Chapter 9.
Ravenpaw
"See, I told you she agreed with them." Silverpaw whispered in my ear. I just watched as Lemonshade walked with her clan mates back to Windclan's camp and judging by the scent in the air none of them seemed tense or nervous. "Come on, we should go." Wishpaw said, her tone sad and she nosed me to my paws. Silverpaw let me lean on his shoulder as we walked, Wishpaw tried to lighten the mood by wishing she had been able to fight the rats today and Silverpaw boasted about me saving Pumpkinfur, I however said nothing. What could I say? The she cat I loved hated us, hated our mother, and maybe even our father and whats worse is that I never knew, I never saw a hint on hatred in her eyes when we spoke. I felt like an utter fool, a mouse brained apprentice who couldn't even see Lemonshade for what she really was.
"Whats wrong Ravenpaw?" Silverpaw nudged, "Look we got you out of Windclans camp, your safe now and I wont let any cat lay a hair on you or Wishpaw or our parents. Ill rip their ears off if they try!" he shouted it in the darkness, as if he was challenging all of Starclan. "Don't be thick Silverpaw, besides we don't even know if this meeting is going to amount to anything. So what if some cats don't like the new way of things, that isn't our problem." Wishpaw scolded, pushing ahead of us to move a holly branch out of the way so Silverpaw and I could pass safely. "Doesn't mean anything! Cats from all the clans think we shouldn't have been born, they want to get rid of us!" Silverpaw hissed.
"How do you know? You didn't even get to stay for the meeting, they could have been spouting some nonsense about clan history for all we know." Silverpaw glared at her, "Why are you so quick to discount it Wishpaw? What are in love with a Windclan cat too?" our sister just rolled her eyes at him, "No, I am just no eager to pick fights for no reason. I think we should tell our mother and Bramblestar and be done with the whole thing."
"I don't know if we should do that." I said finally, having been quiet this whole time my siblings turned to me surprised, "Really? Why?" They said in unison, "Because you both have a point, we don't really know what happened at the meeting because none of us were there. We also cant just assume that they don't want to hurt us or Morningdew and Nightfang, after all it is mostly because of us that the warrior code was changed. Maybe they feel if they get rid of us then everything will go back to the way it was."
"Do you really think so?" Wishpaw said, her eyes worried. "Its possible." I responded, "Then what do you think we should do?" Silverpaw asked, "I…don't really know." I sighed, frustrated that some sliver of a plan wasn't popping up in my head. Before either of them could respond a familiar face popped out from the bushes, "There you are Silverpaw! I have been looking for you everywhere and I-" Mudpaw stopped when he saw me and Wishpaw, "Oh, Ravenpaw I thought you were back at Windclan, did they kick you out?"
"We didn't give them the chance." Silverpaw snarled, glaring at Mudpaw, "Did you know what that meeting was about? Why would you have allowed us to come if we were in danger you rat tailed, tongue chewer!" Mudpaw's golden eyes widened in surprise at my brother's hostility, "N-no Silverpaw honest! I didn't know it was some sort of pure blood party I sweat on my tail!" he went on when Silverpaw continued to glare, "Look all Sneakheart said was that they were having a exclusive meeting with the best in the forest and that if I knew anyone who deserved the light of Starclan then bring them along. How was I supposed to know what they really meant?" he was on his belly in apology and was looking at us with big, sorry eyes. "If they hadn't ran me out then you would have stayed wouldn't you?" Silverpaw said, it was more of a statement than a question but Mudpaw was quick to answer, "Of course not! As soon as I heard that half clan cats were not welcome than I would have left right away! Rainpaw too, she is really shaken up by the whole thing and I just had to make sure you were ok." He looked at all of us when he said it and judging by the shaking paws and tail I knew he was serious. Mudpaw was eager to prove he was a capable warrior just like any apprentice but he was by no means a half-blood hater.
"Lay off him Silverpaw, he is telling the truth." I said when Silverpaw still stood braced to attack the brown apprentice. "Fine, but I am keeping my eye on him." Silverpaw snorted in my ear. "Mudpaw, did you see if any of our clan mates where there?" I asked, suddenly thinking of it. Mudpaw sat on his haunches and looked at his paws, " I couldn't be sure but I think I smelled Spiderleg, Birchfall, Batfang and Snowstorm." Wishpaw gasped and Silverpaw's fur raised, "Really? Birchfall I could understand because he was training with the dark forest and Spiderleg is a gruff old stump but why Snowstorm and Batfang?" Wishpaw said aloud, a bit unnerved that so many of our warriors had attended. Mudpaw shrugged, "I don't know, Snowstorm and Batfang are brothers so maybe they wanted to please Spiderleg."
