Shadowed Dawn - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Being caught in the middle of an avalanche would have been bad enough for Aspenpaw. But now they had lost both Fang and Thornshade. Duskwood had collapsed soon after they'd arrived in the cave, and the snow had piled onto their cave, blocking any sort of escape.

As the day had worn on, Aspenpaw had grown increasingly fearful. Her mind kept circling back to the moment where Fang had stood, wild-eyed, before the incoming wave of snow. He had been there, and then the white had swallowed him whole.

I should have done something. Aspenpaw paced up and down the den, wishing there was any sort of distraction beyond Duskwood's rattling breath. When I was at my lowest, Fang protected me. But I couldn't do the same for him.

The guilt was made worse by the fact that she wasn't even sure Fang had made it out of the storm alive. Without him... and Thornshade... she wasn't sure they had a chance of defeating Thistleheart. Aspenpaw dug her claws into the rock, but they barely made an indent. She growled at herself. Aspenpaw was so caught up in her misery that she didn't notice the noise of an approaching cat.

"Hey. What do you think you're doing?"

Aspenpaw glanced up sharply. Brackenflight was staring at her from another corner of the cave. The brown tabby had been off exploring the tunnels which led out from the main cave where they now stood. She looked at Aspenpaw with something like accusation.

Aspenpaw flicked her tail. "Nothing, really," she responded. When Brackenflight continued to glare at her, Aspenpaw exclaimed. "There's nothing at all to do! Why are you looking at me like that?"

Brackenflight's gaze softened slightly. "I know you, Aspenpaw. You're beating yourself up about what happened to them. Don't." Brackenflight came closer. "There's nothing you could have done. The best thing to do is keep moving forward. Keep fighting. That's what they'd want us to do."

"You talk like they're gone..." Aspenpaw choked out.

Brackenflight sighed. "Look, we all knew this was going to be risky. But if I'm being brutally honest, Thornshade is an intelligent and strong cat; I think we would feel it if they hadn't made it out."

"But what if Thistlehart found them. Or they're hurt?" Aspenpaw pressed. "Badly hurt..."

She remembered Fang expanding what had happened to Nightshade. Similar things happening to a tom as selfless as Fang, and a cat like Thornshade who had suffered so much that he seemed moons older than he was, were her worst nightmares.

"It's okay to be afraid," Brackenflight meowed. "But you don't need to get stuck in a rut thinking about what you didn't do. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, Aspenpaw." She hesitated. "I have something I want to show you, if you're willing."

Aspenpaw blinked in surprise. Brackenflight let out a faint mrow of amusement.

"Come on, Aspenpaw. I found a passageway that leads us to something that we've been searching for this whole time."

Aspenpaw blinked. "Really?"

Brackenflight gazed at her, flicking her fluffy brown tabby tail. Any cat who saw them now would have thought them to have been old friends, and not formerly bitter rivals.

"If you're ready," Brackenflight said. "I have a feeling that things will escalate from here. This is the last time to back out. No cat would blame you," she added gently. "StarClan knows you have suffered a lot, Aspenpaw."

Aspenpaw glanced over her shoulder at Duskwood. He was still curled up in a ball, shuddering slightly in his sleep. She had seen through her father's eyes of all the horrors that he had witnessed from such a young age. They had changed him, moulded him into the cat he was today. She realised that Brackenflight was probably right; there was still time to back out. But her friend had also told her to keep on fighting, and that was what Aspenpaw was going to do. She sheathed her claws, and lifted her chin.