The Clash of Stars Book 1: The Key

Chapter 26: Wolfpaw

Wolfpaw awoke to red light gleaming in her eyes, bright and bleary and too much. She mewed in protest, and immediately thought about how that action alone made her feel like a kit in the nursery. She tried to roll over to get the sun out of her eyes, and had a second, dazzling realization: her body ached everywhere, more than it ever had before.

Her third, less impressive realization was that there was a larger body curled around her, its chin resting on her flank.

Wolfpaw managed to writhe in whatever nest they were in — some sort of scrap of moss tucked into a rocky alcove. Her muscles less screamed in protest as much as let out a feeble whine, but the dull ache still persisted as she forced herself to her paws. She shifted, wiggling a bit to try and assess her injuries. There didn't seem to be any, but exhaustion swept through her with every movement. She tried to step forward, and a sharp pain shot up her forepaw. She yelped, crumpling to the ground.

Behind her something rustled, but she could hardly focus on it. She lay on the ground, her breaths shallow as she struggled upwards, willing her paws to support her.

"Don't you dare move!" a voice behind her meowed, voice sharp. "Stay right there, and I'll get you back to the nest!"

Undoubtedly, that voice belonged to her mother. Wolfpaw was sure she'd heard her mother say that at least once while they were still in the nursery.

She let herself go limp on the ground, and it wasn't long before she felt Peonystar's teeth sink into her scruff, as gentle as if handling a newborn kit as she dragged her back to the nest.

The sharp pain dulled to a monotonous ache, so Wolfpaw didn't try to move as she stared blankly up at Peonystar. Her gaze was unfocused at first, but her mother's white fur, blooms of orange scattered across it, was impossible to mistake.

"Thank StarClan you're awake," Peonystar sighed. "How do you feel?"

"Awful," Wolfpaw managed to splutter. "Have I been asleep long?" She struggled to remember the past few days. She could recount a blurry haze and intense pain that she'd chosen to succumb to rather than try and face head-on. Just like every other problem I have, Wolfpaw added to herself, miserable.

Peonystar blinked in an expression Wolfpaw could only describe as sheepish. "In and out for the past ... " She trailed off and glanced at something over Wolfpaw's shoulder, then shifted her hazel eyes back to focus on her daughter. "About four days. You just missed the new moon." She nodded to the sunrise.

Wolfpaw looked up. She could see the empty moon, just barely visible in the pink sky. "Oh."

Peonystar continued, "I wasn't sure what was wrong, but you seemed in a lot of pain, so I kept you still the best that I could. You'll need to eat as soon as you have the strength, though — "

Wolfpaw tuned Peonystar out. She was always like this, bombarding Wolfpaw the second she woke up, whether it was to fret over or lecture her. She scanned the area around them, or at least what she could see without moving her body. It was rocky, with sparse areas where clumps of grass grew among blotches of mud. Straining to see, Wolfpaw discovered a stream running at the bottom. Upwards were sheer, cliff walls.

Were they at the bottom of the ravine? How in StarClan's name had they —

Then she remembered.

The garden. The argument. Falling down the cliff, and the last glimpse before everything went black, of her mother leaping after her, reaching out desperately for her daughter.

"I'm sorry," Wolfpaw burst out, interrupting Peonystar.

" — And I'm sure she can help with — " Realizing she'd been spoken over, Peonystar pricked her ears. "Sorry for what?"