I CAN'T TALK TO YOU BECAUSE MY COMPUTER IS ACTING FUNNY! But I will say I'm not happy with this chapter, I'll probably re-upload a better version, and I warn you that Ebonypaw acts slightly OOC...and that bothers me.
I also must inform you all, that this might be the last chapter. NO the loose ends aren't all tied up...That's what the sequal would be...
ABOUT THE TRILOGY THING! I don't know if I should do that...I WANT too...but would people still review it and stuff? Tell me what you think - would you like me to trilogy-ize it, or make it a long fic. (100+ chaps)
The sun was already starting to be buried beneath the earth as the ginger medicine cat nimbly pounced on top of one of the mighty Sunningrocks, and used her tail to wipe some of the newly-fallen snow off of it to make it more comfortable...and not as cold. However, as soon as she did so, she heard a startled squeak, and curious, she stole a peak below her seat – and noticed that she had accidentally knocked all of the snow onto her young apprentice, Ebonypaw – and consequently had covered her black pelt with so much of the white power, that any stranger wouldn't believe that her name could possibly be Ebonypaw.
"Sorry!" Rosethorn apologized, blinking sorrowfully down at the young cat. "I didn't know you were there!"
Ebonypaw shook herself, and sent most of the powdery substance flying through the air – and away from her - before she answered, "That was fun! Can we do it again?"
Rosethorn let out a purr of amusement. "No, Ebonypaw." She meowed. "I'm out of snow up here. And…I'm worried you'll catch a cold."
"But the snow isn't wet," Ebonypaw pointed out scrambling up the stone to sit next to her mentor. "None of it crawled under my fur and onto my skin."
Rosethorn blinked; impressed that Ebonypaw had known how cats caught small coughs and colds, and was about to commend her for that – but then recalled the nagging suspicion that was hissing in her ear, and she remembered why she had brought Ebonypaw all the way out into the patch of ThunderClan territory that hardly any cat used in the leaf-bare - it was rather prey-poor in the harsh season.
Even so, Rosethorn sniffed the air – and looked around carefully, before she began to attempt to pry into Ebonypaw's mind. "Ebonypaw," Rosethorn meowed, and Ebonypaw's green eyes met hers, and she almost couldn't speak under the cat's intense glare – but finally she stuttered out, "I er… Applefur's kits started to come before you could answer me… You mentioned an apprentice at the Gathering – Marshpaw." She narrowed her eyes, and gently touched one of Ebonypaw's forepaws with her tail. "I want to know about him, Ebonypaw. You were very reluctant to speak about him."
The apprentice purposely looked down at the stone beneath her – perhaps hoping that Rosethorn wouldn't press the subject further if she didn't answer right away – but the Medicine Cat was persistent. Finally, Ebonypaw gave in.
"He's just some ShadowClan tom." She muttered.
"You told me that…" suspicion rose in Rosethorn's chest, as she noticed how reluctant Ebonypaw was to speak of Marshpaw…but she didn't know for sure yet. She was tempted to just burst out – and somehow force the young cat to give her all the details…but she decided to just ask the cat instead. However, she didn't ask what she wanted to know directly and she quickly decided that she'd start out slow. "Who is his mentor?" she asked, wondering how much Ebonypaw knew about Marshpaw.
Ebonypaw seemed much more at ease answering this question. "Swamptail." She purred. "And his mother was a cat named Frostcloud…she died during The Blood though. He don't have no parents – like me!" Ebonypaw shuffled her paws. "But I'm a bit luckier then him, I am. I have Morningpaw, and Aquapaw…he don't have no close kin!"
"He told you a lot about himself." Rosethorn mewed out loud, and Ebonypaw shrugged her shoulders, and didn't answer. "Were there any other ShadowClan apprentices that you met?"
"Yup," Ebonypaw purred – and Rosethorn once again took note at how relieved Ebonypaw seemed to start to stray from the subject of Marshpaw. "There were Steampaw, Rufflepaw, Shimmerpaw, and Lakepaw."
Rosethorn purred – this would be easier then she had thought. "Shimmerpaw and Lakepaw, eh?" she mused. "She-cat names. How old is Marshpaw?"
"Ten moons." Ebonypaw meowed instantly – possibly forgetting that she had been trying to avoid the subject of Marshpaw, and Rosethorn closed her eyes. Marshpaw was either a very talkative apprentice to tell Ebonypaw so much about himself on the first Gathering that they met one another…or the other possibility.
"You mentioned a Shimmerpaw and Lakepaw," Rosethorn meowed thoughtfully. "She-cat names. Does Marshpaw consider either of these cats…his…um…future mate?"
