Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 3. (A Dead Star)

~A Dead Star: Chapter 9~

"We're here," Whitestripe whispered to Horizon, slowing down. "Wait over by that rock. Their scent is somewhat fresh."
She couldn't be too sure since the smell of what Horizon called oil was overpowering her sense of smell, and her nose wasn't as good as her ears, but she knew Fernfeather and Tigerfur's scent well enough to be able to discern them from the dead animals and insects around the entrance.
"This smells like more than just a monster," Whitestripe commented, walking further into the cave.
"Be careful!" she heard Horizon whisper.
Whitestripe carefully, slowly, walked inside the dark cave. The scent of death surrounded her completely, save for the small stream of fresh air from outside.
She walked in further and stood on something small and fuzzy. That feels like a squirrel, she thought, unnerved. Whatever's been in here must be toxic to every animal in the Lake.
The smells gradually grew stronger and more pungent. Her nostrils began to sting and her breathing was becoming something of a struggle.
To her relief, it didn't last long. She reached the Moonpool and a fresh air covered her, her breathing returning to normal.
A cool breeze swept through her fur as though cleansing it of the stuffy cave entrance. There were no bodies here other than Whitestripe, Tigerfur and Fernfeather.
Tigerfur immediately spun around, claws unsheathed, and stared at Whitestripe.
"What are you doing here?" Tigerfur grumbled.
"I was told to come and rescue you two," Whitestripe said with a shrug.
"And who said we were in danger?"
"Crowwatcher... the ShadowClan Medicine Cat..."
"As you can see," Tigerfur said uncertainly, "we're fine. Fernfeather and I got here a while ago. She's getting her lives still."
"I... Crowwatcher said you two were in danger," Whitestripe said.
"How did you even find Crowwatcher?"
"He and Heatherpelt spoke with Spiraltail at the border. They said they'd found a kit near their territory," she explained. "Spiraltail's taken it to Willowleaf."
Tigerfur froze at Heatherpelt's name. "She had a kit with her," he said slowly. "Were there any others?"
"She only brought one," Whitestripe said slowly. "Why does it matter?"
Tigerfur looked disappointed, then said, "You should head back to camp."
"Does that mean you and Fernfeather are coming, too? She'll wake up soon, right?"
"She should," Tigerfur said uncertainly. "Even if she doesn't, I'll grab her if anything happens. Go back to the Clan."
As Whitestripe went to protest, Fernfeather screamed. Tigerfur and Whitestripe ran over quickly and saw the she-cat on her side, obviously in pain.
Whitestripe's vision was slowly clouded with white mist. The mist darkened and she saw Fernfeather standing before a black shadow, its paw on her forehead.
The shadow removed its paw and a red star shimmered in the dark light on Fernfeather's forehead. The deputy, or new leader, fell back and the shadow briefly revealed a flash of dark brown fur and the malicious glimmer of green eyes.
The silhouette dissolved and Whitestripe was able to see again.
Tigerfur was trying to drag Fernfeather onto his back. Whitestripe helped him and they ran past the various bodies.
Whitestripe beckoned to Horizon who was still crouched behind the rock, frozen.
She slowed down. "I'll catch up!" she shouted to Tigerfur before running back for Horizon.
"Horizon, come on, we need to leave," she whispered to the kittypet. Horizon stood, staring blankly at the side of the rock.
"Horizon, hurry up!" Whitestripe growled urgently. She shoved the kittypet forward, but Horizon just sat still.
Finally, the kittypet's ears flicked and she shook her head, inhaling a large breath. She turned around and looked curiously at Whitestripe. "Did you find your Clanmates?"
"Yes, now hurry up! We need to go!"
Horizon instantly darted away after Whitestripe, running in the direction of ThunderClan's camp. Whitestripe still didn't have time to tell Tigerfur what she saw when the two she-cats arrived. Cats had gathered around the new leader inside the Medicine Den. At the sound of Whitestripe and Horizon's arrival, cats belted out of the den and all eyes were on Horizon, mainly angered or enraged.
Whitestripe spotted her older brother running forward to nudge Horizon gently in relief and discomfort.
"Kittypet!" Spidertail spat from the warriors' den. "Why did you bring it here?"
"She was helping my sister," Ashpelt growled defensively, facing the angry black tom.
"How do you know?" Spidertail hissed, unsheathing his claws. "She could've been spying on us and just chased her back here!"
"I do not run from a fight!" Whitestripe growled, her tail lashing.
"You clearly must've run from that one," Spidertail grumbled. He was getting ready to pounce just as Tigerfur jumped in front of him. The dark brown tabby glared at Spidertail, growling threateningly.
Spidertail reluctantly sheathed his claws and stalked off to the side to sit with Willowleaf.
"She shouldn't be here," she heard Specklefern whisper to Rockhopper.
"Do not be too harsh, Specklefern," Rockhopper whispered back. "Remember, Grayfur was a kittypet. Give her a chance to explain herself."
Nobody else seemed to hear this, but Horizon stood defiantly alongside Ashpelt. The kittypet looked both embarrassed and stubborn as she began explaining why she was there.
"I've been helping ThunderClan for a while now, even if barely any of you know about it.
"I saved Ashpelt when they went to investigate WindClan, and I also aided WindClan and RiverClan in their escape. Very recently, I explained this to cats I trust, and while you may not trust a portion of the cats I'm working with, I know for a fact that they will not betray me or my other allies."
The gathered cats were silent, their faces hard and their glares cold. Spidertail's eyes were slits, and Willowleaf looked plainly depressed after the loss of one of her kits.
