Warriors | Adventures of SnowClan

Chapter 16

Whitepaw was chasing after a rabbit, darting through the trees and leaping over fallen logs. It was always one step ahead, its ears pricked and its tail bobbing as if to taunt her. Eventually, Whitepaw pounced, trapping it beneath her claws. As she prepared to kill it with a swipe, she froze. Palekit was standing in front of her, her eyes as wild and crazed as they had been when she hurt her sister. The rabbit scurried away from Whitepaw's claws, and she hissed in frustration. Palekit turned her head away from Whitepaw, towards the rising sun. She let out an earsplitting yowl and bounded away, her tail flicking behind her. Whitepaw tried to follow her, but her paws were stuck to the ground. She called after Palekit, but there was no response besides the echo of her own voice. That was strange. Who ever heard of an echo in the forest? Then, she heard the whispers of voices all around, saying things she couldn't make out. Whitepaw struggled, but she couldn't move. The voices closed in around her, and she screamed for help...

"Whitepaw! Whitepaw, wake up!"

Whitepaw's eyes shot open and she sat up, breathing hard. Sparkpaw was staring at her from her nest, a worried look in her eyes. 

"Are you alright? You were screaming."

Whitepaw looked at her. She was?

"Yeah, yeah I'm ok. I'm fine. Just... a nightmare..." she settled back down in her nest, aware of Sparkpaw continuing to stare at her as she fell back into the world of sleep.

When Whitepaw next awoke, it was nearly sunhigh. She stretched, the memory of her dream fresh in her mind. Palekit's frightening eyes. The mysterious voices that whispered through the dark. She padded out into the main cave, seeing very few cats around. Ashstar was speaking to Moondash by her den, and Streamleaf was heading out of the camp. Whitepaw rushed over to her, eager to hear about Icepaw's progress. 

"Whitepaw! Good to see you're awake! I'm so sorry about Opalclaw, he was a great cat," she meowed.

"Thank you, Streamleaf. How's Icepaw doing?"

"Oh, she's going great! An incredible cat, very skilled at hunting. She is a little troublesome though. She has a habit of trying to sneak away to do her own thing."

Whitepaw looked up, worried that her sister was proving to be a burden on the kind warrior. Luckily, there was a glint of amusement in Streamleaf's eyes, as well as fondness. Whitepaw nodded thoughtfully. She was glad Icepaw was doing so well. 

Smokepaw was sitting up in the medicine den when Whitepaw came to see her. 

"Whitepaw!" Smokepaw said, nuzzling her friend. 

"You're ok! Oh, Smokepaw, you are such a pain! You had me so worried!" Whitepaw responded, resturning the gesture. 

"I'm so sorry about Opalclaw. He was a good cat."

"Yeah. He was. But what about you? How are you?"

"I am absolutely positively cured, I assure you. But Frostleaf has me on stupid rest-mode, to 'rehabilitate my body and gain some strength.' Apparently, it's a 'tried and true method of healing.'" 

Whitepaw laughed at Smokepaw's impersonation of Frostleaf. It wasn't even close. She could tell her friend was trying to cheer her up, get her mind off Opalclaw. But, in truth, Whitepaw's mind was constantly on StarClan's Chamber. Opalclaw's last request had been strange, and although she knew she could never break her promise to him, she couldn't help but wonder what could be so dangerous. So dangerous that Opalclaw had kept it a secret all his life.

So dangerous that he never wanted anyone to know about it ever again.