Here's Chapter…3? Well, with the allegiances I guess it's really 4… I WILL NOT post any more chapters unless I get more than 10 reviews, so if you just clicked on this, read it, and decided to be lazy and not leave a single comment, shame on you. At least drop a line saying you've read the darn thing. Big thanks to those who did review.
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For three days, Robinpaw debriefed Icepaw on the minutest workings of Clan life. She learned about Gatherings, the warrior code, warrior ceremonies and the intricacies of the Clan hierarchy. Robinpaw introduced her to every cat, from kit to elder and showed her all the landmarks of ThunderClan territory, from the RiverClan border to the Owl Tree.
On the fourth day of Icepaw's first moon as an apprentice, she was woken up by a yowl in her ear.
"Icepaw! Icepaw wake up, we're leaving on patrol!"
Groggy and stiff from the cold, Icepaw stumbled out of her warm, mossy nest and into the uncomfortable glare of morning sunlight.
"No," came the same voice. "We were leaving ages ago, actually. Open your eyes, mouse-brain, you look ridiculous just standing there."
Reluctantly, Icepaw's jade green eyes blinked open. She winced as the sun sent a lance of pain into her forehead, and then sneezed, her eyes watering. "I'm up," she wheezed, her voice hoarse from lack of use. A cough bubbled up through her teeth, wracking her body and making her paws twitch.
"Good," the voice snapped. "It's about time." As Icepaw's eyes adjusted, she recognized Robinpaw's rigid frame, her muzzle a whisker's-width from Icepaw's face.
With a huff, the ginger apprentice turned tail and stalked away, flicking her ears in annoyance. Icepaw gave her pelt a vigorous shake and swiped a paw over her ear before following her friend.
Robinpaw led her to the mouth of the bramble tunnel, where two warriors crouched side by side, their eyes half closed. At the sound of their approach, the cats both rose to their feet, their movements fluid and graceful.
"Thank you, Robinpaw," mewed a pale brown tom. Beside him stood dark gray tabby who watched Icepaw with interest.
"Icepaw, good to see you awake," meowed the tabby, his tail curled in a half moon shape over his flanks.
"I'm sorry," the white she-cat replied meekly, aware that she had overslept.
The gray tom shook his head slowly, his expression kind. "It happens to all of us. Just try not to do it again." With a nod, he turned and slipped through the tunnel. The brown tom followed, with Robinpaw at his heels. Afraid to be left alone, Icepaw dashed after them.
"Who're they again?" Icepaw whispered to her friend as the four cats bounded down the rocky slope of the ravine.
Robinpaw's ginger tail waved in amusement. "You'll learn everyone's names soon enough. The pale brown one is Oakshadow, a senior warrior. He's my mentor." Icepaw nodded. She'd learned about mentors. "And the gray tabby is Stonepelt. He's a pretty new warrior - quiet, but most cats really like him."
There was a clatter as Icepaw slipped on a loose stone and nearly fell, only saving herself by doing a few clumsy hops. Both warriors paused to glance over their shoulder, sending a wave of embarrassment down Icepaw's spine.
"You said…most cats like him? Who doesn't?" Icepaw mewed, trying to life the focus off of herself.
"Well," Robinpaw meowed, lowering her voice, "it's a bit of a long story."
Curious, Icepaw replied, with a glance at the sunlit forest stretching before them, "We've got time."
The two apprentices slowed down to give their Clanmates a good head start, and then Robinpaw began her story in a whisper. "When Stonepelt was an apprentice, he got caught by RiverClan chasing a vole onto their territory. They used to have this leader who was totally mouse-brained, named Cherrystar." Icepaw wracked her brain for a few seconds before remembering that the current leader of RiverClan, ThunderClan's closest neighbor, was Floodstar. The story must take place long before she'd arrived in ThunderClan.