"We should get rid of her," Spidertail growled to the older ThunderClan members. "She doesn't belong here, and Fernfeather said that any kittypet or loner we find on our territory should be taken prisoner or killed. Since she's connected to probably more rogues, kittypets, loners and ShadowClan warriors, we shouldn't let her live."
"We can trust Horizon," Ashpelt said defensively.
"You're too young and too naive to know any better," Spidertail snapped. "I bet if an adder were to slither up to you and bite you, you'd trust it as well!"
"You weren't looking where you were going, Spidertail," Specklefern sighed in frustration. "It was not the adder's fault you're a lumbering fool."
"You weren't there!" Spidertail retorted.
"Silence!" Tigerfur demanded. "Your new leader would not wish to see us fighting in times like these!"
"You are not our leader," Swiftflight hissed unexpectedly. "Did Fernfeather even all earn all nine lives? If not, she is still only a deputy."
"For the amount of time we were there, yes, she would've earned all nine lives," Tigerfur growled. "The fact that you are so quick to doubt her as a new leader is foolish and irresponsible. Surely you cannot be going back to your original ways, Swiftflight, as a loner?"
I didn't know Swiftflight was a loner! Whitestripe thought.
"Spidertail found me, not you," Swiftflight hissed. "I'll follow him and Willowleaf. I will not follow the descendant of a murderer."
"Feel free to challenge me," Tigerfur grumbled. "It won't do you any good. If, and when, Fernfeather wakes, she'll not be choosing you as deputy."
"You think she'll choose you instead?" Willowleaf asked softly. "None of us are better than each other. We're all the same, even if some may seem worse than others."
Willowleaf glanced sideways at Spidertail. "I'm sorry, Tigerfur, but I don't think you'd make a very good deputy. I know I am likely to be wrong, but it's just not right. Not at this time."
"I do not expect anything from Fernfeather other than staying alive long enough to-" Tigerfur stopped. He either didn't want them to know something he did and quickly stopped himself from saying it, or he genuinely went too far.
Either way, everyone's heads turned to the dark tabby tom. He was staring down at his paws as though regretting something.
"Well, do continue," Swiftflight demanded.
"Staying alive long enough to be able to see the new territory," Tigerfur said hesitantly.
"What new territory?" Fuzzyear asked curiously, turning away from Horizon.
"I'll tell you when the time is right," Tigerfur promised in a serious tone. "At the moment, there are certain cats in ThunderClan that I am not comfortable sharing information with."
Whitestripe could hear the hint of uncertainty in Tigerfur's voice, and she knew he wasn't talking about the elders or queens.
"For now, until Fernstar wakes and decides what we should do, this kittypet will be kept prisoner," Tigerfur said.
As Tigerfur slowly stalked off toward the Medicine Den, curious or frustrated gazes followed him or lingered on Horizon.
The other cats departed and Whitestripe led Horizon to the spare den alongside Ashpelt.
"I'm sorry," Horizon said, sitting down in the den. "I didn't mean to make things worse."
"It's okay," Ashpelt said quietly. "Fernstar won't hurt you. I'll make sure she doesn't."
Horizon gave Ashpelt a half-hearted smile and Whitestripe left the den, Ashpelt following her.
"Why did you let her follow you?" Ashpelt asked seriously.
"Excuse me?"
"She followed you, didn't she? I doubt she would've willingly followed Tigerfur."
"I told her to get away from the Moonpool. She was acting strange. I didn't expect her to follow me into camp!"
"Well, she did," Ashpelt grumbled. "And now it's your fault she may get killed in the morning."
"Ashpelt, it was a simple mistake," Reedtail said drowsily, walking over to them. "Nothing bad is going to happen to your mate. Stop worrying."
"I'll stop worrying as soon as I know she's safe and out of ThunderClan," Ashpelt grumbled.
Ashpelt stormed off to the warriors' den and Reedtail turned to Whitestripe.
"Don't worry about his mood," Reedtail said with a glance at the angry tabby warrior. "He's just stressed. Besides, Fernstar will be reasonable about the situation."
After a short moment of silence, the black she-cat asked, "What happened at the Moonpool?"
"It was... terrible. Just as Frostpaw and Crowwatcher had described," Whitestripe said.
"There were bodies, and that awful scent. It got better as we made it further into the cave, and I'm guessing the dog was either a lie or was moved by the time they got there, because it wasn't there when Horizon and I went."
"Then why does Fernstar seem injured?"
"I don't know," Whitestripe said after a moment of thought. "Before anything happened, Tigerfur explained that they had already been there for a while, so they weren't in any danger."
Whitestripe looked around to make sure nobody else could hear.
"When we were nearly done talking, Tigerfur and I, Fernstar screamed. I think I saw something... A black shadow standing in front of Fernstar with its paw on her forehead. When it moved its paw, there was a little red star left on her forehead and then she fell over."
Whitestripe could see the mounting concern on Reedtail's face.
"StarClan wants us to leave," Reedtail mumbled. Louder, she said, "Russetfire had a similar vision a long while ago. That's the only thing StarClan has sent her, and by her description, it must've been at least a few moons since she had the vision."
"Maybe she just can't remember the visions she's being given?"
"I doubt it," Reedtail scoffed. "Russetfire's a young Medicine Cat, but her memory isn't that bad."
Without another word, Reedtail stalked off back to the Medicine Den, shaking her head as though to get rid of something.
Whitestripe shot a cautious glance back at Horizon who was now asleep in the spare den.
I do hate kittypets, Whitestripe thought, but this is Ashpelt's mate. If anything happens to her, he'll never forgive me.