The Story of Mallowtuft

The Accident

The rumbling grew louder and closer, chattering Mallowpaw's teeth and teetering her step as they approached the dark-paved surface. Mallowpaw's long, brown and white tabby fur blew forward towards her face, causing her to shiver. She paused mid-step, glancing over her shoulder at the rolling meadows that were fading from view as the sun set. Windclan's territory was beautiful, truly; golden grasses illuminating and dancing like flames in the cool breeze as the evening sun slowly tucked itself underneath the horizon.

The young apprentice jumped, her tail lashing as a voice cut through the silence of the moors. "Mallowpaw! Don't fall behind!" called Marshwing, her older brother. He was five moons her senior. Marshwing was a large, dark brown tabby with a splash of white on his chest; their father's twin, really. He was waiting with Mallowpaw's mentor, Hickoryfoot. The tom towered over her brother, a light brown outline shadowing him and the medicine cat, Frostpool, behind him. She gave them an embarrassed, sheepish grin as she sped up to meet them.

Her paws were freezing, and she couldn't tell if it was the temperature or the fact that she was practically falling apart at the seams with anxiety about their most formidable obstacle up ahead. Mallowpaw could smell it, although the evening light was doing a magnificent job at concealing the impossibly-black Thunderpath. It's horrible, acrid scent penetrated her nostrils and made her wince and crinkle her nose. She squinted through the last bit of harsh sunlight with shining, emerald eyes to spot it.

The sharp tang of the Thunderpath made her chest tighten. It felt like someone had set a heavy rock on her lungs. She coughed hard, eyes watering as the stench hit her eyes and made them burn. Through her tears, the tiny eyes of the twoleg monsters glittered and blurred as they raced up and down the Thunderpath, shaking her to the core. The four approached the edge of the path. The once-green grass had been flattened and browned and was littered with twoleg waste. She nudged a crinkly-looking silver can next to her before moving in beside her mentor.

The rumbling of the monsters was so strong that it made Mallowpaw stagger slightly. Her mentor caught her and supported her as she regained her stumbled footing. She nodded a thank you. Here, at the edge of the Thunderpath, the strong was so overwhelming that it was hard to breathe. The smell swirled around them as the twoleg monsters barreled past them at incredible rates of speed, sending their fur tossing and turning. How could something move so fast? Mallowpaw placed her paw on the surface, feeling its rough, cracked edges like the bark of a tree; yet it felt so unnatural.

Frostpool and Marshwing stood together and placed their paws at the edge of the path. A thick white line marked their starting spot, and Mallowpaw examined the way Marshwing stood with his claws sheathed, reared back to spring forward and sprint across the Thunderpath. Her heart started to beat quickly, hammering in her chest, and she glanced up at Hickorytail to make sure he couldn't hear it. He was staring straight ahead at Marshwing and Frostpool, waiting to cross.

Her brother and the medicine cat crouched down as a wave of twoleg monsters passed them, and Mallowpaw felt her whole body sway with the force of the wind they brought.

Breathe, she told herself. Breathe! Breathe! Why can't I breathe?

Too loud, she let out her shaking, shallow breath. It came out in a puff of mist in front of her muzzle, clouding her vision for a moment as Marshwing's voice pierced her ears, "Now!"

Her brother was racing across the Thunderpath with Frostpool at his flank as a break in the numbers of monsters allowed them to cross. The padding of paws across the path was barely audible. 

Calm down, calm down, calm, calm...she willed herself to stay conscious as the turmoil overwhelmed her. She shut her eyes tight, squeezing the vicious air away and shedding tears that rolled swiftly down her cold, freezing cheeks. Her tail lashed again and she shifted on her paws, gripping the ground and kneading it with trembling paws. All of the clans knew of the dangers which come from attempting to cross this Thunderpath. It was 4 lanes wide and constantly humming with traffic; each clan had lost more than one warrior to the jaws of a monster.