A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and suggestions! Thus far I am considering the names: Stonefoot or Stoneheart ; Sorrelfrost or Sorrelstorm ; Mistypelt or Mistypool ; Shiverfrost or Shivermist. No, these are not final/the only names I'm considering, but they're ones that I like the sound of or feel may suit the cats' personalities. If you have any input on the names listed, or on a different name you feel may better suit one of the apprentices, please feel free to let me know! (keeping in mind that I will not use the same suffix for any of them. If you like Shiverfrost more, the I will not name Sorrelpaw "Sorrelfrost.")
There are still one or two chapters left before the decision must be made! Thanks in advance for your input!
And to my reviewer, DragonessGem: Thank you for the names! I also think Shiverfrost is adorable :3
With all of that said, I'll see you all next chapter!
Chapter 8
"Sorrelpaw, wake up, Leopardfur's asking for you!"
A sharp prod in his ribs stirred Sorrelpaw from his blissful dream of swimming alongside massive Clans of fish, snatching them out of the air as they jumped and splashed. He rowled softly as he staggered to his paws. "I was having the best dream," grumbled the red-furred apprentice. Mistypaw only sniffed and tossed her head. Ah, she's still mad. Amused by her bad attitude, Sorrelpaw left the den with his tail high and whiskers twitching. Stonepaw was already awake, his dark gray fur just a smudge in the heavy fog that hung over the forest.
"Morning," he pushed a water vole towards Sorrelpaw. "Leopardfur said to eat quickly and get travelling herbs from Mudfur, then we'll be going."
"Travelling herbs?" Sorrelpaw wrinkled his nose as he lay beside his brother. "I bet they taste like mousebile."
Stonepaw snorted. "Or birds."
Both apprentices curled their lips at the thought and quickly dug in to their much preferable prey. When they'd finished, they groomed quickly and headed for the beech tree that Mudfur had made into his temporary medicine den.
"Leopardfur told me to expect you two." The brown tom's eyes glinted. "This is your first time having traveling herbs, isn't it?"
"It is," sighed Stonepaw.
Mudfur pushed two leaves towards them, each with its own pile of herbs on it. Sorrelpaw took a deep breath and lapped them up all at once, screwing his eyes shut as he chewed them quickly and swallowed. Stonepaw shook his head, as if trying to shake away the bad taste. "Well done," Mudfur laughed, "like true warriors."
"Sorrelpaw, Stonepaw!" Leopardfur's spotted golden pelt was like a blotch of sunlight as she padded towards them through the fog. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, Leopardfur," Sorrelpaw answered quickly, the bitter tang of the herbs forgotten in lieu of what was to come. "Are we leaving now?"
"We are." She flicked her tail and padded away, leaving the two apprentices to follow her quickly.
Crookedstar and Oakheart were standing near the slope, talking quietly. As they approached Sorrelpaw pricked his ears, hoping to catch some of what was being said.
"I've been back to the camp, it's nearly dry. Once the sun clears this fog we should be able to move back."
"Good," Crookedstar growled. "Every cat will be looking forward to having their dens and nests back."
"Yes," agreed Oakheart. "It will take a while to rebuild, but we'll manage." He dipped his head at Leopardfur as they joined them, then glanced proudly at his sons before turning back to Crookedstar. "Good luck, and may StarClan light your path." The leader and deputy touched noses briefly before Crookedstar signaled his small patrol with his ears and they headed out.
When they neared the gorge, Leopardstar beckoned for Sorrelpaw and Stonepaw to come forward. "What can you smell?"
The apprentices obediently scented the air.
"WindClan, obviously," Sorrelpaw flicked his tail towards their border.
"And rabbit," Stonepaw added. "Prey must be running well for them with so much moisture in the grass."
"Very good," Crookedstar praised them. "As you know, we'll have to cross WindClan's territory to get to Highstones. With any luck, we won't catch a patrol, but if we do, there will be no fighting."
"What if they try to stop us?" Sorrelpaw let his voice drop to a whisper as they crossed WindClan's border markers.
"They won't," Leopardfur meowed firmly. "It is against the warrior code to stop a leader from journeying to share dreams with StarClan." Still, Sorrelpaw could see the tension in his mentor's shoulders. Even you wouldn't put it past them to pick a fight!
They hurried from one clump of heather to the next, using the fresh blooms to mask their scents.
