Author's Notes: Don't hate me! This chapter is scary!
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, but I do own the characters and the plot. Please don't steal.
Chapter Five
Tigerflame winced as Shadowheart pressed cobwebs to his eyes. All he could hear was the heavy panting of Burntpelt in the nest next to his. When he tried to open his eyes, Shadowheart pressed harder and hissed.
"Your eyes need to be washed out," Shadowheart murmured. "I'm going to put my tail around your shoulders. You need to follow me to the pool of water in my den."
Tigerflame grunted. "Why can't I open my eyes yet?"
"It would better if you just kept them closed," Shadowheart replied.
Tigerflame felt the medicine cat's tail on his shoulders. Reluctantly, he followed Shadowheart until the she-cat stopped. He heard the sound of moss being dipped in water.
"This will probably sting at first, but it will help," Shadowheart said.
Tigerflame spread out on his belly and braced himself. The first trickles of water across his eyes felt like a million bee stings, but a few heartbeats later the pain turned to a soothing ache. The water was cool enough to numb the pain. He sighed as Shadowheart continued to squeeze water over his face. The sticky blood began to wash away more and more with every drop.
"There. All the blood is gone," Shadowheart said, sounding content.
More cobwebs were pressed to Tigerflame's face. Shadowheart led him back over to his nest, where she told Tigerflame to keep the cobwebs pressed firmly to his eyes so she could check on Burntpelt.
"How is Burntpelt?" Tigerflame wondered, listening to the faint sounds of Shadowheart moving about.
"There's a deep gash in his shoulder," Shadowheart said, her voice bristling with scarcely concealed anger. "He's lucky Crimsonstar called off the others when she did."
Tigerflame's gut wrenched. "Will...is he going to be okay?"
There was silence.
"Shadowheart?" Tigerflame gulped. All he could hear now was Burntpelt's slow breathing.
The medicine cat sighed, breaking the near silence. "He'll make it, Tigerflame. Barely. I've stopped the bleeding, but he lost a lot of blood. He's in no condition to go out hunting right now."
"Can I open my eyes yet?" Tigerflame asked.
He heard Shadowheart shuffle closer. The she-cat's paws peeled away the cobwebs spread across Tigerflame's face.
"The bleeding has stopped," Shadowheart muttered. "But..."
"But what?"
"It's going to scar."
Tigerflame opened his eyes. Pain flooded the nerves in his face, but he ignored it. He leaped from his nest and ran over to the pool of water to peer into its reflective surface.
"Tigerflame!" Shadowheart called softly.
Tigerflame stared at himself in the water. Volemask's claws had gored three, long scratches across his face. They started above his left eye and made a jagged slash down and across his nose to his right cheek. A few of the whiskers on the left side of his face were gone. He was lucky he hadn't been blinded.
Shadowheart padded up behind him. "I'm sorry, Tigerflame. Even if I use every poultice I know of, nothing will stop it from scarring."
He turned to the medicine cat. "What in StarClan's name is going on, Shadowheart? Warriors being kept from leaving the camp? Crimsonstar allowing her warriors to attack one another as punishment? Something is not right in ShadowClan! This all seems like something DarkClan would do!"
The medicine cat stared at her paws. "I probably shouldn't say anything to you, Tigerflame, but considering you were part of a prophecy, you are the only one I have to speak to right now. StarClan spoke to me recently. They said that there is too much blood being spilled between the Clans. It is causing rifts in the borders. If something isn't done soon, I fear for the lives of everyone."
Tigerflame slunk back to his nest. "I understand your worry, Shadowheart. But I'm just a regular warrior again. It's not like there's anything I can do."
Shadowheart nodded. "Stay there. Let me get a poultice together for your face."
Tigerflame waited impatiently as Shadowheart moved about the den gathering herbs to chew up into a poultice. Just as Shadowheart finished smearing the stinging poultice to Tigerflame's scratches, Furyclaw's voice rang out.
"Shadowheart!" Furyclaw's angry voice shouted from just outside the den. The deputy ducked into the den, his amber eyes flashing. "What are Tigerflame and Burntpelt doing lying around? They need to go hunting!"
