Waging War Book 4: Empty Peace {COMPLETE}

Chapter 26

Stormheart yawned. "Well I know you're alwayys itching to stay busy, you want to join the dawn patrol since you're up?"

A patrol sounded exactly like what he needed to clear his head from his stupid dream. "Yeah, I can do that." He said, eager for it to begin so he could think about literally anything else.

It took longer than he wanted, but eventually the dawn patrol gathered. It was a small patrol, but the dawn patrol typically was. It consisted of Stormheart, Harewhisker, Hailfeather, and Dustfall and now Slateheart as well.

"Let's get going." Stormheart told them as he began leading the patrol into the woods. Leafbare was mostly over, but the mornings were still quite cold. All the foliage was covered in a thin layer of frost. The cold din't bother him as much as it seemed to bother his Clanmates. He walked alongside them without saying much, just trying to keep his head clear.

No matter what he tired though, he couldn't shake the dream. He couldn't shake the image of Blossomtail in his mind, seeing her standing by the river and basically glowing. He hated himself for thinking this way, He had never thought about Blossomtail this way until now, and he was sure he was sick or something. He had some kind of fever or something stupid going on. He was desperate enough that he considered visiting Blackstorm to see if there was actually something wrong with him.

The patrol went without incident, they neared the SunClan border and Slateheart was reminded of his dream once again. Het let out a quiet groan and kept walking. "Everything alright?" The soft voice of Hailfeather spoke up and he looked up.

"Yeah, just a little tired." He replied, flicking his tail. He really wasn't in much of a mood to talk to his cousin.

"Alright alright." She laughed a bit. "You always look grumpy, but you seemed more grumpy today." He shot her another glare and lashed his tail.

"There's not need to bite my head off." Hailfeather said in a teasing manner with amusement in her mew. Slateheart just let out a groan. "You know your Clanmates and kin do care about you, right?

He gave her a harsh look. He knew that his family cared, but they also never really stopped to check on him, however the truth was that he wouldn't open up to them even if they did. Slateheart had always kept himself closed off. He had never shown weakness in the form of emotions, he had never shown himself to anyone has weak. He had grown up feeling the need to be strong, just like his father had been, to be stronger for his sisters and for his mother. He would never let them in, he would never let them know.

He recalled his conversation with Blossomtail and his emotional outburst. That was the most he had ever opened up to any cat, and he wasn't sure why. He couldn't explain why he felt this way towards Blossomtail and it enraged her. She was nothing special, she was just some stupid SunClan she-cat.

He forced the thoughts away, he refused to let them distract him. He would completely ignore his feelings about Blossomtail. He refused to allow himself to think of anything else but serving his Clan. They were in the middle of a war, AshClan had to focus on that, and nothing else.

He would shove the feelings away and eventually they would die off, just like they did when he started feeling bad about his father or his place in the Clan. He wouldn't think about it. He couldn't continue to remain stoic, using his claws and teeth to serve his Clan. He forced his mind to empty and clear away, he stared at the path of ahead of him as he ventured alongside his patrol.

Hailfeather stopped talking to him and he was grateful for it, he lurked towards the back of the patrol while she went to talk to her father, Stormheart. He was better on his own, he didn't get along with others. He never did. He never got along with his siblings, or his cousins, he barely ever got along with Leafdawn. He had barely spoken to his mentor since he became a warrior. He figured she didn't want anything to do with him.

He knew it was his own fault, he knew that his sharp personality pushed everyone away, but he genuinely felt that no other cats would get him. He wanted to be the bravest and strongest warrior he could be, he couldn't settle for anything less and he felt like anything else would just drag him down. He had to keep pushing himself, to be the best warrior in the forest. He would never stop trying to be just that.

The patrol continued checking the SunClan border before returning to camp where the others began their daily Clanlife. He could see more warriors awake, including Tetra's kits, they were outside and starting to play. They were growing quickly, still tiny, in just under six moons they would be apprentices. Slateheart was really hoping to mentor one of them, it would be another test, though he knew he wouldn't have much patience with an annoying younger cat.

As he watched the kits he noticed that Lavenderkit seemed to be the most patient one, perhaps she would be the best one to mentor. He flicked his tail at the thought, he wasn't too sure he ever wanted to be deputy or even leader. It had never really crossed his mind. Just because a cat became leader didn't make them strong, there had been plenty weak leaders throughout Clan history. He just wanted to be strong, he didn't need to be leader.

Slateheart sat near the warriors's den, watching his Clanmates. Everything semed so normal...so peaceful. Like everything was just fine outside the camp, but he knew it wasn't. He could feel the healing claw marks on his eyes sting, a burning reminder of the reality that AshClan was facing.

He thought back to Blossomtail's words once more, this time about he war. He wasn't stupid, he knew that all the Clans would be getting involved and that a lot of cats were going to die. He slowly glanced around his Clanmates as the harrowing realization set in. Some of his Clanmates would not make it out of this war alive, Graypelt was only the beginning. He would do anything he could to protect them, no matter the cost. If becoming the greatest warrior in the forest meant dying to save his Clanmates; then that's exactly what he would do.