Chapter 21
Karma
Fallenfrost had done everything she could to avoid talking to Flametail, but it wasn't before like the awkward avoidance of the prophecy, this time it was the creeping fear of her feelings slipping out. She had decided it would be best to keep her heart concealed until the feelings were trampled and smashed down until there was nothing left in her chest.
She was snapped back to reality when she watched the brown pelt of Oakfur flash as he darted forward to snap his jaws across the throat of a scruffy brown rabbit nibbling at the roots of a tree. It emitted a quick yelp before he carried it back to the group and dropped it onto the pine-needle strewn forest floor.
Shrewfoot padded past Fallenfrost over to the rabbit as she gave it an experimental sniff. "Good catch, Oakfur," she praised, "that's big enough to feed the whole Clan!"
"I'm tired of feeling hungry all the time," he grumbled as he nosed toward the scrawny lizard that Shrewfoot had dangling in her jaws. "Thank StarClan that new-leaf has come early this year."
"It might be early," Fallenfrost chimed in, "but we can't be too careful. Ivytail needs as much food as she can get. She's nursing kits now, right?"
Shrewfoot nodded in affirmation. "She's been really defensive, I haven't been able to even catch a glimpse of them!"
"It's her first litter," Oakfur responded as he flicked his short, tufted tail. "Of course she's going to protect them like LionClan."
Fallenfrost and Shrewfoot both purred in amusement as Oakfur only gave a huff. He took a pawstep forward but he released a pained groan and flinched. As he winced, his gaze moved toward his shoulder which he rolled and shifted.
Fallenfrost's eyes widened in concern. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he tried to urge her as he moved his head down to grasp the scruff of the rabbit. "My shoulder's just been aching real bad lately. I should probably see Littlecloud about it."
"Maybe it's something in your nest," Shrewfoot suggested as she took the lead of the patrol to begin walking back to the ShadowClan camp.
"Or I'm just getting old." The senior warrior replied with a quick glance.
Nothing more was said on the trek back to camp. Fallenfrost held a sparrow in her jaws, stinking of ThunderClan territory. She figured it must have flown over the border and ended up in her Clan's territory before she caught it.
As Shrewfoot nosed through the entrance of the camp, pushing back ferns and brambles, the she-cat stood in surprise. Fallenfrost blinked and went to pad up to her side, wondering what's got the she-cat in such a surprised state. She realized what it was when the acrid tang of ThunderClan filled her nostrils, and it wasn't just the stinking sparrow in her jaws. In the camp speaking fervently to Flametail was a sleek, limber gray tabby tom with blank, jay-blue eyes.
"What's Jayfeather doing here?" Asked Oakfur between a mouthful of rabbit fur.
Shrewfoot shrugged. "I'm not sure, but we aren't to question the medicine cats. They don't follow the rules of borders, after all."
While Fallenfrost was aware of the medicine cats not needing to follow the borders between each Clan, she was concerned why he was speaking to the ShadowClan medicine cat. Flametail told us that ShadowClan must stand alone, so what is he doing talking to Jayfeather?
Fallenfrost haphazardly tossed her prey to the fresh-kill pile and skidded across the clearing to see Jayfeather. Upon a closer inspection, while he still did stink of ThunderClan, he had a new scent on him, something akin to birds, frost, and mud. She wondered if he's gone on a journey somewhere out of the territories?
When Flametail caught her eye, Fallenfrost's fur stood up on end. Jayfeather barely glanced over his shoulder to acknowledge her presence. He must have good hearing… I hadn't even said a word yet. For a blind cat, he is highly perceptive.
"H-Hey," she stuttered awkwardly as she glanced between the two of them.
"Did I come to talk to you?" Jayfeather meowed in a low, annoyed tone.
Flametail poked a paw gently over his shoulder, "Don't worry, she's my friend. Her name is Fallenfrost."
Jayfeather's blind blue eyes widened in surprise at the name. While she wasn't sure if he recognized her, Fallenfrost certainly recognized him.
You abandoned Flametail and I under the ice. Fallenfrost narrowed her gaze at him into a frozen stare. Though he couldn't see her, she was sure that he could understand and feel her waves of resentment flowing off of her.
Jayfeather stared ahead and blinked a few times. "I need to talk to the both of you alone. Is there some place where we can have some privacy?"
Flametail glanced over his shoulder toward the medicine den. "Littlecloud is out gathering herbs, so we would have the medicine den all to ourselves."
Fallenfrost felt a pinprick of astonishment and frustration when Flametail placed his tail on the ThunderClan cat's shoulder to guide him to the den. She narrowed her eyes into slits and stuck directly behind Jayfeather. Whatever it is that he wanted, she did not trust him.
