I'm back with a fresh new chapter of 'Heart of the Willows', and a lot faster than I thought, too! Like I said in my last chapter I will try to keep my promise of at least 1000 words per chapter but if it seems that the chapter is just dragging on and on I'll cut it short.
That said, let's get into the chapter!
"Willowfeather! Up! Now!" Dustfoot's constantly irritated voice rang in Willowfeather's sleepy ears.
"Wha- do ya wanna?" Willowfeather slurred, blinking sleep out of her eyes. "Sorry. What do you want?"
"Dawn patrol," Dustfoot said curtly, glaring at her. Oh. Maybe she hadn't been forgiven by everyone then. "Since we only have seven warriors now, we're hunting as well."
Willowfeather blinked in surprise- she hadn't realized the clan had gotten so small, but when she thought about it, she realized Dustfoot was right.
"Ambereye is taking Sunheart and Finchpaw hunting at the Twoleg home," Dustfoot explained, his voice short and full of venom. "Graydust and Snowcloud are coming with us. Sweetbreeze is escorting Kestrelwing to herb-hunting, while Wildwind stays to tend to the camp. The nursery is a mess and Dawnflower needs a comfortable home."
He said it all in one breath.
"Wow, you have a great memory," Willowfeather said in surprise. To her, Dustfoot had always been the average warrior- happy, loyal, normal. Maybe he was better than Willowfeather had first thought.
"Well, thank you," He said earnestly, not sounding irritated for once and he seemed to nearly smile before his grouchy self returned. "Hurry up! We've wasted enough time already!"
Nothing happens here.
"How is Shadestar?" She asked Snowcloud wearily. They had been patrolling and hunting for a while, but the ShadowClan border was peaceful, and Graydust had caught a starling and nothing interesting had happened. Dustfoot and Graydust were talking animatedly about hunting technique, so Willowfeather was left with Snowcloud to talk to.
"Shadestar seems tired," He said finally. "I would think it's her last life, but she keeps claiming that she's got three left. I try to believe her- after all, she's my leader- but something in me doubts it."
Willowfeather remembered to keep Shadestar's lives secret. "Well, I'm sure she's fine," She said cheerily. "Probably just tired, I would say. Nothing can keep ThunderClan off its feet for very long."
"But really, we need more warriors," Snowcloud said sadly. "Finchkit is our only apprentice at the moment and though Dawnflower's two will be apprenticed soon, we'll soon run out of warriors to mentor them. What if there are no good warriors in time for my kits?"
"I'm sure I could mentor one of your kits, if I'm good enough for you," Willowfeather said mildly.
"Oh yes, of course, but you'll probably mentor one of Dawnflower's kits," Snowcloud argued.
"Then Dustfoot and Wildwind can mentor them," Willowfeather mewed, confused. "Sunheart isn't bad either. I'm sure Sweetbreeze will be a fine warrior by then too."
"Sweetbreeze. She might be a good mentor," Snowcloud considered. "But I don't want Dustfoot, Wildwind and Sunheart to mentor my kits. They are all fine warriors, but they might teach a tad too much about violence and vengeance. They all still hate you, don't they? I don't want my kits to follow their paw steps."
"Good point," Willowfeather agreed. "But there's no use in arguing much right now. You have to just hope that Shadestar selects good mentors."
"Yes, yes," Snowcloud said distractedly. "Lilykit and Flamekit will be fine. Do you hear that?"
They sat up straight and heard silent rustles. Barely more than a whisper, but very noticeable.
That's when Willowfeather noticed Graydust and Dustfoot weren't in front of them anymore.
"Where did they go-" She began, when howls cut through the air and two toms flew from the trees, nearly on top of them.
"You injured Sunheart more than you will ever know," Graydust hissed, batting at Willowfeather's head.
"And you supported that idiot," Dustfoot completed. "So now you will pay."
"No we won't," Willowfeather hissed. She bumped Snowcloud away from danger- she wouldn't have him be injured on her account. He hadn't done anything wrong, after all.
"Run, run for Sweetbreeze and Kestrelwing," Willowfeather managed before she was attacked fully by her clan-mates.
As she ducked away from a leaping Dustfoot, she realized that her rivalry with Sunheart had caused scars that would take a long time to heal. I am never falling in love again, she thought to herself, and I am never having kits. Nobody will ever be there when you need them.
She thought painfully about Brightcloud, her beautiful, beloved, long-dead sister, and of Stoneshade, her first love. Both were long gone.
Or were they?
Though Willowfeather was clearly hallucinating, she saw the outlines of two starry cats in the trees, one ginger and smiley, the other a serious-faced grey tom. Brightcloud and Stoneshade, she thought limply. I must be dying. They've come to collect me.
Instead, Brightcloud jumped and leapt on top of Dustfoot ferociously. Stoneshade just stayed there, nodding at Willowfeather a few times. It seemed as if he was trying to say that he would be there at other times to help her. Now was Brightcloud's turn to help her sister.
