Chapter 44, hopefully posted a little sooner this time. I'm getting excited for the next part of this story: and don't worry, I really will be getting somewhere soon. I mean, I always feel like my story is boring because I know what's going to happen next, but I hope no one else feels that way. Of course, no one else knows what's going to happen next, so…
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A pair of yellow eyes appeared between the pine branches, watching carefully as a group of cats emerged from the undergrowth a few paces away and sat, their ears pricked. The eyes blinked, twice, and then a russet striped tom bounded from the trees towards the waiting patrol.
"Russetstripe!" Icefang yowled in surprise, jumping as the dark red tabby suddenly materialized between two trees and came leaping swiftly towards them. Behind him, three more WindClan warriors and a RiverClan patrol appeared. Icefang braced herself as Russetstripe bore down upon them, willing her steely expression back into place.
"Late, as always," Russetstripe hissed, prancing in circles around the ThunderClan party. If he hadn't been the WindClan deputy Icefang would have given him a good smack on the nose and shushed him like an obnoxious kit. With effort she restrained herself, waiting patiently until Swiftfoot of WindClan caught up with his clanmate and laid a gentle tail across Russetstripe's shoulder.
Stonepelt had long ago explained to Icefang the odd relationship between Swiftfoot and Russetstripe of WindClan, how Swiftfoot had been the real choice for deputy but out of some sad happenstance Guststar had been forced to name Russetstripe. Now the two warriors shared the duties of deputy and acted as each other's balanced half. At first the pairing had unnerved Icefang, against the warrior code as it was, but by now she'd grown used to it, and happily looked forward to Swiftfoot's intervention whenever Russetstripe grew overexcited.
"They're not late, Russetstripe," mewed Swiftfoot in a quiet, serene voice. "It isn't sunhigh yet." He gave a nod to the sky and then indicated that Russetstripe sit, which the tabby tom did with an indignant sigh.
Grateful, Icefang left the negotiations up to Cinderstar for once and turned to survey the rest of the warriors present. It appeared that the ShadowClan patrol hadn't arrived yet, and Icefang had some doubts as to whether or not they would come at all. Luckily she'd planned for this, and left some strong warriors back at camp in case ShadowClan thought this was a good time to invade their territory.
Aside form Swiftfoot and Russetstripe of WindClan, Guststar and Blacktalon were here as well. Though all of the WindClan warriors were tired and hungry, Guststar had insisted that she and some of her clan be present to guide the other clans in driving out the dogs.
For the ThunderClan warriors, Icefang and Cinderstar had agreed to bring Whitefoot, Yellowpaw, Ashfoot, Eagleclaw, and of course Redpaw. Icefang tried to include Eagleclaw and Redpaw in everything they did, planning of course to have the two she-cats as her right-paw warriors when she became leader, whether or not they were eligible to be deputies. Icefang was glad to have left Stonepelt behind, one because she knew he would be able to protect the camp if something happened, and too because she knew that Eelshadow would be here.
Lo and behold, as her gaze passed over the RiverClan patrol she counted four warriors and three apprentices: Floodstar and Oakpaw, Murkypool and Ripplepaw, Mintleaf and Brackenpaw, and Eelshadow. The black tom was, as she had suspected, sitting apart form his Clanmates, his eyes fixed on the conversing leaders while his ears took in the sounds all around.
The memory of the previous night welled up in Icefang's mind, sending her heart racing. The freedom, the exhilaration of racing through the forest at Eelshadow's side, scaling logs and leaping from stone to stone, muscles warm and limber, breath hot against her cheeks, made her whiskers quiver at the mere thought. It was the first time in her life that Icefang had felt like she belonged, like she was doing what she was meant to.
However, in addition to new, exciting horizons, it frightened Icefang to her very core. She had thought, all along, that becoming leader and turning ThunderClan into the most powerful and feared Clan in the forest was her ultimate goal, but last night something deeper and more powerful had risen inside of her. An animal had stirred, long forgotten, frozen beneath her icy veneer, and torn a whole right through her chest. It was as wonderful as it was excruciatingly painful, and Icefang was torn between accepting this new creature within her and banishing it completely to that cold place in the depths of her mind.
