Shock rocked through his body, his father was dead? How did the Skyclan Cats kill so many cats in a patrol? Did the entire clan of Skyclan go after them? His head was a mess of questions no Thunderclan cat could answer.
Brackenstar quickly glanced at Frostpaw, Cedarclaw was the only cat on the patrol to have fathered a Kit and the leader knew sensitivity was important for Frostpaw at the moment.
"Applefern, we should discuss the matter in my den." Brackenstar said, gesturing with his Tail for Applefern to follow him. Applefern nodded, giving her own glance at her apprentice before following the Clan Leader to his den.
Frostpaw, still in a state of near shock, slowly walked towards the apprentices den with his tail drooping to the ground. The Apprentice was certainly shaken up, he had been through loss before when the 3rd kit of his mothers litter died from a bout of Greencough. Pinekit had been taken from them too early, and now Cedarclaw had been taken too.
Sadness overtook him, Grief was among the many emotions in his mind at the moment and he collapsed into his nest as soon as he reached it, he wanted to sleep. He desperately tried to get his eyes to close as soon as possible but they refused.
'Your Father is dead, he's never coming back, and you're next. Your friends are next, and the Clans are next' Whispered a Voice in his mind.
"Stop…." He mewed weakly, "I won't let it happen…" He tried to sound brave, but he failed as his voice continued to quiver.
He covered his face with his paws and tried to reason with the voice in his head. That couldn't be true! He would never let his friends be hurt!
"But what are you going to do? You're just a Lowly apprentice ... .Unless…" The Voice said
"Unless what?" He asked, whimpering.
But the voice had vanished and as he repeatedly asked for it to come back, Applefern walked into the den.
"Frostpaw, Brackenstar wants to see you." She said, Frostpaw glanced up from his paws and gazed into her Green Eyes.
"Am I in trouble?" He asked
"No, It's about…well, you know…" She said, Frostpaw nodded, knowing it was about his father.
He picked himself up, walking slowly past Applefern before continuing on to Brackenstars den. When he reached it he found Brackenstar sitting upright in the den, sitting nearly fully still.
"Come, sit." Brackenstar said, and Frostpaw as he was told.
"Typically these are matters I'd only talk to with my Deputy, but since you're the only Cat who had close family in the Patrol I'd figure I'd discuss it with you as well." Brackenstar said.
"It's been a real long time since we've lost a warrior to a battle with another clan, over a dozen moons at least, and This many warriors lost at once? I wasn't even a leader back then, but just an apprentice like yourself , but rest assured Frostpaw there will be Justice." Brackenstar said.
"Do you think Skyclan wants a War?" Frostpaw asked, he wondered if Brackenstar even knew the answer or wanted to give it, but after a minute the old cat spoke.
"It's been Countless moons since the clans have had an all out war. I heard Riverclan and Shadowclan fought one when I was a young warrior but we had no way to get involved, Skyclan is the weakest Clan, hardly able to feed their own kits. If they are truly Desperate then I would suspect they might want our hunting grounds, but this attack? It feels off." Brackenstar said.
"What's off?" Frostpaw asked with curiosity
"The Code states clearly you can only kill in battle when it is absolutely necessary for the defense of the clan, Skyclan may be starving half the time but they are still honorable warriors…" Brackenstar mewed.
Frostpaw shifted his paws around, "But why am I in here?" He asked quietly.
"Frostpaw, your father was one of my closest friends, he would have been one of my first choices for deputy had Applefern not been there." Brackenstar explained, "The fact he was murdered in cold blood makes me angry, angrier than I've probably ever been."
"H-He was?" Frostpaw asked, wide eyed.
"It's not well known, but yes, he had all the qualities to become Deputy." Brackenstar nodded.
"Anyways Frostpaw, I want you to know we are here for you, all of us." Brackenstar said, "You should go see Ravenheart, he will probably have more words of wisdom for you since he's, y'know, the medicine cat." Brackenstar said.
Frostpaw nodded, respectfully backing away from the den. The Sun had already begun to set upon the lake and he scampered quickly to the medicine den. Ravenheart, the clan medicine cat was sorting through herbs. He couldn't tell which ones they were given his lack of knowledge of Medicine, he guessed that was why they called them Medicine cats….
"I've been expecting you, Frostpaw." Ravenheart said, turning to face him.
"Y-You have?" Frostpaw asked.
"I don't just deal with Physical Injuries, I deal with Mental ones too, and this would apply." Ravenheart said, shuffling his tail.
"Frostpaw, how have you been feeling?" Ravenheart Asked.
"Sad I guess…It's hard to put into words." Frostpaw told him.
"It's always hard losing a family member, I lost my own parents moon ago. For now I suggest taking it easy for a few days, just remember the whole clan is here to help you." The Medicine cat said.
"Thanks Ravenheart…" Frostpaw said.
"I wish I could do more, but no herb can heal this type of injury." Ravenheart whispered as Frostpaw left.
2 Cats padded into the leader's den, one being the deputy Applefern with Ravenheart striding behind her. Both sat in front of the Clan Leader Brackenstar, he gazed at them with worry as the setting sun cast beams of light into the den.
"Thank you for coming, this situation deserves more discussion with the both of you." Brackenstar meowed.
"Now, tell me everything we know about what happened?" He asked Ravenheart
Ravenheart nodded, "I can tell they put up a fight, there was blood on their claws."
"Then they had a warning, could you determine whether it was a Skyclan cat?" Brackenstar asked.
"Multiple cats, the claw marks on them were the right size and shape to be a cat and based on the fact that there were that many cats on the patrol, I'd say they were outnumbered." Ravenheart said, shuffling his tail.
"So it was for sure a Skyclan attack?" Brackenstar asked
"They had Skyclan Scent on them." Ravenheart said.
"You could have led with that…" Brackenstar muttered
"Yet I still don't know why'd they kill the patrol, they weren't even hunting so if Skyclan was starving why'd they attack?" Brackenstar asked.
"I do not know either." Ravenheart confided
"I will bring it up at the next gathering." Brackenstar mewed, "I will address this Crime infront of all the clans and demand justice and reasoning from Oakstar himself."
"Good." Applefern said, "We have a Sad apprentice and a Mourning clan, let us make sure we do not let justice escape us."
"Let us also make sure this does not cloud our reasoning." Ravenheart said, "we still don't know exactly what happened, and anger will not help us."
"While I agree with you Ravenheart, We have 6 dead cats. Revenge is surely something on every cat's mind." Applefern said.
"That's quite enough, it is settled." Brackenstar meowed. "We will discuss this at the gathering, and we will get answers then."
Applefern and Ravenheart nodded, and silently slipped out of their dens to prepare for tommorow nights gathering.