Author's Note: Hey guys and welcome back to Slaves. :)
First of all, before I reply to all your reviews, I just want to give a mass I've thanks to ALL of the support so far that I've had on this story. You guys are amazing, seriously. I never thought this story would get nearly 50 reviews within 10 chapters, which is pretty mind-blowing! Just thank you so much for all the nice comments and feedback you guys have given me so far. XD
Here are my replies to your reviews-
Foxtail of StormClan: Indeed, Shellstorm is a very very bad cat, as is the cat who tried to take advantage of Foxflame. The next chapter from Sageclaw's POV should be quite interesting, at least, I hope anyway. But thanks for your continued reviews on the story! I really appreciate it. :)
Mistfire: Awww, thank you so much! And now that you've pointed it out, the thing with how the slaves call the other cats sir is actually really starting to annoy me! I'll probably go back to the other chapters and edit those out at some point, because it too humanlike, but in the mean time, I made sure not to use sir when the slaves are addressing other cats in this chapter. Also, in answer to your question about the reasons behind the attack, I can't reveal that quite yet because it becomes a major plot point later on in the story! Sorry that it's not entirely obvious right now, but just to clear things up there is a reason why I haven't explained it yet. Through the use of plot twist later on, it will become clear. XD
Yellowfang: Thanks very much for your review! And yep, I guess this story is based on a pretty dark subject. I might need to change from a T rating later on if it gets a bit out of hand, but for now I think it's fine. I hope I finish the story as well!
WildChild13: Thanks a lot for your review, and yes, it was cliff hangers galore in the last chapter wasn't it! I hope this chapter is just enjoyable though! *dramatic music*
Raven that flies at night: I would probably have gone crazy if I was in Sageclaw's position as well. Thanks so much for your review!
So in this chapter, we return to WindClan, where things aren't looking great on their side either. I'm actually super super proud of this chapter. I think it's probably one of the best of the story so far, and there's one scene in particular between Eaglefang and Palewhisper which I hope you'll really enjoy. :P
Hope you enjoy the chapter! Please RR.
Slaves:
Chapter Eight:
Eaglefang was lost in thought as he padded over the medicine cat den. Because of the thick blanket of snow covering the ground of the camp, each step made his paws feel numb. He wished he could havestayed back in the slave's den, and huddled into the cosy feathers of his nest to keep warm. For once he found himself feeling jealous of Palewhisper, who hadn't been given a job that morning. He definitely didn't feel jealous of anything else in the she-cat's life.
Ever since he'd nearly lost Palewhisper out on the moors, he had been making doubly sure to keep one eye on her at all times. She seemed to appreciate the attention, since it gave her a sense of security, albeit false. In a way, it made Eaglefang feel safer too. The knowledge that his friend was safe and well comforted him.
But no matter what he did to make Palewhisper better, he knew there could only be a limit to her happiness. Her nightmares were stubbornly refusing to ease themselves. Eaglefang was confused about why they kept on repeating. Before he had become a WindClan slave, he'd never heard of someone receiving exactly the same nightmare for days on end. It most certainly strange, but the message Palewhisper had told him out on the moors was stranger still. The words echoed in his mind, the past is drenched in blood, but the future is pale as light. Eaglefang had tried to figure out what it meant, but after awhile, he'd given up. Nevertheless, he still worried about it, and sometime in the future, he knew that he'd have to find out the truth behind Palewhisper's nightmares.
He began to walk quicker, picking his way through the freezing snow and over to the medicine cat den. Looking out over the camp, he could see it was deserted. There were a few imprints of paws in the snow where the patrols had left earlier that morning, but mostly, the cats of WindClan had decided to stick to their dens, which he found completely understandable due to the weather. When he reached the den, Eaglefang's thoughts trailed over to Ryesong. The last time that he had spoken to the medicine cat was when they'd gone out to collect herbs, nearly a moon ago. In truth, he'd been trying to avoid her since then, and probably, it was the same for her. Without dwelling on it any longer, Eaglefang padded inside. His nose was greeted by the expected smell of herbs, and although the den had a gently soothing, almost welcoming atmosphere, it did little to protect him from the merciless cold outside. Ryesong was sat to one side, staring up at the roof of the den. He could tell that her eyes were screwed tightly shut, and her tail was wrapped neatly over her paws.
