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Chapter 20

Echoripple watched Ash's kits play with each other through the small hole. After spending a quarter moon with the rogues, she'd allowed her anger to settle down so it was just a twinge of resentment in her paws. Since then, she had learned much of how the rogue group worked.

Coal, of course, was the leader, he sent cats out to hunt and made sure every cat was fed at the end of the day. He also had a mate, Flick, a small creamy-brown she-cat with wide blue eyes, she had been named for the restless flicking of her tail. She was the mother of Viper and Star and was expecting more kits.

Flare, the tom who was in charge of guarding her, was the lead scout. He scouted out the land when they were traveling and scouted around the territory when they arrived. He was the best at staying hidden even though he had bright red fur.

Then there was Ice, the fluffy white tom she had fought a few times. He trained all the young cats on how to hunt and fight, he was actually a very likeable cat and held no grudges against her.

Still, the group was far from a Clan, and maybe that was a good thing, she was sure they'd think the sacrifice was as horrible and ridiculous as she thought it was. But they didn't have a medicine-cat, and that resulted in having no elders.

Slash had been an interesting character toward her, he seemed to have a grudging likeness for her and she was surprised that she liked being with him so much. He wasn't anything special, impatient, gruff, had a…different sense of humor, and was somewhat aloof.

But Echoripple liked him for something she couldn't say. Maybe it was his fierce pride in his group, his unwavering courage, or just that he didn't judge her. Though he didn't trust her as much as some other cats in the group did.

Coal had set up a meeting with the Clan-cats near the full moon, as she had suggested, which would be tomorrow. And though the rouges treated her decently and allowed her to wander around their camp, she couldn't wait to be back in her own territory where she was free to go where she pleased.

She glanced at Slash, the grey tom was watching her through his blue eyes as she groomed her pelt, flicking off the leaves that stuck to her fur. Slash had been nice enough to bring her moss so she hadn't had to sleep with leaves prickling her every night, though she suspected he had done it more for himself then her.

He continued to sleep with her, she didn't know why she let him, she supposed she liked a cat to be next at her, the warm side against her flank and the soft breath stirring her fur gently, it made her feel safe. Though she wondered if Slash did it just so he could sleep while guarding her.

"Why are your eyes like that?" Slash asked, he was stretched out on his belly and was watching her while his chin was propped up on his paws.

"Like what?" she asked, looking at him, letting her eyes skim over his crooked, shiny-white stripe.

"Like that Aqua color, I've never seen it in a cat's eyes before," he answered.

Echoripple shrugged, glad Flare was out hunting. She always felt weird having Flare watch her, she didn't get that feeling with Slash though.

"Anyway, I'm more curious what's underneath those eyes," Slash mewed.

Echoripple looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean, 'underneath?"

Slash looked at her steadily, his eyes held that warm glow that always made her heart jump. "I want to know what you're hiding. You wear a mask, Echoripple, and I want to know what's behind it," Slash mewed, getting to his paws and padding over to her.

She laid on her back as he looked down into her eyes, the seriousness in the blue depths amused her. "Did you find what's behind my mask yet?" she whispered after awhile, not ever wanting to have to look away from his eyes.

Slash stared for another moment, then sighed and shook his head, "no, you're hiding it too well," he grumbled, getting off of her and laying back down on his belly.

Echoripple rolled to her paws and drew her paw over her ears quickly to hide her barely contained excitement and embarrassment. She knew what he was looking for, he was looking for more emotion then just the natural impulses all cats had.

Slash kept staring at her as she swept the leaves to the side of the den with her tail, then rearranged her slightly rumpled nest. Unable to go anywhere, she had all the time in the world to keep the little den tidy.

She looked up as Swoop, a slim red she-cat with dappled, dark, brown spots and amber eyes, padded into the den, a mouse hanging from her jaws and her three kits peeking out from behind her.

As Swoop gave her the mouse with a dip of her head, Echoripple wondered how funny it was that the queens brought their kits to meet her, it'd never be allowed in the Clans.

"Hey! Echoripple! When are you going back to your Clan?" one of the kits, a slim black she-cat named Ebony asked her.

