Thanks everybody! Remember - I wrote these stories BEFORE the Power of Three came out, so Birchfall's name here is actually Birchclaw.
Chapter 4
UnearthlyAny other cat would have expected me to be frightened, excited, worried, exhilirated, or adventurous. But…I wasn’t. I guess there was a bit of rebelliousness inside me, and resolution. Sunpaw was a fighter, and he was clever. But what would happen behind us? I thought of Tigerflame. Her siblings had been lost, and now that was happening to Moonpaw. I felt a bit regretful also for leaving her behind. I should have liked Birdpaw to come, for she was a good friend. In the unknown, you always felt better alongside friends you knew and trusted.“We’ll stay close to the lakeshore,” Sunpaw meowed as we crossed the WindClan border. “There’s a stream that flows into it, and the marks the border between ThunderClan and WindClan. Then we’ll follow that until we find the Moonpool.”
“Or what’s left of it,” I muttered darkly. Admittedly, the lake was comforting, unchanging and steadfast. “And where then?”
Sunpaw shrugged. “Beyond.”
I frowned. The sand shifted beneath my paws, and the gentle waves of the lake fell short of my paws by a tail-length. I was very jumpy in this open land: WindClan’s territory was barren and almost completely devoid of trees, and any cat would be able to spot us from a long way away.
“We’d better travel all night, as quickly as possible. We can stop once we’ve cleared Clan territory.”
“Do we have to walk that long?” I asked.
“Yes, mouse-brain, unless you want the patrols to find us.”
I grunted. We were what, seven moons old, traveling like fugitives? This was stupid. What was I doing here? We kept walking along the lakeshore, watching the green forest of ThunderClan draw closer and closer. Dawn began to creep across the sky, and Sunpaw quickened the pace.
“We have to go fast. They’re bound to discover our absence soon,” I pointed out.
“The stream’s just ahead. I can see it.”
A ribbon of dark gray water was ahead, flowing down into the lake. The stream. I hoped we would make it away unseen—the dawn patrols would be sent out soon. Woods wreathed the stream ahead, and it felt a bit familiar to be under the trees and beside a source of moving water again. How on earth did Sunpaw know what he was doing in these unfamiliar lands?
“Great StarClan,” murmured Sunpaw, halting beside the water’s edge. I came up beside him and gasped. The water was barely higher than a kit’s paw. “I can see what they meant.”
We turned right to follow the remnants of the stream that wound away between two small hills. The ground was steeper here, as the stream flowed downwards. After a while, Sunpaw decided to cross to the ThunderClan side. “Throw off our scent a bit,” he explained. The water was warmer than it should have been, probably from little water and too much sun. The sky was growing steadily brighter.
Sunpaw still led, while I kept behind, looking over my shoulder every now and then. My legs were terribly tired. I cast a wary glance behind us again, filling my mind with thoughts of home and sleep, not taking in at first the two animate shapes that were moving behind us.
“Sunpaw!” I cried. “Look—we’re being followed.” The golden tom whipped around.
“Great,” he hissed, looking around. They were still a ways off, but I could see their colors—light gray and white. “Come here, Eaglepaw. We’ll hide our scent with water.” He splashed into the stream and rubbed his fur against the muddy ground, staining his bright pelt dark brown. I followed his example, cringing as the cool mud seeped down to my skin. Sunpaw ran upstream and dove into the shelter of a bramble thicket. I squeezed in after him, pushing myself as close to the ground as I could, trying to see past the branches to the trailing cats. I could no longer see them, which meant they were drawing closer.
I hardly dared to breathe as footsteps approached.
“Why would they come so far out here?” Mewed one voice. I recognized it at once—it was the voice of Icepath, a RiverClan she-cat.
“It’ll be Sunpaw’s doing,” growled a second. My heart jumped—Moonpaw was here too.
Great. Just what we need. “He’ll want to find out about the Moonpool himself, and Eaglepaw will have gone with him.”
“They’re close…” Icepath murmured. “You’re sure it was him?”
“His pelt is brighter than the sun,” Moonpaw meowed sarcastically. “He’ll be easy to spot if he’s hiding.”
Sunpaw growled very, very quietly. I could see Icepath’s white paws just outside the brambles. I held my breath.
“Try further upstream,” Icepath suggested, and I exhaled. I could hear the two she-cats pad away, the grass rustling beneath them.
After a moment, Sunpaw whispered, “Let’s go.”
We slid out of our hiding place. I heard splashes up ahead: Icepath and Moonpaw had crossed the stream. “Keep to this side,” I suggested to Sunpaw. “They’re on WindClan’s territory now.”