Ebonypaw let out a soft chuckle. "Of course not, silly! Shimmerpaw is his mother's younger sister, and apparently this warrior, Foxheart has a thing for Lakepaw…and Lakepaw likes Foxheart… so I don't think much will happen between her and Marshpaw."
Rosethorn blinked- that was a heck of a lot of information. She had all of the medicine cats as friends…and they were all close and trusting to one another…but even when they were just talking casually they would never mention who's mate was who in their Clan…In fact, Rosethorn could see absolutely no reason why a cat would bring that up – at any time, let alone a Gathering between enemies.
"Does he want a mate?" Rosethorn asked.
"Yes." Ebonypaw nodded a thoughtful look in her dark green eyes. "But he doesn't think he'll ever get one in ShadowClan. All his den-mates are either kin or taken, and all the new-born kits, he says, are toms. What's more, the two youngest warrior she-cats in his Clan, Stormpool and Brownclaw, both hate him…so…there aren't any cats around his age."
"What a pity." Rosethorn mused. "Ebonypaw…you say…that he doesn't think he'll get one in ShadowClan. Do you think that this could mean he'll look elsewhere?"
…
"I'm really sorry about this, Thorntail." Owlpelt's mew cut into the tense air like an enemy's claw, as he padded alongside the ThunderClan warrior towards FourTrees.
Thorntail didn't answer the brown tabby – mainly because he was tired - but for some unexplainable reason, Owlpelt took this as an excuse to go on…which Thorntail couldn't help but compare that to a thorn in his side. "Poor Rosethorn…" Owlpelt was meowing, "I feel really bad about making such a nice cat go through all this…I bet she must resent me."
Thorntail took the liberty to answer, quickly deciding that he could either join in with Owlpelt in conversation, or be annoyed by the brown tom until they found Shadenight. "She isn't petty like that," Thorntail told him, and he flashed his old friend a playful glance. "If anything, I think she likes you…a little too much for my enjoyment." He let out a loud, playful growl – and Owlpelt flattened his ears…possibly not understanding that Thorntail was kidding.
Then he seemed to get over Thorntail's comment on how Rosethorn could have a crush on him, and went on. "I'm going to be blunt," Owlpelt meowed , keeping his amber gaze on the path ahead of him – it seemed to Thorntail that he was avoiding his companion's intense blue gaze…especially as he went on. "But…maybe you're seeing Rosethorn…as a replacement for Graywhisker." Thorntail glanced at Owlpelt uneasily, recalling the argument he and the medicine cat had just recently had over that possibility, "Shadenight says that Rosethorn reminds her of him…And that's why you…" Owlpelt trailed off, and was silent for a few heartbeats as the bounded along – until finally, he spoke up again. "I always thought of you as a strong cat. But after Graywhisker, I saw you change a lot…" for a single heartbeat, the image of Graywhisker's flattened body flashed in Thorntail's mind, but he shook it away. Owlpelt continued, "That's when I realized how important Graywhisker had been to you."
"If your feelings for Rosethorn are anything like…Shadenight says…that's not love, Thorntail." Owlpelt turned his head, and leveled his gaze with Thorntail's. "It's just dependence…I can't imagine that you're that weak."
Owlpelt's words dug into Thorntail like a sharp claw, and he glanced down at his padding paws. "I am weak." He admitted. "I'm weak and ugly…" Owlpelt's amber gaze leapt away from looking into the ice-blue gaze of his companion, and instead burned it into Thorntail's gray pelt.
"I'm the one who told Graywhisker about our father." Thorntail admitted. "I knew what he would do if he found out, but I told him anyway." He blinked. "I don't know why I did that…" Thorntail looked up from his paws, and glanced at the crisp, blue sky. "I guess I was jealous," he meowed. "Because he was like me…but with a totally different personality. I thought I would be free, if he wasn't around." Thorntail noticed that Owlpelt's calm look in his eyes had turned into one of pure horror – and Thorntail knew that he couldn't really blame the brown cat.
