Chapter 9
"What is there to understand?" Brambleclaw challenged through a mouthful of his fur.
"The right that I have to be here," Silver replied evenly. "Who I am – why I am here – you must understand that all."
Brambleclaw shook his head.
"You haven't told me everything," he said stubbornly. "Like who they are."
Silver closed her eyes, visibly shivering, but obviously not from the cold. She was born and raised in the mountains, and snow was nothing to her.
"They are the cats from the old forest," she hissed. "Silverstream, and Stonefur – in my dreams they come and visit me, and they repeat, over and over again, Silverstream, Silverstream. I cannot take any meaning of that but they want my name to be Silverstream. In the mountains, it was Feathertail. She begged me to leave the mountains, saying it was not my home; it wasn't, and it should never have been."
Brambleclaw stopped grooming himself, shocked.
"Feathertail would never do something like that –"
"How do you know?"
She raised her head slightly, alarmed by a scent. Brambleclaw smelt it too – ShadowClan. Silver crept into the bushes, just in time to see Russetfur and Blackstar padding by.
"We should really attack the camp first," Russetfur was saying.
"You won't be attacking anything if you come and discuss it on ThunderClan territory!" Silver yowled, landing hard on Blackstar's back; something cracked as she landed on it, and the ShadowClan leader cried out in pain.
Russetfur soon found herself squashed beneath Brambleclaw. Blackstar's eyes dulled in pain and he stopped breathing momentarily.
"Blackstar…" Russetfur breathed.
"It's okay, he has one more life left," Silver meowed.
Suddenly, Blackstar lashed out at Silver, scoring a long scratch across her flank. In retaliation, she bit his ear and he shot out from beneath her and leapt across the stream, leaving a long trail of blood. He was still weak from losing a life, and he collapsed on the other side. Russetfur squeaked,
"Let me go!"
Sighing, Brambleclaw stepped off her and she followed Blackstar across the stream. Russetfur said something like 'you'll pay for this' but Silver ignored her. Her ears flicked away imaginary flies and she gave Brambleclaw a curious stare.
"Why, may I ask, did you let the ShadowClan deputy go without giving her a scratch to remember?" Silver asked.
Brambleclaw shrugged.
"You shouldn't hurt a cat unless it's really necessary," he said.
"You don't truly believe that, do you?" Silver assumed.
He shifted slightly. No, maybe I don't believe it as strongly as I said it, but I still believe it, he thought, a good warrior tries not to harm any cat as much as he can. Then he nodded.
"I do," he spoke like an apprentice eagerly receiving his warrior name.
Silver sniggered, claws scoring the earth.
"You know what?" she said. "You're more like an apprentice than I thought you were."
Brambleclaw suddenly said something shyly which, after he said the words, he wished he'd never spoken them.
"Silver, do you still love me?" he asked.
"It's Silvershadow to you," she snapped. "Yes, I do."
With that she marched off into the forest, and Brambleclaw caught himself wondering at how incredibly brusque and short the she-cat could be.
A/N: I didn't get five reviews but I was bored so I decided to write this. Please submit your entries to the contest. They can come in review form as well! Thank you. Don't forget to review!