Wildcat

by Rebecca Hutto

  After they exited the Glade, Whitehaze climbed down from the History Tree. He walked over to her. “Hello there, Ember. I take it the patrol went well?”

  “Yes, sir. It went well enough. And when Dad wasn’t looking, I pushed some extra leaves onto that place where we saw those flowers last spring. Hopefully it’ll help it grow even more next spring.”

  He chuffed and sat down beside her. “Thank you. Hopefully my ancient self will be able to climb up there to see them again. They are pretty little things. Do you still dislike purple?”

  Ember forced a chuckle. “I’m actually feeling kind of purple right now. But no, it’s not my favorite color. Maple orange is the best.”

  He pawed at her side, brows raised. “I disagree. But fortunately, there’s no law that says we can’t. I just checked.” He smiled. “Otherwise you’d be in trouble. Hah!”

  “Or you would be, if my opinion was considered better.”

  “Perhaps.” He wrapped his tail around Ember’s haunches, making her flinch. “So tell me, Ember, what was Farlight wanting of you?”

  The indigo grew brighter. She resisted the urge to bite her tongue, and instead rubbed her paws together. “He just wanted to talk, so we talked. Then Dad came before we could finish, and we decided to talk more later. Why?”

  Whitehaze sighed. “He’s a good cat, but maybe a little too smart for anyone’s good. I’ve seen what he can do when he puts his mind to accomplishing something. Keep your guard around him, Ember. They told you he helped your father and Hyrees get back on their paws, but no one ever told you how. Well, I’ll tell you now; he’s as manipulative as any other Commander we’ve had, if not more so. He convinced Lupine to give him charge over your father, the second most influential cat in colony at the time. Lying is not beyond him. That young tom will do or say whatever it takes to achieve his goals. Don’t let him take advantage of you. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you. You are more than capable defending yourself, with your claws, or your words.”

  ‘Is that true?’ Silver overtook the indigo. ‘Would he really lie to me, or Dad, or Hyrees? And how do you know about this? Did Farlight tell you? Did you overhear him? And why are you telling me this to begin with? Are you trying to turn me against him? Everyone includes you, after all. I’m not going to let you use me, either. Remember that I can remember. Though I hardly think your secret gives me much leverage. Then again, I’m sure you’ve got some I don’t know about.’

  “Or with secrets,” Ember said, trying her best to sound innocent—as naive as everyone thought her to be. She took an extra moment to gather her thoughts. “When cats share secrets, everyone thinks everyone else will forget, and that they’ll just get to walk away with that naughty feeling of saying something they shouldn’t. That’s why almost everyone likes telling secrets, isn’t it? They probably do leave feeling better about themselves, but what they don’t realize is that I can hear, and I can remember.”

  “Of . . . of course,” Whitehaze replied. His eyes widened for a split second before narrowing once again. “If you’re smart, which I’m certain you are, you’ll learn to use them to your advantage. Security is important these days.”

  He stood to examine the fire. The flames were dying. “It would seem we need more wood. Could you help me gather some from the pile?”

  Ember got up and ducked her head. “Yes, sir.”

  They went together to the wood heap. Before gathering branches, Whitehaze took a sharpened stone and cut slits into a small, thick stick. When he finished, the curls of wood he’d left made it look like a fluffy tail. Kindling sticks gave dying flames an extra boost and ignited much more readily. He placed the kindling stick in the fire, then Ember helped him move a few more twigs and branches to the pit.

  When they finished, she decided to go find Hyrees. She spotted him with Fledge near the second fire pit and trotted over to them. Hyrees lifted his muzzle, sniffing the air as she approached.

  He jumped up and raised his tail in greeting. “Ember! You made it back.”

  Ember pressed her nose against his, letting his familiar scent become all she could smell. “Yep. I survived. How are you liking clayworking?”

  “Oh, I love it. It’s fun to make things with my paws, and Fledge is a great mentor. She’s been really patient with me, what with all my clumsiness.”

  “Shut up, Hyrees,” Fledge said with a laugh. “You’re a natural. And very organized, unlike me.” She turned to Ember. “He put all the clay I gathered in order based on consistency to make them easier to identify.”

