Chapter 4
"Misinterpreted Motives."
1/18/18 - 1/19/18 - 1/20/18 - 1/21/18 - 1/22/18 - 1/23/18 - 1/24/18 - 1/25/18 - 1/26/18 - 1/27/18 - 1/28/18 - 1/29/18
~ Mistypaw ~
The silvery, white she-cat tries to look Sageleaf in the eye and pay attention. In the first four days since the mouse raid, some of the warriors have been looking at her strangely. Mistypaw sometimes hopes that Sageleaf isn't angry, then again, her mentor isn't the type of she-cat to show emotions.
Late in the morning, Sageleaf looks at Mistypaw, Frostpaw, Rainpaw and Bumblepaw. While Finchblaze, Acornfall, and Windstorm were on either side of her.
"We're deciding to send you on hunting teams." Finchblaze said. "Since Leaf-fall is drawing close, it's best if we can find all the prey we can before they hide for the rest of Leaf-bare."
"How do we know their not hiding right now?" Bumblepaw asks.
"They shouldn't be, but that's why we're doing this now." Acornfall replies.
Bumblepaw nods in slight understanding. Rainpaw flicks her tail.
"How are we splitting up?"
Finchblaze said, "We've decided on Bumblepaw and Frostpaw, and Rainpaw and Mistypaw."
"Seriously?" Rainpaw wrinkles her nose, making Mistypaw flatten her ears. It's obvious that Rainpaw still didn't forgive her for letting that one mouse go.
Then, Frostpaw snorts and looks at Acornfall. "Can I go with Mistypaw instead?"
The brown she-cat looks at her uncle, Finchblaze, for permission. The ThunderClan deputy sighs, relenting. "I'll allow it."
Sageleaf looks at the rising sun. "We should spread out now and return here before sunset. And I suggest that the apprentices stay within the territory and never cross borders and try to be a martyr for hunting."
"I agree." Windstorm said. "When the weather becomes cold and prey is scarce, tensions between the Clans can get bad and fights break out. Stay within the scent markers and don't provoke any WindClan or ShadowClan cat that you see beyond the border."
The four apprentices nod in acknowledgement. Finchblaze whisks his tail to signal the warriors to follow him into the underbrush. Sageleaf lingers behind and looks at Mistypaw before following behind.
Rainpaw stands up and looks at Bumblepaw. "Let's get moving. I'm getting cold just standing around."
Without waiting for a reply, the pale gray she-cat pads away from the group. Bumblepaw gives Mistypaw and Frostpaw an apologetic glance.
"She can't stay mad at you forever, I'll try calming her down."
Bumblepaw turns around and follows Rainpaw's path. Frostpaw rolls her eyes.
"That she-cat needs to get over herself."
Mistypaw stares at Frostpaw.
Is she with me just to spite my sister?
Frostpaw didn't seem like the type to do something like that, but with her short temper she might. Mistypaw and Frostpaw leave their spot and end up five fox-lengths away from the stream near ShadowClan.
The crunching leaves alerts the two she-cats, three sparrows were foraging through the fallen leaves. Frostpaw turns to grin at Mistypaw before dropping down into a hunting crouch.
Mistypaw copies Frostpaw's position. The two cousins slowly stalk behind the unsuspecting birds. Frostpaw gives a big leap forward and pins down a sparrow. The two other sparrows give flight, Mistypaw manages to nick her claws on the leg of a sparrow, knocking it down, and killing it.
The last sparrow flies into the sky without looking back.
Frostpaw looks at her sparrow while poking it with her paw. "This could only fill up the kits' stomachs."
Mistypaw hears voices by the stream, and a wafting scent of pines. Frostpaw stops her comments when she picks up the voices, too.
"I think I smell ShadowClan. Stop!" Mistypaw can already see Frostpaw preparing to charge into a fight.
"ShadowClan is on our territory! We can take them!" Frostpaw hisses.
"Has Acornfall taught you how to fight?" Mistypaw challenges. Frostpaw opens her mouth, but Mistypaw cuts her off.
"No. I didn't think so."
The silvery, white she-cat feels guilty for treating the younger apprentice this way, but she refuses to let Frostpaw walk over her like she's another Rainpaw to deal with.
"Stay quiet, and follow me."
~ Crowpaw ~
The jet black tom is beside himself with anxiety as Tigerpaw manages to kill the rabbit in the stream. Crowpaw stomps his paws furiously.
