#rip oakwatcher

[fortheloveofwarriors]

Warriors: Blossoms in the Tide: Into the Wild: Chapter 3

Princess and Shadepaw stayed on the riverbank for a moment. Shadepaw stared after her clanmates, muttering something under her breath. Princess curled in tighter on herself and pressed her head against her white paws. Her thin body started shaking... this was all too much! She just wanted to go home.

She was roused from thoughts by a warm, fuzzy head pressing against her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the older molly crouched down and slowly slinking up beside her to press against her. The calico watched her warily, unsure of why Shadepaw was doing this. She was even more startled when Shadepaw started purring.

Yet the deep, rumbling sound was comforting in a way. It masked the feeling of Princess's shaking body. Coupled with Shadepaw's natural warmth, Princess found herself pressing back, trying to soak up as much comfort as she possibly could. Shadepaw let her stay there for a bit, even pulling closer so she could rest her head on top of Princess's.

It wasn't long before Shadepaw was pulling away, much to the little calico's disappointment. "We shouldn't stay here," the orange-eyed wild cat said with a sympathetic grin. "You need medicine and rest," she insisted gently as she nudged the smaller molly to her paws. Staying by the kittypet's side, she headed for the direction of camp.

Princess followed obediently; her tail dragged in the soft sand and her head hung low, but she followed. She no longer cared where she was going. No matter where she went, how could she go home again? Telling everyone about Rusty would be one thing, but how would she even get back to the houses?

"How well can you swim?" Shadepaw asked. Taking stock of her surroundings for the first time, Princess realized they were at the edge of a stream. It wasn't a very big stream but she was sure it was deeper than it appeared to be. On the other shore was an island of reeds with a single willow tree. The island itself was much higher than the rest of the land nearby.

"I swim okay, I guess. I mean, I've never really had someone to test me or anything. The river back there seems harder to swim in than this little stream, though. If we need to cross, I think I'll be okay," she assured.

"Alright, let's go then," Shadepaw chirped with a friendly grin still on her face. Making sure to guide Princess with her tail, she led her exhausted charge through into the stream.

There seemed to be a natural tunnel in the reeds, the soft soil packed hard by generations of paws. Princess couldn't help but wonder how long the clans had been here. The tunnel opened to a sunny clearing filled with cats. Cats that were staring at her and had stopped everything they were doing to do so. Princess flicked her gaze between the pairs of staring eyes, frozen in place in the presence of so many prying eyes. The only cat who wasn't frozen in place, waiting for the next move, was Shadepaw.

"Hello, everyone! Are Crookedstar and Mudfur here?" she chirped with a calm, knowing look.

Something about her question broke whatever spell the camp was under. A pale tom darted into another, smaller reed tunnel while a slender silver molly dashed under the roots of a willow tree. With a hiss, a light brown tabby molly trotted up to Shadepaw and Princess.

"Shadepaw, why have you brought a kittypet into our camp?" she snarled, glaring at Princess. The calico shrunk back at the sight of the aggressive molly but Shadepaw was having none of it.

With a cheerful little bounce, she placed herself between the two mollies. "It's okay, Cloudheart. The patrol I was with found her washed up on our side of the river," she chirped in reassurance.

A golden tabby molly with blazing sky blue eyes spat in fury as she rushed to Cloudheart's side. "And why does she smell like Thunderclan? A kittypet from the houses near their territory just happened to stumble into our river? Did nobody point out how suspicious this all seems?!" she snarled with the fur on her neck sticking straight up.

“Well, I think they were; nobody was really thinking about that because Thunderclan was trying to take Sunningrocks back at the same time.” As Shadepaw talked, Princess looked around in alarm. The entire clearing had gone from confused and cautious to angry and hissing just from that one sentence. However, Shadepaw seemed oblivious to this and continued her explanation. “So, yeah, Oakwatcher was a bit more focused on that. Besides, she told us the important part of what happened to her; I'd tell you but I think I should tell Crookedstar and Mudfur first,” she finished with a crooked grin before sticking the tip of her tongue out.

