Expedition

Expedition

Made by ~Patchfeather~

## Prologue

An almost dead dry forest, with brown leaves falling in the Green-Leaf wind. The bracken looked almost ready to

fall apart to dust.

The sky was blue, not one cloud, and the burning sun blazing on the forest. A black tom padded to the edge of the forest, so the howling wind flew into his face. Farmland was in front, with the high hopes of mice. He stopped and turned to a black she-cat, and a tom.

"Do you smell that?" He asked flecking his tail on the dead grass, his golden eye looked like it was on fire from the light. The little tom pointed his nose to the sky, standing on the tips of his toes. The she-cat just sniffed. "A... berries?" The little tom asked licking his lips, with the heat, and so many cats, there was a lack of prey, so they had to start eating berries.

The black tom gave the young one a dumb look and turned to the she-cat. "What about you?" He asked tipping his head. "Nothing." She reported slowly. The tom closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, Rain." He murmured.

The little tom jumped up in excitement. "Rain? Yes! We don't have to eat berries anymore! And we have water." He purred. "Yes, but with the forest so dry, if it's a lightning storm bad things will happen." The black tom meowed.

He fluffed out his pelt and began to move on to the barn, the younger cats at his heels. They stopped at a crack in the wall on the barn and squeezed inside. It was dim, and hot inside, but there were squeaks, and the pattering paws of mice.

The lead cat saw one he was ready to pounce when another cat landed on it. "You!" The black tom snarled, fluffing out his pelt. The other cat narrowed his eyes. "You."

"Get behind me." The tom ordered the young cats, they huddled up behind him. "This is not you hunting ground Wetnose." The other tom growled coming out of the darkness to be revealed a ginger tabby tom with two white stripes on his face.

"The same goes to you. Crouchtail." Wetnose hissed. "It's closer to belonging to me then you." Crouchtail snarled. Then out of the shadows, more cats came, three more.

Wetnose tensed. "Attack!" Crouchtail screeched and flew at Wetnose. The she-cat nudged the small tom behind her. "I can fight!" He yowled. "Your too small Wildpaw, I don't want you to get hurt." She meowed. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't fight!" Wildpaw screamed and leaped over the she-cat and landed on top of a brown tabby.

The she-cat tried to protest, but was stopped by a massive gray tom. Then, suddenly as quick as the fight began, it was over. "That's enough, I just wanted to teach this cat a lesson, I thought he would have gave a little better fight, what a waste." Crouchtail sneered kicking Wetnose aside.

His eyes were closed but a deep gash was in his throat. "Let's get out of here." Crouchtail hissed and turned with the rest of his cats. The two cats stared in horror at Wetnose. "Dad!" Wildpaw screamed and fell on him. Wetnose's eyes opened at the movement.

Grunting, he struggled to his paws, leaning on Wildpaw's shoulder. "Nightpaw, stay on his other side." Wildpaw mewed. Wetnose walked well for being as wounded as he was. Cats looked at them pass by looking surprised, Scared, and they hid.

They went back into the forest, Where Wetnose fell, panting, with blood coming out of his mouth. "Get help!" Nightpaw screamed to Wildpaw, he set off at high speed. Wetnose's eyes closed again. Nightpaw curled around him. "I won't let you die, I promise."

## Chapter 1

Wildberry sat in the pine clearing, his friend Snakewhisker licked his head to comfort him. His father Wetnose, had just died due to his wounds. *It's my fault... If I had gotten there sooner he would be alive.* Wildberry thought, feeling guilty.

Wetnose lay in the clearing a little ways away from Wildberry, Wildberry's mother, Echostorm, was taking his death bad, she was curled around him, and her eyes seemed to look guilty. His sister, Doesong was grooming her pelt, little sadness came off her.

Snakewhisker nudged him up. "Hey, Wildberry, It's not your fault, It's Crouchtail's." He did his best to cheer the black tom up. Wildberry's shoulders slumped. "I guess."

"I know what will cheer you up, Let's go hunting." The pale brown tom jumped up waiting for Wildberry to reply. "I don't want to." Wildberry sniffed. "Oh well." Snakewhisker meowed, grabbing Wildberry's tail and tugging him to the entrance. Pain where Snakewhisker bit made his head pound.

