Broken Code

Chapter 31

"Congratulations Rain..." Sootpaw tilted his ashy head, not sure what the medicine cat's new name was. He did not want to offend her by calling her Rainpaw, so he took a pawstep back and let the medicine cat finish for him.

"Step. My name is Rainstep." The ashy she cat rumbled a purr deep in her throat and Sootpaw felt obligated to congratulate her. He stepped forwards and licked Rainstep's shoulder. She gently rubbed her head against his and then padded off with Flamestar to talk. Sootpaw watched longingly as the two padded off together. He wanted Flamestar to pay attention to him as much as he did with Rainstep. Flamestar was not a very good mentor to Sootpaw. The deep grey apprentice felt a growl in his throat and he turned tail and stormed away into the apprentice's den. 

His nest was cold and filled with loose bracken. Sootpaw quickly patched it up and looked around. No one was to be found. All of the other apprentices were out doing apprentice duties or training with their mentors. All of them except one. 

"Why were you talking to Rainpaw?" A chilling voice sent shivers down Sootpaw's spine and he shook his fur to clear it. 

"First off, her name is Rainstep. And second, why do you care?" Sootpaw retorted, spinning around to face his apprentice frenemy. 

Moonpaw waved his marbled tail as if he hadn't a care in the world. Sootpaw couldn't stand the tom. Moonpaw acted like he ruled over the whole clan, when he was only an apprentice and had only been there for 6 moons. Sootpaw had lived here his whole life. What authority did Moonpaw have over him? None. Sootpaw frowned and bared his teeth as Moonpaw stepped closer to him.

"I don't care. I wouldn't even care if she hadn't come back from the Starstream." Moonpaw stormed past Sootpaw, ramming his shoulder into the smaller tom's dark grey body. Sootpaw nearly fell over but stood his ground. 

"She's your medicine cat. You should care about your clanmates. And I thought you and her were best friends." Sootpaw unsheathed his claws but knew he couldn't attack Moonpaw. 

Moonpaw scoffed. "You're so naive Sootpaw. Just like the rest of this clan." He crawled over to his nest and laid down, spinning a few times before getting comfortable. He laid his head down on his paws and closed his silver eyes. 

Sootpaw could hardly contain himself. "What do you mean naive?"

Moonpaw opened one eye. "I don't care if you talk to Rainstep. Just remember that medicine cats can't have mates." He closed his eye and acted as if he were asleep.

Sootpaw frowned. "What do you mean? Rainstep is just a friend. I would never..." Then the young tom made the connections. "Ohhh...you and Rainpaw used to..."

Moonpaw didn't answer. He didn't need to.

"That's why you guys are distant. You couldn't stand having to lie to the clan. So one of you decided to stop talking and now you guys are both suffering in your own loneliness. That's why you asked me why I was talking to her. You still have feelings for her." 

Moonpaw opened his eyes. "So what? It's not like it could ever work out." His once harsh and rude tone was replaced with one of sadness, perhaps even pain. Sootpaw almost felt bad for the tom, then remembered how much he hated him. 

Sootpaw took a breath. "Maybe talking to her could solve some problems." 

Moonpaw scoffed again. "And what do you know about talking to she cats Sootpaw?"

Sootpaw pretended the comment didn't sting. He tried to not let it get to him. The tom bit his tongue and walked out of the apprentice den, trying to contain his anger. He didn't pay much attention to his surroundings as he wandered around camp and soon he found a shady bush to lie under. He laid down and set his head on his paws. Sootpaw sighed. He wanted much more in life than this. Every cat talked about how Ashpaw must have been so scared. Of course Sootpaw didn't want to get catnapped by Twolegs, but he did want to explore more of the world then his own territory. He wanted to live. The young cat sighed again and didn't notice as Moonpaw, although dissing Sootpaw's earlier words, climbed out of the apprentice den and padded towards the corner of camp. The corner where the medicine den stood. He took a deep breath and padded inside. 

***

As soon as he entered the den, she could sense him. Her emotions got the best of her and she couldn't help but run over to him, getting lost in the scent of his fur. She purred her joy and couldn't bear to be apart from him. 

"I've missed you." She took a step back and gave him his space. 

The tom twitched his whiskers. "I've been gone since sunrise Winterpaw. It's not even sunhigh yet." He couldn't help but chuckle. 

Winterpaw gently cuffed his ear. "Yea but it took you ages to come back."

Ashpaw smiled and licked the top of the she-cat's head. "Sorry bout that. I was talking to this squirrel and-" He was cut off as the snowy she cat whacked him with a paw. He twitched his whiskers. 

Wintperaw shook her head in mock annoyance and padded out of the den and towards the freshkill pile. "Care to a share a sparrow?'

Ashpaw padded out right behind her. "My favorite. Besides you of course." He smiled and Winterpaw rolled her eyes. 

"Not funny." She grabbed the wing of the bird with her teeth and managed to drag it by the outside of their den and together the two young cats shared the bird. Feathers were saved to make a softer nest and the meat of the bird was quickly devoured. The bones were buried and left to the dust. It was quick work. The two cats had been hungry since sunrise, not being able to eat until the rest of the clan had been too. Ashpaw looked over to the soft white she cat next to him and smiled to himself.

He had finally found his home. 

***

Hey Readers!

So, I'm thinking about wrapping this story up and continuing in a second part. So basically making a sequel or even a trilogy. I'm hoping to finish Broken Code and start the next book over break! Happy Holidays!

Love from,

~Ash/Cinder~