Snippet #4821

As stances shifted and angry cats arose to defend their clan’s assaulted honor, Twoflower too felt her fur prickle up on her spine. Despite her best efforts, and with a good pawful of help from her own pride, she couldn’t help but be instinctually swept away by the aggression that pulsed through the gathering.

Murderous! Wormbrained! Why, those slothful, cowardly mouse- Twoflower broke herself from her own thoughts with an approving, though admittedly muted, yowl. It was all but lost in the chaos of the clearing. As she stepped forward, half intending to join the ranks of those who split Twoleg’s Wheel in two, a long tabby tail wrapped across her front from shoulder to shoulder.

“Peace child. We cannot fight this night, whatever insults they might throw.” Her mother, Graypad. Twoflower’s own tail came down to meet the former queens, acknowledging her guidance. Ashamed, Twoflower took a step back from the fray and closed her eyes to clear her head. Then another yowl, louder than all the rest, washed across and through the pelts of every cat in Twoleg’s Wheel. Nettlestar!

Twoflower, and a great many other WoodClan cats, crouched ever so slightly at the sound of their leaders call. Their legs bent even more deeply when he began to berate them.

’Childish bickering’. He was right about that of course. Then she looked skyward, her paw pads itching for the natural comfort of the glowing moon. Nothing. It was shrouded in a pelt of cloud. Another pang of shame echoed through her limbs. Even StarClan disapproves…

Hyperaware of the need to be in StarClan’s good graces, Twoflower returned to her original position. What if the cats of Silver Pelt decided to take back whatever aid they had bestowed upon them? The clans couldn’t stand to lose another cat…

Now, though she listened intently, even Mossclaw’s words seemed to pass through one pink ear and out the other.

“StarClan has shown the path…”

“Two warriors, each chosen…”

And finally, “Of ForageClan, a tom, Hawkfrost. And of WoodClan, a she-cat, Twoflower.” For a moment, the name didn’t register, and the warrior continued to stare skyward, lost in thoughts of Silver Pelt and fate. Then…

Twoflower? You mean… Me? Suddenly Twoflower’s right paws burned with the weight of a hundred eyes upon them. Old cats, young cats, cats she didn’t even know. All judging her. Could she do it? Could they do it?

I certainly hope so…

At the edge of her vision, Nettlestar and Jaystar waited. Transfixed, Twoflower barely took a second to dip her head in farewell before running, as fast as a cat such as she could, to meet their call.