Broken Honor

Chapter 15

Rushpaw opened her eyes slowly. She could hear strange sounds echoing from outside the den, but she was too tired to decipher what they were. Still laying in her nest, she squinted at the den opening. Lifting her head slightly, she could see that it had snowed overnight. She smiled a little, happy about her first leaf-bare. Those enthusiastic feelings lifted when she realized she had been woken up by the sound of cats arguing. 

Slowly getting to her paws, Rushpaw shook her pelt and padded over to the den opening to see what was going on.

"We've been wasting time!" Sunbright was saying. "We've been living in this camp for how long, a moon? And leaf-bare's just arrived, and we haven't planned out what we're going to do next!"

"Sunny?" Gentlebreeze asked quietly. "Elaborate, please. What do you mean when you say we haven't planned anything out?"

"Don't call me that," Sunbright mumbled. "And yes, we really haven't planned out what we're going to do. This camp was always meant to be a temporary one. So where will we go? This land isn't large or preyful enough to support us throughout leaf-bare."

"A bit bold of you to assume that," Dapplewing replied politely, swishing her tail. "There's only six of us, but I think it's safe to say we can probably live here for the time being. With some difficulty of course, but it's certainly not impossible."

Sunbright drooped her tail, looking frustrated. "We're a small group, that's for sure, but with three cats leading, we can't function as a proper Clan!" she protested.

Rushpaw blinked. That was right. Sunbright, Dapplewing,and Gentlebreeze had all established themselves as the three leaders of The Runaways. But right before her eyes, that establishment seemed to be falling apart.

Autumnfire, who had left the shared den and seated herself beside the three leaders, lifted her head. "A proper Clan, you say?" 

"Since when exactly have we called ourselves a Clan?" Diamondfrost remarked rather rudely as she trotted out of the den. "We're a group of six cats who've run away from IvyClan because it was falling apart who have no idea what we're even doing."

A fresh wave of building anxiety and dread washed over Rushpaw. She began to feel very uncomfortable as the arguing continued further and became increasingly more heated.

Feeling very small, the young apprentice slowly padded into the middle of the camp. "Dapplewing?" she called to her mother. "Could you excuse me from camp? I'd like to go hunt on my own for a little while, clear my mind."

Rushpaw's mother barely acknowledged her, simply nodding her head and swishing her tail dismissively. Rushpaw quickly headed out of the little clearing they called camp and into the birch forest. 

She soon found that hunting wouldn't do the trick. Her mind was full of worry for what was to come, and she couldn't stop wondering what the future would be like. It had been how long- a moon, perhaps? Since IvyClan broke apart due to Viperstar's leadership, and for all that time the Runaways had simply minded their own business while living in their own tiny camp, not thinking too much about their future plans. But it couldn't last forever. They would have to get everything together eventually. 

You should go back to camp, the voice urged her, sounding slightly desperate. The discussions Sunbright and Dapplewing are having- they're important. You should stick around and listen to them. Please! 

Rushpaw just flicked her tail dismissively. "Shut up," she said out loud, rather aggressively. She heard the voice sigh, but it didn't speak again. Rushpaw couldn't help but wonder why it cared about that at all, but she brushed the thought away.