Warriors Series 5.5: Echoes of the War
Book 1: Faded Boundaries
Chapter Nineteen

Half a moon had passed since Silentpaw left ThunderClan. The prey was still scarce, and the territory still flooded, but RiverClan was still hanging on. Silentpaw's frame was far skinnier than it should be, and she spent most of her days hungry. But she was also faster, surer, more focused. She spent a good part of the day hunting, and the rest training RiverClan cats how to hunt land prey.

She was sharing a meal with Eelpaw on the mossy rock in RiverClan's camp. As cats passed her, they no longer glared or muttered. They either ignored her or gave a friendly greeting or flick of the ear. Not every cat was happy she was here, but they all seemed to have accepted it at this point.

As they laughed over a pigeon, Pondbreeze and Leafdrift approached them. "Hi Silentpaw, Eelpaw," Pondbreeze greeted cheerfully. Both warriors carried prey. "Mind if we eat with you?"

Silentpaw cast Eelpaw a questioning look; when he nodded, she mewed, "Sure thing." Pondbreeze and Leafdrift were RiverClan's youngest warriors, and had been some of the most friendly towards Silentpaw since the start. At the apprentice's nod, they stretched out beside the rock and began to dig in.

While Pondbreeze chewed on a finch's wing, Leafdrift pulled back and looked dubiously at her vole. "I just can't get used to the taste of this kind of prey," she admitted. After a moment's hesitation, she returned to eating.

Silentpaw purred in amusement. "I'm sure I'd feel the same way if you were all feeding me fish," she pointed out.

"Hey, food is food," Pondbreeze purred. "And at least we know how to catch it now. Thanks to you, Silentpaw."

She ducked her head. "I just taught a few techniques," she mewed. "It's not like I'm watching all the prey around here." Her training sessions were going much better now. The RiverClan cats were making excellent progress. They were much better at stalking, and their hind legs had grown stronger for pouncing and catching. Even little Lakekit, in the few lessons she'd given him on the side, was much stronger in his technique now.

"Hunting's definitely getting easier now," Leafdrift agreed. "Still, I'll be glad when we're back to fishing. I'd rather scoop up a trout than pounce on a squirrel any day." With a glance at Silentpaw, she added, "No offense."

Silentpaw purred, "None taken."

As the group of friends chatted, pawsteps approached them. The others fell silent. Silentpaw lifted her head in confusion, only to relax in understanding when she caught Mistystar's scent. The leader stood before them and said, "Silentpaw, may I have a word with you?"

Silentpaw's tail kinked in surprise. "Oh, sure Mistystar." She gulped down the last scraps of her mouse, then stood and joined Mistystar. The leader led her away, out past the camp entrance. Silentpaw was wildly curious, but she managed to hold her tongue.

"Hunting seems to be going better now," Mistystar began. "I can see you've been working hard."

Silentpaw's chest glowed warm with pride. "Thank you," she meowed.

Mistystar glanced down at the apprentice. She told her, "I'm grateful for all the work you've been putting in for my Clan. You've been truly living up to your promise."

They had reached a wide, sandy area, far from camp. Mistystar stopped, turning to face Silentpaw. "Now," she said briskly, "I believe you said Ivypool and you haven't had any battle training yet?"

Silentpaw tipped her head curiously. "We haven't," she confirmed. She was utterly confused now. Where was this all leading?

"Well then, I'm sure you wouldn't mind a battle session right now?"

Her heart seemed to skip a beat. Learning how to fight was all she had wanted for moons and moons. And now the leader of RiverClan was to be her instructor. "Do you mean it?" she breathed. "You don't mind teaching RiverClan moves to a ThunderClan cat?"

Mistystar just purred. "You've been generous enough with ThunderClan's secrets. Now, attack me."

Silentpaw blinked. "Just like that?"

"Yes. I can only correct your technique once I've seen what it is." Mistystar crouched, tensed and ready for a fight. "Now, attack me. Claws sheathed."

The apprentice crouched, sizing up the RiverClan leader. She had a good idea of Mistystar's size and speed from the sound of her pawsteps. She was a decent-sized cat, but not huge by any means, and she was probably fairly fast and strong. Silentpaw wasn't sure whether she would be faster than the leader, but she was going to have to try. She collected her hind legs under her, then sprang.

