Chapter Seven
"Hollowfoot!" a yowl made the slumbering warriors jump in their nests. Rivertail stepped haphazardly over them towards the young warrior and his littermate. "Greenpath!" The dark tabby rolled onto his side, blinking sleep from his eyes. Greenpath sat up quickly, already alert.
"What is it?" the she-cat asked. The medicine cat's sorrowful eyes were disguised in the darkness.
"Longwhisker isn't far from the stars." she whispered. Without another word, Hollowfoot took a single leap across his denmates and ran from the den. Greenpath wasn't far behind and the ginger healer followed. They rounded their path towards the nursery as they left the den and squeezed in, one after the other. Inside, one cat already sat as a sentry above a fragile body. His usually bright, clean fur was disheveled and covered in bits of moss and dirt. His head was bowed, hiding his face, but it was obvious this was Thunderstar. Quietly, his kits approached him. Greenpath sat close beside him, waiting a moment before burying her face in his shoulder fur. His son kept a small distance from him, but let his fur brush his father's. Rivertail stared for a long time at the fragile cat on the ground before sitting near the entrance and closing her eyes.
It wasn't a minute later that Ravinefall pressed into the den. A tiny bundle dangled from her maw, and two more sat on the ground by her paws. She came in and set the precious bundle in her mouth on the soft moss before retrieving the other two in separate trips. Once they were all inside, she curled her tail around them and sheltered them under her belly. It was easy to see her as their mother in this way.
"Kits." the shaking form on the floor whispered. The three eldest met her watery eyes. "Let me see them." the queen feebly pointed her nose towards the three at Ravinefall's paws. She nudged them towards their mother. The queen worked for a moment, shakily propping herself up with her forelegs. She let the kits sit between her paws and licked the she-kit between the ears.
"We've named her Freezekit." she purred, her voice dying after a moment. She took a wheezing breath and licked the brown tabby's ear. "He will be Talonkit." she whispered and pressed her nose against the silver tabby's head. "And he is Mistykit."
"They're beautiful." Greenpath choked out. Her siblings only nodded.
"All of my kits are." Longwhisker sighed. "And they'll have more beautiful kits." her eyes rested a second on Greenpath and the warrior looked away.
Her mate stirred a bit and looked down at what as far as he was concerned, was his true love. She went on talking about her kits but he didn't bother listening. He felt so crushed. He didn't know what to do. Should he be angry his mate was being stolen from him? They were so young. Their kits were so young. And the youngest three would never know their mother. What life was that? Not to know the tug of her tongue over your fur before your eyes were even open, not to hear her heart beat against yours or her purr. They would never be scolded by her loving voice, or be led in front of their clanmates to their apprentice ceremonies by her. He met her eyes as she looked at him and she paused.
"Don't be sad, Thunderstar." she whispered. "You were the greatest thing that ever happened to me." He shook his head vigorously, unable to use his voice for the lump in his throat. "I-it's true. Without you, I was… I was a clueless she-cat. I had nothing b-better to do than.. chase beetles all day. T-together? ..We've done s-such beautiful.. things." her voice started to sputter and she began breathing heavily. She sighed again and closed her eyes, laying her head down on the soft mossy nest. Ravinefall gently lifted the kits from the nest and set them back underneath of her, half-crouching over them.
The sitting cats stayed silent and trained their eyes on the she-cat as she labored to breathe. Slowly, agony rose in all of their chests as her breathing grew softer, slower, shallower. Then it stopped. The cats were still soundless, motionless. It was like they expected her to wake up, again. Eventually, the deputy stirred and gathered the kits together. She picked one up in her mouth and Rivertail grabbed another. Hollowfoot realized they would need a paw and helped them with the third kit. Only Thunderstar and Greenpath were left in the den as they left.
"I'm pregnant." she whispered. Her mind was numb; she had wanted to tell the both after her mother had gotten better. Two days before her condition had stopped worsening, and even yesterday improved. Now that they were here, she hadn't known what else to say. Her thoughts were so crowded out by her sorrow that the only one left had slipped out of her brain and through her mouth.
"I'm sorry." her father whispered. Suddenly, he collapsed, pressing his face into the body of the cat he had loved.
All at once, Greenpath wanted to run, to screech at him, tell him she was sorry, to talk to Covetail, to stop growing these kits. She decided to run, and streaked out of the nursery. Her eyes whirled and she didn't see who was in the clearing or who stared. She slipped through the gorse tunnel and let her paws take her wherever they wanted. She let her breathe come fast and distract her mind for a moment.
