Post by Sunsetfur on Feb 7, 2008 17:27:08 GMT -5
Thanks to everybody! I like all your theories and inferences...but nothing's set in stone yet! Read on...
Chapter 10
Choice
I couldn’t stop thinking about lonely, miserable Flickerpaw, trapped in his shining cave, unable to leave and unable to die. He’d said that his Fire would be extinguished only if another took on his responsibilities, becoming immortal. Icepath had thought it was meant to be her, and was ready to give herself to it, but I could see in her heart that it would only make her as miserable as Flickerpaw was. I couldn’t imagine leaving RiverClan behind forever, and my family: Sunpaw, Moonpaw, Gorsethorn, and Tigerflame. Moonpaw was afraid. Sunpaw was, for the first time in his life, afraid. Crystalpaw was afraid. Was I afraid?
I awoke to something prodding my side. I opened my eyes blearily, eyelids drooping with sleepiness. I was still curled around Crystalpaw, who slept on beside me. Sunpaw was poking my flank. “What?” I grunted.
“Listen to me. Listen. We’ve got to get out of here. Firestar’s assembling a patrol of warriors to take the message of our presence here to RiverClan. You know the Gathering’s tonight? They’ll tell everyone, then they’ll follow our path and find Flickerpaw. What then? We need to protect him.” He jerked his head towards the other side of the ThunderClan camp, where Firestar had gathered a group of five cats to go to RiverClan. I recognized the black she-cat Skyheart.
Then I realized something. “Sunpaw, it’s useless. Those ThunderClan cats who found us know the way already.”
“Only because they followed our scents,” Sunpaw told me, excitement in his tone. He glanced around, shooting a scathing look at Brambleclaw, who was our guard. “I heard Brambleclaw telling Firestar about it. He said that they would never have found ‘that glowing place’ without the faint scent trails we left behind. He mentioned that they almost lost themselves in the forests.”
“You were eavesdropping?”
“Ridiculously easy, Eaglepaw. Firestar came and talked to the mouse-brain, like, a fox-length away. I was closest, and just faked sleeping. Pretty well too, if I may say so—the great big tom stuck his huge nose in my face and was convinced.”
I chuckled softly. Looking up at the sky, I saw the sun sitting high overhead. “Sunhigh already?” I gasped. “How long have you been awake?”
“Since Firestar came galloping over to chat with our dear friend Brambles over there. They gave us some mice to eat, and a robin. Never had robin before—kind of stringy, but tasty. Those things have really annoying, fluffy feathers. Ate half of it, and Icepath took the rest.”
“So,” I put in, cutting across his digressions. “Escaping?” I whispered the last word.
“Ah, right. Well, I’ve found out that Brambleclaw gets off guard duty at sundown. He’ll be replaced by a she-cat called Cindersnow. Remember her? She knew Gorsethorn and Tigerflame, and she’s one of the only cats that lovely Crystalpaw there actually likes.” The golden-furred tom flicked his tail at Crystalpaw, and I flushed. “So, she’ll probably help us escape no matter what. But I figured I’d try not to ruin her place in ThunderClan if I can help it. So, we’re aiming for Brambleclaw.” His voice carried the lilting, carefree, subtly excited tone he always used when speaking of his plots.
“Okay. First target, Brambleclaw, and Cindersnow’s our backup.”
“Yeah.”
“How do we get rid of Brambleclaw, then?”
“Well,” Sunpaw continued, “I’ve found out that he has a mate. Name’s Squirrelflight. Apparently she’s quite the popular one for the toms, and I think he’s not her first mate. But he’s totally obsessed with her. Basically, if we do pretty much anything to put her in a big enough distress, he’ll go running to save the fair she-cat and we can sneak off.”
“Brilliant! How long did it take you to think of all that?”
He shrugged. “A few minutes.”
I purred with laughter, poking my brother’s flank with my free paw. “So what are you gonna do to her?”
