Snowsong's Secret

Prologue


A handsome golden tabby tom was sitting alone near a small stream. He was in deep thought. A long-furred blue-grey she-cat joined him and stared sadly- but thoughtfully- into the water.

"She will grieve, Lionheart." she said simply.

The golden tom nodded. A large white tom appeared out of the ferns that surrounded the peaceful clearing. A beautiful, small, tortoiseshell she-cat followed him; behind her, a undersized grey tabby.

The grey tabby spoke.

"She is becoming a warrior." he purred.

The tortoiseshell shot him an half-angry, half-exasperated look.

"This is no time for happiness, Jayfeather. A cat will die at sunset. And ThunderClan is in danger from the rouges. They are hiding, but they will attack soon." She sighed.

The white she-cat stiffened. Her darker ear-tips swiveled in distress.

"We must part. We will meet again at sunset."

They left.

Chapter 1
“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Birdpaw, from this moment you will be known as Birdsong. Eaglepaw, you will be known as Eagleclaw. StarClan honors your skill and intelligence, and we welcome you as full warriors of ThunderClan,” Hollystar yowled on top of Highrock.

Birdsong purred her thanks and sat near the edge of the rock, heather-blue eyes gleaming. Eagleclaw’s patched brown-and white tabby tail lashed. Snowpaw, sitting with Birdsong at the edge of the rock, slowly stood up and walked forward, trying not to slip on the thin film of frost covering the rock.

Her heart was racing and pounding as strongly as thunder. She held her breath.

Hollystar stared at her for a heartbeat before turning back to the silent crowd below her and announcing,

“I, Hollystar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Snowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

“ I do.” Snowpaw breathed.

“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Snowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Snowsong. StarClan honors your beauty and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.” Hollystar yowled.

Snowsong could hardly contain her joy. Her! A warrior! She couldn’t believe it.

But underneath her bliss, a sinking feeling wrenched the happiness from her heart. I’m suppose to meet Bearpaw tonight, she remembered. But the cat she loved could wait for an hour while she bathed in contentment.

Cheers and caterwauls filled the chilly air.

“Snowsong! Snowsong! Eagleclaw! Eagleclaw! Birdsong! Birdsong!” The Clan cheered.

Snowsong dipped her head and leaped down from the rock, landing next to Ripplepaw.

Chapter 2
The dark tortoiseshell tom covered the white she-cat in licks while she fidgeted uncomfortably. She didn’t love Ripplepaw anymore. Snowsong just wanted to be friends with him. She was going to break his heart- not purposely, of course. All Snowsong felt was guilt. She was sorry she had gotten involved with the tom in the first place.

“Ripplepaw, can you come with me?” whispered Snowsong.

Ripplepaw nodded and Snowsong wrapped her tail around his shoulders and led him to the edge of the camp, near the thick hawthorn. She sat down, curling her long tail neatly over her paws.

“Ripplepaw, there is no easy way to say this.”

Ripplepaw’s eyes widened.

“We can’t be together. As mates, I mean. I just don’t love you enough. I’m sorry...” her voice trailed off and she stared sightlessly at the hawthorn behind Ripplepaw.

Ripplepaw was silent for a heartbeat, then spoke.

“How could you, Snowsong? I thought we were more than friends... I thought you loved me!” Anguish and anger sharped the tom’s voice.

“So all this time, you’ve been deceiving me, Snowsong? Can’t we be mates? I love you...” His orange eyes pleaded with the beautiful she-cat. Snowsong shook her head.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered hoarsely. Ripplepaw looked mournful, but he managed to snarl beneath the raw grief. “You’re not the same she-cat I loved. I hate you.” And with those scalding words, he pelted out of the camp entrance.

Snowsong swallowed a cry.

Chapter 3
Snowsong was going hunting. It was almost dark, and she had to keep vigil. But Ripplepaw was gone, and she had to find him.

“I’m going hunting,” she called to Hollystar.

Hollystar nodded, and flicked her tail at the fresh-kill pile. It was fair, but running out fast.

Snowsong trotted out through the gorse entrance, and to her surprise, they ripped out her long, silky white fur.

“Mouse-dung.” muttered Snowsong as she squeezed out. “I’m eating too much.”

She padded through the forest, and picked up the pace when snowflakes nipped at her body. Some of the trees were bare. Snowsong caught scent of a chickadee. She pressed her body to the ground and located the plump bird roosting at the bottom branch in a large maple tree. She leaped up, yowling, and with outstretched claws, grabbled the bird. It hit the ground with a thud.

Just as she was moving forward, a bloodcurdling shriek stopped her. The brown bird skittered over the leaves, but Snowsong was no longer paying attention to it. She raced towards the sound. It was leading to the lake. The problem was, she knew that shriek. The trees cleared to reveal the frozen lake. There was a small, darker pool of water in the middle. A shape was clinging on a chunk of white ice for dear life.

The shape was desperately kicking and splashing.

It was Ripplepaw.

