"I remember..." Alpha trailed off, green eyes growing distant while the bloodied shape of Clarice, still pinning Flarepaw, looked angry. Tail tip twitching furiously, the black she-cat clambered off the hissing body of the apprentice and started to slink toward the ring. "You!" Alpha shrieked, gaze boring into Clarice. The ring of cats refused to let her pass back into the crowd, forcing her to remain inside the spotlight.
Alpha leaped from his perch, eyes flashing with a mixture of pain and rage. "You." He circled Clarice, who was already looking uncomfortable. Her own green eyes darted from cat to cat, occasionally glancing at the heaving Flarepaw who had yet to move from her place, bleeding onto the stone. A grunt came from the outside ring, Fallenpaw pushing himself into the golden light and crouching next to the red she-cat. Her gaze was obviously pained, thought somewhat relieved. Her jaws opened to speak, but Fallenpaw swept his tail across her muzzle, asking her to remain silent by a simple look. Their attention drifted back to the bristling cream tom and the shaking black she-cat.
"It was you all along," Alpha continued to circle dangerously, an explanation still needed from many of the surrounding felines.
"What was I supposed to do?" spat Clarice, bloodied fangs bared as she tried not to appear weak in front of everyone. "A strange cat appears out of nowhere with no recollection of his past. You were cute enough, and after the death of our former Alpha, I decided to make you into our new leader and settle in as your mate. After you started murmuring in your sleep a night or two ago, I decided to keep up the charade to keep you here rather than have you run back to your "BlizzardClan"." Her gaze swept to Fallenpaw and Flarepaw. "Then these two waltz in, the orange one smelling like you before you became Alpha. And once they started calling you Wildpaw, I knew they had to be killed. Luck was in my favor once you refused to acknowledge yourself as anything but Alpha. But you still wouldn't kill them off after it was so obvious that they were underground spies. I had to situate the execution and hope both would die. I didn't expect one word to bring back your memories though. I would've been known as the mate of the Alpha! Taking over the surface once you 'mysteriously' died."
"You fox-heart!" snarled Alpha- Wildpaw, regaining the tongue of the Clans. Another wave of memory came flashing through his green orbs. His chest puffed out proudly, muzzle pointed upwards. "I am Wildpaw! Wildpaw of BlizzardClan! Never will I lead this rag-tag group of selfish liars! And you-" His furious glare swept to Clarice in a heartbeat. "-I trusted you. From the moment I woke up from the blackness, I trusted you. Maybe I could've been your mate and stood by your side, if you had been truthful with me. Now you're nothing but a scrawny cave mouse with a heart as black as your pelt. You wormgutted fiends disgust me. And to make one other thing perfectly clear before I leave this place of filth, no one harms my friends. Got that, dungface?" The cream tom whirled around in bottled fury without waiting for an answer, expression softening as he paused beside his companions.
"See you've been paying attention to my colorful vocabulary," Flarepaw forced a chuckle, followed by a sharp cough.
"Don't speak," Fallenpaw ordered sharply, whacking her muzzle sternly with his tail. "Nice to have you back. Wildpaw."
"Good to be back. Fallenpaw," the cream tom dipped his head. "Sorry I was such a mouse-brain. These liars kind of messed with my head."
"We should leave before things get ugly," Fallenpaw announced quietly, inaudibly forgiving his clanmate. "I'm fairly sure Flarepaw knocked her bone out of joint and there's something in her pad...I'll get Anemonepaw to look at it. What's up with you and getting hurt?" he mock complained, giving the she-cat an exasperated look before slinging her small, limp body over his back.
"Guess that's the price of being me," she rasped, fighting back another wheezing cough. As the trio trekked forward, Wildpaw clung to the rear, fighting off dirty looks from the onlookers, making sure they knew he was leaving for good. The glowing of the mini suns faded, leaving the small clan cat troup to move ahead through the cramped alleyway in darkness and in silence. As they stepped out from the alley and their pads touched another form of stone, they slowed to a halt. Fallenpaw's muzzle tipped up, green eyes scanning the horizon where thin streams of light were peeking over.
"Welcome back," the orange and white tom released a soft purr, ignoring the stagnant air that had an overbearing scent of rotting twoleg trash.
"Yeah," the bristled tom's cream pelt ruffled. His nose wrinkled. "Though I could do without these scents."
"Why?" Fallenpaw joked. "Weren't you used to them while Alpha?" He heard Wildpaw snort. "I suppose so, but once I fully convinced myself I wasn't their Alpha, everything sort of fell apart. My taste and scent for example. Remind me never to eat crowfood again." The traumatized BlizzardClan apprentice shuddered, earning a short chuckle from his orange and white companion. Fallenpaw's gaze drifted to the lump on his back, the she-cat's eyes shut with fatigue as she gave a soft snore. He couldn't help but let a small smile cross his features
"So I guess a lot happened while I was missing, hmm?" Wildpaw took a sly glance at his friend and the MagmaClan 'paw. Fallenpaw felt the heat rise to his cheeks and ear tips, pelt bristling. "N-no," he stuttered out, flustered with Wildpaw's suggestive statement. The said apprentice flicked his tail, "So she's still available then."