Shadowheart's neck fur bristled. "Furyclaw, you don't understand. Burntpelt has a deep shoulder wound. He can't hunt until it heals! And if Tigerflame's wounds get infected..."
The ginger tom snarled and advanced on Shadowheart. "Do you think I care? Do you think Crimsonstar cares? We need the food! If Burntpelt and Tigerflame aren't out hunting in the next few minutes, I'll see to it that Crimsonstar banishes them!"
Tigerflame lurched out of his nest and stepped between Shadowheart and his father. "Are your ears full of bees, Furyclaw? If you send Burntpelt out to hunt, it will kill him!"
"Then so be it," Furyclaw spat.
"Tigerflame, it's fine," Shadowheart said. "Furyclaw, I will see to it that Tigerflame and Burntpelt go out to hunt."
"Good. It's nice to see someone around here knows how to follow orders," Furyclaw said, glaring at Tigerflame before leaving the den.
"You just condemned Burntpelt to his death!" Tigerflame shouted.
The medicine cat's eyes flashed. "No, I haven't. We're taking Burntpelt out of ShadowClan. I doubt ThunderClan will take him in, after Rowanstar found you two...but RiverClan might. Just follow my lead, and I'll get him somewhere he can rest and heal."
Tigerflame's heart pounded. "Shadowheart, don't you realize what will happen if you do that? Burntpelt won't be able to come back to ShadowClan, even if he does heal fully!"
Shadowheart's shoulders slumped as she looked down at Burntpelt. "Tigerflame, at this point, do we really have any other choice? Burntpelt won't have a chance of surviving if he stays in this StarClan-forsaken Clan. We need to get him somewhere safe." She looked up. "Will you help me?"
His throat too dry to respond, Tigerflame simply nodded.
"Then let's wake up Burntpelt and get him out of here," Shadowheart said.
Eaglefeather looked around the camp in amazement. It was busier today than it had been in moons. Cats were running about. Gorsepaw and Slenderpaw were cleaning dens while others chatted as they shared tongues. A few days ago, he'd gone with Willowsky and Ashwhisker to meet up with Ace, the kittypet they'd met who said he would gather some of his friends so they could talk to them about joining RiverClan. The chat had gone so well, Ace and nine other kittypets and stray cats from the Twolegplace had come to RiverClan to see if they could live like warriors. Now the Clan seemed full of life again as his Clanmates clamored to teach the kittypets and strays the ways of a warrior.
"Eaglefeather!"
He turned as Fernpaw came racing over with Frostpaw and Tawnypaw, two of her friends from Twolegplace who had come back with them a few days ago.
Frostpaw was a long-furred black she-cat with a white chest and belly and a white stripe down her nose. She'd been a stray cat called Helen. Her brother, Noel, had come to RiverClan with her. Noel was now called Spiderpaw. Tawnypaw was a very pretty brown, black, and white she-cat with yellow eyes. She had been a kittypet called Sylvia.
"What is it, Fernpaw?" Eaglefeather asked. He'd been about to go look for Barkpaw to take him out hunting. The fresh-kill pile was awfully small.
"We were just wondering if you could take us out hunting," Fernpaw said. "Streameyes just taught Tawnypaw a new way to catch fish from the lake, and we wanted to see her practice!"
"Why don't you ask your mentors to take you out?" Eaglefeather asked. "I was just about to find Barkpaw so we could go hunting."
"But we wanted to go with you," Frostpaw said.
"Frostpaw..." Eaglefeather started to say.
A sudden hush spread through the Clan. Eaglefeather spun to see what was going on. His eyes widened when he saw Duskstar, Fangeye, and a few LightClan warriors entering the camp. He recognized Weedfur, Snapthorn, Mistleaf, and...Reekfur!
Eaglefeather flicked his tail at the she-cats. "Hurry. Get inside the apprentices' den," he hissed at them. "And stay in there until I say you can come out."
The tone of his voice left no room for question. Looking terrified, Fernpaw led her friends into the apprentices' den close by.
