Chapter 53:
"Roseleaf, it's time to get up!" a claw poked her in her side. Roseleaf looked up to see Heatherpaw looming over her, her amber eyes looking into Roseleaf's.
Roseleaf stretched. It seemed like only heartbeats ago she had curled up in the nest, her belly full of prey and her heart full of warmth and friendship. Now, her belly was empty and rumbling loudly, and she was freezing. Getting up, she followed Heatherpaw out of the badger den that they had camped in that night. She gazed in wonder at the frozen dew that covered everything of the ground, sparkling delicately in the early-dawn sunlight.
"Isn't it pretty?" Heatherpaw asked, her eyes alight. "The first frost of the season!"
Not really, Roseleaf wanted to say, her eyes clouded with worry. It means the sick cats will probably have less time to live. We'd better find the cure soon. But instead, she lied lightly, "Oh, yes!", sharing an uneasy glance with Harefoot, who was a few tail-lengths away, talking with the rest of their group.
"Well, shall we go?" Waterstorm called. It was his turn to lead the cats for the day, and all of the cats murmured agreements and padded after the RiverClan tom.
They had been traveling for three sunrises now, and fell into their familiar routine. The cat who had last led, Harefoot, was now at the tail end of the group, making sure all was fine in front of him. Roseleaf padded up front by Waterstorm, with Owlflight on her flank. Behind her was Redfeather, who seemed lost in her own thoughts, and Heatherpaw was chatting to Harefoot at the back of the group.
"Roseleaf, if you spot any more feverfew or daisy leaves, I could sure use it." Owlflight grumbled, wincing as they picked up the pace to a trot, leaving the cover of the trees and beginnign to follow along an unnaturally white Twoleg fence. Inside the fence were grazing sheep, some calmly watching the cats as they passed but making no move toward them.
Roseleaf chuckled. "All right." Her muscles weren't that sore anymore, but she remembered barely being able to walk that second day of the journey. Thank StarClan it isn't that bad anymore! she thought, scanning her surroundings to look for any signs of fresh-kill.
Instead of prey, she spotted a dark brown and tan dog bolting toward them, saliva flying out of his mouth, his tongue lolling. The dog's eyes locked with Roseleaf's, and for a heartbeat cold terror raced through her veins, rendering her unable to speak or move. Gasping, she tore her gaze away from the nearing dog, yowling, "DOG!" and bolting forward, running as fast as she could and hearing the rush of blood in her ears. She could also hear the pawsteps of the rest of the group behind her, and the rhythmic thumps of the dog's paws on the grass not far behind them.
Then, she heard a cry that made her feel like her heart would stop beating.
"Help!" Waterstorm yelped. He was at the back of the group, only five tail-lengths from Roseleaf, but he was limping as if he had tripped and injured one of his back legs. He seemed to be hobbling along as fast as he could, but the dog was gaining on him with every terrifying heartbeat.
Without hesitating, Roseleaf bolted toward her friend, but did not stop to help him as she passed, her eyes locked on the dog. She ran straight for it, their eyes meeting again. This time, instead of terror flooding her veins, it was a mixture of adrenaline and determination. She skidded to a halt only a few fox-lengths from where the now-confused dog had stopped in his tracks, cocking his head sideways. His eyes seemed to say, why isn't this cat running away from me?
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Redfeather and Harefoot half-dragging, half-supporting Waterstorm in the opposite direction of the dog, heading for the forest, and Heatherpaw and Owflight charging toward her to help her with the dog.
Roseleaf forced herself to turn her full attention on the dog, who was now coming for her. Roseleaf met it halfway, scraping a paw with unsheathed claws along his muzzle. The dog yelped in pain, but Roseleaf was not finished. In one fluid motion, she leaped into the air, using her tail to turn her ninety degrees so she could leap on his back. The moment she connected with his coarse, dusty brown fur, she sank in her claws as deep as she could, hanging on with all her might as the dog tried to shake her off.
Meanwhile, Heatherpaw had reached her, with Owlflight not far off. Heatherpaw immediately began to slash at the dog's muzzle, and when Owlflight reached them he did the same, causing the dog to give small shudders, then one large shudder, whimpering and yelping with each strike of their claws.
