Hey look, another chapter! I think I'm finally getting my writing mojo back so that's good news :) Anyway, onto the comments! (Thank you all for reviewing!)
Lover or Hater: Here's the next chapter so you do not die of boredom! Trust me, I know how that feels XD Hope you're knee feels better! *sends healing vibes*
SwiftStar1: Here's the next one and it's from Skypaw's POV, just like you wanted.
mevsyousvthem9: GAH! Such a long review! XP But thank you so much for your birthday wishes and compliments. Just for that, you get another plushie of annnnnnyyyyyyy cat you want. ;)
Stranger of the Night: Yeah, no one seems to like Silverpool…but then again you have to see it from her perspective: there's an unknown threat that could potentially destroy ThunderClan and WindClan and she just wants to save her own Clanmates. But yeah, I can see where you're coming from :P
Spottedfire7: Thank you so much!
Silentbreeze20: Here's the next update!
Ty7769: Thanks, I was really just blocked with what to write for Skypaw, but I'm glad it worked!
Echowind012: Awwwww, you don't know how much that means to me :3
And HOLY BAJESUS! 86 reviews?! You. Guys. Are. Amazing.
Here we gooooooo! (By the way, we're back to Skypaw's POV :])
Oh, I also switched what Fallowpaw looks like. She used to be a silver she-cat but now she is a creamy brown she-cat with tabby patches and soft blue eyes. :)
Sheathed paws lashed across her white fur and she ducked to avoid being clotted on the head. Rolling onto her side, Skypaw quickly swiped at her opponent's legs before she hastily rose to her paws and stumbled back to regain her balance. She crouched and narrowed her eyes as her tail lashed slowly back and forth, preparing to spring. The humming buzzed insanely in her head and she struggled to focus on the present as Fallowpaw rushed at her.
She tried to dodge out of the way but the creamy brown apprentice tackled her to the ground before she could move out of the way. Skypaw let out a loud squeak as she hit the sandy ground and tried to wriggle free, but to no avail.
"Do you surrender?" Fallowpaw crowed, amusement glittering in her blue eyes.
Spitting on a mouthful of dirt, Skypaw muttered, "Yeah, I give up."
"Great work, Fallowpaw," Hareflight praised his apprentice as she clambered off of the white and golden she-cat.
Skypaw rose to her paws and shook out her fur to rid it of the dust that had accumulated on it, eyes lowered to the ground as usual. She knew she had disappointed Swiftbreeze yet again and didn't want to see his impassive eyes.
"Good effort," her mentor grunted grudgingly. "But we need to work on your speed some more, you were too slow and that's why Fallowpaw was able to beat you."
"I've also had more practice than you," the older she-cat meowed kindly. "So it's understandable if you lose at times."
Skypaw simply nodded, still not raising her yellow eyes from the ground, and she prayed that they would move on and quit talking to her. She was grateful that Fallowpaw was being nice to her but she had already dragged enough attention onto herself and she didn't need pity to top it off.
"Alright," Hareflight stated after a slightly awkward moment. "I think it's time to head back to camp."
"You go on, Hareflight, I would like to speak to my apprentice real quick," Swiftbreeze answered.
Caught off guard, Skypaw's eyes shot up to the black and white tom who was looking at her steadily with unreadable green eyes. Her heart started to pound faster as Hareflight nodded and he and Fallowpaw began to pad back to camp, leaving them alone. The sun was at its peak and the heat rising from the ground in waves made her feel hot and sticky all over.
"Skypaw."
Returning her eyes to her paws, she checked to make sure her walls were set up nice and tight before answering. "Yes, Swiftbreeze?"
She heard a heavy sigh escape him and, not for the first time, she wished she could be the eager apprentice that her mentor wanted. The bees buzzed inside her head and she had to force herself to concentrate as the humming grew louder. The moments stretched out into a long silence and finally, when the thoughts became too much for her to bear, she snapped, "Well what is it?"
Swiftbreeze's eyes widened in surprise and she immediately cursed herself for losing control over her temper. "Excuse me?" he asked quietly, tail flickering back and forth.
