Right, this is a rather...eh...different chapter. I comments on a certain...scent...that um...you might go -twitch twitch- over, but...well...it is rated T... Please don't flame me over THAT.
Anywho's, I thought I should warn you all that um..er...well...I wrote this real quick..and...I'll fix it up and re-upload it some other time...I'm sometimes evil like that!
xxFlamefurxx- Uh...er...The whole of ThunderClan in the books...hasn't been um...born...yet... This takes place before even Bluestar was leader... And Sandpelt is a totally different cat then SandSTORM in the books. I suppose Sandstorm might have some kinship with my Sandpelt...but um...yeah.
Greenpool- Remember - WindClan wants toms...and Silverpaw happens to be a tom. Plus, I don't think it occured to them that he's nuts - Blackshadow needed Foxheart to clarify...so I don't think Timidleaf would have any clue. I hope that clears things up. :) I suppose it's my fault - I have to write more clearly, I suppose. THANKS!
Brooksilver- So...so...so what?
Pearl.H.Sweden- Wow! You made a clever prediction!
Daklotles85- I think they're coming soon...
Strangefur- Well...yeah, I gave him a feminine name...because I picture him as kind of er...feminine looking. For a cat. You'll have to find out his whole backstory later:)
Thank you all for reviewing!
"Hey, Rosethorn. Wake up."
A sharp jab in her side jolted the medicine cat awake, and she fluttered her blue eyes open – and saw Thorntail's gray face just mouse-lengths away from her own.
"Are you okay?" he asked curiously. "You were muttering things like 'stay away from me' and stuff in your sleep so loud that it woke me up. At first I thought we were being raided…then I realized you were asleep…and I watched you for a little while because…" Thorntail shuffled his paws in embarrassment, "I thought you were receiving some sort of sign from StarClan – and I always wanted to see something like that – and that was the closest I've ever gotten. Then I remembered that you don't have dreams from StarClan…so I woke you up."
Rosethorn yawned as Thorntail explained his reasoning, and flicked her ears.
"You…weren't receiving a sign from StarClan – right?" Thorntail asked her. To what seemed like no one, he muttered, "With my luck, I probably interrupted Hollowstar from telling her the next thing that could wipe out ThunderClan and how to prevent it."
"No, no." Rosethorn comforted him. "It was just an average nightmare." She shivered, as she remembered the details – the ginger-coated cat…the blood…
She blinked, as she noticed a pale slimmer of silver moonlight entering the den. "Are the cats back from the Gathering yet?" she asked.
"No." Thorntail twitched his whiskers. "I doubt they've even left from Fourtrees yet. The moon is still pretty low."
Rosethorn shook herself – silently rebuking herself for falling asleep so early, when Thorntail was…in her den…alone…with hardly any cats…
Thorntail seemed to guess what she was thinking. "I'm not that rough." He snapped. "You fell asleep while mixing some herbs for…something…and I thought you'd fall over and hurt yourself the way you were, so I moved you into your nest."
"Thanks." Rosethorn meowed curtly, as she shifted in the mossy nest –t hat in reality was Ebonypaw's – that Thorntail had lay her in. She suddenly remembered Thorntail's fever, and meowed, "Let me see your paw."
Thorntail's blue eyes glinted with amusement – and a thorn dug in Rosethorn's heart as she wondered how Thorntail could still play these sort of games with her without guilt…when he had clearly shown her that his affections lie with Shadenight in RiverClan – and he slowly lifted a paw into the air. Rosethorn gently touched the pad with her tail.
"It's better!" she gasped.
"The herbs you gave me, along with my little nap worked fine." Thorntail purred laying his paw flat on the earth once more. "Thanks Rosethorn."
Rosethorn shrugged her shoulders. "That's a medicine cat's job." She meowed coolly, flicking her tail lazily. Her tone had been dismissive – and it seemed to greatly confuse the smoky gray tom.
"Are you alright?" he asked touching her shoulder with his tail. "Is something bothering you, Rosethorn?"
