Chapter 10: True Honesty

The sound of clattering rocks skidding down from the winding path leading in between the cliffs of SkyClan camp woke Goldenpaw. Blinking furiously, she pulled herself up to her paws, stretching her lithe legs wearily. The sun was setting, casting a yellow glow in the apprentices' den. The brisk air wrapped itself around Goldenpaw, fiercely attacking her pelt now that she was standing, brushing her long white fur to one side. Shivering, Goldenpaw stuck her head out of the shallow cave, squinting past the dying beams from the sun to catch a glimpse of whoever was hurrying upwards.

"Fernpaw?" Goldenpaw asked, spotting her sister's light brown pelt hurrying away, heading towards Leafstar's den, "What are you doing?"

Fernpaw glanced behind her, meeting her sister's eyes quickly. Sighing noticeably, as if Goldenpaw was interrupting her sleep, Fernpaw backtracked until she stood before her sister, the spread of peachy light painting the clouds behind her shining softly.

"Firepaw and Springpaw are awake. Echosong told me to fetch Leafstar and Sharpclaw," Fernpaw explained hurriedly, glancing up towards her parent's nests, barely visible from their current position on the cleft below the leader's den.

"How are they?" demanded Goldenpaw, pangs of guilt racking her heart.

She had apologized to Springpaw that morning but she hated the fact that they had fought the day before. She didn't know what she would have done if Springpaw had gotten seriously hurt without him knowing that she really was sorry for their fight.

"They're all going to be okay," Fernpaw said.

Goldenpaw let out a sigh of relief. "Good," she murmured.

"Yes, it is. Now I have to get Leafstar," Fernpaw replied, darting back up the slope, her legs scrambling upwards with ungainly speed.

Why's she so distracted? Goldenpaw thought absently.

"Hey, Goldenpaw," a voice said from behind the white apprentice.

Turning, Goldenpaw caught sight of Rainpaw's light gray fur and hazy green eyes. She approached her denmate, purring softly. Rainpaw was looking at her expectantly, his pelt still ruffled from his sleep.

"Was that Fernpaw?" he asked mildly.

"Yeah," Goldenpaw answered, "she said the hunting patrol is waking up in Echosong's den. She's gone to go get Leafstar."

"I hope Springpaw's going to be okay," Rainpaw muttered worriedly.

Goldenpaw shot the gray tom a look. Rainpaw and Springpaw were friends and while both were loyal and strong cats, they were also rash and unreasonable at times. Rainpaw had an annoying habit of picking on Firepaw as well. Goldenpaw was very overprotective of her younger brother and while Rainpaw was perfectly civil, even kind, to the rest of her siblings, he always seemed allow himself to unapologetically poke fun at Firepaw.

"Are you going to Skyrock tonight for the Clan Gathering?" Rainpaw asked her, bringing her thoughts back to the present.

"Yes," Goldenpaw nodded, "Sharpclaw said I've been progressing so well that I can come." A shot of excitement flew up Goldenpaw's body. It would be her first time at the Skyrock during a Clan Gathering and she couldn't wait. The Gatherings occurred every full moon. SkyClan would assemble on the smooth pale surface of the rock to give thanks to StarClan and share the night with their warrior ancestors. Goldenpaw had grown up watching her Clan visit the wide rock every moon, wistfully following their faint movements with her eyes from the light of the snowy moonshine. Now it would finally be her turn.

"Great! I'm going too," Rainpaw purred, "why don't we sit together?"

Goldenpaw glanced away quickly, unable to meet the tom's cloudy olive eyes. It was no secret that Rainpaw liked her; the tom attempted to hunt with her every chance he got and Fernpaw had once reported to Goldenpaw that he had spent a whole Clan meeting staring at her moony-eyed and slack-jawed. But Goldenpaw didn't return the tom's feelings. How could she when he was so mean to her brother? She sniffed. He was arrogant and silly and Goldenpaw didn't want to be anything other than acquaintances with him.

"Um, actually I already promised I'd sit with Sagewhisker," Goldenpaw lied swiftly, watching as Rainpaw's face fell dramatically.

