Warriors: Burnttail's Regret (Complete)

Chapter 21

 A few weeks passed since Snake's death. Burnttail started recovering from his friend's death, although he still thought that her death was his fault, and Acaciapaw was not far from becoming a warrior.

 Burnttail swam out of the river and shook his fur, followed by Acaciapaw. The she-cat looked at the tom and smiled. ''I was stronger than you today! I managed to beat you!''

 Burnttail nodded. ''That's true, but you still have to work a little bit on the ShadowClan skill that I taught you. When you hide in the shadows, you have to try and hold your breath when a cat walks past you, so that they can't hear you, but we'll practice this tomorrow. Come on, go and talk with your siblings now.''

 Acaciapaw purred. ''Thanks, Burnttail!'' She meowed, then turned and sprinted towards her siblings. Lavenderpaw raised her head and nodded towards her sister. ''Welcome back, Acaciapaw! By the way, look, I got a flower!''

 Acaciapaw's green eyes widened. ''Where did you get this from?''

 Grasspaw rolled his eyes. ''She just randomly found that lavender and put it at her ear. Seriously, Lavenderpaw, it's just a flower!''

 ''Yes, but I'm named after it!'' Lavenderpaw flicked her tail. ''I got a flower! I got a flower!''

 Sweetpaw chuckled, looking at Lavenderpaw's flower that was by her right ear. Burnttail stopped paying attention to the apprentices when his friends approached him.

 ''Lavenderpaw is very happy about her flower. She just walked in camp screaming ''I got a flower! I got a flower!'', and I still don't understand why.'' Spiderfrost sighed, looking at the apprentices.

 Spottedfur shrugged, looking at Lavenderpaw. ''She must like flowers, I guess.''

 ''She surely does!'' Dogspot laughed. ''Berryfeather looked annoyed, but if Lavenderpaw likes flowers, then so be it.''

 ''Yes, but she doesn't have to just scream about it!'' Spiderfrost shook his head. ''I may have gone deaf.''

 Burnttail laughed and gently nudged his friend. ''You're fine, Spiderfrost. Don't worry!''

 ''Anyway.'' Dogspot meowed and looked at Burnttail, looking relieved. ''I'm glad that you're feeling better. Snake's death really.. seemed to throw you off.''

 Burnttail blinked, surprised, then lowered his head. ''Yeah, I guess it did..''

 Spiderfrost nudged Dogspot, snorting, and looked at Burnttail, resting his tail on Burnttail's back. ''Look, don't focus on that, alright? Snake is in a better place. Come on, should we go hunting? You're the deputy, after all!''

 Burnttail let out a sigh and looked up, nodding. ''Yes, that's a good idea, actually. We're going to patrol the border with WindClan. And..'' He stopped, looking around. ''Nettlebrook!''

 ''Yes?'' The cream-and-white she-cat raised her head from where she was speaking with Whitealder. She got up and padded towards the deputy. ''Is there something wrong?''

 Burnttail shook his head. ''No, everything's fine. I want you to lead a hunting patrol, and I actually want you to take your kits with you. They don't seem tired at all after training, so I think it would be good if they would hunt.''

 Nettlebrook looked towards her kits and nodded. ''Alright.'' She meowed, then padded towards them. Burnttail turned his head. ''Let's go, then.''

 Burnttail turned and padded out of camp, diving in the river. He quickly swam to the other side and shook his fur, padding towards the border with WindClan. His friends followed close by, and Burnttail's ears twitched when he heard the gorge in the far distance. He let out a hiss when he remembered his first walk near the gorge with Troutpatch, many moons ago. He said that a lot of cats died here.. this place clearly isn't safe.

 ''Burnttail? Are you alright?'' Spottedfur asked, padding alongside him. The tom blinked, then nodded. ''Yes, I'm fine, it's just that.. I remembered when Troutpatch told me that a lot of cats died here. The gorge is obviously not safe.''

 ''I agree.'' Spiderfrost hissed, looking forward.

 Burnttail padded towards the Twoleg bridge, which layed peacefully above the river that was leading towards the gorge. Burnttail padded closer to the river and looked down. The river continued after the Twoleg bridge, and it came to a waterfall, and it continued through the plains. He let out a growl when he saw how far down the river was, and he backed down.

 ''Don't get too close, Burnttail!'' Dogspot meowed. ''Sometimes, the ground from under you can collapse if you're standing too close to the edge.''

 Burnttail blinked, then dipped his head. ''Thanks for telling me, Dogspot.''

 The pale brown she-cat nodded. ''No problem!''

 Spottedfur approached the Twoleg bridge and sniffed the air. ''I don't think WindClan trespassed. That's good, they have a brain.''

 Burnttail chuckled and looked towards Spiderfrost, who was looking straight forward, following the river's line. He tilted his head. ''Is something wrong?''

 ''No, nothing. I just thought I saw something.'' Spiderfrost meowed and padded forward, sniffing the air. Burnttail twitched his tail and followed the tom, sniffing the air as well.

 Spottedfur and Dogspot followed them, alert. Spiderfrost suddenly stopped and sniffed the air, looking at a bush in front of him. Burnttail approached him and unsheated his claws, looking at the bush.

 Suddenly, a watervole let out a scream and ran out of the bush, sprinting right past them. Burnttail blinked and turned, surprised. Spottedfur spun around and sprinted after the watervole.

 Dogspot started laughing and nudged Spiderfrost. ''Woah, that was so dangerous! You could've died, Spiderfrost!''

 Spiderfrost let out an annoyed snarl. ''Shut up, Dogspot.''

 Burnttail chuckled, and looked after Spottedfur. Soon, the black she-cat with white spots padded towards them, holding the watervole in her jaws. ''I caught it!''

 ''Nice catch!'' Burnttail meowed. ''Anyway, I think we should go back to camp.''

 Dogspot nodded. ''I agree, let's go.''

 Burnttail padded back towards camp, flicking his gray tail. His friends were following, with Spottedfur holding her watervole, proud. Spiderfrost rolled his eyes. ''You caught that thanks to me!''

 Spottedfur chuckled, but didn't say anything. Burnttail dived back in the river and swam back in camp. He then got out and shook his fur, padding back in. Spottedfur dropped the watervole in the Fresh-kill pile and stretched. Dogspot and Spiderfrost quickly followed.

 Burnttail looked around and saw that Nettlebrook and her kits weren't back from hunting yet, so he just yawned and took a fish from the Fresh-kill pile. He then sat down and started eating it. Dogspot, Spiderfrost and Spottedfur joined him and took bites of their prey, while the sun was floating carelessly on the pale blue sky.