The golden molly had looked ruffled at the mention of Oakwatcher’s name; was that regret that flashed in her eyes? She recovered quickly and huffed in return. “Be that as it may, you shouldn't be so flippant when delivering such a message!”

The brown molly from earlier lazily drew her tongue over a paw and meowed, “Can it really be helped, though? I mean, all things considered…”

With a snicker, the other molly picked what where Cloudheart left off. “No, I suppose not. I forgot for a second where this one's roots lay.”

For the first time since meeting the apprentice, Princess saw Shadepaw's fur bristle. The, what Princess had assumed to be a slow to anger molly, had a growl building in the back of her throat. Before she could spit her own retort, an old brown tom pushed his way into the group. “Now, now, I don't think we should be having this kind of discussion in front of our guests,” he rumbled in a friendly tone, his voice starting to shake with age.

“Indeed,” a new voice chimed in, deep and rumbling almost like thunder. Standing a tail length or so behind Cloudheart was a big light brown tabby. His voice wasn't aggressive but the stern look he was giving Cloudheart and the golden tabby was quite heated. What Princess noticed most prominently about this newcomer was his jaw- it was crooked! Almost like it had been jerked out of place and never got put back right.

“I'll be speaking with you two after this; wait in my den,” he told the two aggressive mollies. The slinked off with their tails low. Cloudheart had the decency to look at least a little embarrassed.

Her companion, on the other hand, was still shooting Princess and Shadepaw a heated glare.

With the aggressors gone, Shadepaw merely stared at the ground and gave her chest a couple of embarrassed licks. “Don't be embarrassed, Shadepaw,” the time with the crooked jaw meowed, his gaze now much softer. “They had no right to chastise you without knowing the whole story; at least, not over a cat who clearly needs help like this kittypet. You did well to stay civil for as long as you did.” As he spoke, the old tom with a shaky voice had moved to Princess's side and began sniffing and looking through her fur. Princess gave him an odd look for his efforts.

“What happened to you, little one?” he meowed, a welcoming purr building in his throat as the crooked jawed tom started to call forth cats to go help reclaim Sunningrocks, or something along those lines.

Princess gave him a long look before sitting down. “Well, my brother said he had a surprise for me and that we had to get to the woods to get to it. I tried to tell him it was too dangerous; honestly, I did!” she stressed, her breathing starting to quicken. “We had barely gotten in when we were found by clan cats. Rusty tried to argue our right to pass and the giant brown tabby attacked him! I clawed his ear and nose and we managed to get away. I accidentally let us fall asleep and we had to run first thing this morning to. Rusty pushed me into a stream as three more Thunderclan cats found us. He wasn't running and they wanted nothing but a fight… I think they killed him,” she explained, her voice getting quieter as she went on. She was vaguely aware of the clan cats still in the clearing listening intently.

“The stream brought me to those huge boulders. I stopped to rest; the water had been so fast, I could barely keep my head up. There were more Thunderclan warriors there and they followed me onto the rocks. I- I didn't know what else to do, so I jumped in the river and swam across. That's where Shadepaw and her patrol found me,” she finished, looking at the molly who brought her here.

Shadepaw had turned to stare at the crooked jawed tom. His fur had fluffed out and his lips had curled into a snarl. “Mudfur, get her to your den. Get her whatever medicine and care she needs. Meet up with me after; I want a full report on her condition,” he ordered.

Mudfur gave the tom a nod and began nudging Princess to her paws. He was leading her back to the reed tunnel someone had gone through to retrieve him if she was remembering correctly. The calico didn't question or try to argue; as far as she could tell, she wasn't going to be hurt. Even if they were, what would be the point? She wouldn't be able to escape this many cats, even if she wasn't exhausted.

The reed tunnel Mudfur led her down was much shorter than the one into the camp. It ended before a large bush that had spread itself low over the ground.the entrance was large but didn't leave enough room to let in gusts and rain. The calico slid in with ease and blinked her eyes a few times to adjust to the dim lighting inside.