A wicked smile lit his features. “Take a look at this, Eaglepaw.” He gestured towards a swath of dead bracken, frost-edged and brittle, and I leaned as far as I could without disturbing Crystalpaw. Sunpaw carefully lifted a piece of the bracken to reveal the rotting corpse of a blackbird. I gasped—it was alive with maggots and other insects feasting on the remains. Apparently the sheltered ThunderClan camp was an excellent refuge for bugs in leaf-bare.
“You’re not serious,” I meowed.
“I am serious,” Sunpaw replied, his tone gleeful and his face rife with brilliant happiness. “I’ll start walking over to their warriors’ den, and when dear Brambleclaw spots me, I’ll tell him that my poor, weak sister Moonpaw wants more bedding, and I wanted to collect some spare moss from the den. He can’t say he’ll get if for me, cause then he knows everyone else could make a run for it, and the camp’s practically empty right now—everyone’s on patrol, or watching the messengers leave for RiverClan. I’ll get some moss, bring it back, then leave to get more, bring it back, drop some on the maggots, carry it back to the den and plant it on Squirrelflight’s nest.”
“How do you know which one’s hers?”
“Cause she’s in there sleeping on it.”
I stared at him. “And you can pull this off? You’re sure?”
He shrugged. “I did something similar to Robinflight when she annoyed me once.”
“Okay. So. You distract Brambleclaw with Squirrelflight, and we make our escape?”
“Yep.”
“What about Moonpaw?”
“I’ve told her all of this already. She says she’s willing to wait in the camp until RiverClan comes or until the Gathering—they’re planning to bring us there—because she can’t run. ThunderClan’s much too noble to mistreat her physically.”
I felt a little of the excitement chip away from my heart. Poor Moonpaw. It was strange to think of how much I had opposed her before…all this had happened.
“We’ll act natural for a while first,” Sunpaw continued. “We need to do it a bit later, you know, so Moonpaw won’t be stuck here too long. Act totally natural: we can talk, and…talk more…”
Crystalpaw shifted. Her light green eyes blinked slowly, looking up at me. I smiled sheepishly down at her, and Sunpaw sniffed with amusement.
“Hey,” she meowed, looking up at the sky. “Wow. I’ve slept way too long. What’s going on?”
Sunpaw began to relate the entire plan to her. She stood up and stretched, fluffing out her white fur. She then settled down on my other side, between me and Sunpaw, and twined her tail with mine. Two kinds of warmth were inside me now—embarrassed as ever, as well as the happy kind. Icepath cast us a smile from her place beside Moonpaw, who was thankfully looking away.
As Sunpaw concluded, she straightened her shoulders. “Well, then,” she meowed briskly. “Act natural. Right.”
I adjusted my position to look at her. “So, Crystalpaw. You have kin here, right? Parents? Siblings?”
She laughed. “My mother’s dead, if that’s what you want to know,” she meowed. “Died from drowning in the lake. She couldn’t swim, you see, and she fell off this treacherous ledge and broke her leg at the bottom, then drowned in the lake.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,” I told her. “What about your father?”
“Never knew who he was. Frozenwind—that was her name—decided not to tell. Though I’m pretty sure that it was this loner tom she met out in the woods one day by the ShadowClan border. She talked about him a lot to me. Name was Striking Hawk. I was the only kit.”
“That’s an interesting name,” commented Sunpaw. “What do you think I’ll be called as a warrior? After the hundred moons of punishment I’ll get?”
“Something like…Sunface…or Sunbelly…” I meowed, pretending to look thoughtful.
“Shut up!” He growled good-naturedly. “Seriously.”
“I don’t know.” Crystalpaw tilted her head, her gaze wandering around the camp. “How about Sunflower?”
“That sounds great, Crystaldog.”
“Hey, that’s got a ring to it,” Crystalpaw laughed. “Well, you could be Sunfur, Sunpelt, Suntail…”
“How about some originality, Crystaldog?” Sunpaw meowed.
“Sun…something. I dunno, Sun is a she-cat’s name,” she replied.
“Is not!”
“Is too.”
