Chapter 10 ❖ Asterpaw
She was woken by the prodding of a very persistent paw, which caused her to groan as she blinked her eyes open. The glow of two amber orbs broke the dim light of the den, a warmth entering them when the tom noticed she had stirred.
"Redblaze wants you on a patrol," he said simply, pausing to see her reaction. Asterpaw nodded, opening her jaws wide in a yawn. It was not everyday she got to escort the future leader to Moon Cliffs. Stretching, she shook some of the desert moss out of her fur and followed Leafpelt out of the apprentice den.
The sky was dark, filled with gray clouds that hung low over the canyon walls. Asterpaw wondered how long she slept for and silently berated herself for overlooking her apprentice duties. Though her mind stayed fuzzy with the remnants of sleep, she gladly followed Leafpelt down to the Fallen Tree, even happier to learn that she would be joining a hunting patrol.
"Wake up, sleepy head," Morningbreeze teased, flicking her silver tail over the apprentice's nose. "You're not going to catch any mice with your head in the clouds." The soft fur tickled and Asterpaw sneezed, causing Leafpelt to purr in amusement.
"Morningbreeze, try the cliff side above the camp," Redblaze said, giving directions to each patrol. "Avoid the Carrion Place and stick to the plains." The warrior she-cat gave a brief nod before swishing her tail in the direction of the cliff path and setting off at a brisk pace. Asterpaw followed, Leafpelt bringing up the rear.
The silver she-cat was fast, and Asterpaw found herself scrambling to keep up with her. Her paws thumped against the hard rock of the path as they traveled up it, past the medicine den where Asterpaw saw a brief flash of her brother's worried eyes, and up to the edge of the cliff face that made up their home.
A light breeze rustled their fur, the air colder above the canyon walls. The apprentice breathed in the scents it brought with it, careful not to get too carried away should she have another vision.
The rocks underfoot slowly turned to grass, coarse and yellow and easily broken under their paws. She heard a soft rustling here and there, but could not determine whether it was prey or simply the wind playing tricks. The patrol stopped where the grass was tall, the copse of trees near Carrion Place visible over the tops of the blades.
"We will split up here," Morningbreeze announced. "I want you two to stick together. We meet back at the edge of the cliff when it begins to grow dark." Asterpaw opened her mouth in protest, about to assure the she-cat that she could handle hunting on her own, but the she-cat's tail disappeared into the grasses before she could say a word.
"We'd better get a start on hunting," Leafpelt said, head tilted back to look at the sky. "I don't like the look of those clouds." Asterpaw followed his lead, observing the swirling of the clouds above. Nodding, she resigned herself to hunting with her partner.
Scenting the air, she caught the faint scents of rabbits and mice, but all were masked by the damp scent of soil. All of the prey seemed to be hiding from the coming storm, leaving the two Clan cats to scrape at the ground in search of their burrows. It was Leafpelt who found a burrow first, practically stepping into it.
"Where do you think the other side of it is?" he asked, lowering himself to the ground to peer through the grasses. In his moment of distraction, Asterpaw leaned down to scent the rabbit hole and, lifting her head away, almost immediately located the connecting one.
"I think it's this way," she said, padding a couple of foxlengths to the right. Sure enough, the opening gaped before her. Looking up at Leafpelt, the apprentice thought she saw a certain look in his eye - admiration, perhaps? Then, his eyes shifted over her small body and back to the rabbit hole, a thoughtful expression on his face, and she knew it had nothing to do with her, only the plan he was putting together. He always planned ahead.
"Do you think you could fit in there?" he asked. Asterpaw considered this, sticking her head into the hole, whiskers twitching as her nose met the smell of earth. If she flattened herself, she might be able to make it through. If the tunnel narrowed, however, she would be stuck in the burrow with no way out. As eager as she was to hunt for her Clan and return with mouthfuls of prey, she felt uncomfortable crawling around burrows.
"Not if the passage narrows," she replied, wondering what the methodical tom's next idea would be.
He nodded. "We can either scare the rabbit out then, by making loud noises, or clog one of the entrances with grass." The tom looked at her expectantly and Asterpaw realized he wanted her input. The other younger warriors, like Badgerclaw and Silverhawk, usually made decisions by themselves when paired with apprentices.
The she-cat considered their options. "Do we want this rabbit quickly or are we willing to wait?"
Before Leafpelt could reply, an ominous rumbling sounded overhead. Somewhere off in the distance, she could smell something burning. Time was of the essence.
"I'll scare, you catch," Leafpelt said, following her train of thought. She nodded, getting into position before the hole in the ground. Her nose twitched in anticipation, the smell of rabbit filling her senses and making her mouth water.
Hearing Leafpelt's snarls as he attempted to scare the large rodent, Asterpaw unsheathed her claws, ready to make the kill if the rabbit tried to escape. In the distance, another three cracks of thunder filled the sky, but she remained still even though the sound startled her.
