Warriors: Black Rain

Chapter 18

      No cicadas sang in this part of the forest to signal dusk, the only sounds coming from the crunching of dry nettle underneath their paws and a distant owl, singing softly to itself among the pines. Scarpaw could feel herself growing weary from the lack of food, the effect of Webear's traveling herbs slowly beginning to fade. Imagining the long treck back home caused her tail to droop, dragging through the leaves behind her.

      Leopardpaw touched her shoulders lightly with her tail-tip, silently sharing in her friends exhaustion. It was then that a sour, unnatural scent wafted into Scarpaw's nose, causing her to scrunch up her muzzle and hiss.

      "Great StarClan, what is that smell?" Leopardpaw gaped, "I feel like I'm going to be sick!"

      Snowstar stopped, crouching low and looking out through a thick wall of bramble ahead. The rest of the cats followed to look, and Scarpaw's fur stood on end at the sight of what must've been a Thunderpath. The smooth, unnatural stone stretched on for as far as she could see in both directions, curving away in the distance, large oak's blocking the rest of her view. The forest continued on the other side, seeming even darker and lusher than where they currently stood. No cat spoke for what felt like a moon until Snowstar took a step back, facing the other cats.

      "The Stone-hollow lays not much farther, deep in those woods." The trees looked wild and untouched across the Thunderpath, and Scarpaw gulped, looking up towards her leader.
"Is that MistClan territory?", she whispered. Snowstar flicked his ears, keeping his eyes trained forward.
      "No cat owns the territory beyond the Thunderpath," he mewed, "There, StarClan rules free."

      Owltail and Toadface took the role of explaining to the apprentices how to safely cross the Thunderpath, going over the basics and what to listen for before bolting out onto the flat, smelly stone.

      "Monsters can kill, but they don't tend to stray off of the path too often. You stay here in the grass until their sound dies away, and bolt across as quickly as you can."

      Maskpaw stepped forward, "And what if a monster does stray from the path?"

      "You pray StarClan lets you in," grumbled Toadface. Owltail did not respond.

      Sparkpaw was the first to go, making sure the path was quiet before bolting across, his pelt sticking out from fear. The entire scene seemed to stretch out for moons in front of her, and she watched, her heart racing, as his paws touched the grass on the other side. He sat, panting, nodding towards Toadface, who nodded back. Scarpaw saw pride shining in his pale yellow slits.

      It was Leopardpaw's turn to go next, but when she was too frozen with fear to make the run, Owltail pelted alongside her, nudging her back-side with his snout to encourage her forward. Leopardpaw pounced into the thick undergrowth with her sides heaving, snagging her pelt on some sharp bushes. Owltail licked in between her ears to calm her.

      Scarpaw let out a purr of relief. Even with no monsters in sight, no cat knew when they could again appear, streaking across the Thunderpath with their blinding eyes and heavy black paws that threatened to snap a cat's bone like a twig.

      Slowly placing a paw onto the strange surface, Scarpaw prickled with discomfort. It was hot and sticky, and panic quickly began to rise to her throat like bile. She could feel Snowstar's icy gaze burning holes through the back of her head. A distant roar filled her ears, but it was still a far way off; if she went now, she could make it. Gathering all her courage, Scarpaw took off, running with all the power of LionClan coursing through her veins. The roaring was getting louder, and louder, distant glowing eyes starting to show beyond the oaks, as Scarpaw crashed into Sparkpaw on the other side. His familiar scent flooded her nose, masking the awful smell of the Thunderpath, making her feel giddy.

      "You made it," he whispered, affection glowing in his blue eyes. Scarpaw nodded, too exasperated to speak, settling herself low to the ground to watch the other side of the Thunderpath where Toadface, Maskpaw, and Snowstar still stood. Maskpaw glanced at Toadface, who mumbled some words that Scarpaw could not hear. Returning his gaze back to the Thunderpath, Maskpaw's pelt bristled, determination filling his eyes. The monster from before was in sight now, approaching fast, and Scarpaw sent a silent prayer to StarClan that Maskpaw wouldn't burst onto the path right then and there. Terrible images of cat meeting monster flashed through her mind, and she shook them away with a shudder. She had to trust that he would go when it was safe.

      The monster roared by, sending up waves of dirt and leaves, spraying all over the cats below. Maskpaw was sprinting towards them now, wild fear in his face, as he crashed hard into Leopardpaw, the two rolling painfully into the thick bramble behind them. Owltail chuckled, and Scarpaw let out a breath she didn't know that she was holding. She hated to admit it, but she was terrified for the tortoiseshell apprentice.

     Toadface ran over next, then Snowstar, after making sure he was safely across, followed. He was panting hard, his white pelt matted and all puffed out like a cloud. He took a moment to catch his breath, looking over the patrol with relief, then nodded.

      "Right, very good. Let us keep moving." He heaved himself up, casually stalking through the strange bramble ahead. Scarpaw followed first, anticipation beginning to rise in her chest.

      The grass here was soft and cool against her paws, a deep lush green that covered the entire forest foor. The tree's fanned out high and blocked their view of the sky above, but the wind seemed to whisper as she walked by, and Scarpaw strained her ears to hear what they were saying; she couldn't make anything out, and the whispers faded softly into the calming sounds of the forest.

      StarClan lives in these woods, she thought, could my father be here too? If he had heard her, he gave no sign, and Scarpaw ventured on, her mind swimming with questions that she kept to herself. Something about the atmosphere here gave her the impression that she should stay silent.

      As they continued through the forest, the ground began to get rockier, small pebbles getting stuck occasionally in Scarpaw's pads. The rocks grew in size the further they went, the ground starting to slope slightly upward. At some points, they had to leap from rock to rock, careful not to slip and fall towards the sharp stones below. Scarpaw looked to Sparkpaw, both remembering their training in the mud-hollow, smiling. They had no trouble leaping from stone to stone, gradually climbing the slope and leading their clan-mates. The canopy of leaves still covered the sky, their only indication of time being the heavy darkness that now surrounded them. At the top of the rocky rise, Snowstar stopped, moving to allow the rest of the patrol to stand on a large stone with him. Ahead of them now was a thick wall of soft grass and bush, sloping slightly downward now into a hidden hollow. The rise continued off to the left, rocks jutting out sharply around the encased bramble like ribs, protecting whatever was precious underneath. Most of the patrol was panting now, sitting to catch their breath. Snowstar did the same, pointing towards the strange bush ahead of them.

      "There it is; The Stone-hollow," he hoarsely mewed, "hidden behind that wall of bramble. We cannot enter until the moon appears in the center of the sky; then, I will take you all inside, and I will share tongues with StarClan."

      Leopardpaw looked a little uneasy, saying, "How will we know when the moon reaches the center of the sky from here? The trees block our view completely." Snowstar looked towards Scarpaw and Sparkpaw, twitching his ears.

      "You two will climb the rest of the rise there to the left until the trees thin out enough for you to see the sky. Return to us here, when we can then enter the hollow." The two apprentices nodded towards him, then bounded off to climb the rest of the slope with ease. She silently thanked Stormspirit for the training he put them through at the mud-hollow; all the mud in her pelt seemed worth it now as the two bounded upward like squirrels, towards the sky.