ForestClan Adventures - Chocolatemeerkat (Echopath) (primary phonics txt) 📗

they rushed back into battle. They fought side by side, despite their injuries.
A ear-splitting cry pierced the air, but then it was cut off. Echopath spun round and saw a dark brown tom pinning down Bramblestar. The ForestClan leader was gasping for breath, and then he fell motionless. The cat attacking him chuckled and dashed off in a blur.
"Nooooo!" Echopath cried, running over towards her clan leader. Lionclaw followed after her, along with Oakpelt, Bravestar and Sandtail.
"Find me some cobwebs." Oakpelt snapped to Echopath. "Quickly!"
"I'll do it." Bravestar sighed. "She does not know where we find all of our herbs are kept." She was about to rush off when Bramblestar coughed. His usual, calm hazel eyes were clouded with fear and terror.
"Are you alright?" Sandtail asked, sounding concerned. The leader gave a quick nod and stumbled up to his paws. "Are we winning?"
Before the deputy could reply, a screech of terror rang out. Echopath turned round and saw another body on the ground. It was a large bundle of gold fur, stained with blood.
Eagletalon padded over to the silver she-cat and muttered in her ear. "Willowstream looked like that when I found her dead."
A light grey tabby she-cat rushed out of the nursery and let out a loud wail of grief. Echopath noticed it was Ashheart, but she didn't understand who she was grieving for. Then it became clear as she yelled out one name.
"Clawedear!"
>11>

"You're a mouse-brain!"
"Chickenpaw, why are you being so horrid to me?"
"You know why!"
Swiftpaw woke up to hear Chickenpaw and Featherpaw fighting. This was very uncommon, as they were very close siblings, so he didn't quite understand why they were fighting.
Perhaps Brokenheart has gone to sort them out.

But when Swiftpaw opened his eyes fully, he could see that Brokenheart was sleeping soundly beside a tree, where they had set up temporary camp while they were still hopelessly lost. So, the apprentice decided to go and spy on his two friends and find out why they were fighting.
Swiftpaw eventually found the two apprentices behind a large bush, so he swiftly ran up a tree and hid in the branches, trying not to get spotted.
"Why did you choose that.. cat?" Chickenpaw hissed, his eyes wild with rage. "I can't tell what you see in him!"
Featherpaw shuffled her paws anxiously, but then she lifted her head up high and spoke. "Swiftpaw respects me. He treats me like a normal cat, not like everyone else. They treat us diffrently because we lost both our parents, and Echopath is the only cat we are close to."
They're arguing about me!

Swiftpaw felt a pang of guilt. Clawedpaw was right, Chickenpaw doesn't approve of Featherpaw being friends with me!

He watched as the yellow apprentice flexed his claws out. "Correction, the only cat you

are close to is Swiftpaw. We were once typical brother and sister, looking out for eachother. But you've gone off with your future mate and ruined it all!" His eyes hardened again. "Perhaps I should stop taking pity on you, and we can be like Eagletalon and Lionclaw!"
"Please don't put it that way!" Featherpaw begged, her eyes brimming with tears. "I am still your

sister!"
"Not a very good one." Chickenpaw snarled.
That was the final straw. Chickenpaw's last remark had offended Featherpaw greatly, Swiftpaw could sense it. Instead of harsh words, a silence surrounded the two siblings.
"You know what, I think you're jealous." Featherpaw decided, breaking the silence. "You don't like me making friends."
"I don't like it when I am left out." Chickenpaw replied coldly. "Think about how you would feel."
He then stalked off, leaving his sister behind. Swiftpaw wanted to go and comfort her, but he decided not to, just in case that she didn't want to be disturbed.
I could go and confront Chickenpaw instead.

Swiftpaw realised. I could straighten their relationship out and make it right.

"Swiftpaw!" A loud voice called. "We're going!"
The black and white tom climbed down the tree carefully and made his way back to his friends.
"Come on." Brokenheart exclaimed, flicking her tail towards the trees. "Let's go home."
As they were about to set off, there was a loud yapping noise close by. Swiftpaw pricked his ears up and listened. His eyes were then clouded with terror, and his claws were sheathed, ready to strike.
"What is it?" Rainpaw asked, trembling.
"D-D-Dog!" Swiftpaw panted, his eyes wide with fear. Brokenheart then raised her tail for silence as she listened to the yapping. It was then cut off, and instead a desperate whimper filled the air.
"I can smell other cats." The senior warrior hissed. "Keep down and follow me."
The young cats started to follow Brokenheart as she led them through the forest and towards a large clearing. Here, four massive cats sat, growling at the dog, which was now tied up in wire.
I haven't seen these cats before. How did they manage to defeat the dog that easily?