“Is not.”
“It is and you know it.”
“I’m leaving,” growled Sunpaw dramatically, getting to his feet. He padded over to Moonpaw and bent down to whisper something to her. Moonpaw nodded, and Sunpaw turned around and began to pad towards the warriors’ den. Brambleclaw jumped up.
“Where are you going?” He asked. “You’re supposed to stay right here.”
“Moonpaw wants more moss,” Sunpaw snarled back. “I was going to see if you had any to spare in your warriors’ den.”
Brambleclaw glared at him for a minute, and I watched with baited breath. Then the brown tabby gruffly replied, “Fine. Be quick, and don’t talk to anyone. If you’re not back in a moment, I’m raising the alarm.”
“I wouldn’t go anywhere,” Sunpaw promised earnestly.
He padded purposefully over to the thorn plants where the warriors slept and slid inside, out of sight. I exchanged a glance with Crystalpaw, trying not to give any sign that would alert Brambleclaw to our plot. A few heartbeats later, Sunpaw returned with a mouthful of bone-dry moss, probably stored and scavenged in leaf-fall. He crossed the camp to where Moonpaw lay and dropped it next to her. She delicately picked out a few pieces, then snapped something at him. He scoffed, scooping up the bedding she’d rejected. Passing us, he stumbled over a protruding rock and dropped his burden onto the dead bracken. With a swift wink at us, he gathered it up again, and I glimpsed a flash of white amongst the gray-brown moss. I fought to control my laughter.
The golden tom returned to the warriors’ den, and I sorely wished that I could see him dropping the maggots, one by one, into Squirrelflight’s bedding. He returned a few seconds later, clutching a clump of dry rushes. He placed them around Moonpaw, who meowed thanks to him. Brambleclaw watched closely, and then relaxed slightly as Sunpaw sat down beside us again.
“All set,” he whispered to us. “Now we just wait for her to wake up…”
We passed the time inventing more names for ourselves. Moonpaw fell asleep, and Icepath came over to join us, enormously amused. “Darkstorm and I used to do that,” she meowed. “And I’m so glad that Mistystar accepts suggestions. Darkstorm was the one who came up with my name, and he told it to Mistystar, and she gave it to me.” Her eyes were round and happy with reminiscence.
After a while, when the sun began to drop toward the trees, Crystalpaw, Sunpaw and I started a scuffle. Sunpaw agreed to be the enemy warrior (“Cause Eaglepaw can’t bear to attack Crystalpaw.”).
“Be gone, foul beast!” Crystalpaw meowed, jumping at him and hissing.
“It’s Sunpelt to you!” He countered, batting at her with his forepaws. “And I see you’ve brought Eagleclaw along too! Frightened to face me alone?”
“Frightened to face both of us?” I growled, circling around him and attacking his tail. He shook himself violently, sending me spinning away. “Get him, Crystalwind!”
“I shall!” She jumped at Sunpaw’s back, holding on firmly. He swung around, shaking his shoulders, and threw her off. She rolled skillfully on the ground and stopped, snow plastered to every inch of her, beside me. I laughed and nudged her to her paws.
“Alas! I am too awesome for either of you!” Sunpaw cried. “Fear my power and radiance!”
A shriek erupted from behind us.
“At least someone appreciates my power and radiance,” Sunpaw meowed happily, padding up to us to watch the coming scene. The shriek continued, peaking to a hysterical note, and Brambleclaw jumped to his paws.
“Squirrelflight!” He yelled, scrambling to the warriors’ den. As soon as his back was turned and he was a good few fox-lengths away, Sunpaw jumped up and pelted around the briars to the slope that led out of the camp.
“Now—run!” The golden tom shouted, pausing halfway up and beckoning to us. I leaped up, glancing at Crystalpaw, who didn’t hesitate.
“Icepath! Come on!” I called, and the white she-cat jumped over to us.
