Bloodflower

Chapter 55

The fallout of the battle with the rogues was unimaginable.

Dawnfire had never seen so many horribly injured cats in one place, let alone dead cats. While a good portion of them were rogues, many of them were also SunClan. Her heart had shattered as she'd recognized each one in the aftermath: Deerdapple, Robinfeather, Forestfire, Cherryfur, Ashwhisker, Thumpstep, and Fernstripe. And, of course, Rainfoot, who might very well have been the first cat to die.

None of the FireClan cats that had assisted in the battle—cats that Rosethorn and Hazelfrost had brought—had been killed, but they all had their own injuries too; some minor, some more serious. Nonetheless, Adderstar had formally thanked Amberstar for choosing to help them, and had promised that SunClan was in their debt.

And, had Rosethorn been well enough to leave the medicine den, Dawnfire was sure he would have thanked her too. After all, according to Hazelfrost, it had been Rosethorn's idea to get help from FireClan in the first place. Her quick thinking and persuasion of Amberstar had saved SunClan from extinction.

The Clan had been in ruins after the ordeal, from the camp to the cats themselves. The apprentices—none of which had died—had all been utterly devastated when Birchpelt told them of their mother's death. He'd told them she went peacefully, but that didn't seem to help much. Thumpstep's death had shocked all the senior warriors, and the loss of two elders had been very hard, for Brokenstem in particular.

It had now been two sunrises since the tragedy, and things were healing, but slowly. Grayleaf and Dawnfire were working themselves to the bone, making sure SunClan didn't lose any more cats. The cats with the fewest injuries had all volunteered to go out hunting as much as they can, finding what little prey was left. Adderstar was doing his best to keep everyone calm and focused on rebuilding what they had lost. Some cats had wanted to go and make sure the rogues had truly gone, but Adderstar was certain that Zodiac's death caused them all to scatter. And even if they hadn't, SunClan still needed to recuperate before they took action.

Dawnfire was now laying awake in her nest, letting herself have a bit of time to think before she began the morning's work. Grayleaf was still fast asleep in the nest beside hers, snoring softly.

She found that her thoughts were drawn back to Zodiac's death. A flashback played vividly in her mind, not for the first time.

She'd been beside Grayleaf, tending to Brokenstem, who'd torn out a claw while fighting a rogue that was trying to get behind the elders den, where Rainfoot had died. Nightshade had ran up to them in a panicked frenzy. Dawnfire hadn't really been able to understand what he was saying, but she heard the words "injured" and "Rosethorn." She'd raced away to find her sister before Nightshade could even finish speaking.

The rest was a blur now, and frankly Dawnfire was glad about that. She didn't want to think about what her sister had looked like when she'd found her.

According to Nightshade, Rosethorn had killed Zodiac, but the rogue she-cat had severely wounded her in her final moments. She'd whispered something to Rosethorn that he hadn't heard, and then fell limp with death, her eyes clouding over. Rosethorn had passed out from blood loss not long after.

Dawnfire thanked StarClan every moment of her life that her sister had pulled through. She'd woken up late into the first day after the battle—and had been uncharacteristically desperate to speak to Nightshade. He'd been asleep when she'd awoken, so she hadn't been able to talk to him. Rosethorn had seemed both disappointed and relieved at the same time, and had gone back to sleep without saying another word. Even now Dawnfire was still puzzled by this. I wonder if she's gotten to talk to Nightshade yet. She seemed restless about it.