The Barn Cat

Chapter Eleven

           Palepaw watched as Mistfoot cleaned her tail, washing dirt off from where it had been laying while they ate. She glanced over at Leafstride, who gave Palepaw a worried glance. "Don't you think it's been a little long for Ivypaw to make dirt?" The calico tom asked the cats. "I saw his gaze," Brightshade snorted, "he definitely wasn't going to make dirt." "And you didn't think to let us know?" Mistfoot glared at the dark tabby. Brightshade got to his paws and shook his pelt. "Making dirt isn't my business." "But having the doubt about the fact that he was is," Mistfoot growled, getting to her paws as well. Palepaw watched the blue she-cat's hackles start to rise. "Okay settle down, we can't say a cat wasn't making dirt based on his gaze," Leafstride's mew was calm, which gave Palepaw a little peace in mind. "Why would he lie about it anyway?" Leafstride mewed. The tom looked at his paws for a moment, then back at the cats. Palepaw grew unsettled once again at the tom's worried stare. "However, if he was making dirt, he definitely isn't now. He should have been back by now." Palepaw couldn't help but gasp, "do you think he's in trouble?" Leafstride started padding the same path Ivypaw did when he left, "I don't know, but let's go find out."

      Palepaw fell into step behind Mistfoot, who was a tail's length away from Leafstride. Brightshade was mewing to himself angrily behind Palepaw, saying here and there about how Starclan shouldn't have allowed apprentices to go on missions and journeys. Palepaw could see the irritation in the way Mistfoot was walking, which made Palepaw feel a little better that she was getting irritated too. Worry starting pricking Palepaw's belly. What if Ivypaw was in danger? What if he was hurt? Would the warriors get there in time to help him? Suddenly, Palepaw didn't care about Brightshade's hurtful words, she just wanted to know what happened to Ivypaw. Not paying attention, Palepaw ran straight into the back of Mistfoot. Mistfoot gave her a glance, and Palepaw in return, gave her a sorrowful nod. She let a sigh of relief quietly out as Mistfoot turned her gaze back to where Leafstride had stopped, instead of giving Palepaw a lecture.

    Palepaw glanced around, trying to see what Leafstride was looking at, but being short and having a full-grown warrior a few whiskers away in front of her wouldn't allow her to. "Someone is here," Brightshade murmured in her ear, clearly seeing her struggle to understand what's happening. "And it's not Ivypaw." Panic surged through Palepaw, "wouldn't that mean they had to of run into him?" Brightshade looked back up ahead, "I guess so." Brightshade was bigger and taller than all of the cats here, he should be the one taking charge if there's a threat here. Palepaw glanced at the large tom, maybe he wasn't taking charge because he wanted to keep Palepaw safe. Afterall, she is his true clanmate. "Hey," Leafstride's hard mew made Palepaw flinch, "have you seen a young black tom with a white stripe down his back and white toes?" A mew Palepaw never heard before answered, "Ivypaw?" Palepaw stiffened. "Yes," Leafstride answered, "do you know where he went?" "To our camp," the mew sounded like a tom, and it sounded curious, "you must be Leafstride, he told us you cats would show up eventually." Palepaw watched as Mistfoot stormed her way past Leafstride, pelt ruffled, and claws unsheathed. "If you hurt him, we'll bring all our clans here and fight for him," the she-cat hissed. Mistfoot leaving was an opportunity for Palepaw to see the cat. It was a large, darker orange tabby tom, with curious golden eyes.

     "I never said he's hurt," the tom mewed calmly, giving Mistfoot a surprised stare, "who do you think we are?" "A rogue," Mistfoot snorted. "He came onto our territory," the tom reminded her, "that's trespassing. He's lucky that Courage isn't a fox-heart." "Is that your leader?" Leafstride asked. The tom nodded, his gaze hardening. "If you want to see him, I can fetch him for you, but you're not welcome on our territory." "You have our apprentice," Mistfoot growled. The tom flicked his tail irritably, "he crossed our territory, he was trespassing." He glared at Mistfoot, "and so are you." Mistfoot opened her mouth ready to argue again, but Leafstride put his tail on her shoulder before she could. "Yes, we know. We're thankful for your kindness, but we really need Ivypaw." Leafstride's mews were soothing, and Palepaw could see the orange tom's muscles relax, and his gaze softened. "Okay, I'll take you there," he turned his gaze to Mistfoot, "and then Courage can decide what to do with you." "What's your name?" Leafstride asked as the tom turned away. "Blaze," the tom mewed over his shoulder, "now let's go."

    Palepaw followed Brightshade this time, since Mistfoot had taken the back of their group. The grass here was soft on her paws, but all the smells burned her nose. They walked for what felt like moons, and eventually came along a huge tree full of birds' nests. "Why don't they hunt those?" Palepaw asked Brightshade. "That's Bird's Tree," Blaze meowed from ahead, "we let that tree be the only free tree for the birds." Why? Palepaw wondered but kept herself silent as they padded on. "It's through here," Blaze mewed, pushing his way through walls of grass and bushes. Leafstride moved through it with ease, while Brightshade struggling while his fur got tugged on by bush branches. Palepaw followed more in step with Leafstride as she slipped through the bushes easily, coming to an open clearing with a huge red building in the center. "A barn?" Brightshade muttered. Realization went through a spark so fast she almost forgot where it came from. "The Barn cat," Leafstride mewed out loud. "What?" Blaze asked, confused. "Blaze," a tortoiseshell she-cat with a green and a blue eye came padding over to the orange tom. "Kiki, can you fetch Courage for me?" Blaze asked the she-cat. The she-cat nodded, then trotted over to the barn. "What kind of a name is Kiki?" Brightshade asked. Blaze glanced over at the tabby tom, "she escaped no-furs." "What's a no-fur?" Palepaw asked. "It's another word for a twoleg," Leafstride replied. "Yeah, I guess you could call them that," Blaze shrugged.

     Soon enough, the tortoiseshell she-cat came padding over to Blaze again, "Courage says to just bring them inside." Blaze nodded, "follow me." The orange tabby led the way, Kiki now in the back of the group. The tom pushed his way through a bundle of yellow grass, disappearing as he pushed his way through. Leafstride followed, but Brightshade gave it an uncertain look as it was his turn to go through. "You'll be fine," Kiki mewed from the back. Brightshade still looked doubtful but pushed his way into the grass. Nervous prickles went through Palepaw's spine as she followed Brightshade into the barn. Inside the barn was a large ladder with another floor up top, but only covering half of the roof. There were piles of thicker, yellow grass lying everywhere, as well as a pile of food in one corner and many cats everywhere. "It's like they have their own clan," Palepaw whispered Brightshade's ear, which in return, gave her a small nod. "Ivypaw," Mistfoot's mew echoed through the whole barn, and Palepaw finally remembered what they were doing here. The black apprentice was sitting with what looked like four other apprentices. "Mistfoot," Ivypaw jumped to his paws and trotted over to the clan cats. "I think we found our barn cat," Ivypaw mewed, glancing at a black tom with a white spot on his chest looking down at the warriors from the second level of the barn. Leafstride gave him a nod of approval, "I think we did."