Waging War Book 4: Empty Peace {COMPLETE}

Chapter 9

"Keep up, Blossomtail!" The call came from Redclaw at the head of the patrol. Blossomtail's ears twitched in response, not realizing she had fallen behind. She quickly trotted up to the rest of her Clanmates as they approached the AshClan border.

"Sorry." She replied, ignoring the faint burning in her pelt. She was feeling slight exhaustion weigh on her shoulders, but she had to keep it together, she was a warrior now. There was no more room for error, she had to be responsible and dutiful and she had done her best to do just that.

Ever since her ceremony, Blossomtail wrestled with self-doubts, wondering if she truly earned her warrior name, so she had decided to dedicate her time to making sure that she was worthy of the title. Without a mentor to keep her on a strict schedule, Blossomtail would wake up at dawn every day and not go to sleep until well past moonhigh.

She was at risk of overexerting herself, but she was making sure to stay just below that threshold. She would go hunting, go on patrol and train alone. So far no one had noticed and now that she had a mentor, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone watching over her. They have no need to concern themselves with me.

She did her best to ignore the hollow feeling that was growing deep in her heart. If she didn't think about it, then it couldn't grow any bigger. At least that's what she would keep telling herself.

She realized that she found herself falling behind the patrol once again and pushed forward to keep up, walking just behind Adderstrike. At long last, they neared the AshClan border. Blossomtail looked around, making sure nothing was out of place and it all seemed perfect.

She thought back to a few days ago when Violetstar showed up at SunClan camp. Dawnstar had told her warriors what happened, that Violetstar requested SunClan side with MoonClanfor this whole war, which Dawnstar had turned down saying they would continue to remain neutral.

Blossomtail was grateful for that, she didn't want to get involved in a war, she was too scared of losing someone she loved. She knew she was a warrior, and warriors were supposed to be brave but she saw how broken the MoonClan cats at the gathering looked at the death of Shadowstar, she didn't want to go through the same thing. Maybe I'm just selfish. Blossomtail thought sadly and she followed her patrol, now trudging their way through the snow to return to camp.

An all out war between the Clans could be disastrous, SunClan had by far the most amount of warriors but Blossomtail didn't want to lose any of them. The thought of losing her parents or one of her siblings was enough to make her stomach flip. Losing Owlbreeze to another Clan, even if she was still alive, was painful enough. The fear of war and death started to cloud Blossomtail's thoughts, she shook her head and shook the dark thoughts away, refusing to focus on it.

She stayed near the back of the patrol until they finally reached SunClan camp and the patrol broke apart, with Redclaw padding towards Cinderflame to give the patrol report. Blossomtail wasn't sure what she should do, it was just past sunhigh so she still had plenty of time to get done. She was starting to feel exhaustion weigh on her more, and she considered taking a nap, but she knew if she did that she would just end up feeling guilty.

She looked around camp, seeing if anything needed attending to. She knew the fresh-kill pile was well stocked despite the season, with as many warriors as SunClan had with no more apprentices, there were plenty of cats catching prey and they all made sure to not eat more than their fair share.

Movement near the elder's den caught Blossomtail's eyes and she spotted Brackenpelt walking with Sandfoot towards the medicine cat den. The elder looked a bit thin, and her eyes and nose were streaming. Her green eyes were dim and she looked exhausted. Sandfoot is sick. Anxiety pulsed in Blossomtail's chest. I'm sure she'll be okay. She tried to convince herself. Pebblestep and Honeyfrost will take good care of her, just like the other sick cats. Right now only Snowfeather and Mapleshine were in the medicine cat den, but only with whitecough according to Honeyfrost.