"These are the things that matter in life, Living in every moment cause I can't stop the time, Tomorrow's gonna be yesterday, So I don't want to miss a thing, This is the story You're building in me..." - The Story You're Building In Me - Love & The Outcome
Cookies and Cream - I'm glad you're enjoying this story! I actually love Icepaw's character, 'cause it feels like she's more defined than anyone else. Kind of sad that it ended up that way XD
Sleetstorm - Yep, I got to see them live at Winterjam. Needless to say, it was an amazing concert. Newsboys has the best drummer of all time!
Chapter 8
"Fernclaw?" The SunClan cats were exchanging looks of disbelief.
"She needs help," Bluelightning meowed after approaching her. The she-cat had lost consciousness. Icepaw watched from a safe distance as cats began crowding the former missing cat. "It looks as though she's fighting sickness," he added when the medicine cat of SunClan joined him.
"You said that she was dead!" he snarled as Floodstar padded up to them.
Icepaw's tail flicked with interest as Floodstar didn't even flinch. A few more cats were beginning to join them. Now all gazes fell upon the SunClan leader. He seemed oblivious to their stares, but now he was probably used to them. SunClan had only been around for the last couple of moons.
"This is a matter for SunClan only," Floodstar announced as the other Clans started whispering to one another.
"Floodstar is right, we need to leave them for now," Oakstar murmured. He shot the other leaders a stern look. Both Flowerstar and Sandstar had been watching with keen interest. By the time he said that, Flowerstar had already turned to leave with her Clan. "Please, if you need any help, let us know," Oakstar added to Floodstar.
The dark gray-blue tom shot Oakstar a hostile glare. "The last thing we need is help from another Clan," he hissed under his breath.
Oakstar looked taken aback by Floodstar's response. Icepaw knew that Floodstar was only trying to hide his worry. From what she had heard of him, he was always like that. Trying to hide his fear by snapping at others that tried helping him.
Without another word, Oakstar led the way out of the hollow. Icepaw glanced over her shoulder to see that Raincloud was still sitting there. To her surprise, Raincloud was sitting beside a sleek-furred black tom with bright amber eyes. Part of his muzzle and belly were white, along with the tip of his tail.
"I'll see you soon," Raincloud said in a low whisper. The black and white tom dipped his head in response, almost as if he was nuzzling her affectionately.
Are those two mooning over each other? The thought made Icepaw's nose wrinkle in disgust. She hated the thought of being in love. It would ruin her dreams of becoming Clan leader. Queens couldn't become leader, right? There's nothing in the warrior code that says they can't, she reminded herself.
"What was that about?" Bluelightning seemed to catch his sister in the act. Raincloud hesitated before answering.
"It was nothing," she replied curtly. "Just our way of saying goodbye."
She simply shrugged it off before Bluelightning could speak again. The medicine cat stared at her in disbelief as she bounded ahead. Icepaw couldn't help but share his confused expression. Raincloud didn't normally act so cold towards her brother. Clearly something was off.
. . .
Icepaw was woken up shortly after she had fallen asleep. Or at least that was what it felt like.
A paw prodded her side. She held back a hiss of annoyance and tried swatting the paw away. Again the paw prodded her side, this time harder. Finally she opened an eye to see Owlpaw standing in front of her.
"We've got battle training today," he told her before she could make some kind of retort.
She had never trained with Owlpaw until now. This would be interesting. He was one of the best apprentices in the den as far as she was concerned. She knew that he was always trying to watch the warriors practice some of their fighting moves. And now she got to see just how skilled he really was.
"I'll be out in a heartbeat," she muttered when he stared at her for a few more heartbeats.
Stupid furball, she thought as he ran out of the cave. She was still exhausted from the Gathering the night before. But at least Raincloud had let her sleep in.
Shaking off scraps of moss from her nest, Icepaw staggered out into the larger cave. Camp was buzzing with activity as usual. Since the Gathering from last night, the Clan was asking what had happened. Icepaw noticed that most of the attention was taken away from Sandstar, for now.
Sure enough Owlpaw was waiting with Shadepelt and Raincloud. Icepaw's eyes narrowed when she noticed how worried Shadepelt looked. Raincloud shot him a stern look before looking back at Icepaw.
"We'll be trying out partner training for today," Raincloud explained as they began heading for the training clearing. "During a battle you'll find that having a partner is a good idea," she added after noticing Icepaw's nose wrinkle in disgust.
