CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

The makeshift den Flamestrike had found for their group wasn't nearly as comfortable as the bed of reeds that Reedriver normally slept in. He kept turning around in his sleep, hoping to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. It didn't help matters that he was surrounded by cats from different Clans. Their mingled scents burned his lungs as he tried to breath. He wondered how Acorntail or Blizzardwind could stand it. Both cats didn't seem to mind sharing nests with Oakfire, Stormshadow or Flamestrike.

Reedriver's whiskers twitched at the thought of the ThunderClan cats. All they ever seemed to do was boss everyone around like they knew what they were doing. He knew better. Oakfire had seniority over the rest of the group, aside from Blizzardwind. Surprisingly, she was the eldest of the group, having been RiverClan's medicine cat for moons. Reedriver was actually thankful that Minnowstar had agreed to letting the medicine cat go with them.

Imagine if we had gone out here without her knowledge, he thought. Their lives could have been at risk fighting dogs or rogues while traveling through Twolegplace. A shudder ran through Reedriver at the thought. He knew he couldn't protect everyone, as much as he liked to believe otherwise. Whatever happened with his Clanmates, he vowed to protect them with his life. And, he planned on keeping such a high promise.

Even so, that hadn't stopped Reedriver from narrowing his eyes at Flamestrike. The orange tom was curled up beside Birdpaw, fur rising and falling as he slept. Reedriver suddenly wished he could sleep that soundly. He was anxious about the Tribe and what they would find when they reached their destination.

"Can't sleep, either?" He nearly leaped out of his fur at the sound of Spruceleaf's voice. Reedriver turned, surprised to see the slender pale brown she-cat staring back at him. Amusement gleamed within her amber eyes as she looked back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"I wasn't scared," he retorted, licking his chest fur to hide his embarrassment at being caught red-pawed, "I was just thinking... and your voice sounds like claws against rock."

"Really?" Spruceleaf tilted her head to one side, eyes brimming with laughter as Reedriver struggled to maintain his composure, "I'm surprised you should say that. Because, your voice sounds more like something that's trying to speak under water."

His mouth hung open, and, Reedriver found himself unable to make a retort at her horrible comeback. Instead, he merely shook his head and decided to let it drop. He had enough to worry about as it was without making another she-cat angry.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I've been having nightmares," she admitted, suddenly looking sheepish as she glanced down at her paws, "I keep wondering what I could have done to help my Clan, rather than running away. My mother's gone, and, my uncle is suffering because of Icestar's tyranny."

For a moment, Reedriver wasn't sure what to say when he realized why she looked so crestfallen. To lose most of her family must have been horrible. On top of it, she was banished from everything she knew. He couldn't imagine what that must be like. At least he still had his mother, and, annoying as they might be at times, his sisters.

"You ever think things could have worked out differently?" he guessed as he carefully picked his way over. Their voices were low, trying to keep themselves from waking everyone else up. Stormshadow and Acorntail had returned with mouthfuls of prey, surprisingly, so at least they didn't have to worry about going hungry. Perhaps just guarding the makeshift den was a good idea. Especially when it was with good company.

"I don't know," she shook her head, looking doubtful, "I mean, maybe things could have worked differently had we seen it coming." She paused, and Reedriver found himself nodding in understanding, "The problem was, I think Icestar knows about the prophecy. And, he's afraid; that's why he attacked me, and the rest of my family."

Reedriver had to think back at the time when Minnowstar had mentioned the prophecy. All at once, his mind wandered back to how everyone started treating him differently. His sisters were still a pain in the tail, but, Reedriver suspected they would always be that way. Everyone else, they showed him their proper respect and treated him like he was some kind of special cat.

"Icestar's afraid he'll lose control over the Clan," he muttered, and Spruceleaf nodded.

"It only makes sense that he would be," she shrugged.

"Russetstar is just as fishbrained," Reedriver growled, glaring at nothing in particular, "I heard him say some things at the last Gathering I wouldn't want to repeat out loud."

