Chapter 16

Tall Brother

"You're acting like a queen with her first litter, you need to relax."

Fallenfrost glanced cautiously to Pinepaw, her friend flicking her tail anxiously and brows creased with worry. The brown she-cat sighed and glanced once again at the medicine cat. Once Flametail woke up, he was moved back to the medicine den to continue his recovery. While Fallenfrost was lucky enough to leave the lake with only sore muscles for the next few days, Flametail had fallen ill.

"I know, I know," Fallenfrost admitted awkwardly with a tail flick. "I'm sorry, I've been concerned for him."

Pinepaw nodded in understanding. "Applefur and Redwillow wanted you, by the way. Redwillow's been mumbling about twolegs ever since this morning, he said he needs to talk to you about something."

Fallenfrost tilted her head in confusion before glancing across the clearing to watch Redwillow's stare. Applefur sat next to him, her tail curled delicately over her paws. Fallenfrost flicked an ear and stood up slowly. "I'll go talk with them. Are we still up for a hunting patrol this evening?"

Pinepaw nodded eagerly and grinned at Fallenfrost. "Yeah, I'll see you later." The black she-cat pressed her nose against Fallenfrost's shoulder before she bounded across the camp clearing toward the fresh-kill pile. Fallenfrost stole one more glance to the medicine den before trotting to where Redwillow and Applefur were waiting.

Applefur's expression was dark, but Redwillow's betrayed agitation. "Let's get out of camp," he whispered, "I don't want the others hearing."

Fallenfrost's ex-mentor nodded in agreement and turned tail to nose past the bramble entrance and into the forest. Fallenfrost blinked and trailed slowly behind Redwillow and Applefur with light paws. The forest was eerily quiet, only the chirps of distant birds could be heard. The crunching of thawing snow underneath their paws was almost deafening in the silence of the forest.

They arrived at the training hollow that was filled up to their chests in snow. Redwillow pushed his way through the slushy drift until he clambered his way to a slick, frost-covered boulder in the center. "This is a good spot, the snow will muffle our voices."

Fallenfrost glanced between him and Applefur before slowly taking a seat at the edge of the clearing, waiting for the others to speak first.

"It's about the Dark Forest," Applefur blurted out before turning to look at her previous apprentice. "Redwillow told me that Hawkfrost said you were a twoleg."

Fallenfrost's mind whirled with confusion. How could she ever have been a twoleg? The idea seemed ludicrous to say the least. She shook her head. "I don't know what you mean by that, but I'm not a twoleg." Fallenfrost claimed wholeheartedly. "I'm pretty sure I lived in a barn for a while, but my memory is fuzzy. Maybe you misunderstood?"

Redwillow's whisker twitched. "Maybe."

Applefur glanced between Fallenfrost and Redwillow before she sighed. "Sorry. It probably was just a misunderstanding. There was another question I wanted to ask, though, have you met any other cats from the other Clans in the Place of No Stars?"

Fallenfrost thought for a heartbeat, wracking her scattered memories before she nodded. "Yeah, I've met Antpelt of WindClan and Hollowpaw in RiverClan. They were teaching each other Clan specific battle moves." Fallenfrost's eyes flashed with concern. "How come you want to know?"

"I want to know what the other Clans are up to." Redwillow hissed as he dug his claws into the stone. "I haven't been able to train outside from Tigerstar, Applefur, and a few RiverClan cats."

Fallenfrost tilted her head. "I thought that the point of training there was to eventually unite all the Clans?"

"Unite?" Applefur echoed.

Redwillow scowled and shook his head. "No, of course not. I've been training so that I can eventually become the leader of ShadowClan."

The thought of Redwillow becoming leader sent a flicker of concern through Fallenfrost's body.

Applefur shuffled her paws. "I've been training to just become stronger for the Clan. I want to be able to defend the Clan easily so that something like ThunderClan's attack won't happen again."

Fallenfrost's blood ran cold at the revelation. She thought this entire time that they were all training for a one single purpose of uniting the Clans, but seeing Redwillow's molten ambition and Applefur's desire to simply become stronger didn't sit right in her stomach. All of the reasons were different, she would have guessed the Dark Forest cats would have claimed the same pitch to all the cats.

Fallenfrost's face twisted into concern as she took a few steps backwards. "I-I don't feel too good, I think I should head back to camp."

Applefur turned to face Fallenfrost. "Sorry to hear that, I hope you feel well enough for training tonight!"

"Y-Yeah, me too," Fallenfrost quickly skidded around to begin walking back through the forest to think. She more wanted to get away from the other Dark Forest trainees as something about them was beginning to unsettle her. At first, she was happy to find out that she was contributing to find a way to unite the Clans, but now something unsettled her. She wasn't sure if she was fighting for the right side anymore.

And Redwillow's declaration of wanting to be leader set a stone in her stomach.

Fallenfrost froze up when she heard the sound of heavy pawsteps and unfamiliar scent wreathing around her. She stood perfectly still, digging her claws into the soft soil dense with packed ice-water and melting snow. Fallenfrost took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder before realizing that she had wandered much further than she had originally intended.

How did I walk so far away from camp? She wondered curiously.

There was an audible huff, and the scent was suddenly swamping her.

Fallenfrost released a cry of terror when she twisted around to see the intimidating form of a familiar wolf. Her fur stood on ends, making her look like an overgrown burr. Her green eyes were widened with terror as the unfamiliar scent of old pine trees and moonlight wafted around her. How did he sneak up on me so easily? She wondered.

"S-Stay back-" Fallenfrost meowed with her voice cracking. "I'm a warrior of ShadowClan now!"

Fallenfrost swallowed anxiously and lowered herself to the damp ground as the beast drew closer. His fur glistened like silvery ice in the light of a sunset. His eyes were dark and completely unreadable, Fallenfrost's paws were only filled with fear. It struck her that this was certainly the same wolf as before. "Are you an agent of StarClan?"

The wolf huffed and lowered his head, completely unresponsive. The lack of response or indication made her wonder if her assumption was correct. Fallenfrost swallowed hard and instinctively tucked her tail protectively over her stomach in case he struck her vital organs. "I-I'm Fallenfrost of ShadowClan. What do you want?"

The wolf lifted his narrow muzzle toward the darkening sky. He was wordless, quietly not saying a thing. From the scents alone, she assumed that perhaps his own territory couldn't be far.

She finally found the courage to lift her eyes to face him. "How come you saved me the night with the foxes?"

The beast blinked slowly before motioning his muzzle toward the direction behind him, further north away from the territory. A flicker of amusement danced in his gaze, though she couldn't tell what it was for.

Fallenfrost flicked her ears backwards, trying to piece together what this could mean. "I need to get back to my Clan. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

She dipped her head and turned around to sprint back down to the hill toward her Clan. She wasn't wanting to listen to whatever else haunting suggestions the strange wolf had for her. Did he have something to do with her memory before it was wiped? Something tugged at the back of her head, begging her to remember.

No, nothing. I still can't remember anything from before I joined ShadowClan.