Warriors: Frecklesky's Heart

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Frecklesky plodded through the sunlit marsh, her face twisted into a scowl as she fought to keep pace with her all-too-delighted sister.

Fallowstep's green eyes flashed up ahead through the tall cordgrass, her whiskers twitching as she drank in deep breaths of the warm green-leaf air. Without uttering a single word to Frecklesky, she tore off into some inconspicuous direction.

Lashing her tail in annoyance, Frecklesky lunged after the ginger she-cat. Her pace was much slower than the slim-formed medicine cat as she shouted, "Fallowstep, get back here!"

Her thick, tortoiseshell fur caught in stray brush as she thrust through the rugged terrain, and she snarled, ripping off that clump of her pelt before pushing on at a much more aggressive pace than before.

It was moments like these where she was relieved Fallowstep had failed to train as a warrior. Her sister left a ludicrous trail; lacking the stealth and cunning of the average ShadowClan cat. Stray tufts of ginger fur lay dangling off of bracken, and her footsteps were easy to track in the muddy earth where she plowed through pockets of mud, rather than weaving around them.

The putrid stench of the thunderpath touched her nose as she grew nearer to the southern border. Frustration sparked under her skin. The thunderpath was dangerous for a medicine cat. Why did Fallowstep want to go there?

Frecklesky's run eased to a trot as her breathing grew shallow; she was built for fighting, not long runs.

Relief poured over her as she spotted more than just a tuft of ginger. She pushed past the grass and slid ungracefully down the sharp slope, keeping her paws just out of reach of the muddy water that Fallowstep was belly-deep in.

Her whiskers twitched wryly as Fallowstep eagerly scrounged around on the far bank, blind to her sister's annoyance and worry as she collected a few pawfuls of golden flowers.

"Five... six... seven!" She purred triumphantly.

"This is what you ran off for?" Frecklesky's green eyes narrowed to unamused slits. "You know you should've waited for me. Flowers can't fly away."

Fallowstep grabbed a stray fern and splayed it on the ground, lining the golden flowers inside of it. She curled the tips of the fern until they touched, creating a small bundle. She held it closed with a white paw before turning her bright green eyes to Frecklesky.

"It's exactly what I ran off for," she chirped. "Heronwing asked that I get some more goldenrod, especially since tensions with ThunderClan are so high." She paused, smiling slightly. "And technically, they can fly away. A sparrow could've gotten to it, first."

Frecklesky growled. "Then I would've eaten that sparrow."

"Nuh-uh!" Fallowstep flicked her tail dismissively. "You would've been too slow to catch it! If you can't even keep up with me, how can you keep up with a bird of all things?"

Frecklesky's whiskers twitched disgruntledly. "Whatever. What is it, anyways?" She growled instead.

Throughout their entire lives, Fallowstep had loved the strangest of things. In the middle of battle training, she'd grow distracted by butterflies and beetles, or even the odd cloud. While hunting, she'd run off to investigate a new, strange-smelling plant, plucking it from the earth and using it as leverage to interrogate Heronwing on the oddities of the world. It hadn't taken long until her old mentor, Adderspring, had given up on her training and suggested she be a medicine cat instead.

Fallowstep had been conflicted at first, but once she got her paws in the medicine den, her clumsy and fickle nature had blossomed into a love for her duties and Clan. And yet, she remained a pain in Frecklesky's tail. Especially now, as she watched a small swarm of dragonflies buzz around her head with war looming on the horizon.

Frecklesky narrowed her eyes and huffed noisily. Fallowstep jolted, blinking out of her starry-eyed trance to look back at her sister. "Oh, sorry. It's goldenrod," she explained, tipping her nose to the wind. "They help to heal wounds, and our stock is running low," she cast Frecklesky a sideways glance, her eyes narrowed into a teasing glare. "Especially because of how a certain somebody forgets to keep her claws sheathed in our battle refresher courses."

Frecklesky bared her teeth. "It's not my fault Dewfrost is such a flea-pelt."

"Yeah, well it's your fault he came running to my den with scratches all through his fur!" Fallowstep retorted. "Now you're not even allowed to participate."

Frecklesky scoffed. "Like training's anything like the real thing."

Fallowstep rolled her eyes and picked up the bundle of goldenrod in a flourish, mumbling between her teeth, "Oh, come on, let's just get these back to Heronwing."

Frecklesky flicked her whiskers and grunted in agreement. The sooner they got back to camp, the better. She didn't like straying so close to the thunderpath with Fallowstep under her watch.

Wordlessly, Fallowstep picked her way back up the muddy bank. Her pretty ginger fur was stained brown now, dark and sludgy as it plopped onto the soft earth. Frecklesky followed quietly behind, the irritation that prickled at her pelt finally calming as she found herself brushing up next to her sister.

They padded quietly for a while, the frogs of the marsh bringing a never-ending chorus to the air. Giant weeping willows billowed in the wind here and there, their roots bulging from the muck. Among them were towering cypresses, bordering the edges of vast ponds off in the distance.

The sound of chirping stilled to an uneasy quiet as they neared the camp. Frecklesky's spine began to prickle, and she twisted her ears.

"Hold on, stay behind me," she cautioned, lowering to an uneasy crouch as she inched forward. Fallowstep's eyes flashed, but she remained quiet, allowing her sister to take the lead.

The ground grew drier, the dampness hardening to cooled mud with scarce tousles of grass molding in between. Frecklesky tasted the air, but the wind blew at her back, carrying away the camp's scents.

A hush of voices could be detected over the rattling of marsh grass. Frecklesky slunk forward, moving her paws quickly, but keeping her belly brushing against the ground. Buckthorn erected from the earth before them, forming a barrier that defended their camp. Tufts of fur and blood left chaos in its wake, torn up by the thorns that were broken to the ground.

Frecklesky flicked her tail urgently. "Go hide, I'll see if it's safe."

Without glancing behind her, Frecklesky sucked in a deep breath and thrust through the tunnel of thorns, emerging into the bedraggled camp.

❀

Welcome to Frecklesky's Heart! Please be advised that this story is primarily unedited (I wrote it in one month), so don't be surprised if there are loose ends, inconsistencies, and/or severe flaws. If you spot any issues or have any critiques, please @ me in the given comment! I may rewrite and flesh this out better in the future, but right now, I can't make any promises. Mostly, I wanted to post something to make up for my lack of finishing Silverjaw's Sorrow in time.

Additionally, I've also written this in a much—shorter?—writing style than Silverjaw's Sorrow and most of my other works. That's because I intend for the plot to arc and finish in a faster manner, and I wanted to see if I can manage good pacing in a shorter story.

FOREWARNING: There are LGBTQ+ themes and violence/death included in this story. If you cannot handle either of these, you're welcome to leave. Otherwise, please enjoy.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again tomorrow! ~ Kitten