Warriors: Burnttail's Regret (Complete)

Chapter 20

 Burnttail followed Frecklestar closely towards the Fourtrees. It was the Gathering, and the RiverClan cats were near the Twoleg bridge, the border with WindClan. Burnttail was feeling a bit better, and a day passed since he found Snake's body, but he was still in disbelief and refused to believe that his friend was dead.

 Burnttail forced himself to raise his head and looked towards the Fourtrees. Frecklestar led them towards the Gathering on a rocky path, then she raised her tail. The RiverClan cats scattered around, and Burnttail rushed towards Sootblossom, conflicted if he should tell the tom about Snake's death or not. ''Hello, Sootblossom!" He meowed, trying to sound cheerful.

 Sootblossom raised his head and smiled. ''Oh, hello there, Burnttail! How's RiverClan been?''

 ''Great, actually.'' Burnttail lied, hesitant. Should I just tell him?

 Sootblossom tilted his head. ''You can't fool me, Burnttail. What happened?''

 ''Well, I..'' Burnttail stopped, then sighed. ''Well, yesterday when I was patrolling near Sunningrocks, I.. I found Snake's body. I'm sorry..''

 Sootblossom's eyes widened and he backed off. ''No, you're joking.. my daughter isn't dead..''

 ''That's what I'm still trying to think.'' Burnttail sighed and closed his eyes. ''But she didn't move or say anything. I buried her near a bush in RiverClan's territory..''

 Sootblossom let out a wail and closed his eyes. After a while, he finally spoke again. ''I'm sure that Snake.. died honorably, maybe she was defending herself from another rogue..''

 ''I guess.. oh, Sootblossom, it's my fault that Snake died, isn't it?'' Burnttail looked at him, holding his ears down.

 ''No, Burnttail, it's not.'' Sootblossom sighed. ''She may or may not have became a rogue because of the argument that you two had, but it's not your fault that she died! It's her killer's fault. I'm sure someone killed her, but I can't know who.''

 ''But.. if the argument never happened, and if I wasn't stubborn enough to go in ThunderClan's territory, then maybe Snake would've still be in ShadowClan right now.. alive and well.'' Burnttail sighed.

 Sootblossom shook his head. ''You can never know, Burnttail. Look, stop blaming yourself, it's not doing any good. I'm sure Snake is watching over us right now!''

 ''I.. I guess.'' Burnttail sighed, then tried changing the subject. ''By the way, where's Ebonyheart?''

 Sootblossom tried looking calm, although Burnttail saw that he was still shocked after the news he heard. ''She's back at camp. Owlsight's kits are five moons old and even though she only has two, they're some troublemakers!''

 Burnttail chuckled. ''Anyway, I should go sit with the others deputy. Goodbye, Sootblossom.''

 ''Bye!'' Sootblossom meowed, then looked at his paws. Burnttail turned and padded towards the Great Rock. He sat down at the base of it, with the rest of the deputies and looked around. He suddenly blinked in surprise when he saw that Bearback and Smokedream weren't there. Instead, there was another WindClan warrior that Burnttail couldn't identify, and instead of Smokedream sat Frostedwillow.

 Before Burnttail could ask, Bumblestar yowled from the Great Rock. ''Let the Gathering begin!''

 Burnttail raised his head and looked at the leaders. Bumblestar dipped his head and got up. ''I'll talk first. Sadly, Smokedream, Fawnwhisper and Lightskip died due to Greencough. We still mourn their loss, of course.'' Bumblestar meowed, then sighed and lowered his gaze.

 Burnttail's eyes widened when he heard the news. Smokedream, Fawnwhisper and Lightskip are dead? Oh, StarClan, can this possibly get any worse?!

 The tom sighed and closed his eyes for a bit, thinking about the ShadowClan cats that died. Smokedream, the deputy that was always kind to his cats. Fawnwhisper, the kind medicine cat that always helped Burnttail with his injuries, and Lightskip, the grumpy elder and Brokenflower's best friend. After a while, he sighed and raised his head. May StarClan welcome them.

 ''However, since Smokedream was our deputy, I also had to appoint a new one. Frostedwillow is ShadowClan's new deputy!'' Bumblestar meowed, and dipped his head to the white she-cat with gray legs, then looked forward again. ''Oakgaze, our oldest warrior, has retired to the elders' den. And we also have three new warriors. Bluepatch, Breezesong and Cloudpath. That is all I had to say.''

 Bumblestar sat back down. Burnttail blinked in surprise when Bearback got up, looking around. ''I'll continue, then. We have sadly been attacked by rogues, and Fernstar and Bramblefrost have sadly died. As Fernstar's deputy, I took his place, and I am now Bearstar, WindClan's new leader.'' He meowed, then dipped his head in respect for his fallen cats. Then, he raised his head. ''I have appointed Plumbreeze as my deputy.''

 Bearstar looked at his deputy, then continued. ''Flowerwing and Violetroar have both retired to the elders' den, and we have three new warriors. Robinswoop, Lightcloud and Mapleheart.''

 Bearstar sat back down, and Frecklestar got up. ''Prey has been running well in RiverClan, and we haven't been bothered by the colder weather yet. We were lucky enough to not lose any cats in the past moon, but I grieve the fallen cats along with WindClan and ShadowClan.'' She meowed, then dipped her head to Bumblestar and Bearstar. ''May StarClan welcome the fallen cats.''

 Frecklestar sat back down, and Snailstar got up. ''Our medicine cat apprentice, Eaglepaw, has received his full medicine cat name, Eagleflight.'' He meowed, and looked towards the young tom, then looked at the gathered cats again. ''Blazesong has retired to the elders' den, and sadly Addersnarl passed away after being hit by a monster.'' He meowed, then sighed. ''That is all I had to say.''

 ''Then the Gathering is over!'' Bumblestar yowled and jumped off of the Great Rock. Burnttail got up and ran towards Frecklestar when the RiverClan leader jumped off as well. ''RiverClan, let's go home!''

 The RiverClan cats started gathering around Frecklestar. Burnttail looked around, making sure everyone was there, and then he dipped his head to his leader. ''Everyone is here, Frecklestar. We can go back.''

 The RiverClan leader nodded and turned, leading her cats back to camp. Burnttail followed her, and soon Spiderfrost walked alongside him. ''A lot of cats died in the past moon..'' He whispered, shivering.

 ''I know.'' Burnttail meowed, then sighed. ''I had to tell Sootblossom, Snake's father, that his daughter died. I couldn't just sit quiet and not tell him that his daughter died!''

 Spiderfrost blinked, then dipped his head. ''I think that this was better than not telling him. I guess I wasn't thinking earlier today when I told you to not tell him.''

 Burnttail chuckled, amused. ''Maybe. Anyway, I'm tired.'' He yawned.

 Spiderfrost looked at him and sighed, relieved. ''I'm glad to see that you're feeling better.''

 ''I really am, actually. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully move on from Snake's death, but I have to try.'' Burnttail dipped his head. ''By the way, thank you for training Acaciapaw today. I'll tell Spottedfur that I'll train Acaciapaw tomorrow and that she doesn't need to take over her training.''

 Spiderfrost dipped his head to the dark ginger tom. When the cats arrived in the camp, Burnttail padded towards the warriors' den, trying not to think about Snake's death anymore and what he heard at the Gathering. He sighed and padded in the warriors' den, laying down in his nest. He curled up in a ball and closed his eyes, falling asleep.