When she heard him come in, the medicine cat spun around. 'Oh!' she said in surprise. 'It's you.'
Eaglefang eyed her warily, wondering whether she was angry or annoyed at him. But if she was either, she didn't show any sign of it. 'Yeah,' the slave muttered. 'Sandpelt sent me. Apparently you need help with something.'
Ryesong nodded. 'I do,' she replied, gesturing for him to come closer. 'There's just a few herbs I need sorting out.'
Eaglefang padded over awkwardly. He'd thought Ryesong would be less friendly and more hostile towards him, since he hadn't exactly been friendly to her when they'd last talked. But then again, she was a medicine cat. Perhaps her kindness extended beyond his status as a slave?
Somehow, he doubted it.
Ryesong explained that she wanted him to sort out any of the unusable herbs from the ones that weren't. Although she needed all of the herbs she could get in leaf-bare, it was pointless to keep hold of any that wouldn't work. Eaglefang started to search through the piles of strong smelling plants, looking for anything was dying or already dead. Instead of just letting him do all the work on his own, the medicine cat joined in as well. They didn't talk, but Eaglefang enjoyed the quiet. It wasn't like he wanted to speak to her anyway.
So he was strangely disappointed when the dark brown she-cat opened her mouth. 'Are you two okay?' she asked suddenly.
Eaglefang didn't divert his concentration from his work. 'What do you mean?'
'You and the other slave,' Ryesong said. 'I don't know what her name is. Are you both alright?'
The tom felt like she was intruding a little, but he didn't bother telling her. 'There's nothing, "alright", about our lives right now.'
'Yes of course,' she replied. 'But I meant on a medicinal level.'
'No,' Eaglefang lied. 'There's nothing wrong.'
Unfortunately, Ryesong wasn't at all convinced. 'I'm sure that's not entirely true,' she stated matter of factly.
'And what makes you think that?'
'Because I know when a cat is ill,' she said. 'Every day your friend comes out of her den in the morning like she's just fought the whole of the Dark Forest single-pawed.'
For a moment, Eaglefang remained silent. It had never crossed his mind that Palewhisper's condition might've been noticed by anyone else in WindClan. Ryesong's interest had taken him by surprise.
Quickly, he carried on working. 'Why would I tell you?'
'Because she might need help, and I can tell that you care about her,' Ryesong murmured.
Instantly, Eaglefang became more aggressive. 'It's none of your business,' he growled.
'It most certainly is.' The medicine cat picked up a brown tinged feverfew leaf and tossed it aside. 'As much as you'll hate to admit it, you're a WindClan cat now. It's my responsibility to make sure everyone in WindClan, yes, even the slaves, are fit and healthy.'
'I'll never be a WindClan cat,' Eaglefang retorted.
Ryesong frowned, before turning to face him. Her expression gave away impatience. 'Then what Clan do you belong to? ThunderClan? The Clan that no longer exists?'
The tom's tail batted angrily against the side of his flank. 'ThunderClan does still exist!' he insisted. 'As long as I'm here to keep it's memory alive.'
She shook her head. 'Your loyalty is astounding,' she rasped, 'but foolish. Such words will get you killed.'
At this, Eaglefang turned to face her too. He was shaking a little, and bristling uncontrollably. He hated the fact that Ryesong's face remained blank and still. Was she trying to provoke him? She must've been, and if so, she had clearly succeeded. 'Are you threatening me?' he hissed.
'Not at all,' she snorted. 'It's merely a warning. Do you think Gorsestar or Sandpelt would appreciate you denouncing their Clan like this? I don't think so.'
'Then what are you saying?' Eaglefang returned.
Slowly, the she-cat glanced around, checking to see if anyone else was in the den, before leaning closer. 'Look, all this arguing, is pointless. I can help you, and your friend.'
'How?' hedemanded.
'I sense there's more going on in her head than she realises, let alone understands,' Ryesong answered. 'Has she been having nightmares recently? What about?'
