Chapter Six
As the quintet of ValleyClan cats forced themselves on, they grew more wary. But the fear burning in Thunderstar's heart prevented any tiredness from entering his own body. The poor apprentices, though strong and determined, lagged behind, becoming more and more spread apart. Dellsong jogged just behind them, encouraging them to keep up with the young leader when they needed it.
A faint light showed on the horizon, although the patched tom could not see the actual sun behind an expanse of tall plants. As the sky grew brighter, he could make out the treeline of the forest not far off. Flamepaw sped his pace to walk beside Thunderstar.
"What's that over there, Thunderstar? It looks like weird, really tall grass.." he yawned. The leader purred warmly.
"Maybe your mother hasn't told you about it, yet, Flamepaw. It's a plant called corn. Twolegs grow it.. No cat knows why, though." internally, he hoped he sounded knowledgeable. Flamepaw squinted hard in the field's direction, while Dellsong and the older apprentices caught up to them.
"Thunderstar, can you smell that?" Gullypaw mewed suspiciously. The tom looked at the young she-cat, confused. He drew to a stop and scented the air for himself. He flattened his ears.
"It's a cat, a rogue. I think it's following our scent trail backwards."
"What should we do?" Gorgepaw asked, blatant.
"Mmm.. We need to keep going, but keep your ears pricked, and your eyes wide. This cat could be dangerous." Immediately, the apprentices obeyed. The older cat was caught off guard by their obedience. Finally feeling his nervous energy being put to use, Thunderstar let his senses strain to detect the strange cat.
As the trees approached, the scent became stronger. Thunderstar's dorsal hairs began to rise as he grew closer. Flamepaw walked closer to his leader, Dellsong walking closer to her son. The older apprentices walked bravely (or foolishly) apart from the other cats as they went on. Their collective unease grew as shrubs and forest plants sprouted around them, leading up into the forest.
Thunderstar halted again, drawing in a long breathe. The scent was so near he knew the cat must be close enough to touch. In fact, he saw a tail flick under a bush a tail-length before him. He barred his tail before his Clanmates to stop them following him before creeping towards the bush. He poked his head under the branches to see a thick-furred she-cat, staring back at him with wide eyes.
"Stay away!" she hissed, making him jump back a step. He flattened his ears but stood his ground.
"May I point out you were the one tracking me-or should I say us." he flicked his tail at his patrol, though their paws were the only things visible. The she-cat's pupils twitched momentarily to look, likely not seeing what she'd glanced. Her lip curled.
"It's what cats do out here. I thought they had all come tracking you from here, but a smart cat knows a cat goes and comes from prey spots. Most cats here aren't smart." she growled, staring away. He wondered who all these cats were, that somehow the Clan had never seen. But there was something more important at paw. Maybe this she-cat had things to teach them. "I've never heard of cats living together. You're not-you haven't heard of those savage cats, have you? I've met cats who left them."
Suddenly the she-cat's guarded demeanor partly fell away, showing a natural curiosity that must've been long suppressed in her solitude. Thunderstar took a moment to think of exactly how to explain himself and his cats before he opened his jaws to speak.
"My cats are not savage. We are called ValleyClan, and we treat our Clanmates and others with compassion." he paused, unsure for a moment. "The cats you met, what were their names?"
"I don't know; they weren't so kind-not that that's unusual. They just told me to stay away from the savages." her defensive behavior started to sprout back up as she responded.
"You keep saying most cats, but why not all cats?" he asked tentatively.
"I was raised with decent littermates, alright? Even met some decent housefolk, before. I know that makes you hate me, now, so leave." she hissed, sounding more disgusted by her own words than his passive reaction to them.
"I said we are compassionate to strangers, and I meant it. I, and my Clanmates, don't judge cats so easily by their heritage." I mean look at me, son to the worshipped Cliffstar, loathed by half or more of the Clan. The she-cat licked her nose and wrapped her tail around her body.
"If you really mean it.. My name is Calla. If you'd allow, I think I would like to see your Clan.. how it works." she mewed, cautious.
