The old WC - A story

[Delta1_05]

Ooh! Things are starting to get good. I'm just scanning over Chapter five...

 

[miss heny]

herbil?

 

[luvinmychickens]

Ahh, I see.

Sorry, I guess I'm newer here so... Whatevs.

 

[Delta1_05]

CHAPTER FIVE

BrightFlight was, to be perfectly truthful, starting to worry about Delta. She was becoming increasingly withdrawn and moody, despite his efforts to get her talking.
"Is it just me or does Delta keep disappearing?" he expressed his concerns to StarryNight.
She shrugged. "It evades me as to why."
"So you noticed it too..." he frowned.
They were silent for a moment.
StarryNight began again. "We're having trouble. LeonIva and EagleWing have bought back reports from their patrols, and we've got neighbours. They're anything BUT friendly."
"Not now!" BrightFlight said exasperatedly.
"They go by the name of ShadowClan."
"That's lovely."
"Well..."
"I'll strip the shadows off of them if they come anywhere near us."
"That's easy for you to say, but from what I hear they're a bunch of evil old characters who live for bloodshed."
"Well it'll be THEIR blood shed if you want anything to go by."
Starry coughed. "Maybe, but perhaps that's easier said than done..."
She trailed off as a group of tattered, beaten chickens emerged from the trees by the boundary. They were cackling evilly, sharpening their claws on stone by the path, getting ready to tear apart the flesh of a recently slaughtered rat they'd caught. One sank his long beak into its thigh, eyes glinting at the scent of fresh blood.
BrightFlight winced. "and perhaps you're right."
"You talking to me?" snickered one of the younger ones of the group.
"IvyPaw!" warned an older member.
BrightFlight glared right back. "No, I'm not, rat face." He shoved her roughly. She glowered, hackles rising.
"IvyPaw!!" the older chicken yelled.
Starry put a wing on bright's shoulder.
He felt angry at himself for acting so impulsively. He swore to his conscience that he'd never fire up so easily again. He wasn't usually the violent type at all, but times seemed to be changing...

The older Shadowclan warrior stepped forward. "Look, not to be threatening or anything, but some of our younger members have what I'd call a violent temperament. If that happens again, you're going to find yourself face down in the dirt. I'm sure Russetstar would like to settle in first before a full-on war breaks out."
And they left, without giving Bright a chance to reply.
"That was hairy," Starry commented.
"Hmph."
There was a tap on his wing. It was Delta, and his face relaxed. Finally, something normal is still happening around here.
She was with an elderly rooster. "This is my father. Dad, BrightFlight and StarryNight."
They touched wings awkwardly.
"is this where you're staying now?" the old roo asked his daughter.
"Yes, I suppose," she replied. "I'm not going back to the House, at any rate."
"Oh you really didn't like it there, did you? I'm so glad they let me go. Perhaps being small and puny isn't the worst thing after all."
Delta looked down at her own small body, the very thing that had allowed her toescape the farmhouse coop after her father.
"No, but we have big hearts, dad!"
"Your mother did too. She was a great person." he said sadly.
Delta had never known her mother. She had grown up with the only kin she knew of, her kindly father who thought the world of her. She hadn't thought he childhood bad at all, despite the coop.
As a young pullet, she'd grown her startling speckles, "a gift from your mother," her dad had once told her, and cockerels were showing a decided interest. She hadn't ever wanted to have chicks before though, and she wouldn't have had the chance anyway because the humans took her eggs away every morning. She'd watch them shine a light through each one, and while most were put in regular cardboard cartons, once she saw one of hers be specially sorted and taken away in a large box - where to, she could not have imagined.

She drifted back to the present. Her father was chatting amiably with BrightFlight, while Starry rushed around preparing treats for everybody.It was only later that she did get some alone time with her old man.
"Dad... it's been so long since I saw you. What have you gottten up to?"
"Just my own life... I've been trying to pass on my herbal knowledge to others, I run a class every now and then, just with some old acquaintances."

(I wish I'd gotten up to where this leads to.

)

"Do you live on your own?"
"No, I'm currently sharing a place with another clan a stone's throw from here. MountainClan, they're called."
She made a mental note.
They talked, making up for lost time, until the sun disappeared over the horizon.

 

[Delta1_05]

CHAPTER SIX

MountainClan was a smaller, more reclusive group at the foot of the towering mountain. The chickens who lived there were a close-knit bunch, always there for each other no matter what. They were cautious towards outsiders and ferocious towards their enemies.

