Chapter 21

26 0 0
                                        

"Cloverpaw, can you hear me? Wake up."

Cloverpaw groaned. She didn't want to wake up. Her whole body ached, and she felt like she was dying.

"Cloverpaw, please."

That voice was familiar. But she couldn't place it, just like she couldn't remember where she was or what had happened. Was she alive? Dead? Or maybe she was dreaming.

What a lovely thought. If all of this had been a dream. Then she could wake up and everything would be fine, Firefang would take her out training, and then she would come back into camp loaded with fresh-kill and her mother would come congratulate her on her good hunting, and she would fall asleep in the apprentices den with her sister...

Her sister. She didn't have a sister. She had been the only one in her litter, Junipercloud had said so. But she could imagine her so clearly, green eyes, darker than hers, but just as beautiful. She had the dark ginger pelt of their father, Finchstar, with silver and white spots flecking her fur.

"Cloverpaw, I need to speak with you. Wake up."

Who was it? She thought hard, but she couldn't place the voice. Then another voice spoke, far away and distant.

"She might not wake up, Starlingpaw."

Starlingpaw! She remembered him. His smoky grey fur and dark amber eyes. She remembered sitting under that pine with him, that almost magical place. She would give anything to be back there again, alone with him, nothing else to worry about.

"I'll kill that mangy kittypet," Starlingpaw growled. "If Cloverpaw dies, its all her fault!"

The other voice was silent for a moment. "She missed the artery, so luckily Cloverpaw won't die from that. But... she's exhausted. Its up to her if she wants to wake up or not."

Cloverpaw didn't want to wake up. But she had so much to lose. She wanted to see Birdflower again. And Starlingpaw...

Cloverpaw blinked open her eyes. Starlingpaw was leaning over her with a stricken expression on his face. She tried to speak, but her throat was too dry.

"Get her some water,"  Hawkblaze, the medicine cat of Shadowclan commanded. Starlingpaw vanished  and returned a few moments later. He pressed the soaked moss to her mouth and she drank in the water gratefully.

"What..." she said slowly. "What happened?"

Hawkblaze and Starlingpaw shared a look. "Rosepaw attacked you. You survived the damage, but you..." Starlingpaw broke off, coughing.

Hawkblaze continued for him. "You won't have use of your left back paw, because... well, its gone."

Cloverpaw blinked and looked down at her leg, the twisted one, barely stifling her gasp of horror. From her shoulder to her wrist was fine, but the paw was mangled beyond repair, and it was still bleeding through the cobwebs. Cloverpaw felt like she was going to be sick.

Starlingpaw rushed up to her. "I'm sorry," he said sorrowfully. "I tried to stop her."

Cloverpaw swallowed. "Its not your fault." She glanced at the den entrance. "Where is Rosepaw now?"

Starlingpaw shifted. "She left after she was done with you. No one knows where she went."

Cloverpaw was about to respond when she heard a voice speak in her ear.

Every rose has its thorns. Every fire has its flames. Every bird has its claws. Beware, Clover, of things yet to come.

"Cloverpaw? Are you okay?"

Cloverpaw smiled weakly at Starlingpaw. "Yeah, I'm fine."

But the truth was, she wasn't.

Cloverpaw's ShadowWhere stories live. Discover now