Disclaimer: Warriors by Erin Hunter
Thanks to my fablous reviewers: Icethroat21, Jtlover28, Warriors-Skywing, Oo-Rainpath-oO, and VioletteRose
I'm back home now. This computer is so much different from the laptop. I have a headache just looking at it. And I'm mad that school starts Monday. This is so not fun.
Thanks to VioletteRose for the fun reviews. Keep on guessing.
Everyone else, read this next episode of Falling into Shadow. Many questions will be answered as even more arise!
Chapter 33
The next morning came. Fallingsnow got out of camp before Darkfire could wake. She knew she couldn't avoid him forever, but she didn't want to confess to him what she was doing. And yet that was what she had to do. That was the only way she and Brownfeather could go to Summerheat Camp to live. Darkfire was bound to notice them following his group if she just went after him.
Fallingsnow didn't want to tell him though. It was a hard thing to confess. He might not like that she was breaking the code. He might not like that it was a ShadowClan cat she was seeing. Too much would be at stake if she told another cat about what was happening. That was why she didn't tell Dewstep. How was he supposed to help her? How was he supposed to help Brownfeather live? She still didn't understand what the Three were talking about.
Darkfire managed to catch up to her before evening. She was just returning from a hunting patrol with Dovetooth and Brackenfur and she saw Darkfire waiting outside the tunnel. The moment he saw her he stood up. Fallingsnow halted in her tracks. She stared at him, the squirrel in her jaws forgotten.
"Would you take Fallingsnow's catch to the pile?" Darkfire asked. "I'd like to talk with her."
"We can," Brackenfur meowed.
Fallingsnow wanted him to protest, or to even ask why, but Brackenfur was one of the cats that trusted Darkfire. The golden warrior said nothing, but took the squirrel. Fallingsnow looked at Dovetooth, pleading with her eyes.
Dovetooth looked at her curiously, but after glancing at Darkfire, Fallingsnow's aunt shook her head and followed Brackenfur into the tunnel. It seemed she was going to trust Darkfire too.
Fallingsnow sighed in defeat. Darkfire had caught up to her. She hadn't even lasted a day.
"Lets walk," Darkfire meowed. "I'm sure what we have to say, no one else needs to hear."
Fallingsnow walked after him. She didn't even wonder at how he was certain this was private. He knew a lot of things Fallingsnow had discovered. It was simply the way he was. All knowing like the famous cats of old. Or like StarClan.
She dragged her paws as she followed him. She knew she was wasting time, but perhaps Darkfire didn't like staying out of camp after dark. Maybe he would let her go back and say they'd talk in the morning. Then she could avoid him all over again. She'd try to avoid him for as long as she could.
Darkfire didn't seem to mind the growing darkness or that Fallingsnow was purposefully lagging behind. He just walked onward. He would lift his head on occasion to sniff the air. Eventually he seemed to find an area he thought was nice. He sat down and curled his tail around his legs. He sat and stared at Fallingsnow.
Fallingsnow sat down too, but far away away from him. She didn't look at him for a long time. But as the silence grew longer, she glanced up. His yellow eyes gazed down at her. They seemed so knowing and open. Fallingsnow could almost believe he knew what she'd been doing.
Fallingsnow suddenly wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to ask if she and Brownfeather could come along. But Fallingsnow was reluctant. She didn't want to talk about Brownfeather to another cat who wouldn't understand her love. She'd be better off talking to Needlefur, but she had a feeling he'd tell her to stop what she was doing and that was exactly what she didn't want to do. It would hurt Brownfeather too much if she did that.
She also wanted to talk to Brownfeather first before she approached her uncle. If Brownfeather liked her idea about leaving, then she'd ask. If Brownfeather refused to even leave the lake, Fallingsnow didn't want to bother Darkfire about nothing. It was a hard decision to make, but Fallingsnow kept her mouth sealed despite the growing silence that she felt she had to fill.
"You aren't going to say anything, are you?" Darkfire meowed as night settled in.
She shook her head firmly.
He sighed. "Why are you disappearing at night?"
"I don't disappear. I'm using the dirt-place," she insisted.
Darkfire really didn't believe her.
"If what you're doing is dangerous, you have to tell someone," Darkfire meowed. "I would like it if you told me because, though I'm not a member of your Clan, that just means I'm not required to tell Firestar. I might be able to help you."
