A/N: Hi guys! I know it's been a while, but I woke up in the middle of the night last night with the biggest rush of inspiration for this fic, so... I can promise you all, there is more to come, maybe even later today.
Thank-you all so much for reading and reviewing while my inspiration has been shy! You really are the best readers a little writer like me could ask for! From this chapter on, I will continue doing individual thank-yous and responses to reviews, and while this chapter is not very good in my opinion (I already had half of it written a couple months ago and didn't feel like rewriting it, so I just rolled with what I had already) I hope you'll leave a review and let me know what you think!
Thanks again, and enjoy chapter 22!
Chapter 22
Despite the ceremonies, the cats of ThunderClan moved about in a sort of grim daze. Runningwind was going hunting with Cindercloud, Graystripe was calling Brackenfur and the golden tabby's newly named apprentice for the border patrol, and those who were badly injured were numbly moving to the medicine den, where Stormfur had noticed Hailpaw and Yellowfang had already retreated.
"Stormfur." The dark gray warrior turned to see Sootfur padding slowly towards him, his ears and front legs covered in cobwebs. "Help me," the older tom's voice wavered before he continued, his eyes bright with pain, "Help me gather the dead."
Stormfur felt his gut wrench, but dipped his head, following the gray-black warrior to the edge of the camp, where Longtail's body lay. Swiftstep will be devastated… The two young warriors gently lifted the dead tabby between them, bringing his body to the center of the camp to lie beside Bluestar's. Next was Sootfur's own brother, Rainwhisker, blood smeared all over his dark gray pelt.
"One more…" Sootfur murmured, flicking his tail towards the entrance of the camp.
"StarClan no…" Stormfur's amber eyes widened as he saw the once-white pelt of his mentor, Whitestorm, covered in blood and lying lifeless near the gorse tunnel. Without another word, he rushed to his mentor's body, pushing his nose into his dirty white fur. Why Whitestorm? Why, of all cats, did you have to take him from ThunderClan…? And Longtail, and Rainwhisker… What did ThunderClan do to deserve this destruction…?
"You can grieve tonight," Sootfur mewed softly, resting his tail on the younger warrior's flank, his amber eyes dark with pain. "Believe me, we all have plenty reason to grieve."
Stormfur bowed his head. "You're right. Let's move him next to Bluestar. She would want to be mourned alongside him." Sootfur nodded, bending to help Stormfur lift the great warrior. Slowly, they placed him next to Bluestar. Stormfur felt another jolt of pain shoot through his chest. For a moment, he pushed his nose into his mentor's bloody pelt. Receive him well, StarClan… I wouldn't be the warrior I am now without his guidance and wisdom.
"I think that's all…" Sootfur's amber eyes fell to his brother's mangled pelt again, and Stormfur felt his chest aching for the young warrior. He couldn't imagine losing both Feathertail and Graystripe in one battle—Sootfur and Sorreltail had more to mourn than most.
"Sootfur…" The two toms turned to see Tawnypelt padding slowly towards them, favoring her right hind leg. "We need to find something to patch up the holes in the camp wall."
"Right," the gray-black warrior sighed softly, before shaking his head. "Right. Let's go." He beckoned for Stormfur to follow with a flick of his tail, then took the lead as the three left the camp. Oh StarClan, how will we ever recover from this…?
Stormfur woke groggily the next morning, every muscle in his body aching. Feathertail was still asleep in the nest beside his, hastily scraped together after a long night of mourning. With a sigh, the dark gray tom stood, shaking the moss from his pelt before slipping out of the warriors den. Though the sun was peeking over the horizon, hardly any cat was awake, save Graystripe, who sat in the middle of the camp, and Hailpaw, who sat next to him.
"Good morning," Stormfur meowed as he approached, taking a seat beside Hailpaw.
"Good morning," the pale silver tabby dipped his head, and Graystripe echoed the greeting softly.
"Has Fireheart already left?"
Graystripe nodded. "Yes. He'll return to us as our leader…"
Hailpaw shook his head, his eyes shining with the light of StarClan. "No, he left as our leader. The only thing that will be different about him is his name."
A sigh escaped Graystripe's lips, and Stormfur turned curious amber eyes to the medicine cat apprentice. When did Hailpaw become so wise…? "Are you in charge of assigning patrols?"
Again, his father nodded. "Would you like to take the dawn patrol?"
"Sure." Stormfur stood, padding back to the warrior's den.
"And wake Swiftstep, tell him to lead a hunting patrol!"
Stormfur flicked his tail to let Graystripe know he had heard before ducking into the warrior's den again. He moved to Swiftstep's nest first, prodding the black and white tom with his forepaw. "Swiftstep!" he hissed softly, nudging him a little harder.
"I'm up…" the older tom yawned. "I'm… I'm awake…"
"Graystripe wants you to lead a hunting patrol." Stormfur explained quietly.