“Hey!” Flashpaw was staring at us, appearing from nowhere. “Brambleclaw, the RiverClan cats are escaping!” The tabby tom wheeled around, rage disfiguring his face. He instantly sprinted back at us. I regained control of myself and scrambled for the slope. A tortoiseshell she-cat joined Brambleclaw, intercepting Icepath.
“No!” Sunpaw yelled, sliding back down to help her.
“Don’t stop!” Shrieked Icepath desperately, struggling against the tortoiseshell. But Brambleclaw had leaped on top of Sunpaw and pinned him to the snowy ground. “Run, Eaglepaw! Run, Crystalpaw!”
We ran. I felt sick in my chest, thorns tearing at me as I forced my way out of the camp. I stopped outside, waiting as Crystalpaw tore through, and then we sprinted as fast as we could manage away from the ThunderClan camp. Sounds of crunching undergrowth and the white spray of snow alerted me of pursuers. “Head for the lake, into WindClan’s territory!” I shouted at Crystalpaw. “They won’t follow us there!”
“If there are any patrols, I’ll kill you!”
“You couldn’t!” I laughed. It was very irritating to have to avoid all these trees, and the snow was cold and soaked my fur.
Finally, the lake flashed into view, the light of the dying sun throwing shattered shards of golden brilliance across the surface. “The border!” Crystalpaw cried, pelting to the shore and skidding across the small impression in the ground where the stream should have flowed in warm weather. WindClan’s scent flowed over me, and I halted clumsily beside Crystalpaw, who had tumbled over in the frosty mix of sand and snow.
Several fox-lengths away stood four ThunderClan warriors. Brambleclaw was at their head, glaring at us, perched on the uttermost edge of the border.
“Traitor,” he spat at Crystalpaw.
She got to her paws and bowed at him. “And proud of it.”
Brambleclaw curled his lip. “Go back to the camp,” he ordered his three companions. “Firestar will send extra patrols to watch the border.”
“We’ll be sure to be nice and friendly to them!” Called Crystalpaw as they turned away. She sniffed with amused disgust. “Come on, Eaglepaw. Where now?”
I was unused to being asked for an opinion. “Not back to RiverClan,” I meowed slowly. “Nor to another Clan.”
“Look.” She padded over to me and looked me straight in the eyes. “You want to go back to Flickerpaw’s woods, don’t you?”
I exhaled in a sigh. “How did you guess?”
“I’m your soul-speaker, remember?” She nudged my side playfully. “You intend to put yourself in his place.”
I felt sicker than before. “Well, I meant to before I knew—”
“—that I would be put into the picture,” finished Crystalpaw. “Let’s walk. Upstream, or what would be upstream. Get away from WindClan.”
I started walking along the shore, turning right to walk parallel to the snow-filled streambed. Crystalpaw padded along beside me.
“It’s not a problem,” she continued, her voice low and soft. “I’ll go with you. Into immortality, I mean.”
My head snapped in her direction. “What? Is that possible?”
She shrugged. “Sure it is. Flickerpaw could tell us. Or, it’s simple: we both touch the Fire at the same time.”
I spluttered, shocked at her proposal. “Wait—you’re willing to give up everything?”
“What do I have to lose?” She asked. “If you go, I’ll lose you.”
“Well, there’s Sunpaw, Icepath, and Moonpaw. They’ll get old and eventually die.”
“They can visit us. I know they will.”
“But weren’t you afraid of being immortal?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not. I was afraid of facing all the years of eternity alone.” Her light green eyes blazed with determination and argument, and she stressed the last word. Even if I had wanted to dissuade her, I couldn’t have.
“All right,” I half sighed. “You’re sure?”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re decided.”
“I’ve been decided ever since Icepath decided to give herself up.”
Crystalpaw smiled widely, twisting her tail around mine. “Then let’s run.”
---
Well? Like? Eh?
Please comment!! I love it when you talk about specific things, like characters, dialogue, etc.
No, I didn't do that to Squirrelflight to bash her or fans. I just needed something that was humorous, in my opinion. She seemed like someone who'd freak out if there were maggots all over her. I know that I would.
