Chippaw's POV

StreamClan silently padded through the cool field, heading back to our new home from the Gathering. I barely remembered our old territory. The only things I could vividly remember was the wide, blue river, the long and loud waterfall, and the large territory of rocks above our camp.

The moon was up high, full and glowing brightly. The stars shone like shards of twinkling balls of ice above us. I trekked through the long grass, and in heartbeats I found myself stalking through it like a tiger stalking its prey. I could hear my father, Wolftail, chirping a story to Amberthroat from behind us. The quiet she-cat just let him talk instead of reply. Usually Dawnflower would be the one to spit out exaggerated stories, but of course Wolftail would be the one to out-talk her. I rolled my eyes.

Within heartbeats I had scurried in front of Wildstar. Anger boiled inside of me. Blackwind and Wolftail? Did he not care about my mother at all? It was bad enough that he was mates with the ugly she-cat, but to get her pregnant? Now I'll be stuck with more annoying step-siblings! I thought with a growl.

As I headed toward camp alone, I heard something stumbling through the frosty grass. My heartbeat sped up. Is it Ghostglow? I hoped, but I didn't dare stand up. My gut told me not to move a muscle. StreamClan was far behind, I realized, as I turned to find no one there.

A small moan escaped the strangers lips as it neared me. I gasped loudly, backing away quickly. I caused dirt to spray as I tore the ground up out of desperation to get away.

The growls became more intense as the infected cat noticed me. Squealing, I rushed away. It followed me quicker than any infected cat or dog had ever that I had seen. "Chippaw! Lour it this way!" Ghostglow yowled. I glanced over my shoulder to search for it, but instead I found myself nose-to-nose with the glossy eyed cat.

My breath caught in my throat as I tripped over my own paws. With a loud thump, I hit the ground; I heard Ghostglow curse. The infected cat didn't think twice as it staggered over me and opened it's rotten mouth to bite me. With my belly up and my paws on it's sticky chest, I turned my head away from it as it snapped it's jaws in my face. It's breath made me gag, it's hollow eyes me carried me mentally, and it's rotten skin oozed onto my paws.

It let out a terrifying screech, spit flying onto my face. It practically busted my eardrums. That scream was like no other. I kicked at it's lower belly but the larger cat barely budged. I was half the size of a normal cat, so as much as I wouldn't ever admit it, I was no match for the moving-carcass.

Suddenly the cat went limp as a spear jabbed straight through the eye of the infected cat. Blood dripped onto my face. My stomach twisted horribly. Ghostglow threw the cat to the ground with a groan. The stick slid out of it's skull as simply as ever. Blood and brains sprayed out of the wound.

I stood up and felt my stomach twist and turn. "Ugh!" I hissed as I threw up my last meal. Ghostglow purred and hurried to meet up with Wildstar. Wolftail rushed to my side. "Are you okay? Are you bit?" He gasped, sniffing my pelt.

I shook him off and fluffed out my chilled pelt. "No, I'm fine. I just got his spit on me, that's all," I reassured him, hurrying away.

Hot with embarrassment, I hurried off with my father at my side until I got to my den. The whole time we traveled together, he made sure I knew not to walk alone next time, though I knew very well I would still travel alone.
***
As soon as I woke up, I tried to hurry out of the camp to the lake. "After last night, Chippaw, I think you should bring someone with you..." Blackwind suggested kindly, her eyes filled with concern.

Wolftail glared over at me from the fresh-kill pile. "Did you hear something?" I meowed, looking over at Crescentmoon who was just leaving for her guard-duty. She glanced around and flicked her tail toward herself, "Uh, me?" I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "No? I think I'm beginning to go crazy! I'm starting to hear annoying voices..." I sighed, shaking my head. I kept on walking.

"Chippaw! Don't be so rude!" Wolftail scolded, his ears flat to his head. He rushed to catch up with me angrily.

As I headed out of the camp, I overheard him apologize for me. A rebellious spark shot through my chest as I called over my shoulder, "I wasn't sorry!"

Wildstar seemed to think it was funny because her whiskers twitched with amusement as I passed by her. "It's not funny." Wolftail sneered, glaring at the humoured leader.

I also passed by a lonely, overweight Amberthroat. The poor she-cat hadn't talked to anyone in the past moon. Something was bugging her, but no one knew what it was. Her eyes were wide and hollow, seeing but not seeing. Swallowing, I slinked out of camp.

The yellowed grass patches were frosted at the tip with frozen dew. The fur along my spine stood up as the dead, cold grass brushed against my paws and chilling my pads. With a bright blue tint to the awakening sky, the sky was free of clouds, and the sun making its way slowly up the horizon. I quickened my pace without realizing. With the lake coming closer, I fluffed out my fur. There was barely any ice on the lake now, just thin patches of glassy ice dotted here and there.

Without even thinking it through, I ran to the shore and jumped in. My head went under as well as the rest of my body, sending several shivers up my spine. The cold forced out a scream. Trapped bubbles wiggled up the the surface of the water. Everything underwater was blurry but I could still make out a dark figure underwater. The light filtered through the surface, making the body practically glow. My lungs screamed for air, but my body stayed under. The figure stayed still. Only when two bright green dots appeared did I swim to the surface. My heart ached suddenly, but I ignored it as best as I could.

Shaking out my pelt, I closed my eyes. What was that? I wondered. The chilly air threatened to freeze my wet fur, but I didn't care. I licked my pelt clean and padded off.

The dark figure haunted me as I hurried away. Deciding to go for a short walk, I walked away from RockClan's territory, more toward the Gathering Place, in search of something to take my mind off of the creepy figure. Just my luck, it would have been another infected cat or dog. I purred to myself, shaking my head.

I passed the Gathering Place without even noticing. Just as I began to come close to the edge of our territory, I got a whiff of Twolegs. Not only did I smell them, but I heard them, too. Is my head playing tricks on me again...? I thought, stalking toward the sounds and smells. Instead of moaning and groaning, they were speaking in their own language. It was strange. I thought those stupid Twolegs would have all died by now...

I ducked down when I seen the three Twolegs huddled by a small fire. Even with oddly colored ragged, dirty pelts and scratched faces, they still had smiles on their faces as the communicated together. They don't seem harmless... I thought. But as I gazed around their things, I noticed they had thick, black sticks beside their legs.

My ear twitched. I stood there, crouched down, as I watched the Twolegs mingle. I zoned out, and before I knew it, I found my legs cramping up and my neck stinging. I stood up as I decided to go back to camp.
***
My paws ached as I padded back towards camp. A sudden screech pierced the air, making my ears flatten to my skull and my fur jump off my body. A shiver ran down my spine as I rushed to get into the camp.

Cats were rushing to the medicine den when I entered. Looks of confusion matched mine as I pushed my way through to satisfy my curiosity, but before I even got near the entrance, Dawnflower pushed us back. "She's okay everyone! Amberthroat is giving birth..." The ragged mother confirmed, then muttered more to herself, "Out of no where..." Her eyes grew shady with confusion.

Gasps rung around the camp. Amberthroat was pregnant all this time? But who's the father? I wondered, gazing around the camp.

Cats began to whisper about who the father might be. Some assumed a rogue, some thought maybe it was a RockClan cat, but no one was sure. Only Amberthroat knew, but we all knew the stressed young she-cat would never tell.