D'oh, I didn't realize I hadn't updated in such a long time! D: I'm sorry, I really am. I'd thought I would update like crazy in summer, but it turns out that I'm even busier now! However, I'll try to make as much time as I can to write and update my stories. :)
Please vote on my poll. It is about whether you think DawnpawXStormpaw is better or AmberpawXTigerpaw is better. I need your opinions. ;)
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SakuraFlutist: Her life is not easy, like she said at the beginning of this fic. *nods very solemnly*
D: Funny, your name together with the colon looks like what I feel like. D: I'm sorry. And this update is even later, isn't it? I promise I'll update soon.
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The Goddess of Darkness: Okay, your review was the straw that broke the camel's back. I felt so guilty. So, here's the chapter! :3
Chapter 14: Questions
"And all the leaders were looking down on us all serious-like, and one by one they stood up and reported their news," Ashpaw says excitedly. He pauses, basking in the attention as we—both the apprentices who went to the Gathering and the ones who didn't—cluster closer in anticipation, bumping each other for room in the crowded area of the apprentices' den that isn't taken up by nests.
"Go on," prompts Graypaw eagerly.
Ashpaw takes a deep breath. "First Ripplestar, the leader of CreekClan went, and then Pebblestar, StoneClan's leader. And lastly, Branchstar stood up. Along with telling what had happened since the last Gathering, they announced their new warriors and apprentices! And everyone that was named got cheered for!"
I listen, delight and disappointment mixing in my stomach. I'm glad that I got cheered for—a bunch of cats shouting my name—but again, I'm sad that I didn't get to go. I've missed my first Gathering, the one event every kit covets, besides their apprentice and warrior ceremonies.
But it was my decision, I remind myself. I made that choice to sneak out of camp and help Graypaw get Cloudpaw back. I followed what my mother did all those moons ago. The only thing is, Graypaw and Doveflight are the only ones who are thankful. I slip a glance at the guilty cat, who is sitting with her tail curled around her legs, clearly enjoying the story. Before she can catch me looking at her and give me one of her snarky remarks, I turn my attention back to Ashpaw, who is almost done regaling us with his tale.
"There were so many cats. You probably wouldn't see so many in your lifetime unless you went to the next Gathering," my brother says. I try to imagine this. But Ashpaw's description isn't much to go on, and I only manage to conjure a dim picture of all the Clan cats in my mind.
Cloudpaw's come to the same conclusion. She snorts, flicking her ears derisively. "'So many' is a relative term," she sniffs, in an attempt to sound smart. At least, that's what a pessimistic voice in my head points out.
Ashpaw stops in his storytelling to collect together his reply, his tail tapping the floor as he concentrates on his next words. "Take all of LeafClan's cats, then imagine three LeafClans gathered all together," he amends. "Take twenty-one cats or so away from that number to compensate for the apprentices, warriors, and the elders not going, and that's about how much."
Armed with this new information, I try again. This time, I get a much better result. 'So many' really is the easiest way to describe the numerous cats who gather in my mind.
"Continue," Lilacpaw breaks in. Ashpaw is quite good at telling stories, though he sometimes needs help to concentrate on the storyline.
"Where was I? Oh, yeah." He clears his throat, picks up where he left up. "So, there were a lot of cats. So many, clustered in one area. They—"
"How big was the area the Gathering was in?" asks Graypaw.
Ashpaw fumbles for an answer. "Erm…very, very big?" he tries. Ashpaw isn't very good at describing things, I realize with a bit of amusement.
Cloudpaw snorts again. "Okay, big. I can imagine that."
This time Ashpaw ignores her. "And the leaders were all perched on a huge gray rock. It's an enormous boulder, bigger than the Hightree. I forget what it's called, though."
"The Speechstone," supplies Darkpaw.
"The Speechstone," I try out. It sounds nice on my tongue, a smooth river of words.
"Oh, yeah! Yes, the Speechstone," says Ashpaw. "Ahem. Now, where was I…?"
Lilacpaw sighs and flicks Ashpaw on the head with her tail. "There were so many cats, the Gathering clearing was huge, and the leaders told their news on a big great rock called the Speechstone. The—"
"The end!" finishes Ashpaw grandly, eliciting a few laughs.
