~Warnings: Cats fighting, talk of murder, blood, callback to old chapters~ Snowpelt slowly crept up on the mouse, the heat of mid greenleaf soaking through her pelt. The mouse was turned away, she was downwind and hidden in the shadows to help subtract from the issue of her white pelt. As she readied to pounce, an unfamiliar voice of a she-cat came through the trees, “Are we even in the right area?” The mouse startled and ran off, but Snowpelt didn’t give chase, standing and pricking her ears as there was a reply in a hushed and harsh voice “Yes, but you’re going to give us all away if you don’t shut up, Crash.” Snowpelt froze. Crash? That wasn’t a warrior name. And ‘give us all away’? What were they doing here? Snowpelt slowly snuck towards the voices as a third voice said “Yeah, Crash, be quiet, this is a stealth mission.” Stealth mission? Snowpelt quietly climbed up a tree and made her way over, the forms of three strange cats coming into view. One of them looked annoyed with the two that stood on either side of her. The one on her right, Crash, snapped “You shut up, Motor!” The cat on the left, Motor, glared and said “I’m not-” The one in the middle gave them both harsh looks and they shut up. She took a breath, then said quietly “We have a job to do here, and infighting is not helpful. Imagine what she would say if she heard you fighting?” Motor and Crash shrunk at the mention of this ‘she’ and quietly said in unison “Yes, Owl.” Owl nodded and said “We’ve been picked specifically for this mission, so do not ruin it with bickering. I was appointed leader of this mission, so when I say be quiet, you must do so.” Who were these cats? Snowpelt slowly crept out to get a better view, when Owl suddenly tensed, her ears pricking. She signed, in the same way Skylight did, ‘We have a visitor. In the trees.’ Crash and Owl paused, then realization seemed to dawn on them as the cats slowly backed into the shadows, throwing small glances up to the trees. Oh Starclan. Snowpelt didn’t hear, smell, or see anyone else around. They’d seen her. Snowpelt quickly retreated and went to run when Owl snapped “Crash, third tree. Motor, go.” Snowpelt’s eyes widened as she dashed into the trees, the two cats chasing. Suddenly, as she landed on the branch of a new tree, the tree shook and she lost her grip and fell, hitting branches on her way, just enough to break her fall and keep her from being seriously hurt as she hit the ground. Pain pulsed through her, but she took off in a run. At least, she tried to, but there were claws in her pelt as Motor tackled her. Then Crash was there, pinning her down. Snowpelt struggled against Crash, but she was too strong, easily holding Snowpelt down with a single paw. What was going on?! ‘Calm down, there might be a way out of this. We might be able to use this.’ Shadow said, but there was much less confidence in her voice than there normally was, as if Shadow was also unsure. Snowpelt took a breath and relaxed slightly, snapping as Owl padded over, “Who are you?” Owl looked down at her and asked “What is your name? What clan are you from?” So they knew of the clans. ‘Give them nothing, until you have reason to.’ Shadow advised. Snowpelt narrowed her eyes and hissed “Let me up. Then we’ll talk.” Owl looked at her, then lifted her paw. Snowpelt froze as Crash lifted her paw and allowed Snowpelt to sit up. Owl’s paw… it, it had a very specific and familiar scar on it. A circle with a triangle within. The same one Skylight had. The mark of the intelligent from the place Skylight came from. If these cats were anything like Skylight and her brothers, they were dangerous. Owl tilted her head and asked “Something wrong?” Snowpelt slowly rose and narrowed her eyes, asking “Who are you? Not your names. I overhead that.” Owl chuckled and said “We come from a place far away. Since we are holding introductions, who are you? What clan are you from?” “How do you know about the clans?” Snowpelt asked, very aware of Motor and Crash sitting behind her. Owl said, “We have our ways.” “That’s not an answer.” Snowpelt snapped back. Owl chuckled and said “I’m not the one who’s a prisoner.” “A prisoner, huh? And what are you going to do with me?” Snowpelt asked. Crash spoke up, “Get rid of you, probably. I mean, that would work to cause problems… uh, sorry.” Crash shut up under the glares of Owl and Motor. Owl sighed and said “Before we discuss that, what is your name and clan?”
