Chapter Twelve

"All cats of ValleyClan join beneath the Elm tree for a Clan meeting!" the words were becoming too familiar on Thunderstar's tongue. As he stood, claws embedded in the familiar bark of the Elm, he couldn't stop a shutter from creeping up his spine. Although he'd gotten a full night's sleep for once, he felt as tired as when he had closed his eyes. The two-legs had not left. Worse, they were advancing in their tree-tearing. Rivertail had gotten back to him with definite information and he had more thoughts than words.

Trying to calm himself, he focused on his surroundings. It was later in the morning, but it was starting to warm up. The snow had begun to melt and the air was filled with the scent of a fresh world. He could smell the damp soil underneath him, even from the tree branch. When it got quiet, his ears could just detect the little burbles of the stream not far from camp.

He refocused on the clearing before him. Cats were sweeping slush away with their tails, so that they could sit on relatively dry ground. Everyone was present in camp. Ravinefall had seen to that. Thunderstar had little more time to stall as the full assembly of eyes stared up at him expectantly. He swallowed, even though his mouth was too dry to do so. Finally, he was sure they would wait no longer, and forced a strangled meow from his jaws.

"Cats of ValleyClan.." he began, "a few days ago, the dawn patrol discovered a gathering of two-legs outside of our territory. We do not know what they are doing, but part of it includes tearing down trees. Until they leave, no cat is to leave camp alone. It goes without saying, but stay inside the territory." The cats below began to disband.

"Wait." he said, but his voice was not raised, almost afraid to stop them. Still, they heard him and many tilted their heads. "There is something else I must do."

Their gazes turned on one another. He knew they were trying to think: is a kit old enough to be apprenticed? Is a warrior transitioning to elder? Any ceremony or announcement they were used to; but this would be nothing they had ever heard, before.

"Thunderstar, what is it?" Runningwillow's voice stood out clearly among the whispers and muttering.

"I.." he took a deep breath. "Duskpaw. Come forward."

A wave of surprise passed through the crowd. Even the apprentice herself seemed to be, looking very small as she separated herself from the rest. She stood very uneasily, half-crouched so that she looked meeker than she already was. He could not catch her eye but she looked resolute, ready for what was to come. Thunderstar did not jump down from his rightful perch.

"Duskpaw has broken a part of the Warrior Code I have never heard of being broken." he ignored the immediate burst of questions from the cats below, yowling above their clamor. "Duskpaw has chosen a mate before receiving her warrior name!"

Now a real uproar began. He could not raise his voice high enough to outspeak them, so he let their distaste erupt. Duskpaw's fur began to spike up and her icy blue eyes were wide, the pupils splinters. Perhaps she was never as calm as she had looked. The chatter began to die down, until only three voices were heard making their last proclamations.

"She couldn't have!" Covetail protested fiercely.

"That's not true!" Duckwing cried, leaping to his paws.

"Do you know who it is?" Elderpelt called calmly.

Thunderstar just lowered his head, meeting his older medicine cat's eyes. "Rivertail, can you attest to my claims?" he prompted.

"Yes, Thunderstar." she stated, blank-faced. Her eyes refused to meet another cat's.

"That's not what I said!" Duckwing yowled again, desperate. Duskpaw looked back at him in disbelief.

"Then I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down and show pity on this apprentice. For the crime of choosing a mate before she has become a warrior, Duskpaw will not receive her warrior name. For the foreseeable future, she will not be honored by StarClan as a full warrior of ValleyClan and may not serve her Clan as such. The Clan meeting is over." he stayed where he was in the Elm's boughs, distancing himself from his clanmates. Many of them were still confused or even angry, and he was unsettled that he thought he may not be able to trust himself around them.

He wished he hadn't had to do it, but he had no idea what else he could have done. It was still a mystery why Duskpaw would do such a thing. Of all the apprentices, she seemed the most level-headed. His previously broken heart cracked a bit as she sprinted from the camp, her head down shamefully.

"Duskpaw, wait, please!" Duckwing screeched, pelting after her. I have to do something to let her redeem herself. he determined. And talk to Duckwing about all this. As the angry mob below dissipated, departing on patrols and gossiping in their dens, he finally dropped down into the clearing. He didn't wait to be approached, gunning it straight to the nursery. He was temporarily relieved of his concerns by the calm darkness inside.

"True to his word, as I told you." Greenpath purred from the gloom. He touched his nose to her's, misjudging the distance and bumping into her, but she only purred fiercer.

"I was never up this early when I was young." he meowed, mocking annoyance. He realized after a moment that that wasn't very true. Often times, Strathfang woke him up for some stupid thing or other, chasing beetles or sneaking out of camp. He was glad this litter seemed fairly obedient so far.

"What took you so long?" Talonkit growled, distempered. Thunderstar went to give him an apologetic lick on the forehead, but he shrunk away.

"Leading a clan-"

"We know." the tiny tabby puffed disheartenedly.

"It's okay, we understand." Freezekit amended. Thunderstar blinked warmly at her. She would be a great peace keeper when she was older.

"We have an entire day, still, to do things. We should get started." Mistykit piped.

"Right. I have a lot of games planned for us."

Asterpaw was startled by her mentor once again. She couldn't believe her ears when she heard him. Duskpaw.. How could she? She had spent so long training hard, enduring an apparently harsh mentor and unfamiliarity with Clan life. Despite her disadvantages, she had seemed to fair fine, at least as far as anyone could tell. One thing stuck out like a splinter in Asterpaw's thoughts: the time she had spent out at night, with Duckwing. Could the two have really.. It still seemed implausible. Duckwing and Duskpaw were respectable cats. They knew the Warrior Code as well as anyone, and they had always respected it. There was something no one knew, yet, and Asterpaw felt an itch in her fur that drove her to find out.

