Flamepaw's Quest

Chapter 14

            Flamepaw awoke in the early morning, smacking her tongue against the roof of her mouth as her eyes focused on the forest scenery. She stood up slowly, stretching her aching legs and feet. If only they'd stolen some traveling herbs before their travel.
            As Flamepaw glanced around, she could count six sunrises since their departure. And though Flamepaw had been having fun traveling with Rosepettle and Neko, she had begun to worry about Goldstar's whereabouts. Six sunrises, and they had left RiverClan territory and the entire forest, but they still had not picked up a scent of the golden she-cat.
            Flamepaw sat down and licked her paw, trying to brush away the dirt and leaves that coated her fur. Traveling sure wasn't a clean business.
            Rosepettle slept curled next to Neko, her feathery tail curled around both her and his nose. Flamepaw smiled lightly, glad to see the two were getting along better. She was dreading a long journey with Rosepettle snapping at Neko.
            In fact, Neko seemed to be enjoying himself on the journey now. He helped sniff out for Goldstar, listen for prey. It was as if he was becoming a clan cat on his own, though he still had a lot to learn.
            The other day, he'd tried to catch a plump mouse that a kit could have caught, but unfortunately, he was too slow, and the mouse ran off before Neko could sink his claws into it. That event had slowed him down a little, but Flamepaw had told him to ignore it. She wasn't a great hunter herself.
            "Is it morning?" Neko muttered, opening his eyes. He stood up, the sun reflecting off the dark spots on his pelt.
            "See for yourself," Flamepaw giggled, pointing up to the warm sun. She sure was glad Goldstar had decided to go missing in green-leaf. She couldn't imagine searching for the leader in the cold snow of leaf-bare.
            Rosepettle stirred beside him, brushing some stray leaves off her silky white pelt. She let out a yawn, revealing all of her sharp teeth. She then grinned and stood up, smiling proudly.
            "Morning!" she cheered gleefully.
            "Morning," Flamepaw responded.
            "Breakfast anyone?" Neko asked.
            Rosepettle nodded, then pricked her ears. "I think there's a stream nearby!" she exclaimed. She turned to Flamepaw, her eyes full of light. "Let's see if we can catch some fish! I haven't had a real RiverClan meal in forever!"
            "We've only been gone a few days," Flamepaw explained, but Rosepettle was too busy searching for the stream to listen.
            Flamepaw and Neko trotted alongside Rosepettle until Flamepaw's ears also began to pick up the sound of rippling water. It was faint, but it was surely there.
            "Do you hear it?" Rosepettle asked Flamepaw.
            "I hear it," Neko confirmed.
            Flamepaw nodded next to him.
            Flamepaw lifted her pale nose up to the air, sniffing for the breeze of water. Suddenly, she felt a cold and crisp breeze, beads of water hanging in it.
            "This way!" Flamepaw called, pointing towards some bushes.
            Rosepettle and Neko slowly followed behind her. Flamepaw came through the bushes, finding a glorious stream running downhill.
            "Good job, Flamepaw!" Rosepettle congratulated her.
            Neko nodded beside Rosepettle.
            "Come on, Neko!" Rosepettle called, calling to spotted tom forward. "I'll show you how to catch a fish."
            Neko shuffled his paws, looking down with uncertainty. "I don't know if that's the best idea," he admitted nervously.
            "Oh, it'll be fun!" Rosepettle assured him, motioning him forward.
            Slowly, Neko came forward, and Flamepaw followed behind, sitting down some pawsteps away from Rosepettle  and Neko to look for fish.
            Unfortunately, the hot sun of green-leaf had caused the stream to shrink, not leaving a lot of water for fish to swim in. Flamepaw was hopeful though, and she longed to taste the salty meat of fish again.
            "No, this way!" she heard Rosepettle call.
            Neko plunged his paw into the water, and Rosepettle laughed in a silly manner, demonstrating him the moves.
            Flamepaw smiled, thinking of Dusktail showing her how to fish. It was a bit silly thinking of a kittypet learning to fish. Flamepaw smiled a little wider thinking about it.
            Her thoughts came to a cease as she noticed a glitter of silver. She glanced below, noticing a fish swim by. Excitedly, she plunged her paw into the water and brought up the fish, tossing him onto shore.
            Before she had the chance to kill it, the fish flopped around. Flamepaw chased after it, causing Rosepettle and Neko to turn around.
            "Flamepaw, what are you—" Rosepettle froze as her eyes focused on the fish.
            "Catch that fish!" she shouted, chasing after the fish.
            Flamepaw ran after the flopping fish, praying it didn't land back into the stream. She grabbed for it, but it slipped out of her grasp.
