Shock hit Russetfur like a badger slamming into her at full speed. Foxheart was going to be the new deputy? Her sister? The cat who killed Reedfeather in the battle with WindClan? The cat who only left the nursery that day? The cat who had only ever trained one apprentice? Jealousy flooded through Russetfur. How could Raggedstar pick Foxheart? There were so many more experienced warriors, warriors a hundred times more suited for deputyship. And if he wanted a young deputy, presumably for their longevity, then couldn't he have picked Oakfur, Rowanclaw, Skyheart, Nightpelt, - herself? If he wanted a warrior he trained himself, then Blackfoot would be the best choice - he'd trained three apprentice, and was a very good fighter, if maybe not the smartest cat around.
Or perhaps that was it- cleverness? Well, Skyheart was certainly as smart as Foxheart, if not more so, and the same was true for Oakfur. Even Russetfur herself was almost as intelligent as her sister. Yet even with that brainpower, she couldn't figure out why Raggedstar chose Foxheart to be deputy. Swallowing her bitterness for a moment, she reasoned, Foxheart is young, smart, strong, a decent fighter and a good hunter...But she couldn't hold in the green-eyed monster for very much longer. So am I! She thought. I am all of those things, and I've trained more apprentices, I'm a better fighter, and maybe I'm not a fantastic hunter, but I caught that owl! I deserve this more than she does, yet who does Raggedstar pick?
"I would also like to-" Raggedstar began, but he was interrupted by a shocked yowl of pain coming from the entrance of camp. A very unwelcome scent assaulted her nostrils a second later; ThunderClan! Russetfur forgot her jealous rage and leaped to her paws, immediately yowling the alarm. Tallpoppy, who had been sitting a little ways away, responded immediately by ushering Greenkit and Maplekit towards the nursery urgently, but the rest of the cats took a moment to respond. In those precious seconds, ThunderClan cats burst into the camp with snarls of fury.
Russetfur leaped upon the first cat, a tom nearly twice her size, his fur pure white, reminding her for a fraction of a second of Cloudpelt. Knowing this cat was not her sister's mate, she sank her teeth deep into his shoulder and unsheathing her claws to grip his fur. He let out a screech, turning his head sharply to dig his own fangs into Russetfur's muzzle. The pain was immense, as his long teeth penetrated nearly all the way through her face, but she expressed her pain by digging her teeth and claws further and further through his fur and flesh and muscle.
The white warrior jerked sharply as she bit down with all her strength, his sharp teeth sliding out of the she-cats muzzle with a spurt of scarlet. Russetfur released his shoulder just as he rolled to shake her off. She leaped off, then quickly raked her claws down his exposed belly. She couldn't strike very hard for lack of time and a good angle, but her claws tore through the soft flesh, and she leaped away to find a different opponent.
A smaller tortoiseshell tom faced her, a dusky brown she-cat at his side. They were both fairly small cats, but Russetfur couldn't take them both-but it didn't seem like she had a choice, as they leaped at her. The she-cat was young and fierce, and the tom quick and smart. They made a formidable pair, and Russetfur stood no chance. The second she clawed or bit one, the other would score a deeper cut on her. She was losing badly when a bright ginger shape intervened, balancing on her hind legs to rake her claws down the tortoiseshell's chest-Foxheart. Russetfur's sister turned for a moment, grinning, and the darker ginger she-cat snapped, "Get out of here!"
Foxheart didn't respond for a moment, her teeth locked in the other cat's shoulder. When she did, Russetfur almost didn't hear for the caterwaul her own opponent had uttered. "What?" called her sister.
Fire burning in her heart, Russetfur snarled, "I don't need your help, deputy!" She said the last word scathingly. Foxheart turned, her eyes wide with hurt, before anger took over and her sister leaped away, leaving Russetfur again alone against the two cats. "You will never beat me, ThunderClan!" she screeched as the two cats closed in. She attacked with renewed fury, tearing her claws through flesh and sinew. The cats bit and slashed, but Russetfur hardly felt it for the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Still, they were winning. Even though Russetfur refused to give up, they were overpowering her. Panic started to set in, Russetfur's vision going a little blurry from the loss of blood. She was trembling as she fought them, her muscles starting already to give out. No, no, no, no, no, I will not die like this... Russetfur screamed mentally. I cannot die this young, I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. Why don't they stop? I'm defeated? No, no I'm not. Keep fighting...Have to... Keep...Fighting...
"Redtail! Mousefur!" came a voice. Russetfur thought it sounded vaguely familiar, but her thoughts were swimming and her legs weren't working and her eyesight was nearly gone. "Help!" came the voice again... Who was that voice... She knew she knew it... Fuzzypelt? Yes, Fuzzypelt. She was aware that no new wounds cut through her pelt... The warriors had left.
Dimly, a ginger pelt crossed her vision, and Russetfur nearly threw up. No... Not Foxheart. StarClan don't let her watch me die.. "Darkpaw! Get her!" came an even more familiar voice. Darkpaw? Brightflower's apprentice? No... That was a tom's voice... Does that voice mean me? Are they going to drag away my dead body? Am I dead? The warrior thought. A dark shape slammed into Foxheart. Oh... Different..Darkpaw. ThunderClan...Foxheart! Russetfur tried desperately to stand, to fight, to help her sister, but her legs simply would not follow her orders. Perhaps I am dead...
