Sunwing's Regret

Chapter Thirteen

    Sunpaw faced the dead log and flicked his paw upward. It erupted into flames and he watched as the log shriveled into black wood.

    "Good!" Fiery purred. "Now try making a ring around that boulder."

    The former clan cat successfully made a ring of fire around the rock. He grinned at Fiery, then put it out with a wave of his paw. "You're a really good teacher, Fiery," he said. "But you don't have powers. How do you even know what to do?"

    "I can fight very well. And, after watching you use your powers, it's easy to figure out how to use them."

    Sunpaw awkwardly looked at his paws. It didn't seem so easy to him.

"Hey, it's fine," Fiery assured him. "You're lucky to even have this power, anyway."

Sunpaw's eyes widened, and he realized he never told Fiery the prophecy. "Uh, Fiery... There was this prophecy about me. It was like, 'Only the one of fire and heat can make evil tame' or something. No wait, it was 'only the one of heat and flames can take the evil and make it tame'."

Fiery studied Sunpaw with curious eyes. "Really? Your own prophecy? Nice. Wait, you got this from the clans?"

"Yeah... Uh, I was wondering... If the evil is in the clans and only I can stop it, should I go back?"

Fiery looked shocked and almost hurt, and Sunpaw instantly felt bad.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"No, no, it's not your fault," Fiery said carefully. "If you really want to, you can go back, but I just want you to remember what happened and why you left in the first place." He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more, but decided against it and turned back into the barn.

    Sunpaw looked down at his ash-coated paws regretfully.

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That night Sunpaw lay awake, suddenly blasted with thoughts and memories of him and Runningpaw. Why did he leave? Because they liked Runningpaw more... Did Runningpaw feel that way?

He swallowed, and looked at the moon through a gap in the roof. Then he cast a glance at Fiery, who was sleeping peacefully on the hay.

Surely Fiery wouldn't notice if I visited Runningpaw for a minute, right?

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    Runningpaw curled up in the apprentice's den, trying to sleep, but Foxpaw and Whitepaw were talking on and on. He flattened his ears and hissed to himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

After quite a while, he was woken up by a warm paw tapping his shoulder. He opened his green eyes, and saw an orange tabby standing over him.

"Sunpaw?" Runningpaw whispered. "I haven't seen you in a quarter moon... I'm dreaming."

    "You dream of me?" His brother's soft voice drifted back. "Cute. Now get up before I set the forest on fire again."

    Runningpaw sat up in alarm.

    Sunpaw looked a little hurt. "Hey, it was a joke," he muttered, turning away through a large gap in the back of the den where it was burned. "Follow me."

    "Alright..."

    Runningpaw padded quietly out after Sunpaw, his fur prickling with unease. What if Sunpaw accidentally burned everything again?

    They stopped in a clearing.

    The same clearing where the wildfire started.

    Sunpaw must have noticed Runningpaw shuddering, for he rested his tail on his brother's back and murmured, "It won't happen again. That was an accident."

    "The next one could be an accident," Runningpaw gulped, remembering the blazing flames.

    Sunpaw's tail suddenly burst with heat, and he pulled it away. "The next one?" He echoed. "So you're saying you don't trust me?"

    "I trust you, I trust you! I'm just afraid you might mess up with your powers or something..."

    "I'm not going to mess up, Runningpaw. I've been training for the last quarter moon."

    Training? For what?

    Sunpaw narrowed his eyes. "I'll prove it." He faced a tree, and Runningpaw's fear went through the canopy.

    "N-No!"

    His brother didn't listen and swiftly lifted his paw. A branch alighted with fire, smoke flying up into the air.

    "It's going to burn!" Runningpaw screamed.

     Sunpaw sighed, noticing how terrified his brother was, and put it out with a flick of his tail. He turned. "Do you believe me now?"

    Runningpaw stared at the branch, which was nice and healthy, and only the ends were black. His brother made it so carefully, with so much talent. He swallowed.

    "I believe you."

    Sunpaw grinned cheerfully. "Awesome! So uh, I was wondering. We're brothers, right?"

    "Right."

    "So... Do you want to come with me to my home?"

    Runningpaw stared at him, mixes of emotions swarming his brain and heart. He wanted to go with Sunpaw. Sunpaw didn't want to go back to the clans. But if Runningpaw went missing, Dewclan might panic, and find him and Sunpaw...

    But Sunpaw had to be lonely out there, isolated. And why worry about the future? Sunpaw was his brother, and he'd missed him so much.

    "I'll... I..." Runningpaw inhaled. "I'll come back with you to your home. Then I might go back to the clans, but I'll still know where to find you."

    Sunpaw hesitated, then smiled and touched Runningpaw's nose to his. "Thank you."