Eaglefeather saw Lionstar coming out of his den. Ashwhisker was right behind him. The other RiverClan cats were all looking suspiciously at Duskstar as the LightClan leader approached Lionstar. Eaglefeather could see that none of the kittypets were visible any longer. Like he had told Fernpaw and her friends to hide, his Clanmates had told the other kittypets to hide in the dens nearest them.
"Duskstar, what a surprise," Lionstar said. "I was hoping I'd have a chance to talk to you about what one of my warriors discovered the other day. He found a few of your warriors stealing prey out of our river."
Duskstar sat down in front of Lionstar, his warriors and deputy flanking him in a semi-circle. The tom's mismatched eyes were dull, as if Duskstar lacked interest in this visit.
"My warriors were not on your territory, Lionstar. Your warrior had no right to attack my warriors," Duskstar said. The leader lifted his head. "Besides, I believe your Clan is more in the wrong here than mine. My warriors report that they saw your warrior with a kittypet fresh from the Twolegplace, and your warrior called the kittypet by a warrior name."
"I don't see how that has anything to do with the fact your Clan has been stealing from us," Lionstar snarled.
Duskstar's eyes narrowed. "Oh? So you don't deny your warrior was with a kittypet?" He glanced around, his nostrils flaring. "Your entire camp reeks of kittypet scent. You don't deny you're hiding kittypets here?"
Duskstar flicked a tail at Weedfur, who darted into the warriors' den and dragged Blackpaw, a former kittypet, out by the scruff of her neck.
"You don't deny that you're trying to replace the Clanmates you lost in the greencough epidemic? Did you really think the other Clans wouldn't notice? Allowing one or two strong kittypets into a Clan was beneficial seasons ago, but allowing this number of soft-minded kittypets in? You're going to tarnish your warrior bloodlines." Duskstar shook his head.
"Let Blackpaw go!" Lionstar snapped.
Weedfur let go of Blackpaw. The black and white she-cat crouched, frozen, in front of the warriors' den. Her blue eyes were wide with terror.
"Why are you here, Duskstar?" Lionstar stepped forward.
"If you're so worried about the other Clans finding out about you allowing a large amount of kittypets into your Clan, I won't say anything," Duskstar said. "But I want something in exchange."
Lionstar's ears flattened. "Of course you do."
"If you want me and my warriors to keep our mouths shut about your kittypet friends, all I ask is that you let us fish in your river whenever we want," Duskstar said.
"For how long?" Lionstar whispered.
Duskstar curled his tail. "Until greenleaf. Or until the other Clans find out about your kittypets in some other way. Believe me, I don't think you can keep them hidden forever."
"Lionstar, you can't really be thinking of agreeing to this...?" Ashwhisker muttered.
Eaglefeather and his Clanmates waited on bated breath as Lionstar looked at his paws. The camp was utterly silent as they waited for their leader's decision. Finally, the brown tom looked up at LightClan's leader. The two toms glared at one another.
"Fine, Duskstar. You win this time. My warriors won't bother your warriors if they see them hunting in the river. Unless they find your warriors on our side of the river," Lionstar sneered.
"Deal," Duskstar said, standing and walking away. His warriors followed him silently.
Before the LightClan cats disappeared from the camp, Eaglefeather saw Reekfur glance toward him with a pleading look, as if Reekfur were asking for forgiveness for what his leader had just done. Eaglefeather glared back at him and turned away to slip into the apprentices' den.
Fernpaw, Frostpaw, and Tawnypaw were crouched in the back of the den. Fernpaw looked at Eaglefeather, worry in her yellow-green eyes.
"Are they gone?" Fernpaw whispered.
Eaglefeather nodded. "They're gone, but not for long. Lionstar is allowing LightClan to hunt fish from our river so they won't blab to the other Clans about us bringing you kittypets here."
The three she-cats gasped.
"Why?" Fernpaw asked. "There's hardly enough prey in the river for RiverClan to hunt! It can't possibly feed both of the Clans."
Eaglefeather shook his head. "That's not the point. LightClan is having trouble feeding itself just as much as the rest of us. They'll do anything to get more food for themselves, no matter what it costs us in the meantime." He looked at the three of them. "Don't you think Lionstar would do the same? If he sees a weakness in one of our neighboring Clans that he can take advantage of to gain more food for us, don't you think he would choose to take it?"
