Warrior Cats: Billypaw's Code

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own the concept, or characters, of Warriors by Erin Hunter, which is what this Fanfiction is based off of. Please read and support the author of the Warriors series.

WARNING: This telling has themes of violence, depression, suicidal thoughts, and blood. If you are sensitive to any of the above things please leave.

"Didn't you die?" Billypaw asked. 

"And why am I in camp? I thought. . . I thought. . . " 

She trailed off. 

"Oh Billypaw," Mistystar sighed.

 "Your clever Idea saved us," Pinepaw meowed. 

Mistystar nodded, "We killed one of the coyotes. Mistclan was able to scare the rest of them off."

 "Won't they come back?" Billypaw asked.

 Mistystar shook her head, "They sustained a lot of injuries, too many for them to survive for long." 

Billypaw sagged with relief. 

"You gave us quite a scare," Mistystar continued. 

"You were out for two sunrises."

 "What?" Billypaw yelped. 

 Billypaw was silent for a moment as she processed this information. She had been unconscious for that long? 

"What about the others?" She asked quietly. 

Mistystar looked up at the sky for a few moments. 

"Pinepaw is fine, as you can see. Bugpaw's leg is broken, but it should heal. Rustpaw only had minor injuries, Wolfclaw no longer has a tail, Pandaheart . . She'll take time to heal." 

Billypaw spotted Brackeneel out of the corner of her eye. He was trotting into the medicine den with cobwebs and moss. The old elder was still helping the clan. Billypaw was relived to see that he was unharmed. 

Roaringkit and his mother were also unscathed. Thank Starclan.

 "Hushedpaw and Fallenpaw have serious injuries, it's still unclear on if they'll make it or not. Runningriver has pulled a muscle and will be bed ridden for a while. Everyone else sustained minimal injury." 

Billypaw let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Everyone was ok. Everyone was ok. Exept Hushedpaw and Fallenpaw. The two siblings have been through a lot together, they didn't deserve to die fighting coyotes. 

"what abo-"

 "Don't worry about anything right now," her mother cut her off.

 Mistystar turned to leave, but hesitated. She looked back at her daughter with glistening eyes. Her eyes conveyed mostly pain. Mistystar had wounds too, but Billypaw swore she saw something else in her eyes. Longing, or perhaps regret. . or guilt? 

Billypaw's heart ached as she remembered what her mother said the day she got her apprentice name. 

 What had changed now?

 Billypaw's mother opened her maw to speak, but closed it and turned away. 

Whatever happened to the Thuderclan warriors? Were they in camp? Where was Flounderpaw? Billypaw sighed, laying her head on her paws. She would worry about this later.

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Billypaw awoke to the smell of mint.

 She was still exhausted, and her plump body felt stiff. Darksight had worked her hard, she had forgotten the joy of just lazing about. She raised her head. As she blinked, her eyes adjusted to the light. The light revealed a face she recognized. 

"Flounderpaw?" She mewed. 

The calico cat was on three paws, busy with a clump of moss. One of her paws, Billypaw noticed, Flounderpaw wasn't using.

 thick, green vines were wrapped around her friends leg. Flounderpaw turned her head towards Billypaw. 

"Oh! Billypaw! You're up."

 "And you look like you shouldn't be," Billypaw countered. 

Flounderpaw shrugged, "Oh, I'm ok."

 "You are?" Billypaw mewed. 

Flounderpaw's usual energetic-nervous expression was replaced by a somber one. 

"After the coyote thing, and all of the cats, laying on the floor, coughing up blood.." 

The she-cat shuddered. 

"I wasn't there the day of the original coyote massacure. I thought I wanted to become a warrior, to fight the Starclan forsaken things."

 Flounderpaw dropped her gaze, "After seeing all the cats in pain I couldn't help, I made up my mind to become a medicine cat."

 Billypaw blinked up at her. The calico cat still didn't meet her eye. 

"But you had just a few more moons to go," Billypaw uttered. 

"I know, I know, Rustpaw has already given me enough grief about it."

 A sudden jolt of realization ran through Billypaw's body, making her shoot up. She hissed through clenched teeth when her wounds screamed at her.

 "Is Bugpaw alright? What about Hushedpaw and Fallenpaw? Please tell me they're okay!"

 Flounderpaw opened her jaws to answer, but was cut off when a pack of warriors came through the Mistclan camp entrance. Billypaw immediately knew it was Thunderclan. Their musky scents infiltrated her nose and caused her to sneeze. 

"We brought more prey!" the grey one in the front called.

 "What's going on?" Billypaw asked, her fur spiking. 

Flounder looked to the warriors, then back to Billypaw.

 "The patrol that was with you in the moor had lost one of their cats to the coyotes. They promised to help Mistclan out until most of us recover."

 Flounderpaw then trotted over to the Thunderclan warriors, forgetting her herbs. Her uneasiness with the Thunderclan cats was drowned out by how light Billypaw felt. Despite some of her clanmates being in critical condition, and the wounds dotting her pelt, she felt lighter. She might forgive herself. She left Ashkit there. 

She left him. 

But now that she faced those demons head on, she felt a small weight lifted from her chest. She felt as if her lungs were filled with gunk all these moons, and it finally cleared out. She could breathe again. 

She was almost happier.

 Almost.

 The praises that she got from her peers warmed her pelt, but they felt empty. No, the praises didn't feel empty. Billypaw did. Every time she saw her mother, the emptiness would grow. 

She didn't think the wound on her heart and the darkness that lies there would ever fully clear without her mother's appraisal.  It was like sharp thorns stuck in her throat. The sharp, breathy pain cutting through them every time she inhaled, even if she could breathe better.

She longed for Mistystar to look her in her one eye and say that she did it.

 Say that she was a good apprentice, give her warm looks. 

Or even just talk to her. 

Mistystar talked to Bugpaw. 

But it was never Billypaw that she would look for.

 Mistystar didn't even send a search party to find Billypaw. 

She just assumed she was dead.

. . .

 A dull thump and a soft purring shook Billypaw from her thoughts.