Fallingsnow's heart ached. She knew he meant well, but she just couldn't say anything to him. Not yet.
"Perhaps you should talk to Dewstep," Darkfire meowed.
Fallingsnow looked at him hard. Had he been speaking to the Three?
"Why?" she meowed.
"Secrets sometimes aren't good things," he meowed. It looked like there was more to say, but his lips were sealed as well. If Fallingsnow wanted the information, she would have to talk to Dewstep.
Darkfire waited a few more moments but finally he gave up.
"If you do need to talk, you can come to me," he told her.
"I know," she meowed quietly. "I might. But later."
Darkfire blinked his large eyes in assent.
"Lets get back to camp," he rumbled.
He stood up and brushed his tail over her shoulders. Fallingsnow followed him. She felt really bad, but she couldn't say anything. Not yet. Not until she saw Brownfeather. It was only one more night. Fallingsnow looked at Darkfire as she followed after him. She'd have to sneak out of camp once more. And it would be very hard to do that with him watching. She almost sighed. She couldn't just not show up though. It would be dangerous to Brownfeather to be left alone and he'd worry too much about her. She'd have to meet him.
-Line-
Darkfire seemed to sleep. He didn't move while Fallingsnow sniffed him and even stood over him. He knew she was trying to make sure he slept. He had to make her believe he was and wouldn't wake up.
He'd spent yesterday night doing the same, and even though Fallingsnow had woken up after the moonhigh patrol came back, she didn't go anywhere. Darkfire wondered if she really had just used the dirt-place. But this night would confirm everything.
Fallingsnow seemed to believe he really was asleep and she slowly crept from the den. Darkfire waited a short while before getting up. He couldn't hear her outside the den. Now it would be time to see if she really was being an honest cat. He really hope she was.
Darkfire looked around the den but all the other cats seemed to be sleeping. He cautiously wound his way around their sleeping bodies. It was suddenly eerie to be among them. Another Clan could attack and no one would be prepared.
Darkfire got out of the den. He stayed in the shadows as he crept around Sandstorm as she guarded the camp. Darkfire knew she couldn't see him. He was using the shadow walking trick the ShadowClan cats had taught him while he was one of their warriors. He wondered if Fallingsnow had suddenly learned how to do it as well. How else could she continue to get out of camp? Darkfire already knew she had left. Her scent trail didn't lead to the dirt-place. He followed it out of the tunnel.
Then he swiftly tracked her through the forest. He followed her by scent and by the tracks in the snow. He wondered how no one had ever noticed the paw prints before this time. The snow didn't melt or build up that quickly. Perhaps no one really was concerned about tracks. Maybe because it was in Clan territory they felt safe.
Darkfire hurried after Fallingsnow. He never did catch a glimpse of her but when he realized where she was going, his heart tightened. She was heading to ShadowClan. What was she doing? ShadowClan hated her at this moment. They probably hated all of ThunderClan as well for having Darkfire and Needlefur with them. They weren't attacking because of their small numbers, but if they'd been bigger, Darkfire was sure Kinkstar would have them over the border.
Darkfire found Fallingsnow after a short time. He saw her sitting next to a dark tabby tom. They whispered to each other and leaned against one another. Darkfire stared at them as they wrapped tails. He felt cold. This wasn't good. He suddenly knew what was going on. It was something he'd once joked about to himself. Fallingsnow was seeing a cat from another Clan.
This couldn't come at a worse time, he hissed mentally to himself, staring at them.
Because of Darkfire and Needlefur's return, ShadowClan was remembering what Needlefur had done to get himself chased from his Clan. These two seemed determined to reenact it. If ShadowClan learned of this, there was no way the tom was getting out alive.
Darkfire didn't spend long watching them. He'd seen enough. He turned away and faced ThunderClan. As he walked back, he wondered if he should tell Dewstep what was happening. Darkfire was supposed to be watching after Fallingsnow for any indication that anything was wrong with her. But Darkfire had a feeling not even Dewstep thought this would happen. Darkfire sighed. No, he wasn't going to tell. Fallingsnow trusted him. So when she was ready she would tell. If not, then the warrior of ShadowClan would be dead if his Clan discovered them first. Either way, Fallingsnow would learn.