"It just seems...so unfair," Frostpaw whispered.
"That's how it is out here. It's always like this during leaf-fall and leafbare," Eaglefeather mumbled. "If you don't think you can handle it, I'll take you back to Twolegplace immediately."
"No!" the three she-cats said.
"You don't want to go back?" Eaglefeather twisted his ears forward.
Fernpaw shook her head. "Your...our Clan needs us. We might have to go hungry, but if we can help feed the queens, kits, and elders and help protect the borders it will really mean something. We've only been here a few days, but it already feels like home. Everyone has been so nice. I can't see how I could go back to the dull life of Twolegplace now."
"Exactly!" Frostpaw exclaimed.
"We can't leave!" Tawnypaw added.
Eaglefeather's chest filled with pride. These three she-cats had been here for such a short time, but they already understood what it meant to be a warrior.
"You know, if you keep it up, Lionstar will give you three you true warrior names soon," Eaglefeather said. "Why don't we go find Barkpaw and see if we can find any prey in the lake? I'd love to see Tawnypaw try out that hunting technique Streameyes taught her."
"I think Blossomfur took Barkpaw and Heatherlight out really early to collect herbs," Tawnypaw said. "I'm pretty sure Scorchfur was supposed to tell you that."
"I haven't seen Scorchfur at all today," Eaglefeather told them. "I suppose if Barkpaw is busy hunting for herbs, we can go without him. Let's go."
He led the she-cats back out into the camp. Things were much more subdued now after Duskstar's visit. Eaglefeather noticed many of his Clanmates were looking very grim. There was no more sharing tongues going on. Rather, the camp was filled with dreadful whispers of annoyance and disbelief. Eaglefeather had a feeling many of his Clanmates were not happy with Lionstar's agreement with Duskstar. But how could he blame them, when he himself was not pleased with the decision? His Clan worried too much about what the other Clans thought about them inviting kittypets into their ranks. Wouldn't it be better to admit to all of the Clans what they were doing than to willingly hand over badly-needed prey to LightClan?
With a sigh, Eaglefeather led Fernpaw, Frostpaw, and Tawnypaw toward the exit. They left the camp and headed toward the lakeshore. It wasn't long before their journey was interrupted by the sound of hurried pawsteps. Barkpaw came crashing through the reeds, panic in his young face. The apprentice skidded to a stop when he saw his mentor.
"Barkpaw, what's the matter? Where are Blossomfur and Heatherlight?" Eaglefeather demanded.
The young tom shook his head. "Near the ShadowClan border. Shadowheart was there. He need...needed help. There...there were these strange toms! They attacked us...out of nowhere... And...and...Blossom...Blossomfur is...is...she's dead, Eaglefeather! And...and Tigerflame told me to run...for help..."
"Get back to camp. All of you! Tell Lionstar to send warriors!" Eaglefeather shouted without thinking.
"Eaglefeather, you can't go alone!" Fernpaw said.
"Barkpaw, go!" Eaglefeather shouted when his apprentice hesitated.
Barkpaw scampered away, his puffed tail waving in the air. Eaglefeather pushed Tawnypaw and Frostpaw back in the direction of the camp.
"You three, go back to camp! Now!" Eaglefeather screamed at them. "Don't you dare follow me! You aren't ready for battle!"
"But I fought those LightClan cats with you!" Fernpaw snapped.
"This is different, Fernpaw. Please, just listen to me and go back to camp!" Eaglefeather said.
"Come on, Fernpaw!" Frostpaw said. "Eaglefeather's right! We're only holding him back from going to help!"
Fernpaw hesitated briefly. "Be careful, Eaglefeather." She turned and ran off in the same direction Barkpaw had gone. Frostpaw and Tawnypaw went after her.
After a deep sigh, Eaglefeather turned and raced in the direction of ShadowClan's border. There was a Twolegplace between their territory and ShadowClan's, but there were hardly any Twolegs around because of the cold weather of leafbare. He wondered if the strange toms Barkpaw had mentioned came from the Twolegplace. And could Blossomfur really be dead?
