Blackpaw ran towards Fourtrees. He hadn't the slightest idea where to start his search for Snowpaw, but he was nonetheless determined to find her.
She's not in Thunderclan or Kittypet place, I turned those two territories upside down looking for her. I searched all over Windclan and the barn too while I stayed with them, so she couldn't be there...
Blackpaw spotted the bushes lining Fourtrees along with the four huge trees towering over the Great Rock. He darted through the bushes, twigs and pointy leaves snagging his fur. He winced, but didn't stop. He landed on the hard ground around the Great Rock. The clearing was so cold and lifeless without all the cats that were normally there whenever he went.
He looked to his left and saw the bridge between Riverclan and Fourtrees. He thought about going into Riverclan territory to look for Snowpaw, but he decided against it.
In Shadowclan–which was just to Blackpaw's right–, there were two apprentices that he knew quite well: Goldenpaw and Starlingpaw. Goldenpaw was blind, but had impeccable hearing and smell, and Starlingpaw seemed to always be sticking her nose into trouble, so Blackpaw assumed she might've run into something suspicious while out and about.
With a sigh, he began toward Shadowclan territory. He knew there wasn't even a huge chance that he'd be able to find the two immediately, but he had to try.
He walked through the bushes, the twigs and pointy leaves scraping his fur even more, but he tried not to think about it as he pushed forward.
He arrived on the other side of the line of bushes and padded toward the Thunderpath. It was night, so there wasn't a lot of activity–just a few monsters passing by then and now–.
He waited until he couldn't see monsters approaching on either side, then dashed across the Thunderpath. The weird stone was very cold and made his paws ache. He accidentally slid his paw on the stone instead of picking it up, so a sharp rock protruding from the ground sliced his pad. He winced in pain, but continued running until he felt grass beneath his paws.
After skidding to a halt on Shadowclan territory next to the Thunderpath, he sat down and looked down at his left front paw. It was bleeding pretty badly, and pain seared through the pad. He profusely licked it, however he didn't know how else to treat it.
When the wound was dry, he gingerly set it back down on the ground. When his paw touched the ground, a jolt of pain like lightning ran straight through his entire left leg, and he immediately pulled back.
He was wondering how he could heal it when he remembered what Snowpaw had taught him. I need cobwebs and...
His mind raced. He thought desperately about what exactly he could use to heal his injured pad. Then it finally struck him. Chervil! Yes!
He looked around frantically. "There has to be some nearby..." he muttered to himself.
"Some what nearby?" A voice spoke.
Blackpaw froze. He didn't even want to turn to look at who said it. He sighed and slowly turned his head around, expecting some big, burly tom with scars all over his body and unsheathed claws to be staring at him. When he finally saw who it was, relief swept over him like waves over the shore.
It was Goldenpaw. The blind she-cat tipped her head to the side and repeated her question, "Some WHAT nearby?"
Blackpaw chuckled nervously. "Um... Chervil. I scratched my pad." he held it up for her to see, but remembered that she was blind and just hid it again. Goldenpaw sighed. "Ah. I know a few good places for chervil." she told him. Blackpaw smiled. "Oh, thank Starclan."
Goldenpaw began walking farther into Shadowclan territory, flicking her tail for Blackpaw to follow. He speedily limped after her, slowing down once he caught up. He held his left front paw up, and it started dripping blood again, leaking droplets of blood on the ground with every step.
He caught sight of some poppy seeds. He tapped Goldenpaw on the shoulder with his tail. "Hey, mind if I eat these poppy seeds?" he requested. Goldenpaw narrowed her eyes. "Hm... I guess. I'm sure Foxstar would choke you to death if he ever found out how many herbs I used on you." she told him. Blackpaw sighed. "True. Maybe I should just stick with only the chervil and cobwebs."
Goldenpaw shook her head. "Just take the poppy seeds, it's fine. There's no way in the dark forest he'd ever find you here."
"No- really! It's fine. It's enough already that you're getting the chervil and cobwebs for me." he pressed. Goldenpaw snorted. "Fine. Whatever you say."
Goldenpaw set off again to find the chervil, then stopped abruptly. She sniffed the air and pricked her ears. Blackpaw gulped. Did someone find us?
Goldenpaw kept sniffing, then stopped and relaxed.
"It's just Starlingpaw." she told Blackpaw.
Just then, Blackpaw saw Starlingpaw's gray fur pop out from behind a bush. Her short legs tensed when she saw him, but she let them go when she saw exactly who it was. "Oh, it's just you, Blackpaw."
Her eyebrows were raised curiously. "Goldenpaw, what's he doing here?"