Cloudpaw stretches, making a great show of yawning, even though it's barely past sunhigh. "Come on, Graypaw," she says, flicking her tail. "I guess we'll have to see ourselves exactly how big the Gathering clearing is when we go next moon." Her brother slowly stands up, his hesitance making it clear that he's not sure that he wants to leave. Before I can say something to defend Ashpaw's storytelling, Cloudpaw makes the decision for Graypaw and exits the apprentices' den, leaving the gray apprentice standing awkwardly in a ring of otherwise sitting apprentices.
"Uh…I have to go," he mumbles, and hurries out after her.
Likely as an attempt to cover up the uncomfortable moment that follows, Petalpaw gets to her feet. "Nice job," she meows, nodding at Ashpaw, and leaves. Lilacpaw and Darkpaw follow, leaving Ashpaw and me sitting in the cool darkness of the den.
"Don't listen to Cloudpaw," I say after a few seconds, the fact that Tigerpaw wasn't here nagging at me in the back of my mind. I still haven't gotten a chance to talk to him yet. "You did pretty good telling how the Gathering went." Then I wince, as I sound like a queen reassuring her forlorn kit that even though he caught no prey on his first hunting session as an apprentice, he's going to grow up to become the best warrior the Clans will ever know. Okay, maybe not as exaggerated as that, but I feel as if I could have chosen better words to support Ashpaw with.
Ashpaw shrugs. "She-cats," he mutters. "They're so annoying."
I smack him lightly on the ear. "Hey!"
"Not you," he says, bumping me on the shoulder. "Or Lilacpaw, or Petalpaw, or Whispersong, or any of the other she-cats, really. Just…er...Cloudpaw."
I widen my eyes at him. "Oh… Then I guess you meant to say"—I clear my throat—"Cloudpaw. She's just the most annoying and condescending she-cat ever!"
"Exactly." Ashpaw nods solemnly, his green eyes serious. We manage for five more seconds not to crack a smile, and then burst out laughing.
"I feel sorry for Graypaw, though," he admits after the amusement fades away. "Doveflight doesn't seem like the most caring cat, either."
I shuffle my paws at the mention of the former queen. Should I tell Ashpaw that actually, Doveflight does have a heart, that she came to visit me a few sunrises ago? It's not something private; any cat could have walked by and saw Doveflight giving me a mouse. But it's not something that will change Graypaw's emotional welfare if I say it out loud, and anyway, in the seconds that I take to think, Ashpaw is already moving on to another topic.
"So, how's the paw?"
I pause, still lost in my own thoughts. "Excuse me?"
"How many more days until you can get back to training?" he says.
I look down at my hurt paw, wrapped in rush stalks to splint it and prevent more injury. "Three, I think."
Ashpaw purrs. "Good," he says, waving his tail happily. "I want you to become a warrior at the same time as the rest of us. And that means no getting injured again," he adds in a patronizing tone, in an attempt to sound like the medicine cat.
I laugh, though he's got the pitch wrong. I've now been around Whispersong enough times to know exactly how she sounds like. "No worries," I promise. "I'll be—"
"Amberpaw?" a voice calls. The funny thing is, it's Whispersong. "Where are you?"
"I have to go," I say. Ashpaw nods, then stands up with me and lets me lean on him as I walk slowly out of the den.
Whispersong frowns at the sight of me emerging from the apprentices' den. Was I supposed to stay in the medicine cat's den? But I had to listen to Ashpaw's story; and somehow, I don't think Whispersong would like the idea of all the apprentices clustered around the entrance of her den just so I could listen in anymore than seeing me having to be supported by my brother while walking. "A few more days, then you can go take up room in the apprentices' den," she says, looking me up and down. "But for now, I need to change your splint and give you a poppy seed."
"Okay." I follow her into the medicine cat's den, limping slightly but not feeling much pain. This gives me hope that three sunrises will be all I need to rejoin the rest of the apprentices.
"Ashpaw!" Pounceclaw yells, loud enough to turn every cat's head toward him. "Come on, we're going hunting. Let's see if you can catch even more prey this time!"
"Have fun," I say to my brother, being sure to add extra enthusiasm into my tone, and he nods, then bounds to his mentor's side. The two toms disappear through the bramble entrance.
Whispersong snorts. "It's leafbare. He'll be lucky enough to catch even one mouse." I glance discreetly at the fresh-kill pile, which is made up of one scrawny bird and an average-looking vole. She's right; there isn't much prey to be caught, or LeafClan's cats aren't having much luck. While I'm lounging around camp, with an injury that I brought onto myself for not telling Whispersong that it hurt after the apprentice ceremony, and eating fresh-kill and doing absolutely nothing to contribute to the wellbeing of the Clan.
