Silent Shadows: Book One - Echoes of the Flame

XIV

"So why do you think she kidnapped you, of all cats?"

Black branches swayed over the blur of moonlight, a deathly chill travelling formless through the dark fortress of trees as the she-cats bounded through the endless night. A cloth of fog had fallen over the stars, veiling the endless trail of stars in an ominous curtain of shadow.

"Well, there was a time..." Silentpaw was suddenly struck with an electrifying shock from the weight of the memory. She froze in place, prompting Shimmerpaw to skid down the slope of mud and bound back up to where her friend stood, scoffing.

"Hey!" she hissed. "Come on, we're solving a mystery! Not cowering like spooked kits, you scaredy-cat!"

"Sorry," Silentpaw tried to shake away the memories, but they clung to her pelt like old parasites, gripping her in frozen shackles. Shimmerpaw groaned.

"Do I seriously have to carry you or something, you little bitch?" The silver molly spat. "Stop crying because this big dark forest was too scary for you and walk! Are you seriously that stupid!?"

"I'm sorry!" She hissed, green eyes filling with a swell of tears. She turned, shaking to force them not to slip away, but the wash of sorrow came to soak her face before she could stop herself. Shimmerpaw froze, taken aback. "Silentpaw..."

The molly simply turned, leaping forward into the darkness without bothering to glance at her one moment and disappearing into the maze of shadows.

-

"Silentpaw!" Shimmerpaw called out, the ghost of her yelp travelling through the halls of moonlight as she slithered between obscure bushes. Branches shivered within the incomprehensible, black skies as she wandered through the silent, sleeping world to come across a silhouette which sat perched in darkness.

Shimmerpaw crawled from her cage of leaves, stepping in exhaustion towards the blurry figure of darkness. "Silentpaw! Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

Moonlight broke out from a tear in the night sky, light unveiling itself to gaze upon the silver molly. She slowly turned around, her expression delicate as porcelain. She sat like a shattered angel under the constellations. "Come on," she whispered as she stood on her shivering paws again. "Let's go."

"H-hey! Wait!" she hissed, dashing forth as Silentpaw delicately wandered off into the black shroud of thorn-covered trees in the direction of the camp. "What happened? I'm not just being a curious idiot again, I swear! I just...need to know..."

But the other apprentice was now far away from her, and had been lost to this silent night. Shimmerpaw groaned, frustration surging through her again as she dashed forth into the woodland labyrinth after her. The she-cat stood silent in a moonlit hall of obscure, black silhouettes of the trees in branches. She came dashing forth again, splashes of mud flying up as her paws struck through the pits of dung and muck.

They made their way through the sleeping forest, until finally NightClan's  ravine of warmth and comfort stood before the two to comfort them again. Shimmerpaw sighed as her heart finally took in the waves of relief that washed over her. Finally, we're back.

Neither of them spoke a word as they slowly made their way into the entrance, crawling through lightless tunnels and stepping out into the wide expanse of their campsite. There was nothing but silence, the only single tint of light and ruckus in this night was the moon which sent faint white fire painting each tree and bush in a lonely light. They stepped through the clearing, slinking towards the apprentice den and coming towards the wide doorway to the cavern, slipping into darkness's protection.

Not a single stir of awakening sung in the cave. All the cats within sat curled, secured by the smothering shadows' embrace. Not a thought ran through their heads other than their starry dreams.  Everyone was slumbering at this dead hour. Shimmerpaw wandered over to Sunpaw, where she laid curled in a bed of moss.

"Sunpaw," she sighed, sharply prodding her unconscious sister on the shoulder. "Wake up."

She turned, grimacing in discomfort and squirming in the wreath of moss. Shimmerpaw sharply prodded her again. "Wake up, idiot!"

Her head slowly raised up, expression melting into a drunken haze. "Wha..." she grumbled, all her thoughts still drowning in the sea of her dreams. Shimmerpaw grabbed her by the shoulders, vigorously shaking her, causing her to be flung up out of the golden ocean and up into the cold night. "...Shimmerpaw?"

"Hey, sorry for waking you up but we've got another mystery," Shimmerpaw meowed. Sunpaw's doe-like, golden eyes were round in exhausted confusion. "Silentpaw got kidnapped by a BlazeClan cat, and learned some...things. And we need to find out what those things are."

"Hey," Silentpaw mewed softly, walking up with a stern look in her eyes. "I'm sorry if I'm annoying anyone, but I don't think we should do this. Last time you went out trying to find out  something, Shimmerpaw got kidnapped and you nearly died. And Sunpaw, you impulsively went out to try and save her and got abducted too. I just think you two should stop being so reckless."

"H-Hey!" Shimmerpaw hissed. "I'll be careful this time!" But the sound of soft laughter pulled her away from furiously staring at Silentpaw.

"Yeah, you're right I guess," Sunpaw mewed with a modest chuckle. "For once in my life, I don't really want to be so reckless."

"Huh? Look, we'll try our best not to get kidnapped this time!" Shimmerpaw hissed.

"Saying you'll be careful is not enough," Silentpaw hissed, suddenly hardened and bitter. She was painted in a fiery light. The shy, delicate rabbit suddenly stood high and haughty, looking completely prepared, even hungry, for a battle. "You need to stop these reckless missions. One day they could be the end of you, or even all of us."

Instead of being intimidated, she just found herself breaking into a laugh. "Ha! Reckless? I'm trying to save my Clan! And you seriously think I'm going to kill us all some day? I swear you were always stupid."

She spun around, smirking as Silentpaw stared with her face scrunched in a frustrated expression and Sunpaw stared gaping like some worried fish. "I'll go myself, then. I'm going to find this mystery out. And maybe one day I'll have saved us all, I wonder how you will feel then, Mrs. Cautious!"

And with that, she turned away and disappeared into the night.