Rowanfall indeed left the territory by sundown; Icestar was sure to send a patrol to check, and they found his scent crossing over the border to the northwest. Nobody seemed happy about it. Well, Waspsting was loudly stating that he had always had a bad feeling about Rowanfall to anyone who would listen, but cats pretty quickly got sick of him, even if they talked quietly about his guilt to themselves.
Dappledshade was sharing tongues with Sedgetuft quickly before patrol in the morning; a few days after Rowanfall's exile. It was an exercise done in silence. Her brother rhythmically licked her ears, not chatting like he usually did. He had been much quieter than normal.
"You didn't even defend him!" Wattleflower's shrieking voice broke the silence.
"He attacked our leader; why should I? You've always been too soft on him!" Kauribark's replied, just as loud.
"They're fighting again." Sedgetuft paused in his grooming to comment quietly.
Dappledshade licked his shoulder to soothe him. "Don't worry about it." Wattleflower and Kauribark were having loud yelling matches regularly, owing to their differences in opinion on their son. She wasn't sure if their relationship would survive this.
"Hey, uh…" Pebblepaw had padded over, looking a bit lost; his ears flat, no doubt trying to drown out the fighting couple nearby. "Have either of you seen Horsefoot? He's supposed to take me for hunting practice this morning, but he didn't come to get me, and I can't find him…"
Horsefoot had become even more withdrawn since Rowanfall's exile. Dappledshade had barely heard him say two words. Blackbird was often seen trailing after her much larger brother, or volunteering to go on the same patrols as him, likely keeping a concerned eye on him. This was a first though. He had been at least attending to Pebblepaw before now.
"We haven't seen him." Sedgetuft replied, surprising Dappledshade by getting to his feet. "But I tell you what, I'll take you hunting instead."
Pebblepaw perked up. "Really?"
"Sure, and we can keep an eye out for Horsefoot at the same time." He glanced back at his sister. "I can't stand the atmosphere in camp right now, sorry."
"It's fine, go have some fun." She purred, trying to brighten Sedgetuft's mood, but the pointed tom only shrugged, then ushered Pebblepaw away with him. She at least felt a bit better seeing her brother perk himself up for the apprentice as they walked together. Maybe helping Pebblepaw would be good for him as a distraction. It upset her to see her normally cheerful sibling so down.
She watched them vanish into the entrance tunnel, only to be called moments later by Icestar for patrol. "Sheercrag, Thrushwing and Spiderstrike are meeting us outside." He explained as she joined his side. "How are you doing? I know he was your friend and all. I hope you understand why I had to exile him." His questions surprised her, but then they had never really had a chance to talk since Rowanfall left.
"I understand… And we weren't exactly friends, more like rivals…" She started, a bit uncertain, as they slowly padded towards the entrance together. In truth, she was still feeling conflicted about what she said before his exile. That she helped condemn him. Her stomach kept twisting like a pile of worms.
"You did the right thing." Icestar reassured her, his deep voice a rumble, though not an unkind one. "You proved your loyalty to Gorseclan, and to me, by speaking up despite any attachments you might have. You put the clan, the code, and our safety first. That is the mark of a warrior I can trust." He blinked slowly at her. "I promise I will tell you more in the future; you're a warrior now, no longer an apprentice I need to keep secrets from." They carefully pushed through the gorse tunnel at the main entrance in single file, ducking to stop their ears getting caught in the thorns. That did make her feel a bit better. The twisting feeling faded into the background.
"Ready to go?" Thrushwing's meow greeted them as they left camp. Her father and Spiderstrike and Sheercrag were all waiting. Sheercrag dipped his head slightly in silent greeting. Spiderstrike sat slightly apart from the other two; his eyes casually following the progress of a small white butterfly through the gorse flowers.
"Yes, let's get going. We will be heading down the Flaxclan border. I want to keep tabs on what they are doing myself." Icestar had been going on more patrols in person than usual, since all these tensions started. It seemed he couldn't just wait in camp for reports to come in. He needed to have his paws on the ground and see with his own eyes. His proactive nature made him a good leader, in Dappledshade's eyes.
In the end though, the patrol was uneventful. Spiderstrike ranged ahead; his stealth made him an excellent scout, but each time he came back his report was the same. Flaxclan's muddy scent markers were fresh; their own patrol had already come and gone. More importantly, they were on the right side of the border. No news was good news, she supposed… Part of her could have done with the excitement of a skirmish though.
They made their way back to camp, and when they were close, Icestar called her up to the front beside him. "Keep up the good work" He meowed to her, giving her a boosting tail flick to her side. She perked up at the praise. "You know Dappledshade…" His voice was musing. "I have every intention of making you part of my elite, despite your age. You have the talent to have earned it."
She was taken aback by the sudden announcement, pausing a moment and blinking at him before pulling herself back to coherence. "Thank you Icestar." This was something she always wanted. Elite guard already, after just becoming a warrior? It was practically unheard of; back when Icestar himself became an elite to Beestar; the leader before Boulderstar, was one of the rare examples.
"I will talk with the others about it later, but I can't imagine they will argue with me." He made a small purr of mirth. Not many cats argued with Icestar's decisions.
Dappledshade purred back in response, dipping her head low with gratitude. Yet, she didn't feel how she thought she should as she looked at her paws padding across the hard ground. She couldn't help a nagging sense of doubt. Was it guilt? She should be beyond excited about this. But still, she could see Rowanfall's look of betrayal in her mind's eye easily. But she needed to shove it away.
She had done the right thing. Icestar trusted her. Rowanfall had been acting strange. He had brought this on himself.
Stoatberry had said she'd done the right thing too, although for different reasons. Stoatberry simply said it was the logical choice at this time; she had strengthened her position within the clan. Icestar's words cemented that fact, now. Dappledshade was sure Stoatberry would be happy about that, and her promotion.
The Dark Forest cat had called her there in her dreams the night after Rowanfall was exiled. For some reason she had decided she wanted to train her on poisonous plants (not that she would explain her reasoning), though Dappledshade had no idea when such knowledge would ever be useful. It was mildly disconcerting how Stoatberry could tell her how long each would take to kill a cat if ingested. Once again, she wondered why the former herbalist was there instead of Starclan... And once again, she immediately decided perhaps she wasn't that curious.