The adventures of Mosspaw - Exile by QuailyCat (free novel 24 txt) 📖

den.
As I made my way to the apprentices den, Bumblepaw came up to me.
"Hey, Mosspaw! Come get your nest. You can sleep by me." He offered.
As I was too polite to object, I agreed. "Okay."
I curled up in my new nest, closed my eyes, and slowly fell asleep.
Chapter Four - A murder

"Mosspaw!" Poppyfrosts call woke me from my sleep.
I expected to see the stone walls of the medicine den around me, but found the walls of the apprentices den instead.
Of course! I'm a warrior apprentice now!

I realised.
"Mosspaw!" Popyfrost reapeted, "Dawn patrol!"
"Okay, Okay!" I called, "I'm coming!"
I exited the apprentices den, and saw the dawn patrol waiting for me out in the clearing there.
"Has anyone seen Thornclaw? He was supposed to go on the dawn patrol." Hazeltail was asking.
"He's probably gone out on some early hunting." Cinderheart reasured her.
"Okay, let's get going then." Poppyfrost decided.


Once we were out on the Windclan border, Poppyfrost set about setting the scent markers. I went further up the stream that marked part of the border, and was shocked to see what I found in the bushes barely on our territory.
"P, Po, POPPYFROST! CINDERHEART! HAZELTAIL!" I yowled, and a moment later the three she-cats came bounding up the stream toward me.
"What is it?" Cinderheart asked, and her voice trailed away when she saw what was under the bushes.
"Thornclaw!" Hazeltail exclaimed, her voice full of sorrow, for the thing that I had so urgently needed to show them was Thornclaws dead body.
"How could this have happened?" Poppyfrost cried.
"We must take him back to camp." I said, gently picking his corpse up.
The other members of the dawn patrol helped me carry him back to camp, and returned to shocked faces.
"What in Starclan?"
"Who did this?"
"This is terrible!"
The cats in the clearing fired questions at us, but I kept on going until Hazeltail made a gesture that told us to put Thornclaw down, and as softly as I could, I set Thornclaws dead body onto the floor of the stone hollow.
"What happened?" Firestar yowled, and bounded down from his den.
"We were on dawn patrol, beside the Windclan border, and Mosspaw found Thornclaw, lying dead, under some bushes." Hazeltail explained.
"Who will stay vigil with Thornclaw?" Firestar asked.
"I will!" Bramblenose yowled over the murmers of confusion and sorrow.
"In that case, I will too." I decided.
I pressed my nose against Thornclaws pelt, and watched as my clanmates each took turns in pressing their noses to him.
"We will miss Thornclaw. He was a great warrior." Firestar mourned.
"Maybe..." Bramblenose said.
Why does he sound suspicious?

I wondered.

Chapter Five - Finding the murderer

"What I still want to know, is who is the murderer." Spiderleg said.
"Well, he was near the Windclan border, so it must

have been Windclan!" Rainpaw declared.
"I'm not so sure..." I objected.
"Why?" Rainpaw demanded.
"It's just, a feeling, I guess." I said.
"Okay, but if you trust just any random 'feeling', then you won't get very far as a warrior." Rainpaw snapped.
"Rainpaw! Don't be so rude to your sister!" My mother, Spottedhead, told Rainpaw.
"Whatever." Rainpaw mumbled, and turned away to talk with Toadpaw.
"How are we going to find out who did it?" Sorreltail was asking.
"We could measure the bite marks with every cat in the clan." I suggested.
"Good idea." Firestar agreed, "Everyone line up to have their mouth measured against Thornclaw."
Once all the warriors, apprentices, and the medicine cat were lined up, we started to measure.
No one fitted the teeth marks in Thornclaws throat, and soon there were only me and Bramblenose left. I bit into Thornclaw's throat, but the teeth marks didn't match my teeth, and then it was Bramblenose's turn.
He glanced aroud first, to see all the cats in the clearing watching him, and his gaze rested on me. I gave an encouraging nod, and Bramblenose bit in.
"What? It, it fits!" I cried in horror.
"Bramblenose, did you kill Thornclaw?" Firestar asked calmly.
"I, I, I did, Firestar." Bramblenose admitted, and then he looked me, his gaze sad, and said:
"I'm so sorry, Mosspaw. I never meant to do this."
"Never meant to? Never meant to!" I growled, my pelt burning with anger.
"How could you do this? I loved you! And what did you do? You came along, joined Thunderclan again, and then killed my clanmate! I hate you!" I screamed.
"Mosspaw-" Bramblenose began, but was cut of by Firestar.
"Bramblenose, I will not have a killer in my clan. I sentence you to exile."
"Please, I just couldn't stand

Thornclaw telling me I was disloyal to my clan." Bramblenose protested.
"But it isn't your clan anymore!" I yowled, and flung myself at Bramblenose, claws unsheathed, and raked my paw across his pelt.
"Get out of my camp! I never want to see you again." I hissed.
"Mosspaw! Stop!" Firestar ordered, and I followed his orders obediantly, before Firestar turned to Bramblenose, "Bramblenose, I request that you leave Thunderclan territory. You are no longer welcome in Thunderclan. Brambleclaw, you are my deputy. Please organise a patrol to escort Bramblenose out of our territory."
"Yes, Firestar. Mousewhisker, Cloudtail, Spottedhead, you come." Brambleclaw ordered.
"I'm coming too. I want to make sure Bramblenose is gone once and for all." I insisted.
"If you wish." Brambleclaw agreed.

Chapter Six - Saying goodbye

When we reached the edge of the border, I looked out and saw rolling hills, stretching on for what seemed like forever.
"Remember how we took this route when we ran away together?" Bramblenose muttered in my ear.
"Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you." I shrugged him off.
"Bramblenose, I ask that you leave here." Cloudtail requested.
"And don't

come back!" I murmured, half to myself.
As I turned away, I looked back once more, to see Bramblenose staring at me sadly.
"Goodbye, Mosspaw. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry... I still love you, and you know that." He told me.
"Well, I

don't!" I hissed, but actually, a small part of me did still love Bramblenose a tiny bit.
I turned around, and stomped away, looking only back to make sure that Bramblenose had crossed the border.
When we reached camp, I padded over tpo the fresh kill pile, and grabbed a large rabbit. I started chomping it down, bit after bit, and thought:
How could I have loved him? How? He's terrible! He killed my clanmate! He cannot be trusted! I hate him! I hate Bramblenose!

"Mo, Mosspaw?" Bluekit was boucing up to me.
"Yes, Bluekit?"
"Do, do you think thatr Bramblenose will come back? And, and kill another cat?" Bluekit asked.
I was surprised by her honesty, and answered:
"I don't know Bluekit. I don't know. But where ever he is, I will never love him again."

The website

For more fun, go on
http://www.theadventuresofmosspaw.webs.com/

Imprint

Publication Date: 03-05-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
This book is dedicated to Erin Hunter for writing the warrior cats book series, and to my cats, Pepper and Henny, for inspiring my love of cats.