Look out for the REAL 11th chapter, Chapter 11: Heartstopping.
~Sunny
Chapter 10
Choice
I couldn’t stop thinking about lonely, miserable Flickerpaw, trapped in his shining cave, unable to leave and unable to die. He’d said that his Fire would be extinguished only if another took on his responsibilities, becoming immortal. Icepath had thought it was meant to be her, and was ready to give herself to it, but I could see in her heart that it would only make her as miserable as Flickerpaw was. I couldn’t imagine leaving RiverClan behind forever, and my family: Sunpaw, Moonpaw, Gorsethorn, and Tigerflame. Moonpaw was afraid. Sunpaw was, for the first time in his life, afraid. Crystalpaw was afraid. Was I afraid?
I awoke to something prodding my side. I opened my eyes blearily, eyelids drooping with sleepiness. I was still curled around Crystalpaw, who slept on beside me. Sunpaw was poking my flank. “What?” I grunted.
“Listen to me. Listen. We’ve got to get out of here. Firestar’s assembling a patrol of warriors to take the message of our presence here to RiverClan. You know the Gathering’s tonight? They’ll tell everyone, then they’ll follow our path and find Flickerpaw. What then? We need to protect him.” He jerked his head towards the other side of the ThunderClan camp, where Firestar had gathered a group of five cats to go to RiverClan. I recognized the black she-cat Skyheart.
Then I realized something. “Sunpaw, it’s useless. Those ThunderClan cats who found us know the way already.”
“Only because they followed our scents,” Sunpaw told me, excitement in his tone. He glanced around, shooting a scathing look at Brambleclaw, who was our guard. “I heard Brambleclaw telling Firestar about it. He said that they would never have found ‘that glowing place’ without the faint scent trails we left behind. He mentioned that they almost lost themselves in the forests.”
“You were eavesdropping?”
“Ridiculously easy, Eaglepaw. Firestar came and talked to the mouse-brain, like, a fox-length away. I was closest, and just faked sleeping. Pretty well too, if I may say so—the great big tom stuck his huge nose in my face and was convinced.”
I chuckled softly. Looking up at the sky, I saw the sun sitting high overhead. “Sunhigh already?” I gasped. “How long have you been awake?”
“Since Firestar came galloping over to chat with our dear friend Brambles over there. They gave us some mice to eat, and a robin. Never had robin before—kind of stringy, but tasty. Those things have really annoying, fluffy feathers. Ate half of it, and Icepath took the rest.”
“So,” I put in, cutting across his digressions. “Escaping?” I whispered the last word.
“Ah, right. Well, I’ve found out that Brambleclaw gets off guard duty at sundown. He’ll be replaced by a she-cat called Cindersnow. Remember her? She knew Gorsethorn and Tigerflame, and she’s one of the only cats that lovely Crystalpaw there actually likes.” The golden-furred tom flicked his tail at Crystalpaw, and I flushed. “So, she’ll probably help us escape no matter what. But I figured I’d try not to ruin her place in ThunderClan if I can help it. So, we’re aiming for Brambleclaw.” His voice carried the lilting, carefree, subtly excited tone he always used when speaking of his plots.
“Okay. First target, Brambleclaw, and Cindersnow’s our backup.”
“Yeah.”
“How do we get rid of Brambleclaw, then?”
“Well,” Sunpaw continued, “I’ve found out that he has a mate. Name’s Squirrelflight. Apparently she’s quite the popular one for the toms, and I think he’s not her first mate. But he’s totally obsessed with her. Basically, if we do pretty much anything to put her in a big enough distress, he’ll go running to save the fair she-cat and we can sneak off.”
“Brilliant! How long did it take you to think of all that?”
He shrugged. “A few minutes.”
I purred with laughter, poking my brother’s flank with my free paw. “So what are you gonna do to her?”
