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

~A Dead Star: Chapter 24~

Whitestripe spent the rest of that morning, through to the afternoon, searching for Fernstar, Tigerfur and Ashpelt. When she heard strange noises behind her, she checked to see if it was Russetfire, but it was usually just some stray mice or dead leaves.
Whitestripe hunted a bit along the way, burying it so she could find it again later, and continued until she reached a large cave.
It was connected to a long wall of rock that seemed to spread past the whole half of this side of the Lake.
She saw the wall leave a large opening where the Thunderpath that ran past ThunderClan and the Twolegplace exited the Lake.
That'll be handy if we ever need to leave, she thought, hesitantly moving closer toward the cave entrance.
She walked through the entrance and felt a quick rush of cool air, and then warmth. She ran further into the cave and saw all sorts of different cats.
Whitestripe spotted Fernstar among them. She ran toward the leader, ignoring the surrounding stares from the few cats she didn't recognize.
"Whitestripe!" exclaimed a tom who was talking to Fernstar.
"Who are you?" she quickly asked the black tom. He looked to be around Reedtail and Iris-Eye's age.
"Ashpelt told me about you."
"How do you know my brother?"
"Jackson is one of my friends," the older tom explained. "I've met Horizon before. Both of them are slightly younger than I am, but we're all still good friends."
"What if I told you Jackson was working with the cats trying to kill these refugees here?" Whitestripe said, narrowing her eyes.
She knew Reedtail's apprentice, Coldpaw, had seen intruders on their border not too long ago, one of them being Fluffy, a kittypet they'd encountered many moons before, Crabclaw, a strong, old tom from ShadowClan, and another cat Whitestripe did not know.
That group of intruders had also included Horizon's brother, Jackson, a darker brown tom with less white on his fur and less brains than a newborn dog.
The black tom widened his eyes and stared at Fernstar. "You didn't tell me that," he said, bewildered.
"That's actually what I was leading to as Whitestripe came in," Fernstar said. "Speaking of which, how did you find this place?" she asked, turning to Whitestripe.
"I... followed your trail. The camp at the Winding River was empty and I heard something had happened."
"Was anyone else with you?" Fernstar demanded immediately. "Spidertail or Swiftflight?"
"No, they weren't with me," Whitestripe said. Hesitantly, she added, "Russetfire helped me look for you lot."
"Where is she? I thought she was unwell," Fernstar said.
"She attacked me at the camp and ran off," Whitestripe mumbled. Fernstar looked worried and called for Tigerfur, who was chatting with Heatherpelt, to Whitestripe's surprise. The strange brown-pink she-cat watched Tigerfur leave and walk toward Fernstar with a curious expression. He nodded to Whitestripe as a brief greeting before turning to the leader.
Whitestripe and the black tom moved over to a slightly less crowded corner in the cave, narrowly avoiding being hooked in the ear as two young apprentices fought playfully.
"So who are you?" Whitestripe asked.
"My name is Blacksnake," the tom said in a more serious tone now, sitting up straight. "I've... been wandering around for a little while now."
"What happened to your Clan?"
"Clan?" Blacksnake laughed. "I've never been in a Clan. I've been a loner my whole life."
"What about your kin?" Whitestripe asked. "Surely you must have a brother or sister, or a mother or father."
"I had a mother and a brother," he said. "My brother died at birth and my mother left me for dead near a fox den when I was two moons old so she could save her pathetic self."
"No father?"
"I assume I had one," Blacksnake said. "I mean, how else would I be sitting here? No, my mother used to tell me, before abandoning me, that my father had been taken by twolegs."
If he's willing to tell me his entire backstory, he's either stupid or lying, Whitestripe thought.
Blacksnake looked around. "I should go now. I need to go find something."
"What exactly are you looking for?" Whitestripe asked skeptically.
"A few... friends of mine. I'll be back."
Blacksnake ran out of the cave. Whitestripe looked around and saw a few other cats she recognized.
In one corner of the cave, which seemed to be the new makeshift warriors' den, she saw Minnowsong, a young tom from RiverClan, sharing tongues with Mintleaf, a WindClan she-cat. She seemed to match the description Pebblesoot had explained to them on their way to the Winding River camp.
Not far from them stood a group of older cats, which included Nightfire, the RiverClan elder, and Cherryheart, the WindClan elder.
By another, much larger den, she saw Frozenwind and Penguinpaw next to a brown she-cat. She assumed Penguinpaw probably had a different name now, after all these moons, but it was interesting to see that she had survived to massacre that had cost so many of her Clanmates their lives.
Whitestripe saw Pebblesoot talking with the brown Medicine Cat and assumed that was their new replacement, Birdfall. He seemed quite fond of the she-cat.
"Whitestripe!" said Ashpelt, making her jump. "Sorry. Hey, have you seen Tigerfur?"
"He's talking with Fernstar right now," Whitestripe said, looking over at the leader and deputy.
"Oh," Ashpelt said. "Good. Could you follow me for a moment?"
Whitestripe nodded and followed her brother outside the cave.
They sat near a small surrounding of bushes. "That Blacksnake cat seems a little suspicious, don't you think?" Ashpelt asked.
"Yes, he does," Whitestripe said, glancing sideways. "But he also seems... familiar."
"How so?"
"It just feels like I've seen him before." After a moment of silence, she turned back to her brother. "How'd you know where to take Tigerfur and Fernstar?"
"There was a trail of blue feathers every few steps away from the Winding River camp. We hid the feathers so nobody else could follow us. How did you know where we were?"
"Russetfire told me you'd gone to take Fernstar and Tigerfur somewhere. I guessed it'd be here."
"Is Russetfire here? I didn't see her come in with you," Ashpelt said.
"She attacked me at the Winding River camp and ran off not long after," Whitestripe said. "I don't think it was really her... Maybe Russetfire was feeling unwell, but not due to an illness."
"You think something's happened to her mind or soul?" Ashpelt guessed.
"Perhaps. I can't be too sure though. Her eyes normally aren't such a cloudy teal, are they?"
"Not that I've ever noticed. We could go back to our camp and ask Darkclaw or Specklefern though."
"Why would Darkclaw know?"
"Let's just say he has quite an interest in her," Ashpelt chuckled. "Should we go looking for her?"
"Well, where could she be?"
"Which way did she run?"
Whitestripe thought for a moment. "We walked in... We searched the dens for a short while, then sat facing the entrance before fighting. Then she pushed me to the ground and ran off right from the entrance."
"So we just retrace your steps and follow her trail, if she's left one. I'll go tell Fernstar and Tigerfur we're leaving."
Whitestripe nodded, waiting as her brother ran into the cave and returned a short while later. The siblings ran quickly in the direction of the Winding River camp.