"I don't see how you can fight me. I'm much faster than you," said Kestrelpaw, sticking her tongue out. She tried to act brave. Unbothered by this. But deep down she was terrified; she fought to make her face look calm, maybe even a little happy.
"We're going to take you to Stormstar," said the brown one. "Then he will decide how many scars you'll have."
The three MarshClan toms took a few steps closer to her. Kestrelpaw temporarily forgot she was supposed to act brave and took a few steps back.
"You guys don't look like you can fight me," said Kestrelpaw. "You might need some reinforcements." Kestrelpaw knew that if she could convince them they needed reinforcements, at least one will have to go and get them. Then there would just be two left, and perhaps she could fight her way out then.
"You're an apprentice and a lousy hunter," the third one spoke up for the first time. He looked the least threatening out of all of them, but he still looked terrifying with his ragged gray fur and wild green eyes. "I think the three of us will do just fine."
They took more steps forward, and Kestrelpaw took more steps backward. She could feel the cliff behind her. Could she jump across? She didn't dare turn her head back and away from the toms to check.
"Come on," hissed the brown one. He unsheathed his claws and slowly padded towards Kestrelpaw. She couldn't back away much further without slipping off the edge.
"Come on," she said. "Let's talk this out."
A ginger shape hurtled past her and barreled into the brown tom. They tangled together. The other two took steps closer to him as though unsure if he needed help.
Then the brown tom pinned the ginger tom on the ground. It was Wasppaw!
That did it. Kestrelpaw felt sparks ignite deep inside her, like a rampaging fire. Everything happened in a blur. Suddenly she was hurtling through the air, right at the brown tom. She raked her claws down his back, cutting open flesh. Hot and sticky blood slid onto her claws. She backed away from the tom, surprised. Did I just do that?
"Timberthorn!" yowled the gray tom. "Do you need help?"
"Yes you toad-brains!" snapped the brown tom, Timberthorn. "Get that foolish CloudClan apprentice!"
The two other MarshClan toms leaped at Kestrelpaw. Kestrelpaw felt anxiety clawing at her belly but pushed it away. I can't be afraid. I need to focus.
Last second she leaped out of the way. The MarshClan toms looked confused once they landed, looking around.
"She's right there!" snarled Timberthorn. "Do you have bees in your brains? Get her, you—"
He was cut off when Wasppaw kicked up with his hind-legs. It distracted Timberthorn for a second and in that moment Wasppaw was able to slip out from his grip.
"Go," yowled Wasppaw. He started racing towards the boulder bridge, and Kestrelpaw followed behind him.
"Don't let them escape," called Timberthorn. Then the two other toms started racing after them.
"Hurry," said Wasppaw. "We can make it."
Yes, thought Kestrelpaw. We're going to make it. StarClan wouldn't let us be caught. We're special.
Wasppaw reached the bridge and helped Kestrelpaw haul herself onto the boulder. They raced across the surface and leaped off on the other side.
The three MarshClan toms stopped, realizing that they couldn't cross the border.
"Foxhearts!" Timberthorn spat at them from across the cliff. His fur was bristled and his hackles were raised. "We're telling Stormstar! We're telling him that CloudClan thinks they can do whatever they want again."
Wasppaw flicked Kestrelpaw with his tail. "Come on! We need to go before they decide to cross the border."
Kestrelpaw nodded. Before they raced away she caught one more look at the angry toms. She felt guilt. But why? They just did what had to be done. If they hadn't attacked them, they would be suffering. But she felt bad. She never dreamed of hurting someone—at least not this bad. She only wanted to fight playfully, not for real. Not with unsheathed claws.
She raced after Wasppaw, through the forest. She wanted to forget about crossing the border, fighting with the MarshClan toms, ripping through flesh....
She was so distracted that she didn't realize Wasppaw had stopped. She saw a flash of gray fur in front of her and stopped right before running into it.
"What happened?" hissed a voice in front of her. She looked up and saw brown eyes narrowing down on her. It was Cindertooth, Wasppaw's mentor.
"I was hunting," said Kestrelpaw, "and accidentally crossed the border. Three MarshClan toms almost tore me to shreds."
Cindertooth's tail lashed. "We showed you the border. You should've known better." He turned to Wasppaw. "And why are you all scratched up?"
"I felt Kestrelpaw and I knew she was in trouble," said Wasppaw. "So I raced across the border as fast as I could and clawed all those toms' eyes out." Inwardly, Kestrelpaw rolled her eyes. You weren't exactly that heroic.
"You shouldn't have crossed the border," growled Cindertooth. "Neither of you. You must learn from your mistakes, so you will be punished."
"I think we've already been punished enough," the words came out of Kestrelpaw's mouth before she could stop. "We had to fight those MarshClan toms... and if it weren't for Wasppaw, I'd probably be getting beat up by Stormstar right now." She flashed a look of gratitude at Wasppaw.
"That doesn't count," said Cindertooth. "I'm taking you to Beetlestar."
They were led back into camp and into Beetlestar's den. Beetlestar immediately looked worried once he laid eyes on them. "What happened?"
"These two," said Cindertooth, flicking his tail at them,"wanted to practice fighting. So they crossed the MarshClan border and tried to battle some MarshClan cats."
"That's not true!" cried Wasppaw. "Kestrelpaw was hunting and accidentally crossed the border. I came to help her and fought off those toms."
Beetlestar frowned as though not sure who to believe.
"No matter what, they shouldn't have crossed the border at all," said Cindertooth. "Even by mistake."
Beetlestar nodded. "That is true. You must be aware of your surroundings."
"WHAT!" yelled Wasppaw. "Cindertooth is lying. We didn't mean to cross the border. I did want to learn some fighting moves, but I didn't want to cross the border."
Beetlestar flicked his tail. His decision was made. "I don't care which story is true. As warriors you will need to be aware of your surroundings. You two might have cost us our peace with MarshClan as a result of your carelessness. You must be taught a lesson."
Kestrelpaw looked at Wasppaw, who was trembling with rage and glaring at Beetlestar, then at Cindertooth, who was smiling smugly. Kestrelpaw wished she was close enough to Cindertooth to cuff his ear off with unsheathed claws. So instead, she stuck her tongue out at him.
"For the next moon," said Beetlestar, "neither of you may leave the camp."
"What!" cried Wasppaw. "You can't do that. We just got apprenticed!"
"And clearly you're not ready to leave the camp," he said.
"Well, then punish me, but not Kestrelpaw," said Wasppaw. Kestrelpaw looked at him, surprised. He's willing to give up warrior training for me. He really wants to learn how to fight, and he's willing to give that up for me.
"I admire your selflessness," said Beetlestar, "but both of you must be punished so you will learn from your mistakes."
Wasppaw and Kestrelpaw padded out of the den, Cindertooth smiling smugly and annoyingly beside them. If a tree suddenly fell on him and crushed him, Kestrelpaw wouldn't feel sorry for him.
Wasppaw turned to her. "I can't believe Cindertooth," he growled. "One day I'll get back at him."
Kestrelpaw nodded. "When you do, let me in too."
He nodded. She could feel his anger rising. "When I become leader, he will be sorry."
He padded away, stalking towards the fresh-kill pile. Kestrelpaw felt the sparks becoming calmer in her fur.
Something had changed between her and Wasppaw. Before she knew they were supposed to be together, but before today she just felt like they were friends, not feeling any of those special feelings towards him. Now she actually felt it. Now she was truly in love with him.
A/N::
Hey guys! I hope this chapter brought some of the action into the story that it was lacking.
I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! :D Please leave any predictions in the comments.
That awesome photo at the top is by PoppyThePussyCat :3
//Edited