"We're looking for chervil and cobwebs. He hurt his paw." she explained. Starlingpaw tipped her head to the side. "But why was he in Shadowclan territory?" she questioned. Goldenpaw groaned grumpily. "I dunno, ask him." Starlingpaw turned to Blackpaw. Blackpaw chuckled. "Well, after I was exiled, I moved in with the rogues in the barn near Windclan territory," he explained.
"Then what?" Starlingpaw pressed.
"Well, I've been looking for Snowpaw for a while now. She was helping me try and save Violetkit, and told me to go get Shadepelt. But when me, Shadepelt and Oakfeather all got back, Violetkit had died and Snowpaw disappeared." He finished sadly. Starlingpaw's eyes rounded sympathetically. "That's awful. I heard that you and Snowpaw were pretty close..." she trailed off. Blackpaw raised an eyebrow.
"Romantically." Starlingpaw threw in.
Blackpaw felt his face start burning up. "W-what!? That's insane, she's a medicine apprentice! And even so, I only like her as a friend!" he spat. Starlingpaw rolled her eyes and snickered. "Right. Yeah. Totally."
Even Goldenpaw chuckled a little bit. Blackpaw scowled. "C-can we just-! Focus! On getting the chervil and cobwebs!" he stammered. Starlingpaw sighed. "Yeah, sure."
Starlingpaw and Goldenpaw walked side by side, Blackpaw limping after them. After a bit of walking, they found a large stock of chervil. Goldenpaw picked off a few leaves and began chewing them into a pulp.
"I'll go find some cobwebs." Starlingpaw said, already dashing off to search for them.
Blackpaw plopped down on the ground, holding his left paw above the ground.
Goldenpaw finally finished chewing up the chervil and began applying it to Blackpaw's pad. Blackpaw sighed with relief. "Oh, that feels amazing. Thank you so much, Goldenpaw."
Goldenpaw nodded. "Don't mention it."
Once she was done, she wiped the excess pulp on the ground and sat down beside Blackpaw. The two sat waiting patiently for Starlingpaw to return.
Blackpaw turned to Goldenpaw. "So... how's life in Shadowclan? I heard at a gathering that it's pretty rough there." he asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Goldenpaw sat, staring thoughtfully at the air. "It's something alright... Foxstar almost actually didn't give me a mentor, he was just gonna make me an elder early." she said, bitterness in her voice. Blackpaw gasped. "What?! He can't do that!" He breathed.
Goldenpaw rolled her milky blue eyes. "Tell me about it. Me and the apprentices almost all left the clan in protest. After that, Foxstar had to give me a mentor."
Blackpaw chuckled. "You really do have most of Shadowclan on your side. There's a lot of apprentices there, huh?"
Goldenpaw sighed. "It's really nice... But ever since Foxstar gave me a mentor, he started giving me really hard apprentice duties. He had me fight off a few rats that were in Shadowclan territory." she groaned.
Blackpaw widened his eyes. "Great Starclan, how bad really is it? Foxstar sounds like Tigerstar reincarnated!" he gasped. Goldenpaw laughed. "That about sums it up. He came straight from the Dark Forest, I hate him with all my heart." she sighed. Blackpaw nodded. "I definitely would too."
Goldenpaw looked around, sniffing. "Where's Starlingpaw? She's taking forever."
Blackpaw looked around as well, his ears perked and eyes wide. "Yeah, she really is taking a while."
Goldenpaw sat up, worried. "Maybe we should go look for her, some stray rats might have attacked her or something."
Blackpaw jumped up immediately. "That'd be awful! C'mon, we have to go look."
Goldenpaw nodded and jumped up on all fours, then dashed in the direction Starlingpaw had run–Blackpaw guessed that she could follow her sister's scent pretty easily–.
The pair of them ran through Shadowclan territory, clinging to Starlingpaw's scent. Goldenpaw eventually skidded to a halt and gasped.
"I smell blood!"
Blackpaw looked at the ground, and sure enough, there were splatters of sticky crimson blood. He dabbed his paw in it, and immediately pulled it back. He wanted to gag, the feeling and scent of blood so strong in his nose made him want to throw up. Goldenpaw scrunched up her nose at the scent, then turned to Blackpaw as though she could see him perfectly and said, "We have to find her, this isn't good!"
Blackpaw, without a word, darted off in the direction of Starlingpaw's scent trail once more. A trail of blood followed her scent trail, and Blackpaw became increasingly fearful for Starlingpaw.
He kept following the scent and blood trails, then skidded to a halt at the edge of the Thunderpath.
The blood continued all the way into Thunderclan territory, and Blackpaw looked nervously at it. It was getting lighter, and more and more monsters were revving past by the minute.