Among them lived two good friends, bearStar, the leader, and Mosspelt. The two were powerful allies and looked after the clan well.
Arrowrun was a reclusive hen who liked to hunt alone, and it was her who met Arlanda first near the boundary. "Hello..." she said to the stranger, eyeing her up and down.
Arlanda nodded in greeting. "It's been a while since I've seen anyone. I've come a long way."
"Where from?"
"The city. The crowds were too much for me."
"I understand," Arrowrun said. She did. "I'm from MountainClan. You're very close to our territory."
Arlanda took a hasty step back. "I apologise! I was just passing by. I mean no harm."
Arrowrun stepped forward. "It's okay. Are you looking for a place to stay? We could offer you a home."
"Are your sure? I've never lived in a clan before, I might mess up the clockwork."
"What clockwork? It's no bother! We're not running the FBI here!"
Arlanda laughed. "Okay. I might as well have a look around."
Arrowrun led her back along the pathways to the centre camp. "I'm Arrowrun, by the way."
"Arlanda. Like the airport!"
Arrowrun had no idea what she was talking about. Airport? What on earth was that?
Bearstar approached them. "Arrowrun, who is this? Is she a friend?"
"Affirmative, ma'am! I met Arlanda a few miles out, from the city she is."
Bearstar nodded. "I trust your judgement. Welcome to MountainClan, Arlanda!" she said warmly.
Arlanda smiled.
"I'm sure you'll love it here."

"We'll soon see about that," muttered a voice from the bushes. A chicken turned to its companion. "That does complicate things a bit... bring in reinforcements."

 

[Delta1_05]

My fingers are getting tired. Goodbye

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

Thanks for posting these. :3

 

[Delta1_05]

CHAPTER SEVEN

Delta and Red were chilling in the tunnels by a fire one night. BrightFlight was on patrol with EagleWing, and nobody seemed to notice the quiet presence in amidst camp. There was a brief flurry from the warriors' den, then all was silent once more. LeonIva and KernalCorn merely stirred in their sleep.

When morning came around, Delta was the first to arouse. Before the others were even conscious daylight had struck, she was out of camp foraging in the forest, a favourite place of hers when it was quiet and she had the place mostly to herself. Then she could sort of rule it, know how everything ran.

StarryNight was startled out of her sleep by a yell.
"Holt tower!" It was Delta, and she was obviously distraught.
BrightFlight and LeonIva went to meet up with her. "Are you hurt?"
Delta decided not to mess things up by trying to explain. Let them see for themselves. "I found something."

She started to lead the way into the forest and Bright's prompting of "What is it?"
They saw soon enough, after a speedy chase through the trees - Delta was surprisingly speedy when the situation called for it.
There, in a small clearing, deliberatly chosen so it would be easily accessible from all neighbouring clans and surrounded by shreds of red leaf, was the body of a chicken. There appeared to be no visible injuries on his body, but it was cold and lifeless, impaled upon a short pole a little way off the ground.
It was Delta's father.

"What could've done that? It definitely could not have been a predator."
"I have to agree with you," said LeonIva, horrified.
"Was he targeted? Or was it random?" Bright wanted to know.
"I'm sorry, I know hardly anything about his personal life, if he had any grudges harboured against him."
"We're going to need leads if we ever want to find out what happened." BrightFlight, always the systematic one.
"LeonIva, scout the area, see if you can find any prints or fur of some sort," and for Delta's benefit, "The intruder's fur sometimes gets snagged if he legs it from the scene at night. You say your father was a strong fighter, correct? The attacker must have been much larger than him to take him down so easily."

He turned to Red. "Let's check his body out for poisons. Get those herbs I collected the other day."
Everyone was budy at the moment, bar Delta, who StarryNight sat with while the 'murder investigation' was under way.
"But look at all the red around that pole," Delta said. "It's got to be symbolic."
StarryNight agreed. "I wonder who would've disliked such a noble gentleman so much..."
"That's it though," Delta said. "Are you so sure it was him? Perhaps he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Could this be a protest then? Against the clan, or chickens in general?"
Red had joined the girls. "No. I'm sorry - it was him. He seems to have been killed a good few jhours ago - when I put him up with the other roosters in the warrior den. He was plucked right from their midst."
Delta shook her head.
"How could this be? He wouldn't hurt a fly."

BrightFlight set the rooster's body down. "He wasn't poisoned. Looks like he was killed with a sharp blow to his head, so it woiuld've been quick."
Delta summoned up a weak smile.
LeonIva's shout rang out. "I found something!"
The others all rushed towards his voice.
Caught on a long branch about six feet off the ground was a tuft of soft grey fur.
"Tall attacker," Bright mused.
"Unless it could fly," Red pointed out.
LeonIva shook his head and pointed to a tract of sand further down the line. Sunk into its grains were three identical, clear as ice and enormous footprints.
"Good work Leon." Bright looked grimly pleased.

 

[Delta1_05]

Thinking about it now, I would've liked to do something about the Code.

But then again, I couldn't really make heads or tails of the Code.

Could anyone really?

 

[BirdNut]

Quote:
I understood it vaguely, but only because I nearly begged Gerbil to let me in on it.