TOO SLOW [P. Nighty]

Fallowpaw's kidnapping had seemingly come out of the blue. One moment, her younger cousin had been in camp like she usually was, and the next she had disappeared out of thin air. The only thing that remained were bloodied tufts of fur, reeking of BloodClan scent. Almost as if they had left it there on purpose to mock her. There was nothing Nightgaze could have done to prevent it, and somehow that made her feel even worse. She hadn't been able to sleep for nights on end.

She had been pacing near the riverbank, lost in her own thoughts when the city stench of BloodClan filled the air again. Instantly, her senses were on high alert, and she could feel the blood begin to roar in her ears. Almost at the same time, the figure of a kitten gracefully slipped from the reeds, not even noticing her presence. So that was the BloodClanner?

Nightgaze watched as the young feline stopped at the water's edge, carefully leaning down to nip the stalks of horsetail growing among the silt and tall grasses. This was just a young kitten, approximately three or four moons old by the looks of it. Still, she was a BloodClanner all the same. A BloodClanner who had taken Fallowpaw.

She carefully approached from behind, a silent raven in the dead of night swooping upon its unsuspecting prey. Her pawsteps were nearly inaudible against the soft mud and sand sloping down to the river. Nightgaze stopped when she was close enough to have the kit cornered with her back to the river. "What are you doing here?" she would ask, her voice even and calm. Her fur remained flat, and her molten amber hues traveled over Ai as she spoke.

The younger feline seemed more annoyed than scared right off the bat, and greeted her with a blunt responde to her question. Your code says I have passage.

Nightgaze was never a strict rule follower. Sure, she believed the warrior code was there for the good of everyone, but there were exceptions, and some cats didn't seem to understand that. It was better to approach rules with logic and decide when and when not to use them. This cat was from BloodClan, and stealing herbs in the middle of a famine and sickness. No cat in their right mind would be okay with that, unless they were a complete idiot and warrior code worshipper, which a lot of clan cats unfortunately seemed to be.

"Well, we sorta need those," she said, her gaze traveling to the stack of herbs at the kitten's feet. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. This was a BloodClanner, one of their biggest rivals at the moment. Why not use her for any information they could get? Not to mention that BloodClan currently had Fallowpaw. "I'm actually gonna have to ask you to come with me. Doestar will want to know why you're here as well." It was a lie. Nightgaze just needed a way to get the kitten to the RiverClan camp where they could then keep an eye on her.

//Do you want me to make an open thread where Night brings Ai to the "prison"?

Nightgaze merely flicked an ear at the kitten's retort. It wasn't like she would respond anyways, and instead simply prodded the younger feline in the direction she wanted her to move. "Anyways....go straight along the riverbank. I'll walk behind you." Truth was, Nightgaze wasn't going to lead the enemy to their living area, where the center of RiverClan life took place. No, she was taking her somewhere different. There was a hollow with sloping, stone walls and smooth sandy floors nearby the camp where the apprentices often trained. There, they could contain her, without her gaining too much knowledge about the territory. Sure, she would see some trees or streams, but she would have no idea about the traps or secret escape routes that RiverClan had recently constructed in case of a raid.

So let me guess, gonna beat up a kit for the information? Nightgaze wasn't unreasonably bloodthirsty or violent, however, desperate times called for desperate measures. She would use some force on the BloodClanner if she needed to.