Cinder

Chapter 12

Cindercloud stood when she spotted Ravenpaw walking towards her. She stood and waved her tail in greeting.
"Hi Ravenpaw!" She called. He padded up to her with his tail waving in the air.
    "It's Ravenclaw now!" He boasted proudly.  
    "Oh congrats! You'll have to not call me Cinderpaw either. I'm Cindercloud!" She announced. Ravenclaw let out a loud purr and brushed his muzzle against hers. Cindercloud tensed before allowing herself to relax against his embrace. Moments later, bushes rustled and Maplepaw walked into the clearing.
    "Ooooooh!" She keened. Cindercloud jumped away from Ravenclaw.
    "Maplepaw!" She exclaimed, flushing with embarrassment.
    "Who's Maplepaw? I haven't heard of Maplepaw. You're talking to Maplefrost now!" She purred.
     "That's great! I'm Cindercloud now."
     "And Ravenclaw." Ravenclaw added.
"It's cool we got to become warriors at the same time!" Maplefrost exclaimed.
"Indeed! How's ShadowClan life?" Cindercloud asked.
"Easy going." Maplefrost mewed.
      "Same with me." Cindercloud agreed. "What about ThunderClan?" She asked, turning to Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw looked uncomfortable.
"Fine." He muttered.
"Something wrong?" Cindercloud asked.
"N-nothing. Just the usual." He replied, not meeting her gaze. Cindercloud presses her side against his.
"You can confide in us if something is wrong." She told him. Ravenclaw glanced gratefully at her.
"Thanks, but I'm alright." He purred. Cindercloud shifted away from him, aware of Maplefrost inspecting them with twinkling eyes. An awkwardness settled over the group.
"I gotta go." Ravenclaw mewed hastily, staggering to his paws.
"But you just got here." Cindercloud said, disappointed. He shook out his sleek black fur.
"I know. But I don't wanna be out much tonight. I'll see you later." Without another word he strode away.
"He seems off tonight" Maplefrost mewed as she watched him leave.
"Maybe he's just tired." Cindercloud said.
"Or maybe ThunderClan is planning something and he can't say." Maplefrost said darkly. As Cindercloud fell asleep that night, that was all she heard echoing through her head.