Three more days, I tell myself. And then I can be Falconflight's apprentice again.
I settle myself onto 'my' nest and wait as Whispersong disappears into the herbs hollow, then comes back out with some herbs. First she redoes my splint, binding it expertly, and makes me swallow another marigold poultice. Lastly, she gives me two poppy seeds, watching as I gulp them down and lay my head on the nest rim, waiting for the sleepiness to come.
"It's best to rest while in the final stages to recuperate," she explains as I look through half-lidded eyes up at her. "And, when you wake up, you'll be more refreshed."
She gathers up the excess herbs and deposits them in the herbs hollow. "I'm going out to find some more herbs," she says, shaking marigold petals from her pelt. "If you wake up before I'm back, have yourself some prey but don't go anywhere else. Okay?"
I nod slowly, neck muscles tightening with the effort. "Okay," I agree, as if I would say anything else. The image of her tail disappearing through the entrance of the den is the last thing I see before I fully close my eyes, curl up, and go to sleep.
I wake up to the sound of Whispersong screeching. It appears that every time I go to sleep, I am fated to wake up to someone shouting. I flatten my ears and burrow deeper into my nest, trying to muffle the sound, then lift my head back up when I hear exactly who she's yelling at.
"Tigerpaw!" she shouts across the clearing. The dark brown tom looks up, the squirrel he's carrying swinging with the motion of his head. Ravenwing emerges from the bramble entrance, bearing a mouse. She drops the rodent and says something to him. Tigerpaw hesitates, then lays the squirrel at his mentor's feet and walks with obvious reluctance toward Whispersong, the sun beginning to set behind him. Behind him, Ravenwing picks up the two pieces of prey and deposits them on the fresh-kill pile, picking up the scrawny blackbird to eat in return.
"Yes?" Tigerpaw asks warily as he approaches Whispersong. His eyes glance at me for one fleeting second, then dart back to the gray she-cat. I narrow my eyes at him, even though he's not looking at me anymore, and sit up more in my nest. Look at me again. I dare you.
"I need to check up on you and give you some herbs," Whispersong states matter-of-factly. "To make sure that none of those scratches got infected, and safeguard them from getting infected later on. You stay there," she instructs, and disappears in the herbs hollow.
"Hey. Tigerpaw," I hiss once she's vanished from sight.
He flicks his gaze toward me. "What?"
"After you're treated, stay. I need to talk to you."
For a moment, he looks back toward the herbs hollow, where Whispersong is audibly moving around in, and doesn't say anything. I stare at him, willing him stop avoiding my gaze and tell me the answer already. Come on, you—
"Okay," he says, turning to me with those blue-green eyes, and then Whispersong is appearing from the hollow, herbs clamped in her jaws.
"Alright," she says around her burden. "Let's have a look at those scratches." She spits out the herbs, and begins to examine Tigerpaw's pelt. I pretend to find the bug crawling on the ground very interesting.
Wait. That's not just any bug.
Red coat, with black dots scattered on the back… Check. Six crawling legs with two antennae… Check. And a tendency to be annoying? The ladybug spreads its wings and lands on my nose. Check.
I blink hard, going cross-eyed at the sight. The insect prods the fur at the top of my nose with its first two feet. Hey, that's ticklish! I growl softly, but the ladybug doesn't seem to be intimidated. In fact, it starts to crawl up my face! I lift up a paw and make to smack the insect, but, most infuriating of all, it's already lifted into the air, leaving me to hit only my face. The bug does a smug, lazy loop-de-loop, and then flies out of the entrance of the den.
"Amberpaw? Is something the matter?"
Of course, Whispersong just has to notice what I'm doing at the exact second I smack my face with my paw. Tigerpaw looks over at me, his ears pricked in obvious amusement.
"There was a bug," I start to explain. "It landed on my face, so I was trying to—"
But the medicine cat's already turned back to her task at hand, applying a strange green paste to various areas on Tigerpaw's fur. The tabby apprentice grins at me now, before reverting to his stiff position in waiting for Whispersong to finish. Oh, so now he smiles? Glad to know that one of us is happy. I ruffle my fur, self-conscious, and make up for it by sticking out my tongue at him. He must have seen the motion through the corner of his eye, for he twitches his tail in my direction as acknowledgement. Hey, why don't you try hitting your face with your paw, have the only other cats in the den look at you at the same second, not be given a chance to explain, and see how embarrassing it is!