Chapter 4
“Ripplepaw! Ripplepaw!” screeched Snowsong.

She carefully put one paw on the ice, testing the thickness. It could hold her. She skidded along the lake, sharp wind cutting her face, until she was to Ripplepaw. The water hole had become wider, and Ripplepaw had lost his grip on the ice float. He was sinking into the icy, drowning depths of the same lake that had almost taken her life. She couldn’t afford to jump in after him- both of them would die. Snowsong leaped on the ice, tying to dislodge a piece. The frozen water cracked with her on top, and began to float towards Ripplepaw. She crouched low on the wedge of ice and dipped her front paws into the water.

She gasped as the clear liquid soaked into her paws, but began to pad strongly with them.

Ripplepaw was a fox-tail away now. She just needed- there! Snowsong sunk her teeth into the tom’s dark fur and pulled him onto the ice.

He shivered, but didn't make an effort to speak or move.

“Ripplepaw? Please wake up! Please!” The tortoiseshell tom remained motionless, but turned his head to look at the she-cat.

“I couldn’t live happily without you,” he rasped. “so, I ran. But I slipped and fell in the ice. And now you’ve saved me, but I’ll die soon, anyway.”

Ripplepaw’s orange eyes were dulling by the minute.

“No, no. Come on, get up. Look, I’m licking you. You’re warm,” cried Snowsong.

“Don’t let it happen again. To anyone. I love you, Snowsong. I love you...” His voice faded, and he closed his eyes forever as the sun sank under the far mountains.

Chapter 5
Snowsong refused to admit Ripplepaw had gone to StarClan. She wasn’t going to believe he had really, truly, gone.

Silverpelt twinkled above them, so uncaring, so cruel. StarClan didn't care. Nobody did.

She gently nudged the tom’s side, urging him to stand. He didn’t respond. She sniffed his fur. It was ruffling in the cold wind that blew over the lake. Ripplepaw’s fur was stone cold. It smelled of death, of the ice cold water that surrounded him.

He was dead.

Snowsong lifted her head and let out a spine-chilling shriek. Even after she had stopped, too miserable to continue, the scream lingered in the frosty air. It rolled over the mountains and scared the mice into the safe cracks of the rock. Crows, unnerved by her unearthly scream, took flight from an oak tree in the forest. Grief froze Snowsong’s limbs as she realized this was her fault.

She had caused his death. Snowsong dipped her head and buried her face in the tom’s too-cold, too-lifeless body. Snowsong realized something. She and Ripplepaw were in an ice float in the middle of the lake. She was going to die, too.

Chapter 6
A call sounded to her left, near RiverClan territory. Five sleek, thick-furred shapes were bounding towards her, sliding gracefully on the film of ice. RiverClan was here. Snowsong lifted her head. A smaller, brighter cat caught her eye. The smaller cat was running in front of all the others.

The tom got to her first. “Snowpaw! What’s happened here?! We heard you shriek...”

The tom's eyes widened slightly when he saw Snowsong.

He knew her.

It was Bearpaw.

Bearpaw seemed not to be able to take his feasting eyes off Snowsong for a minute. He turned his head and gasped. He looked at the dead tom underneath her body.

“Ripplepaw?” he whispered quietly.

“He... he was hunting... and he slipped,” Snowsong lied in a thick voice laden with grief.

For some strange reason, she was enraged and furious- with Bearpaw. Why? Because I loved him, and Ripplepaw, my first love, couldn’t take the news. And Bearpaw and I killed him together. She began to lower her eyes to her paws so Bearpaw couldn’t see her seething, shimmering blue eyes. She didn’t have to. Her rage was dying. It wasn’t his fault.

The other RiverClan cats had caught up.

“No! Is that Ripplepaw?” a beautiful golden tabby with wide, blue eyes gasped. Snowsong knew this was Mothheart because she had seen Nightfern with her at Gatherings. They were best friends. Snowsong nodded sadly.

A glossy, well groomed tom with a silver coat and blue eyes spoke next. “We need to get you off that ice float. Rushwater, get swimming!” the tom called.

A long haired classic tabby tom slid into the water gracefully and paddled strongly towards Snowsong and the dead Ripplepaw. His paws scrabbled on the slippery ice, but Rushwater heaved himself up with a grunt. He licked Snowsong roughly until she was warm again (Snowsong felt like a kit in Heatherleaf’s mouth again), and dove into the water again.

“What’s he doing?” whimpered Snowsong as Rushwater took a deep breath and went under the ice. She felt the ice shake underneath her.

“He’s going to break the ice until it’s small again, and Greenfrost here-” Bearpaw flicked his tail at a white she-cat with stormy green eyes “-can push you onto the bank.”

“And he’s doing it quite well, too.” added the glossy silver tom. His name was Duckfeather, remembered Snowsong. The name fit him well.

The ice shuddered, and with a crack, Snowsong was floating away from Ripplepaw’s motionless body. Rushwater surfaced, gagging.

“Let’s go, Greenfrost!” he called. The white she-cat sighed and plunged into the lake. Not a drop was spilled on the icy bank.

