Russetfur woke again as Runningnose started to work on her wounds. The medicine cat was murmuring quietly to himself, and seemed to almost be panicking. Though this was far from reassuring, it made Russetfur almost fall asleep again. She struggled to keep her eyes open, twitching her paws in an affort to stay awake. The gray and white tom saw she wasn't unconscious and stepped over her, staring into her eyes. "Russetfur. Try and stay awake okay? I'm going to save you, I promise, but if you fall asleep it will be a heck of a lot harder." The she-cat blinked in response, unwilling to speak or nod her head.
Runningnose shifted his attention back to her wounds, and as he did, he saw a particular pattern in the clawmarks on her shoulders. They were very deep and rather long, but there were four on each side, as if... He scented her fur again, and caught a whiff of ThunderClan. A couple of long brown striped hairs caught his attention and he pulled them from her flank. The scent here was unmistakable. He dropped the hairs in front of Russetfur's nose.
"There was no dog, was there?" he asked, and he heard the she-cat's heart speed up.
Her dark green eyes grew ashamed, and she lowered her head with some difficulty. "No." She looked up now, locking gazes with him intensely. "But no cat needs to know that but you and I. Not a word of this passes your lips, Runningnose!" she said, her voice bordering on hysterical.
"But, Russetfur..." the tom started, his voice troubled. "You know that there's a chance that he- that you're..."
At his words, the dark ginger warrior closed her eyes tightly. "It doesn't matter. This is between you and me, and I want it to stay that way." Runningnose hesitated, then dipped his head.
"I promise." he told her, and returned to treating her injuries.
Two weeks later...
Russetfur stretched her legs. She had only been able to leave the medicine two suns ago, so it was good to be in the warrior's den. Kneading her paws in the ground for a moment, she exited the den, carefully skirting Skyheart, sprawled across the entrance. Dustfang was sharing a mouse with Owlpaw, whose warrior ceremony was due that evening. Feeling devious, the warrior padded over and plopped down in front of their noses. "Hi." she said, interrupting whatever Dustfang had been about to say. "Dustfang, Owlpaw."
The tom smiled and shook his head. "Not anymore. I guess you missed the ceremony?"
"Oh." Russetfur apologized sadly, "I'm sorry."
Owl-something shrugged. "It's okay. You didn't know Raggedstar rescheduled. But my name's Owlflight, now. And the others are Kinkfur, Shadestorm, Flamesong, Darkflower... And Brokentail."
"What!" Russetfur asked loudly. "He's only been training for three moons - barely!"
Owlflight kicked a pebble sullenly. "Don't I know it. Raggedstar said he was exceptional, that no cat in the Clan showed as much promise... He even hinted that he was going to give the stupid fox an apprentice soon!" Dustfang twined her tail with his comfortingly.
"Raggedstar's just being nepotist. Brokentail will get what for when we all show him up in warrior tasks!" The young warrior said bracingly, and Owlflight flicked his ears.
Letting out a huff of air, he responded, "I suppose. I just can't stand that Raggedstar sullied the name of warrior just so his precious kit could prance about in the warriors' den." He shot a bitter glance toward the leader, too far away to hear the conversation.
"We do have good news, though." Dustfang said. "Brightflower's pregnant! And not that long until they're born, either."
Owlflight chuckled. "A moon and a bit is a while, Dustfang."
"Shut up, you." Dustfang chided him jokingly before bowling him over. The pair of them scuffled in the dirt, laughing, but Russetfur paid them no mind. Her thoughts still circled around Brightflower's pregnancy. That, and the obnoxious number of times she had thrown up lately. Could I be-? The she-cat wondered. Sickness swirled up again at the thought. If she was... Then they would be Tigerclaw's. Even hearing the name in her own thoughts made the hair on her spine lift.
Shaking herself, Russetfur got to her paws, stepped over the brawling new warriors, and padded to Foxheart, who was talking to Raggedstar quietly a few fox-lengths away. She paused a little ways away, not wanting to interrupt. Raggedstar looked over, and twitched his tail for her to join them. "Russetfur. I must say it's good to see you out and about, but I have disturbing news..."
