Chapter 19:

Forestpaw hadn't spoken to either Willowpaw or Shadepaw after the battle, though he had watched Shadepaw's fight from afar. It had been the hot gossip in the Soldier apprentice's den since it had occurred just after sun-high. Every cat wanted to know what Whirlpaw had said to make the she-cat lash out at him.

"I don't know what he said," Sootpaw had shrugged when they asked him, "I was falling asleep when it happened, all the noise woke me up."

So, no answer out of him. Forestpaw and Hollypaw had gone to Sparrowpaw next, who had been very dismissive of the lower-ranks, before finally coming around and telling them.

"He wasn't doing anything wrong," Sparrowpaw had said, "he was only calling her out from the cheating liar she was."

Every soldier knew better than to trust him, so they weren't to Whirlpaw instead, who had an answer that was equally unbelievable.

"It was crazy!" The not-really-injured tom had said when they talked to him inside the medicine den, with an overdramatic sigh, "I'm not sure what I did to get on her bad side. She just lashed out at me…"

It was a lie and every cat knew it. So, they were just waiting to see Willowpaw, the possibly only reliable source. But, when she had come back, she had snapped at the soldiers, telling them to leave her alone before walking off agitated. The soldiers had also been tempted to ask Shadepaw, but were quickly scared off by the brooding look on her face, and were scared that she was going to attack them as well.

Then, just before midnight, the chatter began to die down as cats slowly fell to sleep.

"What do you think happened?" Murmured Hollypaw sleepily, the only two awake in the den, "what do you think Whirlpaw said?"

"Something stupid, as usual," he snorted.

"Be a bit more specific."

"Well," he thought about it, "I doubt Shadepaw would get offended over some insult he had said to her. Sure, she'd be annoyed, but definitely wouldn't have attacked him. He probably said something about her family or Willowpaw."

"Yeah, that's an interesting theory," though Hollypaw sounded far too tired to actually be interested.

"What do you think?" He asked softly.

A few moments later and he realised that the black she-cat had drifted off into sleep. Forestpaw stood up his nest, careful not to rustle the ground too loudly or create noise as he stepped over his sleeping denmates.

The moon was covered tonight. Clouds obscured the glowing orb from view as the slight taste of rain in the air drifted towards the tom. He sighed, feeling slightly annoyed. Then, he got moving, double checking the camp for any watching eyes. Once assured that he was definitely alone in the camp, he exited the camp, diving into the long grass heading towards the moonpool.

Now that he came to think about it, he didn't really know where the moonpool was. Sure, he knew the general direction, but it wasn't like he had ever been there. Starclan was forbidden, so the moonpool had no use. Come to think about it, it was a great meeting spot for resistance members. A place where no Glorious cat would dare to go because, if they were caught, they would likely be caught and sentenced to be a prisoner for daring to worship Starclan. So, no one was ever there.

As he snuck through the long grass, he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to Shadepaw, the she-cat had obviously come face-to-face with Darkfall and, from the sounds of it, was in real trouble. No, Forestpaw had to help her, she was his friend. What would Gorgestar even do? He couldn't think up of a solution to the problem other than running away from Moor camp, and Forestpaw doubted that would go well.

He reached the stream that divided Moor camp area and Forest camp area and turned to follow it upstream. He was fairly certain that the water flowed down from the Moonpool at the top of the hill, a long walk for a young apprentice, but he was prepared to take it on anyway.

It was strange, before all of this he would've never imagined even talking to Shadepaw, let alone going to meet with the resistance leader for her. He wasn't sure whether the sudden development in their relationship was out of a genuine likeness for each other, or that Forestpaw just felt a little bit bad for Shadepaw and all she'd been through. He doubted that she'd like the second option. Shadepaw would hate to be pitied.

He also couldn't believe that there was a time when he had thought Darkfall was a likeable cat. Now, whenever he looked at the tom, Forestpaw could hardly contain the seething amount of hatred he felt towards him on Shadepaw's behalf. It wasn't like Darkfall had even done anything that directly affected him, he just knew the truth, he was a murderer. And, if he hated Darkfall that much, he couldn't imagine how much Shadepaw hated him.

As he reached the top of the path, he noticed a narrow path littered with ancient paw prints and a strange, religious feeling swam through him. As he followed the path, he noticed it led to a small stone hollow. On one side, there was a steep stone cliff with water flowing out from a cleft, feeding into the pool below. On the other side, the path let to a small stone beach right beside the pool.

Suddenly, the moon emerged behind the clouds and Forestpaw could only gape at the moonpool as it lit up with the glow of both starlight and moonlight, clearly reflecting it, bathing the hollow in a warm, welcoming, white luminance.

With a strange amount of reverence for the starry hollow, Forestpaw gently trod down to the stone beach, approaching the pool, all thoughts of Gorgestar and Stormpelt gone from his mind. He looked into the pool, peering at his own, tabby reflection which blotted out the light from the stars behind him. Then, as his eyes began to blur, he could've sworn he saw the ghostly outline of cats standing beside him.

