Crowfrost paced. Crowfrost waited. Crowfrost fumed. His terrible dreams from the past quarter-moon played over and over in his head. Petalpaw injured. Petalpaw calling for help. Petalpaw dead.
He shook his head so hard it hurt.
"You're going to give yourself squirrel-brain if you keep that up." A voice drawled from nowhere.
Crowfrost whirled around. The forest of whiteness was gone. Green, lush undergrowth that shone softly in the moonlight had replaced the snow. The freezing air pinching his nose was the only hint that something was off.
Finally, He thought.
Two fern fronds parted, and she arrived. Crowfrost rocked backwards onto his haunches and struck an attentive pose. He straightened his back and tried to be patient as she dusted off her dainty gray paws with her tail.
Her fussing went long. Crowfrost's tolerance was short. He cleared his throat.
She paused her grooming of her tail and her eyes flicked up to meet his. They flashed a livid green, but only for a moment.
Crowfrost raised his head and stared straight ahead. "You have a message for me?"
She snorted. "No."
Crowfrost couldn't help but sag slightly. He blinked. "But you came- "
"You've been standing around waiting all day." She interrupted with a wave of her tail. "It was getting irksome."
Crowfrost bit back an angry retort. She had left him in the dark about so many things and now, at a time like this, she had nothing to say? He narrowed his eyes and fixed them on the mossy forest floor. The cognitive dissonance of seeing sun-warmed peat beneath his paws and yet feeling frigid snow reminded him of his life in the Clan lately.
He stayed silent, staring pointedly at the ground.
She sighed; her tone was one of long-suffering. "What do you want?"
Crowfrost dared to lift his eyes to her. She was examining her claws with a bored expression.
"You said…" he hesitated as she ever so slightly drew back her top lip in a tiny snarl. He backtracked. "I was hoping you would share with me when Petalpaw will return?"
"I told you that would happen after the catmint was found."
Crowfrost swallowed a deep breath before venturing further. "It has been found."
She slammed her forepaw to the forest floor. "Then she will return." She hissed between gritted teeth.
Crowfrost shrank before her anger.
She closed her eyes and the raised fur on her shoulders lay flat. When she spoke again her tone was soft and languid again. Crowfrost let himself relax.
"I know that you are worried for her." She said. She padded up to him and brushed her tail along his side. "Your dreams have been troubled of late."
Crowfrost's voice betrayed his surprise. "You can see my dreams?"
"Of course I can." She snapped. In an instant her calm demeanor returned. "I promised you she would come home safely, did I not?"
Crowfrost raised his head to meet her gaze. As volatile as she was, she had shown herself to be trustworthy. He swallowed hard and nodded.
She sighed and drew her tail under his chin. She studied his face with her fierce eyes.
"Oh, Crowfrost." She said in a voice as soft as down. "You will see your love soon."
Crowfrost stiffened. "I don't- "
"Lies breed mistrust." She cut him off again. Her eyes fixed him with a gaze that struck deep. "Help me trust you."
Crowfrost set his jaw. He thought of the beautiful medicine cat apprentice with her gentle compassion and hidden fire within. His belly clenched.
"I love her."
The gray she-cat purred. "Good."
Crowfrost bowed his head under the weight of his own guilt.
"Have no shame." She chided. "Your love is a righteous one. While others seek to take her away from her destiny you desire nothing more than to see her fulfill her dreams."
Crowfrost thought of Heronpaw and let out a low growl. It had been hard to accept the truth at first but now he knew that his brother was selfish and a danger to the Clan.
"Do not blame Heronpaw." The she-cat said in a softer voice. "His mind is not his own."
Crowfrost winced and his snarl faded. It was so easy to let his anger cloud his mind and forget that Heronpaw was not of sound mind. Crowfrost felt a pang of guilt. The Heronpaw he knew would never seek to hurt the Clan he loved so much. His belly clenched for the littermate he seemed to have lost.
"You've admitted something deep and personal to me." The StarClan cat continued in a more business-like tone.
Crowfrost looked up at her.
"That airs of trust. And trust-" she moved past his flank and brushed her tail under his chin as she went, "begets trust." She continued to pad away from him. She motioned for him to follow with a flick of her tail.
