This chapter might be a bit messy and crappy, but I haven't written this story in a few years and recently have gotten into it a little bit. So idk. I hope you enjoy it anyways, if anyone still follows this story or ends up reading it. Also, Firepaw is officially in the story now. How exciting.
It had been several days since the fight with Riverclan. Things in the clan were still tense, but starting to get back to normal. There were more patrols going to the Riverclan border than usual, but nothing had happened so far. Graypaw had become an apprentice that same night and been assigned Lionheart as a mentor. This was bad news for Dustpaw, because now it was harder to avoid the little furball. He did his best to sit further from the apprentices den - with Sandpaw - so he could ignore the new apprentice, but it was hard. The only thing that deterred Graypaw from bothering Dustpaw was when he was hanging out with Ravenpaw, the two had grown even closer since the apprenticeship. When Ravenpaw wasn't being drug around by Tigerclaw, he was sitting and chatting with Graypaw. It hurt Dustpaw, that his brother didn't want anything to do with him anymore, but he wasn't going to say anything and look weak. If Ravenpaw wanted to pretend like they weren't littermates, that was fine by him, he could do the same thing!
"What are you all bristled up about?" Dustpaw turned to see Sandpaw walking over to him, a teasing glint in her eye.
"I was thinking about Graypaw, the annoying lump." Dustpaw growled in return. "Did you hear him last night? Boasting about fighting a kittypet?"
"Oh, like that was true! Lionheart and Bluestar were with him, don't you think they would have said something?" Sandpaw snorted.
"Maybe." Dustpaw shrugged, turning to look at the camp. Bluestar was sitting atop the High Rock, watching everyone with glistening eyes. She kept glancing at the entrance to camp, as if she was expecting a visitor. The elders were all huddled up outside their den, chattering about the "old days" when things were different. Dustpaw could hear snippets of their conversations. He saw Graypaw over by the nursery, speaking with Frostfur, who was looking on as her kits, who were barely a moon now, tumbled around together in the dirt. Dustpaw couldn't believe how tiny they were compared to the other cats. He remembered when Graypaw had been born how small he seemed, but now, it was even more of a difference.
"Do you smell that?" Sandpaw brought him out of his thoughts again and he turned to see she was staring at the camp entrance. Just as he turned his gaze to see what she was talking about, Lionheart and Whitestorm stalked in with another cat between them. Instantly, the smell hit him like a smack from a well-trained warrior.
"Who is that?" Dustpaw whispered, but Sandpaw wasn't listening.
Dustpaw watched as Bluestar leaped down from her perch and approached the trio. There were a few words exchanged that he couldn't hear and then Bluestar strode back over and back onto the high rock to call a clan meeting. Dustpaw and Sandpaw walked, side by side, to sit near the edge of the gathering cats, their fur bristled to match each other. He glanced over to Graypaw and saw the tom looked excited. Could this be the kittypet he claimed to have met last night? Dustpaw turned his attention to Bluestar, who was talking about how the clan needed new warriors and she was going to let this kittypet become an apprentice to train. What caught his attention was Longtail, who kept sneering from his spot near Graypaw, making comments about the kittypet and whether he was worthy to join the clan or not.
"He's right." Sandpaw muttered.
Just then, the kittypet narrowed his eyes and leapt at Longtail, knocking him onto the ground and then the two erupted into yowling and fur, spinning together across the clearing. Dustpaw jumped up to see above the uproar of cats, all jeering and snarling as the cats fought. After a few moments, there was a loud crack and then the two cats separated. The fiery kittypet was standing, panting, his neck fur ruffled but missing the collar that had been there before. At Longtail's feet sat the collar, torn into pieces.
"Longtail is never living that down," Sandpaw snorted. "Being beat by a kittypet?"
"I don't think he was beat," Dustpaw said, coming to the defense of his half brother. "He was caught off guard."
"Yeah, right. He's a full warrior! No way a cat who hasn't even been trained should have surprised him. And look at the knick on his ear!" Sandpaw insisted.
"Sandpaw, please-" Dustpaw began, his fur getting hot but they were silenced by a stern look from Frostfur, who was standing just outside the nursery.