When her legs could take no more, she came to a stop before a cluster of boulders. Her paws had taken her all the way across the territory to the waterfall. As she caught her breathe, she splashed through the stream, just beside the spot where it snaked out from under the huge rocks. She came to the spot between the cliff wall and the boulders, where there was a gap. She squeezed between the literal rock and hard place, realizing distraughtly that it had been easier to get in, before. Again, her thoughts fell away as she gazed around the beautiful place.
High above, taller than the trees, the top of the cliff stood. From the ground, the tiny sprouts of ferns and moss on the tops of the rocky wall were barely green specks. The bright blue sky was in stark contrast to the pale tan earth. Little could be heard over the rumble of the tumbling water, eternally droning down. Below the falling stream, a ragged pool quivered. the unending flow from above kept it in ripples, raising the water over rocks only to bring it back, and to raise it again. Fish squirmed in the depths, but their shapes were hard to find in the shadow of the undergrowth surrounding the water. There were no trees in the place, and a majority of the ground was bare. The only other obstruction to the open space was the stream, tethering away from its source.
Greenpath felt a rumble in her stomach and stepped up to the waterside. She settled herself carefully on the sandy, damp ground and trained her eyes on the water. She watched patiently as an oblong black shape danced below the surface. Slowly, it ventured closer. The cat slowly lifted a paw and the little shape advanced, still. Just as it came a tail-length within her reach, she struck out, throwing the phantom out of the water. In an arch of clear droplets, a fish flopped over her head and shimmied on the grass beside her. With a satisfied little growl, she bent her head and crunched into it's upper body. The movement stopped and she crouched to munch on her catch.
"Greenpath!" a yowl sailed over the boulders and echoed lightly against the cliffs. The cat forced herself to keep eating the fish and to act calm. She heard a cat scramble between the boulders and approach her. The gentle brush of fur against her own made her look up into the soft silver-blue face of a she-cat. "So this is where you went off to."
She looked down again and didn't speak. Glenberry sat beside her and began grooming herself. for a minute the pair sat in uncomfortable silence, but Glenberry refused to break it, and acted like everything was fine.
"My mother is dead." Greenpath whispered. She didn't say it for Glenberry, she didn't even believe her words. But she had to say them.
"I know." the queen's voice was saturated with grief. "She was a good cat. It's a shame the Clan lost her so soon. It's a shame that you and her other kits did."
"I don't know what to do, anymore. The Clan is in shambles. Everybody knows that. Except the kitty-pets. They only know things this way. That's why I liked Covetail.. but know, his ignorance is just annoying. I don't know what to do."
Glenberry drew her tongue over her ear. Abruptly, she pulled back and began to speak, "Believe in your warrior ancestors. They know what is right. Clan born cats learn to doubt StarClan, but non-clan cats learn to believe in them. Bring faith back into the clan through your own actions. In time, amazing things will happen, and ValleyClan will be great."
Greenpath lifted her head and gazed up at her friend. Glenberry was smart, but these were not the words of the light-hearted cat she knew. She tilted her head questioningly at her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"How do you know all that?" Greenpath asked cautiously.
"All of what?" she replied, clearly confused.
"That stuff you just said! About faith and StarClan." Greenpath mewed. Glenberry shook her head.
"I've no clue what you mean." she looked away, grooming her shoulder distractedly. Greenpath gave up, knowing her friend would never remember. She gazed up at the empty blueness above her. The sun blazed into her eyes, but still she searched the bright depths above the earth. There was no doubt in her mind that the words of Glenberry had been spoken through her, from their ancestors. She cocked her head to the side, wondering what time would tell her that she did not already know. What would make her Clan great?
"Do you want to come back to camp? I don't blame you if you want to be alone for awhile. I was just scared something might happen to you, running around blind like that." her friend interrupted her thoughts. The gray tabby finished the last scraps of her fish and stood, kicking dirt of the bones.
"I'll go back to camp. A patrol might help take my mind off of.." she stopped, and Glenberry only nodded. She let Greenpath squeeze out of the secluded area before her, hiding a smug purr. Her friend's secret wouldn't be disguisable much longer. She slipped out behind her, and together the pair walked back to camp.
The dawn after Thunderstar had returned from his trip to the Star Cave, Ravinefall had assigned Runningwillow as Asterpaw's temporary mentor. Now that Duskpaw was no longer confined to camp, she could train, again. All of the apprentices could now go back to training full time.
The first day, they focused on battle training. The three oldest apprentices had worked on advanced stealth techniques while Flamepaw and Redpaw practiced one on one combat together, and Asterpaw worked with Runningwillow to catch up on her training. The next day, they were assessed in their hunting skills. The cat who caught the most prey got first pick of the entire fresh-kill pile. In the end, Asterpaw was named the winner after catching a squirrel, two mice, and a snake. Today, first thing at sunrise, all six of them had gone on patrols. Gorgepaw and Duskpaw had gone with their mentors along the east border, Asterpaw and Gullypaw's patrol along the west, and Flamepaw and Redpaw had gone down the middle, weaving here and there to places especially prone to foxes or other annoyances. Then, they had met up before the waterfall and made their way back to camp with a hunting exercise. When they stepped paw back into camp, they were all fairly worn out.
