#ice-echo

Ice-echo looked up at the darkening clouds. “StarClan, I hope so…” Greenleaf was fast approaching, and the heat was already here. The past few days had been particularly hard for her and her thick black pelt. Gladefur had been kind enough to excuse her from patrols so she could stay out of the sun, but staying inside camp for so long made her paws itch.

“You could say that again,” another voice said, and she turned to see Gladefur himself approaching. He turned his face to the breeze. “It’s already feeling cooler, wouldn’t you say?”

She nodded. When she took a deep breath in, she could practically taste the rain that was on the way. 

“I don’t like the rain…” Darkkit muttered. “I can’t play outside when it rains, or less I get all wet and cold and sick, and then Hollyhockseeker might make me eat gross green things.”

Gladefur purred out a quiet laugh. “Stay inside the nursery then. Maybe you could take a nap? Nothing better than sleeping to the sound of rain.”

Darkkit scrunched up his nose as he thought about it, then nodded. “Okay. Maybe I could take a nap.” As he headed back inside, Ice-echo heard him say, “Nothing better than sleeping!”

She smiled, then turned her full attention to Gladefur, who lingered by her side. “Was there anything you needed?”

“Ah, well…” He cleared his throat, then looked towards the camp entrance. She followed his gaze and frowned.

“What’s wrong with Honeypaw?” It was the first time she had seen her so… irritated, head down and tail lashing.

Gladefur sighed. “We’ve been having a bit of a… misunderstanding. Every time I try to bring it up, her attitude just seems to get worse. Can’t say much of anything nowadays without getting into an argument, but she’s also my apprentice and she needs some more hunting practice…” He gave her a sheepish smile. “So, I was wondering if you would want to join us on patrol today?”

She raised her brow. “Join you so I can be, what, some sort of barrier between the two of you?”

“...You could also give her some tips, too, if you wanted. Besides, it’ll be cooler out by the river.”

Ice-echo's ear flicked. “You know, you could just make me go with you. You’re the deputy.”

“And have a patrol with two cats who resent me? No, thank you.”

She chuckled. The thought of running out in the forest again, feeling the cool breeze hit her, really was tempting… Finally, she stood. “All right. I’ll go. When are we leaving?”

Gladefur stood with her. “Whenever you’re ready. It’ll probably start raining while we’re out there, so it might be better to head out now and have plenty of time before it gets to be too much.” He hummed quietly. “Though practicing tracking scents in the rain could be useful training…”

“We’ll play it by ear then,” she said as they made their way to the camp entrance. 

It didn’t take long for Honeypaw to look up and see them coming. She visibly perked up when she realized Ice-echo was also there. “Are you coming with us?” she asked.

“Yup. When I noticed how cool it was out, I just had to ask Gladefur to let me come. Don’t know when I’ll get another chance before greenleaf really sets in.” She gave Gladefur a brief meaningful look and almost rolled her eyes when she saw his gratefulness plain on his face.

Whether Honeypaw noticed or not, Ice-echo couldn’t tell. In any case, she looked far more relaxed and smiled easily when she said, “Then let’s not wait!”

Gladefur let Ice-echo take the lead, and Honeypaw eagerly stuck herself to her side as soon as they were in the forest. Ice-echo was immediately glad she had agreed to come; not only did the cool breeze feel glorious against her fur, but she also realized how little she had spoken with Honeypaw since moving out of the apprentice’s den. It had only been the two of them there for a moon, and it had been such a welcome change to her sleeping alone. 

“So, how’s the den been?” Ice-echo asked. “Has Rimepaw calmed down?” Her warrior ceremony had happened just a few days after Rimepaw had become an apprentice. She remembered how Rimepaw had been so excitedly nervous for her training that she wouldn’t stop shifting in her new nest, which had annoyed Ice-echo greatly, since she had needed more rest for her final assessments. 

Honeypaw purred out a laugh. “Yeah, actually. She’s a lot more serious now. I think training with Bleakspeckle has given her more focus.” But as she said that, her smile suddenly disappeared and she threw a brief glance back towards Gladefur, who was doing his best (and failing) to pretend he wasn’t listening. 

Ice-echo ducked her head and whispered, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her ear twitched as she hesitated, then she suddenly broke out into a run. “Race you to the river!” she called before disappearing into the bushes.

“Wh– Race? Wait, Honeypaw—” Gladefur began to sputter, but she was already gone. 

“Just give her some space,” Ice-echo told him before he could go running after her. “You’re not exactly being subtle back there.”

He sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I understand.” He flicked his tail towards the river. “You go on ahead. I’ll see if I can’t catch something around here before joining you both.” 

She nodded, then quickly ran to try not to lose Honeypaw’s scent. It was just starting to rain, and by the time she made it to the river and spotted Honeypaw near its bank, it went from a nice drizzle to a steady downpour, more than she had been expecting. Knowing Gladefur was likely to call off their hunt as soon as he caught up with them, she went over to Honeypaw with the intent to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

“Where’s Gladefur?” Honeypaw asked her without looking. “Did he twist his paw trying to beat you?”