A wicked smile lit his features. “Take a look at this, Eaglepaw.” He gestured towards a swath of dead bracken, frost-edged and brittle, and I leaned as far as I could without disturbing Crystalpaw. Sunpaw carefully lifted a piece of the bracken to reveal the rotting corpse of a blackbird. I gasped—it was alive with maggots and other insects feasting on the remains. Apparently the sheltered ThunderClan camp was an excellent refuge for bugs in leaf-bare.
“You’re not serious,” I meowed.
“I am serious,” Sunpaw replied, his tone gleeful and his face rife with brilliant happiness. “I’ll start walking over to their warriors’ den, and when dear Brambleclaw spots me, I’ll tell him that my poor, weak sister Moonpaw wants more bedding, and I wanted to collect some spare moss from the den. He can’t say he’ll get if for me, cause then he knows everyone else could make a run for it, and the camp’s practically empty right now—everyone’s on patrol, or watching the messengers leave for RiverClan. I’ll get some moss, bring it back, then leave to get more, bring it back, drop some on the maggots, carry it back to the den and plant it on Squirrelflight’s nest.”
“How do you know which one’s hers?”
“Cause she’s in there sleeping on it.”
I stared at him. “And you can pull this off? You’re sure?”
He shrugged. “I did something similar to Robinflight when she annoyed me once.”
“Okay. So. You distract Brambleclaw with Squirrelflight, and we make our escape?”
“Yep.”
“What about Moonpaw?”
“I’ve told her all of this already. She says she’s willing to wait in the camp until RiverClan comes or until the Gathering—they’re planning to bring us there—because she can’t run. ThunderClan’s much too noble to mistreat her physically.”
I felt a little of the excitement chip away from my heart. Poor Moonpaw. It was strange to think of how much I had opposed her before…all this had happened.
“We’ll act natural for a while first,” Sunpaw continued. “We need to do it a bit later, you know, so Moonpaw won’t be stuck here too long. Act totally natural: we can talk, and…talk more…”
Crystalpaw shifted. Her light green eyes blinked slowly, looking up at me. I smiled sheepishly down at her, and Sunpaw sniffed with amusement.
“Hey,” she meowed, looking up at the sky. “Wow. I’ve slept way too long. What’s going on?”
Sunpaw began to relate the entire plan to her. She stood up and stretched, fluffing out her white fur. She then settled down on my other side, between me and Sunpaw, and twined her tail with mine. Two kinds of warmth were inside me now—embarrassed as ever, as well as the happy kind. Icepath cast us a smile from her place beside Moonpaw, who was thankfully looking away.
As Sunpaw concluded, she straightened her shoulders. “Well, then,” she meowed briskly. “Act natural. Right.”
I adjusted my position to look at her. “So, Crystalpaw. You have kin here, right? Parents? Siblings?”
She laughed. “My mother’s dead, if that’s what you want to know,” she meowed. “Died from drowning in the lake. She couldn’t swim, you see, and she fell off this treacherous ledge and broke her leg at the bottom, then drowned in the lake.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,” I told her. “What about your father?”
“Never knew who he was. Frozenwind—that was her name—decided not to tell. Though I’m pretty sure that it was this loner tom she met out in the woods one day by the ShadowClan border. She talked about him a lot to me. Name was Striking Hawk. I was the only kit.”
“That’s an interesting name,” commented Sunpaw. “What do you think I’ll be called as a warrior? After the hundred moons of punishment I’ll get?”
“Something like…Sunface…or Sunbelly…” I meowed, pretending to look thoughtful.
“Shut up!” He growled good-naturedly. “Seriously.”
“I don’t know.” Crystalpaw tilted her head, her gaze wandering around the camp. “How about Sunflower?”
“That sounds great, Crystaldog.”
“Hey, that’s got a ring to it,” Crystalpaw laughed. “Well, you could be Sunfur, Sunpelt, Suntail…”
“How about some originality, Crystaldog?” Sunpaw meowed.
“Sun…something. I dunno, Sun is a she-cat’s name,” she replied.
“Is not!”
“Is too.”
“Is not.”
“It is and you know it.”
