Hello! This is my competition piece for The_Warrior_Writer ! Again, thanks for letting me join and sorry for turning it in at the last minute. I'm sadly a bit of a procrastinator. I hope you enjoy!

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MarshClan

Leader: Tanglestar-- very fluffy golden tabby tom

Deputy: Kestrelfeather-- light brown tom with a white belly

Medicine Cat: Berrybounce-- very old tan she-cat

Apprentice: Stormpaw-- fluffy dark gray tom

Warriors:

Leafstep-- gray tom with white splotches

Patchleg-- black and white tom

Willowleap-- silver tabby she-cat

Pearwhisker-- light gray she-cat with green eyes

Badgertail-- black tom with white stripes and a fluffy tail

Silverbelly-- dark gray she-cat with a silver belly

Petalspots-- beautiful calico she-cat

Robinflight-- brown tom

Darkwing-- dark brown tom with gray stripes

Poppyspots-- light brown she-cat with gray flecks

Thistledawn-- gray and white she-cat

Queens:

Mistbreeze-- light gray tabby
Kits: Brookkit-- dark brown she-cat, Icekit-- almost white she-cat, Mudkit brown tom

Creampuddle-- fluffy white and black Siamese
Kits: Swankit-- small fluffy white and black Siamese

Splashstep-- light brown she-cat with white feet (expecting Darkwing's kits)

Elders:

Froghop-- gray and black tom

Needlefall-- tan tabby tom

Minnowswim-- light gray she-cat

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Badgertail

A stab in my side wakes me from my peaceful dream: finally telling my true feelings to Petalspots. I open my eyes to see my best friend, Darkwing looming over me.

"Get up you badger!" He snickers jokingly "Hunting patrol!" I yawn, sitting up to glance at my future mate. She has the prettiest fur... And her personality. Oh StarClan she's perfect. Darkwing prods me with his big paw again, knocking me right back into reality.

"Fine, I'm coming!" I laugh, hauling myself out of my warm nest. I pad outside, following Darkwing, to see that our patrol consists of just a few cats. Me, Darkwing, Robinflight, Pearwhisker and Poppyspots. I stop to exchange greetings with the other cats but Darkwing flicks his tail anxiously and we pad off after him.

"There's strangely been quite a few twolegs at our back border this Greenleaf, and Tanglestar wants us to check that out." Darkwing meows, turning to face us.

"Okay." I agree with a smile. I look up at the sky and see a beautiful sunrise. Right away I think of Petalspots and his nice it would be to cuddle with her while watching the sun rise. I would lo--. My thoughts are abruptly cut off as I hear twolegs commotion. Darkwing looks at us, worry sparking in his eyes. A huge group of twolegs surround our small patrol crowding us into a tight circle.

"Slide under their legs!" Darkwing whispers to us, making sure the twolegs don't hear. "Be careful. I'll wait for you guys." I try to meow in protest but Darkwing sends me his just-do-what-I-say look. I hesitantly slither though a big tan twoleg and run towards the trees but I stop, gazing back to watch for Darkwing.

"Darkwing?!" I yowl, watching the twolegs run inside. I bet Darkwing gave them a good scratching. Pearwhisker, Poppyspots and I wait awkwardly in the edge of the marshy area.

"Darkwing?" Pearwhisker yowls. After a moment of silence, she turns to us. "I think he was taken by the tw--" I cut her off with a growl

"Darkwing would never be taken by twolegs! He's too strong!" I meow in protest

"Twolegs are giant compared to us. Come on Badgertail, we need to report this to Tanglestar." Pearwhisker meows calmly

"Fine." I meow "But I'm coming back to save him." The light gray she-cat rolls her eyes and starts back to camp.

Darkwing

I hear a muffled yowl from the edge of the marsh. I think it was Badgertail, trying to see if I was okay. But he truth is, I'm not. The twolegs cooed at me while I tried to scratch and hiss at them to scare them away. But they just kept standing there. Their hairless bodies and weird faces. Soon enough a big hairy-armed one scooped me up and brought me inside.

The floor is covered with a fluffy white pelt and it is oddly cold in here. Outside it was warm and smelled of pines while in here it smelled like... Like... Twoleg. I run over to s clear spot on the wall. I guess they didn't trap me after all. I try and hop out but there's something holding me back. It's weird, I can see the outside but there's almost like an invisible wall holding me back. Mentally exhausted, I plop down on the strand floor and attempt to fall asleep. I immediately miss Splashstep and hops she's alright.