Eaglefang tried to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat. His heart pounded like a storm was raging inside his chest. How does she know? he thought desperately. How could see possibly know about Palewhisper's dreams?
The tomcat backed away from the medicine cat. 'I'm not telling you anything.'
All Ryesong did was stare back. He thought there was a hint of desperation in her eyes too, desperation to know the truth. She opened her mouth, but Eaglefang spoke again before she could.
'The job's done, isn't it?' he said, looking at the now sizeable pile of dead leaves that they'd created. 'I can go now.'
She seemed very reluctant to let him go, and for second, he thought she might keep him back. But thankfully, she eventually nodded. 'Okay,' she murmured. 'You can go.'
Eaglefang dashed out of the den faster than the medicine cat could blink. The freezing cold snow made the feeling of numbness in his paws return, but he would've done a lot more than just walk out into snow to get away from Ryesong. He couldn't believe that she had even guessed there might've been something wrong with Palewhisper. It set him on edge. If Ryesong knows, then do the rest of he Clan know as well? he thought. Are they spying on us, watching our every move?
Of course, he knew he was just being paranoid. It was beyond unlikely that the rest of the WindClan even cared that one, insignificant little slave was having bad dreams, and they couldn't have been spying on them; he and Palwhisper would've noticed it if they had. But somehow Ryesong had known, no matter how impossible it may be.
Eaglefang decided to head back to the slave's den. There wasn't any other jobs for him to do, and for once, it was he who needed comforting. Although he didn't think Palewhisper would be able to provide him with the reassurance he wanted, the presence of a friendly and familiar face would be comfort enough. He pushed his way through the heaps of snow, which seemed to have grown larger since the last time he was there, until he got to the den.
Palewhisper was lying alone in her nest, curled up in a ball of soft, pale white fur. Her sky blue eyes were closed and she appeared to be fast asleep. The sight of the she-cat looking so peaceful made him stop. He'd been intending to tell her straight away about what Ryesong had said, but to do that, he'd have to wake her up. And doing that would've been almost cruel considering how little sleep she got. Making sure not to make too much noise, Eaglefang padded over to his nest, where he too sat down. The tom tilted his head, a small smile overcoming his sombre expression as he watched Palewhisper sleep.
Suddenly, Eaglefang found himself thinking about the past. His mind took him back to ThunderClan, in the forest where he had grown up. He and Palewhisper were about the same age. When he'd been three moons old, she had just been born. He didn't remember much about her mother or father, but he remembered things about her. They hadn't really been friends. Her shyness had always got in the way of any strong friendship, however he had to admit that he'd enjoyed her company. She was a nice cat, but he tended to hang out with the toms when he was an apprentice. Eaglefang had never really known how to act around she-cats, even when he became a warrior. Not that she evoked any feelings of nervousness inside him, only one she-cat had ever done that to him. His first crush, he recalled, had ironically been upon the ThunderClan medicine cat at the time, Willowflight. She had been friends with Palewhisper, but Eaglefang had grown out of his feelings by the time he was a warrior. But he'd always admired Willowflight's beauty. Sometimes, he did so even now.
He knew that it was stupid and mouse brained to be thinking about such trivial things like who his first crush had been on in times like this, but Eaglefang didn't care. All he wanted to do was imagine that the attack had never happened in the first place, and he was in fact back in ThunderClan. Palewhisper was just enjoying an afternoon doze, and he was waiting to go out on a border patrol, perhaps with the she-cat, even. They'd laugh with their clan-mates on the patrol, and indulge themselves on a mouse or two while they were at it. There would be nothing better.
Now that all of those small things were gone, Eaglefang realised how much he'd taken them for granted.
'What are you thinking about?'
The small, groggy voice caused him to sit up again. Palewhisper, though still curled up in her nest, had one eye open and was eyeing him. She looked relaxed, but Eaglefang cursed himself for waking up. Seriously? he scolded himself. Finally she was asleep and you ruined it?