Rage surged through the medicine cat's blood, however, she was able to keep a calm, level voice as she meowed, "You…clearly wanted to go to the Gathering."
Thorntail didn't seem to understand what she meant. "Yeah." He shrugged his shoulders. "It was an important one. I kind of want to make up for all the time Streamstar wouldn't let me go because she was hoping that if RiverClan didn't see or hear about me for awhile, they'd forget about me." A quizzical look appeared in his sapphire eyes. "Rosethorn, if one of your Clanmates…let's say Blackshadow… joined RiverClan…would you ever forget about him? Am I the only cat that doesn't understand Streamstar's logic?"
Rosethorn stifled a hiss at how dense Thorntail was. "That's not the reason you wanted to go…" she mumbled, flicking her gaze down to her paws. "…You wanted to see Shadenight."
To Rosethorn's surprise, Thorntail started to purr hysterically as if she had just told him the funniest joke he had ever heard in his life. "Shadenight?" he echoed, twitching his whiskers in amusement. "What gave you that idea?"
Rosethorn hesitated, before she meowed, "You took her to the border last – and made me walk to camp alone…Thorntail…you don't have to hide it from me…" she growled – her voice hoarse, "If you like Shadenight…just tell me. I won't stop you two…Love…you can't help who you love."
Thorntail stared at her like she had sprouted another head for a few heartbeats, before he meowed, "Shadenight's pretty…" he confirmed – and Rosethorn's heart sank. No, Shadenight wasn't pretty. She was the most beautiful she-cat in the forest! She was even able to get compliments from ShadowClan queens! While Rosethorn… she knew she wasn't beautiful. She was pretty – maybe. Cats like Streamstar, Icepelt, and Dusktail were prettier though…
"But…" Thorntail continued, "She isn't the she-cat that walks in my dreams at night."
Rosethorn stumbled back in surprise. Shadenight…wasn't? "Then…who is the cat who you dream about?" she asked, curiously. Thorntail let out a purr, and an amused glint appeared in his eye.
"Well…maybe you know her. Here, let me describe her." He purred, and Rosethorn leaned forward, flicking her tail in curiosity. Thorntail paused for a moment – as if making sure that Rosethorn was paying absolute attention, before he began. "Well…she's beautiful!" he breathed. Rosethorn flattened her ears against her head. She had for a moment thought that it would be her, and Thorntail was flattering her. But…at Thorntail's description…she wasn't.
"And," Thorntail continued, "She's really caring and compassionate. For some reason I can never comprehend, she's always looking after other cats before herself." Rosethorn flicked her ears, as the possibilities ran through her head. "What else…oh!" Thorntail purred. "Her pelt…is as scarlet as a rose…and her eyes are like…the sky…or something. I'm not very poetic…but that's not the point!" Thorntail shook his head violently. "Rosethorn, I like you. I really do. Don't worry about Shadenight."
Rosethorn's heart lifted into the air. Why had she been so mouse-brained to instantly assume that Thorntail wasn't calling her beautiful? Sure, it was blatant lie…but didn't her mother tell her as a kit that that's what toms did best?
"Shadenight's not compassionate like you," Thorntail meowed. "I bet, if she had tried to cure my fever, she would've made it worse."
Rosethorn purred.
"Oh, guess what?" Thorntail asked suddenly, shaking with delight – and Rosethorn was once again reminded of how sometimes Thorntail acted exactly like a kit.
"What?" she asked.
"Streamstar said that Scornpaw's death wasn't my fault," Thorntail's mew was somehow a purr with a crack of sadness – and Rosethorn was left wondering how that was possible as she recalled that Scornpaw had been Badgerclaw and Scarface's son, and had been Thorntail's apprentice. "So she promised me one of Sandpelt's kits." He purred. "Sandpelt and Swiftfoot are both decent cats…I bet'cha their kits will come out nice. I had wanted to go to the Gathering and brag about it to Ravenfeather," Rosethorn never understood why, but Thorntail always seemed to have some sort of rivalry with the ShadowClan she-cat, "But nooo…" he drawled, "I had to get sick."