"Cherrystar was really, really old, and most cats figured he'd totally lost his mind, but they didn't know what to do about it. So anyway, they caught Stonepelt and brought him to their camp, like a prisoner." Robinpaw's eyes grew wide for effect, her whiskers quivering.
"But he didn't even eat the vole, did he?" Icepaw mewed in disbelief. "He…he wasn't breaking the warrior code!"
Robinpaw frowned. "Technically, he was. It wasn't such a bad thing, but Cherrystar found reason enough to take him hostage."
Icepaw shrugged and flicked her tail, motioning for Robinpaw to continue on with a story. They leapt over a fallen tree in unison, and then the she-cat opened her mouth again.
"Well, he was in their camp for two days before Cinderstar finally convinced Cherrystar to let him go. They had to catch a bunch of prey, like a ransom. It was ridiculous. When Stonepelt got back to ThunderClan, everyone wanted to know what he'd learned about RiverClan that they could use to their advantage, but he didn't say anything.
"A few moons later, once the whole thing had blown over and Stonepelt had earned his warrior name, he was caught again – this time by Cinderstar, and he wasn't chasing prey." She paused for suspense, glancing over at Icepaw.
They'd reached the sandy training hollow, but the two warriors didn't stop, so Icepaw prompted her friend. "What was he doing?"
Blinking, Robinpaw turned to her, her voice suddenly ominous. "He was sneaking away to meet a RiverClan queen!"
Icepaw gave a mock gasp of surprise, her eyes growing round and huge. "The horror!" she mewed, waving her tail. A smile twitched at her lips.
Robinpaw's brow furrowed, and she looked across at Icepaw with a questioning expression. "It was, actually. Everyone wanted him to be thrown out of the Clan."
"Oh." Icepaw mewed, her tail drooping. "Right. So what happened?"
Giving her pelt a shake and turning back to the path ahead, Robinpaw continued. "Well, it was a huge scandal. Both Clans were in an uproar. I was too young to notice much, but RiverClan cats were popping up in the ThunderClan camp all the time, doing who knows what. I don't envy Stonepelt for what happened. He's lucky Cinderstar didn't exile him immediately. But, once they were found out, they stopped sneaking off to see each other. It's only just now slipped to the back of everybody's mind."
"Huh." Icepaw meowed as the story ended. "Poor Stonepelt. Who was the queen?"
Robinpaw shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Her name was Silversomething. I've never met her."
Icepaw saw in her mind's eye the dark gray tabby, sitting forlornly on one side of the river while his forbidden love, a silver she-cat, crouched on the other side. The image was shattered by a sudden shocking thought.
"Did they ever have kits?" she meowed, cautious of the answer. Think of the stir that would have caused.
Chuckling, Robinpaw replied, "Not that I know of. None in ThunderClan, anyway, although I have my speculations about Ashpaw…" She trailed off suddenly, freezing in mid pawstep, her eyes growing round and her whiskers twitching. Icepaw jerked to a halt at her side, slowly lifting her head.
Stonepelt loomed over them, his huge paws planted directly in their path. His face was blank and expressionless, but Icepaw thought she saw a glimmer of amusement deep in his eyes.
"What about Ashpaw?" he growled. His tail twitched back and forth as he waited for a reply.
Icepaw swallowed and squeaked out a reply. "Robinpaw was just telling me what a…" she glanced over at Robinpaw, panicked. "What a…mouse-brain he is." Her gaze flickered back to Stonepelt to see if this was an acceptable answer, or if they'd be put on elder duty for a month.
"I see. Well, keep up - we have to get to Sunningrocks before RiverClan invades." With a low chuckle, he turned and padded away, sunlight dappling his dark pelt.
The two apprentices stayed frozen for a long moment while their heartbeats returned to normal. As they began to walk again, Robinpaw leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Don't you think he sounded a bit…protective, when he mentioned Ashpaw's name?"
Icepaw was still laughing when they reached Sunningrocks.
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Ahhhhahaha…I do love setting up a story when only I know how it's going to end…
-ASTER