The sight of Eelshadow's graceful composure, his eyes bright and watchful, his muscles tensed as though poised to spring, reawakened the hunger of Icefang's nighttime sojourn, teased that curious animal into being and reopened her searing wound. She knew, more than anything, that someday soon there would be a choice, and no matter the outcome Icefang would lose something she held dear, something essential to herself. What it was she could not guess now, but anxiety was already eating away at her. With a shudder, the white she-cat closed her eyes to clear her mind of these gripping, circular thoughts.
When she blinked her eyes open again, Eelshadow was standing before her with a playful grin on his face. Icefang managed not to jump like a witless kit, just barely retaining her self-control as she stepped back uncertainly.
"Tired?" Eelshadow meowed sardonically, cocking his head. Innocent though his question was, there was something malicious about it, something piercing and cruel.
"I slept late," Icefang mewed, avoiding his question and tossing back a jaundiced reply.
Eelshadow gazed at her for a moment, appraising, his tail swishing back and forth over his head, and then his face relaxed into an easy smile and her stepped forward to give Icefang a gentle lick between the ears. Though the touch sent an electric shock of warning through every vein in Icefang's body, she managed to stay relaxed while casting about a mortified gaze to see if anyone had noticed. Apparently no one had, not even Eagleclaw or Redpaw, who were listening to Cinderstar and Guststar speak.
As she turned back to look at Eelshadow Icefang realized that she had passed some sort of test. After last night she hadn't been sure how Eelshadow would receive her when they saw each other again, whether she had lived up to his expectations or not, but that one brief question, with its curious undertone, seemed to have proved everything to him. And now a wall had gone down, a wall that she hadn't even realized he'd had before.
"I'm glad," purred the black tom, swiping his tail across her ear, before turning swiftly and striding towards the leaders. Somewhat shaken, Icefang took a moment to smooth her ruffled pelt and regain her poise before bounding to his side to listen more closely.
"The dogs appear around moonhigh, usually," Guststar was saying, "sometimes earlier. They come up from the Twoleg nest in the marsh, three big ones with sharp teeth. It was Tornpad here who guessed they were guarding the sheep. It seems obvious now, but the Twolegs usually don't use dogs to guard their sheep, since nothing eats them around here. The dogs that were terrorizing us last Greenleaf have come back, as well as a new one who's bigger and stronger than the others. I'll tell you, we're going to have a hard time finishing these mousebrains off." The leader shook her pelt and gave a heavy sigh.
It appeared that the leaders had been discussing methods to get rid of the dogs but had come up with no viable solution. Floodstar had suggested laying a trail into Highstones to see if they would get lost, but Cinderstar immediately objected to leading the destructive creatures so close to the sacred Mothermouth. Guststar had suggested trying to blind them or even kill the dogs, but immediately Floodstar had spoken up and wisely advised against going into battle against three large dogs, no matter how many strong warriors the cats had their disposal.
Finally, after the discussion had begun to turn into a more heated argument, a sharp yowl cut through the bickering and silenced everyone. Icefang looked around in surprise, her eyes alighting on Eelshadow. He blinked serenely and spoke up, "We should lay a trail to the waterfall," meowed the tom without emotion. "And lead them off the edge."
All was quiet for a long moment as the three leaders blinked at the nondescript RiverClan warrior, too shocked to speak. Icefang smiled to herself but felt a tickle of annoyance in her paws, like a blade of grass poking into her pad the wrong way. Eelshadow may be right, but he was only a warrior, and a former rogue at that. He had no right to treat his superiors in such a belittling way, silencing them as though they were a pack of squabbling kits. His lack of respect irked her, which in turn gave Icefang doubts about his sincerity, which in turn made her doubt her own judgment.
Smothering a snarl, Icefang closed her eyes tightly again and shook her head once, twice, practically trying to jerk the irritating roundabout thoughts out of her brain and into the air. No matter which way she looked at things Icefang always seemed to manage to find something inherently wrong with the world.
