Chapter 11
Duskpaw lazily basked in the sun. The camp was abuzz with activity but, she had no duties to do so she was relaxing. Whitefox was lying outside the nursery. Her stomach was very large now and Duskpaw suspected she would be kitting any day now. Stormstep approached her with a hare dangling from his mouth while his brother was leading a hunting patrol out of camp. It was made of Paletree, Orcafin, and Foamfur.
Snowypaw stiffly walked out of the apprentice den as they left. He had been walking for a while now and Twigshade had allowed him to go back to limited training. Stretching he walked towards the freshkill pile. Before he made it he was attacked by Heronkit. Letting out a yowl of surprise her tumbled to the ground.
"I got you," Heronkit mewed triumphantly. Snowypaw smiled and pushed him off gently.
"You sure did," he purred. Heronkit beamed with pleaser at the apprentice's praise. Snowypaw ruffled his head before continuing to the freshkill pile. He dipped his head to Duskpaw as he passed. She waved a greeting to him.
"Hi Snowypaw," she greeted him as he settled next to her with a plump tern.
"Hi Duskpaw," he mewed back. Duskpaw smiled lazily at him.
"How have your legs been feeling?" she asked.
"They're getting stronger every day. Maplestar even said I can go to the gathering tonight," he purred. Duskpaw nodded.
"I can go too. It's going to be my first," she purred. Her heart twisted as she said those words. She should be attending the gathering with Silverpaw. By now she had almost joined her clan's assumption that Silverpaw was dead. Snowypaw was the only one who still believed she was out there.
"It'll be great," Snowypaw mewed, lightly. Duskpaw nodded sadly. Snowypaw glanced at her. "What's up?" he asked.
"I wonder if Maplestar will announce it at the gathering," she whispered. Snowypaw bristled.
"I can't believe you would assume your sister is dead so fast," he growled. Duskpaw looked at him in surprise.
"If she was alive she would have come back by now," she insisted.
"But she can't because-" he broke off and glanced around the camp. Duskpaw blinked in confusion.
"What?" she wondered.
"Nothing," Snowypaw mumbled guiltily. Rising to his paws he wondered off and left his tern untouched. Duskpaw watched him with confusion.
"What?" she repeated. Shrugging she pulled his tern over and started to eat it. "Not good to waist freshkill," she told herself.
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Snowypaw walked to the group of cats that were gathering at the entrance. Maplestar had ordered Shardclaw, Tundrafoot, Foamfur, Orcafin, Twigshade, Duskpaw, and him to attend the gathering. Taking a place behind his brother he looked around for Duskpaw.
She was standing next to Twigshade and chatting excitedly. Twigshade was obviously not paying attention but Tundrafoot had turned around and started to talk to the silver apprentice. Snowypaw rolled his eyes at her eagerness, inside he was seething with anger that she had forgotten Silverpaw so fast. Seal-brain, he thought crossly. Orcafin nudged him.
"Happy that you didn't miss the gathering?" he asked. Snowypaw nodded. Orcafin smiled. "Always eager to socialize," he purred. Snowypaw laughed.
"One of us has to be," he grinned. Orcafin chuckled.
"Alright you got me," he laughed. Snowypaw smiled. Foamfur turned back to look at them.
"We're about to leave so stop talking and get ready or we'll leave you," she ordered. Snowypaw rolled his eyes again but did as he was told. As he faced ahead the clan surged forward. Snowypaw fell in with them. At first his legs protested and hurt but soon they got used to it and began to bend gracefully like they once had.
The clan raced through the forest with surprising speed. Snowypaw matched them pace for pace. Tundrafoot fell in beside him and glanced at him from time to time. Snowypaw swished his tail in aggravation.
"I'm fine," he finally growled. Tundrafoot smiled.
"Just thought I'd keep an eye on you," he purred. Snowypaw shook his head at his clanmate. After that they were quiet, saving their breath for the run. Snowypaw eagerly raced forward, wanting to get back in on all the news. He smiled when the scent of frozen water reached him. Maplestar slowed them to a walk as they approached Frozen Falls. Snowypaw could see it sparkling ahead of them.
"Ready?" Tundrafoot asked.
"Oh yeah," Snowypaw breathed. Maplestar lead them down to where the other clans were waiting. Oceanclan and Stormclan were already there by the smell and Snowypaw could see some of his friends sitting together on the ice so he rushed towards them.
"Roarpaw," he called. The silver tom glanced at him.
"Hi Snowypaw," he purred. Snowypaw sat down next to him. Shellpaw and Krisppaw were sitting on his other side and dipped their heads to him. Lightningpaw was sitting next to Krisppaw with Frostpaw next to him.
"Snowypaw," he mewed. His voice seemed even lower than it had the last time Snowypaw talked to him.
"Lightningpaw, Frostpaw," he greeted them. They smiled.
"Not anymore," Frostpaw purred. "I'm Frostwing and he's Lightningcloud," she mewed proudly. Snowypaw smiled.
"Congratulations," he purred. Lightningcloud smiled brightly and Frostwing sat up straighter. Snowypaw laughed inwardly. They're still young on the inside, he thought. Just then paw steps thundered behind them. Glancing around he spotted Moonclan racing towards them. Whisperpaw and Windpaw broke off from their clan and raced over. Panting they sat next to Snowypaw.
