Gilafang's Resentment (Book 4)

Chapter 10

Gilapaw ducked out of Lemurstar's den beside Snowtip, heading straight for the medicine den to collect his traveling herbs when he was met by Wishkit. Her eyes were round and sad. "Gilapaw, you're leaving on the patrol?!" She cried, her eyes wide. "You could get hurt!"

Gilapaw licked her forehead lovingly, grateful for his friend's concern. "I'll be surrounded by all the senior warriors. They'll keep me safe," he reasoned. She nuzzled his flank sadly with her dainty nose in farewell.

"Good luck, Gilapaw. Be careful." She mewed sorrowfully into his fur. Gilapaw in turn nuzzled her cheek and nodded.

"I will. I promise." He said and bounded back to the medicine den before she could say another word to convince him to stay.

*****

Gilapaw looked nervously at Sunsetpool as he gathered at the entrance of the camp. The sun was at it's highest point and the patrol was bidding it's final farewells to the clan.

Snowtip nuzzled Lemurstar, whispering something affectionately in her ear that made both friends chuckle. Ryeflight was looking fondly at the clan while Badgerfang and Turtleface bid farewell to their family and the kits. Finally, the patrol was ready.

Gilapaw nodded firmly to Lemurstar, who stared back at him, flicking the tip pf her tail. "I bid you all good luck, and I wish you a safe journey. May StarClan grant us the luck of finding new warriors." She said. The rest of the clan nodded and murmured in agreement, and the patrol around him lifted their heads proudly.

"We will not let you down, Lemurstar." Badgerfang said, dipping his head. "Lets go."

They patrol nodded and the clan cheered their response as they padded out of the camp in a single file, lifting their chins. Gilapaw brought up the rear of the line, watching for any trouble. They passed the hostile twoleg clearing and the waterfall cave, and finally they reached the edge of the territory. Standing in a line at the edge, they all looked at each other, hesitant.

Finally Snowtip broke the silence. "What do you think's out there?" She ventured, her voice quiet. Gilapaw stared ahead at the sandy moor ahead of him, filled with rocks and little patches of dead grass. A little tiny spiked lizard skittered slowly across the hill ahead of them, its legs swinging back and fourth like a dance.

"Twolegs, I hope," Badgerfang responded after a heartbeat. "And wild seeking kittypets."

Gilapaw looked at each of his companions, itching to get on his way. No one dared make a move to be the first out of the territory. So Gilapaw took a deep breath, and reached a paw over the line, leaving the safety of the damp grass and stepping onto the hot, red sand. His paw pads burned, but Gilapaw didn't care. He stepped tentatively ahead, low in a hunter's crouch. After a heartbeat or two, the others followed, and they headed forward in a wary possession, ears pricked for danger.

Soon Gilapaw felt the uneasy feeling in his chest ease, the twisted knot in his stomach unravel and he lifted his chin higher, slowly easing out of his crouch with the others as e grew more confident with each pawstep.

Snowtip gazed around with awe. "It's so barren... Where's the Twolegplace anyways?" She asked as they stopped to rest. As Gilapaw licked his chapped, cracked pads, he saw the sun was lowering itself in the sky. He sighed at the green spiky plants that dotted the hot red sand around him.

"Lemurstar said it was somewhere this way," Ryeflight answered in his hoarse meow from behind him. "When the ancient DewClan was driven out all those moons ago, they took shelter in a giant Twolegplace!" He panted. "I remember the elders telling me stories about their kithood in the Twolegplace when I was just a wee sprout."

Gilapaw looked back over at the hill in front of him. Ryeflight was almost an elder himself, and Gilapaw wondered why Lemurstar had chosen such an old and vulnerable cat to come on the journey with them. But now he understood. He knew all about it.

Badgerfang took the chance to step up. "Lemurstar said it was near, so we should trust her!" He declared, his eyes the slightest bit disgusted that his clanmates were doubting his leader and mate, whom he obviously trusted with his life.

Gilapaw nodded in agreement as he got to his paws, wincing as one of them broke open on the rough sand. The sand seeped onto the split and stung the wound, but he ignored it. "We should keep going, Ryeflight. It must be just over this hill!" He reasoned.

Ryeflight looked at him, his eyes clouded with doubt and worry. "I don't know, Gilapaw. It could be wiped out, we could never reach it."

Baderfang rounded on Ryeflight. "It can't! Lemurstar said it was so, it is so!" He said angrily, his eyes wide with fear and worry.

Snowtip and Turtleface looked at each other and pulled the toms off of each other. "Fighting won't get us anywhere you mouse brains!" Snowtip said, sighing with exasperation. "Cut it out!" Turtleface looked as if she agreed, and Badgerfang sighed.

"You trust your leader, don't you, Ryeflight?" He asked, his eyes tired and worried. He was the head of the patrol, and, having so much weight on his shoulders, Gilapaw understood his temper.

Ryeflight nodded. "I do. But I don't know if the fact from all those moons ago is still fact. Times change, Badgerfang. Sometimes Twolegs die out. You never know," he said.

Badgerfang pondered this for a minute, his crooked jaw tense with annoyance. "Alright. But we still can't go back without at least four more warrior-ready cats. We only have one apprentice and one litter of kits in the clan, Ryeflight! The weight of our survival lies on my shoulders!" He cried, his eyes closed. He shook his head and turned away to start again on their journey. "We have to make our efforts at least count for something."