Sunpaw started to run. He kept away from the stream, concealed in the forest’s green shadows. I followed. Eaglepaw, the follower.
And then a white shape exploded into view, colliding with me and knocking me right off my paws. I yowled as I felt claws pressed into my skin. My first thought was that Icepath had seen us and jumped at me, but I looked up into a pair of light green eyes, different than Icepath’s amber.
“Who are you?” The she-cat meowed. Her voice was quiet, but filled with strength. I couldn’t help but feel respect for her. She smelled of ThunderClan.
“Who are
you?” Sunpaw retorted defiantly. “And would you mind getting off my brother and leaving us be so we can get away unnoticed?”
“I’m not getting off him,” the she-cat growled. “You’d better be nicer if you don’t want me to call your friends there.”
Sunpaw’s placid expression of critical arrogance fell off his face instantly. It was quite humorous.
“We’re from RiverClan,” I told her quickly.
“And where’re you going?”
“To the Moonpool!” I snarled. “Now get off and be gone, and don’t tell anyone anything about us.”
“The Moonpool?” She exclaimed, her eyes widening with delight. “Don’t be stupid, I’m coming with you! You’re off to find out about the water shortage, aren’t you? I want to come.”
“
You’re being stupid,” growled Sunpaw, advancing on her. I took advantage of her lapse in concentration and pushed her off of me. “You can’t come. This is for us to do. Go back to your friends.”
“Why would I go back there?” She mewed dismissively. “I don’t care if I never see that pack of ‘be-a-hero-and-ShadowClan-is-evil’ mouse-brains again.”
I stared at her, a bit stunned. “Don’t you have any family?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course. Who cares?”
I was taken aback. What kind of cat didn’t care about their family? “You really want to come?”
“Yes, I do, and you really have no choice, cause who’s to stop me from telling your plans and whereabouts to the entire forest?” The white she-cat smiled hugely. Sunpaw looked immensely annoyed.
“Fine, then,” he snarled. “What’s your name?”
“What’s yours?” She countered sweetly.
“Sunpaw.”
“And you?” She turned her green eyes on me. I regarded her as I would Moonpaw.
“Eaglepaw.”
“Crystalpaw,” she told us. “And don’t just ignore me and pretend I’m not here. I like RiverClan. Any Clan’s better than ThunderClan.”
“Why’s that?” Sunpaw asked. His voice was heavy with annoyance and resign.
“Like I said before. They think they’re so pure and perfect. It’s always like ‘we must help them’ and ‘we’re so kind and caring’ and ‘oh, never mind those other Clans, we’re just fighting on peacefully’. I
hate it. Especially Leafpool.” Crystalpaw rolled her eyes again, jumped up to walk beside Sunpaw as he turned and began to walk upstream. “She’s the ultimate suck-up. D’you know she actually had an affair with a WindClan cat? And she got away with it, too! It’s cause Firestar’s her father. Featherwing’s so much nicer. I’ll expect that’s cause she’s half-Tribe. Cindersnow tells such amazing tales about them. I met a few of them, once, when they were still living in the moors near WindClan.”
“Shut up!” Growled Sunpaw. “There are cats looking for us, and at your volume, we’ll be heading home in no time.”
“Who’s looking for us?”
“Our sister,” I explained to her under my breath. “And another warrior.”
“Ouch. You left her behind? Your sister, I mean.”
“Yeah.” I crouched down, slinking as close to the ground as I could manage. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Crystalpaw. She was talkative, and I could definitely see her having a personality clash with Sunpaw.
Then voices slashed across my thoughts: “Moonpaw—look! There they are!”
I spun about wildly, spotting Icepath standing several fox-lengths away, still on WindClan’s side.
“Run!” Shouted Sunpaw, and I bolted, following his flashing yellow fur, and I could see Crystalpaw beside me. Icepath cried out in alarm, and I heard water splashing and twigs snapping as she scrambled to follow us.
“Let me lead!” Cried Crystalpaw, shoving up to run beside Sunpaw. “I know the way better than you do.”
Sunpaw didn’t reply, but allowed her to run a tail-length ahead of him. She veered away from the stream and ran up the hill that flanked it, climbing to higher ground before it dropped down to lower elevations again. Then there was another hill, and I could barely keep up: my legs were like stone weights hanging from my body, except they were filled with fire that burned. I had trouble drawing breath, and my eyes wandered and fell out of focus. “Sunpaw,” I choked. Then, suddenly, the ground vanished from beneath my paws.
With a yowl of horror I plunged, imagining some gaping void that would swallow me up instantly, but I hit the ground quickly. It was very soft, with small, smooth pebbles scattered everywhere, most pressed into the muddy earth. With a grunt, I raised my head, feeling my muscles flare with fiery pain.
