"You stand before FogClan!"
A black she-cat with gray patches stood in front of Panicscar, her fur bristling and her lips curled back in a vicious snarl.
"So what?" Panicscar snapped, pushing her muzzle into the cats face. The medicine cat noticed that this she-cat had scratches criss-crossing her muzzle.
"You may not see the half-moon tonight." Vineclaw sneered behind her. The she-cat silenced the tom with a wave of her gray and white tail.
"What have you been doing on FogClan territory?" The she-cat twitched her whiskers.
Panicscar glanced at the cats that surrounded them in a ragged circle.
The cats smelled of rogues. Panicscar caught the eye of a kit, and it bared it's sharp fangs. Her whiskers twitching with amusement, the medicine cat turned back to the she-cat.
"I wandered here. I never tried to come onto your stupid territory." At her words, the she-cat flinched.
"For calling FogClan stupid, you will be our prisoner, MistClan fox-heart!" She declared, her green eyes glowing with hatred. Panicscar opened her jaws to protest, but the cat ignored her.
"I, Wildstar Of FogClan, will kill you at sunrise." The leaders lips softly curled with a smile, and Panicscar saw her blood-stained fangs.
What in StarClan... does she kill cats to hold her power?! I have to get out of here!
Worry clawed at Panicscar's heart as she followed a gray tom with black spots to the back of the camp.
A tall boulder towered over the cats, and the warrior pushed her inside of a small crack. Her fur was pressed down to her bones, and her belly yowled with hunger.
I haven't eaten since that frog.
Panicscar shook her head.
I need to escape.
The medicine cat looked around, her green eyes sharp with concentration.
Panicscar spotted a small crack with sunlight gleaming through the hole, but it was barely large enough for a kit.
The only exit is the entrance of this StarClan cursed boulder. She decided. Panicscar tried to sit down, but her haunches were stuck.
"Frogclaw. Let me take duty." Vineclaw ordered the tom that was sitting in front of her, breaking her out of thought.
Frogclaw crept away, clearly afraid of the tom.
The ginger and white tom turned to her, and met her eye.
"Don't even think about trying to escape." Vineclaw snarled.
Panicscar met his eye, but movement caught her attention.
Wildstar was tearing through the fresh-kill pile.
A ginger she-cat with brown paws was watching eagerly as her kits played at her paws.
A brown tom sat beside her, watching her warily.
Wildstar threw a toad towards the queen, and she ripped it apart hungrily.
The kits watched her eat, their eyes wide and pleading.
"We're hungry, Fishfin!" A brown tom-kit with white spots protested.
Blood dripped from the queen's mouth as she looked back up. Panicscar looked back towards Vineclaw, to see Wildstar tossing a colorful bird to the orange tom.
"A parrot for my faithful deputy!" Wildstar exclaimed, but she soon caught the medicine cat's eyes.
So Vineclaw is deputy. The medicine cat thought, but she soon saw Wildstar glaring at her through narrowed eyes.
Panicscar understood immediately what the she-cat mouthed. You don't get any food. The scarred she-cat narrowed her eyes.
Wildstar bent back down and pawed through the pile of prey. The FogClan leader turned away, and there was still cats who hadn't gotten food. Panicscar flinched as she watched cats pad away.
Now, the sun was setting, and cats were heading to their dens.
Panicscar eventually got into a comfortable position to sleep in, and closed her eyes.
I need my rest for tomorrow.
************
The sharp scent of wind tingled Panicscar's nose, making her sneeze. Voices mingled in her ears.
The medicine cat's eyes flew open.
A russet she-cat and a white tom with stars woven in their fur sat in front of her.
Panicscar didn't recognize them, but they seemed very familiar.
"Who are you?" She yowled over the roaring wind.
"I am Birdcall." The russet she-cat whispered just loud enough to be heard.
"And I am Petalheart." The toms whiskers twitched as he spoke. "We came here to tell you that Fogclan was once a proud and worthy clan." The wind began to settle down, her fur fluffing back out.
"Once Wildstar became leader, the clan fell into turmoil." Petalheart meowed softly, looking down at his paws.
"Escape the treachery! We can't bear to see another cat treated like this!" Birdcall yowled, and she trembled with fury.
Their pelts began to glow, turning to a bright white.
