Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors. It belongs to Erin Hunter.
'Thoughts' Dreams Memories
Sandpaw stirred gently in her sleep, she was starting to get used to sleeping outside the apprentice's den. With Firepaw and Ravenpaw sleeping next to her, she was warm and content. Slowly she began to open her eyes and got to her paws, her movement causing Firepaw to wake as well. The paler molly looked over at the full demon, watching her yawn and give her body a little shake. She knew more that anyone about living as a true demon, without the Clan keeping her actions in check. Maybe Firepaw could help her.
Huffing softly, Sandpaw stood and nudged Firepaw, the fire furred female turning her eyes to Sandpaw, her darker green eyes with that little purple sliver catching the light just right. Despite the danger, Sandpaw couldn't help but stare and even when she felt her mind go slack, she couldn't look away, until Firepaw did for her.
"Well?" the younger cat asked, lowering her head and letting out another yawn.
"I...want to talk to you, I have to talk to you." Sandpaw muttered, while Firepaw only regarded her with a reserved, almost bored look. 'Say something, for StarClan's sake!' Sandpaw inwardly hissed before moving to lead the way to the camp entrance before a voice drifted towards them. It was Longtail.
"Where are you two little monsters heading to? Going to hunt and kill some poor innocent cat and eat their hearts?" the tabby sneered, his claws digging in the dirt.
Sandpaw sighed and turned her head away, while Firepaw only stared ahead towards the entrance. "You know, Longtail. It's been a long while since I've eaten...and right now even a stringy morsel like you is looking appetizing. You'd better run before I decide to eat your heart."
Her voice never went above a level drawl but the coldness within it sent Longtail stepping back and while he tried to jeer weakly, he was quick to turn and flee. Firepaw didn't turn to watch him scurry off, instead she began walking forward again, her tail raised. Sandpaw hadn't moved, her jaws were wide open, her eyes staring in shock.
Firepaw finally stopped, a good distance away and turned to face the pale molly. "Well, you coming?"
Sandpaw blinked and with a quick glance to see Longtail just disappearing into the warrior's den, she then rushed to join Firepaw, who merely walked at an even pace.
Sandpaw and Firepaw strolled through the forest, the Clanborn cat wondering if she could truly say what was in her heart to this wild creature before her. Firepaw hadn't spoken a word since her threat to Longtail and honestly the silence was beginning to become unbearable.
Sandpaw opened her mouth to speak when surprisingly Firepaw beat her to it. "I'm thinking of leaving this place."
Sandpaw stared at her, her eyes wide. Firepaw wasn't looking at her and Sandpaw had to walk around to her face but even looking straight at her, Sandpaw couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"Why?" was all the pale molly could choke out and Firepaw blinked, her gaze once more giving nothing away. Sandpaw felt the urge to claw her, just to get a reaction.
Firepaw snorted softly and closed her eyes, turning her head away. "This group of cats, this Clan...is nothing like that family I once had. My father..." she trailed off as finally some emotion has come to her face. Sadness.
Sandpaw flattened her ears and she remembered the strong male who rescued her as a kit. "Jake..."
"Yes. Even though it was just him and I, the closeness I felt with him was way more than anything this band of sneering, backclawing snakes ever showed." Firepaw hissed softly, the sadness being replaced with bitter contempt.
"That's not true!" Sandpaw growled, drawing herself up, her eyes blazing. "The Clan are NOT back-clawing snakes! We look out for one another!"
Firepaw stared at her, her eyes darkening for a moment before turning away. "Your Clan is fractured, split down the middle. One group is eking out a living on the very fringes while the other simmers in hatred and mistrust. Doesn't sound like a very unified group to me."
"But...but..."Sandpaw tried to think of something to refute what Firepaw said, but really she had a point. Her other Clanmates treated her and her kin like crowfood, was it really so wrong to see them in a bad light because of it? But then she remembered Lionheart's words. "We are kin! We can help one another through this! We can!"
"With the exception of your deputy and Whitestorm, I've seen very little evidence of that." Firepaw replied dryly. She then turned to face the forest, taking a deep breath. "My father used to tell me that sometimes even your kin won't be enough to help you. That sometimes you will have to walk your path alone."
"But...but you can't just leave!" Sandpaw protested weakly, flattening her ears in despair. "You...just can't."
"There is no one in that place urging me to stay." Firepaw muttered, shaking her head and taking a step forward. Sandpaw jumped at this and moved to block her path, her heart racing.
"And there is no one urging you to go! Please Firepaw! I...I don't leave you to leave! These last few days...you've been a comfort to me...I don't want you to go." Sandpaw then stepped closer to to Firepaw, rubbing her cheek against the other molly, Firepaw felt Sandpaw's body starting to shake.
"Please don't go! I would...I would feel lost without you!" Sandpaw muttered softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Firepaw didn't move, she could only feel Sandpaw nuzzling against her, her scent washing over her. She looked up into the trees, seeing the sunlight filter through them. In truth, she felt like she had to look after Sandpaw, the poor molly's eyes looked so empty and raw and she did feel a bit of kinship with her, after all they both lost their fathers. But, other than that, there was so very little keeping Firepaw tied to the Clan. Really she would have liked nothing better than to tear most of the cats' throats out. None of them seemed to think that their demon brethren had beating hearts at all and wanted nothing more than to make Lionheart and the others suffer.
Firepaw snapped her jaws at the thought of having her fangs around Longtail's throat in particular. However the though vanished as she suddenly thought of how upset Sandpaw would. While she knew Sandpaw wasn't great friends with Longtail, Firepaw knew that she would still grieve if harm came to the irritating tabby.
