FLAREPAW

"Leafeye has killed Owlpool and taken my kits!" screeched Riverpelt. The other queens rushed to Riverpelt's side and tried to calm her with licks, but Riverpelt pushed them away and wailed her grief to the darkening sky. As if in reply, the sky rumbled ominously, and a cold wind ruffled the cats' fur.

Lakeshine's eyes narrowed, and she hissed quietly. "Seems too much of a coincidence, doesn't it? Kits go missing, Owlpool is dead, and Leafeye is gone!"

"Leafeye!" hissed Shadowfoot. "I always knew she was a traitor. Now we know how she managed to fight off the rouge; Splash. It was a setup to let her trick her way into our Clan!"
"We need to find her!" Lakeshine cried out angrily. "She cannot get away with any of the things she has done to our Clan!"

Darkclaw meowed loudly, "Poolstar, what do you say?"
Poolstar blinked slowly. Grief clouded her face. But when her eyes opened they glittered with fierceness that showed her determination to seek revenge for this cruel attack. She lifted her head. "If Leafeye has killed Owlpool and stolen Riverpelt's kits, she will be hunted down without mercy." The crowd meowed approvingly. "But we must wait," Poolstar went on. "There is a storm coming, and I am not prepared to risk more lives. If SmokeClan has our kits, they will come to no immediate harm. I suspect Coldstar wants them to replace Fireclaw's kits. As soon as the storm has passed, a patrol will follow Leafeye and bring back our kits."

"I'll go with the patrol. She needs to pay for what she has done!" Lakeshine mewed.
Flarepaw's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Typical, annoying, stupid, Lakeshine. Are you a warrior, or a medicine cat?

"We cannot waste time, or the scent will be lost in the rain!" Shadowfoot protested.
Poolstar flicked her tail impatiently. "If we send out a hunting party now, our efforts will be wasted anyway. In this weather the scent will be already lost by the time we are ready. If we wait until after the storm, we stand a better chance of success."
Agreement murmured in the cats.

Poolstar then looked at the cats. "Take Owlpool's body to the clearing, so we can mourn her." She turned to Lakeshine. "Lakeshine, may I use your den to speak with Flarepaw.. alone?"
Lakeshine nodded. "Of course." And she padded out of the den.

Flarepaw widened her eyes at the look on Poolstar's face, that it scared her.

"Flarepaw," Poolstar hissed. "Where is Leafeye?"
Flarepaw took a step back. "I-I don't know.. Do you believe she killed Owlpool and took the kits?" She had never really trusted Leafeye, but she had suspicions on what Poolstar was asking her.

Poolstar gazed steadily at her. "I don't know," she admitted. "But, there is a cat that trusts Leafeye more than anything who'll help you find Leafeye."
Flarepaw took a step back, feeling struck. She doesn't mean...

"You're not sending Shadowfoot?" Flarepaw asked, trying to pretend she wasn't hearing what she was hearing.
"Shadowfoot is a great warrior, but in this case his loyalty to the Clan may cloud his judgement." Poolstar hissed urgently. "He wants to give the Clan the vengeance it desires. No cat can blame him for that. The Clan has believed Leafeye has betrayed us, and if Shadowfoot thinks he can reassure the Clan by handing them the dead body of Leafeye, then so be it."
Poolstar looked stern for a moment. "If I find that Leafeye is a traitor, then I will kill her myself. But if she is not..." Her deep blue eyes burned into Flarepaw's. "I will not let an innocent cat die."

"But what if Leafeye won't come back?" Flarepaw questioned.
"She will, if he asks her."

Poolstar looked down at Flarepaw. "So, tell me, Flarepaw, are you ready to put your anger aside?"

Flarepaw closed her eyes, thinking of all she's been through.
Owlpool's last conversation with her.
The baby red cardinal.
Icepaw's truth.

She looked up, a great fire lightning up in her, a determination. "I am."

Poolstar looked proud for a brief moment, then nodded. "Go."

Thunder rolled as Flarepaw dashed into the clearing, and stalked over to a cat she'd never thought she'd speak to.
"Shinepaw," she mewed quietly. "I need to talk to you."
Shinepaw looked a bit surprised, but nodded.
And they hurried over to behind the warriors' den.

"I need your help," she mewed, then hesitated for a moment. "And Alderpaw's too."
"I thought Poolstar said not to leave because the scent will be lost in the storm," Shinepaw said.
"Yes, but the three of us together will have a better chance at finding her."

When they called Alderpaw over, and Flarepaw explained, he tilted his head. "Why me too?"
Flarepaw looked at him, not like a kittypet, but like a Clanmate. "She thinks you know Leafeye best, and she'll listen to you."

In the dazzling light, Flarepaw glimpsed Riverpelt chasing Icepaw away from the nursery. The black queen's face was twisted with fury as she hissed at the young silver tabby.
Alderpaw turned to Flarepaw. "What's THAT all about?"
Flarepaw hesitated, then mewed, "Icepaw's in danger."

"Why? Do you know what happened?" Shinepaw asked.
"We have to get her away from IceClan. Right now, before anything happens to her."

Shinepaw nodded. "But where will she go?"
That question Flarepaw didn't think of.

"What about Horror?" Alderpaw popped the question. "She lives far away from IceClan, she's nice, and there's enough prey for Icepaw!"
Shinepaw nodded. "Yeah, that'll work!" she said. "But what about Shadowfoot? Won't he notice?"
"I'll think of a way for that later," Flarepaw mewed.

Flarepaw looked at Icepaw. "We're taking you to Horror."
"Horror?" Icepaw mewed in bewilderment, narrowing her eyes against the driving rain. "Why?"
"Because you'll be safer there," Flarepaw mewed, meeting the silver tabby in the eye.