Together, they beat back the two toms until they lay in a crumpled, shivering heap on the forest floor.
"This is disloyalty to your clan. This is disloyalty to ThunderClan," Brightcloud told them quietly, a fire dancing in her eyes. "I trust that there will not be a next time."
"N-no," Graydust whispered.
"You took your oaths only yesterday," Brightcloud hissed, stardust glittering in her ginger fur. "Yet you have already broken the code."
Both of them looked shamefully at the feet. It was one thing to be scolded by a warrior, but by a warrior of StarClan? It was the greatest punishment of all.
"I will not be watching you at all," Brightcloud continued. "Despite what you might think. I will leave you in charge of your own decisions. But when it is your time to join our ranks… depending on your choices, you may not be accepted."
Brightcloud began to walk away, pausing only to throw her sister one last, loving look.
Nothing happens here, either.
Willowfeather looked around the camp- Snowcloud had been right. He and Ambereye sat with her now, sharing a measly thrush.
"Well, Dustfoot and Wildwind are mates," Ambereye pointed out the obvious. "Maybe they will decide on a new litter."
"Maybe," Snowcloud conceded. "What is concerning is the lack of hope. Nobody seems to be even looking for a new mate."
"The same goes for you," Willowfeather said drily. "And I've promised myself no kits, no love, no anything. I'm happy with friends."
"Well, Finchpaw has been looking moonily at Sweetbreeze," Ambereye shrugged.
"Now this is just a gossip session," Willowfeather groaned. "What's really concerning for me is the lack of she-cats looking for mates. I don't want a mate, you don't want a mate, Ambereye, Wildwind has one but she doesn't want any more kits. That leaves Sweetbreeze from the warriors and then there's the kits," She said, feeling sick. "If the clan survives that long, Cinderkit and Lilykit might end up having kits of their own-"
"No," Snowcloud said hollowly. "Lilykit is sick. Really sick. She's likely to survive, yes, but Kestrelwing says the disease will leave her unable to have kits."
"Life isn't all about the kits," Willowfeather shrugged, and Ambereye nodded in agreement. "We're happy without them, and you probably won't have any more. So that's that."
A couple of days later…
"It's Lilykit," Snowcloud said, his voice empty and cold, as if he had no life left in him.
"W-what happened? Did she die?" Willowfeather gasped, bracing herself for the worst.
"N-no," Snowcloud sighed, settling into his nest in a sad, useless way. Willowfeather noticed the muscle beneath his fluffy snow-white pelt and felt her cheeks burn hot, before she nearly slapped herself. Snowcloud was a friend, nothing more.
Graydust walked in snootily, and Willowfeather noted how his beautiful grey ears curved in attentively. Her brain raced.
How could she be thinking about toms at such a time? She had promised herself to not fall in love ever again besides, the clan needed strong, capable warriors, not two lovesick idiots. Graydust was a cat who could easily attack her, and Snowcloud was a friend. She was an idiot for even thinking the way she thought.
"Lilykit," Snowcloud said suddenly, drawing her from her angry trance. "Kestrelwing and Spottedpaw cut off her tail. How will she become a warrior without it? They said her infection began from there and if they didn't cut it, she would die."
"Well, if she's better-"
"No she's not!" Snowcloud said bitterly. "No tail, and she will never have kits, either. Will she ever be happy? She'll always be alone and lonely."
"There's more to life than kits and fighting," Willowfeather protested, though she secretly agreed with Snowcloud.
"Maybe, but she might not see it that way," Snowcloud mewed angrily. "She has already lost her mother at a very young age and her clan is in shambles. That is stress enough for a young kit. Not to mention the clan leader is ill and now she's lost her tail and the ability to have kits. If she outlives Flamekit and I, she will be alone. She'll never find a mate-"
"Just because she won't have kits doesn't mean she won't have a mate," Willowfeather said sharply, fed up with Snowcloud's depressing and meaningless rambling. "And she'll still have friends, won't she? And her mentor. Her mentor might still be alive, and there might be elders by then-"
"No, there won't, and you know that!" Snowcloud spat, seeming more angry at the unfairness of it all than her. "There won't be any elders. The oldest cats in the clan are Ambereye and myself. In that situation, I'll be dead, and we all know Ambereye will be a warrior until her death. Dustfoot and Wildwind still won't be old enough to be elders-"
"If you're going to be like that, I'll just be her friend and let's move on with life! We can't predict the future," Willowfeather gasped, getting up to ask Ambereye about another hunting patrol, for the fresh-kill pile was completely empty.
She looked back, fiery and defiant.
"The only way to predict the future is to make it."
Yep, I've met my goal! Sorry if this chapter seemed like it was dragging. I didn't do it on purpose, but the main events in this chapter weren't too exciting (apart from Dustfoot and Graydust attacking Willowfeather- I hope that was interesting). Anyway, thanks for reading and before I go and write another chapter…
Remember to review!
