CHAPTER 28
The fast-approaching Gathering had not been cancelled, and Icestar had every intention of making good on his ultimatum to Flaxclan and Fernclan. Join him, or else. If it came to a fight between all of them, Dappledshade honestly didn't know if they could win; even with Icestar's pet rogues on their side and Tussockclan taken out of the equation. Of course, she did not voice that thought. She was still temporarily demoted, and not stupid enough to make it permanent. She was doing what Icestar said; do her job, do it well, and do it quietly.
The day before the gathering, she had been out hunting, and had just dropped a mouthful of prey on the fresh-kill pile, when Sedgetuft returned as part of the dawn patrol led by Sorrelwind. The deputy had a strained look on her face, as she rushed immediately towards Icestar's den. Well, that wasn't a good sign…
Sedgetuft winded his way through the other cats in the patrol as they spread out to make his way over to Dappledshade. "What's going on?" She asked her brother as he reached her.
Sedgetuft glanced around, and lowered his voice so only Dappledshade could hear. "We saw a Fernclan patrol, right on the border across the river." That wasn't unusual in itself, and obviously it hadn't come to a fight; none of the patrol cats looked at all scuffed up. The pointed tom's murmur turned into a whisper. "Rowanfall was with them."
That had Dappledshade's eyes widen in surprise, taking a lot to suppress the desire to yell "what". "Really?" She hissed back. Rowanfall had not been detected in ages, not since he seemingly vanished. Sedgetuft had confessed to being worried about him. Dappledshade hadn't said she was, but her mind wandered to what might have happened now and then. They had grown up together, it was hard to pretend like he had never existed like one was supposed to for an exile.
"Yeah, they all ran off as soon as they spotted us; just a small patrol. I guess they didn't want the trouble." He shook his head, looking a bit lost with reconciling that Rowanfall seemingly was now working with the enemy. "Not that we likely would have crossed the river to go after them." Gorseclan cats didn't like water.
"The Gathering is tomorrow; no point starting a scrap for no reason like that. " Dappledshade added as a half-thought. She really wasn't worried about that part.
"Sorrelwind thinks they might have been scouts to observe the border… that Rowanfall has given them inside knowledge of our territory to use in a surprise attack." It was a very real concern to have. There was no worse a threat an individual cat could be to a clan than a turncoat.
"Speaking of Sorrelwind… Shut your mouth a second." Dappledshade noticed the spotted tabby making her way over from Icestar's den. The leader was watching from up on the High Stone.
Sedgetuft whipped his head around and saw the deputy approaching as well, before hastily trying to pretend they had been speaking about anything else. "...Yeah so I really think I need to stop eating lizards, you know, they make me have weird dreams!" He laughed forcefully, speaking a little too loud for a normal conversation. Dappledshade blinked long and slow to herself, resisting the urge to sigh. Subtle, Sedgetuft, very subtle…
Sorrelwind reached them, touching her tail to Sedgetuft's back to make him shift aside slightly for her. He jumped a little before doing so. The deputy glanced between them silently for a moment, her angular face tense. "You don't need to pretend you weren't discussing Rowanfall." She seemed to be picking her words very carefully. "We know the word about this will spread quickly; I wouldn't be surprised if half the clan knows already." She looked over her shoulder, noting the other cats who had been on patrol. Many were also talking to their friends with their heads close together, looking sheepish if they noticed Sorrelwind watching them.
"We won't contribute, promise." Sedgetuft said with a submissive low head and angled ears.
Sorrelwind didn't look convinced, but pressed on regardless. "Don't worry about Rowanfall, is all I'm saying. Icestar will address the issue tonight." She then turned to speak more directly to Dappledshade. "Since both of the apprentices are still out, take some food to the queens and the pris-" She let out a small cough as she caught herself. "-guests, for me, will you Dappledshade? Looks like you had a good hunt this morning."
"Will do." Dappledshade agreed, and the deputy took her leave. "Catch up with you in a bit." She touched noses with Sedgetuft before heading over to the fresh-kill pile to gather some morsels up. She chose a wide selection of prey items, unsure what Tussockclan even ate regularly. She knew they ate gullfood sometimes; stuff that washed up or was killed on the thunderpath. The other clans loved to insult them on the disgusting habit.
Dappledshade made her way to where Dewstar was being kept first; a small makeshift den next to Longfang's, so the herbalist could treat her. Starclan had saved her life by healing the fatal wound on her neck enough to keep her alive, but it would scar, and the other scratches needed treatment to prevent infection while she was still weak.
Kauribark was her assigned guard, though it didn't require much effort on his part. She wasn't going anywhere. He nodded to her as she approached. Dappledshade peered into the entrance to see the Tussockclan's leader was asleep; her distinctively white flecked pelt gently rising and falling, though her face was twisted into a mask of fear, her paws twitching. She seemed to be having a nightmare. The young warrior left her a thrush next to the entrance, and moved on.
The Wise Ones and Venom were being housed together. As she approached, the old Tussockclan cats sat up from their whispered conversations and glared at her. "What do you want, Gorseclan scum?" A badly scarred black and white she-cat snarled at her. This one was far too young to be an elder by way of normal retirement; her injury must have been the problem. One front leg was twisted around awkwardly, and thick scarring ran up her body. It looked uncomfortable, and Dappledshade wondered what on earth had done that to her.
"Do you want to eat, or not?" She asked in a muffled voice through the prey, making an attempt to not rise to their aggression, because she could understand it, but finding herself saying the words more bluntly than intended.
