Untold Omen

Ch.8

Patchpaw's stomach churned when she saw the grief on Snakepaw's face. The apprentice was horrified to see his mentor in such an injured state.

Mintpaws muttered something to the nearby Adderthorn. The large tom lowered his head and forced his head under Rednose's flank.

The deputy rolled over onto Adderthorn's back. The russet tom stood up, keeping Rednose balanced on his shoulders while padding toward the medicine den.

Mintpaws was following close behind with Snakepaw at her tail. Patchpaw watched helplessly as Snakepaw disappeared with the others inside the den.

Twigrush was still standing near the clan entrance, taking deep breaths to steady herself. She eventually made her way across the camp, her tail nearly pinned between her legs as she pushed her way through the thicket that lined the medicine den entrance.

Small drops of scarlet lined the path that the cats had taken. The scent of the blood made Patchpaw's nose sting. She nearly jumped out of her fur when she felt some cats pelt bristle against her tail.

"Silvercloud!" Patchpaw gasped, turning her head to see him over her shoulder.
"Sorry if I scared you," The tom apologized with a friendly glance. Silvercloud gave a wary look toward the other side of camp where his former mentor was being treated for her wounds.

"You're fine!" Patchpaw piped, pivoting on her paws to face the larger tom, then lowering herself to sit in front of him.

"Crowwatcher still needs to gather the dusk patrol, right? With us and Laurelpaw?"
"That's right." Silvercloud shook out his long, silver fur and sat next to Patchpaw.

She watched his fur light up in the dimming sun, flowing gently in the warm air the start of newleaf carried. His green eyes lit up when he noticed she was staring at him.

He tapped her front paw gently with his tail, his whiskers twitching in amusement. Patchpaw hopped up on her paws, feeling her ears go warm. She shook out her fur in embarrassment, readjusting to sit next to him instead. She rapidly changed the subject.
"Snakepaw is in the medicine den with Rednose. Do you think what Twigrush said is true, that they were attacked by ThunderClan cats?" asked Patchpaw.

"What reason do they have to lie?" There was a hint of accusation in the tom's tone. "Those cats have been crossing our border for moons now and Elmstar refuses to do anything about it until blood is spilt."
Patchpaw lowered her head, trying to appear friendly. I never said they were lying. "Do you think Elmstar will do something now?"
"He better!" Silvercloud bellowed, louder than Patchpaw expected. He shook out the fur on his head, forcing his fur to flatten. He stood on his paws and brushed past Patchpaw toward the clan entrance. "Come on."

Patchpaw hurried to catch up to the tom. She squeaked at him as she trotted. "We have to wait for Crowwatcher!"

"Warriors can leave camp when they choose." Silvercloud looked at Patchpaw over his shoulder, a glint of rebellion in his eyes. "If we get started early, we can catch more prey. Crowwatcher will have no reason to complain then, will he?"

Patchpaw couldn't come up with an argument. "..no, I guess not."

Patchpaw followed Silvercloud through the dense pine forest. She struggled to keep up with him, her paws sinking into the mud with each frantic step she took.

"You know, it's quite easy to hunt in the marsh if you know what you're looking for." Silvercloud didn't stop to see if Patchpaw had heard him. His tail swayed over his ankles as he walked, picking up chunks of mud and flinging them to the side.

"Isn't it just frogs?" Patchpaw muttered, wincing when a fleck of mud flew across her muzzle.

She shook her head aggressively, unable to use her muddy paws. Silvercloud looked back at her, letting out an audible snort as she struggled to get the mud off her face.