"It's strange," Spruceleaf sighed, shaking her head in grim amusement as Reedriver looked at her in surprise, "Some cats are for the prophecy, while others are against it. I have to wonder why? What did we do to deserve all of this thrown at us?"

We were only kits when this whole madness started, he thought bitterly. We were never given a say in the matter.

There were times when Reedriver hated StarClan for what they were doing to them. Yet, Reedriver knew that he had no control over what they did. Maybe it was better, that way. After all, he could only imagine what sort of chaos would follow if the Clans were left to decide their own fate.

"Come on," he told her, knowing that sleep was something everyone was going to need for the morning, "We should get some sleep."

Neither bothered arguing that night as they curled up beside each other. And, Reedriver wasn't going to lie when it was some of the best sleep he'd had in moons.

...

Morning had arrived far too quickly for them. Reedriver tried to hide his yawn as his back arched in a stretch. Because they were traveling the mountains at day, they needed to find warm places to sleep at night. That was the reasoning Blizzardwind and Oakfire came up with when it came to traveling over the mountains. No one wanted to admit that they were afraid of storms that might break out, or getting lost in the process of finding the Tribe.

"Didn't get much sleep last night, did you?" Acorntail meowed jokingly when he noticed how exhausted Reedriver looked.

"What makes you think that?" Reedriver grumbled under his breath.

Last thing he needed was some other cat telling him something he already knew. Besides, he didn't want anyone jumping to conclusions. His talk with Spruceleaf had been nothing more than that: A talk. Acorntail just threw him a knowing look.

"Whatever the case, we need to get moving," he rolled his eyes before looking at everyone else.

That, Reedriver wasn't going to argue with. Shaking his head at the thought, he followed the others to where they were meeting at the top of a large boulder.

"Alright," Oakfire began once he reached the top, "Now, I know it's been seasons upon seasons since we've climbed the mountains, but, I know that we can do this if we put our minds together."

"Since when was he put in charge?" Reedriver muttered, noticing the fact that Flamestrike's hackles were raised.

It was clear there was tension between the two. Reedriver almost forgot that Oakfire was Flamestrike's father. And, it was painfully obvious the two of them didn't quite get along too well.

No one bothered arguing as Oakfire took charge once again. Reedriver's whiskers twitched with anger as he caught Acorntail glaring ahead. Why his other Clanmate wasn't putting up more of a fight was beyond him. It always seemed like ThunderClan cats were trying to make themselves inferior. Today was no different, as far as Reedriver was concerned.

Birdpaw was close up front, having had more experience climbing the mountains than the rest of them. Once again, Reedriver had to remind himself that the apprentice had already been through so much. Losing her Clan must have felt terrible. In a way, she and Spruceleaf shared similar fates.

He shook his head at the thought, relieved when they finally reached the bottom of the mountains. The real challenge was going to be finding the last of SkyClan. If what Birdpaw had said was true, there was no telling what condition the Clan would be in. To make matters worse, Reedriver suspected that it wasn't just SkyClan or the weather they had to worry about.

Knowing the Tribe was hostile towards trespassers, Reedriver could only hope things would go smoothly when they arrived. He hadn't missed the worried look flashing across Birdpaw's face. She'd managed to keep herself calm throughout most of the ordeal, but, even Reedriver could tell when things were going to go wrong.

"I hope that everyone is okay," she sighed when she caught the look he was giving her, "My Clanmates... I have no idea what condition they're going to be in when we find them, or, if they're even still alive."

"The Tribe wouldn't stoop so low as to kill them," Flamestrike growled, sounding as if he was trying to reassure himself than anything else.

Reedriver secretly hoped that he was right. The last thing he wanted was to fight the entire Tribe of Rushing Water, knowing how badly outnumbered they were. What bothered him more than anything else was how willingly the Tribe had captured an entire Clan, full of kits, elders and queens.

Whatever happens, we need to stick together and fight together, as one, he thought, glancing at the others uneasily. One way or another, they would all have to fight as a unified force. He just hoped that they actually could do that without ThunderClan and RiverClan bickering the whole time.