Facing A Forest of Shadows

Chapter Twelve {Edited}

Pineheart pushed Frostfeather away with a disgruntled hiss. "I'm awake!" he growled as he reached out a paw to take a swipe at her side. Musty scents of dried leaves wafted on the breeze from somewhere nearby. Oh how I wish it was pine needles, he thought as he slowly pushed himself to his feet.

"Brokensong wants us to leave immediately," she explained. Her ears twitched and her fur was spiked along her spine.

"Is something happening?" Pineheart asked, his eyes shadowed with worry. She shook her head and stretched out her foot to shove Smallfire awake.

"We just need to leave before we attract unwanted visitors," she muttered. She inwardly hoped that Pineheart wouldn't question her any further.

After a couple more tries to prod Smallfire awake, Frostfeather sat back with a huff. "Smallfire, wake up!" she shouted.

Pineheart bent to sniff the tom's fur. Heat radiated from his ungroomed pelt. "I think he's got a fever," he whispered after a short pause.

"I'll go and get Brokensong," she mewed before she turned and disappeared out the side of the bush. Pineheart could hear Smallfire's labored breaths. Every now and then, his legs would jerk from a random muscle spasm. Hopefully its just greencough, he thought.

After what felt like an eternity, Brokensong finally poked her narrow snout through the leaves. "Frostfeather says Smallfire is sick," she mewed..

She stooped down to sniff his fur, but he flinched away. "Don't touch me!" he snapped, "I'm fine!"

"You don't look fine!" Brokensong retorted, "but now that you're awake, we can leave. I don't want to hear you complaining, either!"

Pineheart gasped at the medicine cat. He wondered why she would act so cold and angry. She must just be scared, like the rest of us.

Reluctantly, Smallfire stumbled to his paws. Pineheart could feel the fever as it rolled off of him in waves. He let the shaky tom lean against him for support as they exited the makeshift den.

The others had waited for their arrival. Sootsplash, along with Meadowshine, Sweetmind, and Lionpaw, sat at the base of a nearby tree. Lionpaw looked completely exhausted, her whiskers sagged.

Meadowshine also appeared worn out, her tortoiseshell fur dull and messy. Elkleap hovered a few paces away while he stared off into the distance, back the way they had come. He's the loneliest out of us all, Pineheart realized.

Sootsplash had his family to care for, as well as Sweetmind. She had clung to them like nettle. She was still overcome from her mother and sister's deaths. Brokensong didn't seem too upset over the loss of her littermate, Weaseltail. But she had always been good at hiding her emotions, which was something all medicine cats learned over time.

And that leaves me, Frostfeather, and Smallfire. And we are littermates, Pineheart thought. Smallfire leaned hard against his flank as his breath came in wheezing gasps.

"Will you be ok?" Pineheart whispered in his ear. He just replied with an angry flick of his tail, his yellow eyes narrowed as they made their way to the others.

"We will be leaving now," Brokensong announced after everyone had gathered. She began to lead the patrol away, with Sootsplash, Meadowshine, Lionpaw, and Elkleap right on her tail. Frostfeather lingered for a few moments before she followed.

"Alright, we are going to start moving," Pineheart warned as he started to take a few steps forward. To his relief, Smallfire was perfectly capable to walk. He wobbled a bit as they first set off, but fell into a listless pace after several heartbeats.

Pineheart remained stuck to his side. He was sure if he joined the rest of the group, it was possible for Smallfire to get left behind. Or picked off by some hungry animal, he thought.

It seemed like Brokensong had lead them around the mountain, towards even more hill and valleys that faded into the distance. Pineheart could see the rest of the patrol as they raced further and further away from him and his companion.

"Wait up!" he yowled after them. He noticed Frostfeather glance back, and then bound forward to say something to Brokensong. Thankfully, they slowed enough for Pineheart and Smallfire to catch up.

They were all quiet as they traveled onward, too focused on the path ahead. Pineheart lost track of how many valleys they had climbed, how many they had descended.

After awhile, his flanks began to snarl with hunger. The sun had already crossed the sky to dip back down towards the treetops once more. "Should we take a break to try and find some prey?" he suggested.

Lionpaw looked up at Sootsplash expectantly as her belly also grumbled with hunger. But Brokensong already replied, "No! We need to get as far as we can while there's still light. After the sun sets, we can take a break."

"And after the sun sets, there won't be any prey," Pineheart growled under his breath. After only a short trek longer, the valleys finally came to an end. But something new and frightening loomed in their way.

It seemed to be a river of darkness, but instead of water it was a solid, rock like substance. It constantly swarmed with huge, metal beasts with balls of light that glared in their eyes.

The patrol stopped on the verge to watch the monsters as they screeched by on their own, personal journeys. "I don't know how we are supposed to get across," Brokensong fretted just as she began to pace and sniff at the grass at the edge of the black river.

"Maybe we should wait, and see if StarClan sends us a message," Elkleap offered, his voice kind and tender as he addressed the medicine cat.

Despite his kindness, her eyes flared with rage. "Do you really think StarClan are going to send us a message?! StarClan aren't here!"

Pineheart felt his pelt tingle at her harsh words. Of course StarClan was with them. Where else would they be?

Smallfire started to wheeze while they sat at the edge of a small bush. He could hear the leaves beside him rustle from the monster's wind as they rushed by. "Brokensong, I think Smallfire needs herbs for his breathing," Pineheart announced.

Brokensong snapped her attention towards the two toms. But her gaze was not focused directly on them, but at the bush that quivered just behind their tails. "Brokensong, are you ok?" he questioned.

"Shhh! Be quiet!" she hissed as she stared at the jostled foliage, "I think we are being watched!"