"Tigerpaw, just leave the rabbit. We're cutting it close, here."
"Not after all the trouble this thing gave us!"
The dark brown tabby tom struggles to lift the rabbit, which is bigger than himself. Crowpaw wanted to smack the rabbit out of Tigerpaw's mouth and drag him back to their territory like a kit.
He can't carry that rabbit all by himself, even if Crowpaw helps him out, how are they going to explain the ThunderClan scent on it?
Crowpaw spots two she-cats with matching icy blue eyes, and his heart skyrocketed to his throat when he recognizes one of the she-cats.
"Tigerpaw, go." He hisses to his denmate.
The fluffy white she-cat growls at them, catching Tigerpaw's attention. Crowpaw pads in front of Tigerpaw and jabs his hind leg on Tigerpaw's chest, knocking him back.
"Go, now." He orders, not taking his eyes off of the white she-cat.
The dark brown tabby tom flattens his ears, refusing to leave Crowpaw alone with these two ThunderClan cats. Before anyone could say anything to each other, a light grey tom drops from the air and lands on the water, startling the four apprentices.
Crowpaw could've sworn he saw transparent shapes of… wings?
The light grey tom's amber eyes were pinned on Crowpaw, surprised. And that's when the jet black tom feels a sense of familiarity with him.
"Windstorm!" Frostpaw exclaims. "We caught these two stealing that rabbit from our territory!"
"No I didn't!" Tigerpaw interjects, frightened and offended. "We were chasing it down from our territory, it's ShadowClan prey!"
Windstorm flicks his ear. "But you killed it on ThunderClan land, didn't you?"
Tigerpaw sputters, looking at Crowpaw for support. The jet black tom is caught in between his denmate and Windstorm, his grandfather.
"If he killed it here, then it's ours, right?" Frostpaw asks Windstorm.
Tigerpaw bristles his fur. "No way - that rabbit was such a hassle to get!"
The dark brown tabby tom runs to the rabbit when a powerful gust of wind rolls the rabbit underneath Windstorm's paw, and comes to an abrupt halt.
Tigerpaw blinks in disbelief. "Did you…?"
Windstorm waves his tail. "If you're going to make a fuss over one piece of prey, you need to leave before I take you two to Littlestar, personally."
"You can't do that!" Tigerpaw yelps.
"Or, I can take you two Heatherstar myself." Windstorm puts in. "Pick your battle."
Crowpaw's fur is already standing up from the tension. He noses Tigerpaw's shoulder, and whispers. "It's not worth it… We'll get in enough trouble for trespassing, let's leave it at that."
Tigerpaw wants to protest, but he reluctantly gives up and turns around, his tail dragging on the ground.
"And don't come back!" Frostpaw yowls.
Crowpaw glares at the white she-cat scathingly. What is her problem?
Crowpaw and Tigerpaw hesitantly leave the stream and return home, with humiliation rolling off their pelts.
~ Swanpaw ~
The white tom drops the minnow in front of Heronpaw that afternoon. The dark brown tabby tom looks up from grooming his pelt, his amber eyes widen in surprise with a hint of suspicion.
So he is smart after all. Swanpaw sneers inwardly before stopping himself.
Heronpaw sniffs the minnow. "What's this about?"
"It's… for you."
Swanpaw's half-brother is still mildly suspicious, and the white tom instantly regrets following Cinderfall's plan.
Why do I even try?! If Lilacpaw doesn't believe it, then why should Heronpaw be any different?!
Heronpaw, much to his dismay, reaches for the minnow and pulls it toward him, before looking at Swanpaw expectantly.
"Want to share?"
Flabbergasted, as he expected Heronpaw to tell him to screw off, Swanpaw hesitantly agrees and crouches down with him. Heronpaw takes big bites out of the minnow while Swanpaw take small, delicate bites to prevent bits from touching his face. Swanpaw eyes Heronpaw imploringly.
The dark brown tabby tom has small bits of scales falling on his paws and chin.
Frecklespots would've lectured me forever if I had his manners. Did Fallenbird ever teach him how to eat right?
Once again, the thought of Fallenbird made Swanpaw freeze up and relive the moment of her last night alive. Heronpaw licks his maw.
"Mom loved minnow." Swanpaw's heart stops hearing Heronpaw's comment, and tries not to look at the wistful, sorrowful stare he gives off.
"She would've loved this fish."
Swanpaw nods absentmindedly, hoping Heronpaw would stop talking about Fallenbird - before he starts screaming his confession.