Near the back of the camp, in the lesser used space behind the Elm tree and near the elders' den, a small bunch of large, flat rocks sat in the sun. They grew warm throughout the day and were usually occupied by the elders or warriors off of duty. Today, though, only a few leaves rested on the toasty, inviting surfaces. Immediately, the group of young cats took the space as their own.
Gorgepaw shouldered his way to the biggest rock, kicking Redpaw square in the chest as she tried to scrabble up. Asterpaw was tempted to claw him, but her sister assured her he didn't hurt her or mean to. Gullypaw settled on a smaller rock by herself, dozing off. Flamepaw clambered onto a decent-sized rock, and to his surprise, Redpaw leaped up beside him. He groomed his chest fur distractedly. Asterpaw tilted her head, but didn't mind taking a spot without her sister for once. She realized Duskpaw was crouching in the shade of the Elm tree rather dejectedly, and she forced her to her feet and got her to join her on one of the last larger rocks.
"Hey, Redpaw." Gorgepaw meowed, looked over at the ginger she-cat. "If you had to give up one type of prey, what would it be?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, yawning.
"Like, feathery prey, furry prey, scaley prey.." he explained. Redpaw thought on it for a moment, looking across the camp to the fresh-kill pile.
"I think I'd give up the slimey prey." she purred, rolled onto her back and stretching her forepaws into the air.
"That doesn't count. Hardly ever does any cat eat frogs." Gorgepaw scoffed. Flamepaw lifted his head.
"I kinda like toads.." he murmured.
"Food like that gives me the creeps. I like birds best. Nothing beats a warm thrush." Gullypaw purred. She lay with her eyes closed, stretched out comfortably on her own rock. Gorgepaw gave her a prod, which made her swipe him over the ears.
"You only say that 'cause Hollowfoot did, ya moony frog-brain." her kin grumbled. She sniffed distastefully at him and didn't respond.
"I'd give up tom prey, if you know what I mean." Duskpaw meowed boldly. "Too much work to catch, and you don't even get to kill 'em." The group of apprentices purred collectively.
"You're funny, Duskpaw. You should tell more jokes like that." Gullypaw said. The small she-cat purred happily in response.
Before another cat could talk, a cat stepped out of the nursery. The apprentices watched mildly as a ginger tabby crossed the clearing and stopped in front of them. The medicine cat dipped her head solemnly before she spoke.
"Greetings, 'paws. You can probably guess what I'm about to tell you, but.." she took a deep breath, "Longwhisker hasn't been doing well for a few days, and we tried to hope for the best, but it was inevitable that she would join StarClan. I thought you all might want to know before her vigil, tonight."
She kept her eyes down and didn't wait to hear a response from them. She turned and padded to the medicine den. The apprentices just looked back at one another, dumbfounded.
In the end, none of the apprentices attended the vigil for Longwhisker that night. None of them knew her that well, and it would be boring-such were their excuses. Of course a young cat wouldn't want to stare death in the face just before their first Leafbare. So all of them went to their den and went to sleep without many words between them. They were all too occupied by their thoughts. Most of them seemed to doze off after awhile, too tired to care for one night, but Asterpaw lay awake.
Her mind was still buzzing with thoughts too fresh to let her rest. Longwhisker died. Her body was empty now, without her soul. Before her vigil, had she still been trapped inside? Was waiting for your vigil like sleeping, or was it like trying not to move when you're pretending to sleep? Did she want to move, but couldn't anymore? Asterpaw shuttered. She wanted nothing to do with death for a long, long time. Honestly, it played a small part in her desire to become leader.
She rolled onto her back and stared up through the gorse and to the stars above. She didn't see anything new. There were probably too many stars for her to tell, really. Still, how strange it was that cats older than anyone in her Clan could remember watched their lives with a silent eye above. Maybe it was fun, like when the elders told kits stories. Only these stories really happened right before you, and you could change them! No, Asterpaw decided, being dead still didn't sound that appealing.
Again, she tossed in her nest. Redpaw growled in her sleep, and she forced herself to stop twitching. A thought popped into her head. What if Redpaw died? Her heart froze. She couldn't live without her. She didn't want to think about this stuff, anymore. She curled up, her tail over her nose, and forced herself to think of nothing but hunting in the morning with her sister at her side.
