Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 2. (A Path Beyond Stars)

~A Path Beyond Stars: Chapter 18~

Reedtail and Coldpaw had visited the Medicine Den to check on Russetfire and Stonestar. Russetfire told Reedtail, away from Coldpaw's hearing, that Stonestar was not likely to survive his injury and newly gained illness.
"He has greencough," she had told Reedtail. "I'm doing my best to treat it now, but with the other wounds and injuries and illnesses going around camp, I've had barely any time to tend to him. If I don't catch it soon, he may end up with blackcough."
"Do what you can," Reedtail said in what she had hoped to have been a reassuring tone. "If you ever need help, ask me or one of the other warriors."
"I wish I'd spoken more to Russetwhisker," Russetfire sighed. "She would've been able to help if she had been my mentor..."
You probably wouldn't be who you are if she were still alive, Reedtail thought.
After their conversation, Reedtail and Coldpaw had talked with the elders, who seemed wide awake, while they waited for dawn.
Eventually, the sun began to rise, as well as the warriors.
Fernfeather sent Reedtail out with Ashpelt, Windcaller and Voleroach on a hunting patrol after getting Reedtail to relieve Stripedfur and Darkclaw of their vigil. The new warriors sighed in great relief and walked drowsily over to the warriors' den.
Reedtail left with the other warriors and Frostpaw. Ashpelt took his apprentice over to one of the larger trees to practice.
"I'm going to show Coldpaw how and where to hunt," Reedtail said, turning to Voleroach and Windcaller. "We'll come back to this tree when we're done," she added, flicking her tail at the large elm that stood behind her.
"Do you want me to come?" Windcaller offered.
"We'll only be over there," she said with a nod to the left.
After a moment of hesitation, Windcaller nodded and went in a different direction.
Voleroach followed Ashpelt and Frostpaw while Reedtail and Coldpaw hunted near the river.
"Are we allowed to be here?" Coldpaw asked.
"What do you mean?"
"By enemy territory. Are we allowed to hunt here?"
"There's nobody over there, Coldpaw," Reedtail said, stopping by a small tree that barely had two leaves on it. "We'll be safe from RiverClan in this area."
"What about ShadowClan?" Coldpaw asked. "And what about the foxes and badgers and twoleg pets?"
Reedtail shuddered. She liked Coldpaw, but she didn't need her apprentice to go on expressing all of her own fears. "We'll be fine, trust me," she said finally. "If we run into trouble, run to camp and find Fernfeather."
"Why not Stonestar?" the apprentice asked in concern.
"He's not feeling well and needs rest," Reedtail explained. "For now, if you ever run into trouble and I'm not there, look for your father or for Fernfeather."
Coldpaw nodded. Reedtail showed him the correct way to crouch rather than allow him to lumber around like Ashpelt did.
"And now, we find something to catch," Reedtail whispered
Coldpaw smiled, then thought for a moment. "Should I practice first so I have less of a chance to miss the real prey?"
"Good idea," said Reedtail, sitting up. She looked around and saw a dried leaf about the size of a mouse. "Try and sneak up on that leaf over there," she whispered. "Remember your balance. Stay quiet and do your best."
Coldpaw nodded determinedly and dropped back into the hunting crouch. He crept forward slowly, his ears down and his tail hovering above the ground. Finally, when he was close enough, he pounced at the leaf, crushing it beneath his paws. "Oops," he said, backing away from the leaf.
"That was excellent," Reedtail said with a smile.
Coldpaw poked the leaf. "I crushed the leaf."
"It's still decent practice for working toward real prey," she pointed out. "Come, we'll practice more and then we can find a real vole or mouse for you to catch."
Coldpaw jumped up happily and skipped after her. They practiced on another three leaves before Coldpaw decided he was ready for live prey.
Reedtail turned around a corner and saw a suspiciously plump mouse running under a leaf, searching for food.
Coldpaw noticed it at the same time, dropping into a crouch almost instantly. He turned to look at Reedtail, as though asking if he could get this mouse. Reedtail nodded encouragingly and the little apprentice crept forward quietly.
