Rising Moon
Jedi Goat
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.
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Chapter 26
A few weeks later, it was almost time for the medicine cats to go to the Moonpool. Leafpool hadn't said a word regarding Moonpaw's warrior ceremony; the young black she-cat assumed that her punishment was to continue.
Moonpaw heaved a sigh, staring morosely down at the herbs she was supposed to be sorting that sunhigh. It just wasn't fair. One slip, and suddenly the world was against her. Leafpool and Cindercloud hardly spoke to her anymore – they were all engrossed in some secret world of their own.
"Something wrong?" Oakheart's gentle voice brought her out of her reverie.
"Hmm? No, I'm fine." Moonpaw shook her head to clear it and nudged aside the celandine leaves. After his fall into the river, Oakheart had been restrained to the medicine cats' den under the fear that he had caught greencough.
Oakheart pulled himself to his paws. "Don't lie to me, Moonpaw," he stated quietly, casting a glance toward the fern-covered entranceway to make sure no one was watching. Then he took a step forward and brushed his tail affectionately over her ear. "I know something's bothering you."
Moonpaw shook her head again, lost in thought. She couldn't believe she was still an apprentice when everyone else had long ago become warriors. Surely she deserved her name, too. She had learned from her punishment; it needn't continue like this!
Hew licked her ear warmly. "Why don't we go for a walk? I could use a stretch and you could do with some time outside the camp."
She glanced at him sharply. "Leafpool ordered that-"
"Leafpool's not here right now," he interrupted reassuringly. "C'mon."
Moonpaw sighed, in no mood to argue. She let Oakheart guide her from the den, and then they slipped unnoticed around the edge of the clearing to behind the nursery. Moonpaw cast a last glance behind her at ThunderClan camp – no one could care less that she and Oakheart were leaving. She turned away and scrambled up the tunnel, convinced she would get her mind off Leafpool, Cindercloud and medicine cat life for a while.
As the two cats slid out from under the juniper bush, Moonpaw finally noticed the strange scent weaving through the undergrowth. She lowered her nose, sniffing experimentally. Her head shot back up and her eyes widened as she recognized the scent. "Oakheart!"
The white tom paused a tail-length in front of her, peering back concernedly. "What is it?"
Moonpaw lowered her muzzle again, sniffing once more just to he sure. "A kit's been here," she mewed, troubled.
"In leaf-bare?" Oakheart padded back and scented the grass. He stiffened suddenly. "Rabbitkit!"
Moonpaw met his amber gaze. "Do you think she wandered out? Alone?"
"I don't think so." Oakheart followed the scent trail for a few fox-lengths. "There's a strange smell here. She wasn't alone."
Moonpaw stepped over to where he was and nosed the leaves of a young plant. The sweet aroma of chamomile tingled in her nostrils, Rabbitkit's scent mingling in with it. And if she focused hard enough, she could find an odd cat-scent.
Moonpaw drew back, considering. It was a tom's scent, she was sure. But it was unfamiliar. Or was it? Something distantly flickered in her memory, but she couldn't recall meeting or seeing a cat with this smell before.
She blinked back to reality to see Oakheart already along down the scent trail. She bounded after him, heart abruptly jolting and then hammering in her chest as a thought struck her.
"Oakheart – do you think she was kidnapped?" she voiced, eyes widening fearfully.
"I don't know." He turned back to her, fire in his gaze. "But we'll find out."
Moonpaw nodded, gathering her courage. An expression of determination settling on her features, she padded after Oakheart through the undergrowth.
"My kit!" A loud shriek sent Leafpool racing into the nursery. The medicine cat blinked quickly to adjust her eyes to the gloom.
"Squirrelflight! What's wrong?"
The ginger she-cat was on her paws, twisting her head this way and that, emerald eyes wide. Two bundles of fluff mewled pitifully for attention from where they were crouched beneath her.
Leafpool licked her frantic sister's ear, urging her to lie back down. Squirrelflight curled up dejectedly on the soft moss, nudging the two kits closer to her warm belly.
"Now," Leafpool said firmly, "tell me what is wrong."
Squirrelflight shook her head wildly. "Rabbitkit," she wailed. "She's missing!"
Leafpool took a closer look down at the two kits – one gray flecked with smoke, Blazekit; and the other a mottled brown, Briarkit. Neither was the small tabby she-cat. "When did you last see her?"
Squirrelflight shut her eyes, ears drooping as she thought. "Last night," she finally mewed. "I saw her here before I fell asleep. When I woke up," – she twitched her tail – "she was gone."
Leafpool nosed her sister's ear comfortingly. "I'll ask Firestar to send out a patrol. I'll search camp, too. She probably just wandered out and got lost. She can't be far."
Squirrelflight gave a shuddering sigh and nodded, turning to press her nose into Blazekit's fur.
Only moments later, a patrol was fanned out around the nursery. Squirrelflight crouched nearby, fur fluffed out and eyes wild. Blazekit and Briarkit were scrambling over her tail and back, mewling and blinking in confusion in the bright sunlight. Their eyes had only recently opened.
Brambleclaw sat beside his mate, murmuring consolingly to her. His scarred and half-sightless face was pressed into her pelt.
Leafpool watched from the medicine cats' den, tail twitching nervously. The thought of her sister's kit, lost somewhere with leaf-bare on the way, gave her chills.
"Leafpool?" The brown she-cat jumped. Spinning around, she caught sight of Cindercloud and let out a sigh of relief.
"What's wrong?" Her apprentice's eyes were wide with sympathy.
"It's Squirrelflight." Leafpool nodded in her sister's direction. "One of her kits is missing."
"Moonpaw is missing, too," Cindercloud said, but Leafpool shrugged her words off; Moonpaw was old enough to look out for herself, unlike Rabbitkit.
"So is Oakheart."
"He can't have gone far. He isn't mousebrained," commented Leafpool offhandedly. Her ears suddenly pricked forward as a triumphant yowl came from outside.
"We've found the scent trail!"
To be continued...
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