Yay! I'd like to give a shout-out to all that have reviewed! shadeflower927, Petaldawn, ObSeSiVe BoOkWoRm, Pearlfeather, DahliaStarr, Rainwind allias Dazzlesparkle, thank you so much for you continued support, and also a thanks to all who have read this story. Here is the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors
"Frozenpaw..." a voice whispered through her dreams. The sound of the cat was familiar, but she was so far into sleep, it couldn't have startled her awake so quickly. She continued falling into her slumber for longer before a paw, ran along her side. Claws caught in her fur and tore some of it out. With a hiss, Frozenpaw awoken.
"Shh," snarled Nettlepaw, laying his tail over her mouth. Frozenpaw jerked away, glaring at him.
"Maybe I would have been quieter if you had not ripped out my pelt," she snapped.
Nettlepaw returned her look of warning and padded out of the medicine den. Frozenpaw followed, looking over at the other side of the den where Hailblaze slept, the steady rise and fall of his flank being the only movement in the darkness.
She emerged into the camp. In the night, only silhouettes of things were present in the camp. Soft snoring sounded from the dens. Nettlepaw stood at the corner of the camp, looking through the bramble thicket that led to the outside land. She saw his ears flatten through the darkness, and the moonlight above illuminated on the glint of his white teeth as his lips peeled back in a snarl.
"Mouse dung," he said. "Wolfleap is out there. Clanmates seeing me would be bad, but my father seeing me would ruin it all."
"About that," Frozenpaw murmured. She didn't know how to describe her emotions towards him leaving, but all she knew was that it left a feeling that she couldn't place. It made her heart skip several beats in her chest. "Why do need me to do this?" She realized what she had said after the words were well out of her mouth.
Nettlepaw blinked. "What do you mean by that? You don't want to help me? You think that if I just leave it wouldn't change anything?"
"No, no. I'm sorry. It's just..." She couldn't explain how she was really feeling, if she didn't know what it was. So she quickly came up with an excuse. "I'm medicine cat apprentice. Don't you want a experienced warrior your htherir there are any predators out there?"
Nettlepaw shook her head. "I want you. You are the truest warrior, even though you are not under that rank. And..." He stared deeply at her with his amber eyes, "you are the only one who understands."
Frozenpaw sighed. It was true, and maybe she should've been glad, but that still didn't change anything. She was still living the life she didn't want to, and unlike Nettlepaw, she couldn't change it. Whatever she tried to prove herself, they would see it as wrong.
"Well then," she said. "Let's go."
Nettlepaw padded across the camp, Frozenpaw dashed up to walk beside him. "We'll have to go up through the dirt-place tunnel," he said.
Frozenpaw wrinkled her nose at the thought of making her way through a smelly tunnel, but she didn't argue.
They came to the tunnel and as Nettlpaw slipped through, a large dry stick snapped loudly under his paws. Frozenpaw whirled to see if any cat had heard and would come out to see what was happening. The would notice her in the night with her spotless white pelt and question what was happening. So, she shoved herself in after her friend, but just as she disappeared from camp, she thought she saw a flash of yellow eyes.
Frozenpaw tripped over a root as she ran. Dust clouded up around her. If she could see, she wouldn't know if it would easier in one way, or harder in another. Her chest thumped wildly, even though she had not been running long, chills crept up and down her spine, and she didn't know why. She just wanted to know why.
Nettlepaw stopped beside her as she got up and yanked her foot from under the root. It stung slightly as she did, but she could put it down without wincing she nodded.
"Why are you running so fast? We aren't in a hurry," Nettlepaw said.
Frozenpaw looked over at him. "I think we were seen."
Only a quick flash of alarm flickered across his face. "Well, at least don't wake the rest of the forest with your noisy paw steps," he meowed. His voice was teasing and she could see that he was smiling warmly at her.
"Let's get going," he said. "I want to make it as far as WindClan with you."
Frozenpaw dipped her head and the both took off. This time, she was careful not to run into any trees.
Once the hit the edge of the territory, they slowed. Nettlepaw stopped right at the border on the Thunderpath, and Frozenpaw knew it wasn't because he wanted to check for monsters.
"I'm not going to miss Clanlife," he murmured, "but I'm going to miss the cats that were part of it. Leafpelt, Wolfleap, Icyclaws."
"Stonepaw and Smallpaw," Frozenpaw added.
Nettlepaw growled. "No. They are two things I am really looking forward on leaving behind. They never loved me, so why should I care about how they'll feel?"
She stared at him as he glared at his paws, probably wondering if they'll rejoice at his disappearance. She felt a pang of sadness for him. She knew what it was like to be the odd one out, but not to be hated by her own sibling.
Lionpaw...
"Well," Nettlepaw whispered, lifting his paw. "What am I waiting for here?"
