Heartstar's rise : Book one

Ch. 51

Heartpaw had no idea how he was to hunt for ten cats without getting bitten my a rat. He wanted to go back to camp, go back to his nest. He hadn't realised he'd miss normal ShadowClan days so much. He shivered in the cold. Heartpaw took a deep breath as he padded through the Carrionplace. He spotted a large rat scuttle by. It eyed him angrily then hissed. He took a step back. He remembered how mad Pinestar had been when he had come to the Carrionplace to hunt. 

          "You shouldn't have come," said a smooth voice. Heartpaw leapt back. He saw Lavender, watching him with sly eyes. Her gaze sent shivers down his spine. 

          "I didn't have anywhere else to go. Don't worry, I'll hunt enough for all of you," assured Heartpaw slightly nervous. 

          "You shouldn't have come," repeated the cat. "Once you join, there's no leaving." 

          "What do you mean?" Heartpaw said. "I'm only staying for nine nights, don't worry." 

          "Oh I'm not worried, you should be," she said and tilted her head. "I used to live with humans." Heartpaw cocked his head. 

          "Twolegs are humans. You better get used to that," Lavender said. Heartpaw nodded quickly. "I used to have a warm home. And one day, I decided it would be nice to go out and further away from my human's house to see a bit more of the world. Maybe even hunt for myself. I found myself lost and then some cats started a fight with me. Rio and Gingerfern helped me." Heartpaw nodded. 

           "Well that's just great for you then," Heartpaw said, not understanding her point. 

           "I'm not finished," Lavender said. "They brought me back here, gave me some place to sleep. And I thanked them, asked them how I could repay them. And they said they had a little task for me. And I did the task but somehow, I got caught up in their trap. You see, once you owe them something, you owe them for life. They'll somehow make you feel as if you owe them something when you don't. And I've been trapped here, trying to pay off the debt." 

            "For how long?" asked Heartpaw. 

             "Months, years probably," Lavender said. Heartpaw looked at her without saying anything. "Ugh, months are moons and years are... I don't know what you call years." 

             "So you've been trying to repay them because they saved you from some cats and let you stay at their Twoleg den for a night? And you've been doing this for moons?" Heartpaw summarised. Lavender nodded. 

              "Wow, you're not doing a very good job," Heartpaw finally said. 

              "You don't get it," sighed Lavender in exasperation. "I've been trying to repay them, they always have something which keeps me here, and you too." Heartpaw frowned. Rio was nice. He caught mice for his whole Clan because he was nice. Right?

                "Rio is nice," Heartpaw said. 

                 "You better start hunting," Lavender said, turning tail. Heartpaw watched her slowly walk away. 

                 "Do you have anything to do?" called Heartpaw. 

                 "No," replied Lavender. 

                 "Can you help me hunt?" asked Heartpaw. 

                 "Don't ask anybody anymore for favours," said Lavender and slipped away. Confused, but mostly frustrated, Heartpaw marched into the middle of the Carrionplace. Taking a deep breath, he crept forward, pricking his ears to listen for rats. He spotted a tail, near the the corner of some sort of metal thing. He crept forward. Suddenly, the tail jerked and the rat turned his head to Heartpaw. Without thinking, Heartpaw jumped at it. The rat saw him coming and squeaked angrily. Heartpaw sunk his claws into the rat's back and tail. It squirmed and twisted around. Its eyes locked with Heartpaw's red and bulging. Heartpaw was surprised for a moment until a sharp pain erupted on his leg. He cried out in pain and the rat jumped back from his grasp. But it didn't flee. It watched him, silently, a few paces away. Heartpaw looked down at a small bite on his foot. A drop of blood dropped down. He closed his eyes in horror. He turned away from the rat and limped towards the Twoleg den. He reached an opening and crawled in. He started making his way up until he found the room with the soft floor. Rio was resting on the ground and looked up when Heartpaw entered. He smiled but he was hiding something behind the smile.