"But not only did I not get set free, I got even more trapped!" Thorntail shook his head. "How pathetic!" he spat at himself. "I hated myself for being that way…so I ran around…being rather crazy I suppose… and getting into trouble." He flashed a glance at Owlpelt. "Eventually I suppose you all decided to stop putting up with me, and made me Blueherb's problem and Blueherb's problem alone." There was no scorn in Thorntail's voice as he spoke – his tone was just as if he was pointing out that there was nice weather out today. He was stating the obvious. "Personally, I didn't care anymore either." He shrugged his shoulders. "And even after leaving Blueherb, and becoming a regular warrior of RiverClan again – and then ThunderClan… I just sort of glided along. I followed the deputy's orders, I found some she-cats… it was a rather basic life…"
"But don't worry," Thorntail went on, with a soft chuckle, "I'll take care of Shadenight." He promised, and that's when he realized that at some point or another, Owlpelt had stopped walking – and he glanced behind him, to notice that the RiverClan warrior had stopped in his tracks several fox-lengths back. Curious if he had hurt himself or something, Thorntail padded back over to him.
Owlpelt was shaking – but and it took Thorntail a moment to understand what the tom was saying when he spoke. But finally, he pieced it together. "But…but you did love Graywhisker, didn't you?" Owlpelt choked out. "You haven't forgotten him, have you?"
Thorntail nodded. "Yeah." He sighed. "I'd like to see him again, if I could."
…
Rosethorn's question seemed to hang in the air for seasons, and just as Rosethorn expected, Ebonypaw's eyes rounded with fear – probably at being found out.
"Yes…I guess he might break the Warrior Code for a mate…" Ebonypaw mumbled, and Rosethorn decided to just come out and ask her.
"With you?"
The young black she-cat looked startled at first – and instantly her surprise turned into fear, and she flattened her ears against her head, and drew back as if Rosethorn had swiped at her.
"This is serious, Ebonypaw." Rosethorn mewed softly. "He's a ShadowClan cat- and you're a medicine cat. There is no hope."
"That's what I told him!" Ebonypaw burst out. "But…whenever I see him, I get this odd fluttering in my heart, and I feel so safe with him…as if nothing could ever touch me!"
Rosethorn felt her eyes round, and she recalled that warm, safe feeling that she had whenever she was with Thorntail. "Ebonypaw, you're a medicine cat!" she forced herself to hiss – knowing perfectly well that she was being just as disloyal as Ebonypaw with Thorntail.
"I know that!" Ebonypaw's voice was a pitiful mew. "When I first met him…at the ShadowClan border for the first time…" Rosethorn flinched. She had thought that they had just met at the Gathering. Apparently not. Ebonypaw continued, "He had gotten a thorn stuck in his pad. He was limping…and I know it was wrong, but I called him over to our border – telling him I was a medicine cat. He came over, and I helped him get the thorn out…and we talked…and he said we should meet again sometime…I just thought that we could become good friends…But…it grew, Rosethorn! I think I love him!"
"You're a medicine cat!" Rosethorn repeated. "Ebonypaw, you can't have a mate…and definitely not one in ShadowClan! That's a double no-no!"
Rosethorn was surprised at how much Ebonypaw's soft, kitten-like fur was bristling, and as the kit rounded into a ball of fluff. "Oh! I see!" Ebonypaw hissed scornfully, and Rosethorn let out a startled mew at how cold her apprentice's tone was – Ebonypaw had never spoken to her in such a way before. "If Marshpaw was a ThunderClan cat it would be alright?"
"Of course not!" Rosethorn growled without thinking – and she quickly realized that she was set in angry-mentor mode, and even though instinct screamed at her that she was backing herself into a corner, she for some reason was able to jumble out, "It's still wrong! StarClan says that Medicine Cats can't have mates – they have to be pure."
"You're one to talk!" Ebonypaw snapped – and Rosethorn once again flinched. "You're allowed to play around with Thorntail, but I can't be with Marshpaw!"
…
"I'm glad you came," Shadenight's words were as smooth as honey, as he ice-blue eyes burned into Thorntail's, as Owlpelt pivoted and trotted off to leave them aloe – and Thorntail settled himself down beside her. "I was worried about you, Thorntail."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"We really…took the long way, didn't we?" Shadenight asked him, curling her dark tail. "It took us a really long time to be here, face-to-face… alone. But we'll be together forever now, right?"
Before Thorntail could answer, Shadenight went on,
"We'll make up for all the lost time! No!" Shadenight shook her head, and softly rebuked herself. "Even more!" she vowed. "We'll be able to purr together – like we used to."
"Yeah. We'll be able to purr." Thorntail told her – his voice a soft purr, as if giving her an example of what it would be like. Shadenight flicked her tail with glee, and Thorntail blinked, as he noticed how shiny and sleek her pelt was – even in the darkness of night… Normally, black cats were nearly invisible at night…but Shadenight…she was beginning to remind him of Silverpelt – always shining.
