Looming Darkness

Chapter 8

Whispersong nervously looked up and scanned the camp. Eaglefeather was talking to Sunfur, looked annoyed. The elders were shaking their heads in anger, while Cherrykit and Lilackit sat beside Needlepaw, Rosepaw, and Pinepaw, whispering amongst themselves.

I bet they're all talking about me, Whispersong thought sadly.

Echoheart passed the finch back to her, and Whispersong took another bite distractedly, watching her Clanmates with grief and regret. They didn't feel much like her Clanmates anymore. The only cats she truly felt she could trust were Echoheart, Bumblefrost, Star, and Sparrowtail. Yes, Echoheart and Sparrowtail had argued with her recently, but they'd never wavered in their loyalty; they had proved that yesterday by standing up for her when Rustypelt turned his back on her.

"I think Eveningstar is holding Lilackit's and Cherrykit's apprentice ceremony today," Echoheart meowed brightly, staring at the two she-kits in excitement.

Whispersong sighed. "Oh." She knew that Echoheart was going to mentor one of them; Whispersong was supposed to mentor the other, but now that she was having kits, she couldn't. Now she wouldn't get to experience being a mentor with her sister, like they had planned since they were little.

Echoheart looked at Whispersong with sympathy. "I bet you'll get another apprentice one day," she murmured uncomfortably.

"Huh," muttered Whispersong, not wanting to talk about it.

Echoheart blinked. "But think about it: you're having kits! You'll be contributing to the Clan not by mentoring an apprentice, but by giving the Clan the next generation of warriors! Yours and Bumblefrost's kits will be the strongest warriors of DawnClan, you'll see; like Sparrowtail said: it doesn't matter that they're half-Clan. It really doesn't."

"I guess," Whispersong sighed, though she personally didn't agree with her sister. It did matter that her kits would be half-Clan, not to Whispersong and Bumblefrost, but to the rest of DawnClan and to the other Clans as well. Her kits would carry the weight of their parents' mistake for their entire lives... Whispersong sighed and shook the thought away. Maybe she'd talk to Bumblefrost about it; maybe he'd understand. She glanced around the camp, then blinked in confusion. Where was Bumblefrost? "Do you know where Bumblefrost is?" Whispersong asked Echoheart.

Echoheart looked around the camp. "No. I haven't seen him all morning."

"You haven't?"

Echoheart shook her head. "He's probably out in the forest, taking a walk to get his mind off of yesterday."

Whispersong nodded, worry building inside her. What if he ran into trouble?

"Look, there's Eveningstar, probably to call the Clan meeting," Echoheart meowed eagerly. Whispersong looked up and saw the sleek gray-flecked fur of the Clan leader reflecting in the sunlight as he sat atop the High-stone, breath billowing from his mouth in the cold.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High-stone for a Clan meeting!" he yowled.

Whispersong didn't want to gather beneath the High-stone. She'd be too close to all her Clanmates, and her parents, who still hated her.

"Come on," Echoheart pleaded, seeing Whispersong's look. "You can sit in the back!"

Whispersong shook her head. "I'll stay here; I can hear just fine."

"Okay," Echoheart sighed, padding away. She sat beside Clovertail, Hailstorm, Rayclaw, and Yellowflower, looking up at Eveningstar.

Whispersong watched as Cherrykit and Lilackit squirmed beside each other while Bronzepelt and Sagetail tried to groom them. The two young she-cats bounced away from their parents, toward their older brother.