Destined To The Stars |•Book #1•| Fallen Wings

Chapter Fifteen

 "They're staring at you again," FatePaw growled, his voice dripping with anger and protectiveness. The sun hung low over the sky, glaring a harsh, orange sunlight over the lily-white glittering snow. Frost edged the foliage around camp. FatePaw's eyes darted around camp, sparkling coldly with a tone of disgust.

"No... they're glaring," FallenPaw sighed, wrapping his fluffy tail around his giant paws. His fur ruffled with unease as SwiftClaw, a senior warrior who was more hiss than bite, passed the two of them. His yellow, snake-like eyes glared down at FallenPaw like a hunter stalking its prey. They've always glared, but ever since the death of GooseEye... they've only glared more.

The two apprentices, fur whitened by the cold snow, sat underneath the large canopy of the butterbur, which hung over the apprentice den. FallenPaw breathed out a puff of smoke, shivering as the cold seemed to bite his bones. Letting out a quiet mew, the large apprentice fluffed out his fur, to protect himself from the fierce jaws of winter.

As SwiftClaw, whose scrawny, small frame, stalked away from FatePaw and FallenPaw, a frown etched on his scarred face, and the air around them seemed to crackle and break with a cold tension, colder than the snow beneath their paws.

FatePaw, fur bristling, let out a hiss, "he acts like you've killed the kits of the clan, with the way he looks at you!" FatePaws words, filled with venom, sliced through the air like claws to a mouse.

FallenPaw, his blue and green eyes glittering with unsatisfactory uneasiness, heaved out a long and heavy sigh. "I know, FatePaw... but I've learned to deal with it," he looked away, trying to stamp down the anger building up in his chest. It wasn't fair! He was loyal to the clan, why should they have the right to glare at him so coldly? Control your anger.... he reminded himself. Or, at least keep it within. "...so should you,"

" 'So should you?'" FatePaw repeated his words with a hint of disbelief in his tone. "Come on, FallenPaw! This mistreatment isn't something that should be ignored or dealt with!" He bristled, his icy-blue eyes burning like fire. "It shouldn't be happening in the first place!"

"I know, I know, but-

"No, FallenPaw!" FatePaw retorted, "What's gotten into you? You used to defend yourself all the time, but now all you do is sit around and act like nothing is happening! What happened to you?"

"I'm still angry, FatePaw, but I was never defending myself. I was lashing out!" He replied to FatePaw, trying to keep his voice low so he wouldn't attract the attention of his other clanmates. "I only ever made it worse for myself, hissing insults and flashing claws. Ignoring it is the best option for both of us, and you know it! Perhaps once cats notice that I can accept the hatred, they'll start to realize that I'm loyal to this clan, no matter what," he lifted his muzzle.

"What if they think that just makes it easier?" FatePaw blinked, before looking away. His head lowered and he let out a quiet, mournful whisper. "It isn't fair, FallenPaw! You should be allowed to express your anger, like how SandFur gets to," he sighed. "What makes you so certain that disregarding their harsh treatment will make it better?"

FallenPaw decided not to answer his question, because honestly... he wasn't so sure himself. What if staying silent did make his clanmates hate him more? Would they see his silence as a coldness? What if they take my silence as thoughts, planning revenge? His question was left unspoken. FatePaw had told him he had changed, but... I'm not the only one who has changed...

Since the battle of the gathering, which had happened a moon and a half ago, FatePaw had changed. And when a snowstorm had struck the clan only half a moon ago, FatePaw had returned from the forest, his heart colder than before. He's angry. It's almost as if the two of us switched our reactions to the hatred against me... he thought.