The mouse scurried out from beneath the leaf and turned around just in time to see Coldpaw pouncing at it. Before it could react, he trapped it under his claws and killed it.
"I did it!" he exclaimed.
"Well done, Coldpaw!" Reedtail praised. "Shall we see if we can find more?"
"Yes!" he said eagerly.
"Then let's bury this and search for more," she said. Coldpaw tilted his head in confusion. "It's so we're not lumbering around the Lake with dead prey in our mouths," she explained to him. "And if we just leave it lying on the ground rather than beneath it, it would probably be picked up by someone else."
Coldpaw nodded. Reedtail helped him to bury the mouse and they went on their way through ThunderClan territory, occasionally coming across Ashpelt and Frostpaw or Voleroach and Windcaller from time to time.
Finally, when they'd caught enough, which was surprisingly quite a lot, they carried two pieces of prey each back to camp, running back to retrieve the rest of their catch.
"You did well," Reedtail said to Coldpaw, whose eyes were gleaming with pride and excitement. "Take a piece for you and your siblings," she said, giving him one of the mice she was carrying. "After your work today, you've all earned it."
Coldpaw bounced off to the elders' den where Frostpaw and Brackenpaw were.
Reedtail smiled. Her very first apprentice and he was already an excellent hunter!
I'll show him the borders tomorrow, she decided. He needs to get a good view of our territory and the borders so he knows where not to go.
The sun was beginning to set and the warriors and apprentices were getting ready to sleep.
Reedtail was stopped by Ashpelt on the way back from the fresh-kill pile. She had given the queens and their kits some food as well as the elders, and had just finished her share.
"Hello, Ashpelt," she greeted him as she groomed her paw. "That was a good hunting patrol today, wasn't it? We caught quite a bit of prey."
"Yes," he said hesitantly.
Reedtail flicked her ear. "What's on your mind?"
Ashpelt sat down with his tail over his paws. "Stonestar won't make it, will he?"
Reedtail flattened her ears and sat facing him. "I know I shouldn't be the one to tell you-" she began, but was interrupted by her half-brother.
"If anyone should tell me, it should be you," he pointed out. "Spiraltail doesn't think he'll survive either... Whitestripe thinks he can fight his greencough long enough for Russetfire to try and treat it, but I'm in two minds about whether or not that's true."
"I understand how you feel, Ashpelt, really," Reedtail said thoughtfully. "But I can't lie to you about our father. Russetfire is doing her best to treat everyone's wounds from the badger attack days ago. Some of them still haven't recovered, and others never will..."
She looked toward the warriors' den and saw Pebblesoot sitting outside the entrance as though waiting for them.
Ashpelt thankfully didn't notice her hesitation. "We need to be logical. I love our father, but we can't deny the fact that he simply won't make it through this illness. If he's lucky, he will go peacefully."
Ashpelt flattened his ears and lifted his face to stare at her with an angry frown on his face. "You have the cheek to call him your father and yet you doubt his strength. He is my father, and he is Spiraltail and Whitestripe's father. If you view him as a cat so weak, he will be only your leader."
Reedtail was shocked by his sudden change of mood. Spiraltail didn't doubt Stonestar's strength, nor did Reedtail, but even Ashpelt's full-blooded sister knew that not even Stonestar would be able to make it. And as he said himself, half of him doubted his own father.
"I know where my loyalty lies," Ashpelt went on. "You should remember yours, or I will see to it that you do remember, whether you'd like to or not."
With a low growl, Ashpelt walked off to the warriors' den, passing a confused Pebblesoot. As Reedtail drew nearer, the RiverClan warrior asked, "What happened? Why's he so angry?"
"It doesn't matter," Reedtail said quietly. Ashpelt sat on his nest facing the wall, dozing. "He should calm down tomorrow. Hopefully..."
Pebblesoot shot an angry glare at Ashpelt and walked to his temporary nest. Reedtail sat on hers, gazing out at the night sky.
Eventually, she began to nod off to sleep, curled up in her nest and allowing the cool breeze to flow through her fur.