"Wildpaw, I'm pretty sure when a she-cat screams that she doesn't want to be your mate, it means she doesn't want to be your mate," the light green eyed tom mewed in exasperation. The cream tom held his head high, prancing forward into the lighter area of the street. "There's still hope," he grinned to himself, leaving Fallenpaw to shake his head amusedly. Same old Wildpaw. Taking one last glance behind his shoulder to make sure his rescue-e was still safe, Fallenpaw made long strides after his clanmate along the stone path.
"Wait!" Wildpaw's pelt fluffed, dark eyes narrowed like the alleyway they recently vacated. Ears perked and nose twitching, Fallenpaw slowed to a halt beside him, equally tense.
"What it it?" he meowed cautiously, claws subconsciously sliding out and scraping against the stone. Wildpaw's whiskers were twitching, a twisted grimace of confusion spread across his muzzle. "OceanClan?" he inquired, puzzled. The hairs along Fallenpaw's spine relaxed, a small sigh passing his lips. "Oh, I neglected to tell you we aren't the only survivors from the flood. We have two OceanClanners with us. Though, I still have no idea where they are. We came looking for them when we ran into Alpha and Clarice."
"Why'd they come here?" Wildpaw questioned, stance relaxed and nose twitching for a more distinguishable scent.
"That would be Flarepaw's doing," Fallenpaw sighed, eyes rolling as he cast a peek at the matted and bloody pelt of the lightly snoring she-cat. "She really knows how to get under a cat's pelt."
Wildpaw shrugged. "That's Flarepaw for you. Haven't you told her to keep that temper under check?"
"Countless times." Fallenpaw flicked an ear. His slender crown lowered to the ground, berry colored nose twitching furiously in hopes of finding the two runaways. "They've been here not too long ago," he surmised, looking up to see where the trail was leading. "They headed back into the twolegplace." Lifting himself from the slight crouch, the long legged tom made haste across the stone, hearing the ragged breathing of the out of shape Wildpaw a few tail lengths behind. Even with the load of Flarepaw, Fallenpaw was able to outpace the cream tom. Still, he paid that little attention, mind focused on finding the two others of their party. They couldn't have made it too far, then again, Flarepaw and Fallenpaw had lost a lot of time searching when taken captive by Alpha and the rest of those lying surface mouse-hearts.
The small group of 'paws were practically sprinting along the rough stone which scraped against their already sore pads. When another alleyway came into view, Fallenpaw noticed Wildpaw hang back a few more tail lengths, slowing to a trot. The orange and white tom furthered his approach, the scent of OceanClan growing stronger with every bound. Another large leap later and the sharp scents flooded his nostrils causing him to jerk to a halt. The scents of Mistpaw and Anemonepaw were the strongest around a circular hole in the ground. The cream tom came up to his side, taking a wary glance at the hole.
"You think they're in there?" he asked, voice somehow flat and void of emotion. Fallenpaw's jaws parted to reply but was cut off as a flash of light gray erupted from the hole, sapphire orbs alight with surprise.
"Oomph!" the two cried in unison, Fallenpaw knocked back from the impact and now on his side, the smaller gray shape laying atop.
"Fallenpaw!" the shape squealed, the orange and white crown lifting awkwardly to see who had pinned him. "Mistpaw!" he exclaimed when realization set in. Laughing lightly, Mistpaw clambered off, letting the tom to his paws. Another moment later and a lithe brown cat lept from the circle, followed by a darker gray pelt.
"Take that Flarepaw!" Mistpaw crowed in triumph, flicking her tail to the dark gray tom. "We found Floodpaw!" Her gaze scanned the cats until it landed on the almost unmoving shape of the MagmaClan cat who lay a fox length from Fallenpaw when she was knocked off. She gasped in horror at her blood stained pelt. "What happened?" her shrill squeak dropped to a frightened whisper.
"She took a heavy beating from one of the surface cats," Wildpaw meowed solemnly, not willing to name the name of the she-cat who had betrayed him and hurt the beautiful blossom. "She's unconscious but otherwise fine."
"Who's this?" Mistpaw spoke up, still terrified as her sapphire gaze set on the newcomer.
"This is Wildpaw, and Flarepaw may be unconscious but she's still hurt." Fallenpaw growled, retreating to Anemonepaw. "She dislocated one of her hind legs during a fight and got something stuck deep in her pad. Can you look at it?"