'Sorry, Palewhisper,' he said, getting up to his paws anxiously. 'I woke you up didn't I? I shouldn't even have come inside in the first place-'
'No, no,' Palewhisper said, waving off his excuses with a dainty flick of her tail. 'I woke up on my own. I'd been asleep for awhile, actually.'
Eaglefang's ears pricked up. 'You were?'
'Yes,' the she-cat nodded. She rolled over onto her front and let out a long, contented sigh. 'It feels like I haven't slept like that in moons.'
'That's because you haven't.'
She looked at him, before smiling warmly at him. 'No,' she chuckled. 'I guess you're right.'
Eaglefang couldn't help but feeling shocked that Palewhisper seemed so… well, so normal. He hadn't seen her act so freely or in some ways playfully for a long time. It was encouraging, indeed that she hadn't had the nightmare but also because of how refreshed she seemed. Everything about her looked rejuvenated. Her pelt appeared to have a new gleam to it, and her eyes were bright and cheerful. The smile on her face when she looked at him was infectious, and sure enough, he found himself smiling back at her. But then, he remembered what he had come back to their den for.
'Palewhisper,' Eaglefang said, as he padded over and sat down beside her. 'There's something I have to tell you.'
Instantly, the she-cat's smile disappeared from her face. 'Yes?'
Just as he was about to repeat everything that Ryesong had said earlier, he hesitated. Eaglefang still didn't feel like it was right to tell her about it, even more so now that she seemed to have discovered what a happy mood was.
But the tom was saved from having to make a decision when the shape of a she-cat burst into the den. 'Hey, you two,' the voice snapped. 'You're coming with us for an assignment.'
Eaglefang's eyes narrowed in frustration. The she-cat's name was Morningflight. Foxing! he thought angrily. Just as I was about to tell Palewhisper! But in some ways, he was relieved that she'd interrupted. It meant that he didn't have to worry about troubling the she-cat, at least, not until whatever this assignment was had been completed.
'What assignment?' he asked, boldly.
Morningflight rolled her eyes. 'It doesn't matter what the assignment is,' she shot backcoldly. 'Just that you have to do it, slave.'
She turned around, and stomped out of the den, her head held high. Eaglefang snorted, before nudging Palewhisper with his muzzle. 'Come on,' he muttered. 'Let's go.'
Palewhisper nodded, the smile now gone from her face. She got to her paws, and it struck the tom that although she looked better, there was still something undeniably frail about the way she stood. He disliked the idea of taking her out onto the hills again after what had happened last time, but he didn't have a choice, did he?
Eaglefang led Palewhisper out into the snow and over to where the other WindClan cats who were going out on the assignment. An apprehensive feeling came over him when he saw the deputy, Sandpelt, stood with Morninglfight and the other cats as well. If the deputy is there, he thought grimly, it must be pretty important. They stopped beside the group, about fox length away from them all. They weren't really part of the group, and he thought it best for both of them taking into account how they were looking at him.
'Right,' Sandpelt announced. She licked her paws cooly. 'I know I don't need to tell you about the situation with RiverClan, but this is vitally important for the Clan's safety.'
Oh, Eaglefang thought knowingly, that's what this is about. Two sunrises ago, the patrol that hunted in ThunderClan's territory had come back to camp more furious than they usually were. They'd said that RiverClan had demanded more prey than they should have been given, which only added fuel to the fire of hostility that was burning between the two Clans. That with the RiverClan scents WindClan had picked up along their border was starting to worry Eaglefang. He'd hadn't smelled anything, but apparently many of the patrols had been coming back reporting a RiverClan cat had been catching prey in their territory. The whole idea of one Clan catching prey for another had been a disaster waiting to happen in the first place, but combined with the usual tensions of Leaf-bare and now prey stealing, the slave was sure the argument would probably end in a fight of some kind. He just hoped that it wasn't as big as the conflict promised.
'Gorsestar and Iagree that prey stealing of any kind in Leaf-bare is not acceptable,' Sandpelt said, walking up and down the group of WindClan warriors she'd assembled. It was like she was rallying them. 'We also agree that we would rather this quarrel with RiverClan was ended peacefully. A fight in the middle of Leaf-bare could be disastrous for both of us.'