"Asterpaw!" Valestorm prompted impatiently. The apprentice tilted her head.

"What..?"

"I asked you to tell me what prey you can scent here."

"Oh. Sorry, one second.." Valestorm huffed impatiently as she shifted on all fours, anticipating Asterpaw's reply. "There's a squirrel in that oak tree behind you. It ran up when our scent blew over from by the stream. There were some mice nearby but.. we scared them away, too."

"And that wouldn't have happened if you had half a brain these days. Asterpaw, you need to focus! You're turning out just like-" Valestorm stopped immediately. "Well, get your act together. There's only so much time before you become a warrior. We need capable cats among our ranks."

"Yes, Valestorm." she muttered. Redpaw flicked her tail to her sister's flank.

"You're not usually like this." she whispered sympathetically. "Things have never been like this before.." Asterpaw nodded numbly.

The patrol ventured on, closer to the border. A rabbit practically hopped into their path and Redpaw dispatched it quickly, although her paw slipped as she leaped and she almost missed it. Valestorm was critiquing her on her technique when the rustling of leaves behind them drew Asterpaw's attention. Two creatures, much larger than cats, were shuffling in their direction.

"Two-legs!" she meowed in warning before ducking under a holly bush. Valestorm took off up a nearby tree and Redpaw dove into a patch of ferns. From their hiding spots, they peered out at the upright beings. They stopped several fox-lengths away from them, assuring they wouldn't find the cats. They began making noise, gesturing with a paw here or there, shaking their heads vigorously. They seemed to disagree often, but neither lashed out violently. The patrol stared in fascination and fear for an extended period before the two-legs started to leave. Asterpaw was relieved until she saw a bulky ginger body streak right into the two-legs' path.

"Elderpelt!?" Valestorm's whisper of disbelief reached Asterpaw's ears. The two-legs didn't seem to take much notice, only yowling something after the straying Elderpelt. They continued on their way and soon they were out of sight.

Valestorm dropped down from the tree, landing on all fours. Redpaw stepped out beside her and after a moment, Asterpaw revealed herself also. The warrior was obviously livid, storming away in the direction Elderpelt had taken off. She didn't look back as she instructed the apprentices.

"Return back to camp. Tell Thunderstar Elderpelt directly disobeyed his orders and was wondering about by himself." with that, she sped up until she was sprinting away.

"I don't remember Clan life being so strange." Redpaw meowed. "Go figure." They began walking back towards camp and Redpaw picked up her rabbit.

"I know you wanna talk about Duskpaw." she uttered around her prey.

"I do. I don't know what to say, though. Everyone must be thinking the same thing: Duckwing and Duskpaw.. and who can believe it?"

"Cats are surprising. You never know what they might do. Not to be blunt, but.. we didn't know mother and father were going to leave." Redpaw replied, her tone measured. No matter the passing time, the subject would always be touchy between the sisters.

"I guess so; it's not like they didn't kind of hint at it, though."

"Are you crazy? What are you talking about?" Redpaw scoffed.

"Red never liked it here. He only lived in the clan because of Emberpelt. Once she started getting fed up with Thunderstar, I guess it was obvious. It's just we were too young, and we didn't pay much attention ya know?" Asterpaw explained. Redpaw set down her rabbit.

"We should catch something else. Coming back with just this rabbit is mouse-brained." Redpaw meowed. She sounded uncharacteristically upset by the idea.

"I guess. With the snow melting away, I don't doubt there will be plenty of prey still about." Asterpaw said.

Without another word, Redpaw kicked a bit of earth over the rabbit and they padded quietly towards a bunching of ferns and brambles. Redpaw scented the air, parting her jaws slightly to absorb all the information she could.

"Mice." she purred quietly. Asterpaw licked her lips, wishing they could eat them, now. But they must save what they catch for their clanmates before they can touch a scrap.

She pricked her ears, swiveling them expertly to pinpoint the rodents. One scuffled in the shade of a frond of fern, almost undetectable with its well-blending pelt. Another was crouched under a dead leaf. It's tiny pulsing heart was the only move it seemed to make.

"Fern or leaf?" Asterpaw breathed, almost inaudible to Redpaw.

"Leaf." she whispered back. Asterpaw nodded the tiniest of nods and moved smoothly forward. She kept her soft green eyes wide, trained on the sporadic little gray animal. Everything else in the world fell away, except for the jerk of the mouse's strange paws rubbing over its ears. As she drew closer, she held her breath. She was barely aware of it, slowly halting and beginning to wriggle her haunches. Just another second, and-

A squeak drove into the air and before it could get away, Asterpaw leaped in one fluid movement, landing her paws squarely on their target. The mouse wriggled vainly for a split second before the she-cat's jaws closed on its neck and the life left its little warm body. Lifting her head, she tried not to look proud of the still-warm prey in her jaws. She looked over her shoulder at Redpaw.

"What was that noise about?" she muttered around the rodent. Redpaw looked down bashfully. The body at her paws was spotted in a few places with red.

"I slipped, again, and I didn't want to miss it, so I stuck a paw out and used my claws to get it. I know it was messy, but any prey is better than none." she meowed sheepishly.

"Between you and me I think we might make one fine warrior." Asterpaw purred good humoredly. "With my battle skill and your hunting, we'll be fine warriors right?"

"Sure thing." Redpaw purred in return. "Let's snag my rabbit, again, and get back to camp."

As they snatched the rabbit and kept on their way back home, the mystery about Duskpaw reentered Asterpaw's thoughts. She had to find out more. There must be more to know. For her own sanity as much as Duskpaw's sake, she had to. She wondered where she should start, and the answer was as clear as the sky in Green-leaf: Duckwing.