Whispersong finishes applying the mashed herbs to Tigerpaw's pelt and puts the herbs away. "I'm going to have a nap," she announces, stretching her shoulders. "Tigerpaw, tell everyone that if anyone needs my help, they should go find Swallowpaw first before waking me up." The dark brown tom nods, and with that, the medicine cat of LeafClan disappears into her own, sleeping hollow opposite the herbs niche.
Tigerpaw waits a few moments for the sounds of Whispersong arranging herself in her nest to fade, then settles himself a few tail-lengths in front of me. "So, what do you want?" he says pleasantly. His cheerily fake tone doesn't fool me, and I narrow my eyes briefly at him, though all he does is look at me expectantly.
I take a deep breath, stalling for time to choose which I should say first out of questions crowding my mind. I'll start with the most recent, I decide. "Okay," I begin. "Where were you when Ashpaw was telling about the Gathering, and why weren't you there?"
For a second, Tigerpaw's cheery appearance falters, and he swallows visibly. The next second, it's back in full swing, and he answers, "Well, I really wanted to hear it, but at the moment Ashpaw was starting the tale, Ravenwing called me to go hunting, and I figured I could always ask him to tell me about it later." He shrugs. "That's it."
Okay… "Do you know why you didn't go to the Gathering?"
"No, but I think it's probably because I didn't do my apprentice duties as well as before the last few days, and because I fell down the cliff and all that."
Darn. It's only the same theory that I have. I decide to avoid asking him again exactly how he fell down the cliff with Ravenwing near him, as I'll probably get the same answer from a few days ago.
I swallow hard, going to my next question. Statement, really. "Tigerpaw… For the last few days, I've been getting the feeling that you've been avoiding me. On purpose."
He shifts uneasily, looking away from me yet again, his paws shuffling like he wants to leave. I subtly tense, muscles ready to jump up and stop him from getting up. But he looks back toward me and says, "Well, I haven't been avoiding you. Just, we haven't gotten to see each other for the past few days." I bite back a doubtful laugh. And what about yesterday? I open my mouth to ask him so, but he's already going on to his next point. "Plus, you're supposed to stay in the medicine cat's den all day, and I've been sort of busy with hunting and training and all that, so while it may have seemed like I was avoiding you, I actually wasn't." Quite obviously he's not going to tell me anything—at least, not anything truthful—so I cut him off when he takes a breath for his next sentence.
"Fine. I get it. You weren't avoiding me." And now you're not telling me the truth, either.
Tigerpaw visibly relaxes, his shoulders slumping with relief. I hide a frown. He really should work on concealing his body language.
"So, everything's good?"
I hesitate, then dip my head. "Yes. I guess I was just paranoid." I then attempt to laugh, to lighten the mood and accompany my words, a guffawing sound that wouldn't have fooled a mouse. But Tigerpaw grins at the sound, an action that shows how desperate he is to have me believe him, and for the whole thing to be so easily smoothed over with a couple of words and a smile.
I'll drop the matter. For now.
Tigerpaw stands, tail flicking almost nervously. "I'd best get going now." He glances over his shoulder, where the sun's last rays can be seen over the bramble entrance, surrounding the vines with a golden glow. Right. It's almost time to sleep, and he hasn't even eaten yet.
I nod. "Good night, Tigerpaw. See you in training in three days."
"Good night." He pauses for a second, hesitating. He must have made up his mind, for he swiftly leans forward and then, before I can move back or even twitch an ear in surprise, licks me quickly on the head. Before I can react, he exits the den without looking back, his tail disappearing around the corner. When he's completely gone, when even his scent starts to fade, I lay my head on the rim of the nest and try to go to sleep, ignoring the flutter inside me that happened when he touched me. But somehow, the stars, twinkling in their places in the night sky, seem brighter than ever, and the moon winks a shining promise.
Good night, indeed.
I almost didn't add the last part, but then I realized that this is half classified as romantic, and that you guys would probably kill me if I didn't update more or/and at least add some romance. So, yeah. :P
Review? Purely to motivate me into writing more, of course.
~Ponyiowa