Mistystar sprang neatly out of the way. Silentpaw was left to land clumsily in the sand, stumbling forward. "Oof!" She rose to her paws, shaking sand out of her pelt.

The leader stared at the disoriented apprentice in amusement. "Not bad for a first try," she said as Silentpaw scraped sand off her claws. "But you're too predictable. The way you gather yourself up, you give away where you're aiming." She padded over to the apprentice, laying a tail on her back. "Fluff up your pelt, and position your legs like this." With the leader's tail guiding her, Silentpaw positioned herself accordingly, her pelt fluffed out as far as it went. "Perfect. When your fur is fluffed out, you look larger than you are. In the heat of battle, a cat isn't going to take a second glance to see how large you are. If you look big, they'll think twice about attacking you." The leader returned to the other side of the sandy area. "An enemy that's intimidated is already half defeated. Now, try again."

Silentpaw didn't pause this time. She sprang immediately at Mistystar, trying to throw it off. There was a thud and scuffling, and when Silentpaw landed, the was greeted by four paws that threw her to the side. For such an old cat, Mistystar was still very strong. She was flung across the sandy area and landed hard on her shoulder, skidding across the sand. It scraped and burned against her pelt, causing her to flinch. "How did you do that?" she hissed, struggling back to her paws.

"It's an old trick my father taught me," Mistystar replied. "I think he learned it from my mother." Curiosity itched at the apprentice's pelt. She knew Mistystar's mother had been the leader of ThunderClan. Before she could ask further, however, Mistystar spoke again. "You can't see me," she lectured as Silentpaw licked at her scraped and sore shoulder. "But you can hear how I'm moving, and you know where I am. Pay close attention to what you're hearing. Try again."

This time, Silentpaw listened carefully to all of her surroundings before moving. She could hear where all of Mistystar's paws were, could hear her crouching against the sand. Instead of leaping directly at her, Silentpaw darted forward and to the side, zig-zagging as Mistystar leaped away. Once she was close enough, she dove under Mistystar's belly. She tried to flip over onto her back so she could kick up at Mistystar's soft belly fur, but she mistimed the turn. Before she could correct herself, Mistystar simply dropped her weight on her.

Silentpaw gasped for breath, struggling to pull loose, but Mistystar was too heavy. "Mousedung!" she spat, wriggling wildly. Mistystar lifted herself off her, allowing Silentpaw to scramble away. Silentpaw faced her, panting. She hadn't felt this frustrated in a long time. How in StarClan's name was she supposed to prove herself to this cat?

Mistystar purred. "Well done," she praised. "Good technique. If you'd been a little quicker and strong with that turn, you would have thrown me off balance."

"Really?" Silentpaw felt a surge of new confidence.

"Really. Now, let me show you how to do that move properly."

Mistystar and Silentpaw worked until sunset, practicing various RiverClan fighting techniques and strengthening Silentpaw's strikes. The leader made no attempt to address how to fight through Silentpaw's blindness – she knew that would be Ivypool and Jayfeather's job, once she returned to ThunderClan. This session was purely about technique and various moves. By the end of the session, Silentpaw was exhausted, but thrilled. Her first battle lesson, and she'd managed to learn some cool new moves, and impress the leader of RiverClan.

"That's enough for today," Mistystar announced. Silentpaw resisted the urge to groan in complaint. The leader had been more than generous with her time. "Let's do a quick sweep of the border while we're here, then we'll head back to camp."

Silentpaw lifted her muzzle, tasting the air. Scents of moorland and rabbits greeted her, to her surprise – she hadn't realized they were so close to WindClan's border. Now that the lake had flooded so far, both WindClan and RiverClan had extended their borders up past the horseplace.

Mistystar and Silentpaw padded along the border, checking for scents of WindClan cats and remarking the border. Before they could leave it behind, however, a breeze blew the scent of an approaching cat towards them.

"Get down!" Mistystar hissed, crouching down behind a clump of grass and pulling Silentpaw down beside her.

They waited as the WindClan warrior neared. As the cat approached, however, Silentpaw finally recognized the scent. "Darkbreeze!" she cried out cheerfully, abandoning the RiverClan warrior to bound towards her friend.

Darkbreeze noticed her. "Silentpaw!" The two she-cats met right by the border, touching noses in greeting. "Great to see you again! I see you made it to RiverClan in one piece." Her purr was tinged by amusement.

