Wow, only one more piece of the Warrior Code after this chapter! After that, I decided to make an epilogue with the final battle or the after effects of the battle. Whatever happens first. It's going to break my heart to leave Rabbitleap this way, but he was fun to write and a great character. I will be skipping moons for this chapter and the next.
Warning! This chapter is the darkest of all of them so far and contains a lot of blood and gore. You have been warned.
Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
15. A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.
Three moons passed and greenleaf was now leaffall. The only thing Rabbitleap had to be thankful of lately was Bramblepaw had gotten easier to manage. The young she-cat's resentment of him had faded when a new threat posed. Python and Yellowstar. He shuddered to himself as he thought of what he had seen and the fact that there were cats who self-exiled themselves to join the former leader and the former kittypet. Not only that, but he was well aware that Doetail was expecting Mottlestar's kits. He wanted to be proud of her, but he couldn't bring himself to.
And not to forget what you did... Shivers ran down his spine as he refused to looked down at his paws. The paws of a killer. Glancing back up, he saw Bramblepaw cleaning out the elders den without complaint with Beepaw helping her. The two had become friends only a moon ago and would help the other any chance they got. Frowning, his gaze turned to the camp's entrance, hurt that he and Wildpelt had finally called off their friendship. The brown tom had his own life to live, leaving Rabbitleap in the shadows of the past. Never had he felt so alone when he was surrounded by his Clanmates. He couldn't even face Sparrowkit after what he had done. Slowly he listened into Doetail and Mottlestar talking. He didn't care for the words, only that he still had his mother there, some one to keep him from falling into the darkness tugging at his pelt.
You have us, too. Silverwing's whisper promised and for the briefest of seconds he swore he saw the pale silver she-cat next to him.
We will always be here. The ghost of Duskfoot's muzzle rested on his head, though the dark-furred tom was nowhere in sight. He felt a small glow of appreciation for their words, but in the end that's all it was anymore. Words. He no longer knew who he could and could not trust. He was afraid of who the next one to walk out of his life would be. Suddenly Willowshade and Amberpaw burst through the camp. The apprentice was being dragged by the senior warrior, the ginger she-cat being covered in deep gashes.
"There was an ambush towards the abandoned twoleg nest!" She yowled after carefully putting the apprentice down. "We need help, now!"
Without a second of hesitation, Nightfoot sent out the order, "Longfur, Oddeye, Rabbitleap, Mottlestar, let's go!"
Upon hearing his name, Rabbitleap darted out of the camp with the rest of the backup patrol not too far behind. The moment he spotted the ambush patrol, he narrowed his sights on the dark brown tabby pelt of the cat he hated more and more each passing day. Without a second of hesitation, he barreled into Python, catching the rogue off guard and freeing Honeylight from his aggression. With a harsh yowl, Python shoved Rabbitleap off of himself. The two were at a standstill for only a heartbeat before they charged right at each other again, claws ready to strike the other down. With one swift blow to the ear, leaving a nick in it's wake, Rabbitleap stunned Python and used this to pin in enemy down. With an angered screech, Python glared up at him through amber eyes.
"What?" He spat, his sleek pelt ruffling. "Are you going to kill me like you did the WindClan cat?" The struck a sharp cord with Rabbitleap.
"I'm no murderer!"
"Good," With a dark grin, Python kicked Rabbitleap off, knocking the air out of him. Before he could react, the long-furred tabby had barreled into him,stunning the warrior a little longer. When he came to his senses and found himself pinned with his back on the ground, the young warrior felt a burning pain of a deep cut on his shoulder. He then brought his claws across his attacker's pale muzzle, cutting open Python's nose as he did. With a screech of pain and surprise, Python stumbled back, giving Rabbitleap a good time to escape. Slipping out from under the aggressor, the cream and brown warrior then turned and tackled Python back to the ground, refusing to let the rogue pin him again. With a paw on the tom's throat, he was ready to leave with a threat with a familiar flash of patchy, pale ginger fur shoved him away. Cupcake helped Python to his paws, the pale ginger tom shaking as scarlet blood ran from the cut across his right eye.
"W-we need to call retreat. Poppy, Jigsaw, and Heavyleap are badly wounded." With an irritated growl, he glared darkly at Rabbitleap.
"This isn't the end of this. I'll hunt you down if it means I get to be the one to kill you. Nothing will stand in my way." With that he let out a loud yowl and called his cats away. Watching them run, he couldn't forget the malice in Python's voice. He did not doubt the tom's threat and he wasn't going to. He forced his sore legs to carry him to where the other warriors were. Looking over, he was glad to see no one was dead, but some of the wounds were deep and many cats now bore torn ears, shredded muzzles, and other heavy wounds that would likely stick with the their whole lives. The worst of them all was Hollowstrike, who was completely missing an eye and had a hideous scar splitting between his eyes. Looking at all his weakened Clanmates, he began to wonder if it was his fault for what was going on.
"Let's return to camp." Mottlestar ordered as he limped ahead of the cats, on of his back legs having a heavy gash were fangs tore through him. In sober silence, the Clan followed their leader. Rabbitleap was well aware of the horrified looks they received the moment they got back to camp. He was hardly able to keep himself moving, as was the rest of his Clanmates by they way some of them just curled up in the middle of camps, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Doetail dashed over to him and Mottlestar, her fear scent rolling off her in thick waves.
