Warriors: Salmonstar's Fate

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

                Rainpaw had returned to being fully conscious by the next morning. Salmonpaw had barely gotten any sleep that night, her wild imagination picturing ways her friend could die. When she drifted briefly into the world of dreams, she would find herself trapped in a nightmare where the former kittypet was being killed at night by a monster with eyes glowing in the darkness.

                She rushed over to the medicine cat den to find a large group of cats already there. Stonepaw and Crazypaw had temporarily been sent out of the bramble thicket. “What happened?” Troutstar demanded.

                “A dog started chasing me,” Rainpaw began shakily.

                Every cat except for Salmonpaw appeared to stiffen at those words. Even Troutstar seemed nervous. “What did the dog look like?” the RiverClan leader asked.

                “Massive dog,” she replied. “And black-and-tan fur…”

                “Is it the same dog that killed Smallstar?” Bluesplash gasped.

                “What?” Salmonpaw screeched, turning around in an attempt to find Hailcloud. “I thought you said a patrol got rid of it!”

                The dark brown tom was right behind her. He lowered his head, avoiding her eyes. “Well, I didn’t want you to worry…” he tried to defend himself.

                “I can handle the truth!” she interrupted furiously.

                “Salmonpaw, calm down!” Troutstar ordered. “Does it make you happy to know that there’s a vicious dog roaming our territory? Hailcloud was trying to protect you!”

                The red-furred apprentice took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t need protecting,” she responded, still with a slight note of anger in her voice.

                “How did you escape, Rainpaw?” Troutstar asked.

                “I was climbing a tree and the dog caught my leg with its claws,” Rainpaw answered. “But Flashfur appeared out of nowhere and jumped on its back. He distracted it and let it chase him away from me. I managed to get down without falling and breaking my neck. I dragged myself back to camp, close enough to call for help. And then I collapsed and don’t remember…”

                “Where’s Flashfur?” Blizzardfrost screeched.

                “What? You mean he’s not here?” Rainpaw meowed.

                “Mosspool, lead a group of cats to find Flashfur,” Troutstar growled. “The rest of you carry on like this never happened.”

                Mosspool’s patrol came back shortly after carrying Flashfur’s body. “No!” Rainpaw screamed. “He saved my life! He can’t be dead!”

                I’ll find that dog! I can’t let more of my Clanmates die! “Don’t worry, I’ll get revenge for you,” Salmonpaw hissed.

                “Salmonpaw, no,” Rainpaw meowed insistently. “I know that tone of voice. You’re not planning anything reasonable and…”          

                “If you try to stop me, I’ll tell them you used to be a kittypet,” Salmonpaw whispered.

                “You wouldn’t,” her friend muttered.

                “Yes, I would,” she snarled fiercely before marching off.

                Salmonpaw caught a trace of the dog’s scent close to the Training Shore. She placed her nose close to the ground and followed it. All of a sudden, the beast emerged from a bush and she found herself face-to-face with dog. Confronted by massive yellow fangs and an animal twice her size, she realized this wasn’t such a great idea. But the RiverClan apprentice unsheathed her claws anyways. I won’t go down without a fight.

                With a loud snarl, the dog charged towards her and Salmonpaw’s heart began to pound. Actually, maybe I should flee.

                She took off running at top speed and the dog barked excitedly before following. Great StarClan, what have I gotten myself into?

A/N: What do you think is going to happen? :)