Warriors: The Trail of Centuries

Chapter 8

     “Halt, apprentice.” A voice behind her startled her, causing her to jump several mice-lengths into the air. Spottedpaw spun around with her claws unsheathed, ready to defend herself against whoever had caught her here. She paused, though, when her gaze locked on the same friendly expression that Jayleaf held so often. This time, there was a hint of amusement in his warm amber eyes. With a quick breath, Spottedpaw forced herself to relax.

     “You sure took your time,” she mumbled nonchalantly and sat down. The apprentice gave her paw a quick lick while keeping one eye locked on the BlazeClan warrior; as friendly as he’d been, she knew this could all just be a trick to gain an advantage over the Gorge. 

     “Well, you know, when there’s a vigil to attend.” Jayleaf gave an awkward chuckle and Spottedpaw immediately felt bad. “I’m sure you guys got held up with the warrior you lost, as well.”

     “I doubt it was the same,” Spottedpaw muttered with a cringe. She remembered how most cats had only used Jaggedthorn’s death to swear vengeance. It was clear from the start that Heatherstorm hadn’t meant to kill the Gorge molly. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to change the subject. “Anyway, why did you ask me to meet you here?”

     Jayleaf merely shot her a smug look in response to the question. His eyes glinted with a hint of something new—a kind of playfulness, perhaps. With a single, beckoning flick of his tail, he turned and raced off along the border. Spottedpaw hesitated for a moment before taking off after him. She struggled to keep up as they hared further away from her home in the caves, following the trees and bushes that marked the line between territories. 

     Jayleaf stopped right as her legs were starting to burn and she thought she couldn’t go on any longer. Spottedpaw nearly barreled into him as she skidded to a stop. The she-cat gave him a questioning look, but before she could utter a word, the tom spoke.

     “I had something I wanted to show you,” he murmured between a few subtle pants.

     “So you couldn’t have just said that?” Spottedpaw retorted playfully. Jayleaf shot her an equally playful glance and shook out his fur before padding into BlazeClan territory. When Spottedpaw hesitated, he turned around and beckoned to her.

     “It’ll be fine,” he assured. “Besides, it won’t take too long. Come on!”

     Spottedpaw caved and followed him into the strange territory. Almost immediately she noticed that the ground beneath her looked dried and cracked; the undergrowth appeared to be in worse shape. The plants felt brittle underneath Spottedpaw’s toes—what little she could see, at least. She immediately felt a pang of pity for the BlazeClan cat ahead of her, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

     Up ahead she noticed some kind of structure, and Jayleaf was leading her right to it. As they neared, she saw that it looked to be made of stone, with sharp edges as if it formed some kind of protective border around something. Lines criss-crossed along the outer walls, creating an odd rectangular pattern.

     “What is this?” she breathed out in awe as she eyed the unusual structure. The odd structure looked old; it was crumbling apart in multiple parts, with sizable chunks of stone lying on the surrounding ground.

     “Swallowclaw always told me it’s an abandoned Twoleg nest. It looks almost ancient, doesn’t it? Watch this.” Jayleaf began hopping up on the rocks, climbing higher and higher until he reached the top. Pebbles scattered and fell to the earth with each pawstep. Once he was there, he found a comfy spot to perch himself and beckoned to Spottedpaw. When she hesitated, he climbed back down to the lowest ledge.