"I don't know, Spiderleg faught the dark forest during the great battle. Certainly he wouldn't care about blood ties, especially since his first mate was Daisy and she was a rouge." I said, "If they stayed for the meeting than they are traitors! When I see them next Im going to show them that their blood is the same color as mine" Silverpaw growled pushing past Mudpaw and into camp, which by now was only a few tail lengths away. "Silverpaw wait! I thought we agreed not to tell anyone." I shouted back but he kept stomping on, not even acknowledging Coldfire and Sunwhisker who were guarding the entrance. "Whats in his fur?" Sunwhisker said, giving Wishpaw a sigh smile. "I think he is just tired, long day you know." When they saw me the both gasped at my condition, "Ravenpaw, why did you walk home with your leg like that? You could have made it worse." Coldfire scolded, giving me that icy look that he always gave me when I was being stubborn during training.
"I know Coldfire but I just felt like I should be home." I tried to give him a smile but he didn't seem to buy it. He looked at Wishpaw and Mudpaw, "Did you need all of our apprentices to carry you back?" I shifted nervously, "No, I just ran into them along the way." I didn't want to give anything else away so I let my hurt leg go limp and though I intended to make it dramatic the pain I felt was all real. "Ravenpaw!" Wishpaw gasped and scurried to my side, "Come on then, lets get you to Jayfeather and Leafpool." Coldfire said pushing me up with a broad shoulder.
Lemonshade
"I still think the whole thing is dumb, if Onestar heard you talking like this then he would have your whiskers for breakfast." I snorted as I listened to Nightcloud and Breezepelt go on about clan blood and all that nonsense. A cats parentage made no difference in the cat itself, its what is in the heart as Nightfang always said. "That old fool can barely scratch his own fleas." Breezepelt snarled, "Nightfang should just take over the clan, he practically leads it already." Lizardtail agreed without the hostility. "I know you and Nightcloud are mad at Nightfang for having kits with Morningdew but why should you care Lizardfang? I have never known you to dislike half clan cats or the way Starclan changed the clans." I whispered to the skinny tom, who showed no concern about what we had just witnessed.
"Well, I don't care about the half clan cats to be honest but I wouldn't mind the borders being put back up. I mean Sneakheart did have a point, if all the clans are helping each other than what is going to keep us from becoming as lazy and soft as the kittypets?" I rolled my eyes at him, "We wouldn't become like them, just because we co mingle the training and help each other in battles doesn't mean we are loosing our fighting spirit."
"You say that now but how can you really know for sure? Our ancestors didn't shut to borders down and they did fine." His eyes were so certain and with every word that came out of his mouth I wanted to pluck a hair from his tail. How is it I can be around clan mates that are so stupid! Nightcloud and Breezepelt where one thing, every cat knew they were hopeless but what if more of Windclan start to think that what Starclan did was wrong? What if a war breaks out because of it? "Besides wouldn't you want the chance to try to win Nightfang back?" Lizardtail said, a bit of bitterness on his voice. "I cant win back a tom I never had." I snorted, irritated that they seemed to be using my feelings for our deputy as reason for me to hate his kits.
"Then you could at least not have to be bothered by that Thunderclan apprentice." His voice was mocking now as he referred to Ravenpaw. "Its pathetic really, I have never seen a cat look so sappy. It must be a Thunderclan habit." Breezepelt spit, anger threatened to boil over as they laughed, "Shut up! Ravenpaw saved Pumpkinfur today and his brother saved even more. Who knows what would have happened had Thunderclan not helped us today." They all looked at me know like I had grown a second head, "Do you mean to say you actually want those Thunderclan cats sniffing around our camp all day?" Nightcloud hissed, Lizardtail looked almost hurt, "You don't like that cat do you?"
"What does it matter if I do? He has shown more compassion and understanding than any of you have today!" not wanting to hear anymore of their nonsense I pushed past them and stomped back to camp, fuming. Hawkwing and Crouchfoot where standing guard when I stalked past, not even saying a word to them. I looked to the medicine cats den where Ravenpaw must still be sleeping and I wanted to go and report what happened but I was tired and I was sure that I could tell him tomorrow. Its not like anything was going to happen right now and who knows, there may not be another meeting and this can just blow over. I peered into the warriors den and found my nest next to Pumpkinfur and Grayrock, curling up next to my sister I looked over to Nightfang's nest who was oddly vacant. He must have stayed in Thunderclan with Morningdew, it must be nice to have someone you love so much that you cant bare to be away from them. If they loved each other enough to have kits together than how where they able to spend so much time apart?
