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Flamepaw grinned as he watched his sister defeat the BloodClan apprentice with ease.
Nice moves, Silverpaw. I might have to use some of them next time I'm in battle.
The orange tom was hiding in a small thicket, having had to choose the bush with the most leaves possible to cover his bright pelt. Silverpaw was pinning down Snowpaw, and Flamepaw was close enough to see the two she-cats' facial expressions. They seemed too occupied with their battle to notice him spying on them - no, watching in case of emergency. Luckily for him, the two apprentices were also quite loud, loud enough for him to follow their banter.
"Tell me what you know," Silverpaw demanded.
Snowpaw raised an eyebrow, lips curving up into a sly smile. "And why should I betray my Clan?"
"We had a deal!" Silverpaw snarled, eyes darkening.
"Did we?" Snowpaw asked innocently. She seems very calm for a cat who has an enemy warrior at her throat.
"Yes!" the silver she-cat replied, evidently getting agitated. "You said that whoever loses has to acknowledge that the other is better."
"Oh, I did," Snowpaw sighed, making Silverpaw perk up slightly. "That doesn't mean that I have to give you information though." Silverpaw scowled again.
"I don't think you're in a position to be refusing to talk," the ThunderClan apprentice threatened. When Snowpaw shrugged, Silverpaw retaliated by holding a paw up in the air with one claw unsheathed. She roughly pressed her paw against Snowpaw's forehead, growling menacingly. Although she hadn't drawn blood, a flicker of panic painted Snowpaw's features for a second before she schooled her expression.
"Tell me what BloodClan is planning," Silverpaw repeated. Snowpaw met her gaze levelly, not making any move to talk. After a few seconds of waiting, Silverpaw snarled and sliced her claw across Snowpaw's forehead. The BloodClan apprentice's eyes flooded with pain, and as Silverpaw moved her paw back to pin Snowpaw's other shoulder down again Flamepaw was shocked to see a bleeding cut above the white she-cat's right eye. A trickle of blood ran down into her eye and Snowpaw winced. Against her white fur, the dark red stood out like a twoleg pelt in the forest.
Despite the cut, Snowpaw still didn't make a sound. Silverpaw, whose face was contorted with rage, let out a small yowl of frustration. As quick as a flash, she moved her left paw to slice downwards. Her claws caught the tip of Snowpaw's ear, as well as giving her a wound on her cheek. Snowpaw gave a shriek when Silverpaw moved to strike again.
"Okay, I'll talk!" the bleeding she-cat exclaimed, trying to bring a paw up to protect her muzzle. She warily watched as Silverpaw brought her paw back down.
"Fast," the ThunderClan she-cat ordered.
"We're not giving the hostages back," Snowpaw hastily started. "At the start of the second moon of leafbare we're splitting up into four groups to attack. Because we're taking a portion of everyone's prey during a prey-scarce time, it will be easier to defeat everyone."
"I know," Silverpaw deadpanned. Snowpaw narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but the silver apprentice ignored her. "Where are you keeping the hostages?"
"I don't know," Snowpaw answered, giving a small shrug. Yeah, as if. She's the leader's daughter for StarClan's sake! When Silverpaw raised a paw again in a silent threat, Snowpaw defensively repeated, "I actually don't know! Froststar has been very secretive about the details of the plan. Only the senior warriors get to know exactly what's going on."
"Well, I suppose you'd better befriend one of them then," Silverpaw suggested with a note of warning in her voice. "You have a half-moon to figure out where the hostages are being kept and when they're being transported."
Snowpaw nodded dully, and Silverpaw let her up. Roughly pushing the white she-cat away, Silverpaw watched her leave. Flamepaw felt a prick of fear at her cold expression, wondering what had happened to the sister he used to know. As she passed by the place where he was hiding, Flamepaw decided to confront her. Wriggling out of the thick bush, he stood face-to-face with his sister. Silverpaw's eyes were still burning bright with rage, making him hesitate slightly before speaking.
"What was that?" he asked.
Silverpaw whirled around in surprise, fur bristling. "Did you follow me?" she returned incredulously.
Flamepaw twitched his ear before replying, "Yes. You've been acting weird for the past couple of days. Also, I wanted to hear what Snowpaw had to say."
At this, Silverpaw seemed to calm down slightly, although he could tell that she was still mad at him. "Acting weird," she muttered to herself. After a few seconds she rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking as though she had just remembered something stupid that someone had done. Flamepaw stared at her, thoroughly puzzled when she started angling her ears toward a sound that he couldn't hear.
"What's going on with you?" he inquired carefully. "For the past few days, all you've cared about is training. Not too long before then, you ran away from a training session and came back brooding." When she didn't reply, Flamepaw sighed. "For StarClan's sake, Silverpaw, you haven't even been talking to anyone for the past few days. Not me, not Emberpaw, not anyone! It's as if you've suddenly turned into another cat." Even though he knew that wasn't possible, Flamepaw was half-convinced that a cold-hearted cat who looked just like his sister was slowly taking Silverpaw's place.
