Horsemoon's Silence

Chapter 26

Back at camp, Horsepaw trudged straight to her nest. It was way past moonhigh now, and every clanmate was asleep beside a few warriors. Horsepaw was stuck between Whirlpaw and Grindpaw, who was sleepily soundly. Whirlpaw, on the other paw, was snoring. Loudly. Everyone else was softly snoring or twitching in their sleep.

But as soon as Horsepaw hit the nest, she couldn't hear them anymore. She fell asleep immediately.

She fell into a dream.

She was surrounded by a forest. She was in a clearing. The sky was bright blue. Brighter than she'd ever seen. Horsepaw heard voices all around her. She turned, trying to catch a glimpse of the animal talking to her, but they disappeared as soon as she spun towards them. They were all saying the same thing. "Why, Horsepaw, why? You let Whiteheart die!" They kept screeching.

Horsepaw whipped around in a circle, heart pounding. Guilt rose in her throat, threatening to make her want to run away.

Suddenly, a giant head appeared in the sky. "Horsepaw!" Whiteheart's head mewed. "You're a failure! I died because of you...!" Her eyes closed, let out a breath, and disappeared. Images of Eagleeye and Creamleaf's heartbroken faces replaced Whiteheart's head.

Horsepaw shook her head, turning and racing away, tail streaming out behind her. No, no, I-I didn't mean for Whiteheart to die! It wasn't my fault, was it? She thought wildly, weaving her way through trees and bushes. The voices behind her kept mocking her, chanting-

"Horsepaw!" Whirlpaw's voice mewed in the darkness. "Wake up!"

Horsepaw opened her eyes. She was in her nest and the other apprentices were still asleep. It was a little before sunrise. Whirlpaw's figure was was in the shadows.

"You were meowing things in your sleep like 'Whiteheart' and 'kits' and stuff. I know you still miss her." Whirlpaw comforted, wrapping his tail around Horsepaw, who was shivering.

Horsepaw nodded in thanks. She staggered up out of her nest, still troubled by her dream.

Whirlpaw sat down and drew a paw over his ear. "Anyway, everyone's talking about how your assessments are in two days. I hope you've been training a lot because you've gotta pass both assessments to get to choose to be a warrior with me! And maybe..." he looked at his paws.

Horsepaw cocked her head to a side in question.

"Maybe we could become mates..." He looked at her. Whirlpaw saw her wide eyes and quickly explained, "When we're warriors! Not now." Horsepaw calmed down. Whirlpaw turned towards the den entrance. "Ugh, gotta go. Grassfoot's calling me. Bye," Whirlpaw spun around and raced out the den. Horsepaw wondered what she did when she heard no one calling the apprentice.

Horsepaw stumbled out the den, and into the clearing. Cats were everywhere; sharing tongues, eating together, heading out on patrols. They were also gossiping about Stormstar being half-clan. He had announced it to the clan after the Gathering. He got negative responses. But everyone was happy right now. This was what camp life was like! Horsepaw was so happy to be part of a clan.

She went to find Bounceheart. Creamleaf's training could wait. She found the older she-cat sharing prey with Frogclaw.

"Can we train?" She mouthed to her mentor.

Bounceheart smiled and nodded. "Sure." She turned to Frogclaw, who stopped eating the rabbit. "Sorry. We can eat later, but we need to train. Her assessments are in two days!"

Frogclaw nodded. "Of course. Good luck, Horsepaw." He meowed as he picked up the rabbit and went to eat with Thrushclaw. He smile at them as he padded over.

"Okay," Bounceheart's whiskers twitched. "Let's go. We're going to work on your hunting skills." She lead Horsepaw to the training area, and told Horsepaw to get in the hunting crouch.

"Not bad." Bounceheart said, approvingly. "But just keep your legs bunched up. Don't splay them outwards. Now, let's go hunt-"

They was a commotion in camp. Horsepaw and Bounceheart raced into camp, ready for an attack.

Grassfoot was standing at the entrance to the camp. Her eyes were wide, and her fur was ruffled. "Whirlpaw's been captured by RiverClan!"