A/N:
This is a tribute to Rippletail; he died fighting beavers in Omen of the Stars: The fourth apprentice. Now as much as he was featured in the book; I think he was never given enough credit. He used to be a she-cat too, like Rowanclaw.
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.
SPOILER ALERT: May spoil parts of Omen of the Stars: The fourth apprentice
The bravest warrior
Many cats knew who he was, but they never knew him in general. Cats from other clans rarely spoke to him. To most cats, even in his own clan, he was just another warrior. But there are no cats who are 'just another warrior' every cat is different and powerful in their own way. Though it may not seem like it, they are a very powerful asset to their clan, and most are normally over-looked. There have been many great, brave and strong warriors in the past. Firestar, Bluestar, Yellowfang, Brambleclaw and even other cats like Hollyleaf. But many of the greatest hearts are simply ignored no matter how much they try.
One particular sole was Rippletail. Never noticed really, until he was chosen to go on a patrol to free the water and bring it back to the lake and clans. He was a Riverclan warrior. His clan was affected the most by the floods, most cats moped around the camp, but he didn't, and neither did Petalfur. The two of the went out whenever they could, the frequent trips in the boiling heat weakened them greatly.
We can't just simply over-look Petalfur either. She was part of that patrol too. But Rippletail was killed.
Rippletail lashed out at the beaver, but his normally scathing blows had no affect on the strange creature. The beaver narrowed its eyes and reared up on him. Rippletail dodged to one side as in struck, that blow would've killed him. Rippletail leaped on the beaver's back. The buck-toothed animal was slippery, a perfect pelt for swimming. He saw Petalfur facing a smaller beaver a couple of fox-lengths away.
The beaver swiped at him once more only to miss. The harsh-looking blow missed Rippletail by inches. Rippletail tore one of the beaver's short ears. The beaver roared in pain and anger. Rippletail was so occupied in his fight he didn't notice another beaver coming up behind him. Rippletail dodged another blow. He didn't know how much longer he could keep it up.
His clan would be proud of him and finally give him more credit. No one except Petalfur and Mistyfoot really noticed him. Hawkfrost, a former Riverclan warrior, always paid attention to him. Rippletail wanted to know why he died, but no one knew. He missed Hawkfrost; the great warrior was one of his inspirations.
He had no clue who was fighting where now. A loud cry hit the air. Rippletail saw Whitetail being ganged up on. He leapt on a beaver that was fighting the small Windclan she-cat. He raked his claws down both ears and leapt off. Another beaver attacked him. Rippletail didn't give up, not once. He dodged blows, getting hit once in a while. Pain suddenly pierced his shoulder and he was jerked away.
He thrashed, trying to get out of the iron grip. He flailed aimlessly and let out a yowl for help. He saw Lionblaze coming his way. Whatever had him ripped his shoulder. Rippletail couldn't even muster up a yowl to express the pain. Blood gushed out of the wound and into the water, making it turn crimson. He saw Lionblaze somehow throw the beaver that had attacked him away.
Rippletail was getting light-headed now. He knew he would die, he just knew. He failed his clan; Riverclan had only one representative now. Did anyone else die? He looked around to see her trying to fight her way over to him. He couldn't even breathe a sigh of relief. At least Petalfur was okay. He couldn't stand the thought of her joining him among the ranks of the starry warriors in Silverpelt.
Rippletail fell off of the dam and onto dry land. Everything went black.
Rippletail awoke. He felt like he had been asleep for moons. His senses were dull and he couldn't remember a thing about what happened before. His sight was blurry and his hearing weak. Rippletail couldn't even get up. He waited for the tiredness to evaporate before got up slowly. A chocking sound caught his attention.
He looked to see Petalfur and all of the other patrol cats around him. Their faces shone expressions of great grief. Petalfur looked broken. Rippletail was confused.
"Petalfur what's wrong?" She didn't give any sign she heard him. Rippletail turned to Lionblaze and then he remembered. He looked down at his paws and gasped. His body was laying there. A cluster of cobwebs messily in a pile on his shoulder. Small crimson trails of blood went down his foreleg and ended. The blood dripped to the ground, one drop by one.
His face was frozen in an expression of pain.
"Hello Rippletail." Rippletail turned to see a bracken-colored tom. He had heard about this cat in nursery stories, it was Oakheart, who was Riverclan's deputy many, many seasons ago, even before Firestar came to the forest! "Are you ready to come to Starclan?"
Rippletail looked back at Petalfur. Something hit him like a blow from a warrior's paw. He loved Petalfur. She noticed him and stood by him until the very end. She supported him in every way and always told him the truth; she always gave him her honest, truthful opinion on things, even if it disagreed with his. They both had the same desire, to be noticed and appreciated. She went along with him and the helped each other in the quest for just a little bit of reconition. They were beside each other the entire way.
The gray tom gave Petalfur a last, long look and turned to Oakheart. The Starclan warrior's eyes shimmered with starlight and sympathy. His pelt was dotted with stars just like Rippletail's.
"As ready as I'll ever be." He told the great deputy, who nodded and turned around. Rippletail didn't look back, for he knew if he did he would insist on staying. Rippletail followed Oakheart into Starclan.
Many have been overlooked as I said before. Now do you get my point?
Petalfur was congratulated and welcomed warmly, but many cats looked at her in confusion as to why Rippletail wasn't with her.
"He should be here right now. We worked on this together and I'm the only one who gets the end result?"
Petalfur nearly froze and choked, but continued on. She would need to explain the entire thing. Including Rippletail's horrible death. She leapt up and into Leopardstar's den.
"They tell me Rippletail isn't with you." Leopardstar's voice echoed out to her from the back of the den. Her sick leader's voice sounded hoarse. "Why?"
"Why would you care?" Petalfur retorted bitterly. Then she was shocked that she had said such a thing to her leader. She felt Rippletail's presence beside her and she adventured more into the den. "No one in the clan cared about us until you found out that we were the ones bringing in extra fish and were sent on the patrol."
Rippletail was saying it beside her. Leopardstar looked shocked at her words. Petalfur stood in front of her, fur bristling slightly.
"That was you?" The Riverclan leader asked. Petalfur's fur bristled more.
"You never even knew!? Why did you send us on the patrol then!?" Petalfur didn't then need an answer. She found it out in a short moment. Leopardstar sent them because they were the weakest. Leopardstar used the two of them!
The Riverclan leader looked down at her paws for a moment. "I-I'm sorry."
"It's too late for that Leopardstar. We never got any credit, and it's your fault this happened. Rippletail was killed by these big brown animals that moved swiftly in the water. They had huge sharp teeth and flat tails. They were blocking the river with logs. They're called beavers. That's all you and the clan needs to know. And they need to know it was your fault one of our warriors didn't come back."
She felt Rippletail's presence leave her. Leopardstar made no move to call her back.
One brave warrior died because of Leopardstar's foolishness and she over-looked him. She thought he was the weakest, she was far from right. You now know the reasons and I hope you will never over-look anyone or anything anymore; look a little more closely at thing and you may be amazed.