Whiteheart's Betrayal, Chapter 22

</u>

The Journey to Find a Lost Loved One

 Whitepaw decided to follow ahead of the river. She enjoyed listening to its gurgling noises. It made her feel less alone. StarClan is watching over you, Whitepaw. a voice mewed in her head.
 Whitepaw stopped padding and looked up at the blue sky. StarClan warriors glittered above her, but all was silent except the crickets chirping. Does StarClan know that I'm leaving the Clan? she wondered. She only wanted to find her sister, though. Surely it was the right thing? Breezeclaw would believe she would do the right thing, she was sure.
 As she began to pad ahead again, a foul scent hit her nose, making her wrinkle it. White mist swirled around Whitepaw's paws and a transparent black cat appeared in front of her. Whitepaw could see the river behind him. Breezeclaw.
 "Whitepaw!" Breezeclaw snapped, lashing his tail. Whitepaw felt surprised at the anger in his tone. "What are you doing?" he snarled. "You are leaving your Clan!"
 "I only wanted to find my sister!" Whitepaw argued. She couldn't just live the rest of her life wondering what happened to Sageleaf!
 "Sageleaf is gone, Whitepaw!" Breezeclaw snarled, thrusting his muzzle next to hers. Whitepaw tried not to shrink away from his stinky breath. She couldn't understand why his teeth were so white while his breath stank.
 "Return to your Clan, Whitepaw. That is where you belong." Breezeclaw growled. But Whitepaw didn't want to return to the Clan. Emeraldflame is always yelling at her now, and after Meadowflower told her about Sageleaf, she had to know how her sister felt about the Clan now.
 "No!" Whitepaw argued. "I won't return to the Clan!" She thought she saw a flash of anger in Breezeclaw's eyes, but it vanished so quick she wondered if she imagined it.
  "Are you disloyal, Whitepaw?" Breezeclaw sneered. Whitepaw felt anger rising in her pelt. Of course she wasn't disloyal! What's so wrong about finding your sister? She had to find answers!
 Breezeclaw let out an exhausted sigh and lowered his head. "I apologize," he mewed, softening his tone. "You are right to wonder what happened to your sister. She is your kin, after all."
 "Then you'll help me find her?" Whitepaw mewed hopefully.
Breezeclaw shook his head. "This is a part of your destiny that you must follow alone. I cannot help you, my dear." He began to slowly fade away, and Whitepaw let out a frustrated yowl. Why did Breezeclaw always leave every time he said something like that? Did he want her to suffer?
 Whitepaw stomped her foot in frustration when Breezeclaw had faded completely. She flicked her  white ear, hoping to hear his voice again.
 Silence.
Growling with frustration, Whitepaw lashed her white, fluffy tail and it sent leaves floating above the ground. She raised her paw and began to pad forward, following the river trail.

              * * *
   
    Whitepaw was curled up in a ball the next morning with her tail over her nose in front of a rose bush. The air felt warm against her pelt when the sun was slowly rising, turning the sky orange. A breeze hit against her silver fur, ruffling it, but the apprentice continued to sleep. She was up all night following the river, and now she felt like she deserved some rest.
 Whitepaw's ear twitched when she dreamed. She was dreaming that a tortoiseshell cat was bristling in front of her with her teeth bared. The she-cat's face looked blurry, and she couldn't see her image very well...but she was there.
 "I will never return!" The stranger shouted with unsheathed claws. Whitepaw felt horror pulsing through her pelt. She hardly knew any defensive moves. Perhaps Breezeclaw was right to tell her to return to the Clan.
 To Whitepaw's surprise, the tortoiseshell cat began to fade away into thin air. Whitepaw tilted her head. Where did she go? A breeze ruffled against her fur, making her nearly staggering to her paws, but she stood back up, balancing herself. The air had a faint trace of forest and....and....
 BreezeClan scent! That must have been Sageleaf!
Whitepaw rose her head and opened her wide, blue eyes. "Sageleaf!" she mewed. Did Breezeclaw send her this dream? It didn't matter. She caught a glimpse of what Sageleaf looked like!
 She opened her jaws, hoping to catch a faint trace of scent. But there was nothing. Though, she did catch a whiff of vole. She figured she could hunt, then continue to search for Sageleaf. Twitching her ear, she narrowed her eyes when she saw a vole nibbling at a seed close to a bush. It was so distracted from its food that it didn't see the young cat.
 Dumb rodent, Whitepaw thought with satisfaction. Remembering Gingerspots' lessons, she began to crouch down, keeping her fur and ears flat, and began to pad quietly towards the vole, who was still busy nibbling on its food.
 Crack!
The vole looked up, startled. It saw Whitepaw and quickly rushed into the bushes, sending leaves floating in the air and back onto the ground. Whitepaw lashed her tail in frustration. "Great StarClan! Couldn't you have helped me here a little?" she snarled loudly. It was much easier to hunt in a territory she knew well about.
 Whitepaw rose her paw and glared at the stick that disturbed her prey. Snarling, she picked it up with her teeth and threw it into the bush where the vole disappeared to. She flicked her ears when she heard a squeak. Padding over to the push, she poked her head in it and found the stick inside the vole's belly and the small rodent was laying on its side, surrounded by a pool of blood. She shrugged. I guess I just found a new way to hunt, she thought. It was messy, she thought, but better than nothing, and if she wanted to find her sister, who could have been far away by now, she needed to keep her strength up.
 She bent her head towards the prey and grabbed the vole gently- careful not to break the flesh- and pulled her head  out of the bush. Purring, she laid the prey down and silently thanked StarClan for the life they have given her to survive in order to find Sageleaf. She wondered if they approved of her choice. It was nice, she admitted, to hunt for yourself and not follow any warrior code. But still lonely. And she missed Emeraldflame. Pain pierced her heart.
 Pushing the thought of her mother away, Whitepaw bit into the vole and began to chew her food. She flicked her ears, watching out for danger that might threaten to take her prey, like foxes or badgers. She shuddered. I hope I'll never meet a badger or a fox, she thought. She knew she would stand no chance against either one.
 Finishing up her prey, Whitepaw stood up and twisted her head around to lap at her back. Her white stripe on her back looked patched with brown dirt and she used her tongue to clean it off, lapping at the brown dust that made her pelt dirty. When she finished, she began to pad ahead, following the river's trail again.

