Apprentice and Pregnant 2
Chapter 14: Trapped
A shot in the dark, a past lost in space
Where do I start? The past and the chase
You hunted me down
Like a wolf, a predator
I felt like a deer in the lights
You loved me, and I froze in time
Hungry, for that flesh of mine
But I can't compete with the she wolf that has brought me to my knees
What do you see in those yellow eyes?
Cause I'm falling to pieces
Thornpaw ran through the endless forest, feeling as though his paws were being carried by clouds. His whole body felt light, as if he had turned into a balloon. Faster and faster he ran, the ground slanting upwards. It seemed to tilt the more he moved, and he found that he couldn't see the sky anymore.
He was now climbing a mountain, clawing with all his strength. The forest floor was curved nearly straight up.
"What's going on?" Thornpaw cried, feeling his body float away from the ground. The grass under his paws had turned to stone, and his claws scraped painfully against them. Just as he was about to give up and let himself fall, he heaved himself over the mountain top. The ledge below his paws tilted down, the drop was so high that Thornpaw knew that if he fell, he'd never survive it. He looked out at the scene around him, wondering just what the heck was going on.
The forest was covered in a red mist. It looked as though the forest was covered in blood.
Thornpaw held back a choke of alarm, terror running through his veins. He willed himself to wake up; his dream was unfolding into a nightmare.
"This is your life now," a voice suddenly boomed from the sky. "You are balanced very high in the sky, Thornpaw. One wrong paw step and-"
The voice broke off, and the ground started to shake violently. Thornpaw scrabbled on top of the small rock space, terror running through him. He lurched forward, and nearly tore his claws out as he forced himself not to fall off the cliff to his death.
"What are you trying to tell me?" Thornpaw cried out, frightened.
"You have created a mountain of problems," the voice spoke. But it was a different one, and Thornpaw realized with dismay that it was Laurelpaws. Her face suddenly appeared in the distance, her usually cute smirk twisted as if she found his struggling amusing. The vision grew larger, looming over him like a giant.
"What are you saying?" Thornpaw cried.
"This mountain of problems is too high," Laurelpaw said, her voice echoing eerily. Red mist swirled from her mouth as she spoke, and Thornpaw coughed, squinting to see through it.
"It won't hold you forever," Laurelpaw continued, sighing as if she was bored. But the situation was anything but boring, the rock started to shake again under Thornpaws feet. This time, there was no possibility of holding on. He screamed as he was thrown from the cliff, falling down into the red forest.
"One day you'll fall…"
Laurelpaws voice rang in his ears moments before he hit the ground. The pain was excruciating, mind numbing pain shot through his body. He heard his bones snap before they actually did, crippling him forever. Now Laurelpaw was gone, and all he could do was stare up into the sickening red fog.
"One day you'll fall," she repeated. "This is a warning, Thornpaw. Beware."
And then he woke up.
"My paws are frozen," Cracklepaw complained, rubbing them on the grass in an attempt to warm them up. "Ugh, I thought we had a few more moons before leaf bare started."
"At least it's not snowing," Silverpaw mumbled, rubbing his paws too. "I am so not excited for that at all."
"I-I-I'm n-not," Firepaw stuttered through chattering teeth. "C-cold at a-all."
"Ha!" Cracklepaw laughed loudly, shoving his friend. "Whatever, Firepaw. You're shaking."
"T-t-this f-freaking sucks," Firepaw muttered, moving back and forth in an attempt to warm up. "W-why am I s-so cold?"
"Yeah dude," Silverpaw said, his amusement turning into concern. "What's wrong with you? Your lips are blue."
"S-shit," Firepaw swore.
"Maybe you should go see the medicine cat," Cracklepaw suggested, all playfulness gone. "What if you like, got frostbite or something?"
"N-nah," Firepaw said, shaking his head while shaking from the cold at the same time. "I'll just g-go l-lie down for a b-bit."
"Alright then," Cracklepaw said. "Go rest for a while, we can hang out some more later."
"B-bye," Firepaw said, getting up. He walked away in the direction of the apprentices den.
"Poor guy," Silverpaw snorted, shaking his head. "He's got such a thin pelt, it's no wonder he's so cold. I wonder how he's gonna be when it starts to snow."
"Hopefully he's used to it by then," Cracklepaw replied. "Otherwise he's in for a depressing season."
"What do you guys want to do today?" Laurelpaw asked, flexing her freezing claws. "I wanted to go out for a bit, but I wasn't expecting it to be so freaking cold."