  Ember chuffed. “I’m not surprised. So, Hyrees, do you know if anything specific has been bothering Farlight lately?”

  “I don’t know. He seemed kind of nervous this morning, but I’m not sure why. Why are you asking?” Hyrees said.

  “Curiosity.”

  “He’s probably fine. He would’ve told me if there was something wrong. He always does.”

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that,’ she thought.

  “Oh!” he exclaimed, “I just remembered. You know how I got you that maple bijou, and it broke? Well, I’m making you a new one. Look.”

  He led her over to a piece of bark with a clay maple leaf on it. The color wasn’t as exact and the details weren’t as fine, but it looked like the plant it was meant to represent.

  Vivid orange sparkled behind her eyes. It mixed together with gentle snowdrops of white, creating a light show that reminded her of autumn and winter, but only best parts of each season. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Hyrees. Oh! And to make it last longer, you could try using a little strip of deerskin instead of a vine. It probably won’t be as strong as dad’s leather, but almost anything would work better than a vine. We can call it a clayskin.”

  He laughed. “Alright. I’ll try that. Hopefully it won’t smell too bad.”

  “Hey, I’d hate to cut this visit-break thing short, but Hyrees, we’ve still got a lot to cover,” Fledge mewed. “We really should get back to work. After all, we are the only clayworkers actually being clayworkers right now, what with the whole double abatis project going on. We gotta do a lot more if we want to keep up. Are you ready for the challenge?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Sorry, Em. I need to get back to work. I’ll see you later.”

  Ember flattened back her ears. “Uhm, yeah, okay. I’ll be . . . around.”

  As she walked away, Ember let her gaze wander around the Glade. Without anyone else to walk with, it seemed foreign. Like an entirely new place filled with cats she didn’t actually know, yet she could navigate it with her eyes closed, so she closed her eyes. The lack of vision-stabbing sunlight eased away the beginnings of a headache.

  She bumped into something soft and fluffy.

  “Careful, Ember. Watch where you’re going.”

  She opened her eyes. Everywhere direct sunlight touched was white. ‘Ow. Bright, bright, bright!’ She closed them again for a moment, then squinted. Spots flickered where the light hit her the hardest. Through the spots, Fern came into focus. She stood in front of her, expression blank and tail twitching.

  Ember flattened her ears and lowered her head. “Er, hi?”

  “Hello, Ember,” Fern replied. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

  Guilt came crashing down on her chest like jaws clamped around her heart and bent on ripping it to shreds. “I’m sorry. It was an accident, but that doesn’t make it okay, and I know you’re not, uhm . . .”

  “It’s alright. Just try to keep your eyes open,” Fern replied. “Do you know if Fledge is busy? I wanted to talk to her for a moment.”

  “I think so, a little bit, yes, but no, I meant sorry for everything. Tainu . . . I-I-I’m really, really, really sorry I killed her. I didn’t mean to. She-she told me to run, to leave and let her go, but I didn’t and . . .”

  Fern placed a paw against Ember’s prosthetic foreleg. She let it slide down to her toes. “It hurts a lot, Ember. Part of me still isn’t ready to forgive you, but the more sen
sible side of me knows it was going to happen. If you hadn’t taken her that night, someone else would have. Or she would have taken herself from me, leaving off for the Lowlands without even saying ‘goodbye.’ ” Fern sniffled. She pulled back her paw to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes. “She was my kitten, the only kitten I’ll ever have. Losing her has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. But like when my parents died, I’ll get through it. Despite how much I’ve been avoiding you, I really am happy you’re alive, Ember.” She licked Ember’s cheek. “I don’t know when, or even if I’ll ever fully forgive you, but know that I’m trying my best. Now, excuse me, I really should go.”

  Ember pawed the wetness away from her own eyes. She nodded in thanks but couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Fern brushed past her, toward where Fledge was showing Hyrees how to make a small bowl.

  She watched in silence as her aunts greeted each other. She had hurt them both. Ember sighed. It turned into a shudder as the wind changed direction and picked up speed. As she walked away, her thoughts drifted back to Tainu. She’d killed her, and now she was gone. They wouldn’t get to race through the forest next springtime, and Tainu would never again pester her about learning to hunt. All the power she now held would never change that fact.

