Warriors: Frecklesky's Heart

[ 4 ]

Frecklesky's paw slipped, and mud splashed up at her, smothering the lower half of her body in its slimy nature. She snarled, her ears flat as dripping muck followed her home.

She was distracted. Too distracted. Her thoughts had wandered far too often back to the kittypet as she padded through the marsh. Normally she was so aware of everything, but her heart fluttered at the thought of the she-cat's gentle honey eyes, her soft voice, and her dark pelt.

And it drove her mad.

She stormed into camp with her teeth grinding against each other, and instinctually, she looked for Dewfrost. The tom had the perfect face to claw at.

But what met her was unexpected, and a dark feeling of dread swallowed her up.

Larkstar lay hunched over a dark body in the center of the clearing, sobbing quietly. Firewatcher was missing, presumably being tended to by Fallowstep with the rest of the wounded. The remainder of the Clan gathered in a ragged half-circle of grief.

And the cat they were grieving over was Beetleflight.

Frecklesky gaped from the camp entrance for a moment, her eyes glued onto the elder's body. She had seemed fine when she left camp. How could she be dead now?

Chiveclaw noticed her staring and beckoned her over with a flick of his tail. Shaking herself out of her trance, Frecklesky approached the tom.

"Beetleflight succumbed to her wounds shortly after you left," he explained quietly.

"How? I thought she was okay," Frecklesky blurted. "She's a strong cat. She can't be dead."

Chiveclaw shook his head softly. "If only that were true." He flashed his eyes to the warrior, his nostrils flaring slightly. "Do you have anything to report? You smell of the thunderpath."

Frecklesky shook her head numbly.

Chiveclaw nodded. "Then sit vigil and get some rest."

Obediently, the tortoiseshell found her way to Beetleflight's side, her mouth dry with a sense of guilt. Once her turn came up, she touched her nose gently to the fur behind the elder's ears, silently praying for her safe passage to StarClan.

Sunset was now glaring at the camp. She backed away from the elder and moved slowly across the clearing, her head low and tail drooping. She found herself by the stump that made up the medicine den and quietly pushed the dangling lichen aside.

The den was a wreck. Plants were shredded on the floor, stomped on, chewed, and clawed to bits.

Fallowstep was in the corner with Firewatcher, gently binding his twisted foot. The tom looked bedraggled and devastated, his fiery amber eyes dark with grief, and perhaps a twinkle of guilt. Frecklesky swallowed and padded slowly to her sister.

"What happened in here?" she murmured, surveying the herbs about the floor. The goldenrod that Fallowstep had collected seemed so little compared to the devastation.

"ThunderClan destroyed the herb store," Fallowstep mewed tightly. Her voice was nasally; clearly she'd been crying. "I don't know what we're supposed to do. Heronwing went for an herb run, but we harvested everything just yesterday!" She flung her muzzle around, her tail twitching anxiously back and forth. She quickly added, "You're done now, Firewatcher. You may go rest. Be sure to keep the weight off your paws."

The red tom nodded stiffly, standing up. Frecklesky tried to catch his gaze as he pushed by, but he refused to lift his eyes. Her stomach flipped.

A tail touched her shoulder, and she jerked around, finding herself eye-to-eye with her sister. "Firewatcher thinks that Beetleflight died because of him. Frecklesky, what did you do?"

Frecklesky stiffened, swallowing her unease and fluffing her scruff. "I did nothing. I simply followed Larkstar's orders."

"Beetleflight was Larkstar's mother," Fallowstep hissed. "You of all cats know how badly she deals with grief. What were you thinking, making him leave camp when he was trying to help?"

"I didn't make him," Frecklesky retorted. "He had a choice!"

Fallowstep snarled, "You make a terrible friend, Frecklesky. I don't know what he sees in you."

Frecklesky saw red. It's not my fault he wants to be friends with me! Her claws ripped through the air before she could think. At the last second, she gasped and yanked her arm back. Not a hair was out of place on Fallowstep's face, and she'd stood her ground. Her nose shivered.

"Get out of my den," the ginger medicine cat snarled. "Now."

"Fallowstep, I—"

"I said now!" Fallowstep turned her head away, her pelt prickling and eyes stormy.

Frecklesky felt as though her heart had fluttered to a stop. She stepped forward. "Fallowstep, I'm sorry."

Fallowstep refused to look at Frecklesky. The muscle in her jaw twitched and her ears were sharply pointed forward, pretending to concentrate as she swept up the ravaged herbs with a paw.

Frecklesky's tail fell. Without another word, she turned away, pushing through the lichen and shouldering into Sparrowsnatcher. She grumbled a half-hearted apology, and left her sister to her work.