"Y-you two are b-bleeding h-horribly..." Her voice was weak and shaken. "I-I'll go get s-s-some herbs from Brownwhisker and help you." She took off towards the medicine cat, leaving Rabbitleap to look over what all he could of himself. A deep, bleeding and dirtied bite in his should was the first thing he noticed, followed by a small, less erious cut on his hunches. He was also well aware that he had blood dripping from right over his cream-coloured underbelly. Flicking his ear, a sharp sting came from the air when it hit an open cut. He then took his gaze to Mottlestar.
His jaw has a pretty bad cut. He noticed as a drop of scarlet fell from the leader's chin. However, how Mottlestar was feeling was hard to read. The leader's eyes were looking off into the distance. He followed the leader's gaze, but all he saw was a little passed the apprentices den.
He's troubled... However, it was only a guess. He remembered the same look from Silverwing when she had a lot on her mind. Looking down at his paws, he noticed that his front paw was tracking blood. Looking at the pad, he noticed a thorn stuck in it. With a careful nip, he pulled it out, leaving a sharp sting in its wake. However, compared to the rest of the pain he was feeling, it was nothing. Looking up, he saw Doetail returning with a mouth full of herbs and her paw and tail covered in cobwebs.
"I need to help with the others, but he told me I can help the two of you first."
"Thank you, Doetail." Mottlestar rumbled as she started to make the poultice. She gentle nudged a couple of poppy seeds to both of them each. Without complaint, Rabbitleap ate his, looking forward to the pain numbing. He flinched slightly when the poultice and cobwebs were placed on his shoulder. Looking towards the other cats, he saw Brownwhisker among them, working as quickly as possible. After a long moment, Doetail left to help the medicine cat. Soon after leaving, Bramblepaw ran up to him, her large, emerald green eyes shining in an emotion he had never seen her with. Worry.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." It felt like a lie, but to be honest, Rabbitleap was unsure. He had no idea how to tell her this. Thankfully she was too young to see past his lie and the look of joy that took over was enough to help relax the cream and brown warrior.
"That's good! I wouldn't want to lose you." As she darted off, a feeling grew inside of him, chasing away the darkness. Someone here wanted him. Even if it was his own apprentice, he had never heard those words from her. To know that he would be missed felt really good, despite the dark truth that stood behind it. Python's promise then rung in his ears, taking that joy away in one fatal swoop.
The words stuck to him like a burr the rest of the day, all the way until he fell asleep, where the words still lingered, but didn't follow him into his dreams. Feeling someone brush past him, he opened his eyes, just in time to see a shadow slip out of the warriors den. Concerned and a bit curious, he followed them out quietly. He was surprised to see it was Doetail, whose belly was barely proving that she was expecting kits. She slipped between through a small opening to the territory that rested next to the warrior's den. He followed her, determined to know what was going on. The moment he manage to squeeze through the apprentice-sized opening, he ran toward her. Surprised at the pawsteps, she turned around right as he caught up.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Rabbitleap," There was a deep sorrow in her leaf-green eyes. "I can't stay here any more."
"W-what!? Why!?" He tried not to raise his voice and alert the camp.
"I don't want to raise my kits in the middle of a war. I don't want to think what will happen to them if the Clan looses."
"You know the nursery will be the safest place for you, Doetail."
"Jade." Frozen, he couldn't bring himself to comprehend what she just said.
"W-wha-"
"I'm no longer Doetail... I'm Jade, again. If the twolegs take me back."
"What about ShadowClan? What about Mottlestar? Longfur? Me?"
"The Clan has been doing great without my help. Mottlestar... I can't bring myself to say goodbye to him or Longfur... They have been such great friends. As for you, my son, you've turned into a fine warrior. You don't need me anymore," She started to turn away, but stopped. She shook with a sob before looking back at him. "Rabbitleap... I-I couldn't bring myself to see you die. I lost your father, Lucifer... I... You can come with me, I'm sure my old twolegs won't mind... You can even find twolegs of your own... J-Just... I... I can't bare to see you die... You mean so much to me. You were my first kit. I... I just can't stay here with all the violence going on. I wasn't born to be a warrior. Neither was Lucifer... Neither are you.. Please... Come with me..."
"I-"
"This isn't the end of this. I'll hunt you down if it means I get to be the one to kill you. Nothing will stand in my way."
"I-I can't..."
"Why not?"
"This is where I belong. That, and I can't put you in danger with Python out to kill me..." She looked hurt, but gave a small, heartbroken nod.
"I understand... J-just remember, I-I... I will always love you... You will always my s-son."
"And you will always be my mother." She stepped forward and rasped her tongue on his forehead.
"I'll never forget you."
"I could never forget you." She stepped back, letting the bitter silence kick in. With one last nod and a moment of hesitation, she took off into the thick pines of the forest. Rabbitleap watched as his last tie to his past broke away. Taking in a deep breath, he looked back at the camp. He needed to look towards his future. He needed to face his mistakes and take on Python. Rabbitleap needed to end the curse that Rabbitpaw started.