  On that fateful night, she’d held a different kind of power: the kind she didn’t want, yet had been given, just like everyone else. It was the kind of power that turned living, breathing creatures into inanimate objects and destroyed the lives of those left behind.

  For a moment, she was ashamed of the pride she’d felt from finally being useful. Thai had been bought with her cousin’s blood. Yet Tainu had killed Aspen. According to the law, she was supposed to die.

  ‘Was all this worth it?’ Ember wondered. She stopped at the base of the History Tree, gazing up at its familiar branches. ‘Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. But what’s done is done, Ember. Time to move forward. Eyes open this time.’

  After several minutes of wandering, she made her way back to the den she and Hyrees shared. As she went, Fern’s words echoed in her head, bringing with them splotches of grey and silver.

  ‘If you hadn’t taken her that night, someone else would have.’

  She entered the den and lay down facing the wall. The position blocked most of the light from hitting her face and left her peripheral vision to protect her from ambushes. ‘Maybe that was the right thing to do. Commander Aspen’s death has been avenged. We might be able to use that fact to stop the war. I might be able to. Maybe it’s what I was meant to do from the very beginning. I can turn this into a good thing. I just need a little more control.’

  Her heating system turned on again, casting a faint, orange glow on the dirt and rocks around her. ‘Then everything will be okay.’

  Chapter 20

  Ember

  Something touched her. Ember moaned and put her paws over her eyes. The thing touched her again.

  “Ember,” a voice whispered.

  She opened her eyes to find a blur of brown and white fur in front of her face. She blinked a few times to clear her vision. “Farlight? What are you doing here?”

  Farlight stood over her, fur on end. “I know you would probably rather be sleeping, but we need to talk. This isn’t something that can wait. I’ve put it off too long already.”

  She sighed and got to her paws. Fur brushed against her flank. “Oh. Hyrees is here. I must’ve slept for longer than I thought.”

  As if in reply, Hyrees snorted. The nasally noise sent an irritating, oily shimmer through her head. Ember’s jaw tensed. Outside, moonlight shimmered off of icicles and muddy snow, cloaking the forest in an eerie blue. All traces of sunset were gone.

  Farlight tilted his head toward the Glade. “Come on. This might be a life or death situation.”

  Her heartbeat quickened, waking her up. ‘Life or death? That doesn’t sound good.’

  They walked out of the den in silence. Farlight picked up a small piece of meat sitting in the sludge outside, then turned toward the western entrance. Ember followed him into the woods.

  “Where are we going?” Ember asked. She glanced up at the night guards watching them from the trees. Their pupils caught the moonlight and appeared to glow green. A small shiver crept down her spine.

  “Whiz-mon. Where else?” Farlight replied, voice muffled.

  If he hadn’t mentioned death, or answered her question so matter-of-factly, she would have laughed. ‘Whiz-mon’ was the nickname Hyrees had given Wisdom Monument. Supposedly the pile of rocks had once formed a small human building, and Dark had used it as a place to go when he’d wanted to work alone. According to the History Tree, it was the birthplace of clawmarking. The legend sounded feasible enough, but given what else had been twisted or left out by Dark’s cunning claws, she had her doubts.

  “So why there?” she asked.

  He set the meat down. “It’s not far away, but it is far enough to speak without being overheard. Also, it’s more open than most of the forest, so we shouldn’t have to worry about anyone sneaking up on us.”

  Ember shuddered, causing the fur along her spine the raise. “You weren’t joking about this being serious, were you?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Now come on; let’s hurry.”

  He grabbed the meat again, then broke into a fast trot. Ember followed beside him. Aside from the addition of partially melted snow, the rock structure looked exactly how she remembered it—large, rectangular stones forming a loose square. The rocks closer to the back resembled a wall, but the other three sides had long since crumbled into glorified rock piles. Small, thin trees made up the only forest within ten leaps of it. It was all newer growth, but was still older than her.

  She climbed onto a rock and sat down. “So what did you want to tell me? Also, why me? If it’s serious, shouldn’t you tell Lupine, or Dad?”

  He placed the meat at her paws. “This is for you. It’s deer. I didn’t think you’d eaten, so I brought it in case you were hungry.”