Instead of the expected apology or half-hearted and vague excuse for her behaviour, Silverpaw purred amusedly. The way that she purred, as if he was a kit and was asking an ironic or obvious question, made Flamepaw wary. What is going on with her?
"You don't understand," she said dismissively.
"Why not?" Flamepaw demanded. "I've been through exactly the same things as you have. We've been apprentices together for over a moon now, we've been in our first battle together, the only thing that separates us is our training."
Silverpaw purred again in that unnerving way. "Have you killed a cat?"
Flamepaw froze, his blood running cold. "No."
" . . . Then you don't understand," she meowed simply again.
"Have you killed a cat?" Flamepaw asked tentatively. He didn't want to think of the obvious, but considering the battle that had just happened and the way in which she had asked him the same question . . .
"Yes," Silverpaw answered. Flamepaw started to back away slowly, scared by the amused and yet wistful light in Silverpaw's ice blue eyes. "And no."
Flamepaw blinked and stopped, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You wouldn't understand," Silverpaw shrugged, "because you haven't killed a cat before."
Growing annoyed now, Flamepaw growled, "You aren't making any sense! Just tell me what's going on!"
Silverpaw sighed, ears twitching again. She seemed to decide something within herself, and then started to leave. Flamepaw yelled out for her to stop, but she paid him no mind. What's going on with her? he thought frustratedly. I want to 'understand', but she won't let me! He shook his head, turning to walk away in the opposite direction of his sister. When he reached the WindClan border, he sat by the stream and watched the water rush by.
Flamepaw didn't know how long he sat like that, but eventually a whisper sounded from WindClan territory.
"Flamepaw," the cat hissed. The orange tom sat up straight, angling his ears toward the voice. It sounded familiar. "Flamepaw, you mousebrain! Get your stinking ThunderClan pelt over here and explain what in StarClan's name just happened there."
Flamepaw was about to give back a snide reply when the cat stepped put from behind a large clump of rocks. The black tom's expression was one of his usual distaste, and from behind him a gray she-cat emerged. Of course the WindClan apprentices couldn't keep away, Flamepaw thought wryly. I came. Too bad that no-one else has access to this strip of territory, or we'd be able to have a meeting.
Nodding in greeting to Crouchpaw and Larkpaw, Flamepaw moved closer to the edge of the stream. Dipping one paw delicately in the water, he considered swimming across. He quickly realised that it probably wasn't worth having a wet pelt and his scent on the other side of the border. Besides, he could still hear the WindClan apprentices from where he was. A small splash in the stream made Flamepaw startle, and he looked down to see two drenched heads emerge from the water. Heronpaw and Curlpaw swam here? Wow, I suppose everyone really did want to see what would happen.
The two brown cats paddled over to Flamepaw so that they were in a shallow enough part to stand up. The RiverClan apprentices didn't leave the water, but at least they weren't submerged anymore. Flamepaw couldn't understand how they could have stayed in the stream for so long and not have been seen, but ended up chalking it down to 'because they're RiverClan'. Finally getting a good look at them, he shivered at the sight of their fur, which was dark with water, clinging tightly to their frames.
"Ay, Thundercat," Curlpaw greeted, giving a nod to the cats on both sides of the stream. "Where'd yer sister go? She won the fight, yeah?"
Flamepaw nodded. "Silverpaw went back to camp." He left out what she had said to him earlier, hoping that no-one else had heard. "Snowpaw ran off back to her territory."
"What happened there?" Larkpaw asked, her forehead creased with worry. "Silverpaw's voice kind of scared me. And what was that about her threatening Snowpaw?"
Flamepaw hesitated before answering truthfully, "I don't know." He chuckled slightly, remembering his previous conversation. "I don't understand."
"What?" Crouchpaw asked blankly.
"She won't tell me what's going on with her," Flamepaw sighed. "I don't know if she doesn't trust me, or if she just doesn't want to tell me, but I really don't know. She's a lot different now compared to who she was a moon ago." He paused, thinking about Silverpaw's previous easy-going nature. "I . . . just wish I knew why."
"Al'ight then," Curlpaw meowed decisively. "Tell Silverpaw she hasta get down to the lake at moon'igh tomorrow. I'm gonna get the truth outta her for ya, okay? You're gonna hafta help us break out some cats soon, and if she's getting ya this down, you'll be about as useful as a trout who can't swim. Silverpaw's secret isn't gonna be secret for much longa. I'll promise ya that."
Flamepaw gave the RiverClan she-cat a grateful smile. Maybe she can succeed where I've failed. Silverpaw shouldn't have to feel like we can't help her.