Scars Don't Heal | A Warrior Cats Fanfiction

Chapter 6

Stormpaw opened her eyes to find herself curled beside the lake. She felt her eyes widen and she sprang to her paws in alarm. How did I get all the way out here?

But then a few heartbeats later curiosity overwhelmed her shock, and she took a tentative step toward the still lake. When she had been out alone on the territory she hadn't dared to go near the lake, fearing someone would catch her. She hadn't even gone near enough to catch a glimpse of it. But here she was, alone and without needing to worry about being killed.
She took another step forward, making her toes reach the unmoving edge of the water. She immediately recoiled with a faint hiss. It was cold!

Stormpaw then took another look at the lake, realizing why the water was so still and cold--because the water wasn't water, it was ice.

She was pretty sure that it was still Greenleaf, not Leafbare, so how did it get so cold?
With twitch of her tail, she slowly made her paws move around in a full circle, so she could look at everything that surrounded her. She noticed things that shouldn't be there. There was a pine tree that stood taller than it's fellows, reaching high into the sky, but it was standing in the spot where The Fallen Tree should lay. As she took in a deep breath, she could smell a clan scent that wasn't ShadeClan.

She wasn't in her territory... Was she?
It looked and smelled like ShadeClan... But it didn't at the same time.

Then the ground beneath her paws shifted, and suddenly she was balancing on a fallen tree that stretched across a path of ice. She instinctively unsheathed her claws to get a better grip on the slippery wood before she padded across. Now it was like she wasn't even in control of her own body as she quietly jumped down from the tree, landing on the pebbled shore. She felt her body twist and weave through the overhanging branches of the bushes, still silently moving forward. She abruptly stopped at the edge of a clearing, where several cats sat, their eyes all pointed up at four cats perched in a tall oak tree.

One of the cats, whom Stormpaw could barely see was a brown and white tom, stepped a bit farther out along his branch.
"I know you are all probably wondering why I am up here instead of Onestar. Well, it is a great regret for me, and for all of WindClan to say he has joined StarClan's ranks." The tom yowled, his voice thick with grief. "But he served his clan well, and he went out in style, protecting the nursery from a fox." Dismayed cries and yowls rose from the cats gathered below, and Stormpaw had to strain her ears to hear what he said next. "I wish you good hunting, my friend."

Stormpaw didn't have any time to dwell upon what the tom had said before a loud chant rose from the many cats, who now stood on their paws instead of sitting with their tails wrapped around their bodies.
"Harestar, Harestar, Harestar!"

Stormpaw flattened her ears and stumbled backwards. WindClan? StarClan? Onestar? Harestar? Who are these cats and why are they here? Why am I here?

She jumped as soft pressure brushed against her shoulder. She turned her head to see a tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes sitting beside her. Stormpaw flinched backwards and made to turn and run, but the look the she-cat gave her stopped her. It was a look of love and happiness.

But there was something else behind those happy eyes that suggested this she-cat was hurting. Stormpaw suddenly felt the same warmness she felt when she had placed her claws into the marks she had found in her hollow. She tuned out the background noise of those mysterious cats, and hesitantly smiled back. The she-cat seemed encouraged by Stormpaw's smile, and opened her mouth.

"All cats gather for a clan meeting!"

Stormpaw jerked awake to find herself in the Apprentice's den. That she-cat was going to tell me something! She growled in frustration.

But then she remembered why she'd been woken up, and she quickly scrambled to her paws. She quickly licked a few stray tufts of fur on her chest down, shook off the little bits of moss still clinging to her pelt, and leaned forward in a luxurious stretch. She then quietly weaved past the empty nests lining the ground and stepped outside.

Redstar's broad form was outlined by the rising sun, so Stormpaw was unable to see anything except his silhouette. She narrowed her eyes against the glare, trying to pick out Nettleflash's brown tabby pelt from gathered cats. As she was looking for her mentor, she saw Redstar nod his head to Wolfclaw, and the gray deputy nodded back before disappearing into the prisoner den.

Stormpaw froze, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw Wolfclaw lead a limping cat out of the den. No...please no...
Once the limping cat stepped out of the sun's glare, she could tell she'd guessed who it was right.

It was Swallowfeather.