"You'd just tell Ravenfeather?" Rosethorn asked, without thinking, "What about Smokestar?" as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to bite them back in as Thorntail's voice from earlier rang in her ear of how he and Graywhisker were not Smokestar's real kits. Thorntail didn't seem to hear – or want to hear – her mistake, because he just went on ranting about how he was going to train his new apprentice extra hard…even though said apprentice hadn't yet been born. "Thorntail…do you ever speak to Smokestar at Gatherings? Have you had any contact with him since you left ShadowClan?"
Thorntail finally stopped his rant about his unborn apprentice, and seemed to decide that it was time to tell Rosethorn how things were. "Okay, Rosethorn." He purred. "Let's say…that I fall in love and find a mate one day…and she gets pregnant…A few moons later the kits are born…" Thorntail curled his tail, "And at first I'm overjoyed - I just became a father, right?" he asked, and before Rosethorn could answer, Thorntail went on, "But…as the kits grow up…they looks less and less like me…And then my mate dies." His voice was icily calm now, and Rosethorn blinked- Thorntail's tone almost always had some sort of emotion from keeping it from being so…calm – maybe fear, or anger, or humor…but his tone was vacant of any emotion – other than calm…if one can call that an emotion. "And I have to be face to face with these kits every day – and the whole Clan wants me to Father them…In the end, I can't take it anymore, so I send them to another Clan…" Thorntail shrugged, "But they keep…on…coming to me! If it were me," Thorntail growled, narrowing his ice-blue eyes, "I would hate those kits with every drop of blood that runs through my veins. I'd want them to get away from me as soon as possible." He cocked his head to one side, "That's what I'd want those kits to do. I'm doing Smokestar a favor."
Rosethorn looked down at her paws. She hadn't ever really stopped to think about how Smokestar must've felt through all of this. She had been so busy worrying about Thorntail, and wondering about Graywhisker's death. The ShadowClan leader had every right to dislike Thorntail and his brother, she supposed…but…
"I wonder," Rosethorn mewed suddenly; "If that's why Graywhisker went away." she blinked as she realized how it fit in so well with what Thorntail had said. Thorntail was avoiding Smokestar to do him a favor…while Graywhisker had gone to a totally different extreme. "But…" she continued, "There's no reason for any cat to kill themselves. There's no such thing…as a cat that has to go away." The image of Runningstar touching her privates by her underbelly, and Spottedstar framing her own mother as a traitor flashed into her mind, and for a fleeting second she wondered if her previous statement was incorrect – and there were cats that deserved to die, that had to die…but shook that away. That wasn't true. Those two cats – one of which was still alive and currently being guarded by one of the Warriors left behind from the Gathering – didn't really have to go away. They both could've chosen a different path in life…and at any point in time they could've turned back. It was only because of the other cat's paranoia that they were given no chance.
Rosethorn thought for a moment, and suddenly she was hit with another realization. "Graywhisker wouldn't have killed himself if he hadn't known the truth that he wasn't Smokestar's real son," she meowed thoughtfully. Suddenly, curiosity struck her. "How?" she asked bluntly, and Thorntail's ice-blue eyes narrowed into slits as she went on, "He never would've known…unless…someone told him…so who?" she blinked, in thought. "Thorntail…how did you find out? Did Smokestar tell you?"