Dustpaw looked back over to where Bluestar now stood between Longtail and the kittypet just in time for her to announce his name - Firepaw. Immediately after, the gathering was dismissed and some of the clan cats started to go and congratulate the new apprentice. Graypaw being the very first one to approach him. Dustpaw watched in disgust as the two cats chattered away. He was just preparing to turn and retire into the apprentices den when he heard the yowl from one of the elders, and he moved his gaze just in time to see Ravenpaw stagger into the clearing, panting and bleeding from an unseen wound somewhere on his body. Bluestar demanded he tell her what was going on and he leapt, not quite gracefully, onto the highrock beside her.
"Redtail is dead." he said and Dustpaw's whole body went rigged and cold.
No other sounds reached his ears. After those words registered in him, the rest of the clan didn't exist to him. He tried to train his gaze on his brother up on the rock, but everything was blurry. No, not Redtail. Of all the family he had lost, of all the cats in the clan he cared about, not Redtail. Redtail, his mentor, who was stronger and braver and quicker than any other cat in the clan. His hero, the one cat he wanted to be just like when he earned his warrior name. Now who did he have? Now what was he going to do? Then, he smelled it. The stench of blood and dirt mingled with the very familiar scent of his mentor and he turned to see Tigerclaw drop Redtail on the ground under the highrock.
Slowly, Dustpaw crossed the clearing, his body low to the ground, belly dragging in the dirt as he approached the body. There he was, his mentor, with eyes glazed over, his body, once so strong, was limp in the dirt. Where once muscles rippled, the silky fur turned dull, was the lost soul of his friend. He couldn't look anymore and he turned to stare at the ground, hoping the image of Redtail would vanish and when he looked again his mentor would still be alive, waking from a long nap, exhausted from the battle. Dustpaw was vaguely aware of the rest of the clan as they came by to whisper their goodbyes. Every few cats he felt the warm touch of someone's nose to his side but he ignored it.
Dustpaw sat with Redtail through the night. He did not gather with the rest of the cats when the new deputy - Lionheart - was appointed. He was barely able to greet his new mentor, Darkstripe, with a simple touch to the nose before returning to his mourning. He didn't move when Bluestar came to sit vigil for the night. He didn't move until the next morning when the elders gently nudged him and told him it was time, much like a few moons prior when his mother had been killed. He watched them pick Redtail's body up and carry him out of the camp.
"Dustpaw," he turned to see Bluestar standing next to him, her gaze full of sorrow that almost matched how he was feeling. "you have lost so much this leafbare,"
Dustpaw hung his head, turning his gaze to his paws. He felt Bluestar's tail brush gently down his spine.
"Sometimes, it seems as though Starclan has decided to make this leafbare harder than any before. I fear there is still more to lose before the mourning will cease. With that being said, I do hope they spare you any more grief. You are too young to have seen so much." Bluestar sighed. "Your clan is here for you, Dustpaw. Lean on them."
"Thank you, Bluestar." Dustpaw whispered back.
Dustpaw sat there for only a few moments more after she walked away from him before Sandpaw approached him, looking irritable. He wasn't sure if he was ready for her mood this early and without any sleep, but he didn't brush her away.
"The whole apprentice den reeks of that kittypet." Sandpaw spat when she sat down in front of him. "I feel like I need to go drown myself in the river just to get the stench off."
"It'll fade." Dustpaw murmured.
"I'm sorry," Sandpaw said and he looked up to see her ears were back in embarrassment. "I thought maybe it would help to talk about something else."
"It's not your fault." Dustpaw said, flicking her shoulder with his tail. "It was a good effort. I think what I really need to do is take a walk or something. Get out of camp."
"Well, that's lucky. Because that's exactly what we'll be doing." another voice joined in.
Dustpaw turned to see Darkstripe had approached with Whitestorm not far behind, both looking far too sympathetic.
"Together?" Sandpaw asked, perking up.
"Yes, together. We're going to patrol near the Shadowclan border." Whitestorm answered with a soft purr.
"And afterwards we will do some battle training in the hollow," Darkstripe added, looking eager now. Dustpaw was a little hesitant to be Darkstripe's apprentice. He knew Longtail was a very successful warrior and that could be attributed partly to Darkstripe, but still, he was uneasy. Because it should be Redtail, he thought, pain stabbing at his heart.
"Let's go!" Sandpaw said, jumping to her feet and heading after the warriors, who were already moving across the clearing. Dustpaw gave her a friendly flick on her ear and then stood to follow the warriors as well, trying to leave his sorrow back in that spot where Redtail had been not long ago.