Foxheart and the ThunderClan Darkpaw moved out of her cloudy field of vision, and a much larger shape took up residence there. Bright, wide, worried amber eyes stared into hers. "Russetfur?" came the voice, the voice that told Darkpaw to attack her sister. "Russetfur!" The voice said louder. With an effort, Russetfur opened her jaws.
"T-Tiger...claw..." She struggled to form the name. She was so tired, so so tired. His nose pushed into her neck fur, one part of her that wasn't entirely shredded with wounds.
A smile formed on his lips. "You're not dead...I thought Redtail killed you, Russetfur... My Russetfur...I attacked Fuzzypelt so he would call for help, and it worked. I got Mousefur and Redtail to quit attacking you. I saved you, Russetfur, and now it's your job to stay alive. I can't let any cat see me with you, talking to you. But forgive me for attacking your Clanmates. It wasn't supposed to be like this. You were supposed to all be asleep. We were going to get Raggedstar alone, to try and make him give us territory. It wasn't supposed to be like this... " There was a loud call for ThunderClan to retreat."Russetfur, I will never forgive you if you die now. Stay alive. Stay alive. Stay alive..."
The she-cat didn't know if his words continued- she had passed out completely now. In her head, though, those words continued. Stay alive. Stay alive. Stay alive. Stay alive. It became a mantra, endlessly repeating. Stay alive.
Russetfur blinked open her eyes. A small plant was in front of her face, with slightly fuzzy leaves and one small, white flower. An aphid crawled over one of the leaves, flying over a tiny droplet of dew upon the largest leaf. Russetfur raised her head with a bit of difficulty to see that she was in the medicine den. Relief flooded through her. Being in the medicine meant she wasn't dead, right. She breathed a sigh and winced- her ribcage was bruised and had a deep scratch on it - like the rest of her.
Her whole body ached and itched and burned. She shivered, not daring to stretch her muscles, though they needed it. "She's awake, finally." said Yellowfang irritatedly. "You, get up! I said, she's awake!" Russetfur looked around to see that Yellowfang was nudging Dustpaw, who was asleep not a tail-length away.
"What?" she murmured questioningly. "She's awake?" the medicine cat only snorted. Dustpaw sat up, blinking away her sleepiness. The apprentice smiled at her mentor with a bleary gaze. "I thought you'd never get up. It's been three days, and you haven't been up for more than a few minutes. You must be starving." Russetfur saw that the apprentice had her fair share of battle wounds, including a badly torn ear.
"Your ear..." Russetfur mumbled slowly.
Dustpaw sat up straighter. "Cool, isn't it? Did you see how it happened?" Russetfur shook her head slowly. "Oh... I saved Raggedstar's life! Well, one of them, anyway. This huge ThunderClan cat came at him, so i jumped in front and he got me instead. It hurt pretty bad, but I'm okay now. Jeez, though, I thought you were dead for sure- you've got more wound on you than I can count!" Dustpaw's eyes travelled up Russetfur's body admiringly.
"It's not as glorious as it looks. Feels like I was hit by a monster." Russetfur managed a smile as her stomach growled loudly. "Guess I am hungry..."
Dustpaw leaped to her paws. "Me too. I'll get us something from the pile. I think Skyheart went hunting- and serves him right, too, he's been sleeping since the Gathering, and it's past sun-high!" She trotted off to get the prey, and Russetfur's heart sped up. She had missed the Gathering! Tigerclaw! The apprentice re-entered the den a minute later, and Russetfur took the frog she brought gratefully.
"So, what did ThunderClan say at the Gathering?" she asked carefully.
Dustpaw swallowed a bite of her lizard and replied with a snort. "Nothing. Nothing at all about their raid, just that ShadowClan should give them more territory. But don't worry, Raggedstar told them all about it."
"Huh." she said, unable to completely hide the worry in her voice. "Were the ThunderClan cats themselves hissing at you?" she asked, trying to glean information.
Dustpaw dipped her head. "Yeah, a couple of them. It was really weird though, one of them came up to me and asked about you."
Her heart speeding up uncontrollably, Russetfur tried to look confused. "Who was it? And what did you say?"
"I don't know his name... But he was huge! Like, three times my size huge! And his claws- they were practically as big as my paw, each! And he had all these scars and a really scary stare..." Dustpaw rambled. It was Tigerclaw! Russetfur suppressed a purr.
"What did you say?" she asked again.
Dustpaw narrowed her eyes. "I told him we could still fight without you." Russetfur nodded calmly, but inside she was panicking. If that was precisely what her apprentice had said, then he might assume Dustpaw meant that she was dead! "I wonder why he asked though. Was he the one that attacked you? Maybe he thought he killed you and was bragging about it to me, if he knew I was your apprentice..." she pondered.
"That's probably it..." Russetfur replied.
After Dustpaw left a little while later, Russetfur was left alone with her thoughts. Why was she so concerned about Tigerclaw? She had sworn to never be more than friends with him, sworn to him and to herself. Internally, Russetfur knew that if Tigerclaw had attacked her during the fight, she wouldn't have fought back. And that was dangerous. She had to distance herself from him, and soon. So why did she get to her paws to sneak into dangerous enemy territory when she wasn't even supposed to be walking just to tell her "friend" she was okay?
