Warriors:Into The Wild AU (2024 Rewrite)

Chapter Seven

Sorry for the late update, work's been kicking my @ss. Anyways, please enjoy!

{Edit} Realized I made some mistakes, so I am updating this chapter to be more accurate.

Shocked yowls rose from the Clan cats and echoed through the forest. Ravenpaw staggered slightly. His right foreleg glistened, wet with blood that flowed from the deep gash on his shoulder.

"We m-met five Riverclan warriors beside the stream, not far from the Sunningrocks," he went on shakily. "Oakheart was among them."

"Oakheart!" Graypaw gasped beside Firepaw. "He is the deputy of Riverclan. He's one of the greatest warriors in the forest. Lucky Ravenpaw! Wish it could have been me. I'd have really—"

Graypaw was silenced by a pair of fierce glares, one from the old gray tom who had first sensed Ravenpaw's arrival and the other from Briarpaw, who was overcome with concern for the black cat still speaking on the Highrock beside Bluestar. Firepaw turned his attention back to Ravenpaw.

"Redtail warned Oakheart to keep his hunting parties out of Thunderclan territory. He said that the next Riverclan warrior to be caught on Thunderclan territory would be killed, but Oak... Oakheart would not back down. He said that his Cl-Clan had to be fed, whatever we threatened."

Ravenpaw paused to wheeze for breath. His wound was still bleeding heavily, and he stood awkwardly to keep the weight off his shoulder. Briarpaw was almost ready to leap onto the rock herself to get him down so that his wound could be looked at, but she couldn't bring herself to move as he continued.

"That's when the Riverclan cats attacked. It was hard to see what was happening. The fighting was vicious. I saw Oakheart had Redtail pinned to the ground, but then Redtail..."

Suddenly, Ravenpaw's eyes rolled in his head and he lurched sideways. Half scrambling, half falling, he slithered off the Highrock and collapsed on the ground below.

Just as Briarpaw had gotten to her paws, a ginger queen bounded toward him and crouched at his side. She licked his cheek briefly and called out, "Spottedleaf!"

Out of the fern-shaded corner trotted the pretty tortoiseshell from earlier. She hurried over to Ravenpaw and mewed for the queen to stand back. Then she used her small pink nose to roll the apprentice over so that she could take a good look at the wound.

She glanced up and meowed, "It's alright, Goldenflower, his wounds aren't fatal. But I'll need to fetch some cobwebs to stop the bleeding."

As Spottedleaf sprinted back to her den, the hushed silence in the clearing was broken by a mournful howl. All eyes turned to the direction it had come from.

A massive dark brown tabby staggered through the gorse tunnel. Between his sharp teeth the warrior held not prey, but the lifeless body of another cat. He dragged the tattered creature into the center of the clearing.

Firepaw craned his neck and glimpsed a flash of bright ginger tail hanging limply in the dust, while Sky and Briarpaw looked horrified.

Shock rippled through the Clan like a chill breeze. Beside Firepaw, Graypaw dropped into a crouch as grief swept over him. "Redtail!"

"How did this happen, Tigerclaw?" demanded Bluestar from her position on the Highrock. Tigerclaw let the scruff of Redtail's neck fall from his mouth. He looked steadily back at Bluestar.

"He died with honor, trying to save Oakheart from a rockslide. I couldn't save him, but we did manage to dig Oakheart out of the rocks, and he's with his own Clan now." Tigerclaw's voice was strong and deep, and Sky sat up a little straighter when she heard it. "Redtail's death was not in vain, for I doubt we'll see Riverclan hunters in our territory again."

Briarpaw glanced at Graypaw. The apprentice's eyes were dark with sadness. After a moment's pause, several cats moved forward to lick Redtail's bedraggled fur. As they groomed they purred hushed phrases to the dead warrior.

Firepaw whispered into Graypaw's ear, "What are they doing?" Graypaw didn't take his eyes off the dead cat as he replied. "His spirit may have left to join Starclan, but the Clan will share tongues with Redtail one last time."

