Diverging Paths (Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 21

"Good morning, Highwings."

Highwings stirred more at the words of Doublepelt, and lolled her head to the side to gaze at him with lazy eyes. Another day of recovery had done her well, and after last night, she felt strong enough to leave the den, even if Nimblereach had been iffy about it yesterday. "Good morning," she murmured to him.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"A lot. Hopefully Nimblereach will let me leave today," she grunted. "You?"

"Still can barely move," he sighed. 

"Well, at least you're still pretty good," she chuckled. "I'm looking at you right now and can't tell what's wrong. If I didn't know your rib was broken, I'd be asking you what you're doing here."

Doublepelt laughed, then winced. "I think you'd find out soon enough."

"Baaah." Highwings' eyes surveyed the entrance, where flittering warm, young light sparkled among the lichen. She remembered the view from yesterday, only now it was much clearer in her mind, as her suffering was all but gone. Surveying the den more, she asked, "Where's Nimblereach and Offpaw?"

"Off to collect herbs." He shrugged. "They brought some warriors with them, too, just for safety."

"By Silverpelt, whatever would give them that idea?" Highwings snorted.

Doublepelt chuckled lightly at this response, but held back heftier laughter. "Yeah, look at us, we're fine."

Him saying that brought a thought out of the blue for Highwings, and her comedic demeanor disappeared. She gazed at Doublepelt with more serious eyes, and he, too, lost his smile because of it. "Doublepelt?" she inquired. "How is Trenchfall doing?"

"Oh...him and his siblings are taking it harshly," he murmured. "I think they're all just trying to ignore it. Mellowsigh's focusing on her kit, Nimblereach is focusing on healing, and Trenchfall is focusing on Popbubble."

"Oh, yeah, Popbubble too." Trudgestep's mate. I wonder if they've told Spotkit and Mumblekit. "How's she reacted?"

"Same as Mellowsigh. Cried a bit, now she only ever talks to her kits," Doublepelt sighed. "And Trenchfall, of course. They're all dodging Trudgestep to a crazy degree, but you know it'll come crashing down soon."

"Mmm. Seems to me like they can't deal with it," Highwings mumbled remorsefully. She had meant this to be sympathetic, but it came out sounding like she was criticizing them.

Doublepelt, luckily, understood her intentions for the former. "Indeed. It'll come out sometime. Though I'm especially curious about Mellowsigh. You know Trudgestep was trying to be friendly to her, with Trenchfall."

Wanting to avoid the topic of Mellowsigh at all costs, Highwings instead questioned the thought that she had had moments earlier: "Do Spotkit and Mumblekit know?"

"Yeah. I heard Trenchfall explaining everything to them. Or trying to. I'm not sure they realize he's not coming back." Doublepelt flicked his tail with a distant look, eyes set ahead on nothing. "Which is odd. They're five moons old; you'd think they'd be a bit smarter than three-moon-old kits."

"Maybe when they're apprentices, they'll understand it better," Highwings remarked. "I remember it took until the middle of my apprenticeship for me to stop asking questions about Flakefall."

"I guess that makes sense." He turned his head back towards her, prompting her to meet his eyes. "Have...Have you talked to Hollowfortune yet?"

"No. He hasn't come in to see me." The resentment for her brother that had started building two days ago only kept festering as he refused to show his face. She might have forgotten his abandonment if he came in as soon as possible and explained that he had ran off to get backup or something. But his avoidance of her only fed her growing irritation and added onto the questions that he had to answer for.