…
Rosethorn's eyes widened. She almost denied it, but then recalled that Ebonypaw seemed to have – once – trusted her so…and decided that she wouldn't lie. Instead, she hissed, "How do you know about Thorntail?"
"You don't deny it!" Ebonypaw hissed, and Rosethorn noticed that the black cat's claws were digging into the stone – and she suddenly answered the question, "I can tell, because…you…you look at him the same way I look at Marshpaw!"
Rosethorn flustered about in her head, looking for some way to get Ebonypaw to stray from her hopeless crush on the ShadowClan tom. However, for some reason, she only meowed, "Thorntail and I haven't done anything that StarClan said that we shouldn't." she meowed truthfully. Thorntail and she hadn't mated, and, if she was honest with herself, she doubted that they ever would...because…
To her surprise, Ebonypaw's hostility seemed to ebb away. "Neither have Marshpaw and I." the apprentice meowed. "We just talk. I don't think he feels the same way about me that I do about him…"
"But how long will it be before he does?" Rosethorn asked.
"How long will it be before you and Thorntail mate?" Ebonypaw countered.
As the black she-cat spoke, the sun officially was buried, and the darkness of the night began to set in – and Rosethorn felt a fiery anger. Not only at her apprentice, Ebonypaw, who refused to listen to reason, but at Thorntail…who should've come back by now…
Before Rosethorn could reconsider her words, she growled, "We never will." Ebonypaw looked startled, and she went on. "And do you know why, Ebonypaw?"
She shook her head.
"We're forbidden mates…We can't be together all the time…And what's he doing when I'm not around – what's he doing right now?"
"Hunting?" Ebonypaw asked, and Rosethorn noticed that Ebonypaw's rage was beginning to ebb away, and she was becoming her old self again.
"He's with another she-cat." She mewed softly – the words hurting her.
Ebonypaw opened her mouth to answer, but Rosethorn cut her off with a flick of her tail. "What's stopping Marshpaw from being with a different she-cat right now?"
"There's no she-cat available to him!" Ebonypaw exclaimed – though her tone wasn't angry, it was just thoughtful. "I told you! The apprentices are taken…and Stormpool and Brownclaw hate him."
"So he says." Rosethorn meowed. "Ebonypaw, cats…your age…and my age…they tend to spew hatred at their crush… For all we know, Stormpool or Brownclaw might have their eyes on him…And as we speak, they might move in."
"Ebonypaw, please, listen to me." She ordered – and Ebonypaw's green gaze became fixed with her own blue. "We're medicine cats, Ebonypaw. In truth…we don't belong with anyone… Thorntail…I think he belongs with the cat he's with now…and… Marshpaw belongs with a ShadowClan cat." The words burned Rosethorn as she spoke, and she closed her eyes. Pained. It didn't take this long to announce that you didn't like someone…Thorntail and Shadenight probably…
Hoping to drop the thought of mates – but still attempting to save Ebonypaw, Rosethorn meowed, "You haven't spoken to StarClan yet, Ebonypaw…but I guarantee you once you do, you'll be hooked onto their path."
Ebonypaw cocked her head to one side – and Rosethorn was relieved to see how curious the young cat was. Who wouldn't be interested in speaking to her Warrior ancestors? "Can…we go there tonight? So I can speak to them?"
"Yeah..." Rosethorn rose to her paws, and glanced at the sky. "We have to go now though… We don't have time to go back to camp…and tell them where we're going…"
Ebonypaw bounced to her paws, and leapt off of the stone – and Rosethorn could tell that even after their argument, the young cat was still happy, and cheerful…and now, excited.
Rosethorn slowly padded after her, but glanced the high moon before she went. She hesitated, before she went, half-hoping that Thorntail would come in the next few moments, and chase her worries away. Her anger ebbed, and it was replaced with the cold sorrow of the realization.
He's not coming.
…
"I kept thinking all our memories were bad," Thorntail mused, as he lay sprawled out beside Shadenight – who had taken the liberty of resting her head on his back. "But thinking back…they weren't all bad. You, me, and Graywhisker… A lot happened, but we had fun." Thorntail let out a rumbling purr of amusement. "Like the time the three of us wandered all the way up to HighStones ourselves – because Duststar kept on putting off on taking us."
"We were the only apprentices to be so bold…" Shadenight recalled as she intertwined her tail with Thorntail's. "Remember how reluctant Graywhisker was? We practically had to drag him there with us."
"I remember." Thorntail sighed. He blinked a few times, and thought for a moment. "You know, you were the first one…Graywhisker and I had different tastes in she-cats… It was the first time we were interested in the same cat."
Shadenight buried her face deeper into his back – as if she was embarrassed.