Thorntail leveled his gaze with Rosethorn's. "No, Smokestar didn't tell me." He sighed, and Rosethorn was about to ask him how he found out when he went on, "You know how…when two cats mate…you can still sorta smell - in the area where they erm…did it – the scent of their um…love?" Rosethorn nodded thoughtfully. "It stays for awhile unless it gets covered…" Thorntail growled, "Anyways, one time I was exploring ShadowClan territory – it was a little after I went back to RiverClan. I think I was stealing prey or something." Rosethorn blinked- surprised that he would openly admit that he had been stealing prey that rightfully belonged to ShadowClan, "I wasn't looking, and I stumbled into this…odd cavern. I went to leave, but I smelled you know – that love scent. At first I tried to get out of there faster – I'm not exactly a fan of sniffing around at that sort of thing…" Thorntail wrinkled his nose in disgust, "But I decided not to, when I recognized my mother's smell. At first I was disgusted, but then I remembered that my mother had died…well, a long time ago." He meowed, "And then I sniffed the air again and realized how stale the scents were. I don't think the scents were ever washed away, because no cat in their right mind would go into the cavern, and the rain couldn't get into it either…what's more…for a stale scent – there was a lot of it." Rosethorn's eyes widened, as she realized what Thorntail was saying. His mother…and some cat…had mated…a lot. "Then I noticed something really odd. I smelled my mother…but I couldn't smell Smokestar. I studied the putrid smell more closely…and I recognized a different tom." Rosethorn opened her mouth to point out that just because his mother had been disloyal to Smokestar at some point, didn't mean that Smokestar wasn't his father, but Thorntail went on, "The tom…he smelled a lot like me. A lot," he growled. "Even more so than Smokestar. I put the two squirrels together – it wasn't hard to figure out." Thorntail paused for a moment, before going on. "I told him." He growled. "I told Graywhisker." Rosethorn felt her eyes round in horror, but Thorntail went on, "I did more then tell him. I dragged him into ShadowClan territory and showed him. And then I said to him, 'Graypaw, sniff around! Pretty neat, huh? Don't you think the tom smells a lot like us?'"
Rosethorn felt her breathing get fast and heavy, as she realized what Thorntail had done. "Why?" she hissed. "Why, Thorntail?! Why in the name of StarClan would you do such a thing?" Thorntail didn't answer, so Rosethorn swept on, "You, who knew Graywhisker so well…who cared about him more then anyone else – why….why you should've known that would happen if he knew about something like that!" she rose to her full height – which barely came to Thorntail's shoulder – and let out a furious hiss.
Thorntail neatly wrapped his tail around his paws, and promptly answered her, "I didn't like him." Rosethorn unwillingly unsheathed her claws and dug them into the earth beneath her. "I didn't like him…" Thorntail repeated, his voice a low growl, "I didn't like him with his high-minded ideas and his sense of justice!" He shook his head – as if he was casting away Graywhisker right then and there, "His justice, and ideas…but then he'd yowl in sorrow, and sob much more then a warrior should!" he spat. "I hated him for that since I was just a kit!" Rosethorn shivered, as she realized Thorntail was staring straight into her eyes as he spoke – with no shame about what he had done. "Just like Smokestar wished that Graywhisker and I would go away," Thorntail hissed, "I wished – with all my heart – that Graywhisker would go away."
Rosethorn almost let out her mixture of fear, anxiety, hate, and love out in one ear-splitting yowl, but somehow held it back. Instead, she was about to growl, "You're lying." She recalled Owlpelt's words about how Thorntail and Graywhisker had been so close to one another. "You're lying about hating Graywhisker." Thorntail rolled his eyes, but Rosethorn went on, "You weren't ever lonely because you had him…and you were always together."
"He was all that I had," Thorntail snapped. "My mother died, Smokestar practically exiled us…and we were both alone in RiverClan – a Clan, who, to be perfectly honest, didn't really want us. We were half-breeds…not even, technically, since my mother was a ShadowClan cat when we were born." Thorntail unwrapped his tail from his paws as he went on, "He was all I had – so I tried to protect him. And tom…did he need protecting." He muttered, "He was always getting into arguments with warriors that happened to bigger than him…I always helped protect him – and he relied on me." He blinked, and looked thoughtful. "We did fine in RiverClan – we fought, but all cats do – and it was always about petty stuff, like the biggest fish in the fresh-kill pile or something silly like that." He shrugged. "But once we went to ShadowClan…we never saw eye to eye."
