Smoldering Cinders

      “Fireheart, wait!”       “Go back to your den, Cinderpaw!”       Cinderpaw stopped, crushed by the harsh tone of her mentor, who she already considered a friend. Fireheart didn’t wait for her respond, and the gray molly could only watch as his ginger tail disappeared into the gorse tunnel. It was too late to argue, and the only thing Cinderpaw could do now was turning back to the apprentice den.       A moon had not passed since her ceremony, but Cinderpaw already felt frustrated with her new life as an apprentice. The world beyond the camp walls was new to her, and she wanted to look underneath every stone and check behind every tree. But she could never get enough of this freedom. It felt as if others decided to keep her away from it. Exciting first days of her apprenticeship quickly faded away as a routine of tasks and repetitive training sessions set in. Cinderpaw couldn’t say for sure if she spent more time perfecting her hunting crouch or changing elders' bedding.       But what did upset her the most lately was Fireheart. Even now Cinderpaw wouldn’t ask for a different mentor, even if Bluestar herself proposed to train her. Not that Fireheart was a perfect mentor, far from it. But training with him used to be fun. And because of that it only hurt Cinderpaw more that he started to pay less attention to her. Just this morning Fireheart gave her and her brother a day to rest from their trainings so he could just spend his whole day wandering around leader's den.       “Well?” Brackenpaw’s voice brought Cinderpaw out of her thoughts. While Cinderpaw went to listen to the argument that broke out on the clearing, her brother stayed in the apprentice den and now curiosity wouldn’t let him sit still.       “Dustpaw said that there could be ShadowClan warriors hiding in our territory right now, and because of that Tigerclaw is now waiting for Bluestar near Thunderpath,” answered Cinderpaw without stopping to catch her breath.       “But Bluestar have been sick with whitecough since evening!” Brackenpaw exclaimed, clearly missing annoyance in Cinderpaw’s voice.       “That’s exactly what Fireheart told him, and Dustpaw only hissed back at him,” even if Cinderpaw was angry with Fireheart right now, she still couldn’t help feeling bad about how some of her clanmates treated her mentor.       "And Fireheart went to the Thunderpath in her place?” the twitching in Brackenpaw’s tail betrayed his own frustration, but he didn’t dare to talk about older apprentice behind his back.       “No, Yellowfang sent him to gather catnip,” Brackenpaw gave her a questioning glance, and Cinderpaw added, “She said she needs it for Bluestar.”       “But what about Tigerclaw?” he meowed.       “Fireheart said that he will go meet him as soon as he comes back,” Cinderpaw decided not to tell her brother about how Fireheart didn't trust her to give the message to deputy herself. It could be her first real important mission! But instead, she was told to hide in camp, as if she was an incapable kit. Did he really thought so little of her?       Brackenpaw was silent, thinking about everything he just heard. “Do you think Bluestar is going to be alright?" he finally asked. "Yellowfang woudn’t send Fireheart after herbs for no reason.”       “Who knows, maybe she’s just out of herbs,” brushed off Cinderpaw, “Bluestar isn’t an ordinary warrior, you know. Have you ever heard about a legendary leader, who died to a common sickness? She will be fine.”       But her words didn’t sooth Brackepaw. “Fireheart wasn’t looking so sure about it,” he meowed.       “Fireheart can’t know everything,” retorted Cinderpaw. His own warrior ceremony was still fresh in her memory, and because of that she couldn’t understand why her brother put so much trust in Fireheart.       Bluestar still had many lives, so what Fireheart was so worried about? Health of her leader was the last thing Cinderpaw would dwell on right now. She imagined Tigerclaw, sitting alone near the border and waiting for something. Or maybe he was already fighting a whole patrol of Shadowclan warriors, protecting his clan all by himself. After all, would Tigerclaw send for the leader just for her to see the evidence of enemy clan on their territory? If it was that simple, he would just come back to the camp and tell her about it himself. Whatever he had found, it had to be something really important.       Her thoughts were interrupted by Brackenpaw’s yawning. He was already circling on his bedding.       “How can you be sleeping at a time like this?” gasped Cinderpaw. Shadowclan could be preparing an attack right now, and her brother wouldn’t bat an eye.       “There is nothing we can do right now,” Brackenpaw said calmly. “If our help will be needed, better rest than exhaust ourself by worrying.”       Cinderpaw decided not to argue with that. She curled up on her nest, but sleeping wasn’t even on her mind. There wasn't anyone else in the apprentice den, and soon enough the silence was interrupted by the sound of quiet snoring coming from Brackenpaw’s nest. After waiting a little bit, Cinderpaw begun to carefully get out of her bedding. Unlike her brother, she wasn’t planning on doing nothing whole day.       The sky outside started to clear up, but the morning fog still persisted. The sun was already creeping toward the horizon, and the camp was eerily silent. Far away from here Tigerclaw was sitting next to the Thunderpath and patiently waiting for his leader, and near Twolegplace Fireheart was busy collecting herbs for her. Who knows how long would it take for him to just return to camp. Tigerclaw would have to wait until the very evening unless someone else would give him the message. Brackenpaw said that they couldn’t do anything, but Cinderpaw didn’t think so.       No one saw how Cinderpaw quietly made her way to the gorse tunnel. Yellowfang hadn’t showed her face from the leader den since she sent Fireheart away. The den itself was guarded by Goldenflower, who was telling something to Willowpelt. Dustpaw was sharing fresh-kill with Longtail by the nettle patch, both busy talking to each other. None of them were even looking in Cinderpaw’s direction. Warriors who hadn’t left on a patrol must have been resting in their den. Swiftpaw was staying in the medicine den with other sick cats. Even kits weren’t playing in the clearing since most of them caught whitecough. There wasn’t anyone who could witness Cinderpaw’s escape.       