The Great Escape

Continuation of https://warriorclancats.forumotion.com/t40216-captured-solo

The Twoleg's nest was dark, and the air felt heavy and damp as it passed through Frostpaw's lungs. Her senses had grown stronger, heightened by the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins. She could feel her heart beating in time to the mantra she was repeating over and over again in her mind: "Trapped. I'm trapped. Trapped."

Lynxtail had warned her, hadn't he? Why couldn't she have listened for once?
The apprentice swallowed, trying to keep herself calm. She had to stay calm.

She tried to remember her mother's face, the sound of her voice. What would she say if she saw her here? Frostpaw forced herself to slow her breathing and shut her eyes, picturing Shadowclan, her nest, her siblings. She tried to convince herself that everything would be fine.

Whispers... she could hear voices. Her eyes snapped open.
Countless cats stood around the cage, peering in at her. Some looked curious, others frightened. A few leered like predators staring down cornered prey.
The Twoleg lifted the latch. The cats shuffled back from the cage, forming a large semicircle around it. Their wide, lamplike eyes glinted in anticipation.
Frostpaw stared back at them, terrified, as one by one they turned to stare at something in the darkness beside her.
She glanced to her right and almost laughed in relief. Lynxtail was here, standing by the cage. He looked terrified, but still, he was here! She wasn't alone.
Emboldened by his appearance, Frostpaw approached the cage door and nudged it open with her shoulder. Slowly, she stepped out of the cage and stood, eyes narrowed, facing the kittypets. A few stepped forward as if they were challenging her, but suddenly a strange metallic sound echoed from the depths of the nest, and the kittypets' ears perked.
The Twoleg's scratchy voice rang out, and the crowd began to move toward it, some cats breaking into a hurried trot.

Only a few remained, still staring. One of them stepped forward. Her face was heavily scarred, and her muzzle had gone grey, although she wasn't old. She looked up at them, her murky green eyes dull, yet hopeful.
"Are you from the Outside?"

Lynxtail glanced at Frostpaw, uncertain how they should proceed. Frostpaw bit her lip and answered tentatively.
"We're from the forest- Shadowclan and Thunderclan."

The she-cat nodded, although a shadow of confusion crossed her scar-slashed face. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar," She said lightly. There was a pause. "Are you hungry?"
Frostpaw nodded and the kittypet took a step back, her tail twitching. "This way." She said, turning and padding down a long tunnel-like hallway.

They emerged into a large chamber glowing with light. "This is the kitchen." The she-cat gestured towards several half-eaten mounds of kittypet food. "And there's the food."
Frostpaw dug in immediately, too hungry to be repelled by the food's mealy texture and rancid scent. Lynxtail joined her, although he ate with much less gusto.

"Thank you." Lynxtail mewed awkwardly once he was finished eating. "For... this."
The she-cat smiled. "Of course. I'm Rosie."
"Lynxtail. This is Frostpaw." He nudged the apprentice, who was now licking the empty can.
If the she-cat was taken aback by their uncommon names, she didn't show it. "Lovely to meet you two."
She paused, her tattered ears twitching as the last of the cats to finish eating left the room, still staring.
"Look, we both want the same thing." Frostpaw looked up and exchanged confused glances with Lynxtail, shaken by the she-cat's sudden change of tone. She spoke hurriedly, and there was a desperate edge to her voice that made the fur on the back of Frostpaw's neck stand up. Slowly, the apprentice drew herself to her feet.
Rosie's murky green eyes were wide. "I can show you a way out of here."

That caught Lynxtail's attention. He turned towards the tabby she-cat. "I'm listening."
Rosie nodded and turned, beckoning them with her tail. Suddenly, she froze. "If I show you where it is, you have to promise me one thing."
"We have nothing to give," Frostpaw glanced again at Lynxtail, her uncertainty evident in her expression.
"I want you to take me with you."

There was another pause.
Lynxtail tilted his head. "Can you give us a moment to, uh, discuss?"