"How…how do you mean?" Rosethorn was finally able to choke out.
Thorntail wasted no time in relaying to her his memory of a certain incident, "I don't remember what it was about, but I do remember that for some reason or another Smokestar was scolding me – because apparently I was too 'ambitious'." Thorntail rolled his eyes, and Rosethorn couldn't help but wonder if Smokestar had really just been scolding him for being too ambitious. She hated to side with Thorntail's evil father-figured, but Thorntail wasn't exactly the model warrior. "This argument we between me and Smokestar – no other cat," Thorntail growled firmly, "But even so, Graywhisker poked his muzzle where it didn't belong – and who does he side with, Rosethorn? His brother and kin, who he grew up with? No – he sides with the mighty, loyal ShadowClan leader!" his fur startled to bristle as if he were seeing it happen right then and there, and Rosethorn literally tensed her muscles to duck if he took a swipe at her, "Anyways, it ended with me running out of the camp. Graywhisker runs after me…and he tells me that our father's right, and I should be a tad bit more realistic. I told him that he should just mind his own tail, and told him to stop poking at mine!" Thorntail shook his head, "But no, Graywhisker couldn't do that! He keeps on treading on my tail, so in the end I tell him that if he 'Wants to play Clan' with Smokestar he should feel free too – but he should just leave me out of it. Graywhisker didn't seem to understand what I meant," Thorntail growled, "And he went on to tell me that we didn't have to keep playing Clan – and we could just stay in ShadowClan and become ShadowClan warriors so we could be with our father. He kept poking at me too – asking me why I kept rebelling against Smokestar." Thorntail let out a faint hiss. "I asked him if he was right in the head – and advised him to stop playing kittypet-and-Twoleg with Smokestar." Thorntail dug his long claws into the earth. "I told him 'And with your voice and looks the same as mine, I gag every time you lick-up to him!" Thorntail ripped his claws out of the ground beneath him – sending flecks of dust into the air – and he waved his sharp talons out in front of him, as if there were an enemy standing right before him. "He defended himself – stating that he was not, in fact, licking-up…And I told him that he was – every day, and that he would swim through a river of fire, if it would please our father." Rosethorn was starting to become slightly annoyed by how Thorntail felt the need to emphasize the word 'father'. "And Graywhisker then told me that there was something wrong with me!" Thorntail purred in amusement – though Rosethorn didn't understand how in the name of StarClan that was funny. "He said that ever since we left RiverClan, I had been…what's the word he used?" Thorntail looked thoughtful, "Irritable. Apparently I 'rebelled against Smokestar about every little thing, and because of me, there was always tension between the three of us.' Apparently he couldn't stand that and he 'tried to get along'. He then made a large point about how we were finally able to live with our kin, and we should make up for the time we were apart. But I was always ruining it." Rosethorn knew that in a weird way, Thorntail was quoting Graywhisker's own words. "For some reason – according to Graywhisker – I was always losing my temper and sulking around…and apparently, because of me, ShadowClan was having trouble excepting Graywhisker." Thorntail let out a choking laugh. "Graywhisker had forgotten quickly where his loyalties lay! He forgot about me…and RiverClan… So I decided to claw some sense into him." Rosethorn let out a squeak of alarm, but Thorntail either didn't hear it – or ignored it. "I told him that he should really stop acting like he was so high and mighty, when he couldn't even defend himself – I told him that the only thing he was good for was sobbing – and being a little pest. He was a terrible hunter, Rosethorn," he growled, "Simply terrible. And he couldn't fight – at all, really – and I was quick to tell him that without a Clan – and me…since I defended him from the Clan, he wouldn't be able to survive." Thorntail for the first time looked down at his paws. "He told me that it was always the same with me – he admitted that I was strong, but he told me that all I did was claw a cat's ears off to get what I want." Thorntail blinked, as if for the first time he was actually examining his brother's words. "He told me that that's not strength – and a good warrior couldn't act like that. He then pointed out that I was just violent. Apparently, he 'hated that I always tried to resolve everything with force.'" Rosethorn slowly untensed her muscles, as she realized that though Thorntail was mad, he didn't seem like he was going to commit a murder anytime soon. "He hated that any time there was a problem, I always tried to solve it with violence…and he told me that he didn't like – or want – to be protected by a cat like that…"
Rosethorn listened carefully to Thorntail's description of the argument, and once Thorntail was done…she repeated it in her head. She couldn't help but notice how clashy that fight seemed to be… And she wondered, how Owlpelt could possibly say to her that Thorntail and Graywhisker had been best friends.
