A DARK CLOUD — A Warriors fiction ————————— Hello! Welcome to chapter three of a story I am writing, A Dark Cloud! I’m sorry it’s been long since chapter two came out. [+] means an extension project is linked below. ————————————————————————— Characters (mentioned or shown) - Cloudstar [ fluffy long-haired white she-cat with a nicked ear and brown eyes ] Nightberry [ solid short-haired black she-cat with a long tail and blue eyes ] Darlingdove [ white she-cat with gray patches. skinny and lithe. ] Hawkjaw [ medium-haired blue-eyed calico tom ] ————————————————————————— Next: n/a Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/724724339/ First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/719939842/ Extension project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/730452901/ ———— Shared September 10th, 4:29 p.m.
CHAPTER THREE —————————— The white she-cat growled, dragging her tail in the snow. It had gone numb a while ago, when she started to walk. The clouds above her groaned a warning, but she didn’t hear. Her mind was fixed on what had happened earlier. She was in a room enclosed by stone, with Nightberry and that pesky leader—Howlstar or something. Snowstar? Skystar? Something like that. Hawkjaw had watched the two she-cats carefully, and complimented Nightberry. But her? Little ol’ Darlingdove? “Be more like Nightberry.” But she was better than Nightberry, and she knew it. This thought only made her angrier. She dug her claws into the snow, pausing to sit down. Nightberry was her friend. Well—she couldn’t call her a friend, not anymore. They had gone on many trips together, through snow and the hottest days. Then they found Hawkjaw, who would give them food and shelter, and his only wish for them was to do certain “missions”. They agreed, and seven years later, they were here. In the mountains. The freezing cold. They came to learn that Hawkjaw wasn’t the nicest cat in the world. Darlingdove though Nightberry of almost a sister. They’d been together since they were apprentice-age. But Darlingdove knew that was never the case now. Nightberry probably only thought of her as an annoying kit following her everywhere. Their supposed friendship fell apart after that mouse-brained leader had been kidnapped. \I’ll never go near Nightberry again,\she thought to herself, \or else I’ll kill her.\ She continued on, watching her frostbitten paws as they sank into the frigid snow. She didn’t care anymore. Looking back on it, Nightberry had always been the greatest, and she was just the naive molly following along. She never should have joined Hawkjaw. But he gave her food and shelter. But she was paying for it now. Nothing is ever free. How could she realize this only now? Of course, there had been a small price to getting the warmth and prey, but it wasn’t as big as it should have been. How could she be so mouse-brained? She almost tripped in the snow. The clouds began to give a waterfall of snowflakes, adding to the snow. She barred her teeth. “Where are you going, Darlingdove?” the voice hadn’t gone into her ears for a minute. Her heart was pounding, and the wind was yowling; it made nearly it impossible to hear anything. Then, she heard the poisonous voice: Nightberry. The white she stopped in her tracks, but refused to turn around. “Away,” she hissed back, “from you and Hawkjaw and that stupid Cloudstar leader and everyone. You can go on back to the cave and tell Hawkjaw I’ll be back tomorrow. Not today. Not in an hour. /Tomorrow/.” Her words began to trip over themselves. Even speaking hurt her. She began to notice the horrible aching and agony in her paws. Shocked from the pain, she leaned and almost fell over. “Now, now,” Nightberry purred, watching the other cat closely, “you’re obviously tired and hurt. Come with me. The medicine cat at Hawkjaw’s cave will help you.” The words were soothing and raised Darlingdove’s hopes. She couldn’t tell if Nightberry was being truthful or not, but either way she was enticed. “My sister,” Nightberry soothed with a mrow, “come with me. Hawkjaw likes us both equally. He was caught in the moment. He said so himself. He sent me to take you back, don’t you know?” Most of her words was a lie, but Darlingdove didn’t hear. “We’ve known each other since kits. Have I ever let you down?” Darlingdove simply shook her head, moving her head for a glance at the black she behind her. “Why are you hesitant? Come. I can even carry you if you want. It’s not so far now, Darlingdove, come.” The word were too soft and gentle for the white molly to resist. She turned around, starstruck by her friend’s kindness. “Did…you say “sister”? I’ll—I’ll come. I’ll follow. My paws hurt and my tail…” she trailed off, searching for sympathy in Nightberry’s eyes. None were to be seen, but she didn’t take that as a warning sign. The two set off, barely talking. “Are you sure this is the cave?” Darlingdove meowed. Her eyes were blurry, and she could hardly see. “Oh course,” Nightberry replied, a small amount of irritation in her voice. “Come inside now. And rest.” Darlingdove meowed a grateful response and headed inside. It smelled different. Not like the cave she knew. But maybe it was because her nose was cold. She had been in the blizzard for so long. She curled up into what she thought was a nest, and closed her eyes. “You can’t keep me here!” Cloudstar yowled. She had been put into a “prison”, reinforced by pebbles and stones around the floors. The walls were impossible to dig into. It was hard rock. “Your little friends are gone! I can’t be captured forever!” No response came to her yowls. Hawkjaw was either being silent, or wasn’t around. Hawkjaw, as a kit, always trapped another kit in a wall of dirt, away from his parents. [+]