Panicscar closed her eyes, knowing she had to go.
The medicine cat flung her eyes wide open, and she glanced up at the stone walls. Starlight filtered through the entrance, just enough for her to be able to see her own paws in the darkness.
Only one goal remained in her mind. I need to escape.
Panicscar jumped to her paws, although she was careful to keep her claws sheathed, as to not make any noise. Her back fur brushed the top of the Boulder, and she remember that she was in the crack of it.
She squinted her eyes as her pupils dilated, helping her see in the dark. The medicine cat carefully padded out into the open meeting area, the moonlight shining onto her fur, although she blended in perfectly with the dull soil.
Escape, they said. A great clan, I bet, the medicine cat thought with amusement as she crouched down and slowly, but easily padded to the camp entrance.
Panicscar paused as she neared the entrance of the camp, and she crouched down even lower, her fur bristling as she strained her neck to glance around at the edge of the entrance.
Vineclaw sat just in front of Panicscar, on the other side of a bush, his eyes narrowed to slits as he glared out into the jungle, guarding his clan.
Escape... Panicscar repeated in her head. Her claws unsheathed and dug into the soil as what the StarClan cats of FogClan said played and rewinded in her mind.
Escape the treachery.
Panicscar unsheathed her claws, and felt power ripple through her.
He deserves this.
The medicine cat leapt in the air.
As Vineclaw looked up at her, time seemed to freeze. Panicscar could make out his amber eyes glowing with hatred and fear through the darkness.
Adrenaline flooded through her veins like an icy river as she dived down, her claws just mouse-lengths away from Vineclaw's muzzle.
The tom let out a growl as Panicscar slid her claws across his muzzle.
Vineclaw leapt to his paws, his white tail lashing back and forth.
"FogClan is a disgrace!" Panicscar spat.
She pounced on the deputy's back before he could retort, burying his nose in the leaves.
Panicscar felt a wave of satisfaction flow through her as she began to feel Vineclaw heave for air.
The medicine cat churned her hind claws on the FogClan cat's back, and felt him let out a growl of frustration.
All of a sudden, Panicscar lost her grip and Vineclaw slithered from underneath her.
He raked his claws across her chest, barely missing her throat.
Panicscar backed up, her eyes narrowed.
He may be bigger, but he sure is stupid! The gray she-cat felt blood trickle from her old scars as blood roared in her ears.
Vineclaw watched as she slipped in blood and fell face down into it.
The deputy grasped her scruff in his jaws and threw her across the clearing.
The she-cat felt pain ripple through her body, and she closed her eyes for a moment, the darkness comforting.
Panicscar sat up warily, her face covered with blood.
The scarred she-cat lunged for Vineclaw, and her claws met his ear.
The tom let out a yowl of pain as she tore his ear. Vineclaw lashed out at Panicscar. His claws hooked her bristling neck fur, and the deputy climbed onto her back.
Panicscar glanced around, fear ebbing underneath the pain. Beside her, a cliff edge jutted from the hill.
Perfect.
She purred. Confused, Vineclaw stopped raking his claws across her back.
Panicscar leapt to her paws, and the deputy was thrown off of her.
Vineclaw looked backwards, and saw the cliff.
Panicscar stepped towards the deputy, and the ginger tom stepped back as well.
His paw dangled over the cliff, and he knew just as well as she did that he was going to die.
"This is your end, Vineclaw. Any last words?" She purred as the tom took another step back. Vineclaw fell down, barely missing the edge of the cliff with his paws.
The deputy scrabbled with his hind paws on the cliff wall uselessly.
"Help." He rasped, coughing up blood.
"Gladly." Panicscar meowed.
The she-cat paused when Vineclaw's paws were in front of hers.
Panicscar gently grasped one of his paws in her mouth.
His eyes widened with a mingle of surprise and terror as she lifted it off of the ground.
"Buh-bye." She murmured, her mew muffled.
She jerked her head towards the edge of the cliff, and let go of his paw.
He dangled off of the cliff for a moment, his eyes pleading.
Vineclaw's paw slipped on the rocky terrain and he fell. Panicscar could hear his frightened screeches as he fell to the bottom of the ravine.
A purr softly rumbled in her throat, as she padded into FogClan territory.