Amaranthine/part four

Raven and Nascha were a few steps ahead of me, trotting quietly along the path that lead to the border. The oaks and maples towered over the sides of the well-trodden path, creating a sense of isolation from the rest of the forest. We padded towards the border quickly but quietly, careful not to attract the attention of our trainers or the other group. When we reached the heavily patrolled line, full of scents from our scouts and guards, Raven hesitated before jumping across after Nascha, who had leaped over it eagerly. I followed close behind us, careful to make my pawsteps even more inconspicuous than before. This group had an odd scent, like rain and fresh leaves. A few more flowery scents stood out, most likely the scents of the scouts that had come before us. This group didn't seem as careful or confident as us. Their scent intertwined with prey's in a way that made me think most of these cats were just hunting, and their border was barely scent-marked.

The scent that stood out most to me, however, was Cherry's. It was well-masked, but I knew her scent by heart. She had clearly crossed the border and headed into the heart of their territory, though she had intentionally made her path winding and difficult to follow. Looking back, we should have done that. The trainers were probably on our trail by now. I knew Onyx had stopped at the border and gone back, most likely to alert Astor, our leader.

We continued through the other group's territory. Nascha walked confidently ahead of us. As a royal, she often felt entitled to do what she wanted. Her royal status, however, did not entitle her to walk in this group's territory. Raven was more careful, having smothered some of her scent in dried leaves earlier. I spotted the glint of her unsheathed claws, ready to fight any cat who challenged us.

A light drizzle began, making tapping sounds on the leaves above us. It washed away not only our scents, but the scent we were following. I glanced up at Nascha inquisitively, not daring to make a sound in case we were heard. She just continued along in the general direction the now-faint scents led, determined to find Cherry. We followed her, though Raven looked at me skeptically once. It seemed like she wanted to get caught.

The scents began to get thicker and stronger, weaving closer and closer together. The group's scent was fresh and clear, like the forest after rain. One of the scents seemed stronger than the rest...

"It's more of those flower-scented cats," an unfamiliar voice announced. I looked up and saw the speaker, along with four other cats in her patrol, all smelling strongly of the enemy group. Nascha's apparent wish had been fulfilled. We had been caught.

Raven whipped around, immediately leaping at a mottled she-cat. Her silver claws tore a nick in the larger cat's ear as she twisted away from a swipe. Eventually, the older she-cat managed to pin Raven to the ground, leaving the rest of the cats in the patrol glaring at us suspiciously.

"Golden will want to see this," the apparent leader of the group meowed. The tortoiseshell she-cat that held Raven released her, but it was clear we were not free to go. Nascha had been watching the whole thing in shock, but quickly snapped out of it when the patrol began moving. The cats cringed away from us a little, which was surprising. We were just a small group of Cadets who could easily be beaten by five adults. The more I thought about it, however, the more sense it made. We had been sending scouts here for the last few days. Most of them had only short, quarter-sunrise missions, though some lasted a day or more. A few of those scouts hadn't returned yet or came back a day or two later and rather battered. They knew we were here and what we were doing.

The three of us walked alongside the patrol of five, our legs trembling and our fur puffed up. The once-peaceful land of towering trees seemed a lot less calm after what had happened. The raindrops trickled uncomfortably down my face as the rain began to intensify. The drops began to pound on the leaves above us, creating a rather annoying tapping sound that echoed in our ears and through our heads.

Eventually, I spotted a large clearing ahead. A bramble barrier had been woven around it out of the surrounding bushes, less graceful than our wall of rose bushes. It was functional, however, and didn't require constant attention. One of the main chores for kits and Cadets was to tend to the gardens in camp and around the territory. Most of the cats had to help at some point, but it was mainly the Cadets who had to place cherry seeds in small holes around the camp or make sure the roses grew in the right direction.

As we walked through the bramble barrier, I noticed that this group didn't have any of the haughty decorativeness of the Twilight Hunters. Their dens were plain and simple, built into the roots of oak trees and woven off of the bramble walls. They didn't seem concentrated on making their camp intimidating or impressive. It was more practical, seeming unfinished in places. A few dens looked half-built or hastily made, and cats milled around carrying brambles or sticks and leaving them in piles.

Of course, they had just moved here.

We were led into a den that seemed less well-constructed than the rest. It was large, though. The bramble walls stretched nearly as wide as the dens that an Aristocrat or Champion might live in, but the ceiling was probably half as high. Inside lay a few hastily-made nests, some prey bones... and Cherry.

Nascha immediately bounded over, looking delighted. Cherry looked both horrified and happy at the same time, letting Nascha lean her head against her fur.

"Are you okay?" Nascha asked, slightly breathless, her black fur spiked a bit in worry.

"I'm fine. You?" Cherry replied, a smile breaking out across her face.

"Fine as well," Nascha said, regaining some of her confident stance and tone. "We need to get out of here."

Cherry nodded in agreement. Raven stepped up to the two, pricking her ears in interest. "They must be keeping some of our scouts here too. I thought I saw Adder in one of the other dens."

It seemed our moments of peace and preparation were evanescent.