Pineshade's Loss

Chapter 12

"Gorsefall, lead a hunting patrol," Lizardtail meows, arranging a patrol to gather more fresh-kill for the Clan. "Take Leafshadow, Volenose, Pinepaw, and Milkpaw with you," he orders.

"Yes, Lizardtail," The senior warrior responds, glancing over at Leafshadow and Volenose. Pinepaw, hearing what the deputy had said, pads over to his mentor. He watches as Milkpaw goes over to her mentor as well, excited they are on patrol together. The five cats then gather together.

"Let's go," Gorsefall meows, beginning to pad over to the camp entrance. The rest of the patrol follows closely behind. The patrol then exits the camp, heading off into the rest of ShadowClan's territory. Pinepaw takes this opportunity to ask the older warriors something he has been wondering for days now.

"How did Mousetail save Juniperleaf when she was an apprentice?"

"I got this, Gorsefall," Leafshadow meows, wanting to answer for her sister. "There was a terrible storm. The winds were extremely strong and it wouldn't stop raining heavily. As frogbrained as we were as young apprentices, Juniperleaf and I decided to go out of camp in the storm alone to try to hunt. That was a big mistake because not long after exiting camp, Juniperleaf slipped and fell into a very deep puddle of water that flooded from the lake. Thankfully, before Juniperleaf could drown, Mousetail grabbed a large branch in his jaws and got her out with it. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be here now. I didn't know how I could've saved her. I was too young to understand," she explains.

"Wow, that sounds like it must've been scary," Pinepaw responds.

"It was," Leafshadow replies.

"Wasn't that the storm where the Clan found Goosecloud and Snowpetal?" Volenose asks since he was not born at the time.

"Yes," Gorsefall answers.

"They aren't clan-born?" Milkpaw asks. "I can't believe I didn't even know this about my own mother."

"No," Gorsefall responds. "Goosecloud was a lost kittypet and Snowpetal was a lonely and motherless kit we found," he meows. "We were lucky to have Cherrystar as leader at the time, because there's no way Boulderstar would've taken in Goosecloud."

"Rosedawn and Russetblaze aren't clan-born either," Volenose mentions. "A loner wanted a safe place for her kits to stay, so she left them with us. Cherrystar was a very generous leader, which was probably partially because our Clan's population was struggling at the time, especially after the loss of Shadeclaw, Lightfur, and all of their kits except Nightbreeze," he meows.

"This is interesting," Pinepaw responds. "But, I think we should start hunting now," he meows. After a few meows of agreement, Pinepaw separated from the rest of the patrol, following the scent of frog from nearby. After spotting the frog, Pinepaw crouches low to the ground and stalks closer. Then, the dark gray tom pounces for the frog, biting his neck, and killing it. He buries the frog and then pads off, continuing to hunt.

Pinepaw's heart stops once he spots Milkpaw. The cream-and-white she-cat is laying on the ground, unmoving. Right in front of her is a giant stone sticking out of the ground. He watches as a squirrel climbs up the tree beside Milkpaw and the stone.

"Milkpaw!" Pinepaw yowls, dashing over to her. However, there is no response. "Milkpaw, wake up!" He meows, giving her shoulder a few shoves. However, there is still no response.

"Someone, help!" Pinepaw yowls. Suddenly, Gorsefall appears in front of Pinepaw.

"What's wrong?!" The senior warrior asks, clearly out of breath. Then, he spots her. "Oh no, what happened?!"

"I don't know!" Pinepaw wails. "But I think she's dead!" He cries out, his limbs shaking
so much he can hardly stay on his four paws. Pinepaw watches as Leafshadow and Volenose hurry over to them.

"We need to get her to Silvertuft, quickly!" Volenose meows. Pinepaw feels like he is about to faint as the older cats carry Milkpaw's still body back to camp. Pinepaw forgets the frog he had caught earlier, his mind only on Milkpaw. The dark gray tom feels like his heart is about to burst out of his chest. His eyes wide, the cats step back into ShadowClan's camp. A few wails come from his clanmates at the sight of Milkpaw.

"What happened?!" Goosecloud asks frantically, her eyes wide at the sight of her unconscious daughter.

"We're not sure, Goosecloud," Gorsefall answers. "But, I think Pinepaw might have gathered some important details," he
meows as he continues to help carry Milkpaw's body over to the medicine cat den.

"Pinepaw!" Goosecloud meows, looking over at the young dark gray tom. "What do you know?" She asks, looking just as terrified, if not more, as Pinepaw himself is.

"T-there was a large stone in front of her and a squirrel climbed up the tree beside it," Pinepaw meows, his vision beginning to get fuzzy and his voice shakes as well as his body. "I-I think she might've pounced for the squirrel, missed, and hit her h-head on the stone, which knocked her out. I'm so scared she's dead," he meows.

"She's not dead!" Silvertuft calls out, peeking out of the medicine cat den. "Her heart is still beating, but she's knocked out cold," she
meows. Pinepaw lets out a small sigh of relief.

But that doesn't guarantee anything. Pinepaw thinks.

The traumatized apprentice then stomps over to the apprentices' den.

"Leave him alone," Pinepaw hears his mother, Nightbreeze, meow as he stomps off.