Hi guys! Here's the contest fic for the @WattyClans contest. #WattyClansWriteComp1 
~Blaze

Round 2A: Write a Creative short story about a strange Twoleg thing you found on a hunting patrol, and the danger it caused to your Clan.

Min: 450 words

Dump

The air was light and still. Sun gently dappled the leaves of the trees that surrounded her, illuminating particles of dust in the air. She stood still, not a single whisker out of place as she stared intently at the rodent in front of her.

It scurried before her, tail whipping silently and paws grasping greedily at the seeds on the forest floor. It picked one up and began nibbling, its attention focused entirely on its food.

The warrior dropped silently into her hunting crouch. She took one step forward, then another, watching for sticks on the ground. Nothing was there. Satisfied, she looked up and took another step, preparing to leap on the mouse.

Crack!

Something beneath her foot made a loud noise as she stepped on it, and the mouse became suddenly alert. She jumped forward desperately as the mouse in front of her darted away, but her paws slammed into the ground, just missing the mouse.

"Foxdung!" She muttered. The brown she-cat turned, scanning the ground around her with anger. What had made that noise? There was nothing crunchy around! Wait- what is that?

Her eyes caught sight of something shiny poking up from between the thick grass in front of her. She crouched low to the ground, now making out the sight of a shiny, clear thing. It was nothing like anything she had seen before.

She nudged it with her paw, wincing as it made another creak that echoed through the forest. A she-cat emerged from the bracken beside her, drawn by the noise. Her tortoiseshell pelt gleamed in the low evening light.

"Owlfeather? What are you doing?" She asked. Owlfeather poked the thing again, this time with more force. It emerged partially from the ground. Now she could make out grooves in its side. It was long in shape, with a weird, bumpy bottom, and grooves circling the sides. It almost looked like a clear log.

"Well Briarfur, when I was hunting this thing made a noise when I stepped on it. I lost my prey because of it. I didn't even see it there!" Owlfeather complained. Briarfur looked legitimately shocked. It was no secret that Owlfeather was the best hunter in the Clan, and if something messed her up, then it was a serious thing. The tortoiseshell took a closer look at the object, appearing just as baffled as Owlfeather was.

"It looks really weird." She commented. "I think it's a Twoleg thing. The Twolegplace is close to here, and they throw stuff from their nests all the time!" She tapped it with her paw, seemingly fascinated.

"Well whatever it is, we need to move it off of the territory. I don't want it messing up any other cat's hunt," Owlfeather said.

"Let me help!" said Briarfur. She lifted a paw and swiped at the thing.

Shwoop! It popped out of the grass and landed a few tail-lengths away. Its top (or was that the bottom?) was even weirder than the other side. It continued in its weird ridged pattern before becoming smooth and narrow at the top. The top of it was stuffed with dirt and pulled up grass.

"Well it doesn't look heavy. I'm going to take it back to the Twoleg place. We will have to warn cats about this. The Twoleg litter has never been this bad," Owlfeather fretted. Twolegs had been throwing their weird creations into the forest for ages, but never had it come this far out. Nor had it ever been this... strange.

She lifted the twoleg-log in her mouth and began padding towards the Twolegplace. It thankfully wasn't too far away. Briarfur accompanied her, filling the silence with soft chatter.

Just as they had reached the edge of Twolegplace and were about to deposit the thing, a loud screech filled the air. Owlfeather darted to the fence that led to the Twolegplace and dropped the thing there before running with Briarfur towards the noise.

The screech for help sounded again even louder than before, ending with a choking sound and a sick squelch. Owlfeather and Briarfur burst through the trees and almost barrelled into a large golden tom.

"Lionclaw, what's wrong?" He spared them only a small glance before gesturing with his tail at the cat in front of him. Owlfeather gasped.

A small black mottled she-cat sat in front of Lionclaw, claws scrambling to find purchase on a tree in front of her. She stood on two paws, balancing precariously on the large trunk. What alarmed Owlfeather most, however, was the reason for the cat's weird stance.

A small, thin white thing encircled the she-cat's neck. It was attached to many other circular white holes, six total. The last one was caught on a low hanging branch and was effectively pulling the she-cat up by her neck and choking her.

"She got caught in it while she was chasing after a rabbit. It won't let her go!" Lionclaw exclaimed. As they watched, her paws slipped and she choked as she scrambled to find purchase on the roots below her.

Owlfeather immediately snapped to attention.

"Lionclaw, let Swallowpaw stand on your back! You are tall so it might help her breathe better and we won't have to worry about her slipping and choking to death." The golden tom nodded and ducked beneath his apprentice, letting her stand on his broad shoulders. She let out a choked 'thanks' as she was able to breathe slightly better.

"Briarfur, run and get Hollowstar and Juniperfrost from the camp." The tortoiseshell immediately began running to the camp. Owlfeather took a deep breath to calm herself before padding next to Lionclaw to examine the white thing.

"I want to try and cut it with my teeth." Owlfeather said. Swallowpaw had a frightened look on her face but she let out an accepting squeak.

"Be careful." Lionclaw growled. Owlfeather flicked her ears before carefully nibbling at the white thing.

As she bit down on it, a sharp pain went through her teeth. At the same time, the apprentice beneath her squeaked in pain. Owlfeather pulled back immediately. She could see a long crack in the hard white substance. Her bite had pulled it into a point, and the other side had pulled into Swallowpaw's neck.

"What did you do?" Snarled Lionclaw, but he couldn't move to see without hurting his apprentice.

"I'm just trying to cut through the thing!" Owlfeather said. As she spoke, three cats barrelled through the trees.

"Briarfur told us what was happening on the way! Have you tried cutting through the thing?" Hollowstar asked as he came to a halt besides Lionclaw. Juniperfrost pushed her way through as well, examining the white thing.

"I bit it, which seemed to work for a little bit," Owlfeather explained. Juniperfrost nodded.

"Yeah I think that should work. Try doing that again."

"But it hurt her!" Lionclaw objected. Juniperfrost leveled a glare at him.

"This is going to take some pain to get her out. We'll do it quickly. Briarfur, I need you to find me some cobweb. Hollowstar, look for some marigold." Juniperfrost directed the cats around to useful tasks.

Owlfeather focused her attention on the white thing.

"Ready?" She asked Swallowpaw softly. The apprentice flicked her ears. Owlfeather grabbed the pointed end of the white thing and started furiously gnawing.

"OW!" Swallowpaw screeched, but as she bit down on it, they heard a loud snap and moments later Swallowpaw fell heavily on Lionclaw and Owlfeather. They collapsed together onto the forest floor, Swallowpaw gasping for breath.

"I've got the marigold," Hollowstar said, a bundle of herbs under his chin. Juniperfrost immediately crowded around Swallowpaw and began examining the wound. Hollowstar and Owlfeather fell back.

"This was a very dangerous but avoidable instance, " Hollowstar commented after a moment's pause. "There is a reason we stopped hunting here last green-leaf." Owlfeather winced.

"I'm sorry for suggesting it. This was all my fault," she said miserably. He hit her gently with her tail.

"It is leaf-fall, and this is a viable bit of territory to get prey from. You did nothing wrong. You couldn't have known." Owlfeather simply shook her pelt out.

As they stood, Lionclaw padded towards Owlfeather.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. Thanks for saving Swallowpaw," He told her. She shook her head.

"I didn't do-" But he walked away before she could say anything, leaving her with her strung out emotions. She turned her attention to the innocently hanging hard white thing. As she did, her vision hardened.

Twoleg things were dangerous. If there was one thing Owlfeather was sure of, it was that she wouldn't let another cat get hurt from them ever again.

Word Count: 1447