Moon 4 (Part 2)
Ghoststar and Frozenpelt take Shadowpaw on border patrol.
"UGHHHH, is this really a warrior's duties or are you just making me do stupid stuff??"
"Yes it is, Shadowpaw." Ghoststar grumbled, glancing back as his annoyed apprentice sharpened his claws against a tree. "Border patrols are one of the most important warrior duties, right next to feeding the clan."
"But no other clans live here!!" Shadowpaw whined, dragging long, dramatic lines into the bark. "What's the point in keeping up borders when there's nobody to fight?"
Ghoststar's ears pinned back and he opened his mouth, but Frozenpelt spoke first, trying to smile as his tail twitched incessantly. "Fighting other cats isn't why we keep our borders marked. Do you know what would happen if we didn't patrol around the territory?"
Shadowpaw huffed, plopping into a sit and batting at the fallen leaves. "We'd have a lot less to do?"
"Other creatures would move in, we may not be able to help cats in need, and we would miss incoming threats until they're already on top of the camp." Frozenpelt stated matter-of-factly. "Border patrol isn't about keeping other cats out, it's about surveying the territory to always be in the know about what's happening on our land, whether good or bad. We could find a fox hunting a kit that needs help, or we could find a new basking spot to relax at sunhigh. But we won't find either of those sitting around camp all day."
Shadowpaw paused for a moment, blinking in sudden thought. Then he grumbled and stood, shaking himself off as he padded ahead of the two. "Shouldn't there not even be any threats because of Greystar? Tallfog told me 'n sis he gave us a paradise or something."
Frozenpelt sighed, but a purr rose in his chest as he followed behind. "Greystar did drive off anything that would hurt us, that's true. But that doesn't mean some things don't slip through the cracks. Predators are deterred from our territory, not shut out from it. It's our job to make sure our safety is assured, even if we can rest easier than other cats."
…Ghoststar lagged behind, looking at Shadowpaw with furrowed brows as he sniffed at trees and shrubs. There was something…off about him. Something familiar. Like catching the scent of the same fox in a different burrow. It was why he'd made himself Shadowpaw's mentor, to try and figure out what it was. Something that whispered in his ear, hung over him like a cloud, and he couldn't shake the tugging in his heart that reminded him of…of…
"Ghoststar?"
He blinked slowly and raised his head to find Frozenpelt beside him, tail hovering over his back and a comforting warmth to his gaze. "You doing ok? You've been quieter than usual this past moon."
"…Have I?" he finally sighed, deflating a bit. "Sorry."
"No no, there's no need to apologize, I've just been worried about you. It's my job as deputy to make sure you're fit to lead, after all."
Frozenpelt purred in amusement and Ghoststar couldn't help a small smile, but his gaze drifted back down to the leaves, a maelstrom swirling in his mind. He was silent again, thinking, for so long that Frozenpelt quietly stepped in front of him, ears drooping slightly.
"…Is it Thistlepaw?"
By now, they knew eachother well enough that Frozenpelt instantly caught the flinch in Ghoststar's eyes, and he sighed, sitting down at his leader's side. "Losing an apprentice is rough on anyone, even a leader. You can let yourself grieve him, Ghoststar. I know you had high hopes for him, it's perfectly understandable what you're feeling."
Ghoststar stood, frozen in place, staring at his paws. Thistlepaw had been…very tough to train, especially after he and Blizzardpaw's mother passed. He was rude, disobeyed orders, and seemed to delight in tormenting others, but…Ghoststar had seen the makings of a good cat in him. He remembered the nights he'd found Thistlepaw sitting on the edge of camp, staring into the trees, and the surprisingly deep conversations that followed. He was a troubled kit, but one that just needed the right guidance, and Ghoststar was willing to put in the work needed to help him grow.
And then came the night that Frozenpelt showed up at his den with a shaking, sobbing Blizzardpaw. All of that hope for change, all his work to make something better, shattered like the splintering snap of a rotten tree branch.
…But that wasn't what bothered him the most right now.
"Frozenpelt?"
Frozenpelt smiled as Ghoststar raised his head, but it faltered at the hopeless look in his eyes. "Yes?"
"Do you think we're doing enough?"
That caught the deputy off guard enough to erase his smile entirely, and he tilted his head a bit in confusion. "…What?"
"Greyclan is supposed to be a paradise. We made it a paradise with our own paws, held up by the support of the mountain, free of threats and full of life."
Ghoststar paused, trembling claws sinking into the ground. "But it hasn't been a paradise for a long time, has it? Not since the massacre-most cats here weren't even alive to see what this clan is supposed to be. Horrible things keep happening, even though were doing what we're supposed to. Thistlepaw, your mother-the fox that attacked Hailthrush a few moons ago shouldn't have even been near the territory. Gorse…"
The name caught in Ghoststar's throat, and he swallowed it back down with a shudder, forcing himself to stop shivering. "We're running Greyclan as it always has been. We're gifting the Tunnels when necessary. We're doing everything right. So…why is our paradise fading? Why is the mountain abandoning us?"
…Frozenpelt didn't have an answer for that. He ended up staring at the grass too, fur bristling slightly. Ghoststar was right. Greyclan today didn't match up with the legends at all, nor with what he'd heard growing up from the old cats who were alive before the massacre. More and more cats were dying from unknown causes, disappearing mysteriously, more and more tales of monsters prowling the borders were leaking into camp. He thought about Lilacfeather's face, the sheer terror at the mere mention of whatever had attacked him. How long before something like that reached camp? How long before their dwindling luck ran out?
"…I agree, things have been rough for…years now. But maybe things will settle with time. Good times come to an end, but so do bad times, right?"
Ghoststar looked up as Frozenpelt gave his shoulder a comforting headbutt, the deputy's warm smile contrasting quite nicely against his namesake. "Or maybe things need to change for the better. Maybe we could grow into a new and better era of Greyclan. But whatever happens, I'll be by your side. You got that?"
…Ghoststar stared at him.
"…Yeah. I got it."
Frozenpelt smiled and started padding forward, but suddenly stopped, eyes widening as he stared at something in the distance. "SHADOWPAW!! Get back here, that part's over the border!!"
Ghoststar looked up.
Shadowpaw batted at the water of the river playfully, tail lashing as he tried to catch minnows passing him by. They had already reached the river? How long was he in his own thoughts for?
…The…the river…?
Ghoststar's ear flicked to the side, his fur standing on end. Faintly, from upstream, the sound of rushing water.
The river.
Shadowpaw looked up.
The tidal wave thundered down the mountain. Shadowpaw couldn't move.
…He couldn't exactly describe what had happened. One moment, he was staring up at certain death, the roar of the water almost drowning out the shrieks of his clanmates. The next, whatever had grabbed him by the scruff let go, sending him tumbling safely onto the grass. He watched the enormous wave sweep over any unfortunate brush in its path, shaking so horribly that he was sure he would collapse without the support of Ghoststar's leg. He almost died. He almost died.
…Frozenpelt was quiet, fur standing on end as he looked down at Ghoststar. His head hung low, his panting and coughing barely noticable over the crash of the river. Something black dripped from his nose, off of his tongue, and fell gently to the grass.
Greyclan was supposed to be a paradise. The mountain was supposed to provide through its power, though Frozenpelt had never actually seen anything he couldn't explain. That might've been why it rattled him so much now, to see something so clearly wrong happen right in front of his eyes.
He'd never seen Ghoststar's neck do that before.