Crowstar's Mission {COMPLETE}

Chapter 35

Crowsky could feel the wind pulling through his fur as he raced across the moor, his paws thrummed against the grass and the world blurred past him. He had been longing to get his paws out on the moor, the scent of rabbit and heather filling his nose. Crowsky could see his target in the distance, the early sunlight reflecting off the river's surface. I'm going to win. Crowsky thought triumphantly.

At long last he reached the river that separated MoonClan territory from the Spirit Woods. He came to a stop, barely needing a moment to catch his breath. Behind him came Icestorm and not long after was Frostfire. "I told you I'd win." Crowsky bragged, waving his tail.

"I haven't gotten a good run like that in moons!" Frostfire stretched out her limbs. "Training an apprentice takes up so much time."

"It was a lot of fun though." Icestorm chimed in.

Frostfire nodded in agreement. The night before, Feathercloud, Jayclaw and Smudgenose had all been named warriors, leaving Frostfire and Icestorm without apprentices. The three of them agreed to have a race through the forest like old times. Crowsky had forgotten how much he missed the two sisters.

"We should get some hunting done while we're out here, though." Icestorm suggested. "Ivystone might have our ears if she finds out we've been racing like apprentices."

"It'll be easy to catch some prey." Frostfire mewed. "The rabbits are practically jumping into our paws lately."

"Then let's get to it." Icestorm began padding off. "I'm going to hunt near the LichenClan border, there's a new nest over there!"

Icestorm vanished across the moor, leaving Crowsky and Frostfire alone. "Do you think that Cloudstar will make you the mentor of Shadekit or Ebonykit? They should be having their ceremony any day now."

"I don't know." Crowsky admitted. "I still don't know if I'm ready. I might be older than you, but I've only been a warrior for three moons."

"Yeah, but you learned so much out there." Frostfire encouraged. "You still haven't said everything that happened to you out there." She complained. "Like this scar." She brushed her tail across his flank, phantom pain spread throughout his entire body.

"That scar doesn't have a happy ending." Crowsky dropped his head, picturing Ivy's dead body once again. He had been reluctant to talk about his time with the loners, he missed them and most of all he missed Ivy. Talking about it made his heart ache.

"What happened?" He figured that Frostfire wouldn't drop it, he sighed.

"I spent some time living with a group of loners." He began. "One of them was a she-cat named Ivy.. When leaf-bare came, there was hardly any prey in the forest so she came up with an idea to go to a special twoleg area called a farm and hunt these big birds called chickens. We killed two of them and started to make a run for it. There was this super loud sound, it almost sounded like thunder and out of nowhere--" Crowsky's voice choked up. "Ivy was dead, she had a huge wound that came out of thin air. I stopped to try and help her, but I heard the sound again and felt a horrible pain in my leg." He looked to his faint scar. "I passed out and when I woke up I was back in our camp. Cooper, Ivy's father, blamed me for her death and told me to leave. I ran out into the snow and collapsed. That's when Mosscloud visited me."

"You loved her, didn't you?"

Crowsky winced. "Yes."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Frostfire's voice was low and sad. "I know I'm not Ivy, but I'll always be here for you." Crowsky was shocked as Frostfire nuzzled up against Crowsky. "I'm glad you came back."