"My name is Thunderstar, I am the leader of my Clan. I'd welcome you to come see our camp and our ways. However, my patrol is in quite a hurry to return to our camp. If you don't mind the rush, you can join us, now." to his pleasant surprise, Calla nodded her head vigorously and climbed out from under the bush before the tom could. He wriggled himself backward awkwardly, about bumping into Flamepaw. He turned to his patrol, their weary eyes trained on him. He swallowed, trying to wet his dry mouth.
"The cat that was following us.. She is a loner named Calla. She is going to accompany us back to camp." They exchanged glances, silent. For a moment he looked back and forth between them, but no one spoke up. Again, he was struck with the anxiety of what may be transpiring at home. Deciding not to speak up himself, he turned and started towards their territory. He kept the pace slow, allowing Calla to keep pace. She seemed ill at ease at first, straying far to one side of the others. But as she focused more on keeping up and in rhythm with their strides, she forgot about keeping her distance. Thunderstar's impatience drummed up, and he ran at full speed after a while.
As he wove his way around the trees and undergrowth, the leader began to remember his duties as a mentor. Poor Asterpaw; some mentor he was. He hadn't been one since Glenberry had been made a warrior, almost seven seasons ago. It was hard to recall that long ago, when prey always seemed at paw's length, and he did nothing all day but jeer at Strathfang. It seemed strange now, that his best days were when his father was in charge. But, at the same time, they were the same days that his mother had lived, too.
His mind wandered to his own kits. He couldn't say he'd done a good job teaching them, either. Not a dawn passed that Thunderstar didn't thank StarClan for Longwhisker. She was really the one that had made their kits the spitting image of what a warrior should be. He hoped she could do it, again. I'll be a better father to these kits, he decided. And I'll start being a father to the older three. Even if-
"I swear I can smell the scent markers!" Gullypaw yowled excitedly. The patrol's speed slowed.
Dellsong hissed. "Shut your muzzle! Any more of that, all the prey from here to the waterfall will be hidden in their burrows!" Thunderstar flicked her side, good-humored.
"Prey still runs fine this time of year," he stated, glancing reassuringly at Calla, "I'm sure they're busy gathering food for the cold."
"Ugh, Thunderstar, can we run ahead? I'm afraid if we keep up this pace, my paws will catch up to the rest of me and I'll fall over!" Gorgepaw sighed, exasperated.
"Alright, the three of you apprentices run to camp and tell the Clan we're back and that we've a guest with us." he replied. The older pair dashed off immediately, Flamepaw giving a nod to show he'd heard before he followed.
The three remaining cats kept a steady pace, soon losing track of the apprentices. Thunderstar kept a close eye on Calla, studying her movements. She watched every leaf fall from the treetops, alert. Every twitch of prey in the undergrowth caught her eye and made her trip more than once. The tom wondered if she was always like this, or only in the presence of other cats.
Thunderstar breathed a noticeable sigh of relief as he scented the border and stepped across it. He felt his blood pump harder, his head lift, and he felt the whole of his ancestors above him. He was home, again. Dellsong caught his eye, and he purred. She purred shortly back, understanding.
Once they were inside the border, it was an easy path back to the camp. The familiar ground seemed to carve the way for them as they ran, swift as a river, towards their destination. The trunks of trees zoomed past, ferns and brambles teased at their flanks, and soon the heather tunnel was in view. Thunderstar barreled through it, digging his claws into the soft-beaten ground of the camp to stop himself.
Even though now was the time cats usually shared tongues after eating, few cats remained in the clearing. The three apprentices hung around the fresh-kill pile, picking something for themselves after their long day. Dalefeather, Aspenstripe, and Elderpelt sat huddled near the elder's den, whispering together. Glenberry thrust her head out of the warriors' den, about to cross the clearing to her kits, when she caught sight of the leader. She flattened her ears and immediately retreated back into den. He cocked his head in confusion but proceeded into the camp. No other cats were visible. Something was wrong.
"Are these the only cats in your Clan?" Calla whispered, seeming self-conscious in the quiet camp.
"No. There are plenty more cats.. It's late, they're all probably resting in their dens, now." he replied, paying more attention to what he saw than what he said. "Dellsong, take Calla to get something to eat and I'll be right with you.."
He didn't pay attention to what Dellsong said. He made his way forebodingly across the camp towards the nursery. Every pace he took, every second his paw pads touched the earth something felt wrong. He could almost hear StarClan screeching in his ears, yet the camp was so quiet. Thunderstar stopped at the entrance to the nursery. He took a deep breath and stepped into the den.