Still, nothing. Leafpelt had, by this point, resorted to ridiculous mews and something akin to the hissing of a snake, but still the rabbit refused to come out of hiding. It remained hidden, the soft scent of it buried by the more prominent ones of wet earth.
"I think we'll have to start heading back soon," she called. "It's getting dark."
Just then, a brown and white shape rushed past her, eyes staring wildly ahead as it leaped through the tall grasses. With an exasperated growl, Asterpaw took off after it, Leafpelt right behind her. Older and larger, Leafpelt soon overtook her, tailing the rabbit so closely he could almost snag its tail with a claw.
With one great leap, the tabby jumped over the rabbit's form, landing right before it. Wheeling about, terrified, the rabbit hopped straight into Asterpaw's waiting claws, where it met a swift end. Breathing hard, the two hunters nodded at each other over the dead rabbit.
A sharp crack in the sky, much louder than the previous ones, snapped them out of their triumph. The smell of smoke hit Asterpaw hard and she coughed, feeling as if the scent were choking her. A streak of red flashed through her mind briefly before she shut out the vision. In the second it lasted, she recognized the red as the fur of a familiar cat.
"We'd better get going," Leafpelt said, picking up their kill. "That storm's coming quick."
Still trying her hardest to block out the vision, Asterpaw nodded, following along behind the young warrior as the smell of smoke and water grew all around them.
The medicine den was warm when Asterpaw entered it, shivering beneath her drenched fur. No sooner had she and Leafpelt turned in the direction of camp, than the sky opened up, releasing a torrential rain that soaked both of them to the bone within seconds. Morningbreeze ordered the apprentice to the medicine den as soon as they returned, fearing her sneezes would turn into chills.
In truth, the sneezes were a result of the overwhelming smells surrounding her in the storm. Here, in the medicine den, they ceased, the scents somewhat blocked by the stone walls of the den.
"Asterpaw?" came the soft call of her brother from the medicine storage. The light tabby padded over to him, where he sat in front of a pile of herbs, sorting each one into its proper place. She watched, mesmerized by how methodical he was with his task.
He stopped suddenly, turning his worry-filled yellow eyes to her.
"What happened?" she asked, realizing something was wrong. She sat down to await his response, as Pebblepaw usually had a hard time coming up with the proper words to describe his worries.
"Sparrowstar came to me in a dream," he whispered, looking about the medicine den to ensure that no one else was present. Asterpaw's green eyes widened.
"She came with Shortwhisker to give me a prophecy," Pebblepaw continued, causing his sister to gasp. "I remembered it only this morning, but now it's gone again. I've been repeating it over and over, but I just can't seem to memorize it. It'll come and go and, anytime I get close to telling Otterheart about it, it disappears."
Asterpaw gazed at her brother. Her brother, a medicine cat apprentice, receiving prophecies from StarClan before even being given his full name. She felt pride at the thought, but consternation as well.
"Maybe StarClan wants you to keep it a secret," she replied quietly. "Do you remember anything from it now?"
Pebblepaw's whiskers twitched and he nodded slowly. "A little bit, I think. It starts with, 'clouds are swirling, a storm is near...'" Asterpaw listened intently as he continued, scrunching up her nose at the puzzles and twists the prophecy presented.
"Sightless eyes watch the sun disappear," she said when he'd finished. "How can sightless eyes see anything?" Pebblepaw shook his head, not knowing the answer.
"That's the first time I've said it aloud to someone else," he said quietly. "Maybe StarClan wants you to know about it too."
A small mewl from the back of the medicine den startled Asterpaw before she could reply and she turned, searching out its source. The small grey tom rushed past her to a corner of the den where something lay on a bed of moss and she recognized the kitten Starlingpaw had found.
"She's dying," Pebblepaw said sadly. "Otterheart says there's nothing we can do to draw out the infection."
Asterpaw nodded, the smell of the kit's infection reaching her even now. Beneath it, she could make out a familiar scent, too masked by the other to scent clearly. Somewhere, at the back of her mind, she felt the scent unleashing an image.
Blocking it out quickly, she turned back to Pebblepaw. "Has she said anything? Have you asked her any questions?"
Pebblepaw shook his head. "Otterheart tried, but the kit was too weak to even nod or shake her head. There's really nothing we can do." The two siblings gazed at the little kit, watching as she curled up tighter in her moss nest, life slowly leaving her in short, small breaths.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone about the prophecy," Pebblepaw whispered.
"I promise," Asterpaw replied without hesitation. If there was one thing her visions had taught her, it was that she could keep secrets.
A/N: Yay, an update! Unfortunately, I'm out of pre-written chapters now, so the next one might be a long time coming, what with midterms coming up. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, especially the teamwork between Asterpaw and Leafpelt and Pebblepaw's growing list of responsibilities :)
- Spirit