A New Beginning: Book 1 Flamestar's Promise

Chapter 19

I opened my eyes, and the sound of water filled my ears. Waspclaw's sweet scent engulfed me. We had slept by the river that night, and now the sun was rising over the trees. I yawned and stretched, and went to drink from the now calmer river that flowed. Waspclaw twitched and shivered as he suddenly grew colder. His eyes slowly blinked open, and he stretched and looked at me. I smiled, and he walked over to me. He rubbed my check and sat leaning on me. He purred so loudly, the sounds of the river were barely audible. I closed my eyes, soaking in the moment, wishing that it would last forever. But, the moment passed. Waspclaw got up and walked to the river bank. He swatted the water, ripping a fish from the rushing current. He pushed it towards me with his nose, and we ate it together.  The sun was now high over the trees, and I decided that we should head back.
"We should probably head back to camp before they send a search patrol after us." I said.
Waspclaw's smile quickly faded. He looked at me with disgust.
"You want to go back? After everything that they have said to us, you want to go back?" He said with shock.
My heart sank. He wanted to leave the Clan, and take me with him.
"You want to leave?" I countered.
He nodded and looked away.
"But we can't! This is our home! This is our way of life! These are our families!" I argued.
He bared his teeth.
"No. there yours. They love you. Not me. My mother doesn't even talk to me since Cloudbreeze gat attacked. She was the only one I had. Then I found you. I thought that I had someone to turn to. I thought that you were different. But I guess I was wrong." He hissed, and stalked away.
I sighed. And since he was walking toward rouge territory, I thought that I would never see him again. This brought tears to my eyes. Then flashbacks of everything that I had lost flew into my mind. All the things that I had been through. I knew that if I let him go, into dangerous unknown, and never see him again, I would never forgive myself. So I ran to him. I ran and stood in front of him. He stopped and glared at me.
"Get out of my way, Flamepelt. I'm not going back." He growled.
But I stood my ground.
"Waspclaw. You are not alone. I know that you did not attack my sister, and I promise that I will make this Clan believe that too. But to do that, you have to come back." I said sternly.
But his face did not change. He continued to glare.
"You will not stop me. I will always be stronger than you, and I will do anything to get as far away from this Clan as possible." He hissed.
This flared my anger. He was mocking me for that day at battle training. I would not be mocked that easily. I took a step forward, and he snarled at me. I expected him to eventually calm down, but instead, he took a slash at my face. The warm feel of blood dripped now my face. I stumbled backwards, and slowly turned my head towards him. His eyes were filled with anger and hate. I closed my eyes, feeling my surroundings, digging my claws into the earth. My mind cleared. I felt lighter, faster, and stronger. I opened my eyes. He suddenly jumped on me, but I dodged and scraped his face. I dodged several more attacks, once causing a scratch so deep, blood splattered on my face. He tumbled to his side, and struggled to get up. He stumbled towards me, but collapsed. His eyes closed, and his breath grew shallow. I ran to him, fear piercing my heart.
"Waspclaw! What have I done?" I cried.
I grabbed his scruff, and dragged him slowly back to camp.