After awhile, the thundering sound of four cats careening their way into the woods could be heard, thumping pawsteps along the ground. Her eyes sharp and attuned for the danger both in front of and behind their patrol, entrusting Sleepysunrise to take up the rear, Briarsplash led her Clanmates into the Woods and motioned with her tail towards the tall trees.

"Alright... I think I see the snakes up ahead," she called, casting a glance over her shoulder as she allowed her pace to drop ever so slightly to speak, but not entirely; the horde of rats was far too close for comfort behind them, and with their sheer number and speed, they couldn't afford to waste any time. Not to mention the she-cat was more than a little unnerved to not only be baiting, but sort of being a bait herself to a mass of mindless creatures carrying StarClan-knows-what disesases."Remember, we don't come down 'till Dawnstar gives us the signal. Get climbing, now!"

Her voice was stern and urgent, with a note of concern; she didn't know the others well enough to gauge their climbing capabilities, but prayed it'd be quick enough and with no hesitation so that they were safely out of the reach of a rat's snapping jaws. Nor to be a further distraction to the rats; they needed the revolting horde to keep charging down the last bits of prey they'd dropped along their trail and straight into the mass of snakes up ahead.

At once, Briarsplash launched herself towards a tree with rough bark, her claws sinking into the darkened wood. She could feel some of it digging in and splintering into her paw pads, but didn't care a bit as she hauled her large frame up the spruce tree. She wasn't the most graceful of climbers, or really a graceful cat at all, so it wasn't exactly an impressive sight. But her general strength combined with her practice helped ease her up until she yanked herself onto a low-hanging branch, puffs of air escaping her as she caught her breath.

She made a point to carefully watch the other four, ensuring they'd be able to climb their way to safety. From her vantage point, she could see the snakes below and hear the approaching squeaks and squabbles of the angered rats following their trail, as bloodthirsty and ruthless as ever. Nasty critters... and so were snakes. Briar was almost excited to watch the 'show' of them going at it before any ShadowClanner had to intervene.

Once it was done, her gaze surveyed the shadows in the trees, knowing her Clanmates were below. It didn't take too much effort to see some ripples here or there in the thick undergrowth, pinpointing where it seemed they were waiting. Assuming Dawnstar had seen their entrance and was looking their way, she gave a curt nod in the direction of the undergrowth, as if confirming that it was done, that their plan was working. Now... they just had to wait.

And it didn't take long for the mass of squeals and the acrid scent of rats, carrying the rotten tang of their disease and crowfood habits, to start approaching down the main path...

After she spotted Mistlewhisker, Dawnstar settled more comfortable in the undergrowth and listened. Aside from the moving snakes, she listened to the pounding of heartbeat and the shuffles of paws as the rest of the patrol settled around her. The wait felt like forever, but eventually, her ears jerked to the side and she sat up more alert as loud paws pounded against the forest floor.

The giant she-cat spots Briarsplash as she hurtles herself up a tree, the two apprentices hot on her paws, and Sleepysunrise right behind them. It wasn't long after the four were in the trees when she smelt the reek of crowfood. From where she hid they looked like a brown river flooding the woods. Rats, squeaking shrilly, came pouring into the forest. In mere seconds, she listened as screams filled the air when snakes slithered out of their nests attacking the invading rodents.

The scent of blood rapidly overpowered the sickening bitter odor, hisses and squeaks filled the ambiance. Dawnstar's yowl briefly drowned out the noise. "Attack!"

She would have preferred watching the vermin kill each other for a bit longer, but she grew too restless. The leader hurtled herself into battle, fangs wrapping around the scaled body of a snake with its jaws attached to a rat's leg. She felt bones crush beneath her bite while the body went motionless, in time for her to twist around and drag her claws through the beady eyes of a rat stuck on her hindleg.

It let go and fled, but there was no time to relish in the victory as the lengthy body of a snake coiled around her back paw and embedded its huge fangs into her thigh. She twisted as best she could, biting into the snake's body to untangle it from her leg. Dawnstar hissed in frustration when a bleeding rat leaped onto her back and sank its teeth into her flank.

How vexing. Dawnstar faintly wondered if she brought enough cats to deal with this mess. After flinging the snake around her leg straight into a tree, she turned to tear off the rat on her back only to find a new set of snake fangs sinking into her leg. Warm, wet, blood quickly became the only taste in her mouth while she ripped and tore the vermin. These might be worse then the minks.

 

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