Lurking Evil

Chapter 13

Echopaw sat outside in the clearing, sharing a finch with Sparktail. It was nearly sunhigh, and she and her mother had just returned from the dawn patrol and were finally getting to eat. Echopaw yawned and gazed around the camp. Raypaw padded toward the camp entrance with his mentor, Twigfoot, while Hailpaw and Cloverpaw sat sharing a mouse. Echopaw blinked. Where was Whisperpaw?

Echopaw shrugged and yawned again. Probably out training.

Sparktail got to her paws and told Echopaw she was off to take a nap, and Echopaw dipped her head to her mother and watched her go, wishing she could take a nap.

"Echopaw," a voice meowed.

Echopaw turned and saw Goldheart.

"Yes, Goldheart?" Echopaw asked, twitching her ears in confusion.

"Can you clear out the bedding in the apprentice's den? I'll have Cloverpaw and Hailpaw do the elders' and warriors' dens, and Yellowpaw can get the new bedding."

"Sure." Echopaw dipped her head to the medicine cat and headed into the apprentices' den. She pushed her way inside and saw, to her surprise, Whisperpaw curled up on her moss nest in deep sleep. Echopaw prodded her sister's side with her paw, but Whisperpaw didn't even move; she was as fast asleep as a hibernating hedgehog.

Echopaw stared at her sister's silver and gray tabby pelt, recently and very thoroughly groomed. Was she trying to hide a scent? Echopaw sniffed her sister's fur, but all she could smell was Whisperpaw's scent alone; her sister had washed well. Echopaw guessed that her sister had snuck out of camp. That would explain her tiredness and her groomed fur, but what had caused her to sneak out? Maybe something was troubling her.

Echopaw shrugged and decided to ask her sister when she woke up. Echopaw grabbed all the scraps of moss bedding except Whisperpaw's, and disposed of them beside a briar bush outside the camp. As she headed back through the bramble barrier, Echopaw passed Creekfall as he carried a large blue jay into the nursery, while Twigfoot and Moonshine shared tongues by the sunning-stones, with Spruceclaw and Ferrettail behind them. Echopaw noticed that Ferrettail was recovering considerably well after Fogtail's... well after Fogtail had joined StarClan. He sat beside Spruceclaw, the two elders' dark brown pelts blending together; their bodies were pressed against each other in the cold leaf-bare breeze.

Echopaw padded around the elders and passed Eaglefeather, following Meadowheart around, to Meadowheart's embarrassment. Echopaw suppressed a laugh as Eaglefeather asked Meadowheart if she wanted to go hunting with him. Meadowheart rolled her eyes and replied to the brown tom. Judging by the delighted look in Eaglefeather's face, Echopaw knew she'd said yes. Together, the two warriors left the camp. Eaglefeather's bushy tail swished in happiness as the two disappeared behind the bramble barrier and into the forest.

"Echopaw!" a voice called from behind her. Echopaw turned around and saw Bronzepelt and Gravelpelt walking toward her. "Whisperpaw, Gravelpelt, you, and me are going to do a training session together, and Gravelpelt and I will judge how you and Whisperpaw are coming along. If we think you're ready, you'll have your assessment coming up."

Echopaw's mouth fell open in astonishment. An assessment? "B-But I've only been training for six moons!" she stammered.

"That's how long most apprentices train, as long as a mentor believes that his or her apprentice is ready to become a warrior," Gravelpelt meowed with amusement.

Echopaw's heart skipped a beat. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the thought of becoming a warrior, and she swallowed nervously.

"Let's get going. You can tell Whisperpaw, then we'll leave," Bronzepelt told her.