Warrior Cats: The Deaf Warrior

Chapter Thirty One

Goosepaw heaved himself to his paws. His sleep hadn't been very peaceful, with numerous nightmares about foxes. He was trying to put those nightmares to the back of his mind as he followed Scorchpaw out of the apprentices' den.

The first thing he noticed was a crowd of cats outside the medicine cat den. He headed straight over to Fuzzytuft, and she turned to him. "Foxtail's dead."

No. No, no, no. Not another cat lost to foxes.

The gathered cats parted as Mossfur carried the deputy's limp, lifeless body out of her den and settled it down on the ground. Whitestar gently pushed through the Clan, staring down at the ginger tom in horror. He meowed something, pressing his nose gently down on the top of Foxtail's head.

Goosepaw had never gotten the chance to know Foxtail well, but he had always been very kind and gentle, and Goosepaw had admired him for that.

He felt a cat nudging his side, and turned around to see Oakfang. "ShadowClan admitted they're having problems with foxes, but they refused any help we offered."

Goosepaw took a deep breath. He understood that ShadowClan didn't want to depend on another Clan, but there was nothing to be ashamed of.

Whitestar was ordering patrols, and Goosepaw assumed that Foxtail would be spoken about more later on. He still has to choose a new deputy. Goosepaw knew he would support the new deputy, whoever it was, but he was just so used to Foxtail being deputy. He had been deputy ever since Goosepaw was born and he was used to seeing the tom order patrols every morning with a kind smile on his face.

Whitestar nodded to Goosepaw, flicking his tail in the direction of a group of cats who were gathering. Tigerstripe, Scorchpaw and Lilyspots. Oakfang and Goosepaw headed over to join them.

Then, they left the camp, heading towards the ShadowClan border to set scent markers. Goosepaw was relieved that Scorchpaw stayed by his side the whole time. Lilyspots occasionally glanced in Goosepaw's direction, as though she wanted to sneer something at him, but the very sight of Scorchpaw caused her to look away again. It was quite clear she was intimidated by the ginger tom. She knows he won't hesitate to attack her.

While Goosepaw appreciated Scorchpaw being overprotective, he didn't like that his brother was so violent. He didn't believe that Lilyspots deserved to be hurt. He didn't even believe that she was a bad cat. He had seen the good in her - the clear love she still felt for her dead mother, and the way she had saved Goosepaw during the fight against the ShadowClan patrol.

Fox scent hit Goosepaw's nostrils, and he spotted a lone fox padding across the Thunderpath. "Fox." He mewed, hoping he was speaking loud enough for the rest of the patrol to hear him.

Oakfang turned around, giving Goosepaw a nod. "Goosepaw, Scorchpaw. Go back to camp. Three of us should be enough to deal with one fox. I'll send Lilyspots to fetch reinforcements if we're having trouble."

Goosepaw was relieved to not be involved in another fight, and he hoped that wasn't a cowardly thought. Scorchpaw tensed, fur bristling, claws unsheathed. It was clear he was desperate to fight the fox. But he glanced at Goosepaw, giving him a nod and a smile.

The fox was fast, charging at the cats. It shouldered past Oakfang, Tigerstripe and Lilyspots, snapping its teeth at Scorchpaw and Goosepaw.

Goosepaw ran. Unfortunately, he was very slow. He could tell that Scorchpaw was barely even jogging, making sure he stayed by his brother's side. Goosepaw was using all his energy. He took a deep breath, fighting for air.

Suddenly, he felt his paws give way beneath him. He tumbled to the ground, feeling pain rush through one of his front paws. He expected to feel fox teeth sinking into his back, but he turned around to see that Oakfang was raking his claws straight across the fox's face.

Scorchpaw's eyes widened, as he nosed his brother to his paws. Goosepaw leaned on the ginger apprentice's shoulder, relieved that the streams were frozen over so he wouldn't have to swim. They slowly made their way back to camp, not being bothered by the fox.

Cats began to crowd them as soon as they returned, and Goosepaw assumed they were asking why Goosepaw and Scorchpaw had come back alone. Scorchpaw meowed a few things, heading straight for Mossfur's den.

He nudged Goosepaw inside. He could see Mossfur bending over Squirrelheart, who was trembling as he coughed. Applepelt didn't seem to be in a much better condition. The she cat turned towards Goosepaw as he entered, giving him a weak smile and meowing something to Mossfur.

The fluffy she cat looked confused, and Scorchpaw meowed something to her, nodding to Goosepaw's foot. Mossfur lowered her head. She called something over her shoulder to the elders in her den, and then helped Goosepaw outside.

They made their way to the apprentices' den. Scorchpaw was still speaking with Mossfur. Goosepaw stared at his foot. It didn't hurt that much, but it felt weird, and he certainly didn't want to walk on it.

Scorchpaw then turned to Goosepaw. "Mossfur says you sprained your paw and that you should stay in the camp for a day or two."

Oh. Thank StarClan I didn't break it.

Mossfur gave a nod. "When I last met the other medicine cats, Longwhisker and Brownheart were talking about what a large supply of elder leaves ShadowClan has. I'll go ask for some. It'll help your paw."

Goosepaw's ears flattened a little. He knew that medicine cats were meant to be peaceful, but he still didn't like the idea of Mossfur asking for help from ShadowClan, not when they were being so aggressive.

Mossfur smiled. "I'll be fine. ShadowClan knows better than to mess with a medicine cat."

Goosepaw wondered whether the rest of the patrol had returned. Dragging himself to the entrance of the den, he poked his head around and could see that the patrol had indeed returned. Mossfur padded out of the den, heading over to them. None of them looked especially hurt. There were a few scratches on Oakfang's side, Lilyspots was bleeding slightly from the shoulder, and Tigerstripe looked completely unharmed.

That's the only encounter we've had with a fox that hasn't ended in disaster.