So this by far is going to be one of my favorite chapters. In this chapter, we will discover some interesting new developments
Comment!
-Lilith
*Maplekit's POV*
I was terrified. I didn't know what was going on, where we were going, or why Stoneheart would drag us out here in the middle of the night.
"What are we going out here?" Oakit said for the fourth time. "I'm freezing."
That was true. When a winter chill had settled in, some of the warriors had made the walls of the nursery thicker, so we wouldn't freeze. Pebblestream wouldn't let us out to play as much as she did during full-leaf, so Oakit and I had been hoping for the day we would run around outside.
But certainly not now, in the middle of the cold. I wanted to be curled up in my nest in the nursery, not out here.
Even though I was chilled to the bone, I looked around, taking in everything. Icicles were forming along the ends of the leaves, weighing them down. Some were covered in frost, and the wind would occasionally shake the snow from the tops of the trees down to the earth. I could hear the faint babbling of a stream, and was impressed that it hadn't frozen over yet.
Oakit was shivering ahead of me, and I could tell that despite his thick coat of fur, he was freezing as well. The cold wind didn't help it: it blew through our fur like it did not exist, making us even colder. Add the exhaustion from being up and walking around so late with the coldness, and I wanted to drop on my paws.
I want to go home, I said in my head. Oh, StarClan, why have you abandoned me at the time of my need?
I'll admit that I have always been a believer of StarClan. I was aware that it didn't really make sense if you weren't in one of the four clans, but it did to me. But I kind of always expected StarClan to be at my side when I needed it, you know?
And here I was, all alone, being possibly lead to my death. Kind of need some assistance here!
It'll be alright. Help is on the way.
I gasped and almost tripped on my paws at the sudden intrusion, causing Oakit and Stoneheart to turn and look at me with concern. "I'm fine," I said weakly, "just stumbled on a rock."
That was an acceptable answer. They both turned and kept walking, and I scurried to keep up, wondering where the new voice in my head had come from. Certainly not Stoneheart, and I think if my brother had the ability to do such things, he would tell me. Something else with an understandable mind.
Who are you? I sent back nervously.
There was no reply to my message, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had sent it right. Was there something specific I had to do or something? Could something be messing up the signal? This was a new development, so I didn't know what to do.
They are coming now. You will recognize one of them: the others are unfamiliar to you. You must not speak a word of this, the cats coming to help, or what you were doing out so late. Understand?
I memorized the reply before sending back one of my own. I…yes.
Silence followed, and I couldn't help but wonder if he or she had gotten it. Probably, since the cat who had sent me the message seemed to have received mine. I fought with myself to keep my face clear of emotions, to not let Stoneheart or Oakit see that something interesting was going on inside my head. Instead, I focused on my hearing, and faintly caught a steady roar of something.
Stoneheart suddenly stopped and moved out of the way so we could see what was ahead. More trees, of course, but they were separated from us by a black, thick, smooth rock. Staring at it, I followed it with my gaze to the point where I couldn't see it anymore in both directions. The roar I had heard before had quieted, and I wonder what animal could've made a noise like that.
"This," Stoneheart began, gesturing to the black rock, "Is a Thunderpath."
I had heard about those before. Cats had been killed on these, and Thunderpaths were commonly avoided. But I had heard even worse stories, of monsters that prowled along these Thunderpaths, capable of crushing a cat (or severely wounding one) in a flash. True monsters, creatures of nightmares. I shrank back away from the rock, and Stoneheart chuckled.
"The Thunderpath here doesn't have any Monsters on it, so it's safe to cross."
"How do you know?" Oakit asked.
"You can hear them coming. They are really loud and bright. Trust me: you can't miss them." He sounded as if he had experience with stuff like this.
"Why are we here?" I asked, still shivering.
"We're going to get to the other side."
"Why?"
While Stoneheart explained, I took a deep breath. Over the stink of the Thunderpath, I could smell something else: something sickly sweet, like honey-covered death berries. The trees on the other side weren't like our trees. It wasn't something I could really explain, just a feeling.
"What's over there?" I asked, cutting off whatever he had been saying.
"Trees," he said, and I knew immediately he was holding something back. "Maybe some squirrels and some birds."
I opened my mouth, about to question him why he was lying, when a voice cut through the air. "Don't you think it's a little late for a midnight stroll, Stoneheart?"
We all jumped and turned. Bright green eyes stared at us from the shadows, piercingly familiar, not looking at anything but Stoneheart. I couldn't see anything besides those green eyes, and suddenly the cat stepped out of the shadows. A she-cat, with dusty grey fur, a small frame, and curled ears stared at us. Never before had I considered her fluffy body to look menacing, her pale eyes to be dangerous.
"Thymepaw." Stoneheart growled. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." She said, and then let her gaze sweep me and my brother. "And with kits? You're making things even worse for yourself, you know."
He opened his mouth to deliver a sharp, stinging retort, but she beat him to it. "I suppose you don't want anybody to know of this, correct?" She said in a freezing tone that made us all shiver.
There was a silence that followed. "I take that as a yes. Maplekit, Oakit, let's go home." She turned and began walking away, leaving us to scramble behind her.
As we walked beside her, I looked at the grey apprentice. "How did you know where we were?"
She let out a huff of air through her jaws. "Your scent. I got up to take a walk, and I could smell it."
Even though the words made sense, I could tell that I was missing something. A lot of things, really. If only somebody would tell me what was going on.
Sorry it took me a while to update: recently, I set up a Flickr account. Not to look at pictures, but so I could post images of the characters in Falling Twig on it. If you want to know my username, PM me and I'll see if I can change the pictures from private to public.
Review!
-Lilith
