𝙳𝙴𝙻𝙸𝚁𝙸𝚄𝙼 ➳ Warrior Cats Fanfic

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I can't even begin to explain anything."

     "Please, just talk to me. I'm your friend. You can trust me. I'm not going to hurt you."

     Hemlockfoot turned to him, white petals seemed to cling to the fur on his face. Poison hemlock. The very thing he'd warned everyone not to touch earlier.

     "What... what happened?" he asked, alarmed.

     "Remember when Rowantail went missing? Rainwhisper... Rainwhisper, I ate him. I killed and ate him. But I didn't stop there. After Morningdaisy's vigil, I took her body away and I ate it too. I-I-I was so hungry, I didn't realize what I did, and now I have bloodcough and I'm going to die!"

     Rainwhisper felt disgusted. He looked at his mentor, not knowing how to respond to anything. This tom, the cat he had grown so close to, had committed unspeakable acts. And now, he had eaten poison hemlock.

     Hemlockfoot collapsed, his blue eyes staring off into the distance. Drool seeped from his mouth.

     "You're such a mousebrain!" Rainwhisper cried, collapsing and pressing his face into his mentor's pelt. "You absolute mousebrain!"

     "Stay away before I infect you," he choked out.

     "Shut up! You never had bloodcough! You didn't have anything to worry about! Why couldn't you listen to me? Why didn't you just talk to me?"

     Hemlockfoot sighed. "I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm so sorry."

     Rainwhisper choked out a sob. "No, I'm sorry! I should have noticed this! I should have paid attention yesterday! I should have been there for you! I'm so, so sorry!"

     The dying cat smiled. "If... StarClan allows me to... I will see you at the Moonpool... Goodbye, Rainwhisper..."

     A few heartbeats passed before Hemlockfoot let out a final, raspy exhale. Rainwhisper buried his face into the tom's pelt, his cries muffled.

     "Rainwhisper?"

     He didn't turn to face Newtdash. The she-cat didn't need to see him like this. "He's gone, Newtdash. He's gone."

"What happened?" she asked, rushing over.

Crowshade and Ashclaw rushed over, Spidertail trailing behind them.

"He did this to himself. He felt there wasn't any hope for him, so he poisoned himself," the tom told them.

Newtdash rested her tail on Rainwhisper's back. "This isn't your fault."

Rainwhisper buried his face into the she-cat's pelt. "Get him away from me. I can't be near him right now. Just take him away."

Crowshade and Ashclaw looked at one another before picking up the now deceased medicine cat. The two toms had never been close with him, but knowing that he'd been suffering this entire time had changed everything.

Newtdash began to lick Rainwhisper's ears comfortingly. "It's going to be alright. Crowshade and Ashclaw are taking him back to camp."

Spidertail sat down. "He was always there for me when I needed help. I wish I could've been there for him. Rainwhisper, if there's anything I can do to help, just say so."

Rainwhisper let out a shaky sob as he pressed his face deeper into the tortoiseshell's pelt. "I just want to see him happy again like he was yesterday! I didn't think this was why he was so happy! I should've known!"

The she-cat nodded. "It wasn't just you. Nobody noticed or thought this was the case. Why don't we get you back to camp so you can rest?"

And with that, the cats returned to camp. The vigil that night was quiet up until Rainwhisper informed them of what had truly been happening. Nobody wanted to believe it, so it was not brought up publicly again. After all, what happens in ShadowClan stays in ShadowClan.