll travel with you and not attack you, RIGHT, Firepaw?’ Waterpaw glared at Firepaw. ‘Fine.’ Firepaw agreed. ‘Alright. But you have to do one thing for us….’ An odd glint flashed in Forestdeath’s eye. -End of Ch-
Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1118069060 Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1128896594 First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1110218870 TNEs go here: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/36169221 Cats: Shadow Firepaw Icepaw Waterpaw Thunderstep Forestdeath
