Blank Slate

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A new day had begun, and Slatepaw fought to conceal his apparent restlessness. As he lay in the outskirts of the camp, chomping hungrily on a squirrel, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for his plans. Even with Finchpaw willing to put her all into the rebellion, Slatepaw secretly wished that it wasn't a burden they had to carry alone.

He shook his head to clear it. He had to stay strong. He may feel a bit lonely now, but when he and Finchpaw succeed in jogging everyone's memories and the rebellion is put into full swing once more, all the hardship would be worth it. All the sneaking around, sleepless nights, hidden plans, and anxious patrols would pay off in the best way possible. They would achieve democracy.

As he finished up his squirrel, swiping his tongue across his whiskers to be rid of the final remnants of meat, he spotted a familiar pale gray-and-white she-cat. Peonystrike approached him swiftly, appearing to be in a bit of a hurry.

"Come on, we're on a hunting patrol," her voice was curt and void of warmth, reminding Slatepaw of his awkward slip-up during their last training session.

He rested his yellow eyes on her forehead, refusing to fully meet her gaze. "When?"

"Now."

"Oh, okay," he stood, gesturing with his tail to the bony remains of his fresh-kill. "I'll bury this and be right there."

Peonystrike huffed and turned to leave. "Hurry up. Gorsepaw and Embershade are waiting."

A spike of bitter dread stabbed Slatepaw's heart. Hunting with Gorsepaw? The last time he was forced to train with her, she made him accidentally mention Burnetflame in front of Peonystrike. She was always quite competitive and full of herself, probably passed down from the tyrant leader Brightstar. Slatepaw couldn't even look at her without thinking of her mother. He'd just have to avoid speaking to her during this patrol.

Slatepaw speedily buried the residues of the squirrel and trotted toward the entrance of the camp. Awaiting impatiently were Peonystrike, Embershade, and Gorsepaw. The dark gray figure of Embershade eyed him with sharp green eyes, and Slatepaw couldn't help but stare at his paws under the tom's piercing gaze.

"Let's go," Gorsepaw hissed, turning abruptly with a whoosh.

The four cats padded through the forest for quite some time, ears pricked in order to catch any sounds of creatures. Eventually, Peonystrike took off in pursuit of a finch. A few moments later, Embershade scrambled after a mouse. Slatepaw paused, noticing that he was alone with Gorsepaw.

The ginger-and-white she-cat stared at him with quizzical eyes before scrunching up her muzzle into an unsightly scowl. Without a word, she changed direction and rapidly jogged perpendicularly away from him. Slatepaw frowned, sighing with frustration. It was if Gorsepaw couldn't be bothered to even speak to him.

Off to the side, his ear twitched at the rustle of a critter. He winced slightly, feeling the sting of the nick on his ear. Contempt swelled within his gut. Gorsepaw was nothing short of unbearable, and he was still angry at her for her roughness during training.

But as he began to stalk the vole he had heard, he remembered Cinderpaw's reaction to the scrape across his flesh. He had almost seemed... jealous. The apprentice told Slatepaw that the scratch would leave a scar, and it would look really cool.

Slatepaw pounced on the vole, killing it quickly.

I suppose it will look cool as a scar. It'll make me look like I fought through something hard and survived to tell the tale. Like the rebellion! I hope the rebellion leaves me with lots of great battle marks.

Continuing his pursuit of prey, he spotted a squirrel nibbling on a nut at the base of a tree. Dropping into a well-practiced hunting crouch, Slatepaw managed to close on the squirrel unnoticed. He swiped at it with a sheathed claw to knock it unconscious, then leaned forward to deal a killing bite to its neck. Sitting back to admire his kill, he noticed a well-known symbol carved into the tree.

Pride flooded his senses and determination coursed through his veins with every excited beat of his heart. Even if the symbols didn't remind everyone of the rebellion, they still meant something to him. They signified the fight against injustice and the promise for a better future, making Slatepaw smile to himself.

The plan that Finchpaw and I came up with will certainly work. It has to!

As he buried the squirrel, he couldn't help but feel a trickle of concern run down his spine. Although the plan was promising, there were still so many things that could go wrong. Even one small inconsistency could rip it at the seams, and everything would come crumbling down. He and Finchpaw couldn't afford to mess it up. After this, they had no more ideas. This was his only hope to jog the rebellion members' memories and spark up the fight against Brightstar and Spruceblaze.

Gathering all the members in the original meeting place simply had to work. If he could get everyone to remember, it would give Slatepaw a renewed sense of purpose. He could hardly wait to fight alongside his friends in order to destroy tyranny!

While Slatepaw searched for more prey, his thoughts drifted toward Cinderpaw. In order for the plan to succeed, every rebellion cat would have to remember, including his brown-furred friend. Unfortunately, Cinderpaw was currently confined to the medicine cat den under Rushshade's careful supervision. Slatepaw and Finchpaw would have to find a way around that inconvenience and convince Cinderpaw to join the other members during the time of the "invasion".

Slatepaw's mix of wild emotions was interrupted when he heard the loud cry of Embershade calling the patrol back together. Slatepaw began to run, rushing to uncover his vole and squirrel. When he located the other cats, he realized with a slight flinch of disdain that he was the last to rejoin the group. Peonystrike carried a finch and two mice in her jaws, Embershade held a mouse and a shrew, and Gorsepaw proudly presented a massive rabbit alongside a mouse and a sparrow.

"Come on," Embershade mewed, turning to begin the trek back into camp.

The patrol walked in silence, mouths full of prey. Slatepaw trailed the group at a slower pace, longing for the day that he could rest easy and no longer be filled to the brim with apprehensive thoughts.  

Hello, hello! Feather here. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you guys think of Slatepaw's plan with Finchpaw? Who is your favorite character, and who is your least favorite? My favorite is definitely Cinderboi, and I really don't like Peonystrike and Gorsepaw xD. See you all later!
~ Feather