Greenfrost went to Ripplepaw’s ice piece and, still in the water, pushed it with her nose until it bumped land. Mothheart gently gripped his body in her jaws. She didn’t let go- no way she was going to let the poor tom’s body freeze on the ice. Snowsong felt a slight bump and realized Rushwater had brought her to shore. She leaped onto the land and shook her fur. “Thank you,” She graciously touched each of the cat’s noses- she shivered when she met Bearpaw’s warm one.

Chapter 7
“We’ll help you bring Ripplepaw’s body back to camp,” coughed Mothheart in a muffled voice. She was still holding Ripplepaw. Snowsong nodded and trotted towards ThunderClan territory, the RiverClan cats trailing behind. The snow bit at their paws until Snowsong was traveling in the trees, leaving the RiverClan cats to groan about how cold it was. Snowsong stopped suddenly. She was having a flashback. Ripplepaw’s eyes were fading, his voice cracking, his eyelids closing forever...

“Snowpaw? Snowpaw?” Rushwater sounded concerned. She shook her head, just realizing she was swaying at the bottom branch of an oak tree.

“Oh, sorry. What were you saying?” she asked.

“We are here... You should tell them.” Mothheart murmured. Her paws kneaded the snow. She obviously wanted to leave. She was uncomfortable holding a dead carcass.

“Oh, yes. And I’m Snowsong now.” Snowsong's warrior name didn’t matter to her anymore. Ripplepaw was dead. If Bearpaw cared, he didn't show it. His blue eyes revealed nothing but good will for a new warrior. Maybe he was keeping their... friendship a secret. This made Snowsong nervous, because maybe... maybe he didn't love her.

Mothheart, Rushwater, Duckfeather, Greenfrost, and Bearpaw nodded. Mothheart gently handed Ripplepaw to Snowsong. Snowsong gripped the heavy tom in her mouth. The RiverClan cats gave her a solemn look and blended into the night.

Snowsong took a deep breath and entered the camp.

Chapter 8
Dappleleaf dropped her fresh-kill and screeched. Nobody was awake. She pelted at Snowsong and knocked her over with a snarl. Snowsong dropped Ripplepaw. He landed on the edge of camp with a thud.

Dappleleaf held her claw against Snowsong's throat with a snarl.

"What have you done with my son?!" she wailed. Her amber eyes shimmered with raw grief- the grief of a mother mourning for her kit.

"No, please! I didn't kill him!" sobbed Snowsong.

She didn't wait for an answer. The cream-and-brown tabby released Snowsong and bounded over to her dead kit. Snowsong stay where she was, lying on the grass.

"Wake, wake! Ripplepaw! Move! Don't leave, my kit, don't go to StarClan." The queen was hysterical. Her eyes were confused, bewildered now.

Dapplepleaf turned on Snowsong and grabbed her. She sunk her jaws into Snowsong's shoulder. She shrieked.

The camp exploded. Two shapes, one black and one grey, wrenched Dappleleaf from Snowsong and pinned her down, where she spat and hissed, quite unlike the gentle, sweet queen she was. They tried comforting her with sweet, calming words but to no avail. A smaller, smoky black shape and a tortoiseshell galloped to Ripplepaw, sat down, and bowed their heads in misery. A slender, silver she-cat curled around Snowsong and licked her head. A light brown tabby, with a silver tom by her side, hurried outside, ushered by a handsome bracken-colored tom with frantic green eyes. Other cats tried to help in any way they could.

Snowsong's eyesight faded. Her eyes closed, and cats became black shadows. She was unconscious.

Chapter 9 (The End)
Three shapes loomed over Snowsong. She heard them whisper. She tried to lift a paw, say a word, but she was exhausted. She fell asleep again.

"You're okay. Just tired," whispered a soothing voice next to Snowsong. The white she-cat lifted her head with a moan. The she-cat that had spoken was Fawnpelt. The light brown tabby flicked her tail to a separate room in the corner of the medicine cat den, the one next to the one Snowsong had rested in as an apprentice.

"Dappleleaf's in there. Poor she-cat. She wasn't herself, you know. She was just so confused she tried to kill you," sighed Fawnpelt sadly.

Snowsong nodded. She felt much better.

"You can't sit vigil for Ripplepaw. You haven't gained enough strength."

Snowsong tried to protest. "But it's my-" Fawnpelt flicked her tail to Snowsong's mouth softly.

"Don't argue. But you can tell me what happened. I examined his body. He was as cold as ShadowClan's hearts."

Snowsong poured her story out. But she didn't mention Bearpaw or what she had told Ripplepaw before he ran away. She lied, even though it broke her heart to pieces to do so.

She said Ripplepaw had gone hunting on the ice. He thought he could catch a fish for the hungry kits. The ice had cracked and Snowsong had heard it. She had tried to reach him, but it was too late. She finished off her tale with the brutal attack.

Fawnpelt nodded and stroked Snowsong.

Snowsong fell asleep.