Untold Omen

Ch.5

 Patchpaw and Snakepaw both slept in late the next morning. It wasn't until after sunhigh that Snakepaw was woken up by Bluepaw, who was carrying a crow in his maw.

The other apprentices had already woken up and left.

Snakepaw gave Bluepaw a friendly glance as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. Groggily, he moved over to the side of his nest to allow Bluepaw to sit beside him.

He dropped the crow in front of Snakepaw, giving him an expectant look. "How'd the gathering go?"

Snakepaw bit into the crow, speaking between his swallows. He was starving; he hadn't eaten since before his trip to the island.

"ThunderClan has a ton of new apprentices, and they're all skinny."

"Leafbare must not be treating them well," Bluepaw's eyes shone with worry. Snakepaw didn't understand how Bluepaw could so easily sympathize with the other clan's struggles.

"Sugarstar had a nasty temper, too. She cut off Elmstar before he finished, and he let her!" Snakepaw nearly dropped a bit of prey from his maw.

Bluepaw tilted his head slightly. It seemed like he was trying to envision the gathering for himself.

Snakepaw lapped up the last of the crow and nosed the bones under the earth beneath his nest.

Bluepaw started to groom the fur between Snakepaw's shoulders. To Snakepaw's dismay, their peaceful moment was short-lived.

A yowl broke from the clan clearing, and Snakepaw quickly stood and exited the den to find the source of the outburst.

Silverpaw stood with his long fur on end. Twigrush was at his side, trying to calm him down.

Snakepaw couldn't make out what she was saying. Elmstar stood in front of Silverpaw, remaining calm but listening seriously to the apprentice's concern.

"They're stealing, I can prove it!" Silverpaw squeaked. "Twigrush was there. The stream is absolutely covered in ThunderClan stench!"

Snakepaw paused to think for a moment. If the ThunderClan cats truly were lying, was their prey shortage bad enough to push them to hunt inside another clan's territory?

Was Sugarstar really willing to spill blood over something like that, before even trying to ask for help?

Bluepaw pushed through the apprentice's den entrance and padded up beside Snakepaw.

The calico tom wanted to run to the stream to see for himself what Sliverpaw was so upset about, but Elmstar seemingly read his mind. "We already sent a patrol to confirm," the old tom spoke.

His tail slowly swept over the earth beneath him. His expression was calm, but his eyes seemed clouded in worry.

Is he just trying to keep Silverpaw from starting trouble?

Snakepaw hadn't noticed, but his own fur was sticking up. Bluepaw rested his tail on his flank to calm him.

"Elmstar won't start a fight over nothing. Especially not from the word of Silverpaw alone."

Snakepaw gave Bluepaw a small nod of appreciation while his eyes scanned the camp for Patchpaw. He couldn't see her, but he didn't see Crowwatcher either.

Snakepaw and Bluepaw were settled near the fresh-kill pile once the patrol returned. Rednose entered the camp first, followed by Adderthorn, Crowwatcher and Patchpaw.

Snakepaw tried to read the expression on Rednose's face, but he couldn't make out anything.

The patrol padded over to Elmstar, who was still in front of the hollowed oak with Twigrush and Silverpaw. Patchpaw turned her head over her shoulder and spotted Snakepaw.