            As the fish flopped towards the shore, Rosepettle shouted, "Neko, grab that fish!"
            Neko, never before being entrusted with such a duty, sliced his claws through the fish, causing it to fall limp. It wasn't the cleanest cut, but it would do.
            "Thank StarClan!" Rosepettle exclaimed in an exasperated fashion. "Who wants a proper RiverClan meal?"
            "I do!" Flamepaw shouted.
            And so they sat near the stream's edge, each sharing a bit of fish. She had to admit, the fish from the river tasted better, but she was just glad to taste the nice, juicy meat again.
            "Good catch there, Neko," Flamepaw told him.
            Neko blushed. "Thanks. But you really helped, Rosepettle. Maybe I'll catch the next fish," he spoke, smiling at her.
            Rosepettle turned away, bashful. "Oh, it was nothing. There's plenty of more lessons. Just call me your teacher," she spoke, standing up now.
            After several minutes, all that remained of the fish were the white bones and silvery scales, leaving the others with a nice full belly for the day.
            "So, do you have any idea where we are?" Flamepaw asked Rosepettle. She had been meaning to ask this question for quite awhile now, but she had waited, unsure of how Rosepettle would react.
            "Well, sort of," Rosepettle replied uneasily.
            "You mean we're lost?" Neko asked.
            "No, we're not lost. I could easily lead us back by Moonstone. We're just looking through these woods for any scent of Goldstar," Rosepettle explained.
            "We've been in this territory for a few days," Flamepaw sighed. "And we haven't got a scent of Goldstar. Maybe we should search somewhere else."
            "But what about Gingerkit, Flamepaw? Did she tell you anymore of where Goldstar might be?"
            Flamepaw shook her head sadly.
            "Hm, it seems to me StarClan isn't all it's cracked up to be," Neko mumbled.
            "Neko, how can you say that?!" Rosepettle gasped. "Why, StarClan has always protected the clans!"
            "But they haven't given you any decent directions," Neko pointed out.
            "StarClan works in mysterious ways," Flamepaw spoke at last. "Let's keep searching then. Maybe we'll find some clue today."
            Rosepettle nodded. "All right. We'll split up. Don't wander too far. We'll just look around the territory, sniff for Goldstar's scent, and if we don't find her, we head farther in. Sound good?"
            Both Neko and Flamepaw nodded. Rosepettle's plan wasn't the most creative, but it would work.
            So they split up for most of the day. At first, Flamepaw was frightened of being separated from her friends, but these woods were calm and alive with the sounds of bird and prey. It was nice to eat a plump rabbit for lunch and not have to worry about bringing it back to camp.
            Flamepaw sniffed around pine trees, picking up no scents at all. At one point, she smelled the stale scent of a squirrel, but she detected no cats,  no predators, and no Goldstar, for that matter.
            She wondered if maybe they should just head back. It was hard to have motivation to search for a cat if you had very little directions or guesses on where to look.
            She sniffed a bush full of bright green leaves, praying to pick up the scent of at least Snowheart or Mothwing, but she detected nothing at all.
            The sun's rays were beginning to die down now, and the only scents Flamepaw could detect now were Rosepettle and Neko's nearby. She supposed they'd be heading farther into the territory when she heard Neko shout.
            "GUYS!" Neko shouted.
            "IS IT A FOX?!" she heard Rosepettle call from far away. Neko seemed to cry loudly, and Flamepaw thought the same. She rushed over to Neko's voice, running as fast as her legs could take her.
            Please let Neko be safe, she prayed.
            But when Flamepaw arrived, Rosepettle arriving the exact moment, Neko stood with no one in a clearing. He only stood near a bush impatiently.
            "By StarClan, you scared me!" Rosepettle shouted, whacking Neko with her paw.
            "What was that for?" Neko sneered.
            "For being a mouse-brain," Rosepettle joked.
            "Neko, why did you call us over here?" Flamepaw asked.
            "Oh, right!" Neko exclaimed, suddenly remembering. He pointed towards the bush.
            "Wow, a bush. You've really outdone yourself there," Rosepettle spoke.
            "Look on the bush, smart one," Neko teased.
            Flamepaw and Rosepettle came closer until they noticed a clump of golden fur clinging tightly to the branches of the bush.
            "I know you said your leader's name was Goldstar. I'm not good with scents, but I found this fur. Perhaps it's hers."
            "One way to find out," Rosepettle murmured, sniffing the fur. Flamepaw did the same, and in an instant, her leader's scent came to her.
            It smelled of the fishy scent of RiverClan, the moist waters, the crisp air. This was no doubt Goldstar's fur, and her scent was flooded all around. Even better, it was not too stale. Perhaps only a day old.
            "Well, it looks like we've been given directions," Rosepettle declared.