Locked Secretes

Episode 2 of Anarchy. Enjoy and please comment your thoughts!

These times are hard 

No one can save you 

You are alone 

Alone in Anarchy

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Sandpaw lay unmoving in her and Glade’s nest on the outskirts of camp. Her muzzle rested on her front paws and her tail silently swished back and forth on the dusty ground. Her stomach growled but she didn’t want to go and get prey. I can’t go out there knowing Heather is not there to greet me and share with me.

“Hey pussy,” Glade meowed as he softly padded in. “How you doing?”

“What do you think Glade? Heather is gone.” Glade lowered his head and plopped down a large jack rabbit down next to Sand.

“You want to share this?” Glade asked.

“Jack Rabbit was Heather’s favorite.” A sob chocked her words making her sound like an elder. Glade softly pushed the rabbit away. Sandpaw scooted closer to her brother, burrowing her sandy muzzle deep into his short dark sandy fur.

“Hey kid, I know your sad. But sooner or later your going to have to move on. Heather was a great cat and I know she was a great friend but this is what she would have wanted.” Glade soothed.

“But who would do something that terrible to such a great cat?” Sandpaw sobbed.

“I don’t know, Sandpaw. There are sick cats in this world who would do something like that for power.” Glade looked down at his dusty paws. Sandpaw thought she saw a flash of guilt the depths of Glade’s hazel eyes.

“Glade is there something you are not telling me?” Sandpaw urged.

“No, why would you say that?” Glade asked.

“I don’t know it just seemed like you weren't telling me everything.” Glade sighed and plopped his head down on his paws.

“Well kid, some things are just best left untold.”

“But some things are not. Now is one of those times.” Sandpaw sprang to her paws and started poking her brother. “Tell me Glade.”

“Your not going to leave me alone until I do?”

“Correct.” Sandpaw stubbornly said. She began to fell the afternoon heat settle in and flow into their den.

“Alright well, sit down I guess. But you cant tell anybody what I’m about to tell you.” Glade meowed, died serious.

“I promise.” Sandpaw swore. ''What does one of Glade’s old stories have to do with Heather’s death? ''Sandpaw wondered.

“Well, a few weeks after our parents died, I ran off. You were too young to remember this at the time but I just couldn’t stand being at the camp without them. So one morning, I got up before any other cat and left.” “You left me here alone after the death of our parents? How could you! Thats when I would have needed you most!” Sandpaw shrieked.

“I was young and stupid okay! I didn’t know what else to do.” Glade snorted but continued his story. “Our parents names were Thorn and Shalo and they were both great cats. They were head hunters and great leaders.” A lump formed in Sandpaw’s throat thinking about her parents. “But one day they went out on a hunting trip together, just the two of them, and never came back. No cat knows what happened to them, their bodies were never found. But we found so much blood in the sand belonging to them. Would sustained from those kind of injured would surely kill any cat so we knew they had to be dead.” ''Thats such a terrible way to die! Almost as bad as Heather’s death! ''Sandpaw thought. “I was so heart broken so I thought the answer would be to go to a place with no sign of them would help me get over my grief. But when I was venturing out, I got into trouble with some bad cats. They called themselves the rebel force.” Sandpaw let out a low breath and remembered that the elders sometimes told scary stories about the rebel force to scare kits but Sandpaw always thought it was just fiction.

“They took me in when I told them I was lost and brought me up to date on everything a cat ever needed to know about our world. Shadowclan took over the rest of the clans a long time ago and started the monarchy. The rebel force was made to fight against Shadowclan and take back the rest of the clans. Thats all I learned though. They were very careful about the information they shared. There was so much I still needed to know. So in their camp in the middle of no where, I began to snoop. Eventually I was on a hot trail but some of the senior leaders found out and lets just say it did not turn out well and I was lucky to have made it out alive. As I ran away, the leaders called after me yowling that if i did’t come back to them, they would kill cats close to be because I didn’t ‘take a stand’ for their crazy cause.”

“What was their cause?” Sandpaw whispered.

“To take town Shadowclan.” Glade meowed.

“Glade, how could you have never told anyone about this! The monarch needs to know!” Sandpaw yowled.

“Sandpaw don’t you see? If I told the monarch about this, the force would kill you! They already killed one cat I loved because I didn’t join their force moons ago! These cats are dangerous and crazy!” Glade screeched.

“Wait,” Sandpaw stopped Glade before he could say anything else,”y-you loved Heather?” Sandpaw whispered.

“Glade heaved a heavy sight and muttered,”yes.” Sandpaw’s heart sank even further. She felt terrible for her brother, and even worse for being so insensitive about it.

“I have to go.” Glade meowed. He stood up and shoot his coat, causing dust and sand to fly everywhere.

“Galde wait!” Sandpaw called after her brother, but he was already out of their burrowed den. Sandpit coughed out dust and huffed.

“Well, one problem at a time.” Sandpit muttered to herself. She subconsciously decided to continue her grieving for Heather alone until the next morning. Soft rays of golden sunlight shafted though the den’s entrance causing Sandpaw to squint. She hadn’t even realized that the sun was already begging to set. Glade’s story lasted a long time, she thought. Sandpaw turned to face the other side of the den and felt the warm light soak into her pelt. Her stomach let out a low wail and Sandpaw eyed the plump jackrabbit. ''Heather wouldn’t want me to starve myself, now would she? ''Sandpaw let her stomach win and heaved herself up to to retrieve to rabbit from the other side of the den. She greedily dug into the meath. Delicious juiced flooded into her mouth as she chewed. It reminded her so much of sharing one with Heather that her eyes began to water. Suddenly, Sandpaw understood why Glade had to leave. Sandpaw wanted to do the same but she knew she couldn’t, not now anyways. She had lost her appetite so she began to drag the body out and around to the back of the den. Sandpaw dug a large hole and plopped the remaining rabbit in. She spun to see her hole sector gather in the common place sharing fresh kill and gossiping. Sandpaw didn’t feel like joining in she she returned to her den. The musty smell filed her nostrils but she liked it. It made the den feel like home. Sandpaw snaked under thick vines that marker her section of the den and curled up in the soft heather of her nest. She squirmed as a soft feather tickled her nose. So many questions she forgot to ask Glade swarmed in her head. ''Was he the reason why Heather died? How was he sure that the rebel force did that to her? ''Sandpit eventually was able to calm these question. And slowly her mind drifted to sleep.

~To be continued~

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