“No—Eaglepaw!” Sunpaw meowed frantically from somewhere close by. I heard pebbles slide and felt breath on my ears. “Get up, get up, they’re here, they’ll take us back…”
“Too late,” Icepath’s voice rang out. “What were you thinking? Were you even thinking? Is this your reason for running away?”
I opened my eyes. The white warrior was standing a fox-length away. I lay in some sort of shallow dip in the ground, and wilting ferns grew all around. Darkened, dying moss was clustered on almost every stone. Water dripped feebly from some overhanging clumps, and some of it gathered in a muddy puddle near the edge beneath the steep, near-vertical slope. The stream trickled nearby.
“The Moonpool!” I breathed, my throat pressed against the ground. With a groan, I hauled myself up into a sitting position. Mud slicked my chest fur and was splattered about my head and back.
“What’s left of it,” mewed Crystalpaw darkly. Her white fur was splattered with brown as well.
“Who’s this, Sunpaw?” Sang Moonpaw, flouncing over to stand beside him. He looked murderous.
“This is Crystalpaw,” Crystalpaw retorted mockingly. Moonpaw looked over at her swiftly, and I saw that her eyes were stony.
“You’re not from RiverClan. What were you doing with my brothers?” Moonpaw asked.
“Helping them escape,” Crystalpaw answered. “And me along with them. So, if you don’t mind, as long as Eaglepaw’s feeling better, we’ll be off. Kindly tell no one of our intentions, whereabouts, or planned destination.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Icepath asserted firmly.
“Yes we are,” growled Sunpaw. “Look, Icepath, no one’s doing anything about the Moonpool and you know it. Why not?”
“You’re apprentices, for StarClan’s sake!” Icepath cried, exasperated. “What, seven moons old? And we can’t just abandon RiverClan. They might think we’re dead, or being held hostage…we could even trigger a war if they interpreted it wrong. Anyway, what do you exactly plan to do? You’re not even trained to fight yet.”
“You can teach us,” Sunpaw replied smoothly.
“And I know something,” Crystalpaw added. “I’ve learned a little.”
“We’re not going,” Icepath stated.
“Then you can stay,” chirped Crystalpaw. Icepath’s fur tensed in anger and frustration. “We’ll find our own way.”
“I’m not leaving you here, and you’re not going beyond Clan borders.”
“Come on, Icepath.” I was astonished to see Moonpaw turn to look at the white warrior, a sparkle in her eyes. Sunpaw looked enormously taken aback. “Tigerflame talks about you when you were an apprentice. You wanted to go with her to the Mountains, even plotted to run away with Darkstorm.”
“I—what? How did she know that?” Spluttered Icepath, her rigidness dropping away like a leaf.
Moonpaw shrugged. “Darkstorm mentioned it once.”
Icepath was silent for many heartbeats. I could almost see the two sides of her fighting in her eyes, indecision troubling her every feature.
“Please,” implored Moonpaw. Her face was soft, kit-like, and pleading. Her masquerade was perfect. Sunpaw even looked impressed.
Icepath straightened. “Can’t we just go back and tell Mistystar?” She asked weakly.
“No,” the four of us meowed in unison.
“And you know,” Sunpaw growled, “that no matter what your decision is, I’m going anyway.”
“And me,” I put in.
“And me,” added Crystalpaw.
Icepath sighed. Her eyes flickered around, pausing on each of us for a heartbeat, then she straightened her shoulders. “I hope you’ve got a plan, because I sure don’t.”
“Yes!” Meowed Moonpaw. Sunpaw was gaping at her as though she’d suddenly turned blue.
“
Now you’re my sister,” he told her.
“Keep dreaming,” she scoffed. “You’re not related to me.”
“Stop it,” warned Icepath, and they were silent at once. She looked hugely pleased with herself. “Ah. So I’m the authority here. Was that the first time you’ve ever shut up when you were told to?”
“No,” rejected Sunpaw. “We’re leaving now. Crystalpaw, you can lead with me.”
The white ThunderClan apprentice padded over to him and proceeded to leap up, out of the Moonpool basin and onto the dry ground.
“You’re okay?” Icepath asked me. “That was some fall.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I meowed. My chest hurt, but I didn’t say. If I did, Icepath would make us turn back for sure. She went on to follow Crystalpaw, and Moonpaw went after, then me, bringing up the rear. I sped up, wincing, to walk beside Moonpaw.
“What’s up with you?” I asked. “Why do you want to come?”
“Never too early to earn some fame,” she replied, her voice and expression reserved and aloof. I snorted, then hurried to walk with Sunpaw.