Silentpaw puffed out her chest proudly. "Yep! I've been with them for half a moon now."

"Half a moon?" Darkbreeze shook her head. "I could never spend that long away from home."

Speaking of away from home... "Have you found Nightfern yet?"

Darkbreeze deflated. Her ears drooped, and her mew was sharp with sadness. "Not yet," she admitted. "I'm starting to fear I'll never find her. That's she's... you know."

Silentpaw felt a rush of sympathy for her friend. She reached out and gave her ear a friendly lick, trying to comfort her. "I'm really sorry," she said somberly. "I still hope you find her."

The WindClan warrior accepted the comfort for a few moments, then pulled back, shaking her head. "Anyway, enough about me," she mewed in a deliberately cheerful tone. "What about you? Wow, you look really thin!" Darkbreeze sniffed at Silentpaw's pelt, which clung far too close to her frame. "Haven't those RiverClan cats been feeding you properly?"

"I'm fine, Darkbreeze," Silentpaw assured her. "Hunting's hard, but it's getting better." As much as she trusted her kin, she figured Mistystar wouldn't appreciate it if she gave away too much of RiverClan's weakness to a WindClan cat.

"With your help," Darkbreeze pointed out with a purr. "I guess you're not totally rabbit-brained trying to help them after all. But what are you doing out here on your own?"

There was a nearby shifting of grass. "She's not alone." Mistystar came to stand beside Silentpaw, looming over the smaller WindClan warrior. Her tone was stiff, and her pelt was bristling. Clearly, the RiverClan warrior didn't trust this too-friendly enemy cat.

To her credit, Darkbreeze only shrank back a little from the intimidating she-cat. "Mistystar! It's an honor." She dipped her head respectfully to RiverClan's leader.

Mistystar stood utterly still before Darkbreeze. Once again, Silentpaw found her stillness utterly impossible to read. "Greetings," she mewed coolly. "I must ask, what is a WindClan cat doing so far out here on her own?"

Darkbreeze hesitated, glancing at Silentpaw. When the apprentice nodded encouragingly, the warrior admitted, "My sister's been missing since the flood began. Ashstar's stopped sending out search patrols, but I have to keep looking. I check all the borders whenever I'm out, to see if there's any trace of her."

The leader softened. "You still have hope of finding her after all this time?" she asked in a less hard tone.

"I have to," Darkbreeze told her. "I can't give up on her. She wouldn't give up on me."

Mistystar sighed. She suddenly sounded much, much older. Silentpaw had almost forgotten that Mistystar was older than any of the elders in ThunderClan. "I understand," she said softly. "I hope you find her, young warrior. It isn't easy to lose a littermate." Silentpaw was surprised by her words; she hadn't known Mistystar had siblings.

Darkbreeze seemed surprised too, but she hid it well, dipping her head respectfully to Mistystar. "Thank you." She lifted her head. "I should probably go. I wanted to catch a rabbit or two to bring back to camp, and it's getting late. It was nice to see you again, Silentpaw." With a friendly wave of her tail, the WindClan cat bounded away, leaving the ThunderClan apprentice with the RiverClan leader.

They watched the warrior leave for a few moments, then turned and started back towards their own camp. As they walked, Mistystar regarded Silentpaw curiously. "You seem to know that cat pretty well," she said carefully.

Silentpaw nodded. "I met her at the Gathering, and she helped me find your territory when I came to help you. She's my kin, you know."

Understanding dawned in the leader's tone. "Ah, Breezepelt's daughter. That explains a lot. I can't imagine your Clanmates are too pleased that you're so friendly with a cat from another Clan."

"It's not like we're mates having kits with divided loyalties," Silentpaw pointed out. "We're just friends. As long as I put my Clan first in battle, I don't see the problem with having a good friend in WindClan. Darkbreeze is really cool, and we get along well."

Mistystar stared at the apprentice, tail twitching with bemusement. "You don't think much of Clan boundaries, do you?" she finally asked.

Silentpaw shrugged. "I just don't think Clans should be any more divided then they have to be, I guess," she said. "I mean, we all have the same ancestors, don't we? We fight sometimes, but we shouldn't unsheathe our claws for every little thing. Maybe it's time for our boundaries to fade a little."

"Some cats would call that kind of talk treason," Mistystar warned her.