Skypaw swallowed hard and shuffled her paws uncomfortably. She had only made the situation worse because now her mentor would keep her around longer to question. She knew she had to do something, fast, before her head exploded with pain. "I…um…"
"Skypaw, I've noticed that you seem really distracted lately and it's messing up your training and hunting," he accused, his voice even and steady.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, flinching as one certain thought pounded against her wall. "I promise I'll try to do better."
"But the thing is this has been going on ever since you were first made an apprentice!" Swiftbreeze growled, starting to pace across the sandy ground. The sun illuminated the depths of his green eyes which held both impatience and curiosity. "What is continuously bothering you so much that you can't even do a simple hunting technique without spacing out?"
This wasn't good. He had her backed into a corner and she knew she had to give him a legitimate answer if he was going to stop being suspicious of her. Think, Skypaw, think! "I-I um…I…"
Swiftbreeze halted in his pacing and turned his muzzle towards her, looking lost and very irritated. "I'm trying to understand, Skypaw," he told her, voice rising with each word. "I've tried to not pressure you too much with a new technique in case that was it, or I asked Sundapple and Ashstorm if something was bothering you, but you won't open up to me! How am I supposed to teach you how to survive on the moors if I don't even know if you're ever fully listening to me?"
Sorrow pierced Skypaw's heart at the pleading note in the tom's voice along with a new wave of guilt. I wish I could tell you Swiftbreeze, she wailed silently, once again feeling the familiar isolation her curse brought. But you would never understand.
The thoughts were no longer rising, but the level they stayed at was strong enough to make her head scream. She hated battle training because the spot where they practiced was so close to the WindClan camp that the humming was always as intense as it was as if she was inside the apprentice den. Usually she could handle it and try to ignore the buzzing, but today they seemed a lot more violent than every other time. She had to get away, had to find a quiet place to compose herself and get her strength back, had to-
"Skypaw!"
The white and gold apprentice startled as Swiftbreeze shouted her name and she accidentally lifted her gaze to see him look extremely aggravated.
"This is exactly what I was talking about," the black and white tom snapped, sheathing and unsheathing his claws as he kneaded the dry ground. "I have a conversation with you and suddenly it's like you're not even here anymore. It's like you're in your own world and you're not even pretending to listen to what I have to say."
"I'm sorry," she murmured quietly.
Swiftbreeze lashed his tail and his eyes narrowed. "Sorry? That's all you have to have to say?"
She hung her head and dropped her gaze back down to her paws so she didn't have to look at his disappointment. What else could she say? That she could Hear the thoughts of dozens of other cats and that she had to always protect her mind or else they would overpower her and she would lose control of everything?
"You know," he suddenly meowed, his voice soft and hurt. "I can't tell if you're doing this to make fun of me or not. For almost three moons I've wondered about what to do with you, struggled to get you to concentrate on your goals, and yet…" his voice trailed off and he shook his head sullenly, as if to rid himself of an unwanted thought.
This was it. This was her chance to throw caution to the wind and finally tell her mentor everything that she'd been holding in. Her chest was almost bursting with the need to spill it all to him; the longing to share this with someone else was almost too much to hold back. Skypaw opened her mouth to let the words flow out, to tell Swiftbreeze everything, when out of nowhere the humming grew double in noise level and knocked the breath right out of her.
She gasped and mentally pushed against her wall to keep it stable as a sudden of unwanted thoughts pounded against it, screaming for entrance. The white and golden she-cat stumbled back, struggling to keep calm. She knew she needed to get away from anything that could possibly have caused this, and fast.
"Skypaw?" Swiftbreeze's voice was distant over the thumping of her racing heart.
"I-I-" Skypaw stammered as another wave crashed into her. It was almost as terrible as at the Gathering and instinct screamed at her to flee before it got to the point where the thoughts broke down her protection. "I h-have to g-go-"
"Go?" the tom echoed, baffled and stupefied. "What's wrong? Do you need Rosefire to look at you?"
"N-need…go…." Her muscles were trembling with tension and she gritted her teeth in a massive effort to keep her boundaries from being breached. She started to walk backwards away from Swiftbreeze, who, though he looked very concerned, didn't try to follow her.