“I’m leaving,” growled Sunpaw dramatically, getting to his feet. He padded over to Moonpaw and bent down to whisper something to her. Moonpaw nodded, and Sunpaw turned around and began to pad towards the warriors’ den. Brambleclaw jumped up.
“Where are you going?” He asked. “You’re supposed to stay right here.”
“Moonpaw wants more moss,” Sunpaw snarled back. “I was going to see if you had any to spare in your warriors’ den.”
Brambleclaw glared at him for a minute, and I watched with baited breath. Then the brown tabby gruffly replied, “Fine. Be quick, and don’t talk to anyone. If you’re not back in a moment, I’m raising the alarm.”
“I wouldn’t go anywhere,” Sunpaw promised earnestly.
He padded purposefully over to the thorn plants where the warriors slept and slid inside, out of sight. I exchanged a glance with Crystalpaw, trying not to give any sign that would alert Brambleclaw to our plot. A few heartbeats later, Sunpaw returned with a mouthful of bone-dry moss, probably stored and scavenged in leaf-fall. He crossed the camp to where Moonpaw lay and dropped it next to her. She delicately picked out a few pieces, then snapped something at him. He scoffed, scooping up the bedding she’d rejected. Passing us, he stumbled over a protruding rock and dropped his burden onto the dead bracken. With a swift wink at us, he gathered it up again, and I glimpsed a flash of white amongst the gray-brown moss. I fought to control my laughter.
The golden tom returned to the warriors’ den, and I sorely wished that I could see him dropping the maggots, one by one, into Squirrelflight’s bedding. He returned a few seconds later, clutching a clump of dry rushes. He placed them around Moonpaw, who meowed thanks to him. Brambleclaw watched closely, and then relaxed slightly as Sunpaw sat down beside us again.
“All set,” he whispered to us. “Now we just wait for her to wake up…”
We passed the time inventing more names for ourselves. Moonpaw fell asleep, and Icepath came over to join us, enormously amused. “Darkstorm and I used to do that,” she meowed. “And I’m so glad that Mistystar accepts suggestions. Darkstorm was the one who came up with my name, and he told it to Mistystar, and she gave it to me.” Her eyes were round and happy with reminiscence.
After a while, when the sun began to drop toward the trees, Crystalpaw, Sunpaw and I started a scuffle. Sunpaw agreed to be the enemy warrior (“Cause Eaglepaw can’t bear to attack Crystalpaw.”).
“Be gone, foul beast!” Crystalpaw meowed, jumping at him and hissing.
“It’s Sunpelt to you!” He countered, batting at her with his forepaws. “And I see you’ve brought Eagleclaw along too! Frightened to face me alone?”
“Frightened to face both of us?” I growled, circling around him and attacking his tail. He shook himself violently, sending me spinning away. “Get him, Crystalwind!”
“I shall!” She jumped at Sunpaw’s back, holding on firmly. He swung around, shaking his shoulders, and threw her off. She rolled skillfully on the ground and stopped, snow plastered to every inch of her, beside me. I laughed and nudged her to her paws.
“Alas! I am too awesome for either of you!” Sunpaw cried. “Fear my power and radiance!”
A shriek erupted from behind us.
“At least someone appreciates my power and radiance,” Sunpaw meowed happily, padding up to us to watch the coming scene. The shriek continued, peaking to a hysterical note, and Brambleclaw jumped to his paws.
“Squirrelflight!” He yelled, scrambling to the warriors’ den. As soon as his back was turned and he was a good few fox-lengths away, Sunpaw jumped up and pelted around the briars to the slope that led out of the camp.
“Now—run!” The golden tom shouted, pausing halfway up and beckoning to us. I leaped up, glancing at Crystalpaw, who didn’t hesitate.
“Icepath! Come on!” I called, and the white she-cat jumped over to us.
“Hey!” Flashpaw was staring at us, appearing from nowhere. “Brambleclaw, the RiverClan cats are escaping!” The tabby tom wheeled around, rage disfiguring his face. He instantly sprinted back at us. I regained control of myself and scrambled for the slope. A tortoiseshell she-cat joined Brambleclaw, intercepting Icepath.
