Warriors #2: Warrior Rising

Chapter 26

Lilypetal's POV

"Thornclaw, great StarClan, for the last time," I insisted to my mate as we padded side by side through the forest, Snowpaw on my other side while Firestar, Brightheart, Cloudtail, Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Spiderleg followed. "Take a breath, please. Trust me, I have almost died of suffocation on more than one occasion tonight, but I've managed to get myself to inhale and exhale."

I then watched as Thornclaw lashed his golden tabby tail, finally managing to close his eyes and take a deep breath. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry," Thornclaw meowed softly, touching his nose to my cheek. But just heartbeats later I groaned as Thornclaw let out another growl and began to pace back and forth as we traveled. "You know what? No! I'm not sorry, I'm furious!"

"We all are!" Spiderleg hissed from behind, followed by a warning glance from Firestar.

"How could Goldenpaw have been so mouse-brained?" Thornclaw went on, ripping at a patch of grass on the ground. "Our daughter could be dead right now, all because she decided that leaping into a tunnel was heroic!"

"It's awful. I'm furious too!" Snowpaw whimpered, speaking her first words since we had left on this patrol. "What can I do? Blame Goldenpaw herself for causing me to never be able to see her again?"

I screwed my eyes shut at Thornclaw's and Snowpaw's words, trying to push down grief and worry once again. "Do not lose hope, both of you," I muttered to Snowpaw and Thornclaw, not meeting either of their gazes. "I'm not going to." After suppressing a whimper, I then whispered, "I'm staying strong because of that glimmer of hope, and the fact that StarClan is watching all of us, like they always do."

After a few heartbeats, I heard a sigh, and turned my head back to Thornclaw to see that he was looking back at me, his eyes calm and warm.

"You're absolutely right," he whispered back to me, touching his nose to my head.

I returned the warm gaze, letting Thornclaw's pale blue gaze and warm scent sooth me for a few heartbeats before looking ahead and wrapping my tail around Snowpaw's back, who had simply murmured agreement. Snowpaw is much more of a thinker than she is a talker, I thought. But she's never been this quiet before. It's obvious how much this is bothering her, the poor thing.

I then let out a small humph, narrowing my eyes. I hope the words that I just told Thornclaw and Snowpaw were sincere, I realized as we walked without any more words. As strong as my faith in StarClan is, I am still very, very scared... I briefly glanced at Thornclaw to see that he didn't look completely comforted either.

Letting out an exasperated huff, I dug my head into Thornclaw's neck fur as we let Firestar take the lead, walking deeper into the forest.

After several moments of silence, I then heard Spiderleg mutter to someone, "If Goldenpaw and Hollyleaf are dead, this is a big waste of my time." I let out a quiet hiss as I realized that it almost seemed like the black tom had wanted me to hear, but I tried my best to ignore him and his horrible words.

Luckily, it wasn't too long after that that our patrol finally arrived at the area where the earth had caved into the tunnel. The space was just as Jayfeather, Lionblaze and I had left it, which for some reason sent a chill down my spine.

I heard pawsteps approaching me once we had paused, and I turned to see that Firestar was approaching.

"So, Hollyleaf and Goldenpaw are trapped down there?" he asked, his gaze not leaving the pile of dirt.

I lashed my tail and nodded, pleased that Firestar had referred to Goldenpaw and Hollyleaf being trapped, and not, you know, killed.

"Yes," I answered to the ThunderClan leader, finding that my voice cracked with sudden fear. "They... they're down there, somewhere."