Mudfur was right behind her. “You can rest in one of the nests over there,” he meowed with a flick of his tail, indicating the left wall of the den, lined with thick, soft beds of moss. “Just be sure to lay on your belly. I'll give you something to help you with the shock but it'll put you to sleep and I need to check you for wounds,” he explained.

Princess didn't give him a response; she just padded to the closest nest and tried to curl into a ball while still being on her stomach like he asked. Mudfur had sent to the back of the den where there were large mound of mud with shallow crevices carved into it. He quickly scooped his paw into one before hobbling over, keeping one paw off the ground.

“Eat these,” he ordered gently as he held out his paw. Sprinkled on his pale brown pad were two tiny black seeds. “They're poppy seeds,” he explained just as gently. “Known for pain relief, taking the edge off shock and grief, and putting troubled cats to sleep.”

‘That's me…’ she silently admitted as she lapped up the seeds. She wasn't sure if poppy seeds worked extremely fast or if she was simply that tired and just now had an extended moment of rest, but she could sleep pulling her under. She drifted off to the feeling of Mudfur gently pawing through her pelt.

                                   -----

When she woke, the dim den no longer had any light. She could hear crickets chirping over the bubbling of the stream surrounding the little island. Her ears also picked up the troubled muttering coming from the main camp. Curious and concerned, she blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes before padding out.

She emerged from the reed tunnel to a camp that was somehow even more crowded than it had been this morning. Cats were gathered in small clusters, muttering worriedly amongst themselves. In the center of it all was Oakwatcher. His body laid out on its side, bent broken in ways a cat should never be. Princess couldn't help but gasp at the sight.

“Are you okay?” Princess heard from her side. Turning to put a face to the voice, she was met with a ginger patched molly with troubled green eyes.

“What happened to him?” Princess asked after a brief bout of silence. She had just seen him earlier that same day. How could he have ended up like this?

“In the battle for Sunningrocks, Oakwatcher was trying to help battle against Rosestar; he had focused in on Haybelly and she needed help. Mosspath cut him off and in their fight, they rolled into a shallow cave. The commotion was too much… the structure wasn't stable. When it collapsed, only Mosspath made it out. We spent most of the afternoon digging him out of those rocks,” she practically whispered.

The molly gave herself a shake before giving Princess a cheerful expression that didn't even come close to reaching her eyes. “I'm sorry; you've been through so much for someone barely older than a kit. My name is Dawnwhisper; what's yours?”

“Princess… I'm sorry,” she replied, her throat feeling choked. “He was angry they had attacked me and my brother… if it hadn't been for u-”

“Oh, none of that!” Dawnwhisper huffed, her white tail whipping about. “Thunderclan was trespassing on Sunningrocks; that land is rightfully ours and they know it. Oakwatcher would have led his patrol into battle with or without you there. And don't start getting any silly ideas that you're why Thunderclan was on those rocks! They've been longing for those rocks for countless years.”

Having no idea what to say now, Princess turned back to the big, kind cat who had ordered others to help her. There was an old dark grey molly and a pretty silver molly crouched next to his body. Nearby, the crooked jawed tom was talking in hushed whispers with Mudfur.

“What are they doing?” she asked quietly.

“Mourning,” Dawnwhisper replied simply. “That's Greypool, who was one of his best friends, and his niece, Silverstream. Crookedstar must be devastated.”

“Crookedstar? You mean the tom with the broken jaw?” Princess asked.

“Yes, he's Riverclan's leader. His jaw isn't really broken, though. It just didn't heal right… Oakwatcher wasn't just his deputy; they were brothers. He must be devastated…” Dawnwhisper quietly meowed. The last sentence seemed to simply be her speaking her thoughts aloud, not particularly interested in Princess anymore.

The little calico wasn't sure what a deputy was, but it seemed quite important. Her heart went out to Crookedstar, having to deal with a loss that was devastating on two levels. Her conversation with Dawnwhisper seemed to be through, so she stood and padded towards the much larger cat.