He heard the sound of battle cries nearby and turned toward the sound. When he broke through a forest of reeds to see the battle, he was so shocked that he froze. Shadowheart, Tigerflame, and Heatherlight were fighting three black toms, a small brown tabby tom, a very dark blue-gray tom, and a brown tabby she-cat. Nearby, Blossomfur's motionless body lay beside a lump of dark fur that Eaglefeather thought might be another cat.
"Eaglefeather!" Tigerflame shouted when he saw him. "Help!"
Eaglefeather forced himself to focus. He leaped at the two black toms attemping to pin Heatherlight to the ground. The she-cat was too slippery for them. He tackled the smaller black tom the ground before battering his ears with unsheathed claws. His anger swelled as the black tom suddenly dissolved and slithered away as a shadow.
"Magick!" Heatherlight hissed under her breath.
Eaglefeather's blood boiled. Magick? These cats could use magick? It was just like that rogue that had tried following them on their journey!
There was a rumbling sound. Eaglefeather turned to see a wave of water cascading toward them from the direction of the lake. White froth topped the wave as it careened toward them. But Eaglefeather wasn't afraid of the water. Actually, he'd never felt more in control in his entire life. The water followed his eyes and swirled around the cats still attacking Tigerflame and Shadowheart, without touching either of the ShadowClan toms. The strange cats' yowls were drowned out as they were swept away by the strange water.
Tigerflame ran over to Eaglefeather as the wave of water disappeared. "Eaglefeather! Are you doing that? I thought you could only breathe underwater!"
Eaglefeather slumped to his belly, suddenly feeling very worn out. "I...I think I did do that," he said. He looked up at Tigerflame. "Great StarClan! Tigerflame...your face! What happened?"
The ginger tom winced. "It's nothing." He turned and called, "Shadowheart! Is Burntpelt okay?"
The medicine cat looked up from examining Burntpelt's wounds. "The bleeding hasn't started again, if that's what you mean. He..."
"Blossomfur!" Heatherlight wailed.
Eaglefeather glanced over to the she-cat. She was crouched beside Blossomfur's body. He hadn't noticed how large the pool of blood was beneath the medicine cat's body until that moment. Despite having used up all his strength controlling the wave of water, Eaglefeather forced himself to stand and wobble over to Blossomfur.
The state of the medicine cat's body made his blood run cold and his stomach clench. Her head had been cleanly severed from her body, which explained the unnaturally large pool of blood. The sight brought back memories of the journey to save SkyClan, when he and the others had seen this done to a cat who had been trying to help them. Fernstripe had been terrified. She'd told them that only DarkClan cats knew how to use magick to kill in such a fashion.
"Blossomfur," Heatherlight sobbed, standing over her mentor's body. "How...how could they do this? Who could do...who could...do such a thing?"
Eaglefeather draped his tail over her shoulders, unable to think of anything to say. What could he say to comfort her? Blossomfur was in StarClan now, and Heatherlight would have to take over as RiverClan's medicine cat in her place.
"Eaglefeather, you recognize this. Don't you?" Tigeflame whispered.
"Yeah, Tigerflame. I recognize it," he replied.
"Recognize what?" Shadowheart asked, looking at the two of them.
Tigerflame flicked his tail at Blossomfur's body. "You see how cleanly her head was severed? We've seen that before. On the journey to save SkyClan, we were followed by someone. They attacked one of the friends we made along the way. She was killed in the exact same way. Fernstripe told us...she said that only DarkClan cats knows how to use magick to kill like that."
"Those weren't LightClan cats, though," Heatherlight said.
Shadowheart looked at all of them. "I was a made an apprentice toward the end of the war against DarkClan. One thing I remember very clearly is, at the first Gathering after the war, Duskstar announced that some of his Clanmates had decided they couldn't live as warriors, and they left. It's possible, after all this time, they've returned to finish what the first DarkClan could not."
Tigerflame grunted. "Well, we have other things to worry about right now. Shadowheart, we need to get back soon before Furyclaw gets suspicious."
Eaglefeather twisted his ears forward. "What's going on? Shadowheart, why are you and Tigerflame here in the first place?"
