Dark Prophecies: Wolftuft's Shadow

Chapter Eleven

"You can't mourn her forever, Hazelpetal. You need to move on and do your duty as a warrior." Crowtalon nudged the light brown warrior that was laying in her nest. Hazelpetal's fur was ungroomed and her ribs could be seen easily. Hazelpetal only looked up at him with a dull hopeless look in her eyes. "She would want you to move on." Crowtalon murmured and rested his tail on her back. She slowly and shakily stands up. Her legs were thin and boney. She had been mourning for days. It had been around a moon since the gathering and things weren't getting any better. It didn't help after she found out that her sister, Wolfsbane was exiled the night of the gathering and was on the loose. Crowtalon stood at Hazelpetal's side and helped her exit the den. "You need to eat and get back on track," Crowtalon advises and leads her to the fresh-kill pile. It was well stocked for the fall. The camp was covered in the auburn colored leaves and made a crunchy sound as they walked on a few. Crowtalon picked up a juicy mouse and gently placed it on Hazelpetal's paws. "Eat up, I'll get you some water," he says softly and walks near the edge of the camp to a small stream just outside the exit of the camp. Hazelpetal licks her muzzle, realizing how hungry she was. She bent down and shakily ate the mouse, her muscles weak from not being used, and her lack of eating and water made her fatigue. Soon after she finished her mouse, Crowtalon had returned with a heap of moss, no bigger than a large stone, and nudged it over to her. "It's the most I could find that wasn't completely dried," Crowtalon explained. "Get your strength back, go on a walk. You can resume your duties tomorrow." he smiles and leaves to continue his duty as Deputy. Hazelpetal gratefully lapped up the water and sighed.

"Thank you." Hazelpetal's raspy voice called out to her formal mentor. She received a nod of acknowledgment in return. She picked up the moss that she had drank from and walked out of the camp to throw out. She decided to take a walk to stretch her legs. She stayed along the border and thought to herself, then spoke aloud. "Oh Snowheart, if only I was with you." she sighed. 

"Hazelpetal? What are you doing out here?" A voice called from a little ways away. Hazelpetal felt the fur rise on her pelt. She squinted and took a deep breath. She slowly walks towards the voice saying,

"Whos there?" She snarled. The voice came from a part of the territory cats weren't allowed to go, but for some reason, she felt like she's been there before. 'Who would be in the Birch Forest? A rouge? How would they know my name?' Hazelpetal thought to herself. Once she got closer she recognized the figure, there was also another one there too, except she didn't recognize that one. "WIllowsong? What are you doing out here?" she asks, unsheathing her claws. 

"It's not what it looks like. I-I just need a break from her and Jenna is much nicer and I just-" Willowsong would continue to ramble, but Jenna interrupted.

"Who are you and how do you know my Willowsong?" Jenna asked, stepping in front of Willowsong. Hazelpetal put all the pieces together slowly and narrowed her eyes. Sure, her sister ruined her life, she WANTED her to suffer, but this? This was wrong. 

"Does Wolftuft know?" Hazelpetal asks. Willowsong looks down and shuffles his paws nervously. Hazelpetal gasps. "She may be evil, but this is wrong, Willowsong! Mates are loyal to each other!" 

"Wolftuft? I thought her name was Wolfsbane? She lied?" Jenna narrows her eyes. Willowsong looked nauseous.

 "She may have... She wanted to sound more intimidating I suppose." Willowsong mumbles. Jenna hisses and shakes her head. She turns around and says,

"Let's go. This liar needs to be put in her place." 

"I'll escort you two. How does that sound?" Hazelpetal chimes in. "You two are on my territory anyways."  Willowsong shuddered and nodded with a sigh.

"I suppose." Willowsong said, resting his tail on Jenna's back before she could say any words of protest. The three cats walked into the Birch Forest, the sound of fallen leaves crunching trailing with them. Hazelpetal felt a strange tinge of nostalgia. The three soon approached a bush surrounded with brambles and pushed forward. Hazelpetal let out a hiss of annoyance as the thorns tugged at her sleek fur. 

"Hazelpetal? What in the world are you doing here?" Wolfsbane hissed the minute she laid eyes on her sister. Hazelpetal unsheathed her claws and dug them into the firm dirt. 

