I hoped that it was all just a bad dream that Quietpaw had left, but when I woke up, she was still gone. I'm pretty sure she won't be coming back anytime soon. I had a dream about the first day I had tried to do battle training with her.
DREAM MEMORY:
I noticed the fear in her eyes when I mentioned we were doing battle training today.
"Quietpaw, everyone is strong in their own way, so don't worry about physical strength." I meowed, trying to sound reassuring.
She nodded her head and I started to show her the move. When I looked over, I noticed that she was backing away. I looked at her questioningly.
"Why are you backing away? I won't hurt you. Even if I did accidentally hit you, my claws are sheathed." I meowed as kindly as possible.
She slowly and warily started walking back towards me. I sat down waiting patiently for her to come back. She had her head ducked in fear. Did she think I was going to hurt her for being afraid? It's normal to be afraid. Isn't it? Maybe that's just me...
"Okay, are you ready to go now?" I asked once she had calmed down enough.
She slightly nodded while still looking at her paws.
"You'll have to look up in order to learn this one."
She glanced up and I smiled at her. I smiled the kindest smile I had. I looked into her pain filled blue eyes.
What had happened to this cat to make her so scared?
"Now, back to the battle move..."
She looked at me with pleading eyes. Almost like she was begging me not to do battle training yet. My eyes filled with sorrow as I looked into those blue pleading eyes. She was afraid of something and I wasn't going to push her.
I sighed, "We don't have to battle train today, but eventually you'll have to learn."
She nodded and looked down at her paws. I walked quickly to the edge of the clearing as she slowly and nervously got up. I waited patiently at the edge of the clearing. She walked towards me while looking at her paws.
"Quietpaw, tomorrow is more hunting." I told her and she nodded in return.
DREAM MEMORY END
I wonder what she's doing now. Is she okay? Is she hurt? Is she scared? I don't know if I actually wanted to know. The only thing I knew for sure was that, this was only second day without her and I felt like I was dying. I wanted her to return. I was lonely and scared without her. She was brave enough to try and give away my brothers secret, just to protect me. Nobody else would have done that. But that could only mean my brother wasn't the worst she's had. It also meant that she didn't care about him threatening to kill her.
I sat at the edge of camp, alone. Although nobody was training or out on patrol at the moment, it felt like nobody was here. It was unnatural without Quietpaw dragging me around. Or trying to. I stared off into space and watched the day pass by before me. It was nearly Moonhigh when I heard a commotion outside of camp. I debated going to check it out. I ended up deciding to. I got up from my spot and went to see what was going on. I stepped out of camp and saw a black tom and... Quietpaw.
She looked at me and smiled, then glanced uneasily at one of her paws. I looked at the one she wasn't looking at and noticed she was holding it up off the ground. I stepped closer and saw the bone sticking out.
"Quietpaw, what happened?" I asked, ignoring the tom.
She glanced up at me then back down at her paw. She got up and limped towards me after some hesitation.
I froze as I remembered seeing those sorry eyes before. I also realized that I had never seen her pelt, not drenched in blood.
"Quietpaw, what's the true color of your pelt?"
"L-light grey..." she looked at me questioningly.
I nearly fainted right there. Her father was the abusive tom that my brother had let attack me. He had done this to her. Multiple times. Why would he do that to his own daughter? What had she ever done wrong?
"Quietpaw... Please. Please tell me I'm being delusional. Please." I half whined, half whispered to her.
She gave me a questioning look.
"Please tell me he didn't hurt you."
She tilted her head in confusion and pointed her tail at the black tom. I shook my head.
"Y-your f-father." I stammered.
She stared at me in fear and shock. I knew right then that no matter how much I didn't want to, I'd have to face reality. I started to feel dizzy and before I realized it, I fainted.
I woke up in Amberfeathers den, and saw Quietpaw sleeping by the other wall. She had herbs on all her wounds, while I was just in here so Amberfeather could make sure I wasn't sick. I was sick. I was sickened that Quietpaws father would do that. I slowly got up, careful not to faint again. I walked over to Quietpaw and laid down next to her. I rested my head on my paws.
What could push someone so far whereas they abuse their own kit? What would keep them abusing their kit?