Ghosts of the Clans

Chapter 6

"I can't believe that Tawnypelt, Tigerpaw, Dawnpaw and Flamepaw are gone!" Redpaw heard Olivepaw exclaim quietly one day. "What?" he gaped at her, rushing over to sit beside her, Shrewpaw and Owlpaw.

The older gray she-cat nodded, her amber eyes solemn. "Yeah, a patrol tried to find her, but her scent trail led to ThunderClan. We all think she escaped there. I wonder why though..." Her brother, Owlpaw, nudged her. "It's obvious, don't you think? Tawnypelt has always been stuck to the warrior code- she went there to escape from Sol." The loner had talked with Blackstar so much until one day, the ShadowClan leader announced that he would become Blackfoot, and that StarClan was either useless, or didn't exist at all. Redpaw had been shell-shocked!

Glancing around nervously for either the tortoiseshell-and-white tom or other warriors, Olivepaw whispered, "You could be right. What should we do, then? Tawnypelt has Brambleclaw, and she grew up in ThunderClan, so she escaped there. But who do we have?" The apprentices looked at each other, and Redpaw hesitantly suggested, "Maybe join Tawnypelt in ThunderClan?"

Shrewpaw shook her head. "Nah, it would be too weird if all of us went to ThunderClan." Owlpaw stood up and arched his back in a stretch, his hind legs trembling. "Perhaps we should just stay here," the light brown tom meowed, heading towards his mentor, Smokefoot, who was waiting for him by the entrance.

Shrewpaw flicked her tail. "Well, I'd better get going; Ratscar wanted to teach me how to hunt frogs." As she left, Redpaw and Olivepaw also got up and headed towards the training hollow, where their own mentors were waiting.

The only sign of the conversation were some flattened stalks of grass behind the apprentices' den.

"Dodge! Strike her shoulder! Leap and twist! Roll under her belly!" Whitewater commanded. Redpaw panted heavily, each movement stiff and exhausting. Finally, Olivepaw jumped onto his back and hooked his paws from underneath him easily, pinning him down. "I won!" she crowed, leaping back.

Shaking out his mottled brown-and-ginger pelt, Redpaw hissed in exasperation. "I never get it right!" he complained, his tail lashing. "Maybe Sol is right about the warrior code, and StarClan!"

"Redpaw!" Crowfrost, Olivepaw's mentor, exclaimed, his amber eyes wide with shock. "Don't say that- you will improve over time." But Redpaw had turned his back, and was stalking off. Behind him, he heard a scuffle of paws as Olivepaw started towards him, but Whitewater held the tortoiseshell she-cat back. "Don't. He probably needs space to cool down."

He let out a puff of frustration when he was deep in the territory, his claws working against the soil. Why am I so bad at fighting? Spotting a plump mouse in the ferns, he pounced, sinking his teeth into the succulent flesh, comforting himself with the thought that he was excellent at hunting. Feeling his temper start to calm, Redpaw took a deep breath and continued his work, enjoying the soft breeze that ruffled his fur.

It was nearing sunset when he looked up, alarm throbbing through him. An old, broken down wooden Twoleg nest loomed above, only logs left of what had been a whole nest.

A sudden weight bowled him over, and he fell to the ground, paws waving. A voice snarled, "What are you doing here, Clan cat?" 

He looked up to see yellow eyes the same shape and shade as his, and a tortoiseshell pelt so familiar that he thought it was Olivepaw before he saw the she-cat's white patches.

"Penny?" he choked out.