Goldenpaw stood next to Blackpaw, her heart thumping so loud that Blackpaw could hear it.
They waited there for an opening in the monsters, their shoulders so tense they felt like boulders. Once Blackpaw was sure no more monsters were revving by on either side, he nudged Goldenpaw to signal for her to cross the road with him, and the two of them bolted across, the putrid scent of the Thunderpath filling up their nostrils.
Just behind them, a monster ran past, and Blackpaw could smell the pungent gasses and feel the wind rush by his tail. He shivered and kept running, almost at the end of the Thunderpath.
He gave one final leap and ended up straight in Thunderclan territory, Goldenpaw still right behind him.
He looked into the forest, his chest heaving. He was nervous about returning to Thunderclan; if he was caught, he'd no doubt be punished severely. Goldenpaw didn't waste a moment, and darted forward, following Starlingpaw's scent and the trailing blood–though it was beginning to thin out.
Blackpaw looked around, trying to catch anything like a piece of fur that got snagged on a branch or anything of the sort.
He then saw a shape moving in the trees, and his heart leaped. He tapped Goldenpaw on the shoulder with his tail and said, "I think there's someone ahead, it has to be Starlingpaw."
Goldenpaw nodded. "I hope so."
Goldenpaw picked up the pace, moving surprisingly well in the crowded forest despite her disability. She seemed to be able to sense everything around her, Blackpaw was somewhat impressed.
Blackpaw sped up too, matching her speed as best he could. The two of them started gaining on the cat up ahead. Their fur looked darker than Starlingpaw's, but Blackpaw just assumed it was because of the shade.
Then suddenly, the cat turned around. Blackpaw stopped dead in his tracks, and Goldenpaw stopped soon after, confused as to why Blackpaw was stopping. She sniffed the air, and then seemed to realize.
The cat they were following wasn't Starlingpaw at all.
It was Duskpaw.
Blackpaw's heart froze as he and Duskpaw locked eyes with each other. Duskpaw's eyes immediately flooded with hatred, and he ran towards Blackpaw and lunged at him, knocking the both of them over.
Goldenpaw yowled at Duskpaw and rammed into his side, knocking him off of Blackpaw.
Duskpaw hissed. "What are you doing here?! You killed my sister, and you have the nerve to come running back to Thunderclan?!"
Blackpaw shook his head fervently. "I don't want to rejoin Thunderclan, Duskpaw! And I didn't kill Snowpaw, I swear on my life!"
Duskpaw scowled. "And you think I'm supposed to believe that?! All the evidence points to you; it's clear as day, you mouse-brain!" He spat. Blackpaw sighed. "I've been looking for Snowpaw for weeks, Duskpaw! I want to find her as much as you do. Please, listen to me. Dappletail's the one who really did it, I just need solid proof. And the best way to do that is finding Snowpaw." he explained. Duskpaw narrowed his eyes. His claws remained unsheathed, and mistrust lingered in his eyes.
Goldenpaw stepped in. "Think about it–Do you really think Blackpaw could kill someone?" She reasoned. Duskpaw scoffed. "Looks can be deceiving."
Goldenpaw rolled her eyes. "You grew up with Blackpaw! You slept in the same den as him, you ate your meals with him, you two became apprentices together, you were basically brothers! How could you not tell that he didn't do it?" she pressed.
Duskpaw stood there, staring at Blackpaw. He sheathed his claws and his shoulders relaxed. He sighed and said, "I guess... but that doesn't mean you're a hundred percent clean. There's still no real proof that you're telling me the truth." he muttered.
Blackpaw sighed with relief. His paw was still throbbing with pain, but he ignored it as best he could for the time being.
Duskpaw raised an eyebrow. "By the way, what are you two doing here?" he queried. Goldenpaw widened her eyes and gasped. "Augh! I forgot! We need to find Starlingpaw!"
Duskpaw widened his eyes as well. "Starlingpaw? Where is she?" he asked hastily. Blackpaw wondered why he was so concerned with Starlingpaw, but didn't care to ask; he was too worried about Starlingpaw himself.
He jumped up off the ground and looked around, sniffing. He caught Starlingpaw's scent. "Guys, she went this way!"
Goldenpaw was already dashing in the direction of her sister's scent, her tail streaming behind her and her ears pinned to the side of her head.
Blackpaw ran after her, Duskpaw just behind him. His mind raced. What happened to Starlingpaw? Why did Duskpaw know Starlingpaw? Where was Snowpaw?
He shook the questions out of his mind, focusing on the task at hand. Saving Starlingpaw.