Warrior Cats: The Deaf Warrior

Chapter Thirty Two

The Clan had gathered, and Whitestar was speaking. Mossfur had ordered Goosepaw not to wander too far from his den, especially not until she got the elder leaves from Longwhisker and Brownheart. He sat just outside the apprentices' den. Scorchpaw, Oakfang and Lilyspots sat with him.

"Foxtail... merciful, kind...deputy," Whitestar was meowing. "He was very young to be... very proud of him."

The Clan was gathered around the ginger tom's dead body. Several cats were speaking, probably about their memories of him. Goosepaw knew that only a select few, those who had been closest to Foxtail, would sit by his body all night.

Whitestar then spoke again. "....new deputy," he raised his head, grief still clear in his eyes as he spoke. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve... choice. The new... of... Bluetail."

Bluetail. She's the new deputy.

He could see Bluetail. Her eyes shone with pride. She bounded over to the front of the Clan, and began to speak, her tail swishing behind her as she did so. "I will... all of RiverClan loyally. Thank... Whitestar, I will never let... down."

Goosepaw glanced at the cats sitting near him. Scorchpaw didn't look especially happy, and Oakfang looked uneasy. Lilyspots looked disgusted, her ears flattening. Goosepaw wondered why. Bluetail was a lot more aggressive than Lilyspots, but they seemed to share a lot of the similar views, and they both treated Fuzzytuft very badly.

Oh... Fuzzytuft's probably not happy about this.

He could see the fluffy grey she cat sitting next to Dawnwhisker amongst the rest of the Clan. Her ears were flattening.

Whitestar then dismissed the Clan, but several cats - Whitestar himself, Hollyheart, Bluetail and Dawnwhisker, stayed by Foxtail's body to sit vigil for him.

Dawnwhisker wasn't close to Foxtail, but she'll sit vigil for any cat. That's incredibly kind.

Mossfur bounded over to Goosepaw. "I'm going to leave for ShadowClan territory now," she told him. "Please don't worry about me." She then turned around, padding swiftly towards the camp exit.

Goosepaw was still worried. He didn't believe that ShadowClan were bad, but there was a lot of hostility between them and RiverClan at the moment. Images of Mossfur being torn apart by aggressive ShadowClan cats flashed through his mind. The most vivid image was of Thornstrike ripping her stomach open.

Thornstrike is innocent! He wouldn't do that!

He tried to force those thoughts away. He knew there were kind cats in ShadowClan. He had seen the good in Leopardtail when he had fought against her. He had to believe that Mossfur would come back to RiverClan safe.

Goosepaw headed back to his den, curling up in his nest. Scorchpaw settled down in the nest next to him. "I hope your paw gets better soon." He told him, before closing his green eyes.

Goosepaw hoped so too. He settled down, forcing his eyes closed, but all he could see were Thornstrike's violent amber eyes flashing in the darkness.