Odd Eye

Chapter Twelve - Flickerstorm

Flickerstorm blinked at the morning rays of sun filtering through the warriors' den. Crescentfur was curled up in the nest closest to him, her chest gently rising and falling as she slept. Stormwhisker poked his head in.

"Glad to see you're awake, Flickerstorm!" he said. "Dawn patrol?"

Flickerstorm nodded, stifling a groan, and pushed his way out into the sunlight. Sharpeye, Sprinkledawn and Breezewhisper were waiting for him, with Sprinkledawn in the lead twitching her tail impatiently. She nodded to him as he joined them, then sped off quickly through the undergrowth. He wasn't surprised in the slightest when they stopped at the WindClan border first, and waited patiently as Sharpeye sniffed around and renewed their scent.

"Smell anything?" he asked.

The older tom tilted his head up.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he murmured. "And yet, I still don't feel safe. The scents here are still fresh - WindClan must still be renewing their borders. In fact, we probably just missed their dawn patrol."

"It feels weird that they're following warrior traditions," Breezewhisper said in her soft voice. "After the other four Clans banished them, to me, they felt like nothing more than rogues living in a group."

"Is that so?" purred a white tom as he stalked over the small hill in front of them, flanked by four other warriors. His eyes glinted maliciously. "I would hate to think that the legacy of WindClan means so little to the other Clans."

"Rabbitear," Sprinkledawn said, her haunches rising. "The legacy of WindClan is over and it cannot be continued until Talonstar renounces his ways."

"Wow, no need to be so hostile," Rabbitear smirked. He beckoned to the other warriors. "We're just here to renew borders."

"You've already done that," Sharpeye retorted. "We have noses, we smelt fresh scent before we got here."

"So we came back," Rabbitear shrugged. "So what? Don't tell me you're scared."

To Flickerstorm's surprise, Breezewhisper pushed her way into the conversation, her usually gentle tone now hard and cold.

"Cut to the chase, Rabbitear. I know you. What do you want?"

For a moment, the white tom looked incredibly sad, before his features smoothed over again. Flickerstorm wondered about this for a moment - but then remembered hearing his mother say once that Breezewhisper and Rabbitear had been in love a long time ago. They had planned to join WindClan - until a fight drove them apart. Now, noticing the longing look in Breezewhisper's eye, Flickerstorm thought about how seriously they must have adored each other. Both of them had mates in their own Clan, but you never really forget the cat you thought you loved most in the world.

"Fine," Rabbitear said shortly. "Tell Nettlestar that she has three moons to give Frostclaw back - or we'll invade her camp."

"Three moons? Why so long?" Flickerstorm blurted, before he had time to think.

"That's WindClan's business," Rabbitear snapped.

Breezewhisper laughed harshly. "If you think that's going to succeed, you are a fool. All three other Clans will support us - but you? What are you? Just a bunch of rogues."

The force of her words took Rabbitear a step back. He blinked at her, hurt filling his gaze.

"Breezewhisper..." he said.

"Go," she said. "ThunderClan doesn't like rogues close to its territory."

Rabbitear looked at her with both an anguished gaze and a piercing glare, then led his patrol away.