"He was just giving back what I gave him," Thorntail went on suddenly, "That was the first time he and I ever really fought…We never found each other's presence as bothersome as that day. He just wanted to have a father, and I wanted more then anything to banish that father… I suppose that's what started the downward spiral between us." Thorntail twitched his whiskers – and suddenly let out a purr of amusement, "Back when we were kits, we'd get anxious whenever we didn't know where the other one was. We grew up in each other's presence…" Thorntail raised his gaze from his paws, and Rosethorn got chills from the icy emotion that was flashing in the gray cat's eyes. "I killed him." Thorntail confessed. "There were a lot of things that drove him to the Thunderpath that day. He was bullied a lot, the whole Shadenight incident…but what really drove him to throw himself in front of that monster was…"
Rosethorn instantly cut the gray tom off, with a ferocious hiss. "No!" she cried, shaking her head violently – refusing to believe Thorntail's words to be true. "You can't think like that! You were hurt too Thorntail…you were hurt too."
The warrior gave a hearty choking laugh, before he meowed, "You'll forget what you want to forget. Blueherb told me that. I certainly fell into it…" Rosethorn knew that he was referring to his forgetting about how his mother had betrayed Smokestar – and how he had forgotten about what he had done to Graywhisker.
Thorntail looked down at his paws once more, "The frustration of hating myself for not having saved my brother…" he went on, "I even had a nervous breakdown because of it…It never really ended – truly. One time…I went down to the river, and saw my reflection. For some reason, I felt that it was Graywhisker looking at me…so I flipped out and started to attack it. I would've drowned it Furyheart hadn't saved me…" Rosethorn nodded slowly – Owlpelt had told her that story. "But…it would make you cry out if you looked at it another way…" Thorntail went on, "But that's where I was at the time. I remember everything now," he confirmed, flashing her a glance from his paws, "The reason that my nerves…and I…went crazy wasn't because I felt guilty, or responsible for his death…" Rosethorn blinked – curious to what had made Thorntail lose his sanity for a time, but then Thorntail explained.
"I realized…for the first time…how warped…yes…that's a good way to describe it…I realized for the first time, how warped I was." He sighed, and Rosethorn's tail shot up in surprise.
"Warped?" she echoed, and Thorntail nodded.
"I always knew it," he sighed. "I couldn't do a thing about it…and I wanted to…somehow justify myself. But when I was with Graywhisker…" Thorntail shook his head violently – as if telling himself it was impossible, "It was just impossible! He was hopelessly innocent, and gentle… When I was with him, he was always the right one. I was just…some…warped…cat." Rosethorn suddenly noticed that his claws were dug into the earth once more. "I'd get irritated every time he was right…and annoyed every time he cried out. Every time he…licked-up to Smokestar…I wanted to gag…" He was silent for a moment, before going on. "That's why I…"
"That's why you showed him the mating ground of your father and mother." Rosethorn breathed – as she felt her limbs starting to shake. "Did…did you really hate Graywhisker that much? Really?" Rosethorn didn't know why, but she was having trouble believing that. She had always imagined the two cats…so close, and comfortable with one another…
"Because he would look at me the same way Smokestar did!" Thorntail spat – but Rosethorn noticed that though Thorntail's voice had a hard edge to it, when he raised his head to looked at her in the eye – his own eyes…told her that Thorntail was a lot of things – but h wasn't angry. "All I was doing was trying to protect him," Thorntail explained, "But he always looked at me…like I had done something wrong, and he was scolding me. I knew him better than anyone…and I was his only kin…" Thorntail sniffed – and for a fleeting instant Rosethorn wondered if he had caught a cold…when she realized that it wasn't…that sort of sniff. "I protected him – just like my mother told me to!" Thorntail mewed, "But…he…he was always looking for his mother's love – a mother's kindness- the kind only a queen can give!" Thorntail's voice was a pitiful mew now, "But I couldn't do that! I don't know how to protect someone like a queen protects her kits! I'm not a mother – I'm not even a father! I don't know how to protect anyone!"
