Warriors: Crazystar's Battle

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

                Crazypaw led Stonepaw, who was quite unsteady on his feet, to the secret tunnel behind the rosebush. He liked the place from the start, commenting on the beautiful view of water, the way it reminded him of the tunnels back home, and the privacy.

                So it started a pattern. They would sleep during the day and then head down at night to talk with no one except the two of them.

                Neither of them realized how much time was passing. It just seemed so…normal and right to spend their time together talking to each other. And it flew by too quickly.

                So it was a complete surprise to both of them when Leafwhisker entered the den carrying a bundle of herbs and meowed, “Troutstar says you can come to the Gathering tonight if you’re ready to go home. But you should go outside soon because it’s nearly sundown.”

                They were both instantly awake even though they’d only just been woken up. The Gathering already? It’s been that long? NO!!!!!!!!!

                It wasn’t that Crazypaw didn’t miss her home, with its lush green forests and stone hollow. And they could’ve left a half-moon ago. It was just she’d grown so accustomed to this life, just sitting there under the water, telling Stonepaw about her life. Hey, she’d even gotten used to even the bitter, slimy fish from the nearby stream.

                She’d loved listening to him paint the picture of his life in WindClan.

                He had two brothers, named Ashpaw and Rainpaw. Ashpaw’s fur was an even darker gray than his father’s. He had emerald green eyes and a long scar down his right cheek from the tunnel-battle. Rainpaw was a bluish-gray tom with a few white stripes across his back. He had amber eyes.

                His mother, Whiteflame, died when he was only two moons old in a battle with ThunderClan and ShadowClan, so he couldn’t remember her at all. He had the faintest memory of Smokewhisker, his father, carefree and laughing and playing with his kits. But since her death, Smokewhisker had been grumpy and moody. And one thing was for sure, he’d been harboring a grudge against ThunderClan and ShadowClan ever since. He’d had many long debates with his father about the other Clans.

                It took a while, but Stonepaw finally trusted her enough to share his darkest secret. He hated his father. And to reveal his father’s plans despite the penalty he threatened. His father planned to take over ThunderClan and ShadowClan behind Rabbitstar’s back, one bit of territory at a time. Smokewhisker believed it was the only way to truly avenge the death of Whiteflame and forced Stonepaw to help him with the attack. Because if he didn’t, Smokewhisker would have Rabbitstar exile him from the Clan.

                His mentor, Heatherstorm, was a light brown she-cat who pushed Stonepaw to achieve the best training results as possible. She was a great fighter, and many cats considered the possibility that she’d be the next deputy.

                Oh, how could she give up the opportunity to see him every night?

***

                The two of them made their way towards the tree-bridge. Crazypaw’s feet had never felt heavier, not even when she was drowning in the lake.

                Most of the grass on the island was gone, replaced by black dust. Where mighty trees once stood were black tree stumps. In the clearing where the Gathering met, the Great Oak’s leaves were all gone. Instead of a tree with a thick trunk and branches, the trunk was thin and supported only one thick branch. All the other branches were gone.