Finally sensing her chance, the young apprentice spun around and raced away from the training ground as fast as her long legs could possibly take her. She ran away from the WindClan camp and towards the sprawling, empty moors that made up the majority of her Clan's territory. They seemed as if they could go on forever because they lay in the opposite direction of the other Clans' territories, dotted only with a few shrubs and weeds.
As she put distance between herself and the camp, the thoughts slowly dimmed to a very faint hum and the sudden loss of pressure on her mind made her feel lightheaded. Her breathing was ragged and the breeze made her eyes water to the point where her vision was getting blurry. She was running too fast and her front paw landed wrong, causing her to let out a screech as she tumbled to the ground in a mound of fur.
Skypaw sneezed as the sand settled around her nose and she shook her head to rid it of the dizzy feeling she had. She blinked up at the sky and her eyes narrowed into slits to block out the bright sun's piercing rays as she slowly rose to her paws. She kept her right front paw off the dusty ground as she sat heavily on her haunches to assess the damage her carelessness had caused.
She tentatively placed it down and a dull pain immediately flared up her whole leg. She had a feeling it was only a sprain but she didn't want to test that theory just yet so she lay back down and put her other paw over her face to block out the sun.
Her throat ached with thirst and it felt as dry and parched as the moor underneath her. This morning she had given her water to Cinderfrost, who was about two moons into pregnancy with Brackentail's kits. She glanced up at the cloudless sky above her and knew that Morningsong and Ravenstar had been wrong; there was no huge storm coming to WindClan, not even a raincloud to shed a few drops of water on them.
Sighing, her mind drifted to her battle training that she'd just had and she gravely wondered why the thoughts were so strong then and what had caused them to be so aggressive. At the Gathering, she knew it was unspeakable anger that had allowed her walls to be broken; but this time it didn't feel like it had been rage or fury that caused her head to scream.
What's going on? she thought desperately. This has never happened before! It felt as if she was missing something huge, some part of the puzzle that was right there but she couldn't grasp.
Shaking her head, Skypaw knew it was useless to keep laying there doing nothing instead of trying to figure out what was wrong. She felt her determination harden because she had a feeling that whatever had made her walls bend like that, it wasn't good. A sudden urge to get back to the WindClan camp pulsed through her and there was a huge need to return back to her Clanmates.
Skypaw pushed herself to her paws, putting gentle pressure on her front one to be sure it could hold her weight. She felt a sharp, stinging pain but it soon faded away to a simple ache and she figured if she didn't push herself, she could make it back.
She started to pad painstakingly across the treeless moor, the sun baking the soft skin under her white and golden fur. The only sounds were her steady breaths and the soft, whispering wind that flowed around her. The silence should have been calming, except a sense of dread was building up inside of her, pushing her to go faster.
Ignoring the pain in her paw, she began to walk faster until she was once again racing across the open land, frantically needing to get back to her Clan and find out what was causing her Clanmates' thoughts to act like that.
As she steadily erased the distance between her and the camp, Skypaw slammed up her walls to block out the rising hum that buzzed in her mind. She flew past the training area and dashed to the top of the gorge where she slowed her pace to look down inside.
It was as if every single cat was gathered around the Tallstone with their necks craned up to watch Thornstar as the afternoon sun shone on his golden-brown pelt, accenting his lean frame. The thoughts were now going crazy in her head but Skypaw knew she had to join them and figure out what was wrong. She headed to the path that wound its way down and carefully padded along it, wincing when a few thoughts slammed against her protection.
When she finally stepped off the trail, she slunk over to where her Clanmates were all sitting, backs tense and ears alert, as they listened to their leader speak. As she got closer, Thornstar's words reached her ears.
"...we don't know where she is but we're going to look everywhere for her," he was stating, his anxious amber gaze scanning the faces of his warriors.
Skypaw's heart pounded in her chest and she nervously wondered if he was talking about her as she halted at the edge of the clustered cats. She spotted Rainpaw sitting next to Fallowpaw and Smokefur and her sister's green eyes were wide with shock as Thornstar's words washed over her.
