Warriors: Dark Whispers

~Chapter 13~

Lostpaw padded back to camp after the rebuilding patrol, made up of him, Sandnose, Rabbitheart, Softpaw, Icepaw, Willowbreath, and Leafstep. He squeezed through the barrier to see the camp with a large tree cut through it, ashes covering it in a thick blanket. Coughing, Lostpaw slowly made his way to what was left of the apprentice den. Softpaw flanked him on the left, Icepaw on the right.

Icepaw poked his pale white muzzle in first, his sleek, dusty pelt easily slid through the mangled entrance.

When his tail tip disappeared, Lostpaw followed, then Softpaw. He strode up beside Icepaw and gasped. Ashes and amber cover the whole floor of the den. The apprentices twisted their faces in sorrow and padded over to their ruined nests.

"Where will we sleep now?" Softpaw whimpered, her voice barely audible.

"I guess we will have to clean it up," Icepaw muttered and shrugged. "I'll go get some sticks to fix the holes," he motioned with his tail at the large, fringed gaps.

"I'll come, too," Softpaw meowed and smiled, trying to sound cheerful. The two padded side by side out of the apprentice den.

Lostpaw sighed. He looked around once more before warily following. When he emerged from the den, he lowered his head and began padding forward. Suddenly, he knocked into a pale, furry pelt.

Lostpaw looked up to see the troubled amber eyes of Ghostpaw, clouded and scared. His brother's paws trembled and his fur was ruffled and unkept.

Ghostpaw whispered softly in his ear, "What did she mean?" Lostpaw twitched his ears and stepped back.

He opened his mouth to ask Ghostpaw to explain when his brother turned and dashed off, his charred tail between his legs.

The question blared in Ghostpaw's head. What did she mean? He didn't stop running until he slammed right into a familiar black pelt.

Ghostpaw pulled himself to him paws and looked up. Crow! The black she-cat had been grooming her fur. She was now staring crossly at him.

"What do you think your doing?" He corse tone shook him, but he faced her bravely.

"Going for a walk," he answered, flexing his toes and running over battle moves in his head.

Crow's eyes softened and she stood and padded over to him. Ghostpaw cringed as she sat next to him.

"So," Crow began, "You're from Windclan?"

"Yes," Ghostpaw replied cooly, choking on her rank scent.

Crow drove a paw over her ear. "And you were going for a walk? Why were you in such a hurry?"

Ghostpaw sighed. "I was trying to get away from my brother." It was the truth. Ghostpaw couldn't stand to be around his littermate with all his questions buzzing in his brain.

"Why were you trying to get away from him?" She slowly bent over to lick at her side.

"I couldn't stand to be around him anymore!" He yowled, the words rolling off his tongue.

"Why not?" Crow tilted her head to a side.

Ghostpaw growled. Why did rouges have to be so annoying? "Because," he growled deeply.

"I can see you don't want to talk about this. Would you like to hunt?" Crow flicked her ear.

Ghostpaw sighed. The thought of hunting with a rouge on his own territory didn't seem that bad anymore, with all the other things he has to deal with at camp. "Sure," he muttered, standing up and scenting the air. He caught a scent of a rabbit and slowly started following it. Soon, he saw it's furry brown body.

Keeping aware of the wind, he skinned to the side and stalked forward. He kept his eyes on the rabbit contently. Suddenly, a dry twig snapped under his paw and the rabbit sprinted forward. Letting out a hiss of frustration, he began to turn to go back.

Ghostpaw perked his ears as he heard Crow let out a yowl behind him. He turned and saw the rabbit hanging limp in her jaws.

"Great catch!" He complimented.

"I wouldn't have caught it if you hadn't chased it into my paws!" He let out a purr of amusement. Ghostpaw padded up to her happily.

She dropped the prey and whispered close to her ear. "We make a great team, you know?" Ghostpaw nodded, all thoughts lost that she was a trespassing rouge on Windclan territory. Her rank scent seemed to mingle with his as she pressed close to him and licked his cheek.

"I have to go," Ghostpaw realized suddenly, jerking his head up. He began to turn away when Crow called him from behind.

"Ghostpaw, meet me here, tonight?" She whispered. Ghostpaw nodded, not hesitating for a heartbeat.

Ghostpaw was dashing off with the rabbit when he heard the faint howl behind him that made his paws tingle. "Goodbye, my love!"

Oh, well, that escalated quickly. o.O now we have CrowXGhost ^W^ Do you ship it? (PS, this ship is SUPER important in the storyline.)