"Stop!" He screamed flailing his paws. Snakewhisker let go when he saw the pale tabby form of Larkcloud coming over. She glared at Snakewhisker and leaned down to Wildberry. "It will be good for you to hunt, It will help clear your mind, I'll stay with your mother." Larkcloud meowed looking pleased at her choice of words.

Wildberry doubted it. "Fine." He meowed defeated and stumbled up and fallowed Snakewhisker. He looked over his shoulder to see Larkcloud trying to comfort Echostorm. *She'll be fine, Larkcloud always makes her feel better.* He thought hopefully and trotted after Snakewhisker.

Snakewhisker stopped and sniffed. "That way!" He yowled, pointing with his tail. Wildberry fallowed, unsure why his friend seemed so excited. Snakewhisker stopped at the border. A hole in the ground, with soft squeaks. Rabbits.

Snakewhisker padded to the hole, and into the darkness. "Hey what are you doing?" Wildberry asked when his friend disappeared. "Going to get rabbits! Come on!" Snakewhisker replied. Unsure, Wildberry padded in and cold darkness swallowed him.

Unease crawled through his pelt, no light at all, he couldn't even see. "Snakewhisker, I know we can see in the dark, but that's because even at night there's a little light, I can't see a thing!" Wildberry yelped.

"Quite your yapping, I feel, they are right h-" Snakewhisker began but was cut off by them bumping into a wall of fur. The fur moved and hissed.

"Who are you?" It growled. "Oh *come on!* you've got to be kidding me!" Snakewhisker began yowling. "We can't even hunt without some idiots here! Come on Wildberry let's go." Snakewhisker growled. "Not so fast." A voice sneered and claws ranked down their sides.

"Hey stop! we were leaving!" Snakewhisker snarled. "Well, you just came to the wrong place, at the wrong time." The voice of a cat snarled back. Wildberry swiped his paw and heard a squeal as he hit a cat. He then pushed Snakewhisker out.

The cats cashed after them. They hit the sunlight. "Run!" Wildberry yowled, and they ran back to camp as fast as they could, the sound of the cats disappeared.

They flew into camp to see a patrol, covered in cuts and blood.

## Chapter 2

"What happened?" Wildberry asked, shocked. "Bder, we got attacked retard." Silverwing muttered. The clan leader, Milkstar as there, she turned her blue eyes on Wildberry and Snakewhisker, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"I have had it!" She yowled. "There are to many cats in the forest, it's killing us all." She snarled. "Chose who to send away." Came a thick voice. The other clan leaders! How hadn't he noticed them.

Behind them were nine cats, all from the other clans. Milkstar fluffed her pelt out and sprang onto the tall tree. The NightClan cats gathered, confused and scared. "NightClan, three of our cats are going to leave, for a new home." She meowed, her voice chilly and unforgiving.

Outrage sparked at the cats below. "Enough! The cats are Weaselpool, Wildberry and Echostorm." Milkstar growled. "What no! Echostorm's not leaving without me, and Weaselpool!" Larkcloud protested, Echostorm at her side, Larkcloud's tail curled protectively around her. Weaselpool padded over to her, he looked scared.

"I'm not leaving without Larkcloud. or my other kits." Echostorm meowed. Milkstar stared at them. "Fine take them." She growled. Larkcloud looked to her other kits, Pebbleflight and Shadestorm.

They shook their heads. "We want to stay here." Pebbleflight meowed softly. Larkcloud nodded and turned to Echostorm. Nightwillow, Doesong and Duskflame trotted up to Wildberry. "We stick together no matter what." Nightwillow meowed nodding.

All the cats gathered. "We are ready." Echostorm meowed facing Milkstar. "Not without me." Snakewhisker stood up next to Wildberry. Milkstar nodded. "Go *now."* She added to the other leaders. Their warriors joined the NightClan cats. and they headed off.

No one even came to say good bye they seemed to not even care. *What are we going to do?* He felt the soft tail of his mother on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay." She meowed. She didn't comfort him. The other clan cats stayed in tight groups, of their own clans, some looking at the others with looks of anger.

They stopped awhile later, beyond the clans. "We will rest here." A EagleClan tom meowed. "Who put you in charge?" A FlowerClan cat asked, swishing his tail.

"Well it is Moonhigh so yea." The tom growled and plopped onto the earth. "Oh soft..." A FlowerClan she-cat mewed sitting on the moss.