"Did you see what Riverpelt did? I was only saying sorry for her loss..."
"Come on," Flarepaw interrupted her. "We gotta hurry!"
Icepaw met Flarepaw's gaze in understanding. "Thank you, Flarepaw."

Shinepaw turned her head left and right. "Alright, nobody is looking out of their dens, we can go."

The four apprentices rushed toward the camp entrance, their fur flattened by the howling wind. As they entered the stone tunnel, a voice called them back.
"You four! Where are you going?"
It was Shadowfoot.

Flarepaw spotted Poolstar striding toward them and padded beside Shadowfoot. "Well done, Flarepaw," she meowed. "I see you've persuaded your three friends to go with you. IceClan has brave apprentices, Shadowfoot, if they are willing to run an errand in weather like this."

"Surely this is not a time for errands?" objected Shadowfoot.
"One of Berrysplash' kits has a cough." Poolstar's voice was icily calm. "Flarepaw has offered to fetch some coltsfoot for her."
When Shadowfoot padded away in grumbling, Poolstar winked at the apprentices in understanding and padded away.
Flarepaw looked at her gratefully and led the others up the tunnel.

With a swift glance at her companions, Flarepaw led the way along the familiar paths toward Fourtrees. The wind roared through the branches above them and the trees swayed, their trunks creaking and cracking as though they might fall at any moment. The rain poured down through the leaves, soaking the cats to their hides.

They reached the stream, but the stepping-stones they usually leaped across had completely disappeared. The cats stopped on the bank and looked down in dismay at the wide, brown, swirling river.

"This way," Flarepaw meowed. "There's a fallen up tree here. We can use it to cross." She led Shinepaw, Alderpaw and Icepaw upstream to a log that rested only a kittenstep above the rushing water. "Be careful, it'll be slippery!" Flarepaw warned, leaping carefully up on it.
The log's bark had been stripped away, leaving only smooth, wet wood to balance on.

Carefully the four cats walked along the trunk. Flarepaw jumped down on the other side and watched the other apprentices until they, too, had landed safely.

The trees were bigger on the other side, offering some shelter from the storm as they hurried on, side by side.

"Why are we taking Icepaw to Horror?" Shinepaw asked. "What did you mean when you said 'she was in danger'?"
Flarepaw and Icepaw glanced at each other in a knowing look, and Icepaw nodded.
Flarepaw turned to Shinepaw. "Because Shadowfoot killed Dovenose."

Shinepaw sucked in a sharp breath. "Why didn't you tell Poolstar?!"
Icepaw flattened her ears in self-guilt, "I thought nobody would believe me! Who would think the cat that everybody admired, would kill their own deputy? It was at the battle with DawnClan.. I saw him."

"Well, once you're safe with Horror, then we'll make sure that Shadowfoot is properly punished!" Shinepaw mewed with determination.
Flarepaw rolled her eyes, remembering her conversation with Poolstar before Owlpool died. "Good luck," she muttered. There wasn't bitterness in her mew, for once. "I tried to tell Poolstar, but she has full trust in Shadowfoot.. And I overheard Shadowfoot talking to Darkclaw and Jayclaw on the night Thornwing was killed," she continued. "He wants to get rid of Icepaw."

"Well, it's a good thing he won't be able to—" Shinepaw mewed, then stopped. "Wait. Jayclaw and Darkclaw are Poolstar's guards! What if they're planning to do something to her?"
Flarepaw shook her head, annoyed. The more time Shinepaw asked questions, the more time time would pass. And she didn't like how the rain drenched up her pelt. "I doubt it. It sounds like he convinced them Icepaw was a traitor. Now are we gonna sit here and doddle about our Shadowfoot theories or are we gonna save Icepaw?"
"Please...do.." Alderpaw mewed shakily, whose fur was the most thick out of all of them, making his fur drenched.

They finally reached EchoClan territory.

The wind howled around them while the thunder and lightning rolled and flashed overhead. The four cats lowered their heads and pushed onward in the heart of the storm.

Eventually they reached the edge of the plateau that marked the end of EchoClan's territory.

"We can't take you any farther, Icepaw," meowed Flarepaw through the gale. "We have to get back and find Leafeye before the storm has passed."
Icepaw looked through the battering rain and then nodded.
"Will you be able to find Horror alone?" yowled Flarepaw.
"Yes, I remember the way," answered Icepaw.
"Watch out for those dogs," warned Alderpaw.

"I will!" smiled Icepaw but when she looked at the direction the barn was, suddenly she frowned. "How can you be sure Horror will welcome me?"
"Just tell her you caught an adder once!" answered Alderpaw, affectionally nudging his friend's rain-soaked shoulder.
"She'll take you, I'm sure! She was really friendly, remember?" Shinepaw said.

Flarepaw stepped forward. "Icepaw.. I'm sorry I wasn't a great cat to you.. I wish I got to know you better."
Icepaw rubbed Flarepaw's head against hers. "It's okay, I understand." She stepped back and looked at the other apprentices. "I'll always remember my time in IceClan."

"Go," Flarepaw urged. She nuzzled Icepaw one last time. "And don't worry; I'll make sure everyone knows you didn't betray IceClan."
"What if Shadowfoot comes looking for me?" Icepaw's voice was small against the rumbling storm.
Flarepaw met her gaze steadily. "He won't. I shall tell him you're dead."

"Goodbye," Icepaw smiled one last time before disappearing into the rain.

Flarepaw watched one moment longer and then turned around. "Come on. Let's go find Leafeye."