Redblaze's Regret {COMPLETE}

Chapter 13

 "You have to land lighter than that! Otherwise your movements will be too slow!" Mudpelt's voice sounded firmly across the training area as he instructed Beechpaw. The mentor and apprentice duo had been training since midmorning, and now it was well past sunhigh. Redblaze, having been invited along, sat at the edge of the small clearing and watched, his thick fur fluffed up against the chilly breeze.

Beechpaw nodded to his mentor and tried the move again, jumping high over Mudpelt's head and boxing his ears roughly as he sailed through the air. His landing was much lighter this time, but Redblaze immediately noticed the apprentice fumbling to turn back around upon touching the ground. He was too slow, and Mudpelt slammed into him, tackling him to the ground.

Letting Beechpaw up, Mudpelt added, "Twist in the air so that you'll be facing me when you land." Beechpaw shook the dirt from his fur as Mudpelt added, "The worst thing you can do in a battle is turn your back towards your enemy." Looking over to Redblaze, the brown tom beckoned and said, "Redblaze and I will show you."

Glad to be invited, Redblaze joined his fellow warrior and crouched in front of him. He'd practiced this move with Flamepelt, moons ago. "Take it easy on me, will you?" he joked, and Mudpelt's whiskers twitched in amusement, his yellow eyes narrowing.

Gathering the strength in his hind legs, Redblaze leaped high, soaring smoothly over his friend, reaching down with his paws to whack Mudpelt's head. Gracefully, he twisted in the air and landed nimbly on his paws behind Mudpelt, who was slightly dazed from the blow and only halfway turned around. Quickly, Redblaze jumped onto Mudpelt and knocked him over, pinning him to the ground by his chest.

"Now that's how it's done!" Mudpelt whooped as Redblaze let him up. The red warrior looked over to Beechpaw, who had watched everything eagerly and looked more than ready to try again.

"Can I try with Redblaze?" The gray tom asked eagerly, his amber eyes glowing with excitement. Purring, Mudpelt nodded to his apprentice and sat back as Redblaze prepared for the attack. Beechpaw eyed Redblaze and crouched, his tail swishing behind him. With a massive jump he flew, battering Redblaze's head as he went. Redblaze hadn't been prepared for the force behind the young cat's paws and was genuinely dazed, so when he turned to face Beechpaw he was too slow, and Beechpaw had him pinned to the ground.

"Nicely done!" Redblaze complimented as he stood back up. He watched as Beechpaw tried the move with Mudpelt again, only to see the apprentice jump way too high, missing the blow by nearly a tail-length. Confused, he fumbled in midair and crashed to the ground in a heap.

Mudpelt was purring loudly, laughter alight in his eyes as his apprentice picked himself up off the dirt. "One more thing to consider," Mudpelt chortled, "is the size of your enemy. Redblaze is taller than me, so you didn't need to leap as high for me."

Beechpaw, looking a little embarrassed, nodded. "Should I try again?" he asked.

But Mudpelt shook his head. "No, not today. You've got the move down, so we can fine-tune it another time. Let's head back to camp and grab some fresh-kill." He looked at Redblaze. "I could eat every fish in the river."

Redblaze padded forward and nudged Mudpelt's shoulder. "And I bet every fish in the river can hear your belly growling," he teased.

The trio marched back to camp, Beechpaw still full of energy despite the long training session. "Why don't you go on ahead?" Mudpelt said to him. "Take some fresh-kill to the elders, then get some for yourself."

"Okay!" Beechpaw replied, dashing off in a whirlwind of gray fur.

Mudpelt was rolling his eyes. "Where does all that energy come from?" he remarked.

Redblaze shook his head, whiskers twitching. The two toms padded along in silence for several long moments, ears open to the sounds of birds and rustling leaves, and the river flowing lazily far behind them. After a while, Mudpelt let out a long, slow sigh.

Redblaze looked over at his friend. "Something wrong?" he inquired.

Mudpelt met his gaze, his yellow eyes thoughtful. "No," he said slowly. "I've just been wondering what leaf-bare might have in store for us. So much has happened in the last few moons that it's hard to tell if we're due for a blessing or... more curses." His voice lowered to a whisper on the last word, and Redblaze's spine suddenly tingled like he was in danger.

He shook his ears. "StarClan willing, our curses are gone," he muttered. After all, she left.

Mudpelt jumped nimbly over a stone in their path and replied, "Our literal curses, maybe. But leaf-bare can be dangerous; bitter cold, snow as high as your nose, not to mention greencough. If we get greencough in the Clan, we'll be even more vulnerable to the other Clans. And I just know ThunderClan will take advantage of any weakness we have." They had finally made it back to camp, which was glowing orange in the light of the setting sun. They happened to follow the sunset patrol into camp.

Redblaze nodded thoughtfully. "I'd hate to see any of our Clanmates die, from sickness or the other Clans," he agreed. "The curse was bad enough."

One of the sunset patrol cats whipped around, ears flat, in front of him; it was Cinderfrost. "Is that the only thing you ever think about?" she hissed. "How are you ever going to protect your Clan in the future if you can't stop thinking about the past?"

Annoyed, Redblaze stuck his nose in his sister's face and met her gaze evenly. "How are you ever going to mind your own business if you keep butting in on mine?" he spat back, silently cursing himself for the weak comeback. But right now, he was mad. Why were his littermates so good at making him angry?

Cinderfrost huffed. "Every day it's the same thing," she said. "You're mad, you're moody, you don't care what your Clanmates think of you." She held her head higher.

Redblaze shouldered past her. "Yeah, and that includes you," he retorted.

"Someday you'll wish you had some cat to be there for you," Cinderfrost called coldly after him. "But by then you'll have driven away every cat in this Clan. Will that make you happy?"

It would make me happy to have Flamepelt back, Redblaze replied silently. He shouldn't be dead. He shouldn't be...

It seemed like every time Redblaze had an altercation with one of his Clanmates, the rest of the Clan happened to be watching, and this time was no different. As Redblaze shuffled towards the fresh-kill pile, many of the RiverClan cats were watching him from outside their dens or in groups where they were sharing tongues. Stifling a growl, he called to them, "Haven't you all got something better to do?"

Immediately his Clanmates' gazes turned away from him, except Birchclaw. The gray and white deputy was sitting just outside Ashstar's den, watching Redblaze. He slowly shook his head. Beyond him, Mudpelt was also watching Redblaze, not having moved from the camp entrance. Redblaze thought his friend's face looked almost... disappointed, which shocked Redblaze. Another twinge of anger ran through him.

As he laid down alone to eat a fish, Redblaze brooded. Mudpelt had no right to be disappointed with him. Didn't they feel the same about it, after all? Or was Mudpelt another cat who had now "moved on?" Redblaze's claws tore at the ground beneath him, leaving long score marks in the dirt. It's disloyal, he thought, to turn your back on a dead Clanmate. He looked up towards the darkening sky, searching for the stars of Silverpelt, but they were not showing yet. Am I the only one who is still loyal to you, Flamepelt?