above: dustysky.

chapter 9

. . .

"Dustysky?" I stared at the matted grey tom in shock.

"It's me." Dustysky looked so much scrawnier and smaller than he had in the dream.

"You were right! This is where the Missing are! You didn't trick me!" I let out a scramble of words, each faster than the last. "Why are we here? Did you figure anything out?"

"Hush!" One of Rose's assistances, no smaller than a apprentice, gave us a warning look.

"Does Redgaze know you're here?" I continued in a quieter voice.

"My brother's here?" Dustysky raised his head and looked down the line. The red tortie was slumped down a few cats down. 

"Catch me up on everything," I ordered, leaning in.

"This will take a bit," Dustysky sighed, rearranged his postion, and began.

*start of flashback*

I was walking along with my brother, Redpaw. It was dusk and the sun was beginning to set. We walked to a small hill that signaled the edge of the border and sat down. I closed my eyes, and lifted my head up to the sky. Everything was peaceful. Suddenly I heard pawsteps and looked around wildly, my fur standing on end. Four muscular cats appeared behind us. 

"Redpaw, run!" I screeched urgently, headbutting my brother's flank. When he didn't move, I ordered, "Now!"

With a terrified look at me, Redpaw took off running. I covered for him, trying to keep an eye on all four toms at once. 

They took me down easily, holding me down effortlessly. No matter how much I struggled, they just laughed. One took something silver and inserted it into my throat. I passed out, succumbing to the darkness. 

I woke up in a white room. It was a cell. My apprentice-self had no idea what had happened. Later I understood - this was the F.E.A.T.H.E.R association. No one told me what it stood for. They only told me, 'flight, escape, away, and the hail encourages the rage.' It made absolutely no sense.

Soon they pulled me out to battle training, At the beginning, only a few cats were there, training beside me to become deadly warriors. As time went on, more and more arrived, stolen from RiverClan. 

We were trained to fight something. It was obvious. We were here to help the F.E.A.T.H.E.R defend itself from something. But as soon as someone figured it out, they were killed.

*flashback in flashback*

I had been eating a mouse with my fellow prisoners. One of them, Briarsnake, had announced, "I know who we're fighting!" Behind me, a guard had approached silently.

Briarsnake had ruffled her fur importantly. "We're fighting the-"

I had looked around in horror. Briarsnake's head had lolled to the side, a clean cut in her neck. She was dead. And the guard had padded away like nothing had happened.

*end of flashback*

"And so we could not figure anymore information out. Five cats were killed when they were dangerously close to discovering. So the rest of us just gave up. We lost hope, Rushingwave, we lost hope. Fighting was the only thing to look forward to." Dustysky finished with a sigh.

I was stunned. "That's how the Missing came to be?"

Dustysky nodded. "And with you here, I reckon we can figure out what we're fighting, why the F.E.A.T.H.E.R is stealing cats from RiverClan, and what we can do. Deal?"

I nodded, feeling important and the threat of death looming over the horizon. "Deal."

A short yowl was made and the cavern fell silent. The guards and assistants waited for the battling cats to finish their battle, then led them over to me. A guard apporached me with Frostpaw at his side. The guard flicked his tail and the vine came undone. I stepped aside as Frostpaw was put into the chains. I exchanged a worried look with him, then winced as the guard took my leash and pulled me rougly along with him. I stumbled away beside him, aware of the other cats being dragged to the middle as well. I was put into ring 5, as the sign said. Another cat was put in, too. I reckonginzed her from my time at RIverClan as a kit: Mothfern. The molly looked exhausted but faced me determinedly, unsheathing her claws. I gulped. Why did we have to fight with unsheathed claws!?

A yowl was heard and Mothfern narrowed her eyes unmercifully as shrieks of other battling cats went up.

I sighed and accepted my fate, leaping into the fight.

It had been an hour of relentless fighting. Mothfern and I were covered in scratches and bites, but she still faced me with blazing eyes. She circled me for a moment, eyeing me up and down, then leaped. She landed on my shoulders, pushing me down to the ground, and with all my might I rolled her over, squashing her. I had the advantage of having slightly more weight, so she let out an 'oof' and surrendered. We got off each other and fought again.

Soon a yowl was let up and I nearly collapsed with relief, instead leaning against the wall to steady myself. A leash was clipped onto my collar and I was led back to the cell with Frostpaw - perhaps the day was over?

And as we curled up in the white, fluffy stuff, I realized I didn't love Frostpaw anymore. It was just a silly apprentice crush and I was over him. Now we were partners in crime, ready to figure out and carry out this mission.

With a pang I thought of Stormywind and Beetleclaw. I had seen them from far away, but we had not gotten a chance to talk. I missed my brother and my best friend - I hope they missed me too.

Before we went to bed Frostpaw requested some food, and we shared a small sterling. Something's better than nothing!

"Good night, Rushingwave," Frostpaw murmured sleepily, curling up a safe space away from me. 

I licked at my chest wound and looked up at him. "Night, Frostpaw."

In a few minutes of tending to my wounds, I went to bed, eyes drifting closed. I felt a lot comfortabler that I thought I would be. The fighting was the only thing to dread, but long days of talking and catching up with old RiverClan cats - now that, I  could use to my advantage.

I let the sleep claim me at last and passed out.

there it is, guys! no cliffhanger this time. wow, this took me so long to write. it was a very important chapter to the development of the characters and the plot. first to figure out what the F.E.A.T.H.E.R stands for, fifty points to Gryffindor! I didn't come up with a prophecy for this book, so instead I did this.

What do you think of all this? should rushingfrost still be a thing? what about frostbristle? what about mothfern? tell me thoughts, comments - i want to hear from you all!

love you all, and see you next week!