"Oh, that's okay," he mumbled, "I just wanted to make sure you weren't sitting alone, that's all. I'm going to go get some fresh-kill. I'll see you later."

Breathing out in relief, Goldenpaw watched him go. She didn't want to be cruel - it wasn't in her nature - but she wouldn't dream of leading on the tom when she really had no intention of considering him as a mate.

A scraping sound heralded Fernpaw's return, this time leading her mother, Leafstar, down the path with her. Goldenpaw spotted her father's dark ginger pelt following Leafstar down the winding rocky trail. Leaping to her paws and trotting out of the now-empty apprentice den, Goldenpaw greeted her parents, a throaty purr escaping her body.

"Can I come with you?" she pleaded, staring into Leafstar's gentle amber eyes, "I want to see if they're okay."

"What do you think, Sharpclaw?" Leafstar asked, flicking her tail against her mate's thick coat.

"It's fine with me," Goldenpaw's mentor meowed, "she's completed her training for the day. Let her see her brothers. She's probably worried."

"Very well," Leafstar said warmly, "you may come. But behave yourself. No more fights with Springpaw. And stay quiet. They need rest."

At the mention of her fight with Springpaw, Goldenpaw's ear twitched self-consciously, remembering the achingly loud argument. Fernpaw shot her a kind look and draped her tail across Goldenpaw's back comfortingly. As her parents took the lead, Goldenpaw followed with her sister, glad of the company.

"Guess what?" Fernpaw whispered in Goldenpaw's ear, "I'm going to Skyrock tonight!"

"Me too!" Goldenpaw squeaked, "It's our first time! And we'll get to go together! Isn't this great?"

Fernpaw only nodded, her vibrating purr audible even as the two she-cats scrambled down the sloping wall of rock, sending pebbles hurtling to the solid ground below. Goldenpaw, her tail intwined with Fernpaw's, leapt off the final chunk of rock and landed gracefully on the hard stone ground, her pads hitting the yellowed rock with a satisfying smack.

The sisters hurried after their parents as the mouth of Echosong's den loomed up in front of them. Goldenpaw untangled her tail from Fernpaw's and darted inside the cave, leaving the brown tabby apprentice to trail along after her like a shadow. As Goldenpaw's eyes got adjusted to the darkness of the den, Leafstar and Sharpclaw pushed in after them. Goldenpaw gazed around. It was a good thing Echosong's den was so big, otherwise the large party of cats wouldn't have fit in the deep rocky cleft.

Apparently Echosong was thinking the same thing, because the silver tabby spotted the four cats and marched over, her green eyes glittering good-naturedly as she said, "What's this? Did you bring all of SkyClan with you?"

"Goldenpaw wanted to see her brothers," Sharpclaw replied tersely, his tone indicating that he wasn't in the mood for light conversations with the medicine cat, "surely you can understand that?"

Echosong didn't flinch away from her deputy's harsh words but instead smiled down upon Goldenpaw kindly, understanding emitting from her luminescent eyes.

"Of course. They're right over here. Springpaw is already asking for food," Echosong said softly, leading the four cats over to the back of the cave where bundles of moss and leaves were set up, creating comfy nests for the cats resting in them.

"Firepaw! Springpaw!"

Goldenpaw rushed up to her brothers, who were sitting next to each other, and licked both of their heads, silently thanking StarClan for allowing them to stay with the rest of SkyClan on the earth. Firepaw twisted away, his nose wrinkled at her fussing, his ginger fur plastered to his body by strong-smelling herb juices.

"Get off, Goldenpaw," he whined, "you'll wash off all of Echosong's poultices."

"Sorry, sorry," Goldenpaw amended, backing off, still purring, "I'm just so glad you two mouse-brains are okay."

Fernpaw had told Goldenpaw that Sparrowpelt and Cherrytail, along with their apprentices, had been attacked by something but she hadn't bothered to relay any other information to her sister, so Goldenpaw had no idea what had actually gone on in the forest surrounding the cliffs that kept the SkyClan camp safe. No cat did.

