Blossompaw's Escape

Part Five: The Truth

The patrol of cats followed Blossomfang through the forest. Despite what she had originally planned, not all of the cats wanted to go with her to the cavern. Bugs raised concerns about the dangerous entrance, Fawndapple was concerned about her kits, and Braveheart grumbled about being too tired to follow Blossomfang blindly through the forest. She expected a little more from her deputy, but he was old and senile as they came. All in all about half the clan decided to accompany her to the sparkling stream. Then they could figure out a safer way to get into the tunnels and the rest of the clan would meet with their ancestors.

The first patrol consisted of Whisperheart and Icy since they were medicine cats; along with Echo, Rabbitleap, Shiverspots, Halle, Charlie, Fawndapple, and Foxtooth. Those staying behind were Cookie, Astrid, Bugs, Braveheart, Dovepaw, Tansypaw, Pebblepaw, Aspen, Frost, and Flintmask.

Sun high faded quickly as the patrol moved swiftly among the undergrowth of the forest. Blossomfang looked for markers to find her way. There's a rock shaped like a frog I remember...there it is! And a fallen log which pointed towards the cliffs.

She was so lost in thought she almost missed Echo mumbling to Rabbitleap towards the back of the patrol. Almost. She was whispering just loudly enough to throw Blossomfang's nerve off. Whisperheart quickened his pace so his stride was even with hers.

"Ignore Echo. Even when she was little she knew how to get under everyone's fur."

"Whisperheart," Blossomfang said softly. "You didn't know Echo when she was little."

"Right right, just an assumption," he corrected himself. Blossomfang didn't want to read too much into the situation but something really weird was going on, and it centered around Zilla having a complete personality change.

The sun was starting to fall behind the trees, casting orange and gold shadows over the faces of the group.

"We're here," Blossomfang announced and the patrol halted. Several cats looked around in confusion.

"We're where exactly?" Echo scoffed.

"Um, the entrance should be around here somewhere..." she responded meekly and walked around the area, seeking the hole which lead to the tunnels. Taking a few more paces away from the ground Blossomfang felt her front paws start to slip. She couldn't stop her fall but at least she was prepared as she dropped into the tunnels.

"Found it!" she called out to the alarmed cats above ground. Foxtooth bravely was the first to jump down into the tunnels, followed shortly by everyone else. Whisperheart took an especially long time in his precautions. She didn't want to rush the older cat but she also wanted to reach the end of the tunnels where the meeting place was before the moon peaked in the sky.

"Watch your step," she warned the group and began guiding them through the dark cavern. Mist from the stream sprayed her coat till it hung damply at her sides. With claws unsheathed she managed to keep her balance on the slick rock, but she could still sense unease in the group.

"Don't worry, if you fall in the worst that will happen is you get wet. The stream is only a tail length deep. But there's a strong current so don't test it out."

Finally the end of the tunnel came into view, with fresh moonlight illuminating the space and the murky stream water draining into the ocean. There was plenty of space on the rocks for all of the cats, and Blossomfang demonstrated what to do.

"You see the dew drops on the ceiling of the cavern? Well they are water from Starclan that's fallen from the sky into the cavern. Just lick a drop on the cave wall or wait for one to fall on you."

Rabbitleap approached the cave wall cautiously and sniffed the dew that clung fervently to it. His pink tongue shot out of his mouth as he lapped up a droplet. His eyes started to close and he curled up on the smooth rocks in a deep trance. The other cats excitedly began lapping up water and one by one fell into the same trance as Rabbitleap. Blossomfang decided she would simply keep guard and watch over her clan mates as they dreamed.

A growl started behind her. She flicked her ears in surprise and turned to find Echo still awake.

"Oh Echo, it's just you. You haven't touched the water yet?"

Echo gave a small shake of her gray furred head. Her golden eyes were brimming with curiosity.

"So they really are asleep...all of them are talking with Starclan?" she asked warily. Blossomfang nodded.

"Then they won't be waking up for some time?" she pressed.

