Ravenblaze's Determination [Warrior Cats Fanfiction]

Chapter 5

Ravenblaze squeezed through the thicket hole leading inside SnowClan camp. Her heart pounded as she raced to the elders' den once inside camp.

Horseleg stood outside the elders' den, his eyes clouded with worry as he watched the Gathering cats arrive. "This way," he flicked his tail to beckon them inside the den, as if it weren't obvious of where they all needed to go.

The cats scrambled inside the now filled den, most stopping when they saw what they did, including Ravenblaze. Quaileyes's head was rested on Stagpad's flank, and she laid down behind him.

Stagpad's eyes were closed and his flank didn't rise and then retract like any cat's flank should when alive. Quaileyes's tears rolled from her brown eyes and dropped onto her dead mate's flank.

"Stagpad, if you won't wake up, at least wait for me in StarClan..." Quaileyes's voice was raspy and came in a faint whisper as she wished her mate farewell.

Dawnripple, the medicine cat who had stayed in camp, stood behind the two. "I'll take responsibility for this. It's my duty as a medicine cat to make sure all cats are well. I knew all of the other elders were around and about, so I should've been in here with Stagpad," she said in an unusual monotone voice, considering it was her meowing. "It's my fault."

That's when Fennelfoot stepped forward out I the crowd and faced Dawnripple. "It's nobody's fault, but at the same time it's everybody's. None of us knew this would happen, but none of us were around for the possibility," she reassured the young medicine cat.

More of the cats began to talk among themselves on who's fault Stagpad's death was. They grew louder and louder, but Quaileyes's sudden yell shut everybody up in a rabbithop. "Everybody just be quiet! You're all arguing over the death of an old elder!"

Quaileyes buried her head into Stagpad's brown fur for a few quiet, awkward seconds, then looked up to face the crowd guiltily. "I'm sorry, everybody. I'm just so upset..." she paused as she spoke, a sob escaping her throat. "Just leave us alone, please. Let me have a few moments with Stagpad before I have to bury him."

The crowd of cats, one by one, turned to leave Quaileyes in peace. Ravenblaze's head hung low as she exited the elders' den. She looked behind her, where two cats seemed to be extremely hesitant about leaving-Thistleblaze and Barktail.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen, Stagpad," Ravenblaze heard Barktail say. Thistleblaze meowed more sad words, "I know Barktail and I didn't really know you much as a father, but that doesn't keep us from loving you any less. Wait for Quaileyes and all of us, okay?" The two brothers buried their brown heads into their dead father's pelt for a moment before turning and leaving. Ravenblaze quickly turned and trotted quickly away, hoping the two toms didn't notice her eavesdropping.

The Clan camp had become very silent now that Stagpad was dead. Fennelfoot and Horseleg stayed close by the elders' den, as if worried something else would happen to Quaileyes next.

Ravenblaze decided to get her mind off of the death as much as she could by visiting the kits in the nursery. Hopefully they'd live much longer lives.

In the nursery, Athena kept her tail wrapped around her two kits, who appeared both confused and drowsy. "Athena," Darkkit murmured, "why is everyone so quiet?"

Athena hesitated for a moment. Ravenblaze realized that it must be hard for her to feel much sympathy for the loss of the elder, as he had been about to retire to the elders' den when she joined the Clan and the two didn't know each other well. She didn't seem to know what to say. She blinked slowly and licked Darkkit's head gently. "Everyone is just so tired," she lied. Everyone in camp was restless.

Spiderkit closed his eyes without a word and laid down, his forelegs stretches it over his mother's tail which he also used as a headrest. "Goodnight, Darkkit," he yawned before sleeping.

Ravenblaze felt a little pang if regret as she remembered her other sister, Featherpaw. She had always been an introvert in the nursery, while Ravenblaze and Mosswing had been close like Darkkit and Spiderkit. Ravenblaze wished she had talked to her sister more.

She then remembered when her mentor, Troutstripe, returned one day with Featherpaw's soaked, limp body. He claimed she had snuck over the ReedClan border and he hadn't noticed, and he was wary to look for her in any other territory but SnowClan's. He had waited, padding anxiously across the moor, until he met a patrol of ReedClan cats at their border. They said they had found his apprentice's drowned body, and they showed it to him. He took it back to camp and showed the Clan.

A few cats had questioned why he didn't keep a better eye on her. He said that he got a little too wrapped up in instructing Featherpaw how to hunt that she must've gotten bored. Clouddapple has questioned about who was on the ReedClan patrol, but Troutstripe didn't know. She wanted to know why he didn't remember them from Gatherings, and he claimed he had either not met them before or forgot who they were.

Ravenblaze shook her head and looked to Darkkit. Darkkit looked up to Ravenblaze and smiled, half-asleep. "Hi there, Ravenblaze." He opened his mouth to say more but was too tired to stay awake any longer. He slept soundly in a heartbeat.

"StarClan bless those kits," Ravenblaze whispered loudly enough for Athena to hear. She nodded.

Ravenblaze padded in and sat behind Athena. She gently put her tail tip on her flank.

"I wish I could feel as much sympathy as everyone else," Athena rasped. "All of the other cats are mourning over his abrupt death, and I'm here sitting in the nursery, not knowing what to think." She looked up and stared deep into Ravenblaze's orange eyes. "Do I even belong here, Ravenblaze?" She didn't seem to really ask it as a carefree question, but asked it in a tone that suggested she needed and begged to know the answer, and right now.

Ravenblaze honestly didn't know what to say. She still wasn't all that confident about Athena living in SnowClan, and she wasn't one to lie. She finally mustered up the courage to tell Athena what she desperately wanted to hear. "Of course. You've proven your loyalty time and time again, and you have the heart of any Clan cat." Ravenblaze even managed to convince herself a little more when she said the words as reassuringly as she could. Athena smiled. Hopefully that implied that it helped.

Athena rested her head down between her two front paws. She closed her eyes, and Ravenblaze decided that it was a good time to leave so the queen could get some sleep. While Ravenblaze slowly backed out awkwardly, Athena spoke, pausing Ravenblaze mid-pawstep.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, Athena," Ravenblaze whispered, turning and leaving the den as she felt totally free to leave.

Ravenblaze was still weighted down by grief. She decided to skip out of camp and do a bit of hunting, so off she went without a word.

She raced across the moor, the wind rustling her black-and-white fur. Her orange eyes gleamed as they gazed at the pitch-black night sky dotted with stars above, their reflections shining in her eyes. Featherpaw, are you up there? Ravenblaze asked StarClan in her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted and she slowed quickly to a cautious pace as she scented something very unfamiliar. Not the scent of any Clan, but the scent of something else...

It wasn't prey, either.

A/N
Hello, everyone! Seems I've finally updated this again! Sorry for killing off SnowClan's oldest elder, and for the abrupt cliffhanger.
But, speaking of killing off characters, Stagpad was an elder who may seem useless. In the earlier timeline for SnowClan, he is actually a very important cat. Because of this, I got thinking of a possible character index for every little-mentioned character in this story! It would include many spoilers as well as unknown information on many characters in the book, including Gingerleap, Stormclaw, Stagpad, of course, and many more.
This would be a separate book, of course, so you could easily stay away. I'd kind of organize it like The Ultimate Guide is, so many cats in their Clan's section.
What do you think of this idea?