Soon enough she was climbing to the top of the ravine. From there she took the last look at the camp bellow. No one was running after her, no one was trying to stop her. No one could slow her down now, neither her silly mentor nor her cautious brother. But despite this something inside Cinderpaw herself was against going further. Never before did doing the right thing required her to disobey Fireheart. Cinderpaw didn’t wanted to fight with her friend, on a contrary she hoped to win his trust. But what would he say upon his return?       “If I’m fast enough, I’ll be back before he can notice I was gone,” Cinderpaw thought. “Fireheart is going to feel so mousebrained when he will realize I already did everything for him. And how embarrassed he’s going to be in front of Tigerclaw for trying to keep me in camp.” With that in mind, Cinderpaw set out for the journey to the Thunderpath. Maybe she wasn’t that familiar with her clan territories, but she hunted by herself in these boundaries before, and even in the mist she could still make her way to the border with little trouble.       “Fireheart himself wasn’t made warrior early for sleeping in camp all day long! I will show him that I can be trusted with important mission!” Cinderpaw was telling herself. “Maybe, Tigerclaw needs my help the most right now! What if ShadowClan is planning to attack us at this very moment? That can be my first ever battle, Tigerclaw will be so impressed if I help him protect our clan’s borders! I might even become a warrior before my sister, before my brothers, even before Swiftpaw!”       Something made Cinderpaw slow her pace. The steep rocky slope she was walking by was very familiar to her. When Cinderpaw was only getting to know the ThunderClan boundaries on her first day of training with Fireheart, she was playfully hopping from one stone to another here. Her mentor’s frightened face wasn’t going to leave her memory for a while, his sudden yowl caught Cinderpaw off guard back then. It turned out that she carelessly invited him to race to the top of Snakerocks. “What if Fireheart wasn’t there to stop me?” she thought grimly. “Would I be bitten by a snake?”       All this time Cinderpaw was convincing herself she was doing the right thing, but now a shadow of doubt crept into her. What if she would encounter an actual ShadowClan patrol? Fireheart didn’t even begin to teach her battle moves! Cinderpaw wasn’t so naïve, she knew she can’t protect her clan alone. It only took one warrior to kidnap her and her siblings. And that happened only a moon ago, even if it felt like eternity for Cinderpaw. But she couldn’t be so helpless now, right?       “If there are any ShadowClan warriors around, you need to stay in camp,” harsh words of her mentor echoed in her head. It hurt even more since Cinderpaw thought Fireheart was her friend, but what if he was right not to believe in her? Could it be better for Cinderpaw to just turn back now?       However, if sneaking out of camp wasn’t hard, would it be just as easy to return unnoticed? It would be one thing if Cinderpaw came back proudly with Tigerclaw by her side and a task accomplished, but what would happen if she returned with her paws empty? Fireheart never gave her a punishment before, but before this morning he also never growled at her. After today Cinderpaw wouldn't put it past him to task her with checking elders for ticks until she would join the elders’ den herself.       But if she could impress Tigerclaw, Fireheart wouldn’t have any other choice but to accept he was wrong. Maybe Cinderpaw wasn’t ready for her first battle yet, but it didn’t mean she was useless! It was true that she was risking her own life, but wasn’t it what being a warrior was all about? Didn’t Fireheart, who himself wasn’t even bigger than Dustpaw, endangered himself as well by going to collect herbs all alone? If he could risk his life, why couldn’t Cinderpaw?       Cinderpaw continued her way to the Thunderpath with renewed confidence. Even though the mist almost cleared itself by this time, the first warriors of StarClan begun to appear on the sky. With darkness closing in on her, Cinderpaw had to rely less on her eyes and let her nose lead the way. She could already smell Tigerclaw’s faint scent, and with it the acrid stench of the Thunderpath.       A branch had cracked somewhere in the distance, then the silence hung over the forest. Cinderpaw stopped dead in her tracks, fruitlessly trying to make out anything in the surrounding twilight. A bad feeling twisted her stomach. Why did it felt as if someone was stalking her? A new sound broke the silence, closer than before. Was it the wind that rustled the bushes behind her, or someone else?       Cinderpaw didn’t wait for the answer to reveal itself. She rushed forward, and the fallen leaves underneath her paws gave way to the frost covered earth. Soon the distant growl of the monsters drowned the forest sounds. Cinderpaw was close. She jumped out of the thicket and made a few more steps, catching her breath. The sun didn’t set yet, but her surroundings were still covered by long shadows. The ground she was standing on was stiffer than before, and Tigerclaw’s scent was even stronger here. But the deputy himself was nowhere to be seen.       Cinderpaw wanted to call for him, then she stopped with her mouth open. With her paws she could feel the earth tremble. She lowered her head and sniffed the ground. Her heart raced when the familiar stench hit her. Cinderpaw was standing in the middle of Thunderpath!       Her guess was proven right when the light started rapidly spilling out across the ground. It looked like her own shadow jumped and tried to run away from her, frightened by not-so-distant roar. Whatever was the source of that light, it was right behind her, and it was getting close at terrifying pace. Cinderpaw turned her head around and froze in place when she saw two blindingly bright eyes that were speeding right at her. The sound of the monster's growl was only matched by her heartbeat. Cinderpaw closed her eyes.       A desperate scream. A feeling of impact on the shoulder. Body hitting the ground. Darkness.       Then there was silence.