“He caught scent of something on the way and stopped to check it out,” she lied easily, sitting behind Honeypaw and watching as the apprentice hovered a paw over the river. She didn’t think she would get much of any fish, not with the current being as fast as it was now. She added slowly, meaningfully, “He might be a while.”

Honeypaw was quiet for a moment, and just when Ice-echo thought she was going to ignore her unspoken offer, she sighed and finally turned to face her. “It’s not really a big deal.”

She hummed. “If it’s not a big deal, then you wouldn’t be trying to avoid your own mentor.” When it looked like Honeypaw was going to protest, she held up her tail and said, “I’m not here to cast any judgement. Just thought talking about it would make you feel better.”

“Talk, huh?” Honeypaw murmured, sighing. “That would be nice, I guess… Rimepaw’s not as good of a listener as you were when we shared a den.” They shared a smile. “Okay, then. But you better have meant it when you said ‘no judgement.’”

Ice-echo held her head high. “Of course I meant it.”

“Of course,” she purred, then grew serious again. “Well, it’s about Gladefur and Bleakspeckle. You’ve seen what’s been happening between the two of them. It’s been going on practically since this whole Clan thing started. And I’m just sick of it.” She got up and began pacing back and forth. “Every time I bring up one of them to the other, it’s like I’ve ruined their whole day. Gladefur doesn’t understand that Bleakspeckle took me in when I was all alone as a kit, and he’ll always have a special place in my heart because of that, no matter what he does or says. And Bleakspeckle doesn’t understand that Gladefur is—in a lot of ways—a really good mentor. It’s like… they expect me to choose one of them, but I can’t.” She stopped to look Ice-echo in the eyes. “I won’t.”

“Nor should you,” Ice-echo said. 

“Yeah. So I’m just gonna ignore them both until they stop being so mouse-brained,” she muttered, turning her attention back to the river. She doesn’t even bother pretending to hunt, however, instead opting to stare sulkingly at the rushing rapids. 

Ice-echo thought for a moment about what to say next. Truth be told, she didn’t know either Gladefur or Bleakspeckle all that well. Gladefur was in deputy-mode so often that it was difficult to have a casual conversation with him most of the time, and Bleakspeckle avoided most other cats in the Clan besides Honeypaw. That made promising Honeypaw she wouldn’t cast judgement easy, as she really had no judgement to give.

But maybe she could offer a solution.

“Listen, I don’t know if this will work, but maybe instead of pushing them away, you tried to bring them together?”

Honeypaw threw a glare over her shoulder. “I tried that already.”

“You said you tried talking to them individually. I’m saying try talking to them together.”

“...They would never agree to that. Bleakspeckle would probably laugh the idea off.”

“That’s why you don’t tell them that it’ll be the three of you.” When Honeypaw’s look turned more curious than irritated, she continued, “Ask them both for a training session, separately. Set it for the same time, and if they realize what’s happening, that’s when you lay on the guilt.”

A laugh burst from Honeypaw’s lips. “Guilt trip them into staying?”

“Exactly. And then you can lay into them. I’m sure the shock of it would freeze them in place right there on the spot, warm weather be damned. Maybe then they’ll actually listen and finally work something out between them.”

Honeypaw laughed some more, then looked back to the river. “That might work. Maybe.” She sighed heavily. “But they really are stubborn. I doubt a single sit down with the three of us can actually do much good.”

“Then you keep hounding them about it. As long as you’re there to annoy them about it, they can’t ignore the problem.”

She didn’t say anything to that, but Ice-echo did catch sight of a smile on her muzzle.

It was then that a sound floating above the sound of the wind, rain, and river water caught her attention. She looked around and spotted Gladefur emerging from the treeline. He had finally caught up to them, but he carried no prey with him. He said something again, but she couldn’t make out the actual words. She stood and took a few steps toward him, signalling to him that she couldn’t hear.

He came closer as well, and this time she could hear him yell, “Storm’s here! Head back to camp!”

It was as she expected. The rain really was coming down hard now, and it was impossible for anyone to catch anything in this kind of weather. She was about to yell back an affirmative, but then another sound reached her ears. She turned to see where it was coming from.

The sight of a large wave of water coming straight for Honeypaw was what greeted her.

“Honeypaw!” 

Maybe she hadn’t heard it coming, or she was too lost in thought, but by the time Honeypaw lifted her head, it was too late. Ice-echo only had enough time to take a single step forward before the wave crashed over the riverbank. It swallowed Honeypaw whole, and by the time Ice-echo blinked, she was gone. 

But the wave wasn’t done. It didn’t recede back into the river, and instead continued to expand rapidly outwards, faster than she could think. She heard Gladefur scream something, and then the wave reached her.

The force of it was strong. It knocked her off of her feet immediately, plunging her underwater. It was freezing, and the shock of it took the breath out of her. Even under the surface, the current battered her, flipping and tossing her in every direction. The water was dark and muddy and stung her eyes when she opened them. She knew she had to get air, but she didn’t know where air was. 

Just as the panic was beginning to set in, her back hit something hard and immobile, and the force of it was enough to fling her head back.

She felt a sharp blow behind her ears, and knew no more.

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