He snapped back around to see no one there. He narrowed his eyes, confused.

Then, the tabby was snapped out of his thoughts by paw steps.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Said Stormpelt, walking down the path, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "we found my sister's body here. She'd been drowned in that pool."

Forestpaw glanced at it nervously, "Shadepaw told me."

"Speaking of which, where is Shadepaw?" The much older tom asked, "Emberpaw told me I could trust you, but I still need to decide that for myself."

"She sent me to give you a message," he said, "Darkfall, he knows her."

"I told you the she-cat was a burden," said Gorgestar, suddenly appearing beside Stormpelt, "she draws too much attention to herself. Useless to the resistance."

Stormpelt only rolled his eyes whilst Forestpaw just looked angered.

"Do you even know what you're talking about?" Snapped the apprentice, "my friend is in danger and you're calling her useless, how dare you?"

Gorgestar hardly reacted at the tom's outburst.

"Emberpaw told us that Shadepaw was climbing the ranks and was close to becoming a True Glorious," stated Stormpelt in a much calmer tone that Forestpaw. "It was a stupid idea to try and become one, but she was doing it on our behalf. She knew that, if she wanted to help the resistance, become a True Glorious spy would be her best opportunity. You gotta commend her courage."

"Courage is for those who want to tell themselves their failure is brave," came Gorgestar's short reply, "you knew for a fact, Stormpelt, the risk we were getting into when you invited her of all cats to join us."

"She had the ambition."

"She had selfish desires to kill Darkfall," the leader shook his head, "she cared not for the resistance."

"She did!" Interrupted Forestpaw, "just because her reasonings were selfish, doesn't mean she like the Glorious. In fact, she hates them and wants to see them fall."

"And what about you?" Gorgestar looked at him, "why are you so willing to risk everything for a friend?"

"Because she deserves someone being there for her," argued Forestpaw, "she's been alone her whole life. It's destroying her! You have to help!"

"With what?" Gorgestar sneered, "you want us to waltz into camp and beat everyone up for the sake of your friend, you're gonna need to be a little smarter than that."

"I'm not asking you to do that!" He cried, slightly appalled by the leader's behaviour, "I-" he tried to think, "Shadepaw and I just need a way out of Moor camp to your base. We can't stay there."

"Why should we help you?"

"Because," Forestpaw racked his brain for a reason, "If you don't, their gonna start asking questions, and Shadepaw could easily betray all of you if pushed to that point."

Forestpaw left the threat hanging there, hoping it would work.

Stormpelt, who had remained fairly silent, sent a curious glance in Gorgestar's direction who seemed to be looking down at the apprentice with the usual amount of apathy. But, he also looked to be inwardly debating with himself, Stormpelt could practically hear the cogs turning in his head as his leader thought.

"I'll send Emberpaw to meet you tomorrow night at moonhigh," Gorgestar said finally, "if you're not there, then we'll presume you're dead. If you're not dead, we'll come kill you ourselves."

Forestpaw swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, "really?"

"Yes, really," the tom said sharply, "you'll be free to escape to the resistance hideout. However, you will still have to participate in missions for us. Call it payment."

"Right, right," nodded Forestpaw firmly, "I understand."

"Now, run on back to camp," Gorgestar flicked his half-tail, "and remember," he leaned in, "tomorrow, moonhigh."

The tabby tom felt an overwhelming sense of relief. It had worked! He had been somewhat worried about going back to camp with no results and having to tell Shadepaw. He had been worried he wasn't going to sway an intimidating and notorious tom like Gorgestar. However, the amber eyes apprentice reckoned that the resistance leader still didn't like him much.

Without another word, Gorgestar turned around and strode off with the sort of eloquence and fierceness that only he could achieve. Meanwhile, Stormpelt turned to him.

Forestpaw cut him off before he could say anything, "are you really Emberpaw's father?"

Stormpelt looked at him curiously, "I am."

"You know her mother's kept prisoner in Moor camp, right?"

"I'm aware."

"Do you even care?"

Stormpelt blinked, "of course I care. I just can't do anything about it."

"You just don't sound like you care, that's all," Forestpaw didn't mean for his tone to be so accusatory, but it came out like that anyway. "Why can't you just take Emberpaw to resistance base camp with you?" He asked, "she is your daughter."

"She was more interested in spying, plus…" he drifted off, "they probably know who her parents are, they'd get suspicious if she suddenly just vanished."

Forestpaw remained wary, "is that just an excuse?"

The grey tom turned his gaze onto him but looked more tired than angry. "Don't you have to get back to camp."

Forestpaw turned to walk away before stopping, "she really cares about you, y'know? Emberpaw, I mean."

He heard a sigh, "I know."

Then, Forestpaw began the trek back to Moor camp, ready to tell Shadepaw the good news.

A/N: I don't like this chapter but whatever. I just wanted to get it up.