Warriors: Frecklesky's Heart

[ 18 ]

Once Frecklesky returned to camp, her wounds were tended to quickly and she left camp by sunset. Fallowstep had worried about her incessantly, and held her behind during her fretting, begging for a private conversation. Frecklesky had dismissed her. They could talk tomorrow instead.

Now, she sat at the thunderpath, anxiously watching the other side.

Her heart picked up speed as Rachel emerged from the forest and glanced both ways, a shadowy figure dangling in her mouth. After a monster roared past, she trotted onto the thunderpath, her pace stilted due to the weight dragging her down.

Frecklesky pricked her ears in alarm as a monster whipped around the corner, speeding towards her friend with its glaring white eyes.

"Rachel!" Frecklesky shrieked, her claws pinned to the grass as it whizzed closer and closer.

With a sudden burst of speed, Rachel cleared the rest of the asphalt, stumbling over her paws as the wind from the monster blew fiercely against her back. Frecklesky raced forward to greet her, showering her face in worried licks.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Rachel mrrowed, gently pushing the large warrior away. "I'm okay, can't you see?"

Frecklesky's ears flattened and she struggled to smooth her hackles. "You need to be more careful next time. What were you carrying, anyways?" She glanced down at Rachel's paws, where a strange clump of black fur sat.

"Oh, it's been getting colder recently, and I was thinking about how you live out in the wilderness..." Rachel explained, her ear twitching in embarrassment. "I thought you might want this."

She nudged the scrap of fur towards Frecklesky, and the large warrior gave it an awkward sniff. It's so strange, and smells like twolegs. "What is it?" She mewed, giving it a tentative prod.

"It's an old blanket," Rachel explained. "The people make it feel like fur, even though it isn't. It's really soft."

Frecklesky prodded the scrap of fabric with her nose, and the softness tickled her face. She smiled softly, glancing up to see Rachel's nervously excited eyes watching her.

"It's amazing," Frecklesky purred, pulling her head up to brush her cheek against Rachel's. "Thank you."

Rachel beamed and nuzzled her in return, before padding a few tail-lengths away.

"Where are you off to?" Frecklesky's whiskers twitched in amusement as Rachel ambled mindlessly along, her eyes mostly shut as she allowed her whiskers and nose to guide her.

"I don't know. I just love it here," the kittypet breathed happily.

Frecklesky padded slowly after her. "Not as much as I..." she trailed off before she could finish, her breath catching in her throat. As much as I what? Love her? She snorted softly to herself.

Golden eyes flicked in Frecklesky's direction. "Not as much as you what?" She mewed, echoing the tortoiseshell's thoughts.

"It was nothing," Frecklesky shook her head, her spine prickling uncomfortably.

"Oh, come on, Frecklesky." Rachel turned around and padded back to the large warrior, tilting her head to meet Frecklesky's green eyes. "Can't you tell little ol' me?"

Frecklesky leaned down and touched her nose to Rachel's with a gentle purr. "And ruin the surprise?" She mewed, her mind dancing. "No, I wouldn't dare."

Rachel's eyes grew round, and she lifted her paws, placing them delicately on Frecklesky's shoulders. "What surprise?"

Frecklesky shrugged the dark she-cat off. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, you know," she remarked slyly, turning back towards the boulder and casually meandering back towards their spot. Darkness had fallen, and the stars were out.

Perhaps I can bring her some prey sometime for a surprise, she considered. If I recall correctly, she's never tried anything fresh before.

"But Frecklesky!" Rachel fought to keep up with the large warrior, her tail flicking impatiently behind her. "You know you can't do this to me."

Frecklesky scooped up the little blanket that Rachel had brought her, and rolled onto her back with it tucked carefully between her teeth, turning her eyes to the stars. She dropped it once she was comfortable, allowing the strange furry fabric to settle upon her chest.

Rachel flopped down into the grass beside the warrior, allowing her thin pelt to sink into Frecklesky's thick fur.

"Please?" She mewed brightly, fluttering her eyelashes at the large warrior.

"No, can't tell you," Frecklesky snorted.

Rachel huffed. "If you don't tell me, I won't tell you my surprise."

Frecklesky froze, turning her eyes marginally to stare at the kittypet from the corner of her eye. "Your surprise?"

"Can't tell you."

Frecklesky swept up the little blanket between her teeth and swung it over Rachel's eyes. The dark she-cat squealed, her voice high pitched with laughter as she pummeled at the soft fabric, batting it away.

"Was that my surprise, Rachel?" Frecklesky purred, pulling the blanket away with a soft smile blessing her face. She laid her head onto her paws, blinking stupidly over at Rachel.

Rachel rolled to her side to stare at the warrior. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't!" She pouted.

"You know it's not a surprise if you've already given it to me," Frecklesky pointed out.

"It was a surprise when I brought it though, wasn't it?" She teased in return.

Frecklesky huffed a laugh. "Maybe, but it didn't startle me as badly as that monster did."

"Car," Rachel corrected. "It's called a car."

Frecklesky crinkled her nose. "That's too close to 'cat' for my liking."

"Well, they're not monsters," Rachel mewed. "They're not sentient, and they're not alive, either. They're no smarter than dirt."

"Oh really?" Frecklesky tilted her head.

"Mhm," Rachel turned her eyes back up to the stars. "They carry people inside of them." Before Frecklesky could inquire further, the kittypet derailed from the present topic, "Oh, look! That cloud over there looks like a feather."

Frecklesky craned her neck, her eyes following Rachel's paw. One of the only clouds across the sky was curved to a pointed tip, plumed at the sides like a feather would be.

"The one in front of Silverpelt?" She asked, watching as it lightly flitted across the thickest band of stars.

"Who's Silverpelt?"

"It's not a who," Frecklesky laughed. "It's a what. See that thick stretch of stars?"

"Yeah?"

"That's Silverpelt. It's where our ancestors are."

Rachel cast Frecklesky a quizzical glance. "I thought your ancestors crossed all the stars."

Frecklesky paused in thought. "I mean, I guess so. But Silverpelt is their hunting grounds. It's where most of our ancestors gather, anyways."

"You Clan cats are weird," Rachel purred, scooting closer to Frecklesky. "Tell me more."

Frecklesky smiled softly, and began telling Rachel more of Clan life, lingering more on tales of ShadowClan than the rest.