Crowfrost turned and followed through the rich Greenleaf growth. As he brushed against a leafy branch, he was again startled by the feeling of bare wood instead of soft leaves. He gathered himself and lengthened his stride to catch up to her.
They walked shoulder to shoulder for a time. Then she spoke again.
"Something is going to happen at the Gathering tonight, something that is part of StarClan's plan for the forest." Her green eyes glinted but she did not face him.
Crowfrost hid his reaction behind a calm face but he couldn't stop the shiver of anticipation that skittered down his spine.
"The reaction of the Clans will be- "she paused, "negative." The slow emphasis she put on the word piqued Crowfrost's curiosity.
"But rest assured that all is in the right paws." She slowed to a stop and sat down. She wrapped her thin tail around her paws and looked out over the lake.
Crowfrost blinked. They hadn't been walking long enough to be here. He looked out over the vast expanse of glittering water. Stars, like the luminous eyes of cats, reflected off of the gently lapping waves. The way they moved in and out of view with the waves made them look like they were blinking at him. He shivered and looked away.
She was looking at him through half-lidded eyes. The tip of her tail twitched.
Crowfrost realized she was expecting him to say something.
"What am I to do?" he said quickly.
This seemed to abate her. Her tail curled once more around her paws and she looked off across the water.
"You will do nothing. You are there to see and hear only." She turned her eyes on him again. They glinted with vivid green light. "There you will find your ally."
Crowfrost almost outwardly reacted. He barely kept his excitement, curiosity, and rush of pride under control. He shuffled his paws and sat straighter.
"How will I know?" he strained to keep his voice from betraying his anticipation.
She gave him a sideways glance. "Keep your eyes open." She said with a hint of mischief in her voice. "And be on the lookout for a familiar face."
Crowfrost blinked, ready to ask for clarification. In the space of time it took to close his eyes and open them again the vision was gone. He found himself standing alone at the edge of the lake.
Instead of stars the lake's surface reflected a gray pelt of clouds. At his paws ice crept between the colorful stones of the shore. A bone-chilling breeze cut through Crowfrost. The surface of the lake rippled.
Crowfrost straightened his back. Pride warmed him from nose to tail tip. He had gained enough trust that he was let in on part of StarClan's plan! He wondered what his role would eventually be. Would he be tasked with an important mission outside of Clan territory? Would he be StarClan's messenger?
His ears pricked up. A soft sound from behind him had broken the silence of night. He banished his thoughts of grandeur and tensed. He turned to watch the tree line.
After a moment another sound, a rustle, announced the arrival of a cat. Crowfrost let his body relax as he recognized CedarClan scent. When the newcomer emerged from the shadows, however, Crowfrost stiffened.
"Crowfrost? What are you doing here?"
It was Heronpaw.
. . .
Heronpaw watched Crowfrost's blue eyes go from wide shock to narrow suspicion in less than a breath.
"I could ask the same of you." Crowfrost answered coolly.
Heronpaw flinched at his brother's icy tone. "Hawkpaw and I were taking a walk before the Gathering."
Hawkpaw padded up beside him, looking nervous.
Crowfrost didn't react. He merely turned back to the lake and gazed across its length to the other side. To the AlderClan side.
"She'll come home soon." Heronpaw ventured. He and Hawkpaw shared a quick glance. Heronpaw steeled himself and took a few tentative steps down the bank until he was almost level with Crowfrost. Hawkpaw stayed back.
Crowfrost ignored Heronpaw's advance. Heronpaw sat down with a nervous glance at his brother. He wrapped his tail around his paws neatly. He looked out at the water, unsure of what to say.
Heronpaw had found himself missing Crowfrost more and more each day. He would think of a clever quip and turn, ready to share it with his littermate, but the space beside him would be empty. That evening as he had been sharing prey with Dawnheart he had been reminded of the day of his accident when Crowfrost and Hawkpaw had almost splattered each other bloody with bird guts. The memory had brought a flood of emotions back to Heronpaw.