The warriors nodded to each other, concurring with their deputy.
'That is why,' she continued, 'Gorsestar and Isee finding out the identity of the cat who is prey stealing to be a foremost issue that must be addressed. He ordered me to get you all together, so that we can search the border for any scents that may give us an idea to who the culprit is.'
'Sandpelt!' Morningflight called out. 'How can you be sure that it's just one cat whose behind the prey stealing?'
The light ginger she-cat's ears twitched. 'We can't be,' she replied, honestly. 'But Gorsestar says that he doesn't believe Streamstar would order her warriors to take part in something as serious as this. She's normally reluctant to get involved in a kind of fight, and as you'll recall, it took Ravenstar some convincing to get them involved in the attack on ThunderClan.'
A barbed hiss escaped Eaglefang's threat. I'm not sure any leader who helps destroy a whole Clan can be regarded as peaceful.
All the warriors seemed to think Gorsestar and Sandpelt's conclusion was wise, but it struck Eaglefang that not only of them did, Morningflight included. They didn't have a chance to voice their dissatisfaction though, because Sandpelt had already started to lead them over to the way out of camp. As he and Palewhisper followed them, he noticed that she was shivering.
'Are you cold?' he whispered into her ear worriedly.
Palewhisper shook her head. 'Not at the moment,' she murmured back.
Sandpelt stopped just as they'd left camp. At the top of the hill that the WindClan camp was based on, you could see out over the whole lake. 'I want you all to split up,' she told them. 'Morningflight, you take Thrushstrike and Dawnheart downwind, and I'll go with Harestoop and Cloudstreak down to the lake.' She spared a look at Eaglefang and Palewhisper before turning back to clan-mates. 'The two slaves will go alone in the opposite direction.'
Eaglefang blinked in surprise that she was letting him and Palewhisper venture off on their own, as did the WindClan warriors. 'Sandpelt,' Cloudstreak said uneasily, 'is that a good idea? What if they run off?'
Sandpelt laughed. 'In this weather? They wouldn't get far before they froze to death.'
As much as Eaglefang would've liked to run away and never come back, he knew what Sandpelt was true. He doubted they'd even get out of Clan territory.
With that, the group split up, Sandpelt and Morningflight taking their cats off away from Palewhisper and Eaglefang as they headed out into the blistering snow. It was thicker and heavier outside of the camp, in some places the snow reached over his paws. I haven't got a clue how we're going to pick up any scents at all in this sort of weather, he thought grumpily. Surely Gorsestar could've waited until the snow died down a bit?
As they padded down the face of the hills, Eaglefang kept his eye on Palewhisper, ensuring that she was keeping up alright. After just a few minutes of walking, it started to became clear that she was struggling. She kept her head down, as if she was trying to hide it from Eaglefang. He hadn't a clue why the she-cat would be ashamed of showing weakness to him, but either way, he wasn't fooled by it. Eventually, he stopped and pulled her up so that she was looking directly at him.
'Look Palewhisper,' he said gently. 'This is pointless. You don't have to hide anything from me, you know that? The WindClan cats aren't here anymore.'
Palewhisper hugged her paws to her chest. Snow covered her fur. 'I know,' she mumbled under her breath.
'It would be better for both of us if we walked together.'
'Okay.'
Eaglefang sighed in relief, before allowing the she-cat to come closer to him until her side was pressed up against his own. Her body made him feel warmer within seconds, and he hoped it was doing the same for her.
His hopes were answered by Palewhisper's purr. 'Thank you, Eaglefang. That's much better.'
The two of them continued to pad down the hill side by side until they started to near the RiverClan border. Making sure not to part from Palewhisper's warmth, he lowered his nose to the ground and begunto sniff, looking for any scents that might belong to RiverClan. But the snow made it near impossible to smell anything. Palewhisper started to help out as well when the trees of RiverClan's territory came into sight, but she didn't pick up anything either.
After awhile of looking, Eaglefang kicked the snow, annoyed. 'This is mousebrained!' he echoed. 'We're not going to get anyway with all this snow.'