The trio walked into the den past a curtain of lichen that tickled Fallenfrost's pelt. Flametail settled in one of the nests and nodded at his friend to do the same. After a moment of hesitation, Fallenfrost did as instructed and sat down in one of the nests designed for patients. Jayfeather stood tall, continuing to stand over and watch the pair of ShadowClan cats.
"Have you had any dreams from StarClan?" The blind tabby asked.
Flametail hesitated as he shuffled his paws. "Even if I did, I'm not at liberty to tell you." His tone was dark as suspicion prickled at his pelt. "The Clans must stand apart at this time."
"That's not true!" Jayfeather snapped.
Fallenfrost felt anger burn underneath her fur. "Then how come you left us both for dead under the ice?" She hissed as she instinctively felt her claws unseathe.
"I had no choice-"
"What did that cat mean?" Flametail interjected, "the hairless one swimming next to you that said it's not 'your time'?" His normally still-blue and gentle eyes had narrowed into thin slits, almost entirely unreadable to Fallenfrost.
"Listen," Jayfeather hissed, the fur on the back of his neck beginning to spike like pine-tops. "That is because I have a part to play in a prophecy, just as much as she does." When his gaze turned to face at Fallenfrost, her heart dropped. Those empty, still eyes were searching past her, blindly staring into her.
Fallenfrost shook her head quickly in denial. "No, I'm no one special. I'm just another warrior of ShadowClan."
"I've returned recently from the Tribe of Rushing Water." He tried to explain. "They're a tribe of cats living in the mountains. I've received a message from their ancestors about the troubles we are facing now. They have told me: 'the end of the stars draws near. Three must become four to battle the darkness that lasts forever.'"
"This means nothing to us." Flametail scoffed as he began to stand up from where he sat in his nest. "Three must become four? Each Clan must stand alone in what's to come."
"I disagree." Jayfeather replied, shaking his head. His gaze dropped a shade darker. "I'm sorry about what happened at the lake. I couldn't afford to die, not when my Clan needed me."
Fallenfrost's fur fluffed out, but she felt Flametail's shoulder nudge against her as a warning. He spoke up in her stead, "What makes you think ShadowClan might need us any less than your Clan needs you? Think past your nose, Jayfeather. Go home, we'll solve this on our own. Do you need to be escorted out of camp?"
Fallenfrost was somewhat surprised to see Flametail get so heated, but she wasn't objecting to his sudden scornful nature toward Jayfeather. The medicine cat did leave him to die, after all. Fallenfrost herself wasn't enjoying having him in the camp with her, knowing that he was the reason that both Fallenfrost and Flametail almost died on that frozen leaf-bare day.
Jayfeather stood up and turned around. "I can leave on my own." He snorted before padding out slowly from the medicine den.
Fallenfrost stood up, about to go after him until Flametail's scent wreathed around her. Her hackles lowered as she turned to look back at him. His face had turned into something bitter, almost mournful. "It hurts to turn him away." The medicine cat admitted softly.
She couldn't find herself agreeing with herself. She peered at the direction Jayfeather left, only quietly sighing in response.
"What if he's right?"
"About what?"
"Three becoming four." Flametail muttered as he paced around the den. "I don't understand what it could mean, if only he wasn't so cryptic about the things he said. It's almost like he's trying to hide something from us, but for what? It's only going to increase my suspicions. We have to stand alone."
Fallenfrost longed to rub her cheek against his and assure him, but she swallowed back such shameful thoughts. "What if we don't?"
His head snapped up in her direction.
"Isn't it just stressful for all the Clans to be living in hate with one another? Especially when we all need to be bonding now of all times. Something is coming, and I don't think we should be alone."
Her heart began pattering faster when he took several pawsteps closer to her. His expression was completely unreadable. She was almost half-afraid that he would hear her thundering heartbeat since he's gotten so close to her. "ThunderClan attacked us when we needed them the most."
Fallenfrost swallowed hard as a response. "Yes," she admitted, "But what if it was because they felt scared or threatened? We might need to consider that while our ancestors are wise, they might not always be right."
"They've never been wrong!"
"What about what you told me about Sol? How he turned ShadowClan away from your ancestors?"
Flametail's ears folded back in shame. The tom turned around and took a slow, heavy breath. He was deep in thought, losing himself in memories, likely thinking about Sol. "You're right." His voice wavered until his eyes snapped up to her. "But that doesn't mean I can turn my back on StarClan."
When the words came out from his mouth, her heart dropped.
Was Flametail really never going to try and reach out to anyone for help?