Mutatio

Chapter 6 FlamePaw

I had never been more tired in my life. My paws dragged across the dirt as we made our way back to camp in the dark. MistTail had me running around the forest non-stop all day. The only break we took was for lunch, and we had to hunt it ourselves. The pads of my feet were sore and starting to bleed, my lungs aching from lack of air. MistTail gently nudged me along. My throat was stinging, my muscles crying, but I kept moving. Being a Delta was harder work than I thought. And all we had done was train for running! Suddenly, my feet were no longer on the ground. MistTail had picked me up in her jaws by the scruff of my neck and was running back to camp.

"Put me down!" I exclaimed. "I can't go into camp like this, I'd be the laughing stock of the pack!" MistTail rolled her eyes at me.

"You can barely walk, FlamePaw. At least let me carry you to the entrance." She replied, her speech muffled by my fur. I sighed, but said nothing else. I let out a yawn and my eyes dropped. I fell asleep to the sound of MistTail's paws hitting the dirt and grass...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"FlamePaw! Hey, FlamePaw!" I furrowed my eyebrows and opened my eyes. I blinked sleep out of them. It was still dark outside. Nearly dawn, I'd say. MistTail must have carried me into camp and put me in the apprentice den, despite what I had said. The scents of the den were new and I felt myself panic slightly. I took a deep breath to calm down and looked around for who had called my name. It was KindlePaw. She was standing outside the entrance of the Apprentice Den, her ears back, crouched low as she tried to be stealthy. When she saw me looking, she motioned with her head for me to follow her, then slipped into the darkness. I glanced over at TearPaw, who was sound asleep and snoring like a bear. I poked him gently, but he didn't stir, so I got to my feet and carefully followed KindlePaw out of the den. I found her crouched behind a bush, waiting for me. I silently walked over to her.

"KindlePaw, what is it?" I whispered. She motioned with her head to the center of the clearing. There were two wolves there, barely visible in the darkness due their black pelts. I gasped quietly. "Is that...?" KindlePaw nodded.

"NightSky and ShadowChirp. I wonder what's going on? They never argue!" She exclaimed in the same hushed tone. I tiled my head to the side and looked at the scene closely. ShadowChirp rubbed his head against NightSky, and it seemed to me that NightSky was trembling.

"I don't think they're arguing, KindlePaw..." I told her quietly. She narrowed her eyes to look as well and twitched her ear.

"Come on...we should get closer." She suggested. I pressed my ears against my head.

"Are you kidding me? Thats the Zeta and his mate! The two most skilled fighters in the pack! There's no way they won't notice us!" I hissed. KindlePaw smirked at me.

"Come on, FlamePaw, you're an apprentice now! Not to mention a Delta apprentice! Let's have some fun! MistTail has to sneak around all the time! This is perfect practice for that sort of thing! Besides, who knows when you and Delta will have to leave again?" She contradicted. I shook my head at her, but followed as she crept out from behind the bush. The closer we got, the more anxious I got. I told myself to calm down, that it was only NightSky and ShadowChirp. If caught, NightSky would take my side...right? She did this kind of stuff as an apprentice too, after all. I darted behind a rock, keeping my head low. KindlePaw did the same. The rock was small, so she had to lean against me to stay hidden.

"Look at you, leading the way!" She breathed, her voice so quiet that I could barely hear it with her right next to me. I rolled my eyes at her and listened for what ShadowChirp and NightSky were saying.

"...I'm so scared." NightSky was saying. That sent shudders through me. NightSky was scared? What could possible scare her?

"It'll be alright, NightSky. Everything's going to be fine. I promise." ShadowChirp replied.

"How am I supposed to look for FrostDapple now?" I looked over at KindlePaw, my eyebrows furrowed, wondering if she was making more sense of what they were saying than I was. Her eyes were to the ground as she listened intently. I turned my attention back to the conversation.

"NightSky, you've been looking for her for a year. Most of the apprentices don't even know her! I know it's hard to accept, but...FrostDapple might not want to be found." ShadowChirp told her. NightSky's eyes flashed with anger, then with sadness, then defeat. She let out a silent sob and buried her head in ShadowChirp's shoulder.

"She abandoned us...she betrayed her pack...for some human boy." NightSky hissed angrily. ShadowChirp was about to say something when NightSky continued. "What about BurntLeaf? What about WillowTail? What about me? Are we nothing to her?" ShadowChirp licked NightSky comfortingly.

"FrostDapple never wanted to hurt any of you." He said. NightSky shook her head.

"I guess we'll never know, though, because I'm through with chasing after her! FrostDapple is as good as dead to me!" She was crying now. I felt bad for listening in on their conversation. Especially now that it had gotten so personal. The next thing NightSky said was so quiet that I almost missed it.

"I miss her...I miss her so much..." I furrowed my eyebrows. Hadn't she just said that FrostDapple was dead to her? They were sisters, though, so the loss was still there. I wondered if, wherever she was, FrostDapple missed her sister as much as NightSky missed her?

"I know." ShadowChirp whispered in reply.

"How could she abandon us like that? How could she abandon her pup?!" My stomach dropped. FrostDapple had a pup? I looked at the nursery, wondering which parent had lied about the pup being theirs... "I will never do that. I will never abandon my pups." NightSky said firmly, her voice filled with sadness.

"I know you won't." ShadowChirp whispered. NightSky looked up at him.

"Do you think that... Should we tell him? Since FrostDapple's obviously not coming back, that is." NightSky wondered. ShadowChirp's ear twitched.

"I think we just did." ShadowChirp and NightSky looked in the direction of the rock we were hiding behind, but I was already on my feet, racing for the entrance, the muscles that had been sore now pushing me onwards. I blazed past NightSky and ShadowChirp and slipped through the entrance. I didn't stop. I kept running, not caring where I was going. My paws, which were still tender from yesterday, started bleeding again, but I didn't stop. My muscles were now screaming in protest once more, but I didn't stop. I kept running and running, as fast as my legs would carry me. FrostDapple...was my mom?