What's going on here? she thought, noticing how a lot of her other Clanmates' reactions were similar to Rainpaw's. Rosefire, settled close to the bottom of the Tallstone with Sagepaw, had a nervous air about her while Brackentail and Cinderfrost exchanged nervous glances. Dewfeather, Kestrelwing, and Skypaw's father Ashstorm were murmuring in hushed voices about something she couldn't hear.
A brush of fur to her left startled Skypaw and er head whipped around to see that Talonpaw had joined her at the edge of the group. His golden-amber eyes were narrowed anxiously and his tail was flicking back and forth.
"What's going on?" she demanded, checking to make sure her walls were still up. Normally, she wouldn't start a conversation but now was not the time to stay silent. Something was very wrong and she needed to know what was happening.
"Featherheart's disappeared," the brown tabby tom answered quietly.
She felt a flicker of surprise at this but kept her face blank. "What do you mean disappeared? You mean she just left the camp?"
"Featherheart told Thornstar that she wanted to stretch her legs outside of camp and she protested when he tried to send a warrior with her. She said she could handle herself so he let her go, but she hasn't returned," Talonpaw told her, his gaze directed up at the WindClan leader.
"But-"
However, Skypaw was interrupted when Thornstar spoke again. "I'm going to send out four search groups and I want them to scour the whole territory," he announced. "We will search until nightfall, when it's too dark too see."
"What if you don't find her?" Rabbitflight called accusingly, his yellow eyes flashing even though his left was cloudy and blind. The scrawny Elder was hunched over and leaned heavily on Silverclaw, even though his voice was strong and loud. "Are you just going to stop searching because it'll be too dark?"
Thornstar dipped his head respectfully to the old tom. "Rabbitflight, I swear to StarClan that I will find Featherheart, wherever she is."
The gray and white tom opened his mouth to retort but instead a huge, hacking cough emitted, shaking his whole skinny frame. Rosefire dashed forward and wrapped her tail around his thin shoulders as she gently urged him to the Medicine Cat den. "Come on, Rabbitflight, you need to sleep. This worry and stress is only making that cough of yours worse."
"I'll sleep when someone finds my sister!" the Elder snarled, stubbornly pushing her away.
Skypaw gasped quietly when one ferocious thought knocked against her protection and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself tensely to wait as it passed. When she blinked them open again, she noticed Talonpaw looking at her in concern and her pelt heated up in embarrassment.
"Are you okay?" he murmured to her as Thornstar started calling the names of cats in the search parties. She gave a terse nod in his general direction and focused on her leader's words.
"I will lead the first patrol and I will take Dawnbreeze, Crowleaf, Fawnwillow, and Hollowstep. Brackentail, you'll lead another along with Dewfeather, Rainpaw, Falconclaw, and Smokefur. Ashstorm, you'll take Heathergaze, Fallowpaw, Hareflight, and Clovermist. And finally, Lilywhisper I want you to lead one with Sundapple, Silverclaw, and Ebonyheart." He waited until they all nodded in confirmation and continued.
"I will head towards the Willow tree; Brackentail, you go towards the ThunderClan border, Ashstorm head to the hills, and Lilywhisper check near the RiverClan border." He searched the faces of the chosen cats and growled, "Do not stop looking until you find her, am I clear? Featherheart is our beloved Clanmate and we will not leave her out there at night to fend for herself." He was answered with yowls of agreement.
The patrols immediately grouped together as Thornstar skidded down the Tallstone and gathered his cats with a wave of his tail. Skypaw backed into the shadows, her heart pounding anxiously as a feeling of distress wound its way through her. Her mind prayed that Featherheart was okay, but her instincts made her apprehensive and fearful for the old she-cat.
"Skypaw!" a voice called out and the apprentice turned to see Rainpaw racing up to her. Her sister skidded to a halt just before crashing into her, sending dust to waif up around them.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a patrol?" Skypaw questioned, double checking her that her walls were secure.
The silver and white she-cat nodded, her green eyes nervous. "I am, but I just needed to come over and say I'm sorry for acting like a jerk to you when we were hunting before."