"Tell me about it," Ivypaw snorted, shivering slightly. "You should have seen Firepaw; he came back to camp nearly frozen to death."
"Where is he now?" Laurelpaw asked, curious. "I haven't seen him like, all day."
"He's in the apprentices den, trying to warm up," Ivypaw replied, a sly smirk stretching across her face. "I went in there for a bit to snuggle with him."
"Oh," Laurelpaw mumbled, her breath catching in her throat. Stupid Ivypaw, snuggling with Firepaw. Who does she think she is?
Wait, why does that even bother me at all?
Laurelpaw pushed her confusing feelings aside, trying not to picture her friend close to Firepaw.
"Why don't we go out hunting for a bit?" Pinepaw suggested. "The fresh kill piles looking a little low, and this way if we move around we can warm up a bit."
"Good idea," Laurelpaw said, still feeling slightly annoyed about what Ivypaw had said.
"I want to invite Swallow Star to come," Pinepaw whispered, looking over to where the leader sat with Tigerstripe.
"Oh, fantastic idea," Laurelpaw couldn't help herself from replying sarcastically. "I'm sure he has nothing better to do than go join a group of apprentices to go hunting."
"I guess you have a point," Pinepaw sighed, looking away from him and back at her friends. "I just miss him! We haven't even really talked since we all got in trouble a moon ago."
"You still like him a lot, don't you," Laurelpaw said. I wish she'd stop thinking so unrealistically. Swallow Star is far too old anyway.
"I don't just like him," Pinepaw paused dramatically. "I love him!"
"Alrighty then," Laurelpaw said quickly, hoping to detour a possible long discussion about Pinepaws feelings. "Let's go hunting."
"To the forest!" Ivypaw cried before charging away to the camp entrance. Pinepaw ran after her, Laurelpaw close behind. Laurelpaw found herself looking back at the apprentices den, imagining Firepaw lying by himself being cold. I hope he's okay.
"Shouldn't we bring a warrior with us?" Laurelpaw asked, forcing Firepaw out of her thoughts as she ran to catch up with her friends. "We probably shouldn't go out alone."
"Oh Laurelpaw, it's fine!" Ivypaw replied, looking over her shoulder. "We're basically warriors anyway."
"Okay," Laurelpaw shrugged and dropped it, wondering why she suddenly felt uneasy. She ran with her friends through the forest, slipping slightly on the icy frost covered ground.
"I think this is a good spot," Ivypaw said, skidding to a halt. "Last time I came out here we caught loads of prey. What do you think girls, should we hunt together or split up?"
Laurelpaw looked around, inspecting her surroundings. They were right next to the Shadowclan border, so close in fact that Laurelpaw could smell their scent markers.
Her uneasy feeling grew.
"Um, I have a bad feeling about this," Laurelpaw voiced her concerns, hoping her friends wouldn't make fun of her. "I really think we should go back and find a warrior-"
"Laurelpaw, chill!" Ivypaw sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "What's the matter with you?"
"I just have a bad feeling in my heart," Laurelpaw whispered. The forest seemed strangely quiet, as if all the sounds in the world were muted. "Ugh, I don't know guys. What if something bad happens?"
"Oh, like what?" Ivypaw scoffed. "Shadowclan isn't just gonna parade over here and attack us for no reason. We're on our territory, so who cares?"
"Well, I don't know!" Laurelpaw cried, getting extremely frustrated. Why do I feel this way? We aren't doing anything wrong!
Laurelpaw noticed something flickering in the corner of her eye, and she turned her head. Four misty figures met her view, startling her. All Laurelpaw could do was watch, realizing it was a vision from the past.
With a horrified jolt, Laurelpaw realized it was her mother and her friends.
"Where are we going?" Hollypaw asked once she had caught up. Tigerpaws greasy head turned around to face her, and his black lips turned up into a weird smile. "We're sneaking into Shadowclan," he replied. Hollypaws jaw dropped noticeably, and Leafpaw snickered.
"Why?" Hollypaw whispered. She thought of Snowpaw and Rainpaw hunting with their mentors and wished that's what she was doing.
"Everyones always saying how dark and scary it is," Tigerpaw rolled his eyes. "I don't believe them. Why would cats attack another just because they walked over their precious scent markers?"
Hollypaw couldn't stop herself from hearing her mentors voice in her head. Scent markers are a very important part of a border patrol, Grayclaw said sternly. We do not cross them. We do not venture into their territory. They do not cross our borders, and they do not come into our territory. It's a matter of respect, Hollypaw. Keep that in mind at all times.
