Split: Book One: Dimming Embers

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

"Darkpaw! Darkpaw!" Darkpaw shook her head tiredly, looking up.

"Graypaw- what?" Graypaw's eyes gleamed in the early sunlight, outlined against the dark gray sky.

"Brightpaw wants to see you," she mewed hesitantly, and Darkpaw rolled her eyes, turning over.

"Tell her I said no," she mumbled, burying her muzzle in her paws. She heard the shuffle of Graypaw's paws as she padded into the den.

"Please? It's not just you, if it helps. She had Leopardpaw and Bearpaw meet her too." Darkpaw hesitated, half-opening one eye to peer warily at Graypaw.

"Fine," she said at last. She rose to her paws, yawning. "But this better be good."

She followed Graypaw somewhat grumpily out of the den, blinking in the cold light of dawn. Almost no one else was up. Graypaw led them to the cluster of apprentices near the entrance that was Brightpaw, Leopardpaw, and Bearpaw. Darkpaw sat down next to Graypaw, glaring at Brightpaw.

"What is this about?" she demanded, curling her tail around her paws. Brightpaw snorted.

"No need to get huffy," she hummed. "But I had an idea for today."

"An idea?" hissed Darkpaw, flexing her claws. "Since when have your ideas involved me?" Brightpaw shot her a glare.

"And my idea," she continued, completely ignoring Darkpaw. "is to hold a race up the side of the volcano. None of us have done it yet, and it's like, an age-old tradition."

"Wait," Leopardpaw cut in, narrowing her eyes. "Isn't that like supposedly, I don't know, super dangerous?"

"It can be," admitted Brightpaw, but her eyes shone in a way that made Darkpaw think that might not be one of her sister's biggest concerns. "Look, I'll tell you what. Whoever wins gets to be the 'leader' for an entire day. They can tell any of us what to do, and they'll have to do it." Darkpaw suddenly had leaped to her paws.

"No!" she snarled. "That's a terrible idea!"

"What?" purred Brightpaw, eyes flickering coldly. "Worried I might win?" Darkpaw hesitated, mouth half-open.

"N-"

"Then I don't see a problem."

"I'll play!" relented Leopardpaw, with a small smile. "It sounds fun, and as long as we're careful, it should be fine."

"I guess I will too," murmured Graypaw, and Bearpaw nodded amiably. Darkpaw froze, eyes darting from Leopardpaw, to Graypaw, to Brightpaw.

"I-" Brightpaw met Darkpaw's eyes, and Darkpaw sighed. "I'll play too," she hissed, tail-tip lashing. "But only so you won't win." Brightpaw grinned, seemingly satisfied.

"Sunhigh," she said simply, before turning tail and trotting back into camp.

The others followed her with varying levels of enthusiasm. Darkpaw watched them go with narrowed eyes before standing. But as she made her way back through the empty camp, she couldn't suppress the shivers that wouldn't stop running through her pelt. 

Sunhigh it was.

"Are you ready?" Brightpaw turned to grin at the rest of them. Darkpaw stepped forward, bristling slightly.

"Are you?" she shot back, and Brightpaw grinned even wider.

"We start on the count of three!" she announced. The apprentices fell into line, bunching their muscles. "Three!" Darkpaw's heart pounded. It wasn't a big deal, was it? "Two!" It was just a friendly race. But... "One...!" Darkpaw took a deep breath to steady herself.