authors note: gore warning in the chapter
Shocked yowls erupted from the clowder of cats, echoing through the forest. Ravenpaw stumbled a little. His right foreleg glistened, moist with blood from his shoulder's deep cut. "We m-met five whispering river knights beside the stream, not far from the sun Carin," he said with a trembling voice. "Oakjaw was among them."
Ravenpaw gagged as he remembered what happened. He stood awkwardly to keep the weight off his shoulder because his wound was still bleeding heavily. "Whispering river cats came charging. It was difficult to see what was going on. The combat was brutal. I noticed Oakjaw have Pigeonpelt pinned on the ground, but then Pigeonpelt..." Ravenpaw lurched sideways as his eyes rolled in his head.
He fell onto his side hitting the hard baked earth hard. A dark tortoiseshell tom bolted from a corner of the came alongside a blue-gray Charlie, they grabbed Ravenpaw as they dragged him to where they came from.
A dark ginger tabby molly pushed through the thorn and bramble barrier, in her jaws was a cat, his throat was torn out with bits of flesh and blood dripping down from the tom's throat. The sight made Rustpaw gag, cats stared at the body as the molly dropped it in the middle of camp.
She raised her head As the molly dropped the cat amid the camp, shock rippled through the clowder like a frigid breeze. Hurricanepaw sobbed out behind Rustpaw as anguish washed over him. "pigeonpelt!"
"How did this happen, Tigerfang?" Snowstar questioned from her vantage point atop the Highrock. "He died with honor, killed by Oakjaw." "I couldn't save him, but I managed to take Oakjaw's life while he was still gloating over his victory," Tigerfang said, her voice soft yet powerful.
"pigeonpelt's death was not in vain, for I doubt we'll see whispering rivers knights in our territory again." After a brief pause, many of the cats advanced to lick the pigeonpelt's ragged fur. They murmured quiet remarks to the deceased cat while grooming.
Snowstar walked over to Tigerfang, uttering something in her ear, and Tigerfang turned her head to gaze at Rustpaw before padding over to him, "so you're my new rookie?" she questioned, tilting her head, and Rustpaw nodded.
Tigerfang observed a slice across his nose and said, "How did you get that cut?" "Oh, I got into a fight with a tabby with a long whip-like tail," Rustpaw meowed as he licked his paw wiping it over his nose, Tigerfang stood up laying her tail on Rustpaw's shoulder
"Come on let's take you to Spottedblossom he can fix your nose," she murmured while she guided him over the fern-enclosed corner the pale tabby had disappeared into.
"he's our healer, you'll see him when you need healing or if he needs you to help him gather herbs'' As they reached the den, Spottedblossom was standing over Ravenpaw, putting green goop on his shoulder and then spreading cobwebs on it.
Spottedblossom looked up to see Rustpaw and Tigerfang; as soon as he laid eyes on Rustpaw, his eyes widened, and he gazed at him as if he had seen a ghost. "W-whos this?" "My new rookie," Tigerfang exclaimed proudly as she puffed up her chest.
"He's going to be the best warrior in the clan," she boasted confidently. "Is that Tigerfang?" said a voice from the back of the den. "Yes it's me cricketdawn," Tigerfang meowed before turning to Rustpaw, "this is cricketdawn, our other healer, like I said you'll only see zer if you need them to heal you or if ze asks you to help gather herbs." Rustpaw nodded again, wondering why Spottedblossom looked and sounded so familiar.
Tigerfang encouraged Rustpaw to follow her, and as they padded out of the den, Rustpaw could swear Spottedblossom was staring at him with a sorrowful expression in his eyes.
They crept past the camp and into a den dug into the earth, Rustpaw feeling a surge of heat wash over him from within, a black tom amid the den. He stood over a chunk of flaming red metal, hitting it with a hammer, and glanced up from what he was doing to Rustpaw and Tigerfang.
"Ah, I'm glad you're here. I'm just about done with your satchel and knife" Tigerfang turned to Rustpaw meowing "This is Wolfshadow, he is one of our blacksmiths, the blacksmiths craft our tools and weapons'' Rustpaw nodded.
"Can you stand for me so I can put it on you," Rustpaw looked at him puzzled "Uhh how do I do that?" Tigerfang sighed and helped Rustpaw slowly stand up "Stars, this hurts like hell," Rustpaw exclaimed in agony. Wolfshadow slid the bag onto Rustpaw.
"How does it feel? Is it too tight?" Wolfshadow asked, Rustpaw shook his head "It feels good," Wolfshadow grinned. "Good, if you want a pattern or something, I can sew it on," Rustpaw nodded.
As they padded out of the den, Rustpaw meowed, "he seemed nice." Tigerfang scoffed, "No, he's a total asshole, I've known him since I was a kit and he's been a dick to me." She meowed, rolling her eyes.
Rustpaw tilted his head, "Is it because you're a molly?" Tigerfang chuckled a little, "Nah, he's just mad because I always beat him in training." she meowed.