"What?" Leafpaw asked, voice sharp. Hollypaw jumped in surprise, and Grayclaw vanished from her mind.
"What's wrong?" Leafpaw asked again. "Are you scared?"
"No," Hollypaw mumbled. "I just don't think this is a very good idea."
"Oh my god, get the stick out of your ass," Tigerpaw put in.
"Yeah, I didn't think you'd be such a buzz kill," Leafpaw shooed her rudely with a paw. "You might as well go home them if you're gonna be like that."
Another image of Snowpaw and Rainpaw hunting with their mentors pushed its way into Hollypaws mind, but at the same time an image of herself with no friends did too.
"Let's just go," Hollypaw hissed, pushing past her sister and Tigerpaw.
The vision stopped, and the misty cats vanished. Laurelpaw stood shaking, wondering why Starclan had decided to show her such a thing. Oh my god… Laurelpaw thought to herself, feeling very frightened. That was… that was what happened moments before Hollyshine was raped!
Déjà vu was clouding Laurelpaws mind so badly that she wanted to throw up. She knew that they had to get out of here, and they had to get out of here now.
But if I leave, Ivypaw and Pinepaw will stay! What if something happens to them? That was a warning from Starclan, I'm sure of it. But we aren't even going into Shadowclan... we aren't doing anything wrong!
"I didn't think you'd be such a buzz kill," Ivypaw said loudly, shattering Laurelpaws thoughts. "You might as well go home if you're gonna be like this."
"I'm fine," Laurelpaw hissed, feeling weak as her friend spoke the same words Leafpaw had said in the vision.
"Just lighten up," Pinepaw smiled, nudging her friend playfully. "This is supposed to be fun!"
"You're right," Laurelpaw said, feeling a little more confident. Yeah! We aren't doing anything wrong anyway!
"Sh!" Pinepaw shushed them suddenly, ears pricked. "I hear something!"
Laurelpaw looked around, noticing that a bush was rustling close to the border. Instinctively, she dropped into the hunters crouch at once. Her worries were forgotten, and she focused on the hunt. That prey will be no match for us!
"I'm going in," Ivypaw whispered very quietly, slithering forward. Laurelpaw watched, wondering what was in the bush. It's moving a lot, it can't be a mouse or squirrel, Laurelpaw thought, narrowing her eyes. Wait, what if-
A set of gray ears poked out of the bush.
"Ivypaw!" Laurelpaw cried, alarm shooting through her as she realized it was a cat. "Get back!"
Ivypaw squeaked with alarm and stopped moving, ears flattening against her head as the cat stepped out into the open. He was huge; nearly triple the size of Laurelpaw. He had shiny gray eyes that matched his greasy fur, and thick black claws. Fear shot through Laurelpaw like lightning, paralyzing her. Pinepaw pressed close to her, and Laurelpaw could feel her trembling.
"Hello," the gray cat smiled a sickly smile, his shiny beady eyes narrowing as they locked with Laurelpaws. At once, another vision appeared.
But this one only lasted for a heartbeat.
"I didn't even want to come here!" Laurelpaw heard her mother's voice ring in her ears. "Get off me, please!"
Suddenly, the winds seemed to change. Laurelpaws fear changed to anger, and she stood up a little straighter. She stared at the cat square in the eye, tilting her head up so she could see his face. He thinks he can scare us, Laurelpaw thought, anger building up more and more. She took a step forward, shielding Pinepaw. Well not today, asshole!
"Can I help you?" Laurelpaw hissed. When she spoke Ivypaw finally moved, hiding behind her like Pinepaw was. Laurelpaw wished that they would stand strong like she was.
"I've been watching you," the cat said, his voice slithering like a snakes. He stepped forward. Laurelpaw forced herself to step forward as well, guarding her friends.
"Watching me?" Laurelpaw growled, spitting the words. "Why?"
"Because you have something I want," the cat said simply.
"Oh?" Laurelpaw said, voice faltering. Her fear was starting to come back, and she struggled to push it away. "And what's that?"
"My son," the cat hissed. "Bring him to me, and we can end this right now."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Laurelpaw stammered.
"Oh I think you do," the cat growled. Laurelpaw could swear his eyes got shinier.
"Who are you?" Laurelpaw hissed. "I don't know who your son is, and I've never seen you before in my entire life."
"Well, I was born with the name Grayer," the cat smiled an evil smile. "But you can call me Old Gray."