Legacy Rising: Dark Secrets

8

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"Pebblepaw!" Pebblepaw startled awake as her brother once again shook her awake.

"Whaaaat?" she muttered, drawling out the word.

"Beesting and Troutfrost want us to practice hunting today!" Sparrowpaw responded immediately. Pebblepaw turned over, swatting at her brother's nose. He giggled and jumped back, playfully putting his tail in the air.

"Hurry up! Troutfrost threatened to start without us," Sparrowpaw chirped, turning to run out of the den. Pebblepaw sighed and got up to follow her brother. She yawned, blinking up at the dawn sky. A single crow flew across her view, and she took that as a sign of good hunting.

If there's one crow, there must be more!

Troutfrost, Beesting, and Sparrowpaw sat across the clearing near the entrance to camp. Pebblepaw made her way over to them, curious to why Beesting and Sparrowpaw would be hunting with them.

"We're doing group hunting," Troutfrost said, almost as if he could sense what she was thinking. Pebblepaw nodded, flicking her tail in excitement.

Troutfrost got up, motioning for the others to follow. They made their way through the hunting trail, towards the Birch Forest. The scents of prey were weirdly everywhere, the smell of coming snow not hiding it at all.

Beesting's head shot up to look at a place on a high birch branch. A squirrel was sat there, nibbling on an acorn. Again odd-- there usually wasn't any squirrels during leaf-bare.

"I can go up and chase the squirrel down," Troutfrost murmured. Beesting jumped slightly at the sudden words. "Beesting, go climb the other tree to make sure if the squirrel jumps over there we can still catch it."

Beesting nodded, carefully bounding over to climb the tree.

"You two, stay down here. The squirrel will most likely jump down. Chase it and catch it," Troutfrost said.

Pebblepaw nodded, crouching down with her tail tucked close to the ground.

Sparrowpaw settled next to her, looking up at the squirrel.

Troutfrost crept across the branch, and it started to bend. The squirrel noticed, dropped the acorn, and jumped to the ground.

Pebblepaw leaped forward, Sparrowpaw at her heels. The dead bushes nipped at her shoulders as she sped through them, but she paid them no mind. She soon caught up to the squirrel, leaped, and landed on it.

She leaned down to make the kill and looked back up to see Troutfrost and Beesting staring at her.

"Was that good?" she asked, picking up the squirrel.

Sparrowpaw burst through the bushes behind the two warriors, breathing heavily.

"Woah! You were like-- zoom! And, and, pow! That was awesome!"

The patrol goes on like this, with Pebblepaw doing quite well for group hunting and Sparrowpaw lagging behind and congratulating her after she catches the prey.

-

"We should head back now, the sun is getting high," Beesting suggested, tucking his tail closer to his body when he noticed Troutfrost staring at him.

"Good idea, Beesting," Troutfrost replied. He nodded to the patrol to follow him, and they did.

Right when Pebblepaw got through the entrance of camp, Ashleaf popped up right next to her.

"Hey, Pebblepaw. I know you just went on patrol, but we need someone to help Lavenderwing gather more herbs," he meowed. Pebblepaw glanced over his shoulder and watched Lavenderwing spit out a couple of dried herbs. She nodded.

"I'll gladly help!"

Maybe Lavenderwing knows a thing or two about some RiverClan cats I can ask, Pebblepaw pondered. I've always wanted to know how Otterstar became leader.

Lavenderwing's paws crunched in the sand, reminding Pebblepaw of her playfights with Sparrowpaw when they were younger.

She followed the ThunderClan medicine cat out of the camp, chuckling when a leaf landed on her nose.

"How's life in ThunderClan?" Pebblepaw asked suddenly. She had always loved small talk-- it gave her a chance to get to know her clanmates better.

Lavenderwing glanced over her shoulder, trying to hide her surprise. "Oh, um... I do normal medicine cat things. You know, teach Littlepaw. Since RiverClan and ThunderClan haven't been on good terms I've gotten more injuries to heal from border skirmishes, but that's about it."

Pebblepaw nodded. That was what she had suspected the healer to say-- there wasn't really anything exciting that can go on for a medicine cat unless an outbreak of greencough or a war happens.

"Can you tell me about Otterstar? How he rose to be leader?" Pebblepaw asked. Lavenderwing nipped a stalk of a green herb with yellow flowers, seeming to be deep in thought.

"I am not as old as Otterstar, but I do remember when he was named deputy, and when he proudly introduced Troutfrost to the Clans," Lavenderwing murmured.

"Introduced Troutfrost? Why would he do that?" Pebblepaw asked, tilting her head.

"Troutfrost was only half-clan. His mother was a rogue and his father was exiled," the lynx-point cat said. "When Fogstar, the leader before Otterstar, announced that Foxtrot would be exiled, Otterstar said something about the kit that was Foxtrot's."

Pebblepaw nodded. "Did you ever meet him on border patrols?"

Lavenderwing frowned. "I did once. I had just been made a full medicine cat and he was still an apprentice. He found me scavenging for herbs and tried to attack me despite me having not crossed the border," she muttered, shaking her head as if brushing the memory away.

"I have a scar from that," Lavenderwing murmured, flicking her tail over her haunches.

Pebblepaw gawked at the ripped flesh, a place where fur had never grown back. It was a nasty scar, and it surprised Pebblepaw how bad of a wound it would have been.

She knew Troutfrost was strong and sometimes aggressive, but attacking a medicine cat on their own territory and giving them that? She didn't think he was that violent.

Then again... The image of her deputy standing over the dead and bloodied body of Goldenglow flashed through her mind. It was only there for a few moments, but it had left a lasting affect that Pebblepaw refused to admit.

"We came out here to gather herbs," Lavenderwing breathed, laying her tail across Pebblepaw's back as if she could sense the younger's distress. "Let's get back to that."

A/N :

Word Count: 1575
Remember to drink enough water :D