Warrior Cats - New Hope in the Skies (On Hold)

Chapter 22 - Doubt

There were so many words that could describe how I was feeling when I made that discovery. Anger, disappointment, disgust... I could not list them all.

"Spottedpaw, what do you think you are doing?" I demanded, unable to hide my agitation.

When she saw me, she looked guilty for only a heartbeat before giving me a look.

"I'm eating the squirrel I caught," Spottedpaw mewed, with a trace of anger in those words.

"That's against the warrior code!" I growled. "Elders, queens and kits are to be fed first!"

Seeing that Spottedpaw gave no response, I continued. "Everyone is so hungry in this leaf-bare, but instead of giving this to Kinktail or Bluestorm, you are selfishly-"

"How can you be so calm?" Spottedpaw snarled, interrupting me half way through my sentence. Her voice cracked a little.

"I'm so scared..." she dropped into a whisper. "I have never been this cold or hungry in my entire life. Every day was a torture for me. Meeting Cinderflame's expectations... not knowing when I will be attacked by foxes and ShadowClan..."

I was stunned. I never realised that Spottedpaw was traumatised by the incident with the fox.

"How?" she demanded, striding forward until she was only a thickness of a whisker away from my nose. "How did you manage to stay so calm?"

Spottedpaw did not wait for my response. "I don't want to be part of this. Not now, not ever."

Her light amber eyes bore into me as I suddenly realised where this conversation was going. "You don't mean that-"

"I want to leave this place," she spoke seriously. "We don't belong here! I know you want to leave this mess too."

She was not wrong. There was a part of me that just wanted to run away as far as possible, in hopes of escaping this nightmare. But...

Strikestar, every Clan, StarClan, the Ancients... they are all counting on us.

It was just a hunch, but I was quite certain that the Ancients sacrificed a lot of things for the Clans. To get us into this world must have been a desperate attempt. Is it something I would have done?

"Spottedpaw," I meowed, trying to keep my voice steady and gentle, like how Streamripple did when comforting me. "I-I understand where you are coming from, and I'm not going to deny it. I did think of running away."

"However, I am not going to run away. We were brought here for a reason by cats beyond StarClan, who have already sacrificed everything." I was speaking whatever popped up in my mind, so I hoped that I was convincing enough.

"If they gave us their everything, shouldn't we do so too?"

Spottedpaw stared at me for many tense heartbeats, with that look of determination to go through her original plan. Finally, she looked doubtful, almost guilty. "I-I guess so..."

"Well said, Frostpaw." Streamripple appeared from behind a couple of bushes.

I was startled, forgetting that my mentor was hunting with me that day. "Um... thanks?"

I did not mean to make it sound like a question.

"I'm not sure what you two were talking about, but if you were having problems, shouldn't you talk about it?" Streamripple asked Spottedpaw gently.

The light brown spotted she-cat looked away, presumably embarrassed.

"Of course, this can't go unpunished," my mentor meowed sternly, gesturing towards the half eaten squrriel. "Strikestar and Cinderflame would have to hear about it. For now, bring this to Bluestorm. It is quite disrespectful, but prey is prey."

Quietly, Spottedpaw took the squirrel and scurried back to camp.

Streamripple turned to me. She looked more energised than when we started hunting, though I was still worried.

"You made a good point, even if I don't understand everything you said," she mewed.

As I started to explain, she hushed me with a paw. "That's for another time. Let's continue on our hunt."

~~~~

We returned to camp at sunset with a total of two pieces of prey. The measly mouse we caught early in the hunt and a bird that I was lucky to catch.

Streamripple dropped the bird into the fresh-kill pile - not really a pile with nothing else inside. "Take the mouse to Stormpaw."

I nodded as my stomach rumbled in hunger. I shoved the thought out of my mind and made my way - quickly - to the medicine cat den.

When I entered, the first thing I noted was the little herbs there were in the holes on the wall. Aspenfern was busily checking on her patients while Flamecloud was nowhere in sight.

Stormpaw was resting in a nest along with the other sick cats. I dropped the mouse beside him, wondering if I should wake him.

Luckily, I did not have to do anything as he woke up, opening his eyes slowly. "K- Frostpaw?" he mumbled.

"Here, eat this," I pushed the prey towards him.

Stormpaw pushed himself into a sitting position and started eating. After a few bites, only bones were left.

"Thanks," he mewed.

"It's no problem," I responded, preparing to leave.

"Wait."

I stopped, blinking curiously. "What is it?"

"There's something... I found," Stormpaw meowed quietly, as if he did not want any cat else to hear. "I wanted to talk to you about it, but..."

"I'm all ears," I mewed, as I began to feel apprehensive about this conversation.

He looked around, hesitating. "I-I think that Rosepaw... is a traitor."