Crookedstar paused in his whispered conversation with Mudfur as he noticed her approach. She paused before him, suddenly unsure of what she was doing or even of what she had intended to say. “I… I’m sorry, Crookedstar. Dawnwhisper told me what happened. I didn’t know him very well; I only spoke to him once but… he seemed strong and kind. He seemed like a good cat. No one should have to lose their brother in such a way,” she said after a couple awkward heartbeats of silence.

Her emerald eyes met his pale green ones. His gaze was even and calm as he addressed her. “Do you feel guilty, kittypet?” His voice wasn’t mean or sarcastic; he didn’t even sound particularly curious. Princess nodded; she understood she couldn’t have helped- not with Thunderclan wanting the rocks in the first place- but she couldn't help the twisting feeling in her belly.

Crookedstar broke his stoic stance and bowed his head close to his chest. Cutting his eyes toward his fallen littermate, he meowed, “I do too. It’s typically considered reckless for a leader to get involved in a border dispute but… I can’t help but think I should have been there.”

The leader stayed quiet for a moment before turning back to the collared molly before him. “Thank you for your kind words, young one, but Mudfur and I were discussing important matters. You should head back to the Healer’s den and try to get some more rest,” he encouraged. Princess nodded and mumbled a quick apology for interrupting before turning to leave.

She paused beside the two grieving mollies as she made her way back. She gave them the same apology and couldn’t help but stare at Oakwatcher. She felt she owed him an apology as well but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Even if she could bring herself to press her nose to his fur- as Silverstream had been doing- she wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate; she wasn’t related to him, she wasn’t even a clan cat. Besides, what good would apologizing to his body do when his spirit had gone?

In the end, she decided to just go back to Mudfur’s den. Just as she got to the reed tunnel, she heard Crookedstar’s voice ring out over the camp. “Let all cats old enough to swim across the river gather before me for a clan meeting!” Whipping her head around, she saw that the clan leader had leapt onto one of the taller roots of the willow tree. The clan was already loosely gathered; they just had to tighten their half circle before Oakwatcher’s body. Princess just stood awkwardly at the tunnels entrance. She was old enough to do as Crookedstar asked but she wasn’t a clan member so she wasn’t sure if the call extended to her.

“The passing of Oakwatcher is unfortunate. I know the pain cuts deep for us all. However, it is almost moonhigh; while Oakwatcher will always be remembered and honored by those here today, Riverclan needs a deputy. The threat of Rosestar and his followers cannot be understated. Constantly pressing our borders, their unneeded aggression, it cannot be tolerated any longer. The kind of deputy I need to help us face this threat is a steadfast cat. Someone I know will never waver in the face of adversity and can return Rosestar’s ferocity tenfold,” he called out. Many of his clanmates nodded in agreement; others gave sidelong glances to whoever they thought their leader was referring to. Princess couldn’t help but notice that most of the glances were aimed at a single yellow eyed molly.

“Leopardfur will be the new deputy of Riverclan!” Crookedstar yowled. With the clan chanting her name, Leopardfur, the golden spotted molly most had been glancing at, stood with her chest puffed out proudly. She strode forward, stopping just before Crookedstar. “May Oakwatcher guide you in your new role,” he told her solemnly.

“I am honored, Crookedstar,” she meowed confidently before turning to Oakwatcher’s body. She touched noses with her predecessor before turning and leaping on a root below Crookedstar. The clan began chanting again, much louder than before. Princess said the name once or twice as it was clear this was a very big deal for the wild cats. Still, it was just as clear she didn’t have a place there. She turned back to the reed tunnel and left the clan to their ceremony.

                                 -----

The moon hung high in the sky; most of the clan was dispersing to their dens. Leopardfur wasted no time in deciding on tomorrow’s dawn patrol. The situation around her promotion were tragic, of course, but she wasn’t going to let that slow her down! She was vaguely aware of Crookedstar and Mudfur watching her intently. Just as she sent he picks for the dawn patrol to their nests, Crookedstar was calling her over.

