Polyphemus is my Idol! (closed)

After wrestling Juniperpaw to the ground, Willowpaw had wrapped his paws around her and forced her to sit still as he licked her forehead over and over. Any clanmates that had stopped to stare at the open display of love had long since gone about their business. He didn't care if they stared, or even thought he was weird, his sister was back! While she was missing nothing had felt the same. Sure, he still had Hollowpaw, but she was fine on her own without him. Juniperpaw always seemed to need someone familiar nearby to function properly, she made him want to be brave and strong just like their father, and without her he felt like he was none of those things... But now she was back! He wanted to tell her not to go missing again without him, he wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but how could he say those things when he was giving her forehead kisses?

The tom's gaze was temporarily drawn from Juniperpaw as an odd pelt wandered by. Willowpaw's licks paused as his brain worked slowly. "Briarpaw!" The tom called out. He beckoned the molly closer with his tail, waiting for her to be in whispering distance before speaking. "Sablestrike asked Juniperpaw and I to go get some moss, wanna come with? I'm sure he'd be super happy if we came back with extra moss!" Willowpaw smiled in an attempt to cover the lie with something sweet. All he really wanted was to go pick some flowers with Juniperpaw, but he liked Briarpaw. She was a fun cat, mostly to look at, but she was still fun... And if she joined them they'd be able to carry a bunch more flowers back!

Briarpaw had grown used to her cousin's antics, mostly tuning them out as she went about her day. She was glad that Juniperpaw was back, of course, but Willowpaw seemed far more attached to his sister than she was to any of her own siblings.

At her name being called, the tortoiseshell-tabby glanced over, blinking up at Willowpaw. "Alright, sure." She mewed, "Larkshine gave me a break from training today and sitting in camp is boring." Gathering moss was far from the most engaging of tasks, but it was something to do that would benefit the clan.

A smiled popped on the apprentice's face as he got to work untangling his limbs from Juniperpaw. Bright yellow eyes flashed with mischief as the tom sent a soft kick into his sister's side and whipped his head toward the entrance of camp. "C'mon then, lazy bones! Adventure awaits!" Willowpaw padded off in the direction of the thorn tunnel, peeking over his shoulder every couple of seconds to make sure that both of the mollies really were following him out of camp and into the marshes. The thorn tunnel grabbed at his pelt as the tom finally set paw out of step. It almost felt as though the camp itself was trying to stop his from leaving, but no stupid inanimate objects were going to prevent him from doing what he wanted.

Willowpaw's pace increased into a trot as he guided his companions along the paths that Lilyvalley had taught him. "Papa- I mean, Sablestrike said the Hidden Outcropping has tons of dry moss, so we'll head there first!" Black paws navigated the marsh expertly, and before long Willowpaw's strides grew quicker. He felt like a seasoned warrior, at one with his territory. That was, until he took a step and met with waters deeper than what he had expected. The tom fell face-first into the marsh's clutches. He flailed under the surface for a few moments before finally getting his paws on solid-ish ground. Bursting from the murky waters Willowpaw began gagging immediately, expelling the disgusting liquid that he had managed to swallow. "Tha- that was awful! Why didn't you two stop me?" How awful! Now he was gonna be sloshing around like one of those swamp monsters Heatherberry loved talking about!

Briarpaw offered Juniperpaw a tentative smile as she followed the two outside of camp. "It's good to see you back home, Juniperpaw." She mewed softly, trailing behind Willowpaw.

The hidden outcropping... "That's a bit far from camp, isn't it? Not that there's dry moss here, I mean." She trailed off, though alarm shot through her when Willowpaw took a tumble into marshwater that was deeper than he'd anticipated. "Yeah, some of the marshes are deeper than you'd think... Gotta be careful out here." She mewed, "Are you alright?" She asked.

"For Shadowclan cats, you sure are noisy and you don't navigate your territory very well." Asmodeus's voice rumbled as he slipped out of the darkness. His black and white fur was dirty and damp. His one dark amber eye appeared black in the darkness, while his yellow eye pierced through it like the eyes of a monster on the Thunderpath. He eyed the three of them, a horrible, malevolent grin splitting across his face like an ever-widening, gaping wound. Asmodeus had little patience for adolescent cats... and these ones were unattended. He slunk around them in a clear stalking motion, his unsheathed claws and bunched muscles hiding none of his malicious intent.

"I was hunting when you made all of that noise. You scared away my food. If you were one of the Shadowclanners I actually liked, I would have forgiven you and all would be well. But you're not." He growled his last words and his tail tip twitched furiously. "Shall I teach you why kits like you shouldn't wander the swamp without an adult?" Now his fur bristled and he lined his shoulders up with Willowpaw's. "Tell me something funny. Maybe I'll just let you go home without too much injury." He chuckled sadistically at the end of his sentence. He had no intention of letting any of them leave, but if he could make his victims dance for him, or tell jokes, or whatever, it just made their bloodshed all the sweeter.

Willowpaw went still as an unfamiliar voice began behind him. At once, all the passive sounds of the marsh stopped, as if they were afraid of the tom that had been lurking their territory. Willowpaw slowly turned to meet the grinning tom. The sight of his bright eye and threatening smile sent a shiver down the apprentice's spine. Sablestrike had told him about how scary rogues could be, and how they were likely to do this and that. Unlike the riders of the storm, this tom fit his father's descriptions perfectly. Still, would he really try something when there were three of them? Willowpaw thought to talk back to the rogue, but that growl kept his mouth shut.

Willowpaw flinched as the rogue drew up beside him. Stars, stars, oh stars! The apprentice began to shake at the rogue's side. If he did attack, then he'd be dead for sure, but something in the back of Willowpaw's head kept poking at his tongue. It was stupid, he knew it was, but the apprentice couldn't help himself. "Walking dung piles should either stink, or speak. Why are you doing both, mister?" Willowpaw took a step away from the rogue's side, readying his paws in the water just in case he needed to attempt a getaway.

It hadn't seemed like they'd gotten far before a strange scent hit her nose. Not Shadowclan, not prey. Briarpaw's nose wrinkled, but before she could ask her clanmates a cat was looming out of the shadows, stalking toward Willowpaw. Foxdung.

"You were hunting on Shadowclan territory?" Briarpaw drew back with a hiss. "In that case, it wasn't your prey to be hunting. You don't belong here!" Brave words for a cat who most certainly did not wish to fight and most definitely wasn't trying to hide the way her paws trembled at the sight of the larger, unfamiliar tom. There was only one of him, though, and three Shadowclanners. Even if they were just apprentices. Maybe they could get him to leave without too much trouble.

Leopardstar would kill her... If the rogue didn't.