From the last of hot weather, a storm was breaking in. There wasn't much left of green-leaf but whatever was left, was using all its strength to conjure up a storm. The first droplets of rain began to splatter across the grounds, the clouds beginning to spread towards the moon. Cinderpaw raced through the droplets, water clinging to her whiskers. Thunder crackled somewhere in the distance as Cinderpaw made her way into the fields of TideClan. The night was becoming dark, darker as stars began to disappear behind the clouds. Cinderpaw chocked on her sadness, her paws barely touching the ground before they took another agonising step forwards.
Everything ached. Her heart, her paws, her head, just everything... Cinderpaw streaked through the fields, sadness washing over her like a wave coming to wash her away deep under the surface and never bring her back up. Before she knew it, she was entering the forest of LeafClan, but did she care? No, she didn't care one bit of her being. The trees gave her some shelter of the rain that began to pound onto the ground, leaving drops on grass that waved around in the wind. Cinderpaw's pelt was still stuck to her frame, making her look like a scrawny mouse.
Cinderpaw had never ran through a forest and it felt much different than to running across the beach. It felt... easier and faster, although she had to watch out for roots and sticks and of course the damp ground. She paused for a moment to catch her breath, tasting the air carefully. The sharp pang of LeafClan cut through the breeze and lingered on her tongue. Slightly afraid, Cinderpaw bolted off, keeping her tail low to the ground. She glanced behind her but when she turned her gaze back to the path before her, her paw caught on a fallen branch and she tripped, rolling over, her paws getting wet mud all over them. She skidded off into the grass, wincing.
"Over here!" a voice yowled.
Eyes widening, Cinderpaw picked herself up and pushed onwards, rain stinging her already moist eyes. Her paws slammed down hard on rocks and tree branches. She slipped on one of the wet rocks, causing her to slice one of the pads of her paws open slightly. Cinderpaw cursed and raced off, limping. When she felt like collapsing and screaming, Cinderpaw bust out of the trees and bushes, finding herself in front of a tumbling waterfall with trees surrounding the clearing. No grass could be seen, all was dirt and... something old and red and almost completely worn over by dirt.
Blood. Cinderpaw stepped back, her breathing becoming deep. She brushed past the patch and looked up at the waterfall. Water tumbled down into a small pool. She noticed a path that led up to the top of the waterfall, worn by footprints of other cats. The scent of LeafClan was there, but only faint, almost as if it wasn't there. Curious, Cinderpaw padded towards the path of the waterfall and began to climb it slowly, watching where she placed her paws in case she slipped and alerted any LeafClan cats. Once she reached the top, she looked down, gazing at the tumbling water with eyes sparkling with wonder. The pool below looked clear, as if untouched by anything else.
The chestnut-black-white she-cat swallowed, taking in everything around her. She took one step forwards and looked down, lifting her paw. A drop of blood was expanding beneath her. Cinderpaw touched it but it was somehow dry but still expanding. Horrified, the apprentice turned and ran back down the slope stopping at the edge of the water. She peered into her own reflection, looking into her blue eyes. Then, as if she was an entirely different cat, the reflection of a tortoiseshell replaced her face. The face of a cat she had never seen before.
Cinderpaw jumped back, wincing with fear. She stared into the pool of water, too far to see either her own reflection or that other cat's reflection. She stood still, shocked, rigid with fear and sadness. Anger burned in her throat, piercing her like a fresh set of claws.
"A TideClan cat!" The same voice from before startled the apprentice, causing her to whip around and bare her fangs defensively. A group of five or so cats stood at the edge of the clearing, growls filling their throats - apart from one cat. Breezepaw, the apprentice from the Gathering Cinderpaw had met. "What are you doing here?" the same cat questioned. He seemed to be the leader of the patrol - Twistedbranch, was it? - and he didn't like trespassers on his territory.
"Nothing," Cinderpaw answered bitterly.
"You're on LeafClan territory, apprentice," Twistedbranch hissed.
"No she's not, Twistedbranch."
A red-brown tabby tom emerged from the bushes beside the waterfall, two other cats behind him. His eyes were slits in the rain, his ears pinned to his head. Lightning began to flash faintly while thunder crackled in the distance, rumbling louder as time passed. Ferngaze pushed out from the bushes, glaring at Cinderpaw. Swiftstorm also came forwards, standing on the other side of Cinderpaw. Twistedbranch let out a mrrow, his tail flicking with amusement as he watched the three cats of TideClan appear.
"Looks like Brackenstar has come to defend the little mouse-brain," Twistedbranch laughed.
"This is not LeafClan territory," Brackenstar growled.
"Not since-" Ferngaze cut herself short, hissing under her breath.
"This place is part of the forest so it belongs to LeafClan," a silver tabby she-cat pointed out softly, flinching at the rain.
"Two Dark Forets cats lay here! We declared that this place belongs to no one. It may be part of the forest, but that does not make it rightfully yours!" Swiftstorm shouted over the rain boldly.
"They think you're weak... you have power..."
Confusion glittered in Cinderpaw's eyes and she looked down, hearing the voice murmur in her ear. Her ear-fur stirred and she looked up but the two Clans were still facing each other as if no one had spoken since Swiftstorm. Cinderpaw's claws dug into the ground, anger and a slight fear bubbling in her chest. Brackenstar glanced at her, tilting his head. She looked over at Ferngaze, both their pelts stuck to their bones. Ferngaze let out a low growl as she stared at her sister.
"How about we leave without anyone getting injured and you don't inform Jaggedstar about this. Deal?" Brackenstar snarled calmly.
"As if!" Twistedbranch yowled.
"Just let them go!" Breezepaw argued, beginning to get agitated.
"For StarClan's sake, shut up, you little furball!" he shot back, silencing her.
"Twistedbranch, don't talk to my apprentice that way," a tortoiseshell she-cat hissed coolly, her fierce-blue eyes burning into his. "Besides, it looks as if that other apprentice is terrified. Let them go. You should know that this was our territory before the battle. Things change. You've changed."
Burnmist, the she-cat, turned tail and began to lead the rest of the patrol away, cats still hissing and spitting at Cinderpaw, Brackenstar, Ferngaze and Swiftstorm. Cinderpaw felt stupid. She felt mouse-brained and fox-hearted. She didn't need to be told off by any cat that it had been a mouse-brained decision to run off in a storm and into LeafClan territory in the first place. Even getting close to LeafClan territory at a time like this was never a good idea. Cinderpaw stared at her paws as Ferngaze led the long way back to camp, escaping from the forest as quickly as possible.
Brackenstar stood beside Cinderpaw, Swiftstorm between Ferngaze and Brackenstar as they walked almost in single-file. Cinderpaw hung her head low, thinking. Why had her Clan kept this from her this whole time? They burned her heart and tricked her into believing that her mother was Dovefeather. Worst of all, Ferngaze was her sister and Ferngaze had known all along. Had that cat's reflection she had seen in the river been her mother staring back at her, ordering for her to do something about all this?
"That was a fox-hearted decision, Cinderpaw," Brackenstar said, pulling her from her train of thought.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Cinderpaw prompted, glaring up at him. "Or never spoke a word about it? I might've carried on with my life without caring weather or not Dovefeather was my mother. I still believe she's like a mother to me, she took me in."
"If we never told you sooner, you would've been living a lie for longer."
"I already have been. But I can't stay angry with you, you're my leader and I'd never show disrespect to you. But for now, I just want to be alone and think."
"Wise apprentice. I'll get everyone to give you space when we return back."
And with a heavy heart, paws weighing her down, fur clinging to her thin frame, Cinderpaw continued on her way.
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ωåтєɾfåℓℓ ➳ warriors fanfic
Fanfiction❝Watch my heart burn in the tide❞ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ {1 of Secret Intentions} Cinderpaw has never known the truth. Ever since she had been a kit, she's believed lies others have told her. Is it Cinderpaw's fault that she looks like a cat that had once ha...