“We should have left them behind,” he growled in my ear. “I don’t like being in a group like this.”
“Thinking of a way to ditch them?”
“In progress,” he muttered. “We can take Crystalpaw, though.”
“Ah.” I grinned. “You like her.”
“No. She’s tolerable, and better company than Moonpaw.”
“Agreed.”
The woods were thinner here, and I could see meadows beyond. We followed the stream a short ways before I insisted we get some rest. “I haven’t slept all night,” I argued. “And neither has Sunpaw.”
“Fine,” Icepath mewed. “
You find somewhere if you want to rest.”
Sunpaw and I obliged. The Clan scent had all but faded now—a few traces of ThunderClan scent still floated through the air, but maybe it was because of Crystalpaw. The she-cat had barely stopped talking once we cleared ThunderClan’s border, expounding on every single thing she disliked about her Clan. And she hadn’t stopped.
We were passing through a woods of old oaks, interwoven with young birches and ashes. There wasn’t much undergrowth. Crystalpaw followed me and Sunpaw around, chattering nonstop.
“And Firestar’s way too lenient all the time. You know Leafpool?”
“You’ve already told us that story, like, twelve times.” growled Sunpaw. “You clearly despise her.”
“Fine then. Daisy?”
“Heard it.”
“Brambleclaw?”
“Yep.”
“Shimmerfur?”
“Several times.”
“Birchclaw?”
Sunpaw heaved a huge sigh. “No.”
“Well, his story’s not bad, and I actually like him a bit, he’s nice to me. But he went off and had kits with a ShadowClan she-cat! Imagine that. Firestar wasn’t thrilled. Blackstar didn’t really care, as long as they kept the kits, which they did. Birchclaw still sees them. Firestar quarantined him in the camp for a whole moon. Compared to Leafpool, who got
nothing…”
“Look at that,” I interrupted loudly. “There’s undergrowth up ahead. See it?”
“Yeah,” Sunpaw meowed immediately, looking eager to end Crystalpaw’s lecture. “Great, Eaglepaw. Funny, it’s got flowers. You’d think that they’d all be dead by now.”
“Well, it’s still pretty warm out,” Crystalpaw stated.
“Still. Look.” I hurried over to a scramble of thorny fronds. As soon as my paws touched the grass a tail-length away from them, I felt…light. Floaty. Weird. Creepy. As if there had been some kind of weight inside me, but I hadn’t felt or noticed it until it was gone. The pain in my chest subsided at once, and the cut on my pad I’d gotten from fishing with Shadowflicker a few days ago felt nonexistent. I twisted my paw up to look at it, and felt shock ripple through me. The cut was gone completely, leaving not even a scar.
“Sunpaw. Sunpaw. Get over here.”
The golden-furred tom padded over, then started as he drew level to me. “Woah.” He looked around in wonder, staring at the thorns.
Crystalpaw followed, blinking rapidly. “They’re pretty,” she observed, flicking her tail at the blooms. They were deep orange in color, lightening to pale yellow in the center, with feathery edges to their long, elegant petals. Not a stain was upon them, no crisp of deadly brown or wilt to their emerald stems. The thorns were smooth and curved to perfect tips. Wide green leaves flowed down from beneath the blossoms.
“I’ve never seen anything like them.” Sunpaw padded past the fire-colored flowers, looking around. “Check out these trees—you ever seen such a color?”
“And the grass!” Gasped Crystalpaw. I looked down; the grass was a rich, almost translucent shade of green. Not a strand was dead.
“This is weird. Really weird,” muttered Sunpaw. “It’s…unearthly.” I craned my neck to look up at a birch. Every edge of bark gleamed silver, and the crowning leaves seemed to sparkle.
“Go get Icepath and Moonpaw,” I growled to Crystalpaw. She nodded, wide eyed, then bolted off into the normal woods.
“No one’s ever discovered this, you think?” I asked Sunpaw.
“Of course not. If they did, they’d move here. I’ll bet the prey is incredible.”
“But there’s no prey-scent at all,” I pointed out.
“Even weirder,” Sunpaw meowed. “But not as weird as those voices.”
“What?” I asked sharply. He shook his head. I frowned, pricking my ears up to catch a sound. I could hear him breathing and my own heart beating. There were Crystalpaw’s fading pawsteps, and a rustle of the grass where Sunpaw’s claws stirred it.
Then I heard it. Somewhere, in the distance, so faint it could barely be heard, was a low, lulling voice of a tom-cat, coming from the direction of where the perfect trees and shrubs led.
We were not alone.
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Hehe, Crystalpaw's my voice a bit on what I dislike about ThunderClan. Gotta have a rebel in the 'perfect' Clan, no?