Warriors: Impending Storm (ON PAUSE)

Chapter Eight

Waning Moon felt her chest constrict beneath the weight of her despair as she watched Quail Feather being led, gently and kindly, by the spotted golden tom she had fallen in love with all those moons ago. Pharaoh, she cried silently. I abandoned you...abandoned my dream of being worthwhile and being your one and only...and for what? She had tried so hard to convince herself that she could be useful, that she could overcome her adversity and train as a warrior or a hunter if she could just give herself a chance. Yet did she really believe that? When Rising Wind had spoken to her just a day before, she had begun to open her heart, to believe that there was something she could do to better her Tribe.

Perhaps I changed my mind too quickly. Perhaps I was led into believing I could be something I'm not. Gazing behind her, Waning Moon's eyes rested upon the twisted and limp back leg she had grown to hate with a passion as fierce as the burning of a great fire. This leg will never let me be at peace here, she thought desperately. And I ruined my once chance to change my life for the better.

Beside her, Fish Catcher gazed at his Tribemates as they began to file, one-by-one, beneath the low-hanging branches of the great willow. His face was scrunched up into a look of confusion, as if he did not know what to think of the entire situation. At least he hasn't abandoned me yet, she thought, trying to suppress her dismay. He's still here...

"Should we go?" Fish Catcher turned his gaze upon the pure white she-cat, watching her with curious yellow eyes. "Do you feel safe going?"

"I..." Waning Moon did not know what to say. Pharaoh already knew she was here; that much was obvious. The fact that he drew little attention to her initially was comforting, but she did not know how he and his kin would react to her if she wandered into their campsite along with the rest of her Tribemates. She had never met Pharaoh's kin, but she knew he had spoken often of her to his father, Chariot, and her meetings with Pharaoh were no secret to those that followed him. She had received a cold but uninterested response from Pharaoh, but would she receive the same from the rest of them?

"If you don't feel safe, we can stay out here." Fish Catcher mewed quietly.

"N-no. Let's go." Waning Moon had made up her mind so suddenly that it surprised even her.

Fish Catcher shrugged his shoulders before standing to his paws. He stretched, unsheathing and sheathing his claws before letting out a massive yawn that split his jaws and bared his sharp white teeth in a silent yowl. Waning Moon had to suppress a purr at this. In any other circumstance, the massive gray tom would appear intimidating and frightening to even a large predator, but in this context it was amusing to see such a large tomcat behaving like a sleepy kit. His nonchalance filled her with strength and confidence. With Fish Catcher by my side, everything will be alright. Oh Ancients, let it be so.

Waning Moon began to pad towards the willow tree, Fish Catcher following close at her side. She gained comfort from his presence, something she could not say for even her sister. Quail Feather...she and Pharaoh seem...close. The thought both frightened and infuriated her.

From the outside, the willow tree looked as if there were nothing beneath it. Its branches hung so low to the ground that it made a protective screen of leaves that formed a shield between the outside world and the comfortable hiding place within. Waning Moon regarded it cautiously. Typically, willows grew near large bodies of water; there were a couple near the edge of the Starpool, and some farther beyond the reach of the Tribe cats that grew along the shores to the north and south. Never had she seen a willow within a forest of pine and oak, and never so close to open land. It's quite strange, this place...