“You’re settling in quite naturally,” Crookedstar meowed as she approached them. “Just like I knew you would,” he added sadly.

“I’m so proud of you!” Mudfur told her with a loud purr rumbling deep in his throat as he moved forward to lick her cheek. His light golden daughter gave a short chuckle and briefly returned his affection.

“Let’s move this to my den, shall we?” Crookedstar meowed. Leopardfur pricked her ears at that and gazed after him curiously before following him. Crookedstar’s den beneath the willow roots had almost no light at this time of night. The hollow was big enough for the three cats to sit comfortably.

“I wish your first day could have come under better circumstances,” Crookedstar told her as he sat in his nest.

“I can’t imagine how badly you must be hurting, Crookedstar,” Leopardfur responded in a calm tone. “I’ll do everything in my power to help you through these trying times,” she swore.

“If only that was all that was going on,” Mudfur sighed.

“Mudfur has had dreams from Starclan,” Crookedstar explained to a very clearly confused Leopardfur. He gave the healer a nod to signal that he should describe the visions.

“The dream started out simply enough,” Mudfur revealed. “I was standing in front of a pond at the bottom of a hill; suddenly, from behind me, a shadow comes over me. I turn around and there’s a cat at the top of the hill. I can’t make out anything about them- the sun is directly behind them, you see- but their claws are out.

“Then I can smell blood… so much blood. It’s flowing from her paws, becoming a river as it comes down the hill. Stuck in the blood are bodies; cats from all four clans dead by this cat’s paws. Throughout all of this, I’m getting flashes of a bare tree standing alone in a snowy field; somehow, in the middle of winter, it’s covered in blossom buds. In each flash, more and more buds are dead and falling off. By the pond, I sense something, a presence behind me, so I turn around. And there’s a pile of bodies. Standing on top of the pile is this cat with tufted ears. She- I can tell by her voice that it’s a molly- she just starts laughing at me. It was this cold, empty sound.

“I get one more image of the tree. The blossom, the smallest, frailest blossom that had previously been on the verge of death, is now in full bloom. The only living flower on the tree. And then I hear the voice of the goddess herself, standing just behind me. ‘Sometimes the frailest bud can become the strongest blossom,’ she told me. It then cut back to the body pile; I’m looking down at my own paws but, in my gut, I know they aren’t my paws. For the life of me, I can’t remember their color. When I look up, the tufted eared cat is charging at me. She was a brown molly with green eyes. I woke up after she attacked me,” Mudfur explained. His eyes, the same shade as his daughter’s, had become fixated on the ground.

Leopardfur pressed her face to her father’s and draped her tail over his back. He had received dreams from Starclan before but she had never seen him this rattled.

“We need to find this ‘blossom’; this cat, from what we understand of the vision, is the key to saving many lives,” Crookedstar added, his voice grave.

“Do we have any leads on who this cat is?” Leopardfur asked.

“It’s possible it’s that kittypet Oakwatcher sent Shadepaw back with,” Crookedstar answered. At Leopardfur’s look of empathy and pity, he bristled a bit. “You can’t tell me that the timing isn’t convenient; Mudfur just received this prophecy the other day and now this happens?”

“I didn’t say that,” Leopardfur meowed, her gaze still empathetic. “Just be sure you aren’t trying to apply more meaning to his last actions than there actually is,” she added carefully.

“We have no proof either way,” Mudfur pointed out before this could escalate into a full debate. “The Goddess sees much but she can never pin down the exact timing; it’s possible the blossom hasn’t been born yet. They may not even be conceived!”

With a sigh, Crookedstar laid down in his nest. “Mudfur is right; we just have to be vigilant and communicate at any sign that the blossom has been found,” Crookedstar ordered, getting nods from his healer and deputy. “This is to stay between us three; the clan doesn’t need to know just yet. It could cause a panic. But be careful, both of you. This threat could come at any time.”