Roseleaf retracted her claws, flinging herself off of the dog's back and landing with a grunt on the soft green grass.
The dog, sensing it wasn't going to get any more fun from the cats, only pain, swiftly fled, ducking through the Twoleg fence with his tail between his legs, whimpering all the way back to his Twoleg.
"And don't come back!" Heatherpaw yowled after it triumphantly, kneading her claws on the ground.
"Thanks, guys," Roseleaf panted, looking to her friends gratefully.
"Come on, let's go back to the others." Owlflight blinked at her warmly, leading the way.
"I hope Waterstorm's okay." Roseleaf murmured, following her Clanmate.
Nightstreak padded glumly around the fresh-kill, seeing nothing that would ignite his hunger. Every part of his body ached for Roseleaf, and Owlflight too, for that matter. In one day, both of his best and only friends had vanished, leaving him feeling alone and abandoned. I just can't understand why they would abandon their Clan like that, especially when our morale is so low anyway. I know they were probably afraid of catching Bloodcough, but they could have at least told me. His tail-tip twitched in annoyance, but then he sighed, deciding on a small mouse and carrying it over to the Halfrock. As he chewed, he continued his sulking. I thought I knew them, thought they would never abandon their Clan, abandon me like that, without even telling me. He finished off the mouse, tasting nothing but his own bitterness. Padding out of camp, he decided to help Wingfeather and Specklenose with Sunpaw's and Acornpaw's battle practice like they had asked.
"Nightstreak, it would do you good to get out of the camp," Wingfeather had said gently.
"Yes, you need to stop thinking about Roseleaf. She made her decision, and you must respect that." Specklenose had nodded. "I'm sure Sunpaw and Acornpaw would love you to train with them, and it wouldn't hurt to brush up on your skills." And with that, they had walked out of camp, their excited apprentices on their heels.
How can they be excited? Nightstreak remembered thinking. Their brother is sick, and will most likely die. I can barely bear having Roseleaf alive and away from me...
Nightstreak dragged himself back to the present, stopping a tail-length away from the mossy training hollow. Be happy she's alive, he commanded himself, but it did not work. A small voice in the back of his mind piped up, But what if she isn't? He shook his head, arguing angrily, she has to be. Nightstreak squared his shoulders and stepped into the training hollow.
"Nightstreak!" Acornpaw and Sunpaw chorused, forgetting the moves they had been practicing and racing toward him while Wingfeather and Specklenose looked on, their faces betraying their happiness at seeing the moody tom.
"Are you going to help us train?" Sunpaw asked.
Nightstreak nodded. "I'm going to make sure ShadowClan won't rip you two to shreds in your first battle."
Sunpaw laughed, while Acornpaw stuck out his chest boldly. "No cat could rip me to shreds!"
"Want to bet?" Nightstreak growled, leaping on him. He easily pushed the younger cat onto his belly, pinning him down in one swift motion. "Now, if I were to unsheathe my claws and rake your belly like this," he demonstrated, brushing his claws along the length of Acornpaw's soft belly fur. "don't you think that would be considered 'ripping you to shreds?'"
"I guess so..." Acornpaw mumbled, while Sunpaw giggled again.
Nightstreak whipped his head around to growl at her playfully, "You're next!"
Now that Owlflight has joined up with the others, I had to do it from some other cat's POV - why not Nightstreak? :)
*THANK YOU: Umbreonmoonspy, XHeart of DarknessX, SMILE, Pumpkinfur, OoJayfeatheroO, MinecraftBluepelt, Tansypetal, and DeatherThrower FOR REVIEWING!*
OoJayfeatheroO: About the relationships, just. you. wait. *evil grin* But actually, nothing is official mate-wise, so far. (Every cat on the journey is still single, except for Redfeather. She had a kit with Duskfall, remember.) But certain cats DO like other certain cats...
Thank you for reading! I'd love it if you posted a review, but if you really don't want to, that's cool too. I'm just saying, it would make my day. Light up my world for a moment. But really, you don't have to. It would just, you know, make me really happy to read what you thought about this chapter. But seriously, no pressure. *hopeful smile* Please?