"Hi," Whisperpaw panted.
"Hi," they mewed. Before they could continue the leaders called the gathering. Snowypaw turned to face them.
Maplestar was sitting in a small cave in the waterfall, Belugastar was resting on a ledge over her. Swiftstar had clawed his way to a ledge just to the side of Belugastar while Greystar was lying on a ledge beneath them all. The four deputies sat beneath them on the ice.
Swiftstar stepped forward. "Moonclan has done well the past few moons. Brightlight has given birth to three kits: Lightkit, Spotkit, and Fluffykit." The cats in the clearing let out congratulating mews. "Unfortunately not everything has been happy. Sunwing's kits were stolen by a fox and Bigclaw died of greencough," the Moonclan leader finished. Whisperpaw and Windpaw dropped their heads in sadness. Snowypaw placed his tail on Whisperpaw's shoulder. Greystar stepped forward after Swiftstar.
"We have to new warriors here tonight," he called proudly, "Lightningcloud and Frostwing."
"Lightningcloud, Frostwing," the clans cheered. The two new warriors raised their heads proudly and fluffed up their fur. Snowypaw smiled at them.
"My mate Wolfhowl has given me tow beautiful daughters: Windykit and Twilightkit," he finished. Many cats murmured congrats and the leaders dipped their heads to him. Belugastar was next.
"We have a new apprentice, Treepaw," The white tom called. The clans called out the tom's name. Snowypaw noticed that few in his clan joined in. A few even shot angry glances at the brown apprentice. Snowypaw called out his name anyways.
"Kelpshine is now mother to Lunarkit," he added as the noise went down. Snowypaw smiled. So many new kits, he thought happily. It was Maplestar's turn next. Snowypaw took a deep breath, wondering what she would say. A sweet scent drifted to him and he almost gasped. Silverpaw? He looked around in confusion. Are you at the gathering? He sniffed again. It was defiantly her scent but it was very faint and mingled with something else.
"Duskpaw is Twigshade's new apprentice," Maplestar called interrupting Snowypaw from his thoughts. The silver she-cat stood up proudly from where she was sitting with the other medicine cats. The clans called her name. "Her sister, Silverpaw was unable to join us tonight for various reasons," Maplestar continued. Snowypaw smiled at how she introduced her without giving anything away as to why she wasn't there. "Lichenheart is now in the nursery looking after Heronkit and Whitefox has joined her," Maplestar finished. Brining the gathering to an end the leaders jumped from the waterfall.
"Well bye Snowypaw, see you next gathering," Roarpaw mewed. Snowypaw turned to say goodbye to his friend when a breeze blew through the cats. It brought Silverpaw's scent and this time Snowypaw recognized the other smell. It was Roarpaw! Roarpaw had Silverpaw's scent on him. Snowypaw stumbled backwards in shock.
"Hey," Whisperpaw growled leaping out of the way as Snowypaw stumbled back. He glanced at them.
"Sorry," he mumbled. Without waiting for a response he hurried to where his clan was gathering to leave. He took up his spot behind Orcafin right before they left. The clan ran through the forest, faster than the last time and were back at the camp within moments. Snowypaw walked straight to the apprentice den without talking. Stomping inside he dropped into his nest.
"Why did he smell like Silverpaw?" Snowypaw wondered out loud. Then it hit him. Silverpaw's scent was found on the border with her blood. She must have been attacked like him but an Oceanclan patrol found her and brought her back to camp to heal. Why didn't they tell us then? He wondered.
"Oh well. I know where she is now," he whispered happily. Smiling he settled down in his nest and fell asleep.
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Silverpaw lifted her head when Sandpaw and Sealfeather returned from the gathering. They looked exhausted and went straight to their nests. Silverpaw watched them with mild interest.
"How was the gathering?" she finally asked. They looked up in surprise like they hadn't noticed she was awake. "How was the gathering?" she repeated.
"Fine," Sealfeather shrugged. Silverpaw glanced at Sandpaw, hoping for more detail.
"Was Duskpaw there?" she questioned. Sandpaw nodded.
"She sat with Sparklepaw and me," she yawned. Silverpaw smiled.
"So she knows I'll be coming home soon?" she checked. Sandpaw curled up in her nest before answering.
"Yes," she whispered, her eyes yellow slits. Silverpaw let out a sigh of relief before she settled into her own nest. I can't wait to go back, she thought. Closing her eyes she dreamt of being back in Frostclan with her sister and Snowypaw. She jerked awake.
"Sandpaw," she hissed. The golden cat blinked at her.
"What?" she grumbled.
"How is Snowypaw?" she asked.
"He's fine. He sat next to Roarpaw," she mumbled. Closing her eyes Silverpaw heard quiet snores rising from her nest. She giggled.
"So Snowypaw's alright," she smiled as she drifted back to sleep.
A/N:
Well here's another short chapter. Sorry. But it was a good chapter, at least for the characters. Now Snowypaw knows where Silverpaw is. I wonder what he's going to do about it. You'll find out in the next chapter which shouldn't be for a while because I'm going to youth camp next week and I still have to pack and stuff. Well thanks for reading for so long and please review. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.