Aspenleaf's Duty

Chapter 23

Aspenleaf kept herself low to the ground, carefully drawing her paws one in front of the other, her tail off the ground so that it didn't drag in the crisp brown leaves. She rolled her soft paws, endeavouring not to make a sound. It was a particularly plump mouse up ahead of her, probably fattening itself up in preparation for leaf-bare. She could feel herself salivating as she shifted her weight from paw to paw, preparing to spring.

There was a flash of black fur and with a squeak, Shadowstep looked back at her smugly, the mouse dead in his jaws.

"No fair!" she said straightening up. "That was my kill! You saw me stalking it!"

"You were taking ages." He mewed through his mouthful. "If you didn't go soon it would have run away." He put it down before her. "Go on then, you take the credit. I wouldn't have spotted it if I hadn't seen you watching it."

Her tail lashed. "You are the most frustrating cat I've ever come across, you annoying fluffbutt!"

Badgerbane peered out from where he had been stalking from behind a tree. "Are you two quite done?" he snapped. "If you carry on like that, you're going to scare away all the prey in the area."

Aspenleaf turned, flicking her tail at Shadowstep's nose. "You can forget about me keeping you warm tonight." She growled. "Get cold for all I care."

She stalked away a few steps before Shadowstep picked up the mouse and bounded after her. "Look, I'm sorry alright?" he pleaded. "We'll say you caught the mouse."

"That isn't the point!" she said loftily, holding her nose in the air.

He stopped watching her go before looking back at the rest of the patrol.

"Don't worry." Dryrose mewed picking up the rabbit she'd caught. "She doesn't know how to hate you."

Aspenleaf padded into the camp, her hackles still up. She glanced around. The last six moons in Thunderclan seemed... different somehow. Bramblefire had finally left Creekshadow alone and he and Quailwing had had three kits, Sunkit, Whitekit and Flamekit. Ambermoon and Honeyfur had passed on and were in Starclan now but Eaglefeather and Stemtail had moved into the elders' den, so Twigtail wasn't alone.

The biggest difference Aspenleaf had noticed however was that her mother no longer avoided her. In fact, sometimes if they were passing one another, her mother would give her a curt nod of acknowledgement. While it may not be the loving relationship she had once hoped to have with her mother, it was certainly better than the way she had been treated her when she had been younger.

Icemask was grooming his fluffy coat outside the warriors' den. He looked up as she approached. "What's he done now?" he muttered, going back to cleaning his pelt.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play coy. You and I both know the only cat who actually gets your back up is him. What's he done?"

She rolled her eyes. "He stole my kill." She muttered. "He saw me stalking it and he caught it."

"Fresh-kill is fresh-kill." Muttered Icemask shaking his head rapidly. "As long as someone caught it and put it on the pile, doesn't matter who delivered the bite."

She pouted. "You're meant to be on my side."

"I'm not taking sides when it comes to you two." He muttered running a paw over his whiskers. "It's all just petty fights anyway." After a moment, he paused watching her, then reached out and cuffed her ear gently. "Besides you know that if a fight really mattered it would be you and me to the end."