Darkest Night

Finpaw lay in his nest, his stunted tail sticking over the edge. It was wrapped in moss and cobweb, and smelled of marigold. Twigpaw was relieved to see how much of it was left. She blinked at Finpaw. His fur was sleek and his nose and ears were clean. Apart from his injured tail and the shadows in his eyes, he looked fine. “You look well.”

Finpaw avoided her gaze. “I’m half a tail away from being well.”

Twigpaw sat beside him, her chest aching with sympathy. But she kept any trace of pity from her voice. “In ThunderClan, we had a cat with a broken spine. She’s the most cheerful cat in the Clan.”

“Good for her,” Finpaw muttered.

“What do you need a whole tail for anyway?” Twigpaw persisted.

“Um . . . to balance?” Finpaw snapped.

“Only mouse-brains need a tail to help them balance.”

“Then I must be a mouse-brain.”

“You really don’t want visitors, do you?” Twigpaw swallowed back frustration. “I hope you’re not this mean to Leafpool.”

Finpaw didn’t answer.

Twigpaw looked at the young tom, his face turned away. She wanted to cheer him up. She’d been thinking about him ever since his accident. It was heartbreaking to see that his spirit had been as crushed as his tail. He’d been so cheerful and open. Now he was as snarly as a fox. “If only I’d been able to pull you clear,” she mewed without thinking. Sadness flooded her chest. Perhaps if she’d tugged harder when the branch was falling, she could have saved him from this.

Finpaw blinked at her, alarmed. “You’re not supposed to be sad,” he mewed urgently.

Twigpaw was confused. “Why not?”

Finpaw raised himself up on his front paws. “Because you’re never sad. That’s why I like you.”

Twigpaw didn’t know what to say. She looked at her paws. “Dewpaw says hello. He’s helping me make nests in the apprentices’ den. He wants you to move there as soon as you can.” She glanced at him shyly. “I want you there too. I was the only apprentice in ThunderClan. Sharing a den will be fun.”

“Fun?” Finpaw seemed to brighten. “Have you heard Dewpaw snore?”

“He snores?” Twigpaw played along.

“He could outsnore a badger.” Finpaw assured her. “Reedpaw says he could wake a hibernating bear.”

“Perhaps I should gather some extra moss,” she mewed. “To stuff in my ears.”

Finpaw’s whiskers twitched with amusement.

Twigpaw pricked her ears happily. “You’re going to be fine.”

He glanced at his tail. “Leafpool keeps telling me that I’m lucky I only lost half of it.”

Twigpaw caught his eye. “What happened to the other half?”

“Puddleshine said he was going to bury it.”

“Bury it?” Surprise twitched through Twigpaw.

Finpaw gave her a mischievous look. “Perhaps we should find its grave and sit vigil.” There was a purr in his mew.

“We could mark it with a stone and visit every leaf-fall to pay our respects.”

“Here lies Finpaw’s tail,” Finpaw mewed solemnly. “It died protecting its Clan.”

“Perhaps it’s in StarClan right now, lying in the sunshine,” Twigpaw joked.

“There must be other tails there. I hope it’s made friends,” Finpaw mewed.

Twigpaw nudged his shoulder fondly with her nose. “You’ve got bees in your brain.”

“You started it.”

As he nudged her back, the lichen swished and Leafpool padded through the entrance. She blinked happily at Twigpaw. “I see you’ve decided to have visitors after all,” she mewed to Finpaw.

“Twigpaw barged in.” Finpaw mewed.

“I promised Dewpaw I’d see how he was.” Twigpaw didn’t admit how much she’d wanted to see Finpaw.

“You’ll have to leave in a moment,” Leafpool told her. “I’m going to dress his wound.”

“Can’t she stay?” Finpaw begged. “If I have someone to talk to, it’ll take my mind off it.”

“Does it hurt?” Twigpaw asked.

“Kind of,” Finpaw murmured.

“Okay,” Leafpool agreed. “I’ll be back in a moment. I just want to soak these leaves in the stream.” She grabbed a pile of herbs and headed out of the den.

Finpaw shifted in his nest, making himself comfortable. “Are you missing Violetpaw and Hawkwing?”

“Yeah.” Twigpaw wrapped her tail over her paws. “It feels strange being in a new camp without them. Kind of like I’m in the wrong place.”

“I think everyone feels a bit out of place at the moment. But Sandynose says it’ll start to feel like home soon.” Finpaw’s eyes rounded with curiosity. “Leafpool says that you and Violetpaw were raised by different Clans. I didn’t know that. You seem so close.”

“We are close,” Twigpaw told him. “And now we get to live together, now that we’ve found Hawkwing.”

“I like Hawkwing.” Finpaw’s gaze grew distant as though he were thinking. “He’s reassuring.”

“Yeah.”

“Sandynose was missing when we were born, so Hawkwing kind of helped take care of us.”

“Sandynose went missing?” Twigpaw hadn’t heard about this.

“We thought we’d never meet our real father. But we had Hawkwing. He was nice.”

Twigpaw blinked at him sympathetically.

Finpaw looked thoughtful. “You’re quite like him.”

“Violetpaw’s more like him than me.”