"What is it?" she asked anxiously.
His amber eyes dark, the ShadowClan leader replied, "Rats. They attacked Brokentail the other day, and I think it was them that killed Lizardfang all that time ago. I will not let them hurt our warriors, especially not my son. We attack tomorrow, at sun-high."
Russefur's eyes widened. "Are we ready for this?"
"Foxheart and I believe so. I want you to lead the second patrol, Russetfur. Foxheart will lead the first, Blackfoot the second, and I the last." He informed her. A small voice in her head asked sarcastically, What? Brokentail the kit-warrior doesn't get to lead one?
Instead, she ignored the snide mental comment and inquired, "Why so many different patrols, instead of two large ones?"
"Foxheart and I believe that four smaller patrols will exhaust them and make it seem like we have more cats than we do. So, are you battle-ready?" he changed the topic slightly.
Russetfur dipped her head immediately. "Of course." Right now, she didn't care if she was pregnant or not: if these rats had killed Lizardfang, she was going to get revenge.
"Who will you take? You may have seven, warriors and apprentices."
After thinking for a minute, she answered slowly, "I want Skyheart, Icepaw, Nightpelt, Featherstorm, Flamesong, Whitewater, and Tanglepaw."
Raggedstar dipped his head. "Very well."
"Er, Foxheart, I was wondering if you would hunt with me." Russetfur said, turning to her sister. Foxheart nodded, a tiny smile forming. They said goodbye to Raggedstar and padded out of camp.
After a couple of moments, the bright ginger deputy asked, "So. What brought this about?"
"I need an excuse to hunt with my sister now?" Russetfur responded jokingly.
Foxheart rolled her eyes. "No, but you've been very... Reserved...Lately."
"I need to talk to you." Russetfur said in answer, telling the truth. Whether this honesty would continue or not, even she didn't know. The warrior wasn't altogether sure she was ready to tell anyone, even her sister, what had taken place. Runningnose had kept his silence, for which Russetfur was grateful, and she didn't know if she was ready to break that silence.
Foxheart nodded. "Okay. Talk to me." Russetfur hesitated for a minute. Foxheart nudged her shoulder. "Hey! Tell me."
"I- well, um.. You see, I-" she began haltingly, a little annoyed at her insistence.
The ginger cat rolled her eyes and sighed. "Come on, Russetfur. Spit it out already! You always do this..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Russetfur snapped.
Foxheart rolled her eyes yet again. "You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Her eyes, finally in one place, were hostile. "You try to make yourself seem more important by making up stories. Over and over. Give it up."
"Excuse me?" the warrior snarled. "As if you're one to talk about making up stories!"
"Oh as if!" the she-cat replied loudly. "Now just tell me whatever you're trying to say already, I have better things to do with my time than this!"
Russetfur bared her teeth. "Then go and do them! It's none of your business anyway."
"None of my business? None of my business? That's rich. Everything's my business now, remember?" Foxheart hissed angrily.
Russetfur shouted at Foxheart, "Just because you're deputy-" Her sister cut her off, green eyes flashing.
"Don't even go there! You've been jealous of my deputyship since the day I was appointed, don't deny it! You are blinded by ambition, and you don't care who lives or dies, as long as YOU get to be leader! It's not going to happen, so get over it!" Her sister spat on the ground in front of her and zipped away into the marsh, leaving Russetfur speechless.
A/N: First, I am VERY sorry it's taken me this long to update. But it was Finals week, and then End-of-School sleepovers, and then I was busy with chores and whatnot... the next chapter might have a little bit of a wait on it because I'm working on a Jayfeather one-shot, but it shouldn't be as long as a wait as this latest one. Anyway, what are your opinions on the little siblings' spat at the end of this rather short chapter? Who was in the right? Russetfur? Foxheart? Both of them? Neither? Give me your thoughts... Again, sorry this chapter is short and late, but it is a bit of a filler chapter... next one will be a lot better! (I hope.)