"Wait," Crookedstar waived his tail, crouching low to the ground. Sorrelpaw could smell the WindClan warriors, and shuffled quietly up beside his mentor until he could peer out of their hiding place. The patrol was almost two fox-lengths away, all three cats carrying a rabbit. Between the heather and the fresh-kill in their jaws, no cat detected them, and once they were over the next hill Crookedstar stood and slipped to the next patch.
They made it through WindClan's territory without incident, and new land stretched out before them. Sorrelpaw felt electricity tingling in his veins, sparking and urging him to run into the adventure nose first.
"It's still quite a journey," Crookedstar warned, glancing fondly at Stonepaw and Sorrelpaw as they stood shoulder to shoulder, their tail-tips flicking restlessly.
Stonepaw dipped his head and made an effort to conceal his excitement, but Sorrelpaw didn't have the time for that. He worked his claws in the springy grass. "Will we have to cross that Thunderpath?" He flicked his tail towards the black stripe that cut through the land in the distance.
"Yes," Leopardfur flattened her ears. "It's a fowl, stinking thing. You'll soon be less enthusiastic about it."
Crookedstar took the lead again, loping easily through the farmland. They kept a steady pace, slowing only once they could scent the acrid Thunderpath ahead. Sorrelpaw pushed ahead, shouldering through the prickly hedge to get a better look.
"Get back!" Leopardfur hissed. Sorrelpaw's pad had just touched the rough black surface when his mentor's teeth locked in his scruff. She dragged him back and spit out a mouthful of loose red fur. "Have you lost your mind? What if a monster had come?"
Sorrelpaw flattened his ears. "I was listening, I would have heard it long before it had a chance to hit me."
"Yes, I'm sure that's what the last cat that was killed on the Thunderpath said." Leopardfur growled, giving her apprentice one last cuff around the ears for good measure. "Never run out onto a Thunderpath before checking with your ears and your eyes."
Sorrelpaw ducked his head apologetically, swallowing his argument and crouching obediently beside Stonepaw as they waited for Crookedstar's signal to cross safely. When he raised his tail, they ran across, their paws soundless on the abrasive surface.
"Not much further now," Crookedstar's eyes were bright as he looked towards the setting sun.
Leopardfur waved Sorrelpaw and Stonepaw forward. "You'll lead us the rest of the way," she meowed. Sorrelpaw shared a surprised glance with his littermate.
Stonepaw cleared his throat and smoothed his chest fur before glancing uncertainly at Crookedstar and mewing, "Let's keep moving, then."
"Very well," the great tabby dipped his head and fell in step behind Stonepaw. Sorrelpaw took a position at his brother's shoulder, unwilling to be outdone. He could see Hightstones looming in the distance—it wouldn't be long at all before they made it there.
"Wait," Sorrelpaw flattened himself to the ground, parting his jaws and inhaling deeply. He was pleased when the patrol followed suit. "Dog."
"Brilliantly scented," Leopardfur exhaled. "It's very fresh, too."
"So is the twoleg scent," added Crookedstar. "It must have been walked by here."
Sorrelpaw nodded thoughtfully. "We'll continue, but keep a sharp lookout for it."
"I'll bring up the rear," Stonepaw offered, "In case it's circled around."
Rearranged, the patrol continued more slowly. Sorrelpaw found that even he was impressed with Stonepaw's calm and quick-thinking. A leader always takes the most difficult position, so of course the head of the patrol—or the next highest ranking warrior—would take up the rear. He cursed himself for not thinking of it first, but couldn't bring himself to really besmirch Stonepaw's achievement. After all, I scented it first.
When the tall grass gave way, Sorrelpaw found his paws frozen to the ground.
Mothermouth gaped before them, like a sinkhole of thick shadows and dark secrets. The tunnel seemed to tug at his fur, willing him to set foot inside and get swallowed up by its mystery.
"There's still some time before the moon rises," Crookedstar padded easily past the stunned apprentice and leapt onto one of the flat stones. "Feel free to hunt; I'm certain those traveling herbs have long since worn off."
Suddenly reminded that he hadn't eaten since dawn, Sorrelpaw's stomach let out a ferocious grumble. "Hunting sounds good," he agreed, shaking of the discomfort Mothermouth had settled in his fur and turning to Stonepaw. "Care to join me?"
"Sure," the blue-furred apprentice rolled his shoulders. "Now that Crookedstar mentioned it my stomach is yowling."
"Don't go far," Leopardfur warned. "Meet back here once you've caught enough."
"Yes, Leopardfur," Sorrelpaw flicked his ears and padded towards a nearby gorse thicket.
