Warriors #4: Darkness Awakens

Chapter 19

Lilypetal's POV

I let out a low growl of irritation as I was being interrupted from some of the best sleep I had had in moons by a paw prodding me.

Still not fully awake, I tried to push the paw away, not even knowing who it was that was prodding me. "Keep your fur on," I murmured. "I'll be up in a moment!"

"We don't have a moment!" To my surprise, I heard the angry hiss of Jayfeather.

As I started to blink my eyes open and wake up a little more, I began to realize the overwhelming scent of fear around the warriors den, and I heard the fast pacing of many cats around the den.

Suddenly becoming very alert with the weird atmosphere, I opened my eyes fully and stood up, trying to process the surroundings.

The warriors den wasn't full, but it was abundant with cats, pacing back and forth anxiously, glancing at something behind me.

What in the name of StarClan is going on?

"Finally, Lilypetal! It seemed to take forever for you to wake up!" I suddenly heard Brightheart's voice come from behind me.

But, as I turned around to face her, Brightheart and what she had to me immediately didn't matter anymore as I saw what was in front of me.

There was Thornclaw, lying on his side a few tail lengths from our nest. He was barely moving, and there were deep wounds all over him. I couldn't suppress a gasp as I saw the deep bite in his throat.

How could this have possibly happened? Thornclaw has been next to me the whole night!

I didn't even know what to feel. I was overwhelmed with worry, pain, confusion, and a multitude of other things.

I couldn't move. I didn't want to move. If I moved, that meant that some cat would talk to me, and I would have to hear the horrible reality of what was probably going on.

But, I knew that I had to be practical. I turned to Jayfeather, who was over my mate applying herbs to his wound. I couldn't hide the worry and shakiness in my voice as I spoke. "Jayfeather, what is going on? What happened?"

As if my heart couldn't beat any faster, it managed to as I met the worried gaze of Jayfeather's blind eyes. I expected him to snap at me or to tell me to go away, but all he said was, "I don't know. I don't know at all."

He's just as amazed as I am, I realized. That's definitely not a good thing.

I quickly scanned the den to see who else was in here with me. Brightheart was at Jayfeather's side, along with Leafpool, but standing close by were Cloudtail, Brackenfur, Lionblaze, Whitewing, and Sorreltail.

"I woke up early, just as the dawn patrols were going out," Brightheart began, sounding completely distressed. "I was just about to leave the den when I saw Thornclaw. It was dark, but I could just barely see all of his wounds, and that he was barely moving, so I immediately ran to get Jayfeather."

Brightheart's words almost seemed like they were being spoken in a swarm of fog. All I could do was stare ahead at Thornclaw, sinking my claws into the ground, as the gravitas of this situation began to settle in.

Thornclaw practically looked shredded. He was barely moving. Jayfeather looked worried. If he's not dead yet, he's going to be, I thought as I let out a wail of grief out loud. The love of my life is going to be gone! This isn't fair!

I could barely process it. We had just had a lovely moment together that felt like heartbeats ago as we had both fallen asleep in our nest. All of our talks, hunts, and amazing times together would never be repeated. I would never get to look into his breathtaking pale blue eyes or hear his voice again.