Waging War Book 4: Empty Peace {COMPLETE}

Chapter 22

Slateheart returned to camp with a bundle of prey in his jaws. Carrying it proudly over to the fresh-kill pile. He had caught two squirrels, two mice and a shrew. He was adjusting well to hunting with all the snow and now that the blizzards had passed, the prey was starting to come out of hiding.

He was back to catching the most on his patrol, thought it wasn't much competition with Dustfall, Skyfeather and Otterpaw. Patrols were still small, but Clan life was getting back to normal. He had also been thinking a lot about the gathering that happened three days ago.

He felt incredibly annoyed as SunClan's ignorance, especially Dawnstar. Though it was clear that Timberstar was starting to lean in favor of AshClan. He knew that eventually the other two Clans would start picking sides, remaining neutral was always a nice thought, but bias was bound to happen.

He really didn't care what MountainClan did, he barely thought about them since returning to the forest. He knew that Owlbreeze had left SunClan to be their medicine cat, but again he really didn't care what she or any of those other cats did. MountainClan was barely a Clan to begin with, he wasn't even sure they'd stick around for much longer. He was surprised to see them survive the blizzard, even more so that they had kits.

He didn't think too much more on MountainClan, all he cared about was his own Clan. He looked around the camp and saw it pretty bare as a lot of cats were out on patrol or hunting. He wasn't cold or tired, so he really didn't feel like settling down for the day. Stormheart was no where in sight so Slateheart decided to just head back out into the forest and do more hunting.

No cat stopped him as he ventured out into the snowy pine forest. He moved swiftly, trying to hunt in a area that he hadn't already been in, which was close to the SunClan border. He ran through thee trees, enjoying being active and getting his blood pumping.

He came to a stop as he caught the smell of squirrel. He tracked it down near the border and saw it digging through a snow drift. Slateheart wasted no time catching and killing the small creature. It was a scrawny one, but prey was prey. He breathed out a sigh and sniffed the air.

Between the scent of frost and the SunClan border, he could also smell nearby AshClan cats. He grumbled to himself, not wanting to be interrupted by his own Clanmates. He glanced over the SunClan border and for a moment, Blossomtail's face flashed in his mind.

He shook it away, not sure why he was thinking of her when he had barely done so recently. He saw her at the gathering, she had finally earned a warrior name, but he certainly wasn't going to talk to her. He did note that she did look stronger, her muscles were more well formed. Maybe she had actually taken his advice.

He once again shoved his thoughts away and ventured away from the SunClan border to continue his hunt. He tracked prey through the pine trees but came to a stop when he heard Stormheart's voice.

"What are you going to do?" Slateheart ducked down, he wasn't going to sit there and listen but then he heard Riverstar's voice.

"I'm not sure." Riverstar sighed. "I hate myself for letting the other leader's words get to me." There was irritation in her voice. "I don't want more cats to die, losing Graypelt was horrible, even if he never really was that close to me." The leader let out a sigh. "I think the best option is to try and talk to Violetstar."

Slateheart tensed, he didn't want AshClan being the ones to duck their heads and admit defeat, but he held his tongue.

"You think she'll listen?" Stormheart questioned. "She hasn't so far."

"I don't know." Riverstar replied. "If she does then maybe we can end this war now and if she doesn't...well then the other clans can't blame me for not being the peaceful one can they?"