"We used to talk about you," Thorntail continued. "The way you'd get mad, the way you'd laugh…the way you'd eat…the way you'd walk…the way you'd hunt… the way you fought…We examined every detail about you." Thorntail looked down at his gray paws. "You were cute." He thought for a moment. "You didn't have a dark side, or a shy side. Just looking at you made us happy…and I still think you're really cute."
Shadenight purred with glee at this, and it almost hurt Thorntail to continue. "But in the end, it's nothing more then that."
Her purrs stopped short.
"You're not the cat that walks in my dreams." Thorntail informed her, and slowly got to his paws – while Shadenight stumbled away from him, in shock it seemed.
He turned to walk away, but before he could leave the hollow that was FourTrees, Shadenight rushed in front of his path.
"It's not just a dream for me!" She cried, lashing her tail – her blue eyes wild. "To me, you're…"
Thorntail cut her off. "Rosethorn's waiting." He told her. "I really should go. I have a feeling she's sad…"
"I'm the one who is sad!" Shadenight snapped. "I love you, Thorntail!"
Thorntail had expected her words to dig into him – but to his surprise, they seemed to bounce right off. "Before…" he began, "Whenever you or Graywhisker…would get all sad…or something…I'd want to do something about it – remove whatever it was that was bothering you…But…" he looked sorrowfully at Shadenight. "When Rosethorn mews for me…or yowls in sorrow…her something…I just…I just don't know what to do… It makes me sad too…"
Shadenight looked stricken – and horrified, and Thorntail mewed a good bye, before turning away from her. Then he remembered something Sandpelt had told him a long time ago.
He turned back towards her. "Shadenight," he meowed, "They say there's always someone that you can't live without." He purr. "You go back to your camp and find that tom. I already found mine." He started to rush away again – but once again he remembered something, and he turned back towards her once more. "And try looking behind you, sometime. There's a RiverClan cat that has been doing everything in his power to make you happy…He loves you, Shadenight."
…
"Okay, right." Rosethorn dipped her head, as the black-and-white warrior, Badgerclaw, rushed off to camp. "Thank you, Badgerclaw!" she called after him – but whether he heard or not she couldn't guess.
"We were lucky to find him…at least our Clanmates won't worry about us now," Rosethorn forced herself to sound cheerful.
She started to pad past the Owl Tree with Ebonypaw by her side – taking the shortest route to HighStones, when suddenly her apprentice piped up, "What do I do when I meet StarClan?"
"Be polite." Rosethorn meowed bluntly, unsure of what else to tell Ebonypaw – she had hardly any experience herself. She had only spoken to StarClan once or twice before. Then they had stopped sharing tongues with one another.
They padded along silently for a moment, before Ebonypaw meowed, "I'm sorry, Rosethorn."
"For what?"
Ebonypaw didn't answer, instead, she mewed, "I want to be a medicine cat, Rosethorn. The best one the forest has ever seen…I don't want to see Marshpaw anymore…but yet…"
"You also do want to see him." Rosethorn finished for her. "Well…if I was you, I'd just avoid the ShadowClan border – hopefully, your feelings will eventually ebb away."
"I'll try…" Ebonypaw mewed softly, and Rosethorn looked down at her paws. Now they would have two, lovely medicine cats. Ebonypaw, who would hopefully forget about this Marshpaw…and Rosethorn…who had been forgotten by Thorntail…
"Hey, Rosethorn."
Or had she?
She flickered her gaze about, and saw the gray tom bounding towards her. "Where are you going?" he called.
Rosethorn didn't answer. Without thinking of how Ebonypaw would take it all, she rushed over to him, and buried her muzzle into her chest, and silently thanked Shadenight for showing her the technique.
Thorntail stiffened – probably startled that Rosethorn was acting this way in front of Ebonypaw's eyes, but finally he accepted it…and gently licked her ear.
"You came," Rosethorn breathed.
"Of course I did," Thorntail answered, firmly wrapping his tail around her back. "Why wouldn't I?"
Rosethorn could think of countless reasons why he wouldn't, but didn't answer. Instead, she just purred.
The Ebonypaw sub-plot was not tied up, I know. But Ebonypaw knows about them now - and that will come into play a tad later. Anyways, I'd like to thank:
Mapleleaf, Pearl.H.Sweden, Steeltalon, Daklotles85, Rabbitstorm, Greenpool's Loyalty, Shiori Sakurazawa, Swanfeather, Brooksilver...AND EVERYONE ELSE for their fantastic, loyal reviews! Thank you so much!