"No, not until dawn," Blossomfang answered with unease. Echo crept closer to her, forcing Blossomfang to take a few steps back to keep an easy distance between them. Echo pursued her slowly, it was almost a game. She'd take a few paces forward, Blossomfang would take a few paces back. Soon she felt her heels dip into the stream water. She was fairly trapped unless the wanted to fight the current.

"I never should have invited you into the clan," she breathed, Echo was now right in front of her.

"You really shouldn't have."

They wasted no more time on words. Echo shoved Blossomfang backwards, sending her tumbling into the stream. Although Blossomfang was the smaller one of the two she cats, she was fast. She clamped her jaws around Echo's tail and dragged her into the stream as well. The forceful water pulled them apart, before sending them clashing back together. Blossomfang hardly got in a few swipes before Echo had dragged herself out of the water. Blossomfnag copied and spit out a few mouthfuls of muddy water.

Before she could catch her breath Echo was on her again, biting and clawing.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded, trying to break away.

"Because my life wasn't fair!" Echo yowled and raked her claws across Blossomfang's cheek, dangerously close to her eyes. Echo was seething.

"My own brothers betrayed me, left me for dead! But I wasn't a warrior so where did I end up? Not your precious Starclan that's for certain."

"You aren't making any sense! You died?" Blossomfang tried to interject.

"Shut up!" Echo snapped and lunged forward again.

"Please, help me understand why you are trying to do this!" Blossomfang begged. Echo had the upper paw with fighting, maybe by getting her to talk Blossomfang could find a way to win.

"I stole a second chance at life, and I was foolishly going to waste it on revenge. But then I saw this nice little set up you had going on here, and I thought, why not make it mine?"

Echo was clearly done talking. The two she cats locked claws again, only to be separated by the mysterious arrival of another cat. Blossomfang only saw a flash of orange and the glint of green eyes. Flintmask!

"Flintmask help! Blossomfang attacked me!" Echo lied swiftly. Blossomfang's jaw was agape.

"No...no that's not what happened," she whimpered pathetically. Flintmask dropped into the hunters crouch and moved towards the two she cats, his fangs were bared and his eyes were dangerously locked onto Blossomfang. He sprang forward and Blossomfang waited for impact, but it never came. Flintmask had rolled Echo over and dealt a few swift kicks to her belly before she started even fighting back.

"I decided to come after all, Braveheart practically forced me out of camp. I followed the groups trail, I heard everything!" Flintmask hissed and clamped his jaws onto Echo's shoulder. She wriggled free and darted past Flintmask and Blossomfang. She stopped running for a second, looked over her injured shoulder at the pair, and then disappeared down the tunnel.

"Are you alright?" Flintmask asked and nudged her to her paws.

"I think so," she said and tested out her limbs. Despite some bruises and scrapes she was unscathed.

"I should have listened to you...I never thought..." He hung his head in shame. "Echo was insane, and I believed her over you."

"I think it was more than insanity. I saw in a dream a cat that might have been Zilla. And there was another cat, Echo I believe. I don't know what's going on anymore than you Flintmask, but something happened to Zilla."

A soft murmur announced that the other cats were awakening from their dreams with Starclan. Halle opened her eyes first, a look of shock was etched onto her face. Blossomfang guessed Ashstar had shown them the tragic history of Ashclan. However she would never know, since sharing tongues with Starclan was private and couldn't be discussed among warriors. Slowly everyone roused, shocked and speechless.

"That was incredible," Shiverspots whispered. Icy and Whisperheart were talking furiously with each other, but Blossomfang couldn't make out their words. Charlie suddenly saw the disheveled Flintmask and Blossomfang.

"What happened to you two?" he asked.

"No time to explain, we need to get back to camp in case Echo heads there first." Blossomfang said urgently.

"I'll get a head start and try to catch her," Flintmask said and took off at a dead sprint down the tunnel. Blossomfang's clan mates began clamoring for an explanation. Icy made Blossomfang lie down so she could assess her wounds. Whisperheart was staring and the floor, refusing eye contact. The excitement turned to panic as no one really had any idea what just transpired. Blossomfang heard the words Traitor and Echo whispered among the group.

Everyone was talking at once, Blossomfang's vision began swimming. She glanced down at her stomach were Echo had gouged her during their fight - she hadn't felt the severity of the blow due to the adrenaline. She let out a faint sigh before collapsing completely.