Rosethorn softened her gaze, and she gazed pitifully at the gray tom. Instantly, all the times when Thorntail had protected her flashed through her mind – when he had tried to come to her rescue with Applefur…when he had saved her from being dishonored in the highest regard by Runningstar, and when he shoved Spottedstar's insults about her right down the WindClan leader's throat!
Suddenly it hit her – slashed her right down the face like a ShadowClan warrior's claw. Thorntail was always protecting her from…everything from physical harm, to rape…to scars on her heart from insults…but all the times Thorntail had taken a dig from his Clanmates like Shrewtail, she had always just let him defend himself. Sure, he seemed to be able to do that just fine…But evidently it added up…
"You wanted someone to protect you too…" Rosethorn mewed softly, gently touching Thorntail's shoulder with her tail. "You needed to be supported even more then Graywhisker. But you didn't have time to think about that…you were too busy protecting your brother – you were totally focused on it."
She took a small pawstep towards him – with her tail still resting gingerly on his shoulder, when suddenly he meowed, "But it's too late!" he wailed. "No matter how much a wail…nothing will change! I can't change anything!" Thorntail shook his head violently, and Rosethorn almost flinched from the intense pain she could sense vibrating out of the warrior. "Graywhisker won't come back!"
Rosethorn gently licked his ear, but Thorntail seemed to not have felt it.
"Nobody will ever forgive me…" Thorntail muttered, and Rosethorn let out a soft mew, and followed Shadenight's example – and dug her muzzle into his chest – but she took the liberty to rub his fur with her tail.
"No one's perfect," Rosethorn breathed, "No one has the right to blame you…"
…
Rosethorn slowly blinked open her eyes – and realized that at some point or another, Thorntail and her had fallen asleep. The gray tom was resting beside her – his eyes closed – and Rosethorn apparently had fallen asleep curled up against him.
She stared gently at him, reliving the conversation they had recently had with one another. She knew that in the scheme of the forest, what Thorntail had revealed to her…and how Rosethorn had handled it, it wasn't very much. Even if Thorntail hadn't ever told any cat about the demons hissing in his ear, no queen in ShadowClan would ever know – or care. And the kits in RiverClan would've kept on being born into a forest exactly as they had entered it…but for some reason, Rosethorn felt even more proud then she had when she had discovered the ThornTail herb and cured The Blood. Possibly because she had knew that StarClan hadn't shown her the herb… but that wasn't the point. The fact of the matter was, everything was in the battlefield though – there would be no more hidden warriors lurking in the bushes waiting to strike.
"Rosethorn,"
She nearly leapt out of her fur, as she heard her name called out. She looked wildly about the den, when suddenly she noticed young Ebonypaw's green eyes blinking up at her. Fear jolted through Rosethorn. Had Ebonypaw seen her and Thorntail…curled up against one another, like that?
"I'm back from the Gathering."
Rosethorn nodded blankly, and glanced up at the slither of light that always crept in. It was still faint moonlight – the new day had yet to begin.
"Uh…that's good, Ebonypaw." She purred cheerfully.
Ebonypaw nodded, and blinked at Thorntail. "Why were you curled up with him?"
"To cure his fever," Rosethorn blurted out instantly. "I had to keep him warm…"
"Oh." Ebonypaw shrugged her shoulders, satisfied with the answer. "Is he better?"