"Your two friends here were in my territory," Hazelpetal explained, then walked closer to Wolfsbane. "and you should keep an eye on your little mate." she muttered then turned away. Wolfsbane narrowed her eyes. 

"Who is this?" Frostbite climbed out of his den. He shook off some loose moss on his fur and eyed Hazelpetal.

"This is my sister, Hazelpetal. She was just escorting Jenna and Willowsong back from her territory. She'll be leaving now." Wolfsbane snarled. Hazelpetal scoffed and trailed out of their camp. 

"Unbelievable. I need to investigate this. They could be planning something." Hazelpetal said aloud suspiciously. She rushed out of the forest, in fear of being attacked by a wolf, which was fairly common around the forest. She soon was back on her territory and in her camp. "Crowtalon, I need to talk to you." Hazelpetal said with a hint of urgency in her voice. Crowtalon stuck his head out of the Leader's den. He looked exhausted. 

"Thank GalaxyClan you're back. I was worried sick." Crowtalon mewed. "Come with me, I know I can trust you with this." he leads Hazelpetal into the Leader's den. Hazelpetal wrinkled her nose as the smell of sickness entered her system. Whitesoul was in the den as well. Hazelpetal took a closer look and noticed that in the middle of the den, Redstar was laying down. He was frail, very frail. He let out a hiss of defiance as Whitesoul attempted to feed him a mixture of herbs.

"Redstar you need to take these if you want to recover." Whitesoul sighed. Redstar shook his head.

"Other cats need you, I will be fine." Redstar insisted, setting his paw on Whitesoul's. Crowtalon leaned into Hazelpetal.

"He only has two lives left. We just found out he had a stomach illness. Somehow he got Night Seeds in his system." Crowtalon whispered.

"He looked perfectly fine when I woke up today though." Hazelpetal mewed with a slightly surprised tone. 

"It just started when he ate a squirrel from the Fresh Kill Pile not too long ago." Whitesoul chimed in. Her blind blue eyes were clouded with worry. 

"I'll be fine. Night Seeds are deadly, yes. However, I know I will be fine." Redstar shakily lifted his head. A red liquid slowly started to drizzle out of his mouth. Hazelpetal couldn't tell if it was blood or the juice of the seeds. 

"Night Seeds stay in your system, Redstar. You'll get sick again if you don't take my herbs." Whitesoul pushed the bundle of herbs towards him. 

"Give the herbs to a member that needs them." Redstar commanded. Whitesoul drug her claws against the stone floor, she was frustrated. Hazelpetal looked at Crowtalon. He was flexing his claws. 

"Redstar, you're our leader. You need to be healthy so you can direct us in the right direction. Please eat these herbs." Hazelpetal begged. Redstar coughed up more of the red liquid. Hazelpetal narrowed her eyes and saw a slight aura of a sort beside Redstar. She looked closer and noticed it was a very transparent figure. Its blue eyes stood out the most. The figure became more and more clear until Hazelpetal could get a clear image. It held a claw up to Redstar's neck. Hazelpetal gasped. It was Burning Flame. He stared right back at Hazelpetal with a sickening toothy grin. 

"Fancy seeing you here. Your sister and I constructed this plan. Too bad you can't do anything about it without being called crazy." Burning Flame purred. Hazelpetal bared her fangs and hissed. Crowtalon looked over at Hazelpetal.

"I know he is being difficult, but please be patient with him." Crowtalon stroked her back with his tail.

"Keep on denying those herbs." Burning Flame whispered into Redstar's ear. "This is your final step towards power. I've trained you long enough for you to understand that you need to trust me." Hazelpetal winced at Burning Flame's words. She had no idea Redstar was training with him. Redstar broke into a coughing fit. Blood spewed everywhere. 

"There's nothing we can do for him."  Whitesoul turned away. Crowtalon looked down at his paws. The air was tense. Burning Flame laughed and faded away. His laugh still lingered even when he was gone.

"Shouldn't he be waking up?" Crowtalon asked. Whitesoul nudged Redstar's side. 

"That was his last life," Hazelpetal said quietly. The two other cats turned their heads to Hazelpetal. "he trained in the Dark Forest. He was forced to deny the herbs. I saw the cat controlling him."