"Oh," as the black-and-white warrior became more coherent, he sat up, stretching. "Are you taking the dawn patrol?" Stormfur nodded. "Well, I know you're dying to go on your first patrol as a warrior with Feathertail, but do you mind if I steal her instead? She's a great hunter, and it would be good for Sagepaw to see her in action. She'll set a great example."
A purr escaped Stormfur's throat at Swiftstep's praise for his sister. "Of course. I'll take Brambleclaw and Foxtail."
"Take me where?" Stormfur jumped, turning to see Foxtail stretching luxuriously on his back, his midnight blue eyes bright with energy.
"On the dawn patrol," the dark gray tom explained. "Wake Brambleclaw, will you?"
The red-furred warrior rolled his eyes. "Great, you wake up the good-natured Swiftstep and ask me to wake up Brambleclaw…"
Stormfur rolled his eyes, but felt the gloom around his heart slowly beginning to lift. Swiftstep echoed the motion, his amber eyes turning towards the sky as he moved across the den to wake Feathertail. "Hurry up Foxtail, or it's going to be a sunhigh patrol," the dark gray warrior teased, flicking Foxtail's shoulder with his tail-tip before leaving again to go sit by the gorse tunnel.
He didn't have to wait long for Brambleclaw and Foxtail to exit the warrior's den, followed closely by Swiftstep, Feathertail, and Runningwind. Runningwind went straight to the nursery, and as Swiftstep went to the apprentice's den to wake Sagepaw, Brambleclaw and Foxtail joined Stormfur.
"Alright." Stormfur stood. "Let's head down the RiverClan border. I don't trust Leopardstar to leave Sunningrocks alone while we're recovering." Brambleclaw growled and agreement, flexing his claws, and Foxtail paced around them both in a large circle.
"Are we going or aren't we? At this rate they will have already moved the border by the time we get there." Without waiting for either cat to reply, the red-furred tom slipped through the gorse tunnel, leaving Brambleclaw and Stormfur to follow. As they moved through the forest, Stormfur couldn't help but to realize that even though ThunderClan had almost met its end, the forest hadn't changed at all. The late new-leaf sun shone brightly through the leaves, and the trails were filled with life. Soon ThunderClan will be strong again… Especially with how well the prey has been running…
"Well," Foxtail's voice cut through Stormfur's thoughts as they approached the river. "It seems like Sunningrocks is safe for now."
"Good," Brambleclaw huffed, stalking forward and renewing the scent markers. Foxtail padded a few tail-lengths ahead, flopping down on a cool, shaded stone. A light scuffling caught Stormfur's attention, and the dark gray tom pricked his ears, his amber eyes catching sight of a water vole. He slid into a hunting crouch, slowly and carefully stalking the small creature before finally lunging forward and finishing it with one blow of his wide paw.
"Nice catch!" Brambleclaw called.
Foxtail opened one midnight blue eye, his whiskers twitching. "Isn't this a border patrol?"
Stormfur rolled his eyes. "ThunderClan needs all the fresh-kill it can get to become strong again."
"I was kidding," Foxtail jumped to his paws, shaking some loose sand from his pelt. "Anyways, let's go. If the clan needs all the fresh-kill it can get, I want to get done with this patrol and go hunting."
Stormfur nodded. "Good idea, let's keep moving."
When they returned, Foxtail scooped a sparrow off the fresh-kill pile and veered away to the medicine den. Yellowfang had gone with Fireheart to Highstones, and Stormfur felt a flash of relief that Foxtail was making sure Hailpaw wasn't too stressed by the responsibility of being ThunderClan's only medicine cat for a day. He saw Dustpelt calling Cindercloud and Mousefur for the sunhigh patrol. Determined to hunt before taking something for himself, Stormfur padded towards the nettle patch where Brackenfur and Sorreltail were sharing tongues.
"Would either of you care to go hunting?" Stormfur asked as he approached.
Sorreltail pricked her ears, interested, while Brackenfur shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, Stormfur, once Thistlepaw is done searching the elders for ticks I've got to take her out and show her the borders."
"Hunting?" Silverstream poked her head curiously out of the warriors den and yawned. "I'll go." The lithe silver tabby had been on the evening patrol the night before, her wounds being among the lightest in the battle.
Stormfur blinked gratefully at his mother as Sorreltail jumped to her paws. "And that makes a patrol!" She hurried to the gorse tunnel, leaving Stormfur and Silverstream to follow more slowly. Stormfur couldn't help but to notice the way Brackenfur's eyes followed Sorrletail's movements, and the newly-named warrior suppressed an amused purr. Brambleclaw would have to be quick if he hoped to get close to the pretty tortoiseshell.
Their hunt was uneventful, and Stormfur found himself being lulled by the startling calm of the forest. His chest ached from the loss of so many great warriors in such a sudden battle, but life in the forest pushed on—and so he would, as well.