Chapter Twenty-Eight
Flowerpaw wriggled as violently as she could, trying to escape from her captor's strong jaws. "Let me go!" She couldn't understand what this tom could want with her. She was only an apprentice, not a trusted senior warrior, and didn't know any secrets that would give SmokeClan an advantage over RainClan.
The tom let out a muffled purr of amusement, keeping her scruff firmly held between his teeth.
"Help!" She screeched again, but the sounds of battle were fading into the distance.
He continued pulling her as her paws scrabbled along the forest floor. She could feel the twigs and debris scraping against her paw pads, but she couldn't gain any traction. Eventually she stopped struggling, too exhausted by the battle to fight back any longer.
Eventually they arrived in a small hollow, closed in by trees growing tightly together. The tom dragged Flowerpaw roughly down the slope, pulling her towards a small cluster of cats at one side of the hollow.
"Scorchwind?" An older tom broke off from the group, padding over to the tom who held Flowerpaw. "What is this?"
Scorchwind spat out Flowerpaw abruptly and she collapsed to the ground. He placed a paw threateningly against her throat. "She's a medicine cat apprentice," he meowed.
The gray tabby tom's eyes widened. "StarClan has answered our prayers at last," he murmured.
"What do you know about StarClan?" Flowerpaw spat. "You abandoned them long ago."
The tom in front of her lowered his gaze. "We never abandoned StarClan," he meowed. "They may have left us behind, but our faith has never wavered." His yellow eyes glowed with emotion.
Scorchwind pulled away his paw and nudged her to get up. "One wrong move and I break your leg," he hissed.
Flowerpaw flattened her ears to her head as she stood and shot him a hateful glare. "Why have you brought me here?"
Scorchwind moved to answer, but the gray tabby cut him off with a flick of his tail. "Our Clan has suffered greatly since we were driven from our territory. Our last medicine cat died before our Clan fell, and his knowledge died with him. He trained no apprentice, and our warriors had only limited knowledge of herbs. Anytime we are struck by disease, it devastates us.
"Your arrival is a blessing. With your help, we will be able to strengthen our Clan and return to our former glory."
Flowerpaw dug her claws into the ground. "My 'arrival'? I was abducted. I don't want to be here, and I refuse to help your measly excuse for a Clan."
Scorchwind shouldered her out of the way. "Troutleap, it's no use trying to reason her. We'll have to break her down. She'll cave eventually."
Flowerpaw hissed. "I won't. I was a warrior apprentice before I became a medicine cat. I'd rather die than help you." The fur on her spine bristled.
Scorchwind let out another amused rumble, turning back towards her. "Strong words from a little apprentice." He inclined his head towards the cats milling behind Troutleap. "Spottedshade. You'll help Troutleap watch over her. I know you'll be able to bring her around."
A massive dark gray tom stepped forward, his amber eyes narrowed with what looked like malicious delight. "You can count on me," he meowed. He prowled around Flowerpaw in a circle as Scorchwind bounded away, back into the trees. "What's your name, little one?" He twisted the kind words into a mocking threat.
Flowerpaw just stared at him, narrowing her uninjured eye right back at him. I'm not going to let him scare me, she told herself. They found Sundapple, and they'll come and find me. Larkfeather would never leave me here to rot.
Spottedshade sat comfortably and unsheathed his claws on one paw, carefully licking them. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I'm indifferent. It's all up to you."
"I'm not little," spat Flowerpaw, unable to hold her tongue. "My littermates are already warriors."
"Hm." Spottedshade raked his gaze over her. "You look small and weak to me. Just tell me your name, and we'll have made one another's acquaintance."
What's the harm? Flowerpaw considered for a moment, and then decided to give in. "Flowerpaw."
Spottedshade retracted his claws and stared intently at her. "Flowerpaw. What a pretty name. Now, Flowerpaw, you're going to tell me and Troutleap all that you know about herbs, and you will share it again when Graymask returns from the battle."
"No." Her voice was quiet but firm.
"What was that?" Spottedshade's voice dropped to a low hiss.
"I said no." Flowerpaw closed her eyes, steeling herself for whatever was to come. If she gave SmokeClan her knowledge of herbs, they would become even stronger. She couldn't risk endangering her own Clan like that.
She let out a surprised yowl as Spottedshade knocked her to the ground. Opening her eyes, she saw him standing over her, Troutleap standing nearby. The older tom looked troubled, but not as if he was going to intervene.
The powerful dark gray tabby standing over her lifted a paw threateningly. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?" His voice was thin and cold.
"I'm not going to tell you anything." Flowerpaw cursed herself as she heard her voice waver with fear.
"Fine." Spottedshade slammed his paw down on her foreleg, and she instinctively bore her claws. Without making a sound, he swiftly dipped his head down, and she felt a searing pain as his teeth sank into the flesh above her claws. She let out a wild screech of agony. The pain she'd felt from the cut above her eye was nothing compared to this.
Her vision blurred for a few heartbeats as Spottedshade stepped away from her, and she felt the earth swaying beneath her. "What… What did you do?" Her voice was breathless, hardly more than a whisper. She rolled over as quickly as her body would allow her, gazing down at her paws. Her stomach roiled as she realized two of the claws on her left paw were gone, leaving only torn, mangled flesh where they should have been. StarClan, help me!
She looked up as Spottedshade drew a paw across his mouth, wiping away some of her blood. "Now, Flowerpaw, are you ready to talk?"
