Bloodflower

Chapter 25

Dawnpaw's sleep was filled with strange, dark images. Rogue cats shredding her Clanmates with ease; SunClan and FireClan waging war in the midst of a fire; Rosepaw's mangled body at her paws; Sunstar's eyes boring into her just before he faded forever.

She felt a paw placed on her flank, and her eyes snapped open. Grayleaf was standing over her, watching her with concern in her eyes.

"You were tossing and turning," she observed. "Did you have another bad dream?"

"Not one from StarClan," Dawnpaw replied, her mew still raspy from waking up. "My dreams these days are made up of every problem that SunClan has. I hardly ever get good sleep anymore."

"I know how that feels," Grayleaf meowed, gazing at her sympathetically. "We medicine cats tend to be worry worms, more so than most cats. But I've found that focusing on what needs to be done helps take your mind off your worries."

Dawnpaw purred briefly. "You're not saying this just to make me work more, are you?" she asked with amused suspicion.

Grayleaf's tail whisked. "You'll have to answer that for yourself while you're out gathering herbs. You can be alone with your thoughts while you're at it."

Dawnpaw angled her ears at the well-stocked herb store. "Don't we have enough already?"

"You should know by now that I like to be prepared for absolutely anything that could happen."

"I think we are prepared."

"Do you want time by yourself or not?"

Dawnpaw shrugged. "All right, I'll go. But can I get something from the fresh-kill pile first?"

"Of course. But bring me something juicy before you go!" Grayleaf turned back to the pile of fresh goldenrod she was sorting.

"I will," Dawnpaw laughed, rising from her nest.

As she padded out of the den, she noticed Rosepaw walking closely beside Shadowpool. The two were headed towards Beestripe. Maybe seeing if they can go out on a morning patrol.

Dawnpaw chose a small mouse from the prey pile and crouched with her paws tucked under her to eat. When she looked up from her first bite, she saw Rosepaw leaving camp with Nightpaw, Thrushtail, and Thumpstep. Her sister looked happy on the outside, but Dawnpaw could see past her facade. In truth, she seemed dismayed, and kept casting glances back at the warriors' den.

Dawnpaw followed her sister's gaze and noticed that several warriors were gathering materials to patch up a large hole in the den wall. Great StarClan, that's big! What in the world caused that to happen?

A hole like that in the den wall would cause a strong draft. Some cats could catch colds or coughs if it wasn't fixed soon. Dawnpaw hoped the damage wasn't too bad.

But it still didn't explain why Rosepaw looked that upset. She noticed Pineclaw was one of the cats tasked with patching up the hole; perhaps she was upset that she couldn't train with her own mentor today?

No. My sister wouldn't be so frustrated about something as small as that.

Dawnpaw gnawed thoughtfully on her mouse. Maybe it had something to do with Shadowpool? Rosepaw had been talking to him just before she'd left camp. Had she wanted to go out into the forest with him? Why? Those two get along, but they've never really been friends, she thought. Not like she's friends with Nightpaw.

Dawnpaw couldn't think of any reason her sister could be worked up. Maybe it was simply something she didn't know about.

There are a lot of things I don't know about Rosepaw these days, she realized, feeling a sharp pang of regret. She longed for the old days of sleeping together in the nursery, and play-fighting at the edges of the camp. Back then, they had stuck by each other like burrs stuck to fur, and there was nothing one didn't know about the other. Life had been so simple and content. But their apprenticeships—and the recent trouble SunClan was in—had pushed them apart. They were still close, of course...but it wasn't the same.