Captured (solo)

continuation of: https://warriorclancats.forumotion.com/t40204-on-the-road

Twolegplace reeked of metal and blood, and Frostpaw wrinkled her nose, glancing at Lynxtail to see if he was affected by it. The tom looked stoically ahead. If he could smell anything, Frostpaw wouldn't be able to tell. The dark-furred apprentice nearly opened her mouth to ask, but just then a sour gust of wind ruffled their pelts, and she thought better of it.

The Thunderpaths- "roads", Lynxtail said they were called –twisted and turned endlessly around huge Twoleg nests, and an endless stream of monsters dribbled over them like dirty drops of water. She glanced again at Lynxtail as he paused on the edge of one, waiting for a gap in the flood before crossing. She hobbled after him as quickly as she could, ignoring the needlelike stabs of pain that shot up her elbow each time she shifted her weight.
"Lynxtail, I don't know how much further I can walk." She said, wobbling uncertainly.

---

Lynxtail's pawsteps faltered. He wanted badly to keep moving, but he knew it wouldn't be fair to force Frostpaw to walk. "I could carry you..." He offered, but even as he spoke he knew that she'd refuse. They'd move much slower than if she continued to walk, and besides, she was far too old and heavy to be carried like a kit, and the skin at the nape of her neck had begun to bleed because of it.
Frostpaw shook her head apologetically.
"You're right," Lynxtail sighed. "We should find shelter. It's leafbare, and I don't want to wake up in the middle of a snowstorm."

He cast his mind back, trying to remember what Sharptooth had taught him about finding food and shelter in Twolegplace. In the alleyways behind houses, Twolegs occasionally left kittypet food out for the rogues that wandered the streets. The tom nodded to himself, recalling how easy it had been to scare off the half-starving loners that managed to locate the food before they did.
The tom took a deep breath, trying to find any trace of food that hadn't been smothered by the scent of monsters and Twolegs.
His ears perked as a faint whiff of kittypet food –dry, faintly fishy – reached him. "Follow me," He mewed, walking slowly despite his excitement. "There's food this way."

Lynxtail's nose took them through many mazelike passageways, and Frostpaw quickly forgot the path they had taken. Gradually the Thunderpaths became smaller and the nests became shorter and further apart, less like trees and more like great, colorful mountains sticking out of the ground.
After what felt like ages, the pair finally stopped outside one of these short nests. A patch of short grass grew around the nest, and a large, intricate white barrier surrounded it.

Frostpaw glanced at Lynxtail, who gestured wordlessly to a small, circular structure filled to the brim with small, brown pellets. Frostpaw tilted her head, opening her mouth to argue that those pellets couldn't possibly be edible, but Lynxtail had already slipped through the barrier and was padding cautiously toward the food. The apprentice sighed and followed after him, her ears flat.
Lynxtail had already begun to eat. "Here, have some." He nudged the food towards Frostpaw, who shrank back with a grimace. Lynxtail frowned.
"Would you rather have nothing?"

Frostpaw shook her head and began to eat, trying not to gag at the pellets' grainy texture. After a few bites, she looked up from the food and saw an elderly Twoleg standing near the nest, watching them.
Frostpaw yelped and nudged Lynxtail, who quickly grabbed the apprentice by the scruff and scurried back through the barrier and onto the Thunderpath.
"Sorry," He said, wincing as he saw blood beginning to mat her fur.
Frostpaw grimaced. "We should go." She mewed, staring past Lynxtail at the Twoleg, who was still watching them.

Lynxtail nodded, his short tail twitching, and began to walk towards an alleyway. "This way," He mewed.
The tom's stomach rumbled, and he cast a nervous glance at the half-eaten kittypet food. When he was an apprentice, Sharptooth had warned him that the Twolegs would often watch them eat, but if they ignored them, everything would be fine.
Lynxtail opened his mouth to tell this to Frostpaw, but one glance at her, and the blood that was now trailing down her shoulders, and Lynxtail felt a surge of guilt. Tomorrow, he promised himself, they would return. One night without food wasn't going to kill them.

The next day, Lynxtail woke Frostpaw before the sun rose. "Come on," He nudged her to her feet, glancing around them as he did so to make sure that nothing was waiting for them on the other side of the alley. Once he was sure that the coast was clear he trotted briskly towards the Thunderpath, glancing over his shoulder every so often to make sure that Frostpaw was following him.
"Lynxtail, where are we going?"

The Thunderclanner stopped at the edge of the Thunderpath, his eyes narrowed. "They moved it."
The can of kittypet food was sitting inside a metal cage. Lynxtail felt his stomach lurch at the sight of it.

Frostpaw had other ideas. Glancing to her left and right to make sure that there were no monsters approaching, the dark-furred apprentice scurried as quickly as she could across the Thunderpath and towards the white barrier. She'd never gone to sleep hungry before, and she was desperate for something to eat. "There's no Twoleg! C'mon!"

Lynxtail yelped a warning and leaped after her. "Frostpaw! Wait!"
But he was too late. Frostpaw stepped inside the cage, and it snapped shut behind her.

Lynxtail spent hours pacing outside the cage, first trying to calm Frostpaw down, and later, once she had exhausted herself and fallen asleep, trying to open the cage.
There was a clear glass panel that had snapped shut at an angle, and a small metal latch was keeping it tightly sealed. Lynxtail first tried to push the panel down with just his weight, but quickly realized that it was futile, and turned his attention to the latch. There had been latches on the cages that he'd been trapped in, but they hadn't been able to open them.
Perhaps now that he was outside the cage...

The tom sized up the metal latch, nudging it experimentally with his nose. It wouldn't budge. Lynxtail muttered a curse and tried pushing it with his paw, but he only managed to lift the latch a few inches before it slipped out of his grasp and fell back down again with a rattle.
After several attempts, the tabby warrior was starting to grow more desperate. The sun had risen now, and the Twoleg would be awake any minute...
Lynxtail began pacing again, working his claws into the short grass, his ears pinned flat to his head. He had to think of something, anything.

The Twoleg's door opened with a clatter. Lynxtail froze and turned slowly, eyes wide. Frostpaw shot up onto her paws, hitting the roof of the cage.
The Twoleg slowly walked towards the cage, then bent down to inspect the terrified cat inside. Lynxtail hissed, arching his back in an attempt to distract it, but the Twoleg only glanced at him before lifting the cage. It took a step towards him and he shrank back, still hissing.
The Twoleg made an odd sound, then turned and walked back into its nest, hugging the cage close to its body.
Lynxtail saw Frostpaw's terrified face peering out at him and winced as the Twoleg disappeared into shadow. He knew he couldn't leave Frostpaw there, but what he was about to do went against every instinct he had.
The young tom stood tall, his tail twitching, and walked through the half-open door and into the Twoleg's nest.