Heaving a short sigh, Firepaw tilted her head towards Sandpaw, stepping away from her to look her dead in the eye. "You have until the next full moon to convince me that Clan life is worth staying in. You hear me, until the next full moon."
Sandpaw flinched at that and shook her head. "But that's only a week away!" she protested, her tail bristling at the tight deadline.
Firepaw had started walking onward and she didn't stop, even as she gave her answer. "Then you had better work fast!"
XxXx
Sandpaw walked back into camp, her jaws laden with prey. As she deposited it into the the fresh kill prey, her mind was tearing itself into knots. How was she going to convince Firepaw to stay? She looked up just in time to see Firepaw bring her own caught to the pile and in doing so was unfortunately enough to run into Longtail. The tabby snarled at Firepaw but when Sandpaw moved to stand beside her, the male narrowed his eyes, his claws coming out and growling.
However, he backed away when Bluestar came from the leader's den. The ThunderClan leader saw Longtail slinking off and turned her attention to the two apprentices. Sandpaw faced her leader but noticed her gaze looked hollow and disinterested and she stepped forward to try and bring her attention to her. Yet it didn't work as Bluestar remained quiet.
"I came to check on our newest apprentice, to make sure she is adapting well to Clan life. I'm sure you're taking good care of her, Sandpaw." Bluestar muttered, her voice coming out oddly flat as she spoke to them.
Firepaw sighed and shook her head, sitting down and turning her head away. "You haven't seemed interested in a while about how I was fairing. Why care now?"
Bluestar snorted at that but managed to keep her cool, her tail twitched as she copied Firepaw's sitting position. "I am the leader of this Clan, I have to take an interest in everyone's development."
"Then why haven't you done anything about the other cats forcing us to sleep outside our dens and nearly coming to blows with us every time we try to eat from the fresh kill pile? We've had to do our hunting and eat whatever we catch then and there to avoid starving!" Firepaw countered, her eyes growing steely as the fur on her neck and shoulders rose.
Bluestar narrowed her eyes, getting to her paws and sensing her anger but keep her face calm, Firepaw too, rose to meet her gaze. She didn't back down in the slightest. The Clan leader growled, showing her fangs and still Firepaw didn't yield. It took Sandpaw coming between them to keep from anything happening. She turned to give Firepaw a pleading look and the fire furred molly glared at her before turning away, heading out of camp and Sandpaw sighed, knowing that she probably couldn't talk any sense to her right now.
She heard Bluestar walking away, and looked just in time to see her leader speaking with Mousefur, her tail twitching. The smaller she-cat blinked but then nodded, walking away to do whatever it was that Bluestar needed of her. Sandpaw was too far away to hear but she caught the wicked gleam in Mousefur's eyes and shivering, feeling like things would get worse before they got better. Perhaps she should talk to Whitestorm or Darkstripe...
XxXx
Firepaw jumped through the trees, her breath coming out in pants as she leaped from branch to branch. Darkstripe had been showing her ThunderClan's tree jumping technique and the fiery cat had to admit, it was a lot harder than it looked. She stopped on a wide branch and sit down, licking a paw as her mind drifted to the conversation she had with Sandpaw.
Bluestar's action towards her was nudging her more and more to her decision to leave...but then she mpstly remembered just how...frantic and pleading Sandpaw got when she told the other molly she was leaving.
Firepaw could still feel the other's warmth against hers as Sandpaw had nuzzled against her. The thought made Firepaw sigh, Sandpaw...really didn't want her to go. But could one cat truly be enough to make her stay?
As she thought about it, an unfamiliar scent reached her and at first, Firepaw was going to ignore it. But then as the scent moved closer. Narrowing her eyes, Firepaw took in more of the scent, her ears flattening as she did so.
The scent, it was of a female cat, old, hungry. She smelled sick and in a very foul mood but...underneath that, there was strength and Firepaw lowered her head, baring her fangs. While she she felt no loyalty to most of ThunderClan, Lionheart, Sandpaw, and even Spottedleaf, she had to defend them!
Letting out a fierce growl, Firepaw leapt from the branch onto the cat below when she got withing range. The younger molly was met with a hissing, irate monster of a female and as Firepaw collided with her, it was like slamming headfirst into a tree.
While sick and bony, the older female effortlessly slapped Firepaw away, her claws raking hard against the young one's cheek. The force of the blow was enough to send Firepaw hurling towards a rock and knocking her senseless. As she tried to stop the world from spinning and wanting the ache to die down. Firepaw suddenly felt sharp thorn sharp claws digging into her back and long fangs piercing her shoulder, drawing blood as her body was then thrown into a tree, dazing her further.
Firepaw was helpless as she felt a claw tipped paw driving into her chest and she looked up to stare into the sneering eyes of a tattered long furred dark gray molly with a flattened face. The older female grinned, and despite her weakened state, she was truly massive, bony stature taking none of her size away.
"Ah, a puny apprentice," she rasped, licking her lips. "Easy prey for Yellowfang!"
Firepaw began to pant, her body burning from her wounds as she struggled in vain to free herself. Looking back at her attacker, she was stunned by what she saw. Along with the hard flint of orange, the color of her assailant's eye brightened on the bottom in the left, into a glowing, unmistakable ice-blue.
A/N: Hey everybody, new chapter has arrived and so has Yellowfang! Love to hear what you think and as always, enjoy!