"Hurt again," the brown tom sighed but reluctantly moved over to the she-cat, letting Mistpaw, Floodpaw and Wildpaw get acquainted. He crouched beside the faintly breathing red feline, though her pelt was nearly unseen due to the dried blood spatter. He inspected her hind leg, vaguely listening to the introductions being passed around among the BlizzardClan and OceanClan cats. Fallenpaw was hovering over the medicine cat's shoulder, eagerly watching with worried eyes. "I can't have you over my shoulder when I'm working," the brown tom said stiffly, hearing a squeak of dismay as the other tom pulled away with an awkward, "sorry." Anemonepaw resumed working, somewhat distraught without the use of his herbs. He poked his patient's haunches, relieved to find them both in place but one of them weaker than the other. He assumed Flarepaw must have been able to push it back in, but the numb pain still lingered. Giving a nod, the medicine 'paw assured himself that she would be fine with more rest. His ear twitched worriedly when looking at her front, swollen paw. Something had lodged itself inside from what he could observe, the flesh around it inflamed with soreness. When crouching down to inspect it more closely, Anemonepaw spotted a glint of clear and internally winced. Glass. Covering up a sigh of pity, he bent down, muzzle level with her wounded paw. Jutting from her red pad was a rather large shard of glass. Many time had the apprentice seen glass on the beach, his mentor often warning him to be careful around it when out searching for herbs.
Like a thorn, glass in your pads can easily become infected, he remembered his mentor's words of wisdom. One of the few things spoken to him before the later events.
"You're one stubborn fool," he murmured, observing Flarepaw's matted, bloody pelt, along with her formerly dislocated hind leg, and not forgetting the shard of glass that had yet to be removed. "You can't keep up this tough act forever though. One day, you'll end up bleeding to death just because I wasn't there to help." Another brief sigh escaped his parted jaws, muzzle yearning forward. His teeth barely gripped the glass edge, tugging slightly as a feeble attempt to dislodge it. When it wouldn't budge, Anemonepaw was forced into darker methods.
By now, the chatter had ceased, all eyes on the medicine apprentice and his patient. Though Floodpaw and Mistpaw hadn't known her for long, both felt weary at the thought of the pain she must be going through.
Anemonepaw reached out with his claws, hesitant for a few seconds before scraping away the flesh surrounding the shard. More droplets of crimson pooled from the newly created wound, the brown tom feeling the internal wincing of his companions. If I'm going to get this shard out, I have to create a larger wound, he told himself firmly, scraping more of the soft skin aside with sharp claws.
After a few minutes of struggling, Anemonepaw was able to create a large enough opening and was able to slide the glass from the she-cat's pad easily. A painful moan rumbled from her mouth, teeth bared in suppressed agony. It appeared as if she was waking from her unconscious slumber and beginning to feel the tingle around her injured paw. Anemonepaw bit back a frustrated growl. Cobwebs would've been helpful. As would marigold in case it gets infected. She'll have to go without it for a while, just until we get out of here.
"She'll have to stay put," he announced to the others. "I don't want to stay here either but we can't risk having her wander around putting weight on either foot." He was referring to the glass embedded pad and the dislocated joint.
"But I wanna get out of here," Mistpaw protested weakly, eyes shimmering with fear. "It stinks and we'd be easy prey for roaming twolegs, it's dawn!"
"Yeah," agreed Floodpaw, tail tip twitching.
"I'd want nothing more than to leave this place behind," grumbled Wildpaw.
"Then how are we going to get out of here without having Flarepaw walking around?" Anemonepaw pressed, seeing that his way was right.
"We can carry her," Fallenpaw announced, padding to the she-cat who was slowly waking from her unconscious state, blearily struggling to understand what was going on. "As stubborn as she will be to fight it, she can't walk for a while. Therefore, carrying her is the only option." As if to prove his point that it would work, the orange and white tom slipped the muttering feline on his back, already turning for the alley entrance where soft beams of light already hit the stone.
Anemonepaw looked about to protest, biting back a retort as the others joined their BlizzardClan leader, trailing behind him as loyal followers.
He sighed, amused. "You win, Fallenpaw. You win." And quickly scampered after the party of five who disappeared into the light.
Snarky apologizes for her late update! But I've been recently swamped with homework and other boring stuff. Thank StarClan Spring Break is only four days away, I'll be able to write more. Until then, let this chapter curb your thirst for adventure. Wildpaw's joined the group after his little remembering episode, and we're reunited with Mistpaw, Floodpaw and Anemonepaw. Yay! All six are here and it's time for the real trials to begin...Mwhahaha...
Also, I've created a new story called Dreams. I won't spoil any of the details but it's about a cat in a boring life when awake, but in his dreams...anything can happen...So why don't you all hop on over there, stop in to read and review and I'll give you all much awarded thank yous. And for those who like Wings of Fire, I've written the prologue to my first WoF story, Queen's Rebellion. Like before, stop in, read, review, follow, favorite and your input is much appreciated. Ta-ta for now.
-Snarky