"Their business is with me," Heatherlight said, looking up from her mentor's body. "Burntpelt is hurt badly, and Shadowheart doesn't have enough herbs to take care of him. She asked Blossomfur to take him in and heal him. But, Blossomfur..."
"What? I don't think Lionstar will agree to that!" Eaglefeather said.
Shadowheart shook her head. "Blossomfur already agreed to do it. Will your leader go against her last wishes to help a cat in need?"
Tigerflame was looking antsy. "Come on, Shadowheart. We need to go."
"I'm sorry to leave my problems with you, Heatherlight. And my condolences to you. Blossomfur was a great medicine cat. RiverClan will certainly notice her passing," Shadowheart said. She bowed her head to Heatherlight before turning away. "Let's go, Tigerflame."
"But..." Eaglefeather tried to go after them, but Heatherlight leaped in front of him.
"No, Eaglefeather," she said.
He looked over at Burntpelt. The tom had globs of reddened spiderwebs on one of his shoulders. How had the tom gotten hurt so badly? And why hadn't Shadowheart just ask for herbs from Blossomfur instead of making Burntpelt RiverClan's problem?
"Lionstar isn't going to like this, Heatherlight," Eaglefeather growled. "Especially considering Blossomfur is dead."
Heatherlight went and sat down beside her mentor's body. "Lionstar and Blossomfur were apprentices together. They were good friends, you know."
"I know," Eaglefeather murmured just as a group of warriors came racing toward them.
"Eaglefeather! Heatherlight!" Scorchfur shouted. "Barkpaw said..." The tom skidded to a halt and stared down at Blossomfur's body. "What..."
"Blossomfur!" Woodpuddle screamed, racing to his aunt's side. "Great StarClan! What happened to her?"
Eaglefeather cringed as Woodpuddle looked at him and Heatherlight with wide, blue eyes. The others were crowding around now, screaming in anguish and shock. Hedgeblossom pressed herself against Heatherlight, obviously trying to give some comfort to her sister. How could he and Heatherlight possibly explain to their Clanmates what had happened?
"Quiet!" Lilyfur, the oldest warrior there, shouted.
The screaming subsided as everyone turned to look at the elderly warrior queen. Her white and gray fur was patchy and thin, but her sky blue eyes blazed with life.
"Now is not the time to moarn," Lilyfur said. "We must get Blossomfur back to camp where we can give her a proper vigil." She turned to Eaglefeather and Heatherlight. "You two will need to report to Lionstar. I'm sure he'll be interested to know why there's a dead ShadowClan cat on our territory!"
Heatherlight stepped away from her sister, her pelt fluffing out. "Burntpelt isn't dead! Shadowheart requested Blossomfur take him in and help him because ShadowClan doesn't have enough herbs to care for him!"
There were more gasps, this time of astonishment.
"Lionstar would never agree to it!" Scorchfur snarled.
"Scorchfur! That's my sister you're talking to!" Hedgeblossom snapped.
"Blossomfur already agreed to Shadowheart's request. I'm RiverClan's medicine cat now, Scorchfur, and by StarClan I will not go against Blossomfur's last wishes!" Heatherlight growled.
Eaglefeather shook his head. This was beginning to get out of hand! If something wasn't done, his Clanmates would start fighting amongst themselves!
"That's enough!" Eaglefeather shouted. "It's no good to stand here and bicker about this! We'll bring Blossomfur back to camp, and we'll bring Burntpelt along with us! It's not like he's much of a threat anyway, being unconcious and all!"
"Who died and made you boss?" Scorchfur shouted. "I say..."
"Scorchfur, put a mouse in it," Lilyfur said, glaring at her son. "Heatherlight and Eaglefeather are right. Heatherlight is our medicine cat now. We must listen to her."
Scorchfur snorted. "Fine! But you won't get any help from me!" The tom turned and pushed his way through a clump of reeds before disappearing up a ridge.
Heatherlight looked down at her mentor and then back at Burntpelt. The medicine cat's face twisted into one of grief as she looked at the cats, trying to figure out which to help carry back to camp.
Hedgeblossom put her tail over her sister's shoulders. "It's okay, Heatherlight. I'll help with Burntpelt. You go help get Blossomfur back to camp."
