Legacy Rising: Dark Secrets

11

Rewritten ✔
Edited ✘

The next day, Beesting was acting even worse than before. He looked like he hadn't got any sleep and was fidgeting every time Pebblepaw glanced at him.

She wanted to make sure he was okay, but Troutfrost hadn't given anyone the chance to. He had whisked most of Beesting's friends away on patrols, leaving only Ravenflight to comfort him.

Pebblepaw had been out hunting with Troutfrost and Sparrowpaw most of the morning, but since Troutfrost couldn't keep them away forever, they had gone back to camp with their haul.

Ravenflight was lying next to Beesting talking to him, but when Pebblepaw trotted up the conversation seemed to end.

"I better go now. Take care, Beesting," Ravenflight meowed, giving the young tom a comforting lick on the head before leaving. Pebblepaw watched the inky black she-cat leave in confusion. Was she not allowed to hear what they were talking about?

"Hey, Beesting," Pebblepaw said, sitting down beside him. Beesting curled his tail tighter around his body and gave Pebblepaw a tense nod.

"Hey, you," he smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Pebblepaw asked, trying to get straight to the point. She didn't want to wait to ask such a serious question.

Beesting's smile immediately left his face, and he turned away from Pebblepaw's heated gaze.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just didn't get enough sleep last night." Pebblepaw's brows furrowed; she was almost surprised by how blatantly he had just lied.

"Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with...," Pebblepaw paused, contemplating whether she should finish the question, "Troutfrost?"

Pebblepaw could hardly tell that Beesting tensed up when the deputy's name was mentioned, but he did nonetheless.

She was right.

"No, it has nothing to do with him," Beesting almost hissed, though caught himself. His voice tipped towards the higher scale at the end of the sentence despite his efforts.

"Um, alright Beesting," Pebblepaw meowed. She wanted to stay a little bit longer, but the sun was setting already. How long had I, Troutfrost, and Sparrowpaw been hunting?

"I have to go now, make sure to eat," she said, getting ready to stand up.

As she turned to walk away, a sudden tug on her tail stopped her and she looked back toward Beesting.

"Pebblepaw," he whispered, his eyes full of an emotion Pebblepaw couldn't place, "be careful." And then he was gone, off to the warriors' den.

---

The trout that sat under Pebblepaw's paws looked unappetizing. She couldn't get herself to eat, not after a night of restless sleep and overwhelming thoughts about what Troutfrost might do. Of who might be next.

She wondered when Troutfrost would come to get her to train. Would he take her out to the Beech Copse and kill her too?

"Pebblepaw? Pebblepaw?"

Pebblepaw shook herself out of her thoughts as Shadeheart called her name.

"Yeah?" she asked, shuffling her paws on the ground.

"Are you okay? You seem pretty out of it," the tortoiseshell tom asked, nudging Pebblepaw with his shoulder.

"I'm good," Pebblepaw answered. She finally decided to lean down and take a bite out of the trout when an idea popped into her head.

"Shadeheart, after I'm done eating we need to talk."

--

"What'd you need?" Shadeheart asked, tilting his head dramatically. "I might not have that much time to talk. Troutfrost is supposed to assign patrols soon."

"It's about Troutfrost," Pebblepaw exclaims, bouncing forward to get up in Shadeheart's face. She found it almost funny that despite being six moons older than Pebblepaw, Shadeheart was the same height as her.

He instantly took on a more serious demeanor and opened his mouth to talk. "Pebblepaw, we've talked about this already. Troutfrost did not--."

"Stop talking and just listen!" Pebblepaw burst out, lashing her tail angrily. "Beesting has been acting so off since he, Troutfrost, and Sootsky went on that patrol."

"He literally watched Sootsky die," Shadeheart reasoned, though his argument was becoming less and less probable.

"He's been in battles before, he's seen cats die," Pebblepaw said. "He wouldn't have been that distraught unless it was Darklight. Or... if he watched his own deputy, the cat he trusted to lead him one day, kill the cat in front of him."

Shadeheart tensed. The fur on his tail raised, though his eyes remained calm. It all made sense now.

Pebblepaw watched in confusion as the once tranquil expression of answer left Shadeheart's face and fear replaced it.

"Wait! I know why Troutfrost hadn't called us to do patrols yet-- he left Ashleaf to do it sense he was 'going on a walk' or something with Otterstar! He planned to talk about battle strategies," Shadeheart rushed out, leaping past Pebblepaw. He slowed to a walk as other cats turned to look, and when he saw Pebblepaw hadn't followed, his eyes shown with despair.

"Come on already!"

Pebblepaw nodded, quickly stalking over to her friend. What if they caught Troutfrost in action? What if he actually tried to kill Otterstar? Would he really do that?

Pebblepaw and Shadeheart quickly caught up to Troutfrost, who seemed to be taking his time in whatever he was doing. He occasionally lifted his nose to the air as if sniffing for prey, so Shadeheart decided it was best to stay downwind of him.

Both the young cats' heads snapped around when leaves crunched from the other side of the path Troutfrost had been following. The beech trees had started to peek out from behind the massive oaks, and Pebblepaw had a guess at where they were heading.

"Pebblepaw," Shadeheart hissed into her ear, startling her. "We should head back. I know what's going to happen."

Pebblepaw looked at Shadeheart, appalled. He was an amazing friend and even better warrior, but had he seriously not figured out why they had to stay?

The two continued following their leader and deputy, though they had trouble finding ground uncovered by dead leaves to step on.

Pebblepaw poked her head out of a bush at the edge of the clearing they had ended up in: the Beech Copse.

Thoughts were running through Pebblepaw's mind at a million miles a moment. She knew exactly what was about to happen; she had seen it happen once, but denial had lessened the urge to tell someone.

Otterstar and Troutfrost were arguing about something, that much Pebblepaw could tell.

She wanted to get help, and she knew Shadeheart did as well, but they were both glued in place.

Finally, after what seemed like moons, Troutfrost leaped, claws out.

A/N :

Word Count: 1053
One more chapter plus an epilogue!
Make sure to take care of yourself :D