Warrior Cats: Cleardawn's Silence #Wattys2016 [Book ONE]

Chapter 14

It's been a few sunrises since I hurled myself at Flamestar, and every waking moment it seemed to have gotten even more humiliating.

The rumors have spread like wild fire, and I kept getting uneasy and questioning looks from the ones I call family.

Stormpaw and Reedpaw have sadly been avoiding me, but every now and then I could feel Stormpaw's brown gaze boring into my pelt, making me shiver quite frequently.

Thoughts seem to have overcome my mind, for I didn't realize Jumpingjay was calling my name till he finally prodded me in the shoulder.

I jolted at his unexpected touch, almost springing out of my fur as he stared at me with surprise.

Great... I thought, groaning to myself. Now I'm all jumpy.

The deputy signaled me with his tail for me to follow him, and I hesitated to give him a motion, before finally getting to my paws and stalking behind him.

"Where are we going?" I asked with a small voice, trying to hide myself among the crowd seeming to stare at me with awkwardness.

"Flamestar's den." The blue tom responded, flicking his tail in my face, making me sneeze and gather even more attention towards me.

Dear StarClan I only sneezed! I hissed in my mind.

As we made our way towards Flamestar's den, every pawstep I took only made my fur rise higher with tension.

Finally, we reached the enlarged cave sinking into a deep hollowed room crawling with moss and cobwebs, vines dangling from a crack just above the top of the entrance, flourishing the atmosphere of the den with more security.

Jumpingjay stood by the side, watching me with a hard stare against my bristling back as I padded through the draped vines, climbing a small stepping stone area that led into an encased room that was fogged by darkness.

A soft voice echoed through the walls of the cave, making me feel uneasy as I couldn't see the cat speaking. "Come in, Clearpaw."

I quickened my pace to make a progress by standing in the center of the blackened den, and a light shifted towards a fiery red pelt, making it just visible.

The cat padded out of the shadows, its eyes glinting in the shaded brightness that lingered throughout partial of the cave.

"Greetings, Clearpaw." Flamestar meowed, his voice rumbling through his throat with a delicate purr.

"Is my punishment over?" I asked quickly, not even caring to greet my leader in return. The fiery red tom was taken aback at my eagerness, but it quickly faded away to admiration.

I was given a punishment the moment after Stormpaw declared his feeling towards me. He accounted me of having several sunrises without training, and full, long days of cleaning and helping with the elders.

My muscles have been aching since the first time I laid my paws in the warmth of the elders den, and soreness seemed to curse my body every waking dawn.

"Yes." Flamestar replied after a short period of thinking. I smiled gratefully at him, my eyes sparkling with excitement.

"When can we go training again?" I asked eagerly, digging my claws into the stone and making marks. The red tom hesitated. "First thing tomorrow." He promised, giving me a warm glance.

I nodded. "See you then! Oh and, Flamestar?" "Yes?" "Sorry." I apologized, staring at him, meaning the incident that occurred just a few sunrises ago.

He dipped his head in forgiveness. I bowed in return, and bounded out of his den, my fur now bristling with excitement. I turned, my jaws parted as I was about to speak, but slowly closed them when I realized Jumpingjay was out of sight.

Shrugging, I pounced down the sloping ledge and landed with a stumble, but got straight to my paws once I got control over my fall.

I trotted over to a huddled group of cats chattering, peaking over every head to see if Jumpingjay was among them.

However, he was not.

I frowned, desperately wanting to tell him I was not in trouble for he wouldn't keep giving me nasty glances.

I padded towards them, and soon I came face to face with Darkgaze. My ears flattened.

Bad luck, I guess. I muttered to myself, giving a fake smile.

The warrior just stared at me, not giving me an expression, telling me she was still having trouble on what I had done.

"Have you seen Jumpingjay?" I asked politely, ignoring the murmurs whispering through out the split circle.

"He took a patrol out." Darkgaze responded blandly, flicking her tail and letting me know I was dismissed. I gave a bow of my head, ignoring her hatefulness, and bounded out of camp, eager to find the deputy.

Soon I caught his scent trail, my nose wiggling as I took in all the different smells.

After a while of bounding around, following the path, the scent came to an abrupt stop in front of a large berry bush.

I pushed myself through them, getting scratches from the leaves, and accidentally hurled myself at Reedpaw once I finally got through the tight opening, knocking him over.

He hissed at me, shoving me off silently as I granted him an apology.

"Why are you hiding?" I questioned, glancing around for the deputy, however he wasn't in sight.

Fear seemed to have stricken all the cats huddled together, and I noticed Featherpaw and Dustpaw were among them, as well as Stormpaw.

"There's a pack of foxes." Redeye hissed, his eyes narrowed and his fur bristling. My eyes widened in fear. I could've died!

I poked my head above the bush, hearing quiet objections and tugs at my legs below me, but I ignored it, gazing around the forest to see a orange and brown pelted dog-like creature standing above a bloodied body.

I gasped in horror and grief, seeing that it was Jumpingjay, still alive, but barely wheezing a breath.

I ducked back under swiftly, my breaths becoming heavy as I gulped down a large lump in my throat.

"He's still alive..." I murmured, my eyes still widened and dilated at the sight I just witnessed.

Stormpaw nodded, flicking his ears.

"We need to attack, we need to save Jumpingjay!" I concurred, waving my tail towards the scene. "If we don't he'll die."

Reedpaw gave me a pleased look, nodding in agreement, and soon Dustpaw joined in.

Featherpaw and Stormpaw shared a glance, their eyes glistening with grief and fear before finally they sighed, giving in.

Redeye closed his eyes and I could tell he was sending a silent prayer to StarClan, asking for luck and hope.

Soon, I heard the yowl from the tom; "attack!"

We all burst from the bushes aimlessly, launching ourselves at foxes that were lingering above the pained Jumpingjay.

I nipped at one of the ears, and clawed at its eyes, determined to take it down.

It whimpered in pain as blood shot from the socket, dripping down to its chin and howling in anger, throwing me off, making me land with an 'oof'.

I groaned, trying to get to my paws, determination crossing through my mind to reach Jumpingjay and drag him back to camp, until I felt a heavy weight crush on top of me, and soon everything went black.

(Thanks for reading! Should I kill off Jumpingjay? Yes or no? Tell me in the comments! :D Also let me know if I made any errors! Thanks for voting, commenting and sharing this story! Also special thanks to the WattyWarriors group for giving this story an 88/100 on their Advertisement Book! Means a lot to me! ~ Cleo)