Dark Clouds (Book I)

VI

Then

Dawn.

Stormpaw forced himself to avoid shuddering as he followed Sunclaw's large paw prints. It hadn't stopped snowing for many days, and WindClan was suffering.

A grey tom looked over his shoulder, meeting Stormpaw's gaze. A dusting of snow covered him from ears to tail-tip. "Hurry, Stormpaw!" His bark cut through the air like unsheathed claws. "We're all going to starve to death at this rate!"

Stormpaw grunted in frustration, plodding after the warrior. "Coming, Sunclaw!"

Sunclaw snorted, eyes sparkling with impatience. "Our mission is easy," he mewed, voice rough. Blinking the snow from his eyes, he continued, "All we need to do is dig out the tunnel entrances so the others can hunt."

Stormpaw blinked. The wind blasted into his face, forcing him to flatten his ears. Clouds of snow blew over the rolling hills, obscuring his view. "Easy?" He mewed incredulously.

Sunclaw grimaced. He dipped a paw into the snow, scraping at it. "Did your father tell you about Shattered Ice?"

"Yes."

"WindClan had nothing when Shattered Ice was alive," Sunclaw meowed. He paused, screwing his eyes shut as a cloud of snow flew past. "And he started the tunnels from scratch. You have a mentor and a whole network of tunnels to help you." His voice lowered with anger as he went on. "Your father didn't mention that because he was soft."

Stormpaw started. Rushstripe was soft? "What?"

"He had no self-discipline, and jeopardized our Clan because of it." Sunclaw sniffed. "He deserved to get sick."

Stormpaw gaped at his mentor, whiskers drooping. His breath shuddered. The snow continued to swirl around them. "Wh-wha–?"

Sunclaw glared back at his apprentice. "Sorry, did I offend you? In your life, Stormpaw, you can choose between the right thing and feeling good. Rushstripe chose to feel good. End of story."

He turned on his paws, trudging through the snow with flattened ears. Stormpaw felt his heart pounding in his chest. Was Rushstripe a bad cat? He shuddered, and it wasn't because of the winter cold. Is Sunclaw trying to turn me against him? Stormpaw followed his mentor, tentatively placing one paw after the other as the snowfall grew thicker.

Now

"What was it like?" Mouseleap and Stormshade sat on a hillside, watching the sun rise. They were two tail-lengths apart. "Having a parent who was... close to you?"

Stormshade shifted. He tried to keep a knot from building in his throat. "It was like having the best mentor in the world," he replied. "But... I didn't know him for long." He stopped speaking for a moment, allowing the wind to break the silence. It blew his words away, scattering them into the moor. The grey tom could feel weight vanishing from his shoulders. "He died before you were born."

The silence returned again. Stormshade imagined Mouseleap was mulling over his words, but the she-cat stared ahead blankly. He turned to look at her.

"Mouseleap?"

She flicked an ear. Her brown face was now orange, aflame with sunlight. "I'm thinking," she murmured. "About everything."

Stormshade nodded wordlessly. Blades of grass trailed along his flanks as they waved softly in the morning breeze. "Sorry," he murmured.