The Abandoned Warrior

Chapter 20

            Cold winds awoke Snowpaw in the morning, and Snowpaw looked up, seeing the clouds gather more. It was new-leaf. Why was it so cold?

            Snowpaw turned, expecting to say good-morning to Bear, but she found him missing. Confused, Snowpaw sniffed the ground, picking up his scent. Stale.

            "Bear?" she called.

            She got up, sniffing the air for any scent of the tom. Where could he have gone? Hunting without her?

            He was not in the camp, so he must've been in the forest. Snowpaw looked around the camp one last time, then disappeared into the woods. She could not detect his scent at all, for the wind was blowing it away.

            "BEAR!" she called through the woods. The only response was the wind rustling through the branches.

            Snowpaw felt herself getting stiff. What if something had happened to him? "BEAR!" she yelled once more.

            She went by the river, not detecting any sign of her mate. She called for him, but there was no response. Snowpaw even went into the river, looking for the tom, but had found no signs.

            Wet and cold, Snowpaw droopily went through the woods, calling out for Bear. Where had he gone?

            There were no blood trails, no patches of hair, so he must've been okay, but she had no idea where he was.

            Snowpaw's growling stomach did not stop her from looking. She searched in every nook and cranny, every hole, climbed every tree, looking for Bear. She would not stop until she found him, she had promised herself that.

            The only scents she had been able to pick up of him were stale, and when she tried to follow the scent trails, they seemed to disappear.

            As the clouds gathered more quickly throughout the day, Snowpaw was exhausted. She wanted to lay down and sleep, but she could not rest. She had searched throughout the forest! Where could he have gone? Where could he be?

            "BEAR?! WHERE ARE YOU?! THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

            Her voice was hoarse now as she walked, and tears began to slide down her white face. Where was he?! Was he dead? Oh, please don't be dead, she thought.

            So she continued to search. She searched until it got even darker, until the first raindrop began to fall down her pelt. But the raindrops had turned into hail, getting more fierce by the second. Snowpaw knew that she couldn't go much further.

            Suddenly, she stood, a horrifying thought overcoming her. What if he had left...on purpose?! He had not seemed happy when she had told him yesterday that she wanted to stay. But he had loved her! That's what he had told her! How could he have left her?

            What if it was all fake? What if Snowpaw had been a fool and fell for it? But all these clues that Snowpaw had been adding together had summed up to this explanation.

            Snowpaw collapsed on the ground, the hail pounding against her body. "Was it all fake?!" she wailed. "I thought you loved me, Bear!" she yowled.

            It was true. She believed it now. There was no other explanation. Bear had left her. That's why she had been so cold in the night.

            He was a cruel monster who had stolen her heart, only to break it on purpose. With anger, Snowpaw trudged through the forest, depression and sadness overcoming her.

            What if her family truly was dead?! She had screwed up everything! She had fallen for a tom that had destroyed her, she had left her family that could be dying at that very moment, and now she would never see Silverwhisker and Stonecloud again.

            Snowpaw just wished she was dead. She hated her life and everything in it. It was all her fault. She had caused the horrible mess she had made, and she didn't want to be apart of it anymore.

            As she walked, the hail and wind nearly blinded her. "STUPID STARCLAN!" she hissed at the sky, a deep depression flowing inside of her.

            She laid down by a rock that offered a small amount of protection, and she began to cry. She cried and wailed until darkness nearly covered all of the forest. The hail was gone, so was the wind, and only drops of rain remained.

            Snowpaw looked up, tears streaming down her face. But suddenly, she noticed something. She began to walk towards it, getting closer and closer.

            She was staring face to face with ripe, red holly berries. Should she do it? Snowpaw didn't know. She was feeling so alone and angry.

            She hesitated, then plucked one off.

            She remembered Stonecloud telling her they were dangerous and could even kill.

            "Perfect," Snowpaw whispered.

            She sat down, looking up at the sky. Placing her claw in the berry, she lifted it over her mouth. "Good-bye, stupid world," she hissed.

            She suddenly saw the pale eyes of Silverwhisker, and the white pelt of Stonecloud, staring at her from several pawsteps.

            "SNOWPAW! NO!" Silverwhisker hissed, just as the berry slid past Snowpaw's mouth.