Owlpaw looked like he was sharing the same thought. He kept his eyes fixated on the path ahead of them. Icepaw was thankful he hadn't made any rude remarks. Normally he was easy to get along with compared to his sisters. But lately he had started acting more like Petalpaw.
"Right, first thing's first, we need to show you what it's like," Shadepelt meowed once they reached the training clearing. He glanced at Raincloud, who only shrugged in response.
He turned so that they were crouching side by side. In a flurry of moves they had managed to rip apart the grass and sand covering the clearing. Icepaw's eyes widened when she realized that their moves were almost in sync. Finally they stopped just at the edge of the clearing.
"Now it's your turn," Raincloud said after catching her breath.
Icepaw exchanged a wary look with Owlpaw. He didn't seem too convinced about this. But there was no point in arguing now. With a shrug, Icepaw dropped to a crouch and copied the moves Raincloud had showed her. But just as she was about to reach the other side of the clearing, she almost crashed into Owlpaw in the process. The older apprentice let out a hiss of frustration as he shoved her off.
"You need to anticipate the move your partner is going to make," Shadepelt told them. "It's going to take time to get used to each others moves, but eventually you will get it." Icepaw resisted the urge to point out that Owlpaw was two moons older than her.
By the time we figure it out he'll be a warrior, she thought angrily.
They continued practicing throughout the day. Icepaw hated admitting that she was impressed with how skilled Owlpaw was. He at least had some patience for her, even if it wasn't a lot. He waited for her to master the art of anticipating. After what felt like an entire moon of training, she finally managed to reach the other side without crashing into him. Triumph gleamed within Icepaw's eyes when she saw how far she had gotten.
"Well done," Raincloud purred. "You're a fast learner. That will come in handy during times of hardship." She glanced at Shadepelt as he helped Owlpaw recover from the long bout of training. "Why don't we go hunting?" she suggested after a moment of silence followed.
No cat bothered arguing. Hunting was a good way to pass the time. But after what had happened last time, Icepaw was determined not to show Owlpaw how good of a climber she was.
. . .
"How did you find your way back?" Warily Fernclaw opened her eyes.
Standing in front of her were Floodstar and Rabbitpaw. Her sides still throbbed with pain as she struggled to stand. The place she was in was unfamiliar. She was surrounded by tall looking trees, and the den itself was surrounded by thick brambles.
"Where are we?" she managed to ask.
Her voice was hoarse from lack of use. How long had it been she last spoke? It felt like moons had passed since she last saw that kittypet. And escaping from the Twoleg nest was no easy feat. She imagined that the outcome could have been much worse.
"This is SunClan's new camp," Rabbitpaw explained. "We've been fixing it up for the last few moons since we got here." He glanced over his shoulder as if expecting someone else to step in.
"That doesn't answer my question," Floodstar growled.
Fernclaw held back a sigh of frustration. He had every right to demand such questions.
"I barely managed to escape the Twolegs that held me captive," she explained. "After that I had to find my own way to the valley. I ran across a few rogues that told me a group of cats had made their way through Twolegplace. I simply followed the sun as StarClan told me... and I managed to reach the valley."
By now her shoulders were trembling as she kept her gaze locked with Floodstar's. His expression was difficult to read. If Fernclaw were any younger, she would have thought that was jealousy sparking in his eyes. He wouldn't be so jealous if he knew what she really went through.
"You were a kittypet!" Floodstar spat. His pelt bristled as she finally glared at him.
"I had no choice!" she hissed back. "If I didn't let them care for me... they would have sent me further away from the valley." Her legs began to shake at the thought.
I would have never found my Clan, she realized.
"Fernclaw, we need you as our medicine cat," Rabbitpaw mewed. His voice was filled with worry as he kept glancing at Floodstar and his mentor. "I can't do this alone."
"You're old enough now to have a full name," Fernclaw sighed. "If I had been with you, you would already have one." Rabbitpaw's eyes widened at the words. Fernclaw ignored Floodstar's gaze and went on. "In fact, I think it's time you got your full name now," she added.
"But it's not even a half moon!" Rabbitpaw protested.
Fernclaw glared at Floodstar as he tried cutting in. "It doesn't matter. Tonight I will hold a ceremony for you," she meowed.
It was time he became a full medicine cat. By than Fernclaw could only hope the Clan would forgive her for what had happened.
AN: Well there's the eighth chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it! This was definitely fun to write :)