Shadows covered everything inside. It took him an agonizing second to adjust to the darkness. As he took another breath, the stench of sickness filled his lungs. He started to gag, but held it back. He immediately saw Rivertail crouched near the base of the elder bush, near a sleeping cat. The cat was obviously the source of illness, and as he drew closer the bile rose in his throat. Seeing the black ribbons carving across the barely breathing silver flank made him sicker than anything else in the world could.
"Longwhisker!" he cried, and pressed his muzzle against her flank. No tiny bodies squirmed in her belly. He shuttered as all the ideas of what horrid things could have happened passed through his head. She had kitted. Had she been sick when she had? Did the illness kill them? Had they been too weak at birth, as Rivinefall and her sister had been? What if a fox had gotten into the camp while he was gone, and eaten his newborn kits? He drew back his head as his mate took a sudden strong breathe.
"Thunderheart?" she murmured, her mew almost inaudible.
"Longwhisker, what happened to you?" he whispered, horrified.
"Thunderstar, a word?" Rivertail asked briskly. He looked at her, swallowing his fear. He nodded and stepped back, reluctant.
"Don't be long, my love." Longwhisker said quietly. He left his gaze on her for a long time before he left to one corner of the den with the medicine cat.
"Thunderstar," she meowed, "She has kitting sickness. It happened to her mother as well. She can't recover from it.. It will only get worse until.." the medicine cat stopped talking. It was clear what she meant. Without replying, he turned back to the beautiful she-cat and sat beside her, looking down at her. At first he hadn't paid any attention to how she really looked. He always just saw the same cat he'd grown up with, the cat he loved. Now that he looked at her, resting in the dark, he saw her bones near the surface of her pelt, after only two days. He could feel the heat coming off of her, how little care she had left for herself. He bent his head and began rasping his tongue over her dingy fur. She lifted her head again, her body shaking in the effort.
"Your kits.. they're in the nursery." she said, her voice filled with joy. Thunderstar suddenly felt so very old, and his heart strained painfully.
"They're our kits, Longwhisker." he purred roughly. He pressed his head against her side, drawing strength from her happiness.
"Your kits still need names." she murmured, ignoring him.
"We'll name them after you." he whispered immediately.
Longwhisker purred. Her mate felt her shake even more as she did. "There's three of them, they can't all be named after me."
"Sure they can.. Longkit, Whiskerkit, and.." his voice fell away.
"See, silly tom?" laughter filled her voice. "Besides, there are much pretty names.. I think we should name the she-kit Freezekit."
"Anything you want.. Longwhisker." he agreed.
"You say my name as if you never will again." Longwhisker's voice grew serious. "Promise me you'll say my name everyday. Say it to yourself, and say it to our kits."
"Yes." Thunderstar felt his heart shatter. The pieces pierced his chest and made him want to follow his mate to StarClan.
"Tell them a new story every day about how much fun we had, every hunt we went on, every rogue we chased.. and that includes the older three." this time, he simply nodded. He couldn't make himself speak any longer.
"Please let me name the toms after you." he choked out.
"How about this: name one of them after my father. And name the other tom Talonkit." Thunderstar turned his head to lick her cheek.
"Don't leave me, Longwhisker. I need you so much. I'm not a good father. I'm not a good leader. You just make me look like I am. Please-" the leader's voice cracked. His mate licked his nose and a moment later her head dropped to the mossy ground. Scared, he shot to his feet, sniffing the she-cat up and down. To his relief, she was still breathing. Rivertail stepped up behind him, touching her tail to his shoulder.
"You should go see your kits, Thunderstar. They're beautiful." she murmured. Thunderstar whirled on her, snarling.
"You should be helping her! Where are your herbs? Where is your special connection to StarClan!? Why won't you save her!?" he yowled. The medicine cat cowered in fear, pressing her back against the walls of the nursery.
"Thunderstar-"
"No! Don't try to silence me! If you can't do anything, I'll stay here until she's better! Because she has to!" broken inside, the patch pelted leader collapsed by his mate and wrapped his body around her's, burying his face in her side.
