Flames At Night: Book 1: A Shattered Path

Chapter Twenty-One

Patterpaw

A bright wave of light shone into Patterpaw's eyes as she awoke to a fiercely burning sun. She stirred and glanced around the makeshift den they had chosen for the night. The nests were under a sprawling holly bush; they had snapped off twigs to make more room, but the sides were bare.

She poked Swiftpaw in the shoulder. "Wake up, sleepy mouse."

He groaned and rolled away from her. "Do I have to, Rowanfoot?"

Patterpaw rolled her eyes. "Swiftpaw, you're such a mousebrain."

The fluffy red tom leaped to his paws, swiping at her nose. "Am not!" He chased her out of the den, both squealing with laughter.

They tussled in the cool, dewy grass, till Patterpaw had small blades of it stuck to her pelt and Swiftpaw's fur was all over the place. After several minutes, she mewed, "Okay, truce! Fuzzhead."

"Who are you calling a fuzzhead?" Swiftpaw bared his teeth in a fake snarl. However, he relented. "We should really be going now. We have to find and bring back the herb."

"Are you done now?" Acornfall leaped down from a tree, an amused smirk on her face. The golden-brown she-cat licked one paw lazily. "Of course, if you'd like to waste even more time, be my guest."

"We were going to leave now, actually," meowed Swiftpaw, lapping at his chest fur awkwardly. He glanced in the direction they had been traveling. "The Twolegplace will come up soon enough."

"The Twolegplace?" Acornfall jerked back as though being burned. "Forget it! I'll never go there!"

"You wanted to come on this journey," the medicine cat reminded her. "And we'll only be there for a little while. Patterpaw and I are going, so..."

The golden-brown she-cat huffed. "You know what? Fine. But if one of the Twolegs comes, don't expect me to stick around."

They began padding over a short rise. Patterpaw fell back to walk beside Acornfall. "Why did you want to come on the trip?"

Acornfall shrugged, eyes on the horizon. "I don't know." After a heartbeat, she added, "You remind me of Rainpaw."

The black and white apprentice was confused. "Who's Rainpaw?"

"She's my friend." A sigh escaped Acornfall's lips. "Was my friend. She drowned in the river. I miss her," the warrior admitted.

"Oh." Patterpaw stared straight ahead. She could just see the tops of Twoleg dens coming into view. "I've never heard of her. Usually the elders tell stories about cats drowning to scare kits away from the river."

"They forgot her, then," Acornfall mewed. Then, softly, "They always forget about the ones that matter."

Patterpaw was about to ask what she meant, when suddenly Swiftpaw came haring back towards them. "We're here!" he cried ecstatically. "The herbs are in the Twoleg garden!" He indicated a small, brightly colored Twoleg den with a short fence around it.

Acornfall jumped up onto the barrier. Whatever trace of sadness had come from talking about Rainpaw had disappeared. "Can we get this over with now?" she said.

The two apprentices followed her into the garden, and Swiftpaw scanned the many plants around them. His gaze fixed on a miniature bush with large, lobed leaves. "There!"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" A ginger tom with a green vine wrapped around his neck appeared on the fence. Patterpaw assumed he was a kittypet, and the vine was some Twoleg thing. She swallowed as he landed on the ground with a thump. He was easily the size of her and Swiftpaw combined.

Acornfall stood defiantly in front of him. "We are taking herbs to help our sick Clanmates, and we are doing it whether you like it or not," she stated calmly.

Another kittypet, this time a gray she-cat, came through a gap in the Twoleg den. "Blaze? What's going on?" she asked, seeing the three unfamiliar cats.

"They're trying to steal our plants!" the ginger tom snarled. "What do we do to them, Caramel?"

The she-cat looked confused. "Uhh... Let them take them?"

Blaze slapped himself in the face with a paw. "No! We chase them out! Obviously!"

"Oh. Right." Caramel growled and displayed sharp teeth, but she was quite unconvincing. Patterpaw could tell that she wasn't used to fighting, unlike her friend.

"But we need the herbs!" Swiftpaw looked distraught. "My sister is sick, and she can hardly breathe! The clans need it more than you."

Patterpaw opened her mouth to agree, but Acornfall quickly glanced at her. "Go over the fence," the golden-brown she-cat murmured. "We don't need these kittypets listening in on us."

The two apprentices followed her over the wooden barrier, though Swiftpaw looked back at the herb forlornly. "How are we going to bring it back?" he asked, slumping on the ground.

"We fight them." Acornfall paced back and forth, tail lashing. "But I'll only help you if you don't give the herb to FrostClan."

"What?" the red tom exclaimed. "I can't do that! FrostClan has sick cats too, and-"

"They killed my siblings," Acornfall cut him off, snarling. "Jasmineleaf and Aldernose were fighting for their clan, after FrostClan invaded our territory. They died. And I was a kit, and there was nothing I could do to save them!" Her voice rose into a shriek.

Patterpaw met Swiftpaw's eyes. He looked back at her, panic in his gaze. Neither of them had expected this, except...

With a cold jolt of terror, the black and white she-cat remembered her conversation with Echopaw. Why didn't I listen to her?

"So?" Acornfall stopped in front of her, eyes like deep, murky lakes. You can never see the bottom, or know what the depths hold. "Let FrostClan die, or all the clans."

Swiftpaw hesitated, though Patterpaw already knew what he would say. "FrostClan," he mewed, voice cracking.

"Good." The warrior nodded her head, grinning viciously. "Cross me and you regret your decisions."