As soon as Rosie stepped away, Frostpaw turned to Lynxtail, her eyes narrowed. "We can't trust her!" She hissed softly, her tail sweeping the ground. There was too much to lose. "It'll be hard enough finding the way home without dragging some random kittypet along with us."
"But she says she knows the way out," Lynxtail argued. "When will we get another chance like this one?"
"We'll find the way out ourselves," Frostpaw said. Lynxtail shook his head.
"This place is like a maze. It'll take days just to explore the entire nest, and even longer to figure out how to navigate it."

"What if she puts us in danger? She isn't as fit as a forest cat, what if she can't keep up?"
"She won't slow us down any more than you are," Lynxtail said softly. Frostpaw grunted, turning away from him.
"I'm sorry, it's just that she's valuable, and I can't risk being stuck here for moons. I miss my clan, and I want to get back to it as soon as possible."

"Let's ditch her." Frostpaw said, turning back to Lynxtail with bright eyes. "That way, we both win."
But Lynxtail was already shaking his head. "It'll come back to bite us in the end. It always does."

"I'm not entirely useless," Rosie said mildly from across the room. Their voices had evidently grown louder while arguing. "I can hunt, although not well, and I know a thing or two about herbs,"
Lynxtail glanced back at Frostpaw, eyebrows (because cats have them shut up) raised.
Frostpaw sighed. "Fine."

Rosie nodded. "Perfect," She mewed. "Follow me."

As the tabby lead them through the dark and twisting tunnels, Lynxtail couldn't help but doubt his decision. The Twoleg's nest was a maze, and he had no way of knowing whether Rosie was leading them in the right direction or into a trap. He glanced at Frostpaw, trying to meet her gaze, and sighed when she stubbornly avoided him. Perhaps she was right to be suspicious...
Before he could say anything, Rosie stopped, her eyes bright. "Here we are," She said, gesturing towards a large, square pelt that hung from the corner where the wall met the roof of the den. Lynxtail tilted his head, confused, as Rosie nudged it aside with her nose and stepped behind it.

"This is a window." She gestured towards a great big hole in the wall of the nest. Lynxtail's eyes widened and he reached a paw out, only to find that a smooth, cool surface was separating him from the outdoors.
Rosie's tattered ears twitched as Frostpaw pushed her way past the pelt and joined them, staring at the window in confusion. "It's like a wall, but there's one main difference." She gestured towards a small latch at the base of the window that kept it clamped shut sightly. "This wall can be moved."

Frostpaw tilted her head. "A latch isn't too difficult to open," She said. "And you've been here longer than us. Why haven't you escaped yet?"
Rosie nodded. "It's true, I've managed to open the latch once before, but I found that the window is too heavy for me to push open on my own, and the others don't want anything to do with the Outside, or don't believe that such a thing exists. They say that windows are like the Lightbox."
Frostpaw glanced at Lynxtail, confused by the she-cat's odd language. Lynxtail met her gaze and shrugged.
"Alright then," Frostpaw mewed. "Sounds simple enough."

Rosie nodded, and within a few minutes, she had managed to flip the latch. Her job done, the small tabby stepped back. "Try to nudge it with your shoulders near the base," She said.

Frostpaw nodded and approached the window. The tall apprentice had to bend her knees, but she managed to drive her shoulder into the lower half of the window and move it a mousetail or so. Lynxtail stepped forward then, and together the two opened the window wide enough for Rosie to slip out. Lynxtail followed, and Frostpaw, who's shoulders were the broadest, tumbled to the ground shortly after him with a grunt.
"This way!"
And then they were off, running (Frostpaw limping as quickly as she could, ignoring the jolts of pain running up her elbow) across the Thunderpath, hurdling (or crashing through) a low-lying hedge, galloping (stumbling) around another nest, and emerging triumphantly (or hobbling, breath coming in short, sharp wheezes) into the alleyway.

Lynxtail rushed to support Frostpaw, who was shaking. "Rosie, you said you knew something about herbs?"

Rosie nodded, still out of breath, and gestured them to follow her.
As soon as she could speak, she explained herself."Before I fell into the Twoleg's trap, I was living in a small forest of sorts. I call it the Great Garden."