"Starclan?" Firepaw echoed, while Briarpaw and Sky looked understanding.

Seeing that Firepaw looked confused, Graypaw explained. "Silverpelt is that thick band of stars you see each night stretching across the sky. Each star is a Starclan warrior. Redtail will be among them tonight." Firepaw nodded and Graypaw stepped forward to share tongues with his dead deputy.

Bluestar had remained silent while the first cats came to pay their respects to Redtail. Now she leapt down from the Highrock and walked slowly towards Redtail's body. The other cats retreated and watched as their leader crouched down to share tongues with her old comrade one last time.

Firepaw, Briarpaw and Sky all watched. They had not known Redtail, but they couldn't help feeling moved as they witnessed the Clan mourn. Graypaw came and stood beside them again.

"Dustpaw will be sad," he remarked.

"Dustpaw?" Firepaw echoed.

"Redtail's apprentice. That brown-striped tabby over there. I wonder who his new mentor will be?" Briarpaw glanced at the small tom who crouched near Redtail's body, staring unseeing at the ground. Firepaw looked past to the Clan leader.

"How long will Bluestar sit with him?" Sky asked.

"Probably the whole night," replied Graypaw. "Redtail was her deputy for many, many moons. She won't want to let go of him too quickly. He was one of our best warriors. Not as big and powerful as Tigerclaw or Lionheart, but quick and clever."

The white queen nodded and looked back to see Bluestar rise from her mournful pose, and then pause and look at Redtail closely, before she urgently yowled, "Spottedleaf! Come see this!"

The Clan looked on in confusion as the medicine cat left Ravenpaw's side, leaving the golden queen with him and looking pained at the sight of the dead warrior. Bluestar murmured to her once she reached her leader's side, the tortoiseshell's eyes going wide before she crouched beside the tom and laid her ear on his side. A few heartbeats passed before Spottedleaf stood again, her meow excited.

"He's still alive! Help him into my den!" Yowls of shock, surprise and happiness arose from the Clan as Lionheart, Tigerclaw and Whitestorm all stepped up to help bring Redtail into the fern-shaded corner.

As Lionheart's golden tail disappeared into the dark corner, Briarpaw released the breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding, leaning on her mother for comfort. As Sky's tongue rasped over her white left ear, she heard Firepaw meow, "He's really alive?", once Graypaw returned to them. "Seems to be! Spottedleaf is the best, so if Redtail is alive, then she'll have him right in no time!"

The three warriors slid out from the corner again and Tigerclaw made his way to Bluestar once more, dipping his head humbly. "I apologize for not noticing that he was alive, Bluestar. I should have been more vigilant."

Briarpaw glanced at her mother, who looked at Tigerclaw as he sat before his leader. Sky herself was admiring the strength that swelled in his powerful muscles and broad head. His massive body showed signs of his warrior life. One of his ears was split into a deep vee shape, and a thick scar sliced the bridge of his nose.

Suddenly, Tigerclaw stood up and stalked over to Ravenpaw. Spottedleaf had retreated to her den with Redtail, but the ginger queen from before was crouching beside the wounded apprentice, using her teeth and front paws to press wads of cobweb onto his shoulder wound.

Briarpaw leaned back toward Graypaw and asked, "What's she doing?"

"Goldenflower's stopping the bleeding. It looked like a nasty cut. And Ravenpaw seemed really shaken up. He's always been a bit jumpy, but I've never seen him this bad before. Let's go and see if he's woken up yet."

YAY! Redtail's alive! Teach you to doubt the tags. And I know Spottedleaf was the one helping Ravenpaw in the end part here, but I'm having her be more concerned with her brother knocking on death's door at the moment, so let's let Goldenflower have some herbal knowledge, because you'd like to think that queens would retain some of herbal knowledge with how often they need the medicine cats.