Stonepaw stayed close, straying away only when the scent of mouse crossed their paths. Sorrelpaw made it to the gorse and brushed his lip along a spiny branch. Rabbit! He pricked his ears and narrowed his eyes as he dropped into the proper hunting crouch. He pulled himself slowly through the bush, using its vibrant greens and yellows to mask his rich red fur. There it is…! He could just see its ear peaking over the next rise. Its den must be in this bush, which means… The apprentice sucked in a deep breath and waited. The rabbit's ears swiveled this way and that for a long moment, until they started bobbing. Up and down, closer and closer, over the hill and straight towards the gorse bush. It was bigger than anything Sorrelpaw had seen on RiverClan's flooded territory in moons. If only I could bring it back for Sedgenose. Pushing the thought from his mind, Sorrelpaw bunched his muscles and pounced, giving chase as the rabbit started and sprung away. Not soon enough, as Sorrelpaw easily overtook it and drug it down, sinking his teeth into its neck to silence its warning cry.
Pleased with his catch, Sorrelpaw struggled back towards Highstones with his chin high and his catch dragging the ground and bumping awkwardly against his forelegs.
"Great catch!" Stonepaw's eyes blazed like the setting sun. "That's huge!"
Sorrelpaw dropped the rabbit next to Stonepaw's fresh-kill. "Great catch yourself," he purred, eyeing the three fat mice his littermate caught.
Leopardfur returned with a vole and mouse of her own, depositing it in their small pile with a proud purr. "Well Crookedstar, it seems we know why RiverClan hasn't starved yet."
Crookedstar hummed an agreement from where he lay, his eyes warm. "Go ahead and eat your fill," he urged them. "I cannot eat until after I've shared dreams with StarClan."
Sorrelpaw grabbed his rabbit and dragged it up onto the flat stone beside Crookedstar's. "Want to share?" He offered, glancing at his mentor and littermate. "There's plenty here."
"Yes, thank you," Leopardfur strolled to his side, followed by Stonepaw.
"We can eat the rest after Crookedstar speaks with StarClan," the blue apprentice added. "Then we won't have to stop on our way home."
"Mhm," Sorrelpaw agreed. "I want to get back as fast as possible and help rebuild the camp."
A companionable silence fell as they shared their meal, broken only by the occasional crunch of an especially juicy bone or a satisfied purr. They shared tongues when they'd finished, full and content, until the moon began rising and Crookedstar stood.
"I will go to speak with StarClan now," he announced softly. With that, he disappeared into the thickening darkness around Mothermouth. The sheet of moonlight that fell across the rock formation only made the shadows around it seem that much darker, and Sorrelpaw felt the same discomfort seeping into his fur like the muddy flood water.
"I'll stand guard," Leopardfur told the two apprentices. "You two try and get some rest. It's been a long day."
Unable to deny how drowsy he was after such a filling meal, Sorrelpaw curled up obediently beside Stonepaw. Still, sleep didn't come easily to him. He shifted once or twice before finally stretching out, grumbling under his breath as he tried to get more comfortable. The breeze whispered over the stones and through the grass, gradually lulling Sorrelpaw into a fitful doze with its silken voice.
"Fire."
Stonepaw stirred a little. "Did you say something?"
"No," Sorrelpaw sighed, letting the raspy voice carry him into the sweet darkness of sleep.
"Fire."
Sorrelpaw's ice blue eyes snapped open. He was standing before the gaping shadows of Mothermouth, watching fireflies blink and flicker in the shadows like embers. And then they were—embers, smoldering in the darkness, giving birth the little tongues of flame that lapped at the stones.
Am I… dreaming? Sorrelpaw couldn't move. His legs felt as if they were made of the boulders of Sunningrocks though they trembled like arching willow branches.
"You are fire," the wispy breath of the wind ruffled his ear fur. "And like fire, you will blaze through the forest."
"Fire…?" Sorrelpaw echoed, his voice barely scraping out of his throat.
"The strength of fire, the fierceness of it," the flames jumped higher, reached further, started nibbling at the tufts of grass that grew around Highstones. "It is with those qualities that your ambitions burn, is it not?"
Sorrelpaw could feel it. It caught in his blood, setting it alight and carrying the feeling through the rest of his body. His desire for power, for the strength to protect his Clan from anything and everything that might cause it harm, and to make them stronger than they'd ever been before. "Yes," he rasped. "It is."
"Then embrace it," the wind carried embers and ashes as it sang past, "and turn the river to flame."
