Flames & Shadows

Chapter 5

Hey, everyone.
I'm so sorry for not updating any sooner. I had to deal with writer's block (again :P ) but I'm back at I hope you guys like this chapter.

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Redpaw pads though the forest behind Mistyleg, his gaze flitting about as he glances each way.

His dreams that he's been having focus around him being in the forest and a cat — or multiple cats, he believes — are watching him at a distance from the undergrowth. Each time he wakes up, he simply becomes more and more confused about the meaning behind his dreams.

He's so pulled into his thoughts that he jumps when his mentor places her fluffy gray tail on his back.

"Thank StarClan! It took so long to get your attention." Mistyleg continues to pad forward and her ears flick when Redpaw doesn't move from where he had stopped.

"Redpaw, are you alright?" The warrior pads up and sits down in front of him.

The apprentice nods. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You seem a bit in your head."

Redpaw huffs. "I'm that obvious, I guess."

Mistyleg sits down. "What's wrong?"

The ginger apprentice sighs. "I've been having these weird dreams when I'm sleeping and I don't know what to do."

The gray she-cat curls her tail around her paws. "Can you tell me what your dreams are about?"

Redpaw sighs. "I would, but I want to figure it out on my own."

His mentor sighs. "Alright. I won't force you." She gets up and beckons for him to follow with her plumy dark gray tail. "But you know you can always talk to the medicine cats when you feel ready to."

The young ginger tom follows Mistyleg towards the training hollow, the rest of the walk an awkward silence.

—~=+O+=~—

Lightcloud sighs and limps towards the prey pile, grabbing a young squirrel and limping over to lay in a patch of fading sunlight over near the warriors' den.

"May I join you?"

The white tom drops his meal and cranes his head up to see a petite white she-cat, her pelt scattered with gray tabby patches. "Uh... Sure, I guess."

The she-cat dips her head and settles down next to him, biting into her meal, a pheasant — a rare catch for ThunderClan. "How are you doing? With, well, you know ..."

"My leg?" Lightcloud's ears pull back against his head and he has to hold a hiss back. "It's fine."

"I-I'm sorry ... I didn't mean to make you angry." The she-cat turns away, resting her head on her paws.

He sighs and shakes his head. "No. I'm sorry. StarClan knows that I was acting like a mouse-brain." He hangs his head.

He lifts his head slightly when her paw rests on top of his.

"I didn't know you would lash out like that. I shouldn't have asked about your leg, as it's probably something the Clan pities you for."

Lightcloud releases a hiss he'd been suppressing. "They all pity me because of my injured leg. And I don't like it." He lashes his tail in frustration. "I hear them talk about me all the time, as if I'll never be able to care for the needs of the Clan. Not like I used to, anyways."

The she-cat — Raincloud, he recalls — smiles. "Then you have to show them that you aren't like they see you. Use StarClan's strength to be that kind, loyal warrior the Clan truly knows you as."