Forgotten Memories/Chapter Three

~☆ Chapter Three ☆~

“Cloudbreeze! Come back!” Rainshadow called out, growling. She felt her claws unsheath into the dirt below her in frustration. How could she let Cloudbreeze run away like that?

“Let her,” Elmsong sighed, looking at her angry friend. “It would’ve been impossible to stop her once she’d started. I guess she’s just frustrated, that’s all.” She turned around to start sorting out some herbs she’d collected recently, only to see Irispaw, her apprentice, standing there with a puzzled expression. “It’s nothing,” the medicine cat quickly mewed. “Don’t worry about it.”

Irispaw nodded her head, even though she still looked as confused as she did before. Together, they padded into the medicine cat’s den and began to sort out the herbs. After several minutes had passed, Irispaw suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between the two. “You sure it’s nothing?” she mewed, responding to the previous statement. “Cloudbreeze wouldn’t have run away like that if it was nothing.”

Elmsong shook her head. “Trust me. It’s no big deal,” she lied. “I’m sure she’ll come back before we know it.”

After the herbs were sorted, the medicine cat quickly padded to Pebblestar to report to him about Cloudbreeze. “Pebblestar?” she called when she got to his den. “I need to tell you something urgent.”

Pebblestar nodded his head to signal for the worried medicine cat to go on. Elmsong told him everything she knew, and about how Cloudbreeze mysteriously and suddenly burst out with anger. She then covered up that she had no idea why and where she was at this point in time. Pebblestar gave her a long, hard stare. Finally, he declared, “We will give her until sunhigh to return. If she doesn’t by then, we will send out a search party to get her.”

Elmsong dipped her head to show she understood and walked away anxiously. “So? What did he say?” Rainshadow eagerly said as soon as she spotted the medicine cat coming out of the leader’s den.

“He decided that we’ll wait until sunhigh, and if Cloudbreeze isn’t back by then, we’ll start sending out search parties,” Elmsong responded. “For now, we should probably keep what happened as secret as possible just in case she does come back. We don’t want any unnecessary worrying in ThunderClan.”

Rainshadow nodded. “I hope she does.”

I do, too, Elmsong replied in her thoughts.

I really do.