Swiftpaw wondered.
"Stay away from us, pooch." One of the cats spat, flexing her long claws. Another cat, a tall tortoiseshell she-cat, flicked the other she-cat's ear with her tail. "That will do, Wolf. The dog has been dealt with, it is no longer a threat. Leave it be for now."
"It still has it's bite." Wolf replied. "You can't take that away, Arrow, dogs will be dogs."
"I know that." Arrow hissed, cuffing the she-cat around the head.
Before the heated discussion could turn into a proper argument, a large long-haired brown tom padded over. "Stop it now!"
"Sorry, Bear." Wolf sighed, dipping her head. "Arrow and I will stop our constant fights."
"You'd better." Bear told the two she-cats. His ears then pricked up, and his gaze hardened. "We're being spied on."
"Legend, find the intruders." Arrow meowed to another tom, flicking her tail towards the bush where the ForestClan cats were hiding. "We can deal with another battle."
Brokenheart signalled for the apprentices not to move as the mysterious cats came closer and closer. She then flicked her tail forward. "Keep your wits alive and your mouths shut." She hissed, padding out.
Swiftpaw felt a little anxious as he walked beside Featherpaw. He could sense that she was afraid of these cats, but they hadn't attacked yet.
"State your names." Wolf snarled, circling the group of cats. Brokenheart stepped forward and spoke. "My name is Brokenheart. I am a ForestClan senior warrior, and my clan live far away from this place. While I was on a training mission, I was captured by Twolegs. Without these apprentices, I would have got nowhere."
"Go on." Arrow meowed coldly, glaring at the apprentices. "Who are these cats?"
"These are ForestClan's apprentices: Swiftpaw, Chickenpaw, Featherpaw, Rainpaw, Leopardpaw, Moonpaw and Clawedpaw. They are some of the youngest cats of the clan, but they are brave and spirited." Brokenheart explained. "We do you no harm, we pass through peacefully."
"Who are you?" Swiftpaw suddenly blurted out. He instantly thought it was a foolish thing to ask, but Arrow didn't seem bothered. "You are right to question us, for seeing as you are newcomers, you wouldn't understand our ways, or who we are." She then sat down while her friends watched over the dog. "I am Arrow. The cats guarding the dog are Wolf, Legend and Bear. We are part of a small band of cats known as The Outcasts."
"Outcasts?" Swiftpaw repeated, taking over Brokenheart as the talker. "Were you exiles or something?"
"No, not at all." Arrow gave a rusty purr before continuing. "We don't have a proper home or a family to rely on. We took the choice to leave our families and start a fresh new life. Instead, we rely on our fellow Outcasts to look after us."
"We're a bit bigger than the other cats such as you, and we have learnt different skills from eachother." Legend told them. "Joy taught us how to deal with wire safely, and also how to use it do defeat dogs."
"Who is Joy?" Swiftpaw questioned. Bear glanced at them. "Perhaps you should come back with us. You can meet the rest of the Outcasts, and get something to eat."
The ForestClan cats couldn't say no, as they desperately needed food and shelter.
"We accept your offer." Swiftpaw replied, dipping his head. The four cats nodded and led the clan cats away.

^12^

Eagletalon sat down and gazed at the sunset. The sun was almost down, but camp was silent. They had returned from the battle, but despite winning it was a tragic day for all three clans.
CourageClan had lost their deputy, Clawedear. He had been killed by a ReedClan cat, but no one actually knew who it was. No ReedClan cats had come forward, but Eagletalon wasn't suprised.
Of course, ReedClan lost the battle and they were all injured. Grassnose and Sootpaw had their work cut out for them.
ForestClan suffered too. Bramblestar lost his fourth life due to battle wounds, but more cats lost their lives. Flamesnake had his neck sliced open and Icebound had been killed when Hurricanefire got away from the battle and suprised the defence group. She had given her life to protect Spiderleg.
As for Echopath, she was still alive, despite her wounds. She was being treated for her injuries in the medicine den. Eagletalon had been informed that she had saved Ivypool and Gorgepaw from ReedClan cats, so he was thankful that his friend had saved his apprentice.
The battle could have been lost due to the missing apprentices, but somehow Eagletalon felt that they were close by. After all, Lightleaf and the other StarClan cats had told him that the apprentices were safe, and so was Brokenheart.
The Gathering is tonight!

Eagletalon remembered instantly. I wonder if Bravestar will pick her deputy before then!

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!" Bramblestar yowled. Eagletalon quickly got up and joined his clanmates, who were tired. He sat between Gorgepaw and Spiderleg.
"As you know, Icebound and Flamesnake will not be with us tonight, but they are alive in our hearts." Bramblestar meowed gravely. "They gave their lives to protect their clanmates, and I hope that you will honor them. Their vigil will take place after we have returned from the Gathering."
Eagletalon then felt Gorgepaw stiffen beside