 
  The sun began to sink again when Whitepaw found herself dragging her paws. She felt exhausted. The entire day she'd been traveling, and she hadn't eaten since the vole she caught earlier. A fox scented her a while ago, but thankfully it was only deep into the forest, too far for it to see the smaller cat, and she quickly headed away from it so it couldn't see her anymore. She couldn't find any prey though, and she felt hungry. But she didn't want to stop and hunt. Some feeling inside her told her that she was close to finding Sageleaf.
 The river was still gurgling and Whitepaw padded over to the edge and leaned down to take a long, cool drink. The cold water slid down her throat and dribbled from her chin.
 Crack!
Whitepaw flinched. She turned around.
  Nothing.
 She tilted her head. Perhaps it was prey. She shrugged and began to pad ahead, only letting out a shriek when she felt a terrible pain in her back.
 She twisted her head around. A cat had its claws into her back, and its lips were curled into a snarl. Snarling, Whitepaw unsheathed her claws and swiped at the rogue's face. The rogue hissed with surprise and leaped down neatly to her paws, letting Whitepaw go. By the smell of its scent Whitepaw could tell that it was a she-cat.
 "Fighting back?" The rogue sneered. "Not bad for a kitten!" She leaped at Whitepaw with unsheathed claws. Whitepaw let out a shriek of surprise and ducked under the stranger, twisting around and raked her claws under the cat's belly.
 The cat shrieked in pain and surprise. Whitepaw crouched down and leaped onto the cat's back, sinking her claws deep into her fur. She narrowed her eyes. There was something familiar about the cat's pelt. It had patches of black and brown fur, and a little bit of orange and white fur. It's the cat from my dreams! she thought. Could this be Sageleaf?
 The stranger took Whitepaw's distraction by surprise and twisted her head around to sink her teeth into the apprentice's nose. Whitepaw shrieked and tried to pull away, but rogue bent her head and Whitepaw hit against the ground. The she-cat loomed over her and Whitepaw felt terrified. Is this the end? she thought.
 The rogue placed its paw, keeping its claws sheathed on her cheek, and glared down at her. "Are you finished?" she snarled. "You're very small, but you put up quite a fight."
 Whitepaw showed her teeth, but when she opened her mouth she caught a faint trace of BreezeClan scent, making her gasp.
 The rogue narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong with you?" she snarled. "You've acted like you've never seen a tortoiseshell cat before."
 "Sageleaf, it's you!" Whitepaw mewed. "It's me, Whitepaw! I'm your sister! I'm from BreezeClan!"
 "BreezeClan!" The she-cat snarled and narrowed her eyes until they were slits. "How dare you speak about the Clan that betrayed me?" She flinched when the she-cat slowly began to rake her claws down to her belly. Whitepaw gulped. Was she really going to die after all, after finding her sister here into the unknown territory?