In his peripheral vision, Frecklespots is sharing tongues with Applefoot, but she's staring directly at his over his grandmother's shoulder. Swanpaw forces himself to look at the minnow's pale scales.
Please don't come over here…
Looking up to the medicine cat den - just his luck - Brindleclaw and Sootdust were carrying herbs with Lilacpaw following them. The pale silver tabby she-cat turns her green eyes in his direction, and frowns when she looks in between him and Heronpaw.
Swanpaw looks back at his mother - Frecklespots is still sharing tongues with Applefoot. But should the day come, when Frecklespots and Lilacpaw were to meet…
Please don't come over! Swanpaw pleads inwardly for his mother to stay out of it.
A tail on his spine made Swanpaw jolts from his thoughts. Heronpaw blinks softly.
"Are you fighting with Frecklespots?"
"... You can say that."
"Do you… want to talk about it?"
Swanpaw flattens his ears. "It's… complicated. Her and Cinderfall, you know."
The edge slips in his tone so quickly, he hopes Heronpaw didn't hear it.
The dark brown tabby tom sighs. "Yeah, I know… Mom told us. I know you hate us."
Swanpaw's instincts were in fight or flight, and flight is looking very attractive right now.
"I would've been the same way if it was the other way around, but, it's easier to say it."
"You don't know how it feels to have no father growing up."
"True." Heronpaw winces. "Cinderfall was always with us, but he had to be quiet about it or cats would talk. Me and Shellpaw always got the stink eye because of it all."
Swanpaw remembers the pitying looks cats would give him, before he understood what drove Frecklespots and Cinderfall apart.
"They never mind their own business, and I blame cats like Berrystripe."
Heronpaw snickers. "Her parents should have named her Loudmouth."
Swanpaw laughs in his paw before he could make himself do it, and Heronpaw laughs along with him. The white tom notices Cinderfall giving him an approving nod as he enters the warriors den.
"Hey, Heronpaw!" Lilacpaw calls. The dark brown tabby tom stands up and dips his head apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I have to go. But it was nice talking to you."
Swanpaw watches his half-brother trot to Lilacpaw and tries to squash the envy crawling up his neck like fire ants. For once, he didn't want to think of Heronpaw that way.
Talking with him… wasn't so bad.
~ Lakemist ~
Lakemist easily dodges the swiping paw of her apprentice as she slides across the pebble shore. The dark grey and white she-cat stands over Wavepaw, frowning in disapproval.
"I'm sorry, but, what was that supposed to be?"
Wavepaw picks herself up from the ground with specks of dirt on her pelt.
"I was trying to knock you down. You never said you would dodge!"
"No cat is going to warn you about an attack. What sense would it make? This is why we're training for the possibility of the outcome of future fights."
Wavepaw's gaze drifts over to the dirt on her fur, and uses her tail to brush it off. Lakemist twitches her ear irritably.
She seems more concerned with her looks than her fighting techniques. I'm gonna have to break that habit.
Lakemist flicks her front paw in Wavepaw's face, catching her attention.
"Please remember that I would've gotten the upper paw if this was a battle."
Wavepaw sighs heavily. "But we've been practicing all morning and I'm bored."
Lakemist's frown curls into a smirk. Wavepaw doesn't like the way her mentor is looking at her.
"That's fine. If you want an interesting fight, I can give you a fight."
~ Icestripe ~
She couldn't fathom why Wavepaw's entire pelt is covered in mud. The RiverClan apprentice's solid blue-grey fur coat is littered with mud that she vigorously shakes off, followed by her front paw wiping her shoulder. Lakemist swishes her sleek tail in satisfaction and sits next to Wavepaw to groom herself.
Wavepaw narrows her eyes on Lakemist in annoyance, but doesn't move from her spot.
What did she do?
In the past few moons of knowing her, Icestripe wouldn't put it past Lakemist to put Wavepaw in her place.
"Icestripe."
Bouncestep stands in front of the white, silver-striped she-cat.
"Can we talk for a moment? It's important."
Icestripe nods, though reluctant. She's been avoiding Bouncestep through excuses and she knows how unfair it was to him. Bouncestep leads Icestripe to the stream near the stone-bridge, the skinny light grey tom turns to look at Icestripe.
"Can I just be blunt? Why are you avoiding me?"
Bouncestep isn't angry, but he sounds genuinely confused.
