I entered the camp to see Shadowtail sitting in a corner near the nursery glaring at Tigerstar. I couldn't blame him, he wasn't part of the battle, and he seemed downright furious. Perhaps he needed a warrior to stay behind and look after the camp? I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. It wasn't any of my business whats happens to Shadowtail or not.
I padded up to the fresh-kill pile, suddenly craving a nice, juicy mouse. My jaws closed around the fattest mouse in the pile, padded over to Sandfur, and curled up beside him.
"Someone is hungry." He purred, looking up from his own scrawny thrush.
"All that fighting works up an appetite." I remarked through mouthfuls of mouse.
"Well, when your done, we may as well get some sleep. We both know we'll be up before dawn just to go check if thunderclan has come back." He meowed, a hint of a growl creeping into his voice.
"Aha, your going to see Spiritpool first, mousebrain!" I hissed back, nudging him to his feet. Sandfur let out a sigh, but limped towards the medicine den anyways. Before I could take a step towards the warriors den, Tigerstars low growl called me to him. I let out an aggravated sigh, and padded over to the huge tabby.
"You barely have a scratch on you, what did you do during the battle? Share tongues with a queen or to?" He hissed, glaring at me through slanted eyes. Anger boiled inside of my belly, but before I could give a smart remark, Brackenpaw spoke up from behind the leader.
"Actually, Tigerstar, she helped me chase off a black tom twice my size, a she-cat warrior, and also another tom twice her own size…" He whimpered, cowering beneath they're leaders glare.
"So now you have apprentices speaking for you, Thistleclaw?" Tigerstar growled. I glared back.
"Is it my fault that Brackenpaw didn't give me a chance to speak?" I retorted, desperately trying to keep my claws sheathed.
He gave me a long, hard glare, before turning around and stalking away. Brackenpaw apologized and streaked off.
Turning back to the warriors den, I let out a long sigh. It had begun to feel like Starclan no longer cared about what happened in Shadowclan. I glared up at the Silverpelt and puffed out my chest.
"If you wont take care of my clan, then I will."
Sunlight filtered in through the bramble branches that surrounded the warrior den. I blinked open my tired eyes, and got up to stretch. I snapped wide awake when I heard a furious yowl and a startled squeak come from the clearing. Snakekit stood in the clearing with his ears low and his tail tucked between his legs, staring up at a furious Tigerstar.
"You stupid pathetic piece of fox-dung! Don't you watch where your going?" He yowled at the small kit. Snakekits mother dashed over to protect her kit, but was swatted away by Tigerstar.
"Who cares if theres one less kit in the nursery? I don't!" He snarled, loud enough for the entire clan to hear. Shocked gasps came from the queens and elders, and low growls came from the rest of the clan. Tigerstar lifted a paw, claws unsheathed, and brought it down towards Snakekit. I dashed forward and shielded the small kits body with mine, and hissed in pain as claws sliced across my back.
"You made me miss my target. Whatever, at least I got to rake my claws through something." He growled into my ear, so only I could hear. He stalked away, as if nothing had happened, and Snakekits mom, Darkshade, dashed forward and retrieved her kit, giving him comforting licks.
"Thank you." She meowed, staring at me with terrified and grateful eyes. I just nodded in return.
"You should go see Spiritpool about that cut, its pretty nasty." Morningflower, another queen, commented, gazing at me with sympathetic eyes. I nodded again, and stalked towards Spiritpool, who was already waiting for me with a bundle of cobwebs wrapped around her paw, and a poppy seed in her jaws.
"That was very brave of you, Thistleclaw." The young medicine cat commented, pressing the cobwebs into her wound as gently as possible. I ate the poppy seed she handed me half-heartedly.
"I was just doing whats right…" I replied.
"You have a hard path ahead of you, young one, but remember this, even the strongest warrior cannot defeat the one with the most loyalty." She whispered into my ear. I blinked, and stared at her in confusion. Spiritpool only shook her head, and sent me off with a flick of her tail.
Back in the warriors den, I curled up and rested my head on my paws. I began to wonder how hard my path would truly be… Surely it was something I could handle? And what did Spiritpool mean by "Not even the strongest warrior can beat the one with most loyalty?"… To many questions were not being made clear for me, and I wanted to find out when the would be. I shook my head and closed my eyes.
Whatever it is. I can deal with it.
Ok, I know it wasn't AS long as the last chapter, but I think it was still a good length… anyways, good/amazing, bad/terrible, leave a review!