Rosethorn let out a purr. "Yup. Tell me how I could tell."
"Did you…feel his breathe?" Ebonypaw asked curiously, and Rosethorn shook her head – Ebonypaw had known this earlier!
"I felt his pad. It was nice and cool." Rosethorn purred, and Ebonypaw nodded, and seemed to be digging this into her mind because she muttered it a few times.
"So how was the Gathering?" Rosethorn asked. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your first one." She apologized, but Ebonypaw shrugged her shoulders.
"It's okay. The Gathering was fine," she meowed. "I had trouble hearing the leaders though – I was with a group of apprentices from the other Clans and we were a little far off."
Rosethorn purred. "Other apprentices?" she asked. "Did you like them? Oh, did you meet the other medicine cats?"
"Morningpaw forced me to meet them." Ebonypaw growled. "I liked Blueherb. Shadedhope scared me."
Rosethorn purred at Ebonypaw's straightforwardness. "Shadedhope scares me too," she meowed. "But you didn't tell me about the apprentices."
"I met this one big ShadowClan warrior," Ebonypaw went on, ignoring Rosethorn's comment about the apprentices. "Her name was Ravenfeather. Then I learned she was the deputy, and I was like 'whoa! I'm talking to the ShadowClan deputy!' I was surprised by how nice she was. This other grayish cat, Whitesky, snapped at me and Morningpaw when we tried to speak to her. I got mad at her for snapping at us, so I commented on how it was odd that a gray cat was named 'Whitesky'. I think that's odd. Do you think that's odd? She told me that she was named after a great deputy, but I told her that the great deputy probably had a white pelt…and I would've kept going at it with her, when Badgerclaw pulled me away. He said that if I was too young to have such powerful enemies…"
Rosethorn blinked at how quickly Ebonypaw was speaking. However, she narrowed her eyes – what was Ebonypaw hiding? "You still didn't tell me about the apprentices," she growled again, but Ebonypaw didn't seem to hear her.
"And I eventually got separated from Morningpaw – that happened about five times, so I went up to this friendly looking WindClan cat, and asked her if she had seen Morningpaw. I found out that the WindClan cat was WindClan's new leader, Timidleaf. When she gets her nine lives, she'll be Timidstar. Don't you think that's an odd name? Timidstar?"
"Ebonypaw, tell me about the apprentices." Rosethorn growled – though she was interested about the news of WindClan's new leader.
The black she-cat hesitated for a moment. "There weren't apprentices," she admitted. "There was just one apprentice."
Rosethorn narrowed her eyes. "And why don't you want to tell me about this one apprentice, Ebonypaw?"
"It's a tom." The medicine cat apprentice mumbled, and Rosethorn tensed as Ebonypaw continued. "He's a ShadowClan tom. His name is Marshpaw. He has a really black pelt – like mine…"
"And?"
"Well…I sort of….I need some advice from you, Rosethorn."
Rosethorn flicked her tail for the apprentice to go on, and Ebonypaw opened up her mouth to answer – but her mew was cut off by Sandpelt who burst into the Nursery.
"It's Applefur!" the deputy gasped. "She's kitting!"
"How can that be?" Ebonypaw asked curiously. "Weren't you a queen first, Sandpelt? Shouldn't you be the first one to kit?"
Sandpelt gave her Clanmate an icy glare. "Oh, maybe we should go tell the kits that! I'm sure that they'll realize that they're coming earlier than expected!"
Ebonypaw didn't seem to catch Sandpelt's sarcasm at first, and flashed a glance at Rosethorn. "How do we do that?"
"We don't." Rosethorn growled. "Ebonypaw, I already set aside the herbs and mixtures – they're in that leaf there," she flicked her tail, "I want you to take it to Applefur! I'm going on ahead of you, to help her through it!"
Without waiting for Ebonypaw to answer, she burst through the den with Sandpelt hot on her heels.