He ever so softly placed his paw down on the Thunderpath, and shuddered as if it sent lightning through him. He took his next paw and did the same, except this time, he barely trembled. Then, he bunched his muscles and leapt a great distance onto the hard black ground. He laughed softly, but it quickly turned into a yowl of triumph. Frozenpaw watched as he ran around over it, filling the forest with his cheers.
"And you say I'll wake the forest," she giggled. She followed him onto the path, yowling along with him. As they danced around, their calls melted into a perfect harmony, and the strange, unfamiliar feeling Frozenpaw had, grew stronger until she couldn't help but laugh until she was out of air.
As she tried to catch her breath, she looked up at the sky. It was a big ocean of dark gray with a silver sun to illuminate upon them. Nettlepaw stopped and gazed up with her. "Funny how it all looks different when you're different."
She made no response but it was a statement to just be heard, not agreed upon. She took a deep breath of Thunderpath air and watched as the stars shone beside the moon, twinkling with an unheard melody, watching her with unseen eyes.
"Shall we continue?" Nettlepaw asked? Frozenpaw turned to see he was already padding off in the direction of WindClan territory.
"I'm coming," she murmured.
The pair padded along side each other, and as they went passed Fourtrees, the forest thinned out and the moor was stretched out before her and Nettlepaw. The sky was so open then, with not a tree to block a mouse length of it.
"Do you think StarClan is watching us now?" Nettlepaw asked.
"I don't know for certain," Frozenpaw replied. "But I'm thinking that they'd want to say good bye to such a great warrior."
"Great?" Nettlepaw snorted. "Yeah, great as in a half starved pigeon that got trapped in a hungry badger's den."
"Shut up. Don't say that."
"I was awful at fighting."
Frozenpaw gazed at him in this amber eyes, fixed on the vast land ahead. She sighed. "You know Nettlepaw, being part of this world isn't about risking your life out training with your littermates, it isn't about how many times you defeat Stonepaw. It isn't about following your destiny. It's about being there for your friends when they need you, however they need you. Somedays they'll need a hunter or a fighter, but somedays they'll just need a shoulder to lean on."
Nettlepaw looked over at her. "Too bad there aren't any friends out there for me, but thank you, Frozenpaw. That's very true. You are very wise for your age."
She smiled slightly. She wondered if Hailblaze's words touched him the way they touched her back when she was two moons, three quarters and two days old.
"Don't worry, they'll be somebody out there to be your friend. If it isn't the first cat you meet, it'll be the second, because you are the greatest friend I could ask for."
"How about when you thought I was weird?" he asked, eying her. Then he chuckled.
They cut around the moor, away from where Fourtrees stood. If she pricked her ears really good, she could hear the wall of water in the gorge off in the distance. They were nearing the end of Clan territory, and with each paw step, the feeling she had would send aches to her chest.
Why am I feeling this way?
As the mingling sent of WindClan and RiverClan went fainter and fainter, Frozenpaw bristled. She hated it. She hated the feeling. She hated what the feeling was making her think. She growled at herself, but Nettlepaw didn't seem to hear. He had stopped walking abruptly and was staring at a rigging log about a tree-length off.
"What is it?" Frozenpaw asked, sounding more hostile than she intended.
"Leafpelt once told me that that log signals the end of Clan territory," he replied dully.
Frozenpaw blinked, surprised. They had made it already? Why did it go so quickly? Why could they had not spent more time together before he left?
Nettlepaw turned to her. "Frozenpaw, I want you to pretend that you didn't know I was leaving. I don't want you to get involved in anything the Clan might think about my disappearance. I just want to protect you from any more pain."
He knows that I hurt... "Okay, Nettlepaw. I promise I'll keep it a mystery, but don't stop from keeping your memory alive, okay? You deserved to be remembered."
He didn't argue. He just looked deeply into her eyes, like they were all he could see. She was trembling slightly, but enough for Frozenpaw to see. He reached down and rubbed his muzzle over hers. She drew in a sharp breath, surprised at his actions, but she didn't pull away, in fact, she fell deeper in, heart thumping rapidly in her chest.
It was then she knew.
"Goodbye Frozenpaw," he whispered, taking a step back. "It was too bad you were training as a medicine cat. If you were going to be a warrior, maybe I would stay." He flicked his tail and ran towards the log, with tons of power in his hind legs he launched himself over it, landing upon the ground he would walk upon for the rest of his life, leaving Frozenpaw to stand on the ground he would never walk on again.
He padded off, and Frozenpaw watched as the horizon swallowed him, and through the darkness, she saw a flash of his amber eyes, as he looked back at her.
And just as quickly, he was gone.
Frozenpaw held back a wail. She wondered if would have changed anything, if she had said: I love you.
I was tearing up writing this. Please review! I need some love! Frozenpaw needs love! Review, please! Review! *bursts into tears and jumps off a cliff (where a giant pillow is waiting of course)*
~Destiny