"Oh, Hedgeblossom. Thank you," Heatherlight whispered.
Woodpuddle was already standing beside Blossomfur's body, his eyes silenty weeping watery tears down his cheeks. Lilyfur stood beside Blossomfur's head. The fire had gone from the she-cat's eyes as she looked down at the decapitated head of their beloved medicine cat.
"I'll help with Burntpelt," Eaglefeather said, since nobody else seemed to want to.
"Thank you, Eaglefeather," Hedgeblossom said as he padded over.
The others started to drag Blossomfur's body back toward camp. Eaglefeather wrinkled his nose as the stench of blood swirled through the air. The trail of blood was horrendous, and Blossomfur's body continued to ooze as his Clanmates dragged her as gently as they could.
With a shake of his head, Eaglefeather turned away and sunk his teeth into Burntpelt's scruffy neck. The tom moaned as Hedgeblossom took hold of his flank with her teeth. Eaglefeather flicked the she-cat's shoulder with his tail, and the two of them began to drag the ShadowClan tom back to RiverClan's camp.
He smells awful! Eaglefeather thought to himself as he and Hedgeblossom made slow going through the reeds. But I can't imagine this is worse than what the others are going through right now. There's so much blood...Blossomfur doesn't even smell like a cat anymore!
It felt like an eternity had passed by the time they reached the camp. The silence that greeted them inside was nearly deafening. That was, until cats began to realize that Blossomfur was dead and Lilyfur was carrying her decapitated head. Then the screams began to echo across the camp. Eaglefeather cringed when Streameyes hissed at him, her eyes locked on Burntpelt's limp body.
He and Hedgeblossom dragged Burntpelt into a nest in the medicine cat's den before slipping back out into the camp to gather with the rest of their Clanmates in the middle of camp, where the others had taken Blossomfur's body. Eaglefeather saw Lionstar walking toward them. The leader's silver eyes were like chips of ice as he approached the crowd. The cats nudged one another to move out of the way, leaving an open path for Lionstar.
Silence fell again as Lionstar examined Blossomfur's body. By this time, the excessive amount of bleeding had stopped. Despite the lack of oozing blood, Blossomfur was still a mess. Blood was drying in patches on her pelt, the fur sticking up every which way. Her tail was so full of kinks from the fight that it no longer lay flat. Blossomfur's head hardly looked like a cat's any longer. Both ears had been shredded. Whiskers had been torn away and patches of fur were gone, showing the bloody skin beneath. The worst part of all was that both eyes had been gauged out.
"What happened? Who did this?" Lionstar demanded.
"We were ambushed, Lionstar," Heatherlight said. "A group of cats came out of nowhere. They attacked us and killed Blossomfur. And Lionstar..." She paused.
The leader looked up from Blossomfur's body. "What is it, Heatherlight?"
"The cats knew how to use magick," Heatherlight murmured.
Gasps and screams flew through the camp at the medicine cat's words.
Lionstar's eyes widened. "LightClan...?"
Heatherlight shook her head. "They were not LightClan cats. I didn't recognize any of them. They smelled like the wild, too. And they were so vicious. I've never...I...can't..." The she-cat hung her head and choked on her words.
Hedgeblossom pressed against her sister again, running her tail over Heatherlight's shoulders. Hazelfrost padded from the crowd to sit on Heatherlight's other side.
Seeing the sisters together, Eaglefeather thought about his own sister, Swanpool. He glanced around and saw her nearby. As Lionstar continued to question Heatherlight about what had happened, he walked over to Swanpool. His sister was sitting with Echopelt, a ginger and brown tom who was slightly younger than them.
Swanpool looked worriedly at Eaglefeather. "You okay?"
He nodded. "I'm fine. But it just feels like...like there are shadows all around us."
"I know how you feel, Eaglefeather. Something is coming," Swanpool murmured. "I think everyone knows it."
Eaglefeather looked over at Blossomfur's decapitated body. "Yeah...but what?"
End Chapter Five
Author's Notes: I really liked Blossomfur. It just pains me that I killed her off. But there are reasons behind every death...