Now that the threat of greencough was waning and he was no longer fearing for his sanity, Heronpaw could really think about what else was going on in the Clan. Crowfrost's cold behavior bothered him most. Maybe now that the catmint had been found Crowfrost would be willing to listen.
Crowfrost's quiet voice broke into Heronpaw's thoughts. "Did you really think you were acting for the best?"
Heronpaw turned to face his brother. Crowfrost kept his eyes fixed on the opposite shore.
"Yes." Heronpaw said. He waited.
Crowfrost's tight expression loosened slightly.
Heronpaw held his breath. Should he continue? Stay silent? Despair filled him as he realized he didn't know how to reach his littermate anymore.
Before Heronpaw had reached a decision on how to proceed, Crowfrost's face darkened again. Heronpaw's heart fell.
"For who? The Clan? Petalpaw?" The black warrior fixed Heronpaw with a sideways stare from severe blue eyes. "Or yourself?" Crowfrost spat the last word at Heronpaw.
Heronpaw flattened his ears against the burning gust of malice sent his way. The words were nettles. They dug into Heronpaw and made him wince.
"The Clan." Heronpaw insisted. He tried to keep nettles of his own from forming on his tongue. This was no time for petty feelings.
Crowfrost continued to glare. "If you cared about the Clan, you wouldn't have risked Petalpaw's future."
"That isn't fair." Hawkpaw piped up. He stood just away from them, anxiously glancing from brother to brother.
Crowfrost glared at Hawkpaw. "No one asked you, fleabrain," he spat.
Hawkpaw wilted. Heronpaw felt a rush of anger. He tried to restrain his frustration with a grunt.
"She's going to be okay. Plumleaf wanted her to- "
He was cut off as Crowfrost rounded on him. Heronpaw scrambled backward across the icy stones as Crowfrost advanced on all four paws. His eyes were a leaf-bare storm; cold, dark, and dangerous.
"I've seen the way you look at her." He snarled. "Like a hungry fox."
Heronpaw was taken aback. He opened his mouth to defend himself but Crowfrost didn't let him speak.
"I've given you one warning." Crowfrost shoved his muzzle forward until it was a whisker length from Heronpaw's face. "You'll do well to heed it."
Heronpaw remembered that terrible night when Crowfrost had turned angry. The coldness of mistrust that had entered his eyes then had not faded. For some reason Heronpaw couldn't understand Crowfrost was convinced that Heronpaw was a threat to Petalpaw's future.
The brothers stared at each other in silence.
Heronpaw searched Crowfrost's face for a hint of the cat he knew. Where was his passive wisdom? Where was the sparkle of mischief? All Heronpaw could see now was that terrible suspicion.
A horrible thought occurred to him.
Watch for dramatic changes in cats you know. Was this what Snowbreeze had been talking about? Was Crowfrost becoming the next victim of the nameless madness that had caused so much death so long ago?
Heronpaw's belly clenched. He would not let that happen.
"Crowfrost, this isn't like you." He said. He steeled himself against a harsh reaction.
Crowfrost's eyes flashed with surprise for half a breath. Then they hardened again.
This isn't you. I can still help. Heronpaw thought desperately. He willed Crowfrost to hear his unspoken plea.
The black warrior drew his lips back in a subtle snarl. "You have no idea who I am."
"I do!" Heronpaw asserted. "You're our brother."
Heronpaw thought he saw a sliver of pain behind the mask of malice that was his brother's face. In an instant the emotion was gone.
Crowfrost tossed his head. "You're no brother of mine." His voice was soaked in venom. His eyes dropped to his paws and he shoved past Heronpaw. Their shoulders banged together painfully.
Heronpaw stumbled with the force of the blow. He turned to call after Crowfrost but his plea died in his throat. He watched, mute, as the warrior disappeared into the snowy, shadow-darkened forest.
Hawkpaw called out and followed after the black warrior.
Heronpaw sank back on his haunches, defeated. A flicker of movement caught his eye.
Snowbreeze sat beside him. She faced the lake and her eyes reflected nothing but the star-strewn surface of the water. She turned and met his gaze. The reflection did not change.
She opened her mouth and whispered in a frantic voice. "Something terrible is about to happen."