Facing A Forest of Shadows

Chapter Fourty

Pineheart plunged into Elkstar's den, his fur still bushed from his frantic dash across the island. "Elkstar!" he called into the murky darkness.

"Yes, Pineheart. I'm here," Elkstar's voice sounded, surprisingly closer than expected. It took a few heartbeats for his eyes to adjust, but he could just barely make out Elkstar's broad shoulders in the tight space.

"Did you find anything out there?" he asked curiously. Pineheart nodded hastily, his tail tip twitched with anxiety.

"Near the middle of the island, the trees do come to an end," Pineheart explained, "but there, the ground stretches out to a tall, smoking mountain!"

"A smoking mountain," Elkstar echoed, "this sounds serious. I should lead a patrol to investigate further."

"It could be dangerous," Pineheart cautioned, "the smoke threw Drizzlepaw into a coughing fit!"

Elkstar's eyes darkened with worry. "Is she ok?" he asked.

"I sent her to Brokensong. I'll have to check in on her," he replied.

Elkstar nodded, "see that you do. Meanwhile, I'll take Falconcry and Stoneflower to check out this mountain."

Pineheart turned and climbed out of the burrow, his fur caked with dirt from where it had brushed along the walls. Elkstar followed, and quickly trotted away to gather his patrol.

Pineheart was sort of relieved to pass that responsibility on to Elkstar. Drizzlepaw's fit had worried him more than he dared to admit. He made his way to the medicine den, not before he scooped up a small frog from the fresh kill pile.

As he approached, Drizzlepaw pulled herself out of the den between two outstretched tree roots. Pineheart set down the little frog, his whiskers twitched as Drizzlepaw slunk towards him.

"What did Brokensong say?" he asked, his face strained with unease.

"She think I just scratched my throat," Drizzlepaw replied, her voice hoarse, "she gave me some honey and ordered me to rest."

"I brought you some prey," he meowed as he pushed the frog closer to Drizzlepaw with his forepaw. She purred greatfully as she bent down and picked up the frog in her mouth.

"Thanks, Pineheart," she wheezed as she wobbled into the apprentice den. He watched her go, his eyes dark with worry.

Frostfeather must have snuck up while he was distracted. "So what did Elkstar think?" she inquired loudly in his ear.

He jumped and hissed angrily as he turned to look at her. "Do you not realize how obnoxious you are?" he grumbled.

"Oh shut up," she laughed, her whiskers twitched with barely concealed humor.

"Well, he took me a lot more seriously than you did," he argued.

"I'm sorry," she blurted, "I should have believed you."

"Yes, you should have!" he snapped, "being the deputy isn't a walk in the park!"

Elkstar worked tirelessly as leader but even some trivial matter managed to frazzle the black pelted tom. He had never known responsibility like this before.

"Well maybe you should just go relax," Frostfeather offered, "a nice nap should fix you up."

Pineheart's shoulders slumped, "a nap does sound nice," he admitted. But after a heartbeat he shook his head. "No, I should be thinking about who to send out hunting when Elkstar returns."

"Hopefully he won't be long," she mewed. While they talked Sootsplash had reappeared with a huge bundle of vines. Frostfeather briefly touched her nose to Pineheart's cheek before she turned and padded away.

"Good luck with the hunting patrol," she called over her shoulder. Finally on his own, he stood and slid towards the bank of the tiny pool at the center of camp.

He looked down at the water, his reflection painted across its still surface. Gently, he dabbed his paw into the chilly liquid. Ripples fanned our from his claw tips, his reflection distorted.

He must have sat there for a long time. Eventually, Elkstar's patrol returned and the brown and black pelted leader came to join his deputy at the bank of the pool.

"We didn't encounter any surprises," Elkstar reported. Pineheart continued to star down at the water.

"We still manage to find new things everyday," Pineheart meowed after several more moments of silence.

Elkstar nodded in agreement. "Yes, but there will come a time when we know these lands like the back of our paw. You'll see," he purred.

Pineheart shrugged his shoulders. "I guess your right," he muttered.

"And Drizzlepaw is ok?" Elkstar questioned him.

"Yes, she's fine," he replied curtly.

"Then I don't see any reason to worry. Just a bit of smoke, nothing to loose our fur over," Elkstar insisted.

Pineheart dipped his head submissively. "Yes, Elkstar." he rumbled.

"Have you decided who would go hunting?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Uh.. yeah. I'll lead a patrol with Smogcloud. I'm sure we can manage with just the two of us," Pineheart explained.

"I believe you," Elkstar purred.

Pineheart felt his whiskers tremble with gratitude. "I know," he whispered. Elkstar has no reason to doubt me. We make the perfect team.

Pineheart got to his paws and started to walk away to find Smogcloud. But Elkstar halted him with a tiny mew.

"I do mean it," Elkstar repeated, "I know this place is still new and frightening, but there's no need to be worried."

Pineheart relaxed as he locked eyes with Elkstar. "I'll try," he promised.

"IceClan are strong. Anything this island throws at us, we can handle it," Elkstar continued, "after all, we are guided by StarClan."

"Thanks, Elkstar," Pineheart breathed as he turned and departed to seek out Smogcloud.

Yes, IceClan is strong once more, he thought to himself. He found Smogcloud as he lounged near the camp wall. Pineheart flicked his tail to beckon him closer.

"Hey, we're going to go hunting," he instructed casually.

"Great!" he purred. The pair padded one after the other, through the camp entrance and into the jungle that surrounded them.

"I hope I catch something new today," Smogcloud meowed excitedly as she bounded along behind Pineheart. "Olivenose always thinks she's better at me than hunting new prey!"

"We will catch whatever we find," he vowed as they made this way through the tangled undergrowth.

A swarm of black furred monkeys swung by, their long arms grasped at vines that hung from the jungle's canopy. From the far corner of the island, a guttural roar rang out between the trunks of the trees.

IceClan is strong, he reminded himself, we can face whatever we need to to survive.