They left camp and padded through the forest to a sandy hollow, which was filled with a mix of red sand and dirt. "This is where we'll be training, take your satchel off and stand in the middle" Rustpaw attempted to do as she instructed, standing on his rear legs and wobbling almost to the ground as he slid his satchel off.
They stood in the center, their claws unsheathed. "Ok so you're gonna attack me, if you can pin me down for five heartbeats then you win" Rustpaw nodded as Tigerfang meowed.
Rustpaw grabbed at her belly with his back legs as they leaped at each other, scratching and biting. Tigerfang smacked her paw into the side of Rustpaw's face, knocking him down.
She leaped onto him, pinning him down for four heartbeats, as it was going to be five heartbeats. Rustpaw tried to use his back legs to shove her off, but his paw slipped.
Tigerfang's eyes widen with pain and shock as she collapses in agony. Rustpaw's eyes widened in terror when he realized what he had done, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" He meowed frantically, feeling terrible about what he had done.
Tigerfang let out a wheeze as she lay there in pain for a few moments, "it's... ok..." she meowed. Rustpaw helped her up "Are you ok Tigerfang?" Tigerfang nodded "I'm fine, why did you do that?"
Rustpaw looked down sheepishly "I didn't mean to, my paw slipped when I was trying to push you off." Tigerfang sighed and patted him on the back. "It's all right, my boy, just don't do it again, please" she meowed, and Rustpaw nodded.
Tigerfang gazed up at the sky, meowing, "It's almost sunhigh, let's go meet Icefoot and Lionheart.'' With the help of Tigerfang, Rustpaw put his satchel on.
They began to pad through the forest, which gradually transitioned from oak trees to towering, thick pine trees "The twolegs used to plant these trees and then cut them down, but since you said the twolegs are gone, they won't be here" Tigerfang meowed.
Rustpaw could see a small black tom speaking with Lionheart through the bushes, as Hurricanepaw and Ravenpaw playfully battled. Lionheart glanced up and frowned as he noticed Rustpaw.
"Fuck what are you looking at?" said Rustpaw, "Why did you bring him? He's not going to last long, so you might as well not train him," Lionheart said to Tigerfang.
"Stop being such a dick to MY rookie, I'm the one training him and I see potential in him!" hissed Tigerfang, enraged.
"You're a fucking idiot, just because he's a former kittypet doesn't mean he can't train," Icefoot hissed as he cuffed Lionheart's ear.
Icefoot rose and padded toward the forest, followed by Ravenpaw, tigerang, and Rustpaw, with Lionheart and Hurricanepaw picking up the rear. They eventually arrived at a Twoleg path indicating the pine woodland's end.
They dashed into the sheltering bushes of the oak forests beyond. However, Rustpaw detected unease and fury in the other cats. "We're approaching whispering river territory,'' Ravenpaw said quietly. "The sun Carin is over there." He pointed to a treeless heap of boulders with his paw.
Rustpaw was looking at the stones when he noticed a sandy brown tom sitting on them, his throat ripped open, blood pouring down his chest as parts of shredded skin hung down, and his eyes brimming with hate.
He approached Tigerfang, who didn't see and mouthed the word "murderer" at her before disappearing into the winds. "You ok?" meowed Icefoot, noticing Rustpaw's horrified expression.
Rustpaw followed Tigerfang and Icefoot with a nod. The strong odor of unknown cats assaulted the roof of Rustpaw's mouth. He was startled at how different it smelt from the thundering clouds and camp's warm cat odors.
He was also astonished to notice how familiar and cozy the thundering clouds' odors already felt to him. "That is the smell of whispering rivers," Tigerfang growled beside him.
"Keep it in mind. It will be greatest along the border, where their knights would have scent-marked the trees." As they padded along the river Rustpaw could see four great oaks in the distance.
"That is four trees" Hurricanepaw meowed, noticing Rustpaw's curious look "What exactly is Fourtrees?" Rustpaw inquired. "It is where the territories of all four Clans meet," Hurricanepaw said. "There are four great oaks there, as old as the clowder's—"
"Be quiet!" said Lionheart. "Don't forget how close we are to enemy territory!" he meowed, staring at Rustpaw as if he had done something wrong. As Lionheart moved forward, he shoved rustpaw with his shoulder, forcing rustpaw to nearly tumble into the canyon.
Tigerfang and Icefoot ran over to grab Rustpaw and drag him over the edge, his claws sinking into the earth as he struggled to pull himself up. Tigerfang took Rustpaw by the scruff and pulled him up, placing him on the ground and checking him over, "Are you okay?" She meowed with concern.
Rustpaw nodded, and Tigerfang screamed at Lionheart, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TRYING TO KILL A ROOKIE?!" She slammed her paw at Lionheart's side of the face, nicking his cheek.
"We're going back to camp, and I'm going to tell Snowstar what you did, Lionheart," Icefoot said as he stepped between them. Tigerfang growled a little before picking up Rustpaw by the scruff and carrying him to the camp.