"Do you all feel well enough to talk now?" Leafstar asked gently, looking especially at Cherrytail, whose throat was visibly bruised. Goldenpaw cringed to see a red welt around her neck, cutting into her mottled brown and white fur.

"Yes," croaked Cherrytail, "we're fine. I'm fine. It only looks bad," she added, noticing Goldenpaw's worried glance at her.

"Alright, so what happened?" Sharpclaw asked, sheathing and unsheathing his claws, as if he was about to tear out of the den and attack whatever had harmed his sons and warriors.

"It was Oscar," Sparrowpelt said grimly.

Leafstar gasped and Sharpclaw leapt to his paws, spitting angrily. Goldenpaw looked around at her sister, confused. But Fernpaw's eyes were just as concerned and puzzled as Goldenpaw's. Who was Oscar? And why did his name get such a reaction out of her parents?

"That filthy kittypet attacked you?" Sharpclaw growled.

Echosong suddenly looked affronted and her silvery tail twitched, her eyes gleaming. She looked offended. "Let's not forget that I was once a kittypet too, and so was Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt," Echosong spat back at Sharpclaw.

Flicking his tail apologetically at the medicine cat, Sharpclaw continued, "What in the name of StarClan happened? How could he have done all of this to you?"

"I'll tell you how," Sparrowpelt said quietly, his voice deep with anger, "he's not a kittypet anymore."

Goldenpaw was still completely lost but she pricked her ears forward anyway. Oscar sounded like he could be a threat to SkyClan and she wanted to know everything she could about him, so if she met him in the future, she'd know how to deal with him.

"That's right," Cherrytail put in, "he told us. He said his Twolegs abandoned him. Apparently they stopped feeding him and then they left. So he wandered into the forest and hung around for a few days. He said he'd met some rogues who convinced him to join their gang."

"Why would rogues want a kittypet like Oscar?" Sharpclaw wondered out loud.

"Remember what Firestar said?" Leafstar answered, glancing at her mate, "he thought Oscar had SkyClan blood in him. Maybe he's a better fighter than we thought."

"Oh, he's a much more dangerous kittypet than most," Cherrytail agreed, "you see my throat? He did this to me; with his own collar."

Goldenpaw gaped at the warrior. How had an inexperienced kittypet from Twolegplace managed to do that with a collar to one of SkyClan's best fighters?

"Firepaw rescued me," Cherrytail continued, "he was very brave."

"What else did Oscar say?" demanded Sharpclaw, brushing off Cherrytail's comment about Firepaw's courage, making Goldenpaw's pelt prickle with indignity. Firepaw had saved a cat's life! Why wasn't Sharpclaw more impressed, or proud?

"He said some really bad things," Springpaw said, speaking up for the first time, his voice low and shaky.

"Like?"

Sparrowpelt glanced at Cherrytail, worry clouding his eyes. Besides him, Springpaw glanced away, staring at the stony ceiling of the den. Firepaw began to fidget uncomfortably. Goldenpaw gulped. They seemed really upset. She wondered what the kittypet could have said to get them so riled up.

"Someone better tell me now," Sharpclaw hissed.

Leafstar placed her tail on his shoulders, trying to calm him down. She gazed down at Sparrowpelt questioningly. One look from her amber eyes made the brown tabby speak.

"After Cherrytail and Firepaw returned, we cornered Oscar and threatened to kill him if he didn't leave our territory," Sparrowpelt started. "but when I said that, he just laughed. H-he said that they were coming."

"Who were coming?"

"He didn't say," Sparrowpelt murmured uneasily, "he just said to beware. And that SkyClan would fall and be no more. Then he ran off into the woods."

The medicine cat's den was dead silent. No cat moved and Goldenpaw thought she couldn't even hear the steady breathing of her Clanmates. A shiver passed through her body violently. What was up ahead for SkyClan? What did Oscar know that they didn't? Who were 'they' and what were they planning to do to SkyClan? And most importantly, how would SkyClan escape it?