"Leave it be, Runninghorse. It's not worth it." The blind grey tabby said, her clouded eyes drifting in Dappledshade's direction at the sound of her voice. She could see the cat's nose twitching, taking in her scent, and the scent of food. "Leave the mouse, and the finch. Sealfur doesn't like lizards." Dappledshade did as asked, mildly impressed at the elder's ability to tell what she was carrying. She supposed once one sense started to go, the others made up for it.
"I'll take the lizard." Venom from the rogue group piped up, moving his way from the back of the den past the Wise Ones. They flinched away from him, clearly not trusting him just as much as they didn't trust the Gorseclan cats. He looked Dappledshade up and down, his eyes intelligent and considering. "I'm not fussy."
Dappledshade pushed the requested prey items towards the cats. The Wise Ones were quick to snatch theirs up and move together into the back of the den, leaving her largely alone with Venom. Well, aside from Sheercrag, who was the impassive guard sitting nearby. Dappledshade went to leave, ready to collect some more prey for the queens, when Venom spoke again. "Not much for conversation around here, are you?"
She flicked her ear as she turned back, looking at him over her shoulder. "Not with prisoners, no."
The dark tabby and white tom chuckled, then shrugged his shoulders. "Technically, I'm a guest, here as some reserve good faith." When Dappledshade thought about it, it didn't make much sense he was still being kept as a prisoner, not when the rogues were working together with them. Was Venom's capture even real at the time, or a ruse?
"Do you think Icestar is going to make his choice about letting me stay with the clan soon?" He spoke again, tilting his head slightly as he asked the question.
Dappledshade scoffed. "You're all our allies now, right? What does it matter?"
"I don't care for this tenuous relationship." Venom said slowly, his small stumpy tail flicking. "The others are bound to eventually go back on any deal they made with you."
"I didn't make any deal with rogues." Dappledshade spat defensively, glancing at Sheercrag. Icestar's older brother didn't react to anything they were saying. He was a hard to read cat, and she wasn't even sure if he was listening, or tuning them out. Even if he went to Icestar to tell him what she said, it didn't matter. He already knew she didn't agree with this.
"Fine, fine." Venom placated, looking amused. "Your leader made it, then. Either way, it doesn't matter. Whatever deal they made, and if I were to guess it was about food and territory, because that's what us rogues don't have, is going to go south eventually." Venom's orange eyes flicked towards Icestar's den, then back to her. "I bet Icestar knows that, and has planned accordingly… if I were to hazard a guess anyway. One benefit of sitting here all day is that I have noticed some things."
Dappledshade wasn't sure how to respond to that, not with Sheercrag sitting right there. She also was surprised how intuitive a rogue was. It was unexpected. Her perception of them wasn't that they were particularly bright, nor socially perceptive.
When she didn't immediately answer, Venom moved on. "Regardless of what happens, I want in on real clan life. A sense of purpose. Some actual security. There's no brotherhood in our group; no real loyalty or creed. Just a group of cats that work loosely together because they think it makes them stronger. Before that, my mother and I just lived alone, wandering around in search of the next place to sleep, the next source of food." He pulled a mildly disgusted face. "I've eaten more garbage than I care to admit."
Dappledshade hummed noncommittally. "I suppose I can see why you'd want to join. What are your friends going to think about that though?"
Venom snorted. "They're not my friends. They wouldn't give two mouse-tails if I never came back. I don't even think my mother would care that much." He didn't seem too upset about that either.
"Icestar's coming." Sheercrag's deep voice suddenly rumbling out made Dappledshade jump. Sure enough, when she turned to look she saw the leader padding over, presumably to see Venom. Part of her wanted to continue her conversation with the young rogue, but instead she simply shrugged and moved on. She needed to feed the queens anyway.
"Bye, I guess?" Venom called after her, though he didn't sound offended by her sudden departure.
After choosing the largest prey item on the pile for the queens (a lapwing, who caught that, she wondered), Dappledshade made her way over. No guard waited outside their den. Icestar obviously thought the Tussockclan queens inside weren't a flight risk. That or his own would stop them if they tried to flee.
Poking her head inside as she meowed a greeting, she noticed how crowded it had become. Her own younger siblings were getting big and rambunctious compared to the younger kits belonging to the Tussockclan queens, along with Boarkit and Ringkit. Still, she noticed how they all shared it amicably; the air of tension that permeated outside, and especially around the other prisoners, was absent here. The queens lay next to each other, their body language fairly relaxed. The kits mingled happily. Caveat played gently with the older Tussockclan kits. Boarkit had somehow ended up nursing alongside Gullcry's litter; his larger body and brown pelt mismatched with the tiny black and white fluffballs.
She placed the plover down. "Is this enough for everyone?" She asked the den at large, having to use a paw to stop Falconkit pouncing on her. The two Tussockclan queens were silent and stiff in her presence, while Shadefeather nodded.
"Thank you Dappledshade. We already ate earlier, so this should be plenty." Her mother mewed softly, glancing at the Tussockclan queens. Gullcry was staring.
"How can you be so cruel?"
"By bringing you food?" Dappledshade replied defensively, looking sidelong at the queen.
"You Gorseclan cats, you've always been violent; you destroy almost an entire generation of our clan, and now this? After you promised change? How can you go against Starclan's principles like this?"
Her own recent doubts and the consequences of those in her mind, Dappledshade could only respond one way. "I follow my leader; their word is the warrior code." She growled. "Enjoy the food."
As she backed out of the den, she noticed Ringkit looking at her curiously. He was growing up fast; eyes open and more mobile now. Not the small blind scrap of fur Kowhaifall's patrol had found on the border. She thought of Rowanfall's obsession with the event before his exile. What if he was right, and the kit's origins really were a lie too?
