Warriors: Broken

Chapter 5

⠀⠀ Jaypaw stared at the ginger apprentice with horrified eyes. For some reason, she feared the she cat. Maybe it was because she had power in the clan, unlike Jaypaw who was really only liked by her siblings and Ashpaw. Sweetpaw despised her for all she knew. Her father had even grown further from her, though she still loved him.

⠀⠀ "What?"

⠀⠀ The snappish voice of an annoyed Wrenpaw brought her back to reality.

⠀⠀ "Sorry..." she murmured, her tail twitching in fear. Don't let her beat you up, mousebrain! she thought, desperately trying to convince herself she wasn't afraid.

⠀⠀ "I was thinking we could go by the Windclan border. I know you're not very fast..." she whispered the last part and gave a kind grin to trick their mentors, though her eyes were cruel. "...but there will be old mice."

⠀⠀ With a shameful nod Jaypaw followed the apprentice, keeping her eyes low but ears alert. They soon made it to the Windclan border and Jaypaw scented the air. Rabbit! She turned and saw the bushy tail of the dusty brown pelt and smiled.

⠀⠀ Wrenpaw noticed and charged after the rabbit, but it got away from her. She was slow. With a quick eye, Jaypaw spotted a small clearing leading to where the rabbit was running.

⠀⠀ "Got it!" she purred as her claws sunk into the fur.

⠀⠀ "Good teamwork!" Wrenpaw mewed loudly, making sure every cat could hear.

⠀⠀ "It wasn't teamwork. You missed." Jaypaw muttered.

⠀⠀ "What did you say?" There was a hint of warning and the she cat's voice as she padded closer.

⠀⠀ "Never mind."

⠀⠀ Wrenpaw glared at her for a moment before scenting the air again. Jaypaw quickly stood, her tail lashing in anger. Stupid rogue! she thought, letting her emotions get the better of her. I wish she didn't save Willowstar!

⠀⠀ The gold and white apprentice held back a gasp at her thought and she quickly locked her gaze on a mouse hunched over a seed.

⠀⠀ "OH STARCLAN LOOK OUT!" Wrenpaw mewed, running noisily to Jaypaw. A leaf slowly fell from an oak and she gave a faked apology. "I thought it was a rock because it was brown. Silly protective me." She mewed, shrugging.

⠀⠀ By then, Quickstep and Nettleheart had come down from their perches in a tree. They stared at the two apprentices for a moment before giving Wrenpaw a smile.

⠀⠀ "I can carry the rabbit, you did tackle it after all, Jaypaw."

⠀⠀ "Okay, yeah. Sure..."

⠀⠀ The other pairs were already back, and they praised Wrenpaw as she padded into the clearing. She shot Ashpaw a cute glance before setting down 'her' kill. Jaypaw rolled her eyes in disgust and sat by Adderpaw.

⠀⠀ "While you guys were gone, Cloverkit and Flickerkit became apprentices. Willowstar kinda forgot about you guys." he mewed, flicking his ear.

⠀⠀ "I never thought she could forget about her precious Wrenpaw."

⠀⠀ "Yeah well, she did. She felt horrible for it though when Wrenpaw walked in with that huge rabbit. I still can't believe she caught that thing!"

⠀⠀ "I caught it. She took the credit because when she missed her catch I chased it down and she called it teamwork."

⠀⠀ "Oh." Adderpaw shuffled his paws and looked down. "Well umm... I'm gonna go talk to Timberpaw. Try to get him over Wrenpaw. He has no chance against Ashpaw. He definitely likes her."

⠀⠀ That stung. He didn't like her, did he? All the tom apprentices blushed when they talked to her, and even a few of the young warriors. He's just being a tom... she told herself. Nothing to worry about.

⠀⠀ "Adder!" A cat yowled. It was going towards the nursery where Bluekit was! Jaypaw stood and ran towards it, but Flickerpaw was already there. The new apprentice snarled, and the adder lunged forward, locking its jaws on her neck. She screeched and immediately fell. Horrified, Jaypaw froze.

⠀⠀ "Flickerpaw...?" She mewed, quivering. "Flickerpaw?!"

⠀⠀ Cloverpaw charged towards her sister, collapsing as she sobbed. Their mother, Doveheart padded slowly up, tears streaming down her cheeks. Littlefawn and Cherrypaw were already there, shaking their heads.

⠀⠀ "There's nothing we can do..." Littlefawn said shakily. Cloverpaw nodded and watched as Flickerpaw took her final breath.

⠀⠀ "You let her die!"

⠀⠀ All eyes turned to the back of the camp where Wrenpaw was standing. She was snarling, but Jaypaw thought she saw a hint of joy in her eyes. With flattened ears and teeth bared, Jaypaw backed away, cornering herself as the ginger apprentice padded up to her. Sweetpaw nodded and a few cats chimed in, growling at her.

⠀⠀ "You didn't even call the medicine cat! You wanted her to die, didn't you! Because I was her friend and you weren't! She told me how she was afraid of you, how you growled at her and pushed her around!" Wrenpaw advanced towards her, stopping beside Ashpaw and leaning against him like she was about to faint. He licked her head and glared at Jaypaw.

⠀⠀ "Is this true?" He mewed, his eyes becoming cold.

⠀⠀ "No! I promise!" She wailed, staring at him in disbelief. He narrowed his amber eyes and sighed.

⠀⠀ "I doubt that."

⠀⠀ "Wrenpaw sounded right." Willowstar mewed, padding into the clearing. "Someone kill that adder before it gets another cat!" She snapped. Boulderclaw darted off into the forest with a couple warriors on his heels.

⠀⠀ "Jaypaw, you didn't even try to help. You could've at least called for a medicine cat." Willowstar continued. The dappled apprentice looked to her brothers. Timberpaw wouldn't be any help, he loved Wrenpaw. Adderpaw simply shook his head.

⠀⠀ "So this is how it feels to be betrayed!" She hissed, shoving her way through the crowd.