Warriors; Thin Ice

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sparrowstripe padded numbly through the forest, his pads itching to get back to the safety of camp. A small RiverClan warrior had given him a nasty scar down the side of his head for no reason, and his whiskers were twitching with annoyance.

The short and almost ineffective battle at the Gathering had delivered a few wounds to his Clanmates, but nothing serious. Birdpaw was limping and crying in fear, but Sparrowstripe didn’t want to comfort her. No cat did. There was no reason to. ShadowClan cats, being of the toughest Clan, knew that there was no place to cry as a warrior. She will learn, he thought.

He knew she was grieving for her lost siblings. But Sparrowstripe didn’t care. He could think of so many cats that had lost more and were staying strong because of it. His immediate example was Emberpaw. Sparrowstripe constantly thought about her bravery and independence turning her into a great fighter without such a great personality. At least Birdpaw is friendly.

He snorted with mock laughter and descended into the camp.

A gasp of shock hit his ears. “What now?” He mumbled. Moving further into the camp, he made out nothing but the backs of his Clanmates, but nobody spoke about what they were seeing. Annoyance flushed through Sparrowstripe, but he ignored this and easily found the warriors’ den. He was exhausted, and he could probably manage an answer from Ravenheart when she got into her nest to sleep.

“Aren’t you going to get your wound treated?”

Sparrowstripe glanced up and saw Emberpaw, staring him down. He cleared his throat. “I guess so. But once other wounds are treated; mine’s not so bad.”

Emberpaw nodded. She turned away then. There was unspoken tension between them, and Sparrowstripe hated it. He wanted his friend back.

“Wait,” he mewed. She turned around, looking at him expectantly. He could tell she was tired, and he bit his tongue, but decided to ask anyway. “Can we talk?”

Emberpaw shrugged. “Fine,” she meowed, tensing a little as Eaglewings thrust his way past her toward his nest. “What is it?”

“Not here,” he mumbled. Emberpaw sighed and managed a nod, trudging toward the exit of the camp. Sparrowstripe stood and followed after her, noting her annoyance at him.

When they’d reached the middle of the forest, Sparrowstripe turned to her and took in a breath.

“Look, I know you’re tired and annoyed with me right now, but you’ve got to listen. I think we’d be better off if we… if we went back to the way things were before. I taught you how to stalk your prey, and to run, Emberpaw. We were inseparable. But now we don’t talk much.”

Emberpaw huffed. “We’re still friends, Sparrowstripe,” she mewed. He wasn’t convinced.

“Right; we’ve had this conversation before. But it still doesn’t feel like it.”

The ginger and white she-cat lashed her tail. “I’m currently juggling my training with Darkstar, everyday tasks, and my struggles to prove my loyalty to ShadowClan,” she hissed. “I’m a little busy. Don’t get me wrong, Sparrowstripe, I truly…” She broke off to yawn.