Chapter 48
A few days had passed since Thornclaw's death and the battle against WindClan. Ravenflight had been working hard with her apprentice, teaching Silverpaw fighting skills that would help prove her a worthy opponent in battle.
In those few days Ravenflight had watched the progress of her own kits. Sorreltail and Mousewhisker had proven themselves to become good mentors over the few days that had passed.
Now Ravenflight was sitting under the Highledge as she waited for Silverpaw to return from her hunting trip. This was Silverpaw's first solo hunting trip, and she had suspected that her apprentice would bring back plenty of fresh-kill. The silver-furred apprentice had become a very skilled tracker thanks to help from Sandstorm and Foxleap.
She was grooming her fur when she spotted a silvery pelt padding through the thorn tunnel. Ravenflight's ears pricked forward when Silverpaw returned with a chubby looking squirrel clamped between her jaws. The young cat's tail was fluffed up with pride as she dropped the squirrel at Ravenflight's paws.
"I have more back in the forest," Silverpaw explained when she turned to leave. "I couldn't carry that squirrel with more prey."
And so Silverpaw left to fetch the remains of her fresh-kill. Ravenflight was left to think about what they would do the following day. She knew that Silverpaw was learning fast. She had forgotten at times that Silverpaw had Tribe blood within her, but at heart she was pure ThunderClan.
Her whiskers twitched slightly when Whitewing approached Birchfall playfully. Despite the fact that Dovepaw and Ivypaw were still apprentices, Ravenflight could see that they wanted more kits. The pair were always together and often went off on their own.
The Clan is growing, despite the casualties were suffered earlier, she thought.
"Hey, that's my mouse!" Rabbitpaw pounced on Hollypaw as the two siblings began to quarrel once more.
"I found it first," Hollypaw retorted. "You can go eat that shrew there." She pointed her nose towards a scrawny looking shrew left over from the previous night.
Rabbitpaw's nose wrinkled in disgust. "That's for the elders," he grumbled.
"That is enough you two." Ravenflight cuffed them both over the ears. "Show some respect. Mousefur's been hunting for this Clan far longer than any of you, and Longtail deserves some peace."
When they were caught under her stern gaze both apprentices ducked their heads in embarrassment. Only Rabbitpaw remained angry, but he knew better than to argue with his mother. Once they were finished fighting she padded back towards the fresh-kill pile.
Silverpaw quickly returned with the rest of her fresh-kill soon after their argument. Ravenflight watched as her apprentice dropped several pieces of fresh-kill. In the end Silverpaw had done well on her own.
"Well done," she purred. "You can take that squirrel over to Mousefur and Longtail," she added after gesturing towards the elders' den.
The pale gray she-cat's nose wrinkled a bit at the thought of meeting with cranky old Mousefur. The small cat had become increasingly agitated over the past few days. No cat dared go near her unless it was necessary. Ravenflight had wanted to put an end to Mousefur's fowl temper, but nothing seemed to work in her favor.
"Squirrelflight's kits are getting bigger each day," Brambleclaw boasted as he emerged from the nursery. "Redkit is showing signs of a fierce fighter."
Ravenflight felt a purr rising in her throat at the thought of Squirrelflight's first real litter. The dark ginger queen had given birth just two days ago, but Brambleclaw seemed to think that telling the Clan otherwise was a good idea.
She had seen Squirrelflight's kits for herself—there were three kits, all of them resembled Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw's fur color—and Squirrelflight had already named them all. One kit was a small ginger kit with darker ginger ears, whom was named Redkit. The second kit was a small golden brown she-cat, who was named Amberkit. The third kit was the biggest in the litter—a dark brown tom with ginger patches of fur—he was named Tigerkit.
At first the Clan had been startled that Squirrelflight would name her son after a traitor like Tigerstar. It was Firestar who had to remind them that Tawnypelt had named her son after Tigerstar as well. Tigerpaw had turned into a fine apprentice, and Ravenflight was sure that he had become a warrior as well.
She shook her head in amusement as Brambleclaw joined Lionblaze near the thorn tunnel entrance. All of the work he had placed in getting rid of the rubble had amounted to nothing from what she could see. Stones and pebbles were still flying into the hollow, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before a cat was injured from a rockslide.
"So there I was, standing beside the ShadowClan border when I saw this huge badger!" Her ears pricked forward once more when Ravenflight stood beside Cloudtail and Brightheart. Cloudtail was explaining what he had seen during his morning patrol.
"Was the badger really that big?" Brightheart's eyes widened in horror when Cloudtail nodded. "What happened to it?"