Shadow spoke up in Snowpelt’s mind ‘Oh, they want to cause problems? Well, maybe they can get one of Whitestar’s lives out of our way. Killing a leader would certainly cause problems. We can work with them.’ Snowpelt felt slightly startled by Shadow’s suggestion. What about Skylight’s story- ‘Who cares about Skylight? Don’t you remember what happened a few moons ago? She hates you now.’ Shadow, Shadow was right. Snowpelt’s attention drew back to Owl as Owl lifted a paw and signed ‘She’s taking a long time to respond, she may lie to us.’ Snowpelt smirked and signed ‘Just because I take a moment to reply doesn’t mean I’ll lie to you.’ Owl’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she asked “Who. Are. You?” Snowpelt took a breath, then said “Call me… Snow. You said you wanted to cause problems within the clans?” Snow decided to only use her prefix. This, this could be a betrayal to her entire clan, ‘Your family is dead. Who cares about those cats that will never understand. Besides, if they want to be sneaky, they’ll likely only kill Whitestar.’ Shadow was right. Snowpelt relaxed as Owl asked “Why do you want to know?” Snowpelt met her eyes and said “Because I want someone dead, and you killing that someone would most certainly achieve your goal.” Owl chuckled and said “Oh, really? Who?” Snowpelt took a breath, then said “The leader of Thunderclan.” Motor gasped and said “A leader? Trix-” Owl interrupted “That’s an interesting proposition, Snow.” Shadow whispered ‘Good job. Cats like these are easy to work with. You make a deal where you both gain, and then you throw them away later.’ Snowpelt nodded and Owl asked “Where can we find this leader?” Snowpelt said “She goes on a lone patrol around high sun every day. She looks similar to myself. White pelt, black right paw, amber eyes. Her name is Whitestar.” Owl hummed, looking Snowpelt over, then asked “And why do you want her dead, Snow?” Snowpelt took a breath, her anger and grief seeping into her voice again “She got my family killed, and I lost everything.” Owl nodded and said “I see.” Snowpelt sighed and asked “Anything else? Or can I go?” Owl paused, then asked “Do you know cats named Sky, Sun, or Stick?” Snowpelt shook her head. Technically speaking, she never knew them by those names. She met them for the first time when Ashstar announced them by their apprentice names. “Can I leave?” Snowpelt snapped. Owl paused, then lifted a claw to Snowpelt’s chin, hissing “Do you realize that if you betray us, we’ll end you?” Snowpelt moved her paw away and said “I don’t plan on it. I plan on going to the medicine den to get checked over from falling out of that tree.” Owl paused, then nodded and Crash and Motor backed away. ‘Leave while you’re still ahead.’ Snowpelt got up, turned, and padded away, taking a roundabout path back to camp, despite her aching body and the scrapes she had collected during her fall. Snowpelt slunk into camp, and immediately headed to the medicine den. As she entered, Flowersong turned and began to sign ‘Hi! How can I help-’ Flowersong froze when she saw Snowpelt, several emotions passing through her eyes, but two made Snowpelt freeze for a second. Fear, and knowing. Did, did Flowersong know? ‘Skylight must have told her. Now she’s scared of you. She doesn’t understand.’ Shadow said softly. Snowpelt dropped her head and muttered “Fell out of a tree.” There was a pause, before Flowersong stepped forward and signed ‘Ok, lie down and I’ll look you over.’ Snowpelt walked over to a nest and laid down, catching Flowersong’s gentle smile out of the corner of her eye. Snowpelt closed her eyes as Flowersong checked her over, then cracked them open when Flowersong lightly prodded her shoulder. Flowersong signed ‘Just some bruising and scrapes, you’ll be alright, but do you want poppyseeds?’ Snowpelt nodded, wanting to sleep, feeling tired already from the day’s events so far. Flowersong nodded and stepped away, then came back with a few black seeds Snowpelt quickly ate. Quickly, sleep overcame her. Snowpelt’s eyes only flickered open when she heard Whitestar shriek “I was just attacked by rouges!” ~First~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1066586971/ ~Previous~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1235995843/ ~Next~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1243254791/