  As if on cue, her stomach growled, sending tiny bursts of dull pink flickering through her mind. “Oh. You’re right, I haven’t eaten. Thanks.”

  She lifted the meat with her jaws and started her belated meal. Farlight sat across from her, back against one of the loosely defined corners. “But to answer your question, I’m telling you because everyone else trusts him too much. They won’t believe me. They’ll say I’m being paranoid. But you won’t, right? You’ll listen. Won’t you?”

  She swallowed her last bite of venison. “I’ll listen. That’s why I’m out here, isn’t it?”

  Farlight nodded. “Fair point, but beside the point. The thing is, I’m pretty sure Whitehaze wants me gone. He knows he can’t kill me outright, so I think he’s trying to ruin my reputation behind my back; trying to turn everyone against me and making them too suspicious to trust me to lead.”

  “What? Whitehaze?” Her eyes narrowed, remembering her former mentor’s warnings. “What are you trying to do?”

  “He spoke with you, didn’t he? About me?” Farlight asked. He jumped to his paws and pinned back his ears. “Now you’re starting to doubt me, aren’t you?”

  An owl hooted in the distance. Another replied somewhere nearby. The breeze picked up, making the young trees shake. Ember shook with them; she’d never liked being outside the Glade after dark.

  Ember lowered her head. “Maybe. You’re going to have to do a lot of explaining to convince me Whitehaze wants you dead, because there’s information in my head right now that cannot coexist as the truth. The thing is, I know him. I’ve known him longer than you’ve been alive. He’s not some power-hungry, evil mastermind. Tahg, he’s not even a mastermind. He’s just a kind old cat who snores and pretends to be grumpy sometimes. The real question is, why bother dragging me all the way out here? We were safer in the Glade.”

  “So you think I’m being paranoid too? I’m telling you, Ember, he wants me dead.”

  She clamped her teeth o
ver her tongue. “Prove it.”

  He growled, fur bristling. “How am I supposed to do that? Get myself killed?”

  “Maybe start by telling me what’s really going on. There has to be more to it than this.”

  “Alright fine.” He lowered his voice. “Here’s the thing; you know how Tainu was working with the East? Well he’s been working with them too.”

  Yellow appeared, burning brightly in her mind’s eye.

  “Jade has spies informing her from within the colony, and you’ve seen that,” he continued. “You know that rogue who attacked you? The one you said had Jade’s scent on his fur? I saw them talking roughly a mooncycle ago, and before I could hide, Whitehaze saw me. I didn’t realize the rogue had come back until I caught his scent on the log, and it matched. I think that Eclan tom is Jade’s messenger. He carries orders from her to her foxes here in the West. I’m pretty sure Whitehaze is one of them. I don’t know how it happened, or what’s going on aside from that, but there’s your more. It’s hardly proof, but it’s why I dragged you out here. Commander Lupine trusts him more than anyone else. If what I’ve said is true, everyone in the West could be in danger.”

  Ember shivered as silver replaced the shock in her head. ‘Is it true though? Is there anyone I can trust anymore? What if Jade really is controlling everything?’ She shook her head. “Tainu was threatened; I’m sure she was. What if Whitehaze is being threatened too? What if he needs help escaping from . . . whatever it is she’s doing to him? She might make him do something bad too. Something he would never do on his own.”

  His tail twitched faster. “We can’t help him, Em. If he wants to escape, he has to do it himself. And he can do it. Either he’s too scared, or he just doesn’t want to. Whatever you do, don’t say anything about this to anyone. We might get someone hurt or killed if the wrong cat finds out. Now do you understand?”

  She looked away. The cool, shimmering blues of the forest did little to ease her mind. She pinned back her ears and imagined trekking across the valley to take on Jade. As hard as she tried, she still couldn’t visualize the Rift. Cloud’s descriptions of ‘a big crack in the mountain’ made her think of the ravine. So she imagined Jade sleeping in a generic den in a ravine. Her imaginary self snuck over to Jade’s silent, tabby-striped form, and sunk her teeth into her throat. ‘Then that would be it. And as long as the East didn’t retaliate, we wouldn’t have to worry about spies, or rogue messengers, or any of that. But I can’t. I can’t cross the Lowlands, and I can’t kill Jade. I’m not killing anymore. Too much silver.’