"For some reason it fled," Cloudtail replied. "Hazeltail and Spiderleg were with me when it happened."
Brightheart gasped when Spiderleg nodded in agreement. Even Hazeltail seemed to agree that the badger had been there when the patrol spotted it lumbering off towards ShadowClan territory.
"Did the badger speak at any time?" Brambleclaw suddenly joined in their conversation as he approached them warily.
"No." For a moment Cloudtail looked confused until Brightheart gave him a sharp nudge. "Oh, you were thinking of Midnight huh?" When Brambleclaw nodded, Cloudtail shook his head. "I'm afraid I didn't hear anything."
Brambleclaw looked a bit disappointed, than confusion clouded in his eyes. "If the badger wasn't Midnight, than why didn't it attack any of you?"
The question made every cat look at each other warily. Ravenflight had heard stories of Midnight the badger. She was the only one of her kind who could speak in the tongue of cat. She had often come to the Clans when they needed her the most.
"There was something else I think you should know, Brambleclaw," Hazeltail murmured warily. "The badger had some kind of fur caught between it's hide. The fur was a mixture of brown, gold, white and black. We think the fur belonged to Sol."
Alarm surged through every cat gathered around Cloudtail and Brightheart. When Ravenflight tilted her head to one side questioningly, she was answered by angry hisses and snarls.
"That piece of foxdung!" Brackenfur, who had been listening from a distance, suddenly stepped in and spat the words out. "He deserves to die a slow and painful death."
Ravenflight's pelt bristled with unease as more cats joined in. She had heard stories of how Sol had ruined most of the Clans in the past. He had tried to turn ShadowClan against the warrior code, turning them into nothing more than a band of rogues. The loner must have fought off the badger or was killed.
"We must not think about such dangers at this time," Brambleclaw hissed.
His words were lost to a thunderous roar that sounded from above. All cats scrambled out of the way as stones and pebbles suddenly began to slide towards the hollow. Horror surged through Ravenflight when she saw that a huge boulder was sliding down the hollow.
She was frozen in place, unable to move. Her paws felt as though stones had been placed on them as she watched the boulder slide down. Time seemed to slow down for her though. She could only watch in sheer panic until she felt something shove her aside.
"Move!" Brambleclaw's yowl made Ravenflight spring towards the thorn tunnel.
Her pelt stood on end when she heard a single cry coming from the nursery. "Brambleclaw!"
That single cry was enough to bring some sense back to Ravenflight. She blinked and coughed dust from her throat. When the boulder had finally reached the ground, she saw that most of the camp's entrance was covered in dust and rubble. Among the debris were branches and leaves that had been snared from the trees up above. A new light was visible among the opening the boulder had created.
"Oh StarClan, he was crushed under the boulder," Cloudtail rasped.
"It was my fault!" Ravenflight wailed. "I could have moved…I felt so helpless!" She dropped into a crouch and stared at the ground in sorrow.
"Firestar will have to name a new deputy," Brightheart whimpered.
Anger and grief coursed through Ravenflight. Her shoulders were beginning to tremble as more cats emerged from their dens to see what had happened. She had killed several cats now, Brambleclaw included. If she had been able to move he would still be alive.
She was the reason ThunderClan had lost their loyal deputy. Without Brambleclaw the Clan would have no cat to trust.
Ravenflight could only watch as Squirrelflight staggered forward. She could hear her kits mewl in confusion as they were left behind. Squirrelflight began to dig furiously through the rubble, but her work was met with raw stone.
"Why, why must StarClan take away the ones I love?" Squirrelflight's voice was filled with such grief that it made the entire hollow vibrate with sorrow.
She was forced to watch as Jayfeather herded Squirrelflight back to the nursery. "Your kits need you now," he ordered. There was a tenderness to his voice that Ravenflight had never noticed. "Go back to them, their future is dependent on you."
Once the clearing was empty aside from the cats who had witnessed the rockslide, Ravenflight stopped trembling. She could now see a void where Brambleclaw had been. The ThunderClan deputy had always been there to keep the Clan safe and strong. He was gone, and now Firestar would need to choose a new deputy.
"Firestar, you must name a new deputy," Mousefur rasped from the elders' den. She was keeping the apprentices from seeing what would lay ahead of them. Ravenflight was thankful that she had some sense to keep them from seeing the damage that had already been done.
The ThunderClan leader was standing on the top of the Highledge. His eyes were wide with shock and sorrow as he looked down at the pile of rubble. Ravenflight knew that it would take time for him to recover from the loss of his former apprentice.
"I say these words, before the spirit of Brambleclaw so that he may hear and approve my choice. Ravenflight will be my deputy."
