Twisted Like Trees
Shadefrost

My pelt pricked with unease. He who has patience, wins the hunt, I recalled a lesson of Redthroat's. All I had to do was be patient and wait. It sounded simply, this waiting. I was tired to the very marrow in my bones. Exhausted as I was, sleep refused to come. This hunt ought to be worth it, I thought. I was restless. Morning light seeped in past the lichen that draped over the cool cave's tight entrance. Sunlight dappled the small clearing. Quietly as possible, I crept past my somewhat-Clanmates who slumbered peacefully, exhausted by the night's doings. I slip out of the den unnoticed.

My eyes immediately adjusted to the bright light. I've never seen the morning sun before, only as night ebbs it away. It was a peaceful time of day, beautiful even. The soft pink of dawn streaked across the horizon pushing the night sky away. I padded toward Skyledge and climbed up the rocky structure. Up here I had a better view. In the faint distance, birdsong drifted in a breeze toward me. It really surprised me that most of NightClan missed this beauty. Here I had thought that sunset was pretty.

I closed my eyes, imagining Swiftwing as he'd been in my sleep. Will he be here to share this beauty with, one day? My heart thundered at the thought. Swiftwing will be my mate. We'll have kits, no doubt. A leader is not to learn without someone else to learn from, Pinefrost once told me, when I was younger. That was actually when he loved me, before my mysterious mother had died. Dawncloud and he'd both cheated me. Lies built on the rocky structure of other lies, made to keep out all truth.

"These walls," I whispered to the breeze, hoping our ancestors are listening, "must come down, one rock at a time; I will get there. Nothing can stop me."

The union seemed as twisted as the two trees I was staring at. Ivy vines clung to them, the leaves budding. I can't bring myself to remember what kind they were, only dimly deciphered that they were different. It amazed me, these trees. Their branches would entwine and different styled leaves sprouted in all angles. The trees leaned on one another, keeping the other up. They are much like me, I thought, Entangled in mess and forced to grow like that. Moss had found its way up the trees, too. Mud lay in a crease, the dip where the two separated. I sat near the trees, admiring it.

I remembered a time, back when I was hardly an apprentice, seven moons old at best, when I'd found these trees tangled. Redthroat had told me, See these trees here? They are special. It is said that our ancestors planted them long ago, when a medicine cat dropped the seeds. They grew side-by-side until fate changed its design and they twisted to make right with themselves. That'll be you, one day, Shadepaw. One day you'll be truly special and you'll follow fate's design. I realized now how right Redthroat was. I am like these twisted trees, bending to fate's design.

I've finally won the hunt. After I returned from my little adventure in the NightClan woods during daytime, I was exhausted, tired, and hot. With the sun blazing down on me, I thankfully settled down to rest in the warriors' den. I curled up and rested my head on my paws. I've had a long night, too long for the normal NightClan standards. So I drift off into my well-deserved sleep, away from my twisted fate.

"Are you ready?" he asked calmly. His expression was guarded, not letting any emotion seep through. He gives my shoulder a lick. "I thought so."

Unlike him, I'm panicking. Has my fur been groomed enough? Will he hate me at first glance? My imagination ran wild, creating different forms of his reaction.

Pinefrost nudged me gently, so I padded forward, slowly. "You'll be okay," my father whispered softly. "You're born to lead." He faced straight ahead, avoiding my eyes.

Lead, the word stuck with me. Like all good warriors, tonight I'll shed my blood. Swiftwing will too. Then our warriors will unite as one Clan. Poolpaw will have become my second, a warrior at last.

As we emerged in the clearing, my pulse raced. Ahead of us was the Ancestral Stone. My partner in leading is standing there, with Redthroat and Snowstorm behind him.

My father ushered me along, hurrying me before I can dare leave. Soon we're at the Stone. I'm about to step on it.

When our gazes met, I froze mid-step.

My paws don't move.

I'm trapped.