Waging War Book 4: Empty Peace {COMPLETE}

Chapter 5

Slateheart's large paws struck the squirrel, his claws sinking into the creatures flesh and killing it quickly. Easy. He thought looking down at his prey, it was the biggest piece of prey he had caught all leaf-bare. He had done quite well during this hunting session, and he hadn't been struggling that much during the cold season, even with prey running low. He found it almost laughable that his Clanmates were struggling so much, but as always; he kept those thoughts to himself.

He figured it would be about time for the hunting patrol to regroup so he began retracing his steps to gather the rest of his prey. He had caught another squirrel, two shrews and a mouse. He was very proud of his catch and wasn't surprised when he rejoined the patrol of Ravensong, Dustfall, Skyfeather and Otterpaw. Aside from Slateheart, it was Skyfeather who had the most prey, just one shy of Slateheart. That's embarrassing. Slateheart thought on behalf of his Clanmates. Imagine catching less prey than a medicine cat. Then again, maybe Skyfeather was finally getting better at being a warrior and not a medicine cat.

"Let's get back to camp." Dustfall mewed. "My paws are freezing off." Slateheart narrowed his eyes but couldn't speak even if he wanted to with all the prey in his jaws. Slateheart felt the cold, and his paws stung but he could tell Dustfall was just being dramatic. The snow isn't that bad. He thought silently before following his Clanmates back to camp.

The walk back was silent as everyone had their mouths full, but Slateheart still hung in the back as he usually did. He was glad to finally get back to camp and the patrol broke off to do their own things. He took the mouse he caught and sat beside the warrior's den, hoping to get some alone time.

He watched Otterpaw take the large squirrel that Slateheart had caught to the nursery for Tetra and her kits. The kits were already starting to become active and he briefly saw Lavenderkit poke her head out before she was dragged back in by Tetra. One of them will be my apprentice. He thought matter-of-factly. I just know it.

"Watching the nursery?" A voice interrupted his thoughts and he realized that his sisters, Dewpetal and Mistflight had joined him. He kept his annoyance to himself and just kept looking at the nursery. "You thinking about having kits someday?"

Slateheart's eyes widened slightly and he looked at Dewpetal in bewilderment. "Are you kidding? No. I'm not really the fatherly type."

Mistflight laughed and his sisters sat on either side of him. "I dunno, maybe having some kits to look after you could soften those edges."

Slateheart flicked his ears in annoyance. "I'm not thinking about having kits. I'm thinking about mentoring one of Tetra's. In six moons the three of us will be more than ready for apprentices."

"That's Riverstar's decision." Dewpetal replied taking a bite of her prey. "And I don't know if Riverstar would want you passing your grumpiness and arrogance onto a young, fresh mind."

Slateheart turned to glare at his sister but she just laughed and flicked his nose with her tail. Slateheart let out a heavy sigh and took an annoyed bite of his prey. He knew that his sisters were purposefully annoying him, they always did, but he also wished they would stop so he could enjoy his prey in peace. Slateheart found it very difficult to get any alone time without his Clanmates bothering him for something. The only time he ever did was when he decided to hunt on his own, which was often.

Speaking of. Slateheart finished his squirrel and discard the bones. "I'm going hunting." He rose to his paws, shaking snow from his pelt.

"Didn't you just get back." Mistflight tilted her head.

"Yep." Slateheart turned away from them, heading to the camp entrance. "But it's leaf-bare, we need all the prey we can get." He didn't give them a chance to respond before swiftly trotting out of the camp and back into the forest. He was out hunting constantly these days, he couldn't stand being surrounded by his Clanmates constantly. He was less annoyed by his sister's than other cats, but he needed time to himself.

Ever since Slateheart finally earned his warrior name after the MoonClan battle that took Shadowstar's life, he had enjoyed the freedom but he hadn't really found his place in AshClan like everyone seemed to think he would. He still had no friends within the Clan, and he didn't really plan on making any. He was here to hunt and defend his Clan, that's all he needed to do, it's all he felt like doing.

He thought back to his sister's comments about kits, not only could he see himself having kits but he couldn't see a she-cat liking him enough to actually have kits with him. He also didn't care, he wasn't here for kits. He shook the thoughts out of his head and just ventured forward into the pine trees.

After a short time he managed to track down and catch a squirrel which he buried and noted to come back to when he was done with his personal hunting session. He kept moving forward towards the SunClan border, catching a mouse on his way. He briefly caught the scent of another mouse when he heard voices on the other side of the border.

Slateheart let out a slight huff of annoyance but contrasting against the white snow of the forest, Slateheart saw several dark pelts moving through the snow. The most notable being Blossompaw. He dropped down, lowering himself to the ground and hiding among the pine trees and edging closer to take a look.

It was four cats including Blossompaw, another was clearly her brother Rushpaw and what Slateheart assumed was their two mentors whose names Slateheart didn't care to remember.

He watched them closely, mostly Blossompaw. Her golden eyes were focused on something she looked over her shoulder at the three cats and said something to them, causing them to stop. She then lowered her body into a hunting crouch and started tracking something. Slateheart's eyes scanned the oak trees to see what she was tracking and spotted the shrew.

He watched Blossompaw move forward gracefully, not making a single sound and the shrew was completely unaware of her presence. When she was close enough, Blossompaw leapt forward, her claws landing perfectly in the piece of prey and killing it cleanly. She's improved. Slateheart thought to himself. She's improved a lot, actually. Slateheart couldn't help but take a bit of the credit, it looks like she had actually taken his advice. He felt pride swelling up and a warm sense of amusement. I'll be sure to bring that up next time I see her.

He turned away from the SunClan cats and after focused on Blossompaw, he realized he was actually starting to feel the harsh cold from being out pretty much all day. He let out a sneeze and grumbled to himself. He went back and started to gather his prey before venturing back to the AshClan camp.

Part of him thought about getting herbs in case he was getting a cold, but that also meant interacting with Blackstorm and he honestly would rather get sick. He collected his prey and finally reached the camp just as it was starting to snow. He place the prey on the herb store which was actually quite full considering the season, he couldn't help but take a good portion of the credit for that.

Without hesitating, Slateheart ventured over to the warriors den so he could lay down and warm up. He had done a lot of work and no one would be able to tell him otherwise while he got some rest. There were already a few other AshClan warriors settling in the warriors den to shelter from the cold and snow but Slateheart payed them no mind and walked to the back of the den where his nest was and curled up.

It took him a few moments to warm up, but he did at last and felt relaxed. There was a lot on his mind, the cold weather, the upcoming battles against MoonClan, and Blossompaw for some reason. He decided to focus on MoonClan, knowing that another fight was inevitable as Violetstar had decided to take Shadowstar's death personally and was certainly going to attack again, luckily Riverstar wasn't stupid and kept AshClan prepared. When Slateheart wasn't hunting he was refining his battle skills, it took three MoonClan cats to take him down and he wasn't about to let it happen again. He glanced at the scar on his shoulder, he was fairly certain he would have that for the rest of his life but he didn't care. I'll remember this scar, Shellheart. And I'll give you one to match.