If Ravenpaw chose to stay in Thunderclan would I miss him? If he wanted to stay in Windclan would I care? What if he asked me to be his mate and he wanted to raise our kits in both clans like his parents did, would I agree? The questions in my head made my ears twitch and as the minutes passed by I worried that I would never fall asleep. When Nightcloud, Breezepelt and Lizardtail slithered back into the den I pointed my ears in their direction to catch any conversation but they stayed silent as they too fell asleep. Restless and irritated I knew that forcing myself to sleep was only going to give me bad dreams, so shaking the moss from my fur I decided to check on Ravenpaw.
The sky was beginning to lighten as night gave way to morning and I heard the songs of the birds as they awakened. I followed Ravenpaws scent and with a yawn I peered into the medicine den, "Hey Ravenpaw are you awake yet?" to my surprise I didn't see him in the medicine nest, where could he have gone? Then the familiar scent of his brother filled my nose and another subtle floral scent that must have belonged to their sister Wishpaw. My stomach clenched and I felt like the ground had turned into sand, he was gone and his brother must have taken him away from here. Silverpaw must think that I stayed at the meeting because I agreed with Sneakheart! Oh Starclan I have to hurry and straiten this mess out before its too late!
I dashed out of camp, once again ignoring Crouchfoot and Hawkwing as I willed my legs to move faster. The sun had begun to peak over the horizon and filled the sky with marvelous pinks and blues, breathing hard and ignoring the tightening in my chest I didn't stop until I reached Thunderclans camp, catching the dawn patrol right as they began to leave. Lionblaze in the front, "Lemonshade, what are you doing here so early? Im sorry but Morningdew isn't hosting her lesson until sun high."
I was panting hard and it took me a minute to catch my breath before I could respond. "I 'gasp' here 'gasp' for that Lionblaze. 'Gasp' I needed 'gasp' to see Ravenpaw." Fleetwhisker, Rosepetal followed and I stiffened when I saw Spiderleg emerge from the ferns. I hadn't gotten a chance to think about what I was going to do about their little hate club and seeing him made me wary. "Ravenpaw is hurt, he shouldn't be disturbed right now." Fleetwhisker said, eye me suspiciously. "I know but its important. Very important." The warriors exchanged looks but it was Spiderleg who spoke, "Let her see him." All eyes turned to the dark brown warrior, "We all need our friends to help us heal Lionblaze." He added, giving me a knowing look. I stared back at him confused, what was he doing?
"Very well then, just hurry before Jayfeather catches you. He hates it when his patients are bothered." Lionblaze shrugged and signaled for the patrol to begin. Slipping by them I tried to hurry past the rising cats and into their medicine den. I managed to pinpoint Ravenpaw's scent but before I could reach him a large body rammed into my side and knocked the air from my lungs. Paws square on my chest I heard a snarl, "What are you doing here? Trying to kill my brother already!?"
"Silverpaw, its not what you think." I coughed, trying to push him off of me but the tom was just to heavy, and I had not been able to sleep a wink. "Oh really? Is that why you tried to sneak into our camp before any of us where even awake?" his breath was hot on my face, "I got permission by your dawn patrol you fur brain! Now get off before your breath suffocates me!" I growled back at him and his blue eyes blazed with rage and he pressed down harder, "I wont give you the chance to hurt Ravenpaw a second time."
"Silverpaw! What in Starclan's name, get off of Lemonshade right now!" a hurried cry, pieced the tension as Morningdew rushed over to us, Silverpaw stepped off of me immediately. "What kind of way is that for a future warrior of Thunderclan to behave?" she scolded, causing Silverpaw to look away. I coughed as the air refilled my lungs, a small crowd of cats had begun to gather around the scene. "Whats going on?" a familiar deep voice made me shrink down to the ground, Nightfang had appeared his handsome amber eyes going from me to his son and then to his mate. "Its nothing Nightfang, I just wanted to see Ravenpaw." I said, regaining my composure enough to sit up straight. "Silverpaw had her pinned to the ground like she was a piece of prey!" Morningdew said her infamous blue gaze still locked on Silverpaw who still stared defiantly at the ground.
"She was going to hurt Ravenpaw" he growled, shooting me a glare. "I was not! If you had just let me explain before you shoved my face into the dirt." I hissed back at him. "Explain what?" Nightfang asked, his authority radiated through his fur. I wasn't quite prepared to answer as I knew this situation was delicate and the only thing I could think of to say was, "I just wanted to ask Ravenpaw to be my mate!"