Beyond The Mountains

Chapter 10: Snowpaw

Snowpaw, instead of fishing, instead of training, instead of doing normal apprentice tasks was sitting on a hill, with another apprentice but not just any other apprentice, a Thunderclan apprentice. Snowpaw scoffed to herself but her leader's words rang in her ears. 

" We're depending on you three. "

The sun was almost fully up when Snowpaw woke up alone with Larkpaw. Thrasherpaw had gone off hunting. Snowpaw's fur ruffled as the cold morning made her skin crawl.

 The former rogue had taken hunting as her personal task ever since their small fight behind the moonstone. A loud chatter behind Snowpaw made her jump out of her fur, she looked around wildly until she spotted Thrasherpaw, heaving up the hill. Snowpaw raised her head towards the tabby she-cat who was walking up the hill with a limp hare, tufts of fur was missing from the fresh-kill. "A rabbit again?" Snowpaw said with disgust. Thrasherpaw glared at her and set the rabbit down, planting a set of hooked claws in its fur to make sure it didn't roll back down the hill. "If you don't want it, you can starve." Thrasherpaw snarled before picking up the prey and padding the rest of the way up the mound. Larkpaw let out purrs on joy while Snowpaw simply glared after her.

***

"There's a river we can follow!" Snowpaw said excitedly. She hadn't seem an actual water source apart from the few puddles they drank from. She gazed at Larkpaw, his eyes glimmering especially shining at the reluctant look in Thrasherpaw's eyes. "Maybe the Original Cats followed it?" Larkpaw looked around but only met confused faces, Snowpaw's fur twitched, what was this forest cat talking about? "What do you mean 'Original Cats'? Aren't we the original cats?" Snowpaw narrowed her eyes, but nervousness ebbed in her stomach. Larkpaw shook his head, "Oh no no no, when the prey first started to disappeared Goosestar sent out an apprentice from each clan but then when they never returned. Goosestar decided he'll wait until he thinks when another group should be made and now we have us! Guys?" The end of Larkpaw's story was met with wide, angry eyes, "What?" Hissed Thrasherpaw, "The other cats never came back?! Larkpaw how many moons ago was this?" Snowpaw felt the same anger rising to the tips of her fur, what if there was more than one group that had been sent out and Goosestar just didn't want us to find out? Snowpaw felt betrayal form a pit in her stomach.  How many times has Silverstar said those words? How many cats before me heard them? Snowpaw's breath sped up, suddenly she felt a paw being pressed onto her shoulder, she looked up to meet Larkpaw's sympathetic and caring gaze. "I know it's upsetting.. but maybe the cats before us didn't.." His words trailed off, he still gave Snowpaw that annoyingly adorable half-smile but his eyes glinted with uncertainty. Thrasherpaw on the other paw looked as if she was ready to shred every leader, including her own, to shreds, "Larkpaw they sent us out to die. How do you not understand that?!" She screeched.

 Snowpaw's fur prickled along her spine, a screech very similar sounded at the back of her mind, she pushed it down. "We should just turn back now. Say we couldn't do it, we can tell them what happened at the Thunderpath." Thrasherpaw's voice came down from its thrill, it was now hushed like cold winds that carried the fresh smell of dew through the trees and the camp she longed to be in. 

"We can't! Thrasherpaw we're saving out clans! Don't you want that? You'll be a hero, everyone will forget about you being a-" Larkpaw cut off his sentence at the nasty look Thrasherpaw gave him, "Forget about me being what? A rogue?" She gave a doubtful snort, "Yeah right. But i'm only continuing to come along because the second I  leave you both will end up a falcon's prey before noon." She hissed and marched away, slipping underneath a shrub of heather, her tail lashing to and fro like an adder about to strike and kill anything that passed by. "We'll set out for the river when everyone is rested. Snowpaw, can you lead us?" Larkpaw blinked at the white furred she-cat, she paused for a moment and nodded determinedly.