Echoripple shrugged, "soon. I hope," she added with a mutter. Slash frowned and so did the other kits.

"Will you come visit us?" another kit, Gorse, a spiky-furred brown and white tom with blue eyes asked hopefully.

Echoripple shrugged again, "maybe," though she doubted she would.

The last kit, Twig, a lanky brown tom with smudgy grey paws and amber eyes jumped on her tail. "Will you play with us now?" he squeaked as she lashed her tail with him still hanging on.

She sighed and nodded. Instantly, the other two kits hurtled themselves at her and she batted them off with wide, sheathed paws. She wondered why they liked her so much, she'd played with them once because she'd been so bored and since them they wanted to play with her every day.

After awhile, Swoop called her kits away and they padded out of the hole with their tails down and cast longing glances back at her. She waved her tail in farewell then re-groomed her pelt.

Once she had, she started eating the mouse Swoop had brought her. As she was licking the last scraps of mouse from her whiskers, Flare padded in with a shrew for Slash. She watched Slash eat the shrew in a few famished gulps.

"Hey, Echoripple, do you want to go for a walk?" Slash asked casually as he finished. She nodded, trying to match his cool attitude. Slash led her up the hole and she blinked against the bright sunlight, though the chill breeze made her fluff up her fur.

She followed Slash around the camp, taking long strides to stretch out her legs that had been cramped all morning. She blinked as Slash led her to the entrance. "Are you coming?" he asked, looking back at her as she hesitated near the entrance.

She nodded hastily and skipped to catch up with him, listening for any yowls that might stop her. None did and she emerged form the shaded hollow next to Slash. She looked across the field of waving golden grass to the forest, it was so close.

For a heartbeat she almost ran to it, she could outrun Slash easily as she was much faster. But then she realized she didn't want to run away from Slash.

Nothing was waiting for her at camp, Nighthawk was with Spottedpaw, who probably had her warrior name by now. Hailstorm had probably moved on to Creamcloud, and Raincloud was probably still padding after Brackenclaw, if she wasn't with him by now. Then Stormsong had her mate and kits, there was no reason for her to run back to nothing.

She followed Slash as he padded in the opposite direction of the forest. Before long, she began to recognize the landscape.

There's the river, and the small brush patch I hid in from a dog one day, and then the clump of herbs near the river where I often hunted. She realized Slash was taking her directly to where she used to live. Is he hoping for me to talk and him to find out what I'm hiding about my past?

The thought was interesting, though she had already lost the initial rage she'd felt for the rogues several days ago, the one thing she was hiding now was her origin. She blinked miserably at the thought that her own family had given her up and thought she had died long ago.

She slowed her pace as they padded closer to the pool. By now she could see the Twolegplace was much closer then it had been when she'd left, it had spread across half the field that used to run up to the city.

She padded over the rise, pressing against Slash. The ground turned form dirt to rock and she found herself next to the river and on the rocks that the river cascaded down from. She looked around, the pool looked the same, the sandy beach that surrounded it looked as white as ever.

She looked around and found her old den, moss still hung down from the rock, though it had been partly ripped away. She padded to it, ducking underneath the ragged moss.

The den was just as she had remembered, the ground was sandy turning to grass at the back of the den. Four crumpled piles of moss laid on the grass, she guessed they were the remnants of the nests that had once lined the back of the den so tidily.

She padded over to them and sniffed, her heart ached ass he recognized faint traces of Rain and Selena. Hers and Storm's were there as well, but it smelled different, she supposed it was because they were SkyClan now.

She padded out of the den to Slash. Her sadness must have shone in her eyes for his curious blue gaze became sympathetic and he pressed against her. She was grateful for his shoulder to lean on while she sniffled up her grief.

He led her gently over to beside the pool. "I thought you might like to see your old home, I didn't know it would upset you," he murmured, sounding soft and gentle.

She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, "the last time I was here, two members of my family were killed," she murmured, not bothering to say that it was Slash's group that had killed them. She wasn't sure if Slash had even participated in the attack.

She closed her eyes and pressed against Slash. His comforting scent and sturdy shoulders allowed her to fall asleep with a sense of safety.

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