Palewhisper hardly moved. She just carried on sniffing.
Eaglefang turned around dejectedly. 'Look, we might as well go back to camp and meet up with Sandpelt and the others. I doubt they've found anything either.'
He started to pad away, trudging through the trail in the snow they'd created on their way down the hill, when suddenly, Palewhisper's voice came back at him.
'Eaglefang, come here!' she shouted excitedly. 'I think I've found something!'
Eaglefang stopped in his tracks. 'What?'He twisted and ran back to where Palewhisper was standing. She looked like the outline of a cat more than a real one, with how her fur blended in with the white ground.
'Just there,' Palewhisper said, pointing with her tail down to the ground where she was standing.
Eaglefang glanced at her, before craning his neck down and smelling at the snow. His eyes lit up. There was a scent! It smelt strongly of RiverClan, but also of something that he couldn't quite place, something strong and familiar. But the RiverClan in it was undoubtable.
But his blood ran cold when he picked up the other thing that was mixed with the scent. The smell of dead prey.
Palewhisper hadn't realised how significant what they'd discovered was yet. She was still just excited. 'We can go back and tell and Sandpelt about what we've found,' she bubbled. 'And then we can-'
Quickly, Eaglefang interrupted her. 'No!' he exclaimed. 'Palewhisper, we can't tell anyone about this.'
'What?' she said, confused. 'Why?'
'Because if WindClan do find out that there's evidence RiverClan have been stealing prey, it could lead to war,' he told her. 'This is big, Palewhisper, and a lot more serious than I thought.'
The she-cat's blue eyes widened. 'War?'
'Yes Palewhisper, war,' he said.
He knew it would strike a nerve. He saw memories flash in front of her eyes. Once again, Palewhisper had been thrown back to the night of the attack. He wanted to help her, snap her out of her it, but he also know it wouldn't do any good.
He shook her shoulders again. 'We have to go back to camp now,' he said, trying to make his voice sound firm. 'And you cannot tell anyone Palewhisper, not under any circumstances. Alright?'
The thought of the attack seemed to have changed her completely. 'Yes, Eaglefang,' she replied absently.
Eaglefang sensed that she hadn't taken in much of what he'd said, but he couldn't do much about it. He just had to get them back to camp, and out of the snow. It was driving him crazy.
As they trudged back up the hill, Eaglefang forced himself to take his attention away from Palewhisper and think about the scent. It was bothering him for some reason. It had evidently belonged to a RiverClan cat, but the fact that there was another smell mixed in with it made him suspicious. But he was worried as well, and a bit scared. The consequences of a fight in Leaf-bare, as Sandpelt had underlined to them back at the camp, would be severe. They were strained for food already, and despite the fact RiverClan had the streams for fish, he assumed that they were struggling as well. Many of those brooks would have frozen over anyway.
And if there was a war between RiverClan and WindClan, what if ShadowClan were pressured to getting involved as well?
Sandpelt and Morningflight's groups hadn't got back from their search yet, but Eaglefang didn't bother waiting for them. Palewhisper needed to be somewhere warm, and that was his priority. He led back into the camp, which was still mostly empty. Only one or two cats had dared leave their dens.
He ushered Palewhisper back over to the slave's den, but just before they reached it, he stopped them both. This was his opportunity to tell her about Ryesong.
'Palewhisper,' he begun, 'about what I was saying in the den earlier.'
But Palewhisper wasn't listening. Her eyes were blank, full with the same expression he'd seen when she'd wandered out onto the hills a few sunrises ago. Eaglefang's heart sank. Whatever improvement he'd seen in her condition before they'd left on the assignment seemed to have disappeared completely. She wasn't ready to hear about Ryesong yet.
Sadly, he nudged the she-cat back into the den, hoping just to get the miserable day over with.
So would do you think about the developments in this chapter? Like I always say, plz leave a review, and also I'd be really interested to know who you think is the cat in RiverClan who is stealing prey! Hope you enjoyed, and I'll try and get Chapter Nine written and posted quickly. Word count for this chapter: 5,128 words! Phew, and that's 40,000 words well and truly broken. XD