Skypaw blinked in surprise. Their conversation about Talonpaw had been three days earlier, and she was confused as to why it took so long for Rainpaw to apologize. The anger she had felt toward her sister had long since evaporated and now, with Featherheart suddenly missing, their argument seemed small and insignificant.
"Look, I have to hurry," Rainpaw meowed, glancing over her shoulder to where Brackentail and his patrol were waiting for her. "I just wanted to apologize because I know I was being mean and cloud-brained and I hate when we fight, even though I know it was my fault." She turned her clear green eyes back to the white and golden she-cat. "So am I forgiven?"
Even though Skypaw knew her sister could be shallow and sometimes rude, Rainpaw was one of the few cats she really cared about and she didn't want to lose her over a stupid conversation. "Of course," she mewed softly. "Sisters always forgive each other."
"Great!" Rainpaw exclaimed, a purr rising in her throat. "Oh, I have to go, but we'll talk later, okay?" And with that she spun around and dashed away to join her patrol and they immediately headed for the path that led out of the gorge.
Skypaw felt glad that Rainpaw had admitted her mistake and that they could move on, but the sense of uneasiness inside of her wouldn't go away. She told herself that Featherheart was fine and that one of the patrols would find her, but she had a hard time believing it.
Now that there were fewer cats in the camp, the humming quieted down and she left out a weary sigh as the day caught up with her. Her Clanmates were scattered around the clearing in small clusters, each in their own conversation, so she headed in the direction of the nursery to relax in her nest. Fortunately, the den was still empty because Cinderfrost had refused to move into it until she absolutely had to, which Skypaw was incredibly thankful for.
She settled down against the moss and twigs, wishing she had fresh feathers to add to her makeshift nest so that she could get more comfortable. She had to keep shifting around because a stick would keep poking her in the side, irritating her. Finally, she curled up into a tight ball and tucked her nose under her paw as the rays of the sun setting sun cast an evening glow over her fur.
Skypaw thought her anxiety would keep her awake but as soon as she closed her eyes, she was quickly sucked into a deep, black sleep.
0o0o
Skypaw jolted awake, her heart pounding in her chest, to find herself in a thick green forest with slim trees surrounding her. She lifted her head and blinked her yellow eyes as she gazed around, trying to figure out where she was. Her chest felt tight and she wondered if this was her own dream, or one of her Clanmates'.
She rose carefully to her paws and thought that her shallow breathing was far too loud for the silence that coated the dark area she was in. Her eyes shifted nervously from one thing to the next and she figured that chances were she was in some other cat's dream. She just had to find out whose.
Picking a random direction, Skypaw began to pad silently through the trees, knowing that her paws would not make a sound against the ground. When she raised her muzzle to look at the sky through the shaded foliage of the trees, she realized that it was sun set, just like it had been when she was awake.
Where am I? she thought.
Just like in every other dream, there was no reason for her to keep a wall around her mind because she could never Hear other cats' thoughts when she was sleeping. It was only when she was awake that she had to keep herself protected.
Skypaw wandered aimlessly through the forest, growing more impatient with each passing second. Where was the owner of this dream? Why hadn't she spotted the cat yet? The chances were very slim that this was her own dream because the only time she created her own was when she was visited by Morningsong and Ravenstar. And even that technically wasn't her own.
Suddenly, Skypaw felt something stirring inside of her and she froze where she was. There was an inexplicable force tugging at her paws to go in the direction to her right and, hard as she tried to fight it, she began to follow the pull. This had never happened before and her mind was reeling with bewilderment even as the trees began to thin out around her.
The compulsion was so strong that she finally gave in and hurried forward to figure out where it was leading her. Finally, she emerged from the thick cluster of trees and was shocked to find herself by the familiar stream that divided her from the moor.
Why in StarClan was she on the ThunderClan border?
"I don't understand…" she whispered to the wind that had suddenly kicked up, swirling her golden belly fur playfully. A shiver of icy fear crawled down her spine and her senses were unexpectedly put on high alert. What was going on here?