"Before we go to sleep, I think we should tell everyone our names," She began. "I'm Poppypetal, and my clanmates, Stoneycreek, Larkwind, Viperface, and Gooseflight." Poppypetal mewed.

An EagleClan she-cat stepped up. "I'm Reedshine, and my clanmates are Rainsplash, Willowdawn, Cherryflower and Brookripple." Reedshine fluffed her fur.

Then Larkcloud stepped over. "I'm Larkcloud and my clanmates are Echostorm, Wildberry, Weaselpool, Nightwillow, Doesong, Snakewhisker, and Duskflame." She meowed. "They have alot of cats." Rainsplash whispered to Willowdawn.

"Anyway, Rainsplash is right, it's moonhigh so we must rest." Larkcloud meowed leaping down to her clanmates. The cats stood still for a few moments and then curled up around their clanmates and went to sleep. Wildberry slept in a pile of his siblings. He forced his eyes to close and went to sleep.

## Chapter 3

The sky was blue with no clouds when Nightwillow and the group padded along orange red sandy stone. She looked up to see some buzzards high up. The dusk light shined brightly at their eyes.

The cats looked tired, it has been about a moon since they left the clans, and things weren't easy. Suddenly, Larkwind skipped excitedly. "Look! a cave, we can stay there and cool down!" She mewed pointing her tail at a large cave in the stone clif side.

"Alright!"

Okay!"

"Yes!"

The cats yowled and went inside. The shadow of the roof for the cave touched her pelt, it felt like the most amazing thing ever. They all fell to the ground, panting. After they recovered, Rainsplash rose and padded away from the cats to the back of the cave, which led to a dark tunnel.

Nightwillow padded over to him. "Should we go?" She asked the pale gray tom. He nodded and they both moved farther into the shadows, until there was no light.

She pressed into Rainsplash's pelt, as the bit of fear rose from her belly, she felt Rainsplash tense as well. "Maybe we should go- Look!" He meowed pointing with his tail to a blue light.

They moved closer and quickened their pace, then they came into a large room, the walls were glowing blue, and a lake was there, a hole in the roof letting moon light shine down onto the lake.

Nightwillow gasped at the beauty, the roof was alive with ripples from the water. She looked at Rainsplash, his fur was a blue color and his eyes were dazzling.

He bent down to drink, Nightwillow fallowed, as she lapped something splashed her face. She coughed up water and whipped a look at Rainsplash who had a huge bass in his mouth, he killed it swiftly.

They ate it all pretty quick, then they began to walk on rocks along the wall that fell to the lake. They sat at the other side and began chatting.

"So what was going on before you left?" She asked him. He looked troubled. "The same as the others, my brother, mother and father all died from fights over prey. Nightwillow frowned. "I'm so sorry, my father died from one of those fights. He was killed by.. " She trailed off, staring at Rainsplash remembering he was part of the clan that killed her father.

A crack sounded over head. They both jumped. "What was that?" She asked the tom. "How should I know?" He asked her.

Then it began to rumble and earth started to fall. "Run!" Rainsplash yowled pushing her onto the rocks and they went back to the dark tunnel. Her heart felt like it was going to burst.

A pile of earth fell on top of her. "Help!" She screamed just before it covered her mouth. Rainsplash came back to her and pulled her out and they kept going. The moon light of the entrance burned her eyes, and she saw that the other cats had also found other tunnels and were running out.

"What's happening?" Snakewhisker asked her with Wildberry at his side. Before she could say anything a loud crash came from the back and everyone ran outside. She turned to see Larkcloud the only one trapped, about to be swallowed up.

"Larkcloud!" Echostorm screeched and flew down to her and then they disappeared under the rubble. The rumbles stopped and everything was silent. "No!" Weaselpool broke it. Wildberry fell to his paws, Doesong stood with her mouth hanging open and Duskflame looked speechless.

The kits jumped down to the rocks where their mothers disappeared. Soon, the others joined in. After a few moments... it was clear. They all understood, and stood up, leaving Weaselpool digging as much as he could. "Weaselpool," Stonycreek put on paw on his shoulder. "they're gone."

Weaselpool slumped to the ground and wailed in grief. After awhile they moved on to a new place, instead under a lone bush. Weaselpool lied in the open and looked dead.

Nightwillow couldn't bare to look at him and her own sadness came up. *Oh Echostorm Larkcloud what are we going to do without you?*