Warriors: The Beginning

Chapter 9

"Shadowpaw's missing! He's not in camp!" Bronzeflight cried, her eyes clouded with worry.

"What? Did he go on a patrol?" Yinpaw asked, bounding up to Shadowpaw's mentor. She shook her head.

"Crestfoot hasn't sent out any patrols yet," she explained in a frantic voice. "And he wouldn't go out anywhere by himself without telling me." Yinpaw was bewildered by this statement.

"Well... Can't you follow his scent trail?" Suggested Yinpaw. She remembered his sweet scent and tried to fill her nostrils with it.

"No," another voice replied gravely. The apprentice turned around, only to see Crestfoot standing there. He looked... Solemn.

"We tried following his scent trail, but it only goes as far as the camp entrance. It ends there." His blue eyes were stricken with that same worry that Bronzeflight felt.

"Well, I'm going to look for him," announced Yinpaw, getting on her paws. "I'm tired of all the cats sulking around. That won't get you anywhere!" Then she padded towards the camp entrance, which was a clump of bushes that sprouted vibrant red flowers every newleaf.

She tracked down his scent in no time, then realised that what the deputy had said about it ending at the entrance was true. It just... Stopped. Like an invisible barrier that prevented his scent to linger.

Despite this, Yinpaw padded on, racking her brain trying to think of where Shadowpaw might be.

"Maybe he's sad," she mumbled to herself. "If I was sad, I'd go to..." She let her sentence drop as she realised where he could be. The cliff! The cliff was a sheer, steep drop that could kill if accidentally fell down.

It wasn't the ideal place to be, but it was calming, in a sense. There were some trees, a small river that flowed down the cliff and some bushes that grew multiple colours of flowers. There was a small part of the cliff that didn't have any shlter from the trees and made a perfect sunning-place. It was just like a mini camp!

It was a beautiful place and had this calming, relaxing effect if sat at. It was too far to be part of their territory, but no other cat or animal had claimed it as its own, so the cats went there in their times of despair.

Yinpaw padded up to the clearing, where trees were dotted randomly around with luscious heads of leaves. She opened her mouth and tasted the air, trying to pinpoint Shadowpaw's scent in particular.

It didn't take long for her to track down his scent. It led to the edge of the cliff, nearer to the bushes with the colourful flowers. A black cat was there with Shadowpaw's scent, sniffing at the bushes.

"Shadowpaw?" Yinpaw meowed nervously. She was afraid that this wasn't him. But, to her tremendous relief, it was him after all. His piercing blue eyes reflecting his silky black pelt.

He looked surprised to see her here. Well, shocked.

"W-what are you doing here?" Stammered the black cat, his eyes widening. Yinpaw narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"I could say the same for you," she replied, padding up to him. He had a strange scent of something unfamiliar, but the white and black apprentice had that tugging feeling in her mind that she should've known that scent.

It led to a bush that had grown berries and the berries were all black and ripened and glossy. That nagging feeling was back...

"Why did you come here for?" Yinpaw asked him, passing to sit beside her friend. She faced him, but he avoided her gaze and cast his look to his paws.

"Nothing, really," muttered the apprentice, a hint of guilt slipping though. "I — I just needed to relax."

"Oh," she said, realising that the reason he wanted to relax was because of her. "I thought I was someone whom you could trust, but I guess not." She added the last bit softly, feeling her heart being squashed by a rock.

"Well, come back to camp," she quickly veered away from that subject.

"Oh, okay," he gave in, puffing out a sigh. "But please don't hate me. I came... I came because you and I couldn't ever be mates, and it killed me." He gazed at the ground and his eyes were filled with a touch of sadness.

"Oh, Shadowpaw," she cooed, placing her tail around his flank. "We can't ever, because I'm a medicine cat. What ever happened to that happy you that I saw yesterday?" She inquired.

"That... Was all an act. I didn't want you to treat me as an ungrateful cat. I didn't get any sleep last night," he admitted guiltily. "Please don't hate me..."

"I'd never," Yinpaw replied truthfully. "But I can never love you either, I'm sorry." She glanced at him, whose eyes looked as if they had been crushed then put back into his eye sockets. He looked... Distant. Broken. She suddenly got a bad idea of what he was sniffing at earlier.

"Were those... Deathberries you were sniffing at just now?" She questioned him. But reply came there none, as he just continued looking down at his paws. "Please tell me those weren't deathberries."

"Maybe just one..." His sentence dropped as the effects started to take place, his body drooping oddly.

"What? No!" She cried out, terrified by the sudden news. She never knew that the cliff that many cats went to for relaxation grew deathberries!

"Come!" She ordered harshly, but her voice had a twist of worry and concern. We need yarrow, she thought subconsciously. That'll get the poison out of him.

Yinpaw dragged him back to camp with all her strength that she had, pulling him by his scruff. It was hard, for he was the same size and weight as she.

When they got back to camp, the first thing she yelled out was, "Ambereye! Yarrow, now!"

[edited] 12/6/16