Chapter 20
"Owlpaw, where are you going?"
Owlpaw tried not to groan, or even make a pained face. Here we go again. She thought. She turned around to face Drizzlepaw. "I was going hunting."
"Oh. Well, good luck." He turned around and started walking away.
Owlpaw blinked. She hadn't expected it to be that easy. "Where are you going?" She asked, trying to make her voice sound curious, and not surprised or desperate like she really was.
"Oh, I was going back to spend some time with my siblings." He replied with a shrug. "I would've spent time with you, but hunting is something best done alone. . ."
"Right." Owlpaw agreed quickly, a little too quickly. She nodded. "Have fun Drizzlepaw." She turned around and ran off into the abandon twoleg place, going the opposite direction of Drizzlepaw.
She'd done it. She'd final managed to get rid of Drizzlepaw and could go talk to her mother. So why wasn't she happy about that? Owlpaw frowned, realizing she'd wanted Drizzlepaw to stop her.
"Owlpaw."
Owlpaw blinked, breaking herself out of her thoughts. She turned towards the speaker. "Hi Tigerpaw." She managed to smile weakly.
"Glad you could make it this time." Tigerpaw said.
"Yeah . . . Me too. . ." Owlpaw lied.
The two reached the border where Death Trap was waiting. She flicked her gaze to Owlpaw, but aside from that, ignored her. "Tigerpaw, how is Bluepaw doing?"
"Alright." Tigerpaw replied. "She's becoming less trusting and hasn't given any hints about meeting you."
"Wait, Bluepaw's been meeting you?" Owlpaw asked her.
Death Trap turned towards Owlpaw, eyes narrowed. "Yes." She hissed. "And perhaps if you made the effort to meet with me too, you'd know that. Wouldn't she Tigerpaw?"
Tigerpaw nodded, looking nervous.
"Every time I try to leave, someone spots me." Owlpaw growled. "Would you prefer I lead them right to you?!"
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you don't want to visit me." Death Trap snapped.
"No I don't!" Owlpaw agreed. "I want to stay in Fallenclan and spend time with Drizzlepaw!" Owlpaw shut her mouth and her eyes widened in shock. But the most shocking part wasn't that she'd said it, it was that it was true. She didn't want anything to do with Death Trap anymore.
Death Trap recovered faster than her. "Then I no longer have any use for you." Death Trap said simply. Then she attacked Owlpaw, pounced on her and crushing her chest as hard as she could. Blood spurted out.
Owlpaw yowled in surprise and pain. Then she grabbed at one of Death Trap's feet and yanked. It made Death Trap loose her balance, but she made sure to drag her claws through Owlpaw's chest further in the process. Tigerpaw just stood off to the side, jaw dropped in shock.
Death Trap kicked her hind legs at Owlpaw. Owlpaw rolled away, but she knew she couldn't win this fight. Death Trap was stronger and a better fighter in general. Sure enough Death Trap grabbed Owlpaw's spine and lifted her into the air.
Then the sound of someone crashing through the foliage met their ears. Death Trap dropped Owlpaw just as Drizzlepaw came into view. Death Trap tried to get out while she could, but Drizzlepaw had seen her. "Death Trap." He gasped.
Owlpaw gave a little grown of pain. Drizzlepaw's attention turned to her. "Owlpaw! Oh Starclan we have to get you back to camp!" He turned to Tigerpaw. "Can you help me?"
For a moment Tigerpaw just stared at him blankly. Then he seemed to wake up. He gave Drizzlepaw a nod and the two of them carried Owlpaw back towards camp.
Wolfpaw felt himself growing steadily shakier as he stood in the Wildclan camp. "What's he doing here?" Goldenglow whispered to Yelloweyes. Yelloweyes shrugged. They weren't the only ones talking about him either. Some conversations were more heated than others.
Then Ripstar climbed on top of a pile of rocks. "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around! We're having a meeting!" Ripstar called out.
Of course, most cats were already out because of Wolfpaw, but his announcement got the rest of the cats out. Silverpaw was one such cat. She gave a little gasp when she saw Wolfpaw. Wolfpaw tried to smile, but he couldn't. He just looked away.
Ripstar continued to talk. "As you can see, Wolfpaw is here. He is here to join the clan."
There were several gasps and a few remarks, but none of them were like Flurrywind's. "What?!" He snarled. "You said no of course!"
"Actually I have said yes." Flurrywind opened his mouth. Whatever he was going to say, Ripstar didn't let him. "Let me guess, this clan is only for wild cats?" He climbed down. "Well I never said that, and I'm not going to miss out on the opportunity to let another cat into the clan, one who wasn't very loyal to his other clan for that matter. Any other objections!" He called to the group at large. No one had any.
Ripstar nodded. "Good. Then Wolfpaw, from now on your mentor will be Coldsting. That's all." He turned around and walked away.
Wolfpaw gulped. Coldsting wasn't exactly one of Wolfpaw's favorite cats. Then another cat he wasn't too fond of came up. "I see you've won the heart of our leader." Flurrywind sneered. Woflapw turned towards him and sputtered a bit, but he couldn't think of anything to say. "But you can't fool me." Flurrywind continued. "You know why Ripstar choose me as deputy?" Wolfpaw shook his head. "Because I know what's best for the clan." He swung his paws out and knocked Wolfpaw off his feet. "And what it doesn't need is a runt of an apprentice from another clan!"
"He's from another clan? I never would've guessed." Both cats turned towards the voice. Silverpaw was standing nearby. Flurrywind grunted and walked away, letting Wolfpaw up.
Silverpaw ran over to him as soon as Flurrywind was gone. "Wolfpaw are you alright?"
Wolfpaw nodded. "F-fine." He replied.
"Good. My mentor is just so . . . awful. Don't worry, I'll talk to Ripstar. He'll make sure you don't have to spend much time with him."
Wolfpaw smiled, glad Sliverpaw was back to being kind to him. But there was one thing he was wondering about. "But, why would Ripstar listen to you?" He asked.
Silverpaw beamed proudly. "Because, he's my father."