“No!” Sunpaw yelled, sliding back down to help her.
“Don’t stop!” Shrieked Icepath desperately, struggling against the tortoiseshell. But Brambleclaw had leaped on top of Sunpaw and pinned him to the snowy ground. “Run, Eaglepaw! Run, Crystalpaw!”
We ran. I felt sick in my chest, thorns tearing at me as I forced my way out of the camp. I stopped outside, waiting as Crystalpaw tore through, and then we sprinted as fast as we could manage away from the ThunderClan camp. Sounds of crunching undergrowth and the white spray of snow alerted me of pursuers. “Head for the lake, into WindClan’s territory!” I shouted at Crystalpaw. “They won’t follow us there!”
“If there are any patrols, I’ll kill you!”
“You couldn’t!” I laughed. It was very irritating to have to avoid all these trees, and the snow was cold and soaked my fur.
Finally, the lake flashed into view, the light of the dying sun throwing shattered shards of golden brilliance across the surface. “The border!” Crystalpaw cried, pelting to the shore and skidding across the small impression in the ground where the stream should have flowed in warm weather. WindClan’s scent flowed over me, and I halted clumsily beside Crystalpaw, who had tumbled over in the frosty mix of sand and snow.
Several fox-lengths away stood four ThunderClan warriors. Brambleclaw was at their head, glaring at us, perched on the uttermost edge of the border.
“Traitor,” he spat at Crystalpaw.
She got to her paws and bowed at him. “And proud of it.”
Brambleclaw curled his lip. “Go back to the camp,” he ordered his three companions. “Firestar will send extra patrols to watch the border.”
“We’ll be sure to be nice and friendly to them!” Called Crystalpaw as they turned away. She sniffed with amused disgust. “Come on, Eaglepaw. Where now?”
I was unused to being asked for an opinion. “Not back to RiverClan,” I meowed slowly. “Nor to another Clan.”
“Look.” She padded over to me and looked me straight in the eyes. “You want to go back to Flickerpaw’s woods, don’t you?”
I exhaled in a sigh. “How did you guess?”
“I’m your soul-speaker, remember?” She nudged my side playfully. “You intend to put yourself in his place.”
I felt sicker than before. “Well, I meant to before I knew—”
“—that I would be put into the picture,” finished Crystalpaw. “Let’s walk. Upstream, or what would be upstream. Get away from WindClan.”
I started walking along the shore, turning right to walk parallel to the snow-filled streambed. Crystalpaw padded along beside me.
“It’s not a problem,” she continued, her voice low and soft. “I’ll go with you. Into immortality, I mean.”
My head snapped in her direction. “What? Is that possible?”
She shrugged. “Sure it is. Flickerpaw could tell us. Or, it’s simple: we both touch the Fire at the same time.”
I spluttered, shocked at her proposal. “Wait—you’re willing to give up everything?”
“What do I have to lose?” She asked. “If you go, I’ll lose you.”
“Well, there’s Sunpaw, Icepath, and Moonpaw. They’ll get old and eventually die.”
“They can visit us. I know they will.”
“But weren’t you afraid of being immortal?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not. I was afraid of facing all the years of eternity alone.” Her light green eyes blazed with determination and argument, and she stressed the last word. Even if I had wanted to dissuade her, I couldn’t have.
“All right,” I half sighed. “You’re sure?”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re decided.”
“I’ve been decided ever since Icepath decided to give herself up.”
Crystalpaw smiled widely, twisting her tail around mine. “Then let’s run.”
---
Well? Like? Eh?
Please comment!! I love it when you talk about specific things, like characters, dialogue, etc.
No, I didn't do that to Squirrelflight to bash her or fans. I just needed something that was humorous, in my opinion. She seemed like someone who'd freak out if there were maggots all over her. I know that I would.
Look out for the REAL 11th chapter, Chapter 11: Heartstopping.
~Sunny