She snorted. "Tough. That's how I see things and I'm sticking to it."

Mistystar let out a rusty mrowrr of laughter. "I must say, Ivypool must have her paws full trying to reign you in." Silentpaw flattened her ears, but Mistystar just bumped her leg with one paw in a friendly manner. "But sometimes a fresh perspective is what we older cats need."

Pride blazed through the young apprentice. Mistystar's praise, and her success in the earlier session, had Silentpaw surging with energy. On their way back to camp, she bounced and bounded beside Mistystar like an excitable kit. Mistystar seemed amused by the apprentice's energetic state. At the least, she didn't tell her to stop acting like a kit.

It took several minutes for Silentpaw to remember Mistystar's earlier statement. She spoke carefully, trying not to anger the leader. "Back there with Darkbreeze, you spoke about losing a littermate like it was something you knew." It was more statement than question.

Mistystar stiffened. Silence stretched on, long enough to make Silentpaw want to ask again, but she held her tongue. Finally, Mistystar rasped, "I had a brother. Stonefur. He was Leopardstar's deputy before me."

Silentpaw could hear the grief in her voice, as raw as if Stonefur had died the day before. "What happened to him?" she asked softly.

"Tigerstar." The name was spat out like venom. "When he rose to power and took over RiverClan, he waged a war against all halfClan cats. My brother and I, and Graystripe's kits were thrown in a foxhole and fed scraps of crowfood. Tigerstar ordered my brother to kill Featherpaw and Stormpaw, but he refused. So Tigerstar ordered Blackstar and Darkstripe to kill him."

The apprentice listened with eyes huge with horror. She couldn't believe any cat could be that cruel. She had known Tigerstar had murdered many cats, and that he had wreaked havoc on RiverClan, but she hadn't known about this. Then, something occurred to her. "Wait, you said Blackstar?" The leader of ShadowClan, who had died less than a moon before Silentpaw's birth. "He killed your brother?"

Mistystar nodded grimly. "He was Tigerstar's deputy. And in TigerClan, his word was law."

"But he murdered your brother," Silentpaw repeated incredulously. "How could you let him be ShadowClan's leader for so long?"

The leader growled in warning, making Silentpaw fall instantly silent. "Oh, I never forgave him," she said in a low growl. "That's not something you can just put in the past. But Blackstar worked very hard to restore ShadowClan to a Clan of honor, not the sharpened claws of a tyrant. It wasn't easy to see his face at every Gathering, but if he was going to put an honest effort into redeeming ShadowClan and himself, I had to let him try. It's for StarClan to judge him now." Her anger melted, and she sighed. "But I still miss Stonefur every day."

Silentpaw just listened in horror. She couldn't imagine having to face her littermate's murderer every Gathering without burying her claws in his face. Mistystar was even more noble and forgiving that Silentpaw could have imagined.

Thinking of littermates led to thoughts of Blazepaw. Silentpaw hung her head, admitting, "I left without telling my brother where I was going. He must have been so worried and scared." Guilt seared through her pelt. "I shouldn't have done that to him, or my parents."

"They must know where you are by now," Mistystar reasoned. "It's not like Dovewing would have lost sight of you for long."

Silentpaw didn't reply. She didn't quite feel like telling Mistystar about her dream with Jayfeather, and Dewpaw's death. Instead, she said, "I just hope they won't be too angry when I return."

Mistystar snorted. "Of course they'll be angry," she told Silentpaw bluntly. "Family is always angry when they're worried. It's because they care about you, Silentpaw, and they don't want anything to happen to you." She paused. "Do you want to go back home now?"

She considered it for a few moments, then shook her head. "I still have work to do here," she said firmly. "And travel isn't totally safe with the lake the way it is. Once the flood starts dying down, I'll return to ThunderClan."

Disclaimer: This was written before Bramblestar's Storm was even announced. Any similarities to Bramblestar's Storm and it's plot are pure coincidence, you can check the dates, please don't kill me.

Well this one didn't take wrong to write. XD

Anyway, more Silentpaw in RiverClan shenanigans. And look, Mistystar decided to give Silentpaw some training! I deliberately tried to make this mirror the Firepaw and Bluestar training session in Into the Wild.

Also, a wild Darkbreeze appears! I'm really starting to adore this character.

More to come with Blazepaw and ThunderClan.