Warriors: Clockwise

<------ Chapter Thirteen ------>

Hero awoke slowly, vaguely hearing the murmurs of the other cats. As he opened his eyes and yawned, he remembered his failure the day before. Whiteshadow was gone, with no trail to follow.

Hero stood and stretched, seeing some of the others talking in a circle a little farther down the alley in which they had all spent the night. He approached them slowly, defeat making his paw steps heavy.

"Hey, Hero," Jayflight said softly.

"Hey." Looking around, Hero realized that two of the cats were missing.

"Where are Lilypool and Smokewhisker?"

"Hunting. You slept for ages!" Swiftpaw informed him. "While you were busy being a useless lump of fur, we were trying to figure out where Whiteshadow could have gone."

Swiftpaw's comment hit home with Hero. He felt as if he had let them all down, and he still didn't have any sort of plan. Would he ever manage to rescue Whiteshadow, or had he finally encountered a task too great for him to complete?

"Swiftpaw, that's enough," Jayflight said sternly, which came as a surprise to many of the cats.

"Well, it's true, he-" Swiftpaw began, but Lilypool and Smokewhisker appeared with a couple of mice and a small bird, stopping the soon-to-be argument that was brewing between Jayflight and Swiftpaw.

"I see Hero's finally up," Smokewhisker teased. "Want to share a mouse?"

"No, thanks. I'm not hungry." How could Hero even dream of eating when he had so miserably failed in leading these cats to find Whiteshadow?

"Hero, can we talk for a moment?" Lilypool asked, setting down her mouse and resting her tail on Hero's shoulder.

"Sure," Hero responded, offering her a somewhat fake smile and following her a short distance away from the other cats. "What is it?"

"What happened with you yesterday?" Lilypool asked.

"What do you mean?" Hero asked, confused.

"When you stayed behind while the others met Mason. You had a moment where you seemed preoccupied with something. You... spaced out."

"No, I didn't. I just thought I saw something," Hero denied self-consciously.

"Really?" Lilypool asked shrewdly. "Come on, Hero, you can trust us. You can trust me."

Hero sighed, letting his tail sink down. "It's just that... I don't want any of you to be in danger. You're all so unfamiliar with the city, the Factions, and I don't want you to get hurt. Especially not when there are seemingly invisible threats all around us and we're trying to complete an impossible quest!" he stopped for a moment, realizing how overwhelming the concept truly was, and raising his head to look at her. He sighed shakily. "I think you and the others need to go back to the Clan and leave this to me. It'll be a lot easier to look after myself in the city than to have to look after five cats who don't know the dangers." Hero paused, and Lilypool took the opportunity to speak.

"Maybe it would be easier if you went off on your own," Lilypool began, draping her tail across Hero's shoulders. "But we're not going to let you."

"Lilypool, I-"

"No, Hero," she stopped him. "We're determined to help you. See?" With a sweep of her tail, Lilypool gestured behind them.

Turning, Hero saw all four of the others approaching him, each of them carrying one or more valuable trinkets. Swiftpaw, he noticed, was struggling to carry what appeared to be a wristwatch much like his own. One by one, they stepped forward, laying the objects at his paws.