...

She felt the pain before she woke up. Whisperheart was working with calm composure, although Icy looked more scared than Blossomfang had ever seen the young she cat. A smell of herbs wafted through the den, Whisperheart was making a poultice to coat the wound and keep infection at bay. Blossomfang deliriously remembered when she had first escaped the testing facility and Whisperheart had cured her sickness.

"Her eyes are yellow and she's running high with fever," Icy reported to her mentor.

"Fl...Flint," she mumbled. Neither medicine cat responded to her moans, or understood what she was trying to say for that matter. Darkness began creeping into her vision again but she was fighting to stay awake. The dark held nightmares she could never escape from. She'd left the facility behind for what seemed like moons, but she remembered each pin prick and experiment vividly.

It was almost ironic that she would die here, now, on the brink of succeeding in her mission.

Now is not your time sweet daughter, Adderfang breathed in her ear.

Dad, she whispered back without opening her mouth. She missed her parents so much - a whole new kind of pain consumed her. She was ready to die, Ashclan could survive without her. She just wanted to recede to Starclan with her father and watch over this new clan. And maybe visit the clan she was born in, Ravenclan.

Don't give up yet, Adderfang said sternly before vanishing from the den. Blossomfang wondered vaguely if he had been there at all, or if it had just been a hallucination. She lifted her head off the moss pillow that had been crafted for her, smiled at Whisperheart, and let her head fall back.

...

"Shhh, she's waking up!" Icy commanded loudly, ignoring her own order for silence.

"Let me through," a familiar raspy voice filled her ears. Braveheart.

Blossomfang opened her eyes, surprised by the harshness of the light. Spiderwebs were wrapped around her stomach, and a sticky concoction of leaves was pasted over all her scratches and puncture wounds.

"How do you feel kid?" Chance grumbled in her ear.

"I've had worse," she said with a smile, but she wasn't really joking.

"You've been in and out of consciousness for a few days," he said bluntly.

"What?" she demanded, sitting up and causing a wave of pain to shoot through her. "Has the full moon passed?"

"It has. Just last night. Foxtooth and Fawndapple made their decision then," Braveheart said with carefully guarded look. Blossomfang waited for the result.

"You have another five days, for the five days you were unconscious - to convince them."

It was the best she could have hoped for in the situation. Suddenly Flintmask was in the den, materializing almost as fast as Adderfang had.

"Blossomfang!" he exclaimed.

"Hi," she said weekly. Flintmask was carrying a squirrel. Suddenly she remembered how famished she was. Braveheart and the medicine cats left to give them some space. Flintmask refused to talk until she finished every last morsel of the prey. After eating she felt in the mood for a nice cat nap, but there was more important matters to attend to.

"We have doubled the patrols and are keeping out a lookout for Echo. She's staying away...for now," he informed her. Blossomfang was unsure what to make of the information.

"Well that's the most we can do for now. I'm guessing she's hiding out in the city. That's were she's from anyways."

"Oh!" Flintmask said, as if just remembering something. "I have something to show you."

Blossomfang looked at him curiously but followed him out of the medicine cat den. Her stomach still hurt but she had regained a bit of her strength from the squirrel. The wound Echo inflicted wasn't that deep, but the murky stream water was crawling with bacteria and the infection had spread rapidly. Blossomfang looked around camp, not knowing what Flintmask wanted to show her.

"Whisperheart says you are well enough to sleep in your own den, so long as you check in with him to make sure the infection doesn't come back," Flintmask said excitedly.

"Okay..."

She looked around camp to see if she missed something. There was a prey pile in the center of camp. In one corner was the medicine cat den. There was the nursery, the warrior den, the apprentice den, and unused elders den, and...and another den.

"Come one!" Flintmask urged and practically dragged her to the new den. "Ta-da! Leaders den."

She was speechless. Slowly she went inside and examined the spacious area crafted out of fallen beams and moss. Flintmask had put so much work into it.

"This is amazing," was all she managed to say. She turned to Flintmask so suddenly they were nose to nose. Her blue eyes were wide with daring as she looked into his bright green stare.

"I love you," they said together.