It was early morning when Softpaw groggily opened her eyes from her new den, squinting at the dawn's light. The camp was already lively and cats were beginning their daily duties, but it felt somewhat different. Cats seemed tense on edge, more warriors had vanished to do morning patrol, and more guards stood by the camp entrance.
It was as if she was living in quarantine.
Reluctantly, the young apprentice dragged herself out of her nest, walking towards the fresh kill pile, until she saw Mouseflame out of the corner of her eye.
The senior warrior was smugly sitting in the centre of the camp, with a small crowd of cats next to her.
"I'm going to save the Clan! I'm going to save ThunderClan!" the she-cat howled.
Softpaw inwardly groaned, she had been doing this since the evening the prophecy was announced. When was she going to stop being so full of herself?
The blue-grey tabby slowly padded over to the fresh-kill pile, picking up a small mouse and gulping it down quickly, not wanting to be in Mouseflame's spot of glory much longer. Unfortunately, StarClan had other plans for her.
"Look! It's your old mentor's apprentice!" Waterfrost exclaimed as the she-cat attempted to creep out of sight. "Reckon she'll be better than you?" Emberstrike asked, cheekily.
The calico cat huffed with annoyance.
"What? She's a mute! You have to have some strength in you to be a prophecy cat like me. Oh, no offence little one," she snorted, as Softpaw looked down forlornly. Some of the elders looked on disapprovingly from their den, but did not move to help.
I wish I was a kit again...
Suddenly, a large black shadow blocked her view.
"Where have you been?! Did you not attend the meeting? We need to train harder than ever. And since you've just started, we have an awful lot of work to do..." Blackfeather scolded her.
Softpaw gulped, moving her head up to meet his icy blue eyes and nodded. The mentor sighed.
"Come on," he ordered, striding out of camp, the silent cat traipsing behind him.
She didn't miss his look of longing as he glanced towards Mouseflame.
YOU ARE READING
Softpaw's Silence
FanfictionA young mute cat's journey. Contains LGBTQ+ themes, don't like? Don't read. Book by Dusk.
