Chapter 9
The three cats fled from the yowls of rage coming from the clearing. Leaves smacked their faces and twigs tore at their clawed pelts, but they pushed forward. Soon, they hit the border.
Dewfoot and Risingeye panted hard. Shardclaw was silent, looking back at the camp with pained eyes. Dewfoot rubbed his head on her flank, trying to confort her. He whispered, "It wasn't your fault…"
Risingeye flicked her tail. "Well…" She looked at Shardclaw expectingly.
Shardclaw frowned. "What are you looking at me like that for?"
Risingeye chuckled. "Well, you did just helped slay the Thunderclan leader, and you're the daughter of Scrouge. Don't you have some father-daughter thing to fufill?" She blinked, looking at camp. "We can't go back…"
Dewfoot turned away from the camp. "Then, we must go forward."
And so they did, leaving the cries from their hearing, and later, their memory.
…
Duskpelt drug his torn-up, beaten leader out into the clearing. Gasps and yowls of angony filled the clearing. He raised his tail for silence. "Thunderclan. As you may know, Shardclaw was found guilty of attacking the leader, ready to be exiled. He was then killed, with the help of Risingeye and Dewfoot. These three flea-bitten traitors shall never set foot in our territory again!" Yowls of agreement rose up.
He waited silently until the noise died down. While waiting, Duskpelt saw two cats talking, a she-cat and tom talking. The tom said something that upset the she-cat, and the she-cat yelled at the tom, who then proceeded to pad away. Duskpelt sighed, shaking it off. He resumed. "If you see them even near the borders, I want their murderous pelts lying dead before me!"
Another round of cheering came from the cats of the clan. Only one remained silent as she sat by her den, confused and hurt. The white she-cat padded into her den when Duskpelt dismissed them. Her silence was the louder than a cry could ever be, and the cats of her clan who cared about her were already deaf.
…
The three wanted cats huddled in silence. Dewfoot and Shardclaw were already asleep, curled up together. Risingeye got to her paws and padded out of the old fox den.
The crisp, cool air penetrated her fluffy pelt. She looked around carefully before emerging. She gave her back legs a quick stretch before racing off. The frost covered ground made her paws quickly frozen. When she arrived at the place of meeting, she picked the ice out of her pads with her teeth. She laid her tail over her paws to keep them warm.
Suddenly, a rustling from the bushes reached her ears. They swiveled in response, listening closely. A grey-brown emerged from the bushes, and her fur settled. She purred. The tom sits by her, twining his tail with her's. He purrs. "Hello my love."
She purrs back. "Hello Emberheart. Nice to see you. Glad you made the right choice."
Aww poor Lilysong. First, her friends/littermates, now her crush. Will she fulfill her prophecy "Harden her heart"?