Out of nowhere, a dark figure moved into her line of vision and she gasped in shock when she recognized Featherheart only a few tail-lengths away, taking a long drink from the stream. Her matted gray pelt was hard to hard to make out as dusk settled over the land, and the sky began to grow darker.
"Featherheart?" Skypaw meowed, very confused. Was she in Featherheart's dream? Had the old she-cat fallen asleep somewhere on WindClan territory and Skypaw had somehow been sucked into her thoughts?
Watch, a deep voice growled abruptly in her mind, causing the apprentice to jump. She bristled with terror and looked wildly around for the cat that had spoken to her, but all she saw was Featherheart.
She was about to speak again when movement caught her eye. She whipped her head around, eyes wide, as she struggled out make out the figure that was moving towards the Elder. However, it was as if a thick fog surrounded the cat because she couldn't make out its appearance and its scent was muddled with ThunderClan and WindClan.
Realization struck her a sharp and painful as if she was struck by lightning and Skypaw felt her breath escape her.
No. No, no, no, no, no!
"Featherheart, run!" she screamed to her Clanmate, but her voice was carried off in the wind that had picked up. She struggled desperately to move and protect the Elder but her paws were stuck to the ground and she could only watch in horror at the events that unfolded next.
The old WindClan cat was too busy quenching her thirst to notice the attacker moving steadily closer to her in the shadows. Skypaw knew the exact moment when Featherheart suddenly realized she wasn't alone because her blue eyes grew wide with fear and she stopped lapping form the stream.
She turned slowly around and she gasped in surprise as she faced the unknown cat for the first time. "You?" she whispered, horrified beyond belief at who she saw.
Without replying, the fog-covered cat sprung at Featherheart with a viscous yowl and knocked the Elder into the stream. The she-cat let out a scream as she was slammed into the water and her attacker began to claw at her fur. She struggled to get out of the cat's grip and she lashed out wildly in a vain attempt to free herself.
But moons of not fighting and growing old had weakened the she-cat and her swipes steadily grew slower. The attacker raked its claws across her stomach and Featherheart cried out in pain as blood began to well from the deep cut.
Skypaw stood, transfixed with terror and abhorrence, as the cat took Featherheart's neck in its jaws and bit down hard. The gray she-cat wailed and her eyes wildly shifted everywhere until they suddenly landed on the horrified apprentice.
Looking directly into Skypaw's yellow eyes as if she could see her, Featherheart's blue eyes widened with fear and she struggled to speak. "Save…me…." she whispered as blood gurgled from her open jaws.
The cat let out a disgusted grunt and unlatched its mouth from the she-cat, taking a step back to watch as her life began to ebb away. "There's no one to save you, you stupid cat," the murderer snarled, its voice deep muted from the fog. It sounded as if it was speaking underwater and Skypaw couldn't tell if they were male or female.
Once again, Featherheart's fierce eyes found Skypaw's and she locked gazes with the apprentice until she took her last shallow breath and lay still forever.
"Featherheart!" Skypaw screamed, her voice tearing her throat as she trembled uncontrollably. "Featherheart!"
Before she could do anything more, a huge black wall slammed down upon her and she was lost in a dark abyss of sleep.
0o0o
"Skypaw!" a voice shouted and a sharp paw prodded her awake. "Skypaw, wake up!"
The white and golden she-cat gasped as teeth enclosed around her scruff and she was dragged from her nest. Her eyes flashed open and she struggled against her attacker, the scene of what she had just witnessed flashing in her mind. "Let go of me!" she screeched, as her head screamed with the thoughts of a thousand bees.
"Skypaw, relax!"
She froze at the sound of her sister's voice and looked up to find her sister staring at her with horrified and fearful green eyes. "Rainpaw?" she rasped, flinching as agony seared its way through her mind, along with a sudden wave of grief that was not entirely her own. "W-what-?"
"Skypaw, they found Featherheart," the gray and white she-cat whispered, sorrow filing her gaze.
"What?" she whispered, still not entirely sure where she was at.
"Skypaw," Rainpaw cried, her slender frame trembling uncontrollably. "Featherheart's dead."
Dun. Dun. DUN! Read and review!
