- Poppy had entered the forest and began running through it, her nose instantly picking up on the scent of the fire. When she emerged from a set of bushes on a small ledge of clustered rocks, she found herself looking down at the source of the fire, where a chocolate sepia cat and a ginger cat lay. Poppy's eyes narrowed, her nose twitching. Her eyes then widened, instantly glistening as she took a long breath in, the familiar scent of Willowsong filling her nostrils; a scent she had missed for too long. The other scent, however, was one she had hoped to avoid; Rosemary.
Rosemary was a she-cat who tortured Willowsong for several moons during her training to become a fighter back in the rogue pack these three she-cats used to be in. After Willowsong opted not to be a fighter and told Poppy everything about what she had done, Rosemary had grown a hatred for both of them, one strong enough to cause Rosemary to ignite a fire to lure the two out here.
Poppy shook her head to dismiss these thoughts, and soon became enraged when she saw Rosemary press her paw against Willowsong's throat. Without letting out even a single cry or word of warning that she was present, she got a running start and jumpedoff the ledge of the rocks, the leaves rustling when she emerged from the bushes. She then soared forward, flying over Willowsong so she rammed her head against Rosemary's flank. The impact sent her sliding backwards, landing by the tree that had initially ignited; the fire much larger having had plenty of time to spread.
A cry escaped Rosemary as she found part of her pelt singed against the burning tree. She got up and leaped a tails length forward, looking at who had done such a thing. Before her stood Poppy, who was defensively standing over Willowsong, crouched down as Willowsong peered up at Poppy, her eyes occasionally glancing back at Rosemary from beneath Poppy's stomach.
- "Poppy?" Willowsong whispered in amazement, her eyes wide. Her voice sounded strained with uncontrollable delight.
Poppy peered underneath her belly briefly, smiling softly. "I'm here for you." Not wanting to risk being ambushed, Poppy rose her head up, hissing at Rosemary.
Rosemary's laughter only intensified, her two targets now standing before her in plain view. "Well, I guess I won't have to track Poppy down now."
Poppy shook her head, looking at Rosemary. "Nope, you sure won't. What you will have to track, however, is your path out of here." A branch above Rosemary began to crackle and eventually fell, but she jumped out of the way, the fire shrinking once the branch made contact with the ground.
"You caused this, Poppy. You ruined everything I had." Rosemary said with a hiss. "I was living a pampered life, a luxurious life, one where I was respected in the pack, and everyone feared me."
"That's just your problem. You only think about yourself. And that's also, ironically enough, why Cedric had to perish." Poppy retorted with a grin. Cedric was one of Rosemary's closest friends, and was actually like a brother to her. Rosemary's parents perished shortly after she was born, so she shared the same milk from the same queen as Cedric, so the two had an internal connection.
Rosemary's eyes widened at the mention of Cedric, her ears folding back. "What are you implying?!"
"I eliminated him. If I could kill a strong warrior such as him.." Poppy's claws flexed a bit from their sockets between the toes of her paws. "Then why do you think I'm incapable of doing the same to you?"
"You.. killed him..?" Rosemary's chest heaved as she began to panic. For once, she had finally cracked; the mention of the little family she had left broke her.
"Exactly. Now, unless you want to end up like him, leave this forest now before the whole thing collapses on us." Poppy demanded. Rosemary looked on, crouching down like she was about to pounce before she fearfully bolted off, her eyes wide.
Poppy turned her attention to Willowsong and licked her forehead affectionately.
"Let's get out of here. We can talk outside of here." [702 words].