"Goosetalon said you were interested in me, because Bramblefrost told him so."
Oh, Bramblefrost.
Her sister is really pushing it, now. Icestripe makes herself look at Bouncestep.
"She was mistaken. I only see you as a Clanmate, not… you know."
"Why didn't you just say that?" Bouncestep demands.
"Because Bramblefrost wants to win over Goosetalon so badly. I… I didn't want to mess it up for her."
"So, stringing me along was worth getting her what she wants? I thought you were better than that."
Icestripe bristles her fur defensively.
"Don't you even go there! I never intended for it to be like this, and I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but don't think for a second I was hurting you on purpose."
Bouncestep growls lowly, and snorts.
"So… You never liked me?"
Icestripe shakes her head. "I like you as a Clanmate."
"I assume you're more interested in her, then."
Bouncestep brushes past a tense Icestripe. "I'm not blind like they are, but I won't say anything. You need to figure out what you want, and not let Bramblefrost push you around for once."
~ Goldheart ~
The reflection of the half-moon should be a joyous occasion, but with everything going to fox-dung it's hardly the time for visitors. It's nighttime in StarClan when it should be in perpetual daylight, and a breeze blows through the trees.
A cream colored tom settles on the branch, watching the warriors rush around the forest and yowling the missing queen's name.
"Are you going to sit there like a dumb bird?"
Goldheart glares at a jet black tom as he climbs down.
"I find it better than running around like headless pigeons. We know what happened to her, so looking around would be useless."
Darkstar lashes his tail. "It's not just about that anymore. Dark Forest cats got into our territory! The bramble dividers are breaking apart - we have to deal with it before it ends up dying."
"If Mapleshade was able to break through and grab that queen, what makes you think that more prickly thorns will stop the rest of them?"
Darkstar is about to retort when his name is called by a golden brown tom.
"Darkstar, Bluejay found a fresh bush of brambles."
The former ThunderClan leader nods as Thornstar runs off. Darkstar glances at Goldheart.
"I thought you would've been more optimistic after coming here."
Goldheart said nothing except watch the tom he once loved race through the trees. The cream brown tom shakes his head and pads in the opposite direction.
"Goldheart!" The previous ShadowClan leader, Whitestar, grabs his attention.
"Ashenclaw has been looking for you - he's by the lake if you want to see him."
Goldheart's spine shivers as he flicks his tail dismissively. "Not now. I need to be alone."
The cream brown tom pads down the forest as the trees start to spread out more, and he sees a group of darkened brambles in front of a burrow, he can see a hole big enough for a cat to squeeze under.
Don't pretend to you never felt that pain in your heart.
Goldheart's fur bristles in alarm as he swiftly turns his back on the bramble barrier.
It will always be there, waiting for you to return. You know you'll never escape from it.
Goldheart snarls. "I'm so not dealing with this! Redfawn is gone, Lionstar… who cares?! I have nobody to drag me down anymore."
Goldheart returns to the forest, steering clear of the group of warriors rolling the fresh brambles to the barrier. The cream brown tom sees a pale brown shape looking around in confusion, he has no stars on his pelt, but he knows who that is.
"You came at the wrong time, Duskshade."
ThunderClan's medicine cat looks at Goldheart, his confusion fades to relief.
"You have to cut this visit short. You can't be here right now."
Duskshade blinks. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Goldheart suddenly realizes how mouse-brained he started off. The last thing they need is to send them into a panic, but with everything that's going on, it's bound to happen either way.
"We're just not in the mood for visitors." He replies.
"Not in the mood… That doesn't make sense, and why is it so dark?"
Goldheart's patience is quickly wearing thin at this point.
"Look. I don't have to tell you everything that's happening. You just need to leave and keep this to yourself."
Duskshade vanishes before his eyes, Goldheart hopes that he would stay quiet.
"That was rude." An ashy, pale grey tom stands next to Goldheart as he glares at him.
"Not now, Ashenclaw."
"Obviously, social skills isn't your strong suit. At least I had the decency to ask Sootdust and her apprentice to leave."
Goldheart looks at Ashenclaw. "You sent them away?"
"It's not just me. The other two medicine cats were sent away."
Goldheart narrows his eyes. "We have enough problems without the living going through a panic as well, that's what they want."
Ashenclaw briefly curls his tail tip around Goldheart's, the cream brown tom doesn't pull away. Ashenclaw said, "It's going to happen in their favor regardless of what we do, all we can do is wait."