Badgertail

Out of breath, I stumble into Tanglestar's den. His green eyes are pierced with confusion while I stand there, heaving. After a few moments I can finally talk and I try to explain everything.

"I.. Patrol.. Darkwing... Twolegs... Gone!" I spit out, my insides twisting and turning

"I don't. What?" Tanglestar replies, his meow full of confusion

"I was on a patrol with Darkwing to patrol the back border, like you told us to. Well there where a ton of twolegs and Pearwhisker, Poppypsots and I escaped but Darkwing... He's gone." I meow, regaining my confidence. Outside the den an ear-slitting shriek erupts from the clearing. Tanglestar and I hurry out to see what has happened.

There, by the fresh-kill pile, is Poppyspots trying to calm Splashstep down while Pearwhisker slinks away.

"Tanglestar!" Splashstep cries "Please! Send a warrior to find him. Please!" Tanglestar frowns and sadness floods from his pelt.

"I'm truly sorry Splashstep," Tanglestar begins, looking at the grief-stricken queen. "but I'm not sending a warrior, or a few, after Darkwing. It's simply too dangerous." Fury sparks in Splashstep's eyes as she hops up and hisses at the leader

"You're a coward! A loser! A terrible leader! How dare you call yourself leader?!" She spits before running back to the nursery in complete fury. "I hate you!"

Darkwing

I hope Splashstep misses me just as much as I miss her. It's terribly lonely here and I am starving. The big twoleg keeps trying to feed me small brown pebbles but I'm a cat. Hello, I don't eat pebbles. Also, today, the twoleg attempted to pet me. I immediately hissed and he back away. It was very strange. I'm getting very hungry and very lonely. Oh I really do hope some cat will come for me. Or I will have to eat the pebbles...

Badgertail

I wake up with the sun shining in my face. Feeling oddly refreshed I realize I slept all the way until sun-high. Darkwing never woke me... As the loneliness eats away at my insides I pad over to the fresh-kill pile and snag a plump mouse. I slowly eat the juicy prey and bathe in the sunlight. Splashstep walks by, her eyes red and swollen and something sparks in my head. I eat the rest of the mouse in one ravenous bite and dash out of the camp. With the wind in my fur I zig-zag through the trees to the back border.

When I arrive I hesitantly walk around the twoleg place searching for Darkwing. I suddenly hear a loud thump and see a large ball of dark brown fur pressed against a clear wall. The piece of fur sits up and I realize it's Darkwing! But how do I save him...

I know! I'll try and attract the twoleg to come out and Darkwing can escape while the entrance opens up! I awkwardly start to purr and brush my body against the door, hoping that no MarshClan sees me. Right before I start to give up, I hear a load click as the tall wooden entrance swings open and the biggest twoleg I've ever seen steps outside.

"Darkwing! Hurry!" I yowl, trying to avoid the giant, hairless paws of the twoleg. Darkwing scrambles out of the entrance and we bolt into our clan's territory.

"Badgertail..." The dark brown tabby tom finally meows after we stop to catch our breath. "Thank you so much for... Coming... I'm glad Tanglestar... Let you come. I was afraid he wouldn't." I smile nervously.

"Well." I meow "That's not exactly what he said."

Darkwing

The amazing smell of our camp floods my nose as I arrive. I smile glancing around at the shocked faces of my clanmates. Splashstep, sharing prey with Creampuddle, jumps up and squeals.

"You're back! You're back!" She brushes against me, purring. Then she turns to Badgertail. "Thank you Badgertail. Thank you!" Badgertail nervously smiles again and gets congratulated by our clanmates. Tanglestar pads out of his den, finally, and gasps when his green eyes lay sight on me.

"Darkwing!" He exclaims "You found your way back! I told Badgertail he didn't need to save you." I screw up my face and reply with a questioning gaze.

"Badgertail did save me..." I whisper "Do you guys not want me?" Tanglestar shakes his head and then stares at Badgertail. "My den. Now."

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Overall word count: 1,478
Without the names: 1,315

Thanks for reading and The_Warrior_Writer I don't know what timezone you live in but it is 11:34 where I live, so I'm not late, am I? Sorry again for turning it in so last minute. I hope you liked it! ~Swift