Cinders to Flames

Chapter 22

Wolfclaw bared his teeth. "Good enough for me. You can leave alongside the half-blood traitor. We have little use for a cripple in FrostClan anyway."

Cinderfrost was used to the feeble insults and she was barely a cripple, she could run and jump as well as any cat thanks to Pixie's training. But calling Blackwhisker a traitor made her fur rise.

She scoffed in contempt. "Well, at least I have both my parents."

"How dare you!" The grey tom screeched, launching himself at her with his claws outstretched. Cinderfrost had been in enough fights during her time in the twolegplace to know how to handle such a weak attack. With a quick, fluid movement she sidestepped, curving a paw around the tom's forepaw as he landed, the momentum from his leap throwing him forward as he tripped. In an instance her attack was flat on the rocky ground with a paw pinned to his throat. "Fight you coward!" He snarled, trying to escape her grasp.

"I don't want to fight." Cinderfrost gazed around the camp clearing at her clanmates. The sun was starting to dip behind the mountains, painting the sky a peach coloured amber that reminded her of Blackwhisker's warm gaze. He still stood frozen behind her, and when she looked at him his eyes refused to meet her gaze. Berryfang, Toadshine, Sootslash, and Heronsky had surrounded her, their claws unsheathed and ready to attack. "We're clanmates. Not enemies," she meowed.

Berryfang stepped forward, his sandy tabby coat bathed in orange. His fur shifted under the dying light of the sun, and the movement reminded her briefly of flames.

A shiver ran down her spine along with fleeting memories.

"We outnumber you," he hissed, his piercing eyes narrowed.

"I don't think you should be this confident. I'm not as easy to beat as you think I am," she shifted her weight still holding Wolfclaw to the ground to prove her point.

"Enough fighting." Iceleap interjected, "we already have the loners and DarkClan to worry about. In-clan fighting is not going to help."

"There is a traitor among our ranks!" Sootslash cried, glaring at the white tom. "How is that nothing to worry about?"

Cinderfrost watched her parents bicker in growing despair. Heronflight poised to spring. "Let's get rid of these traitors before they cause any more problems." He declared.

Cinderfrost unsheathed her claws and held them to Wolfclaw's throat. "Attack and he gets it."

Heronflight froze.

She gave Wolfclaw an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, but this is for both me and Blackwhisker's safety and your own good." She turned back to addressing the clan. "I would like to explain instead of us tearing each other's throat's out before we all fully understand the situation."

Her attackers reluctantly forced their fur to flatten and relaxed their tensed muscles.

"Excellent" she meowed, sheathing her claws. "You see, our good friend Vinespring here," she beckoned to the tabby she-cat who had been watching the scene play out from a distance. She continued, "spotted Blackwhisker with a loner who he met on a solo patrol as an apprentice. Is that right?" Vinespring nodded, her eyes wide. "This loner happened to be his father, who he continued meeting with until quite a few moons ago. Can you confirm?" Blackwhisker nodded with a relieved expression. "Okay. Does that shed some light on the situation?"

The cats spoke in hushed voices for a moment. "How come you knew that Blackwhisker was meeting with his father and no one else did?" Sootslash pointed out.