Breaking the silence, Cinderstar managed to cough out a grateful meow of agreement. "That's a good plan," he sputtered, casting an uneasy glance at Floodstar, obviously perturbed that the leader wasn't going to discipline his clanmate for acting disrespectfully. Floodstar appeared calm, but Icefang could detect a flicker of rage in the watery depths of his curious eyes. There was obviously a history between Floodstar and Eelshadow, because the anger that smoldered in the leader's eyes was controlled, measured, and familiar. Icefang felt a chill go down her spine. What was Eelshadow's history, anyway? Did he expect her to believe that claptrap story of his father's death?
Guststar, after overcoming her shock, was excited by the idea of leading the dogs to their death in the gorge. "That could work!" she was meowing under her breath, "Yes, that could work!"
Fervent murmuring now took hold of the group once more, as the leaders and their entourages turned back to one another and began to lie out plans for leading the pack of dogs to the edge of the gorge. Still reluctant to weigh in, Icefang turned her attention to Eelshadow.
Instead of the expected smug smile on his face, Eelshadow looked relatively nonplussed by the success of his proposition. His expression was slack, his shoulders hunched, his eyes trained on some faraway point in the sky. As Icefang sidled closer to him his eyes flickered to her face and brief smile crossed his face.
"Aren't you going to help with the plans? It was your brilliant idea after all, you wouldn't want them to spoil it," Icefang purred, putting on her best sly face.
"They won't spoil it," meowed the black tom quietly. His swift change in demeanor unsettled Icefang. When they'd first met, she'd through his ability to conceal his emotions made him a friend, a soul mate even, but now she was having second thoughts.
Dropping her voice, Icefang questioned, "Why did you even talk if you don't care what happens?"
Eelshadow shifted his stance so he was facing her and cocked his head, eyes wide. "Of course I care," he retorted. "I wouldn't want WindClan to suffer." There was something he wasn't saying, and Icefang was determined to find out what.
"You don't sound like it matters to you what happens to WindClan. You could have just kept the idea to yourself and let them work out some foolish way to solve their problems on their own," Icefang growled.
With a shrug, Eelshadow mewed, "I just don't think it's fair, that's all."
"What's not fair?" Icefang snorted. "Them getting all the credit for your idea?"
"No!" Eelshadow protested, a hint of anger in the twitch of his whiskers. "The dogs shouldn't have to die."
Icefang gaped at him, too surprised to feel ashamed of how stupid she looked. "They'll kill us all if we don't kill them!" she gasped, her pelt bristling. "They're dogs!"
Eelshadow drew himself up to a towering height and glared down at her. "Not all dogs are evil. You should know, since you're a kittypet."
It was as if someone had taken a point-blank kick at Icefang's stomach. The breath whooshed from her lungs in gust, her eyes became unfocused, and the only just managed to take a few dignified steps back from Eelshadow before collapsing to the grass.
"So what?" she wheezed, gazing up at the black tom with a wounded expression. Her limbs felt suddenly heavy, her paws sore, as though she'd been walking aimlessly for days. "You're a rogue."
"But I have warrior blood," Eelshadow retorted. He was silent, and then he meowed in a softer, gentler voice, "and that makes us even. But they don't think so."
Icefang shook her head slowly, his words entering her brain like a slow trickle of water. "Who?" she coughed, still stunned and numbed by his unfeeling comment. She thought that maybe, just maybe, she'd gotten passed that. Or at the very least there were some cats that might accept her. Eelshadow, for one. No, especially, Eelshadow.
"The rest of them. The 'real', Clanborn warriors. They'll never see past your history, or mine," he continued, his voice smooth and sultry. She felt the gentle vibration of the earth beneath her as he drew close, and his hot breath against her neck as he settled down in the grass beside her, his pelt pressed close to hers.
"We have to work together," he breathed, his scent sending Icefang's mind reeling. She could not make sense of anything, his closeness, the sounds of the other cats conversing in the background, the cold grass against her fur. "You may be a kittypet, and I a rogue, but we are more. Stronger, faster, smarter than all the rest." His purr jarred her bones, rumbling through her entire body.
"Who are you?" Icefang hissed in disbelief. Either he had a serious schizophrenic issue, or he was working towards a devious end in cunning ways that Icefang could only imagine. As the heat of his body began to work its way through her limbs, Icefang decided, through the haze of her disoriented thoughts, that it was probably the latter.
"I'm like you," Eelshadow murmured alluringly, tucking his head beneath hers and grinning. "I'm better."