    The next day, Cindercloud was out on patrol with Graystep, Heatherfall, Featherheart, Heronwing and Talonpaw. Everything was quiet as they padded through the forest. Talonpaw, although feeling much better, still walked stiffly, but he wanted to be able to do a patrol with his clan mates and keep up his strength and energy. Cindercloud padded beside him, partly glad Splashtail wasn't there so she could have some of his attention.
"Hawkpaw will have his warrior assessment in about a moon." Talonpaw meowed happily.
"Do you mind that he will be a warrior before you?" Cindercloud asked.
"No. I'll be right behind him." He meowed, tail high. "Whatever it takes to become the best warrior I can be!" Cindercloud purred, feeling a rush of affection for him. The moor stretched out in front of them, grass and heather swaying in the breeze. Heatherfall and Graystep were padding side by side and walking in rhythm with each other. She let out a purr of amusement. Those two seemed to always be together.
"When I become a warrior, I'm going to ask Splashtail to be my mate." Talonpaw said suddenly. Cindercloud felt her heart drop to her paws, but she wasn't surprised he would say that. "I think she is really cool." He added.
"She is. I'll be happy for you." Cindercloud said, her voice catching in her throat.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"What for?" Cindercloud asked, startled.
"That I want to be mates with Splashtail. I've seen the way you look at me. And the way you look at us together. I know you have feelings for me." He meowed. Cindercloud almost stopped in her tracks in astonishment.
"I do. But I've accepted your relationship with Splashtail." She meowed slowly.
"Good. I may not have feelings for you, but you are one of my best friends Cindercloud. I hope to always have you to patrol with and be friends." He murmured.
"And you are one of my best friends Talonpaw." Cindercloud purred. Talonpaw rested his tail on her back for a moment before they continued walking.
  Soon, they reached the border with ThunderClan. All was still except for the wind rustling in the trees. Cindercloud felt her heart burst with hope. Perhaps Mudstar was done terrorizing her clan. But soon after the thought went through her head, she noticed the heather and bushes rustling. Out stepped Mudstar, his muscles rippling under his thick brown pelt. Heronwing halted, fur rising along his spine. Beside Mudstar stood his deputy, Switcheye. They were flanked by Clawheart, Yellowfur, Darkstorm, Owlwing, Lakesplash, and Blackpelt. Cindercloud was relieved that Ravenclaw was not there, but dread curled inside of her. They were outnumbered.
"Hello Heronwing." Mudstar meowed smoothly.
"Get off of our territory." Heronwing groveled, unsheathed his claws.
"I don't think we will. How about you give up with stretch of your territory?" Mudstar suggested.
"Why would be do that?" Heronwing growled.
"Because you are weak. One day, I will conquer your clan completely and take all of your territory. But we have to do this one step at a time." Mudstar replied. "And then, I'll take over all the clans. ThunderClan will be feared and rule the entire forest!" He yowled.
"You are a mouse heart! StarClan meant for there to be four clans, not one ruled by a bloodthirsty murderer!" Heronwing exclaimed.
"Oh but that is what will happen. Tigerstar has the right idea. I will not be a groveling weakling like Firestar. My clan will be strong!" Mudstar let out a battle cry and sprang into battle. But instead of leaping onto Heronwing, he leapt at Talonpaw. His warriors surged forward and attacked the other cats, making it so that they could not help Talonpaw. Yellowfur and Darkstorm had Cindercloud pinned to the ground. She wriggled, trying to break free, but it was no use. She could only watch helplessly as Mudstar pinned Talonpaw to the ground and pummeled his belly with his hind legs. Talonpaw let out screeches of agony and fear. Then Mudstar stood up, grabbed Talonpaw by the scruff, and hurtled him into a tree. Talonpaw hit it and landed, his eyes glazed. Cindercloud let out a screech of fury and grief. The force of it gave her strength. She kicked Darkstorm off of her and bit down hard on Yellowfur's forepaw, satisfied when she tasted blood. She leapt to her paws and slashed Darkstorm across the muzzle. He screeched and reared up to slash Cindercloud, but a yowl from Mudstar stopped him.
    "We have showed them their lesson! This territory will be ours, and I'll kill every one of your warriors until it is mine!" With that, they fled back into their own territory. Cindercloud staggered to Talonpaw, gazing down at him, a shred of hope in her that he was still alive. She leaned down. His eyes were blank and glazed over, seeing nothing. His old wound in his belly was opened, and blood pooled out. Cindercloud let out a chilling wail of grief to the sky. Heronwing yowled with fury and grief, his eyes wild with it. He stood over his apprentice with hunched shoulders.
     "They will pay! They will all pay for killing my apprentice! I'll kill them all!" He screeched. The rest of the patrol looked on, grief lighting their eyes.

   When they had brought  Talonpaw back, Hawkpaw had let out a chilling wail, rushing over to his brother.
   "Who did this?" He asked, voice choked.
   "Mudstar." Cindercloud meowed, standing beside him. Hawkpaw had been so grief stricken in that moment that he had buried his head into her shoulder. Cindercloud stiffened, surprised, but relaxed and soothed the apprentice and helped him through his grief.
     "My precious baby!" Leafstrike cried, burying her head into her kits fur. Cindercloud sat, numb. Falconstar was pacing, muttering under his breath and swearing that he was going to rip Mudstar into pieces. Splashtail looked on, crushed. Cindercloud dug her claws into the grass. This was all Mudstar's fault. Now Splashtail and Talonpaw would never be mates and have a life together.
    "I loved him." Splashtail murmured to Graystep, leaning into her brother for support. Cindercloud pledged that she would make Mudstar pay, even if it were the last thing she did.