River of Blood (A Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine

When Honeypaw stirred awake, she was underneath the cover of tall, dim oak trees, tendrils of yellow-grass brushing against her belly. Crowscar stalked out of the foliage, flowers dull and limp, and his amber eyes gleamed like fire in the pale darkness of the forest.

He growled, "where have you been? It's been a moon since I last trained you."

Honeypaw rose to her paws. She said, "I'm sorry. I've been busy."

Crowscar's fur bristled. "So you just decide to show up whenever you want?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes. "That's not how this works."

"I said I was sorry," meowed Honeypaw, rolling her eyes. She stood up taller. "And you should be lucky that I'm here now. You don't have to lecture me."

Suddenly, her ear burned and throbbed as Crowscar swiped at it with an unsheathed claw, spilling blood. It left an aching sensation that Honeypaw knew would be there by the time she woke.

"Don't talk back to me," he hissed. While Honeypaw was still blinded, impossibly, by her own blood, Crowscar took her by the shoulders and pinned her down. "You should be lucky that I'm training you at all," he said, digging his claws harder into her chest and watching the apprentice squirm underneath him. "There are many others that want to be here. But I chose you. You're special."

"S-special?" asked Honeypaw. "What do you mean?"

Crowscar looked at her. After a moment he climbed off of her, flicking his tail over his paws. "It's not my responsibility to tell you," he told her. "You'll find out one day."

Honeypaw blinked, opening her eyes to her nest in the apprentice's den, soft sunlight filtering in the branches.

Crowscar was gone.

She got to her paws. Slowly, Honeypaw pushed her way out of the den, blinking against the harsh glow of the sun. She grabbed a finch from the fresh-kill pile, settling down to eat it beside a patch of cool shade. Her belly rumbled as she sank her teeth into its wings, mouth exploding with soft feathers.

Foxkit stumbled after Wildheart, staring wide-eyed at everything in camp, as if he couldn't believe how big it was. Tawnybrook's kits' bounded ahead of them, delighted at having been tasked with showing their new denmate around.

Honeypaw sighed and pushed herself to her paws. She padded over to Orchidsplash, who was forming patrols in the center of camp. "Mossydawn," she said, "you'll take Rainfall, