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The den the strangers kept Mosspaw in was shoddily build and didn't protect well against the chill of the darker part of the woods. Strangely, there was no guard. Perhaps they thought ae wouldn't be able to escape without them noticing? Well, there was one cat who would periodically come near aer.
His name was Scrunkles and his dark gray fur was matted and scruffy with some chunks missing. Tiny mushrooms grew all over the tom's body. Mosspaw thought he was around aer age.
He always seemed to keep himself low to the ground, lower than the other cats walking around.
He would occasionally bring aer a bedraggled looking mouse, though ae suspected he wasn't allowed to get aer anything more than that.
Mosspaw's ears pricked up and ae lifted aer head to see the tom approaching aer. He didn't have a mouse with him this time, so ae wasn't sure why he was coming towards aer.
"Hi," he meowed, settling down besides aer in loaf position. "I thought you looked a bit lonely so I wanted to come and keep you company." He looked around for a moment, likely trying to spot any of his family members. They didn't seem very fond of him.
"What do they want with me?" Mosspaw asked immediately, hoping to gain some sort of information.
A sad looked flashed over Scrunkles's face, "I don't know," he meowed. "My family doesn't really tell me anything. Ever."
Mosspaw fought to not have aer disappointment show on aer face. The calico still wasn't entirely sure if this was a trap. These cats could be pretending to hate their family member just to lull aer into trusting him. But honestly? They'd have to be pretty good actors to keep it up for this long.
"Do they hate you or something?" Mosspaw asked before realizing that was kinda blunt, ears drooping when Scrunkles winced.
"Not hate," he started, tilting his head as he thought. "My father just has certain ideas about which kinds of magic are more useful and the rest is too afraid to go against him."
He looked like he wanted to say more but right at that moment, a large long-haired ginger cat called out his name. Scrunkles quickly got up, shooting Mosspaw an apologetic look before bounding away.
Mosspaw watched as the two disappeared behind a group of large ferns and sighed. Scrunkles may not have told aer much, but what he did say did not paint a good picture. This didn't really seem like much of a family, Mosspaw had seen them hissing at each other when all they did was walk past.
The calico found aerself missing ShineClan even more now, where no cat had to worry about their magic. Even if it wasn't very strong or useful, every cat was welcome. Ae wondered what Scrunkles's magic actually was, though it likely had something to do with the mushrooms that grew all over his body.
Surprisingly, Mosspaw was not left alone for long as aer musings were interrupted by Whisper coming towards aer, the pale gray tom having returned from wherever he went.
The calico sat up a little straighter, curious as no cat other than Scrunkles had said anything to aer the entire time ae had been here.
Whisper had a smirk on his face and amusement shining in his eyes. Mosspaw didn't like it and pressed aer ears slightly against aer head, showing aer displeasure.
"Your family is really something else," he started, somehow managing to curl his long body into a ball as he sat down. "They're already fighting amongst each other."
Mosspaw huffed. Yeah, right, Mosspaw knew aer Clan. Their strength came not from their numbers, but from teamwork and planning. And no cat would start fighting another without first bringing any issues they had to the leader or the deputy.
This cat was clearly just trying to rile aer up. Although, this might be an opportunity to flex aer acting skills.
Mosspaw thought it over and decided on the perfect act, pretend like Whisper's words made aer doubt aer Clanmates. But not too much, or he might become suspicious. Perhaps they might become more lax in their security, believing that ae wasn't as likely to return to cats who only fought with each other.
Mosspaw could try to escape if that happened. Though, what the calico really wanted was to swipe that smirk off of the tom's face. He was far too happy with the thought of her Clanmates being angry.
There were no doubts in the calico's mind that the entirety of ShineClan was devising a plan to save aer right this moment.
"I don't believe you." Mosspaw snapped, making sure that aer voice wavered slightly at the end, as if ae wasn't sure of aer own words.
Whisper threw his head back and laughed, the sound grating on Mosspaw's ears. "Are you sure about that? Think they're not about to rip each other's throat's out? I saw them, you know. Heard them too."
He dropped his voice lower, "don't think I've ever seen a group of cats more ready to unsheate their claws at the slightest provocation, not even my family's like that."
"You're lying!" Mosspaw meowed, raising aer voice but forcing aer ears to droop low. Hoping to project sadness or doubt.
"You don't sound like you believe what you're saying but, suit yourself. Not my problem if you want to live in denial." The tom shrugged as he stood up, stretching himself out and turning away, leaving aer behind in the cold den.
Mosspaw made sure to growl at him, pleased to note that he seemed completely unaware of aer true feelings.
Mousebrain. Ae didn't say that one out loud though.
Nothing happened for a long while after that. Mosspaw stayed awake even as the moon reached its peak in the sky, the ground beneath aer too uncomfortable to sleep on. The fact that ae was alone without aer Clanmates definitely didn't help either.
Aer ears pricked up as something rustled in the bushes near the den. Scrunkles pushed himself through the brambles, quiet as a mouse.
What was he doing up and why didn't he just walk through his family's camp?
"Hi," he spoke, voice so quiet Mosspaw had to strain aer ears to be able to hear him.
"What are you doing?" The apprentice whispered back, confusion causing aer to tilt aer head.
"I'm sneaking you out. Whatever my father has planned, I want no part in it." He seemed anxious, shuffling his forepaws in the dirt.
Was this a trick? Sure his family wasn't good from what Mosspaw had observed, but he had seemed resigned to it. Why was he trying to help now?
"How can I trust you?" The calico asked, subtly glancing around to see if any cat was hiding in the bushes to ambush aer if ae actually tried to leave.
"You can't. You barely know me, If you really don't want to you don't have to follow me." More mushrooms sprouted over his body. "But I wanted to give you the chance."
Mosspaw considered his words for a moment. "Why do this now? They don't seem like the forgiving type, what will you do after getting me out?"
A sad look passed over the tom's face. "Honestly, I've wanted to leave for a while now. I can hunt and fight well enough to survive on my own. I don't need them but, I had hoped I could at least Whisper to come with me." Scrunkles sighed, ears drooping. "He's my brother. Younger brother. And yes I still hold that over his head, no matter how many times he tries to imitate our father and takes a swipe at me."
oh. These cats were really that aggressive?
"Are you okay?" While Mosspaw did not have any siblings, never would ae imagine actually trying to hurt them if ae did.
Scrunkles shrugged. "Probably not, but I've had enough of them. I was planning on leading you back to your home and then just, not coming back here."
Now Mosspaw had a dilemma. Trust Scrunkles and slip away in the night or stay and wait for aer Clan to come resque aer. He seemed pretty earnest and he had been fairly nice to aer the whole time. Should ae accept his help?
Well, even if he was lying, ae could still try to make a run for it, the woods here were thick enough that ae could easily hide among the trees and bushes.
The calico stood up, making aer way over to the dark gray tom. He seemed happy with aer choice.
But, just as they were about to sneak away, chaos erupted in the camp. Cats burst forward out of their hiding spots and ambushed the dens of the sleeping family. Familiar cats.
It's like the whole of ShineClan had shown up, appearing from out of the darkness and surrounding the now very awake cats who had kidnapped aer.
Well, this was going to change things.