Blizzardstar looked at the cream she-cat and dipped his head. "Very well, Softpetal," and turned to exit the den. Emberpaw realized that Softpetal was the clan medicine cat, and was the one who nursed him back to health.
"Sit back down," she ordered as the leader left. Emberpaw quickly did as he was told. His paws felt incredibly sore and stung when he stood anyways. "You're very lucky to be alive," she mewed. "If you hadn't run into that patrol, you would've been crow-food."
Emberpaw shuddered, imagining the creature's teeth sinking into his fur.
"What were you two doing out and alone? Doesn't ThunderClan watch its apprentices?" Softpetal inquired with an edge to her voice. He realized that despite her name, she wasn't very gentle.
"We just got separated," he muttered. Thinking back on it, why did Aspenleaf let both of us go on our own, anywhere we wanted throughout the territory? I only had one day of training before that. I was almost killed. His tail-tip flicked as the dark shadow crossed his mind.
"When do we get to leave?" Swiftpaw meowed tiredly from her nest. She stretched and winced at the soreness of her muscles.
Softpetal looked away, but not before Emberpaw caught a look of guilt flashing across her face. "Whenever Blizzardstar says you can."
The words sounded ominous to Emberpaw's ears, and he flattened them against his head. "When do you think that will be?" He added.
Softpetal ignored his question, and turned to the wall to begin sorting herbs. Emberpaw sighed. They would get no information from her. He looked over at Swiftpaw, and he saw his own worries reflected in her eyes.
"You might as well get more rest," the medicine cat meowed without looking back.
He laid his head down obediently, but couldn't put his thoughts to rest. He was stuck in the ShadowClan camp, for who knows how long. It didn't seem like Blizzardstar had any intention of letting them go anytime soon. And by the look of guilt on Softpetal's face, he could tell that his thoughts must be true. The leader wanted something in return for saving two ThunderClan apprentices.
Emberpaw wondered what his clan was going to do. They would've noticed their absence long ago. Did they send patrols to ShadowClan already, demanding their apprentices back? They had to have smelled the creature and their scent cross the ShadowClan border. There's no way ThunderClan didn't know where they were. And they were going to repay ShadowClan with what they wanted, weren't they?
"Emberpaw," Swiftpaw hissed quietly, when Softpetal left the den to check up on her warriors. Emberpaw looked over at her to see that she had scooted to the far side of her nest, leaving open a big space. Her eyes were round and asking a question. His own pelt felt cold, and his heart ached desperately for comfort. He would've preferred it from Nettlestem, but she wasn't here. He got up and gratefully laid down next to Swiftpaw, her long and fuzzy fur warm. The two apprentices leaned against each other, taking needed comfort from the other's presence. They were in a camp surrounded by hostile, enemy cats and the only thing they had was each other and their newly forged bond of friendship.
"We need to escape out of here," Swiftpaw mewed quietly.
Emberpaw looked at her in surprise. "How would we do that? We would have to go into the camp to be able to leave." And it wouldn't take long for anybody to notice them.
"We could sneak out tonight, when everybody is asleep," She suggested.
Emberpaw shook his head. "They would be expecting that, and probably have a warrior keeping lookout for that."
Swiftpaw sighed and thought deeply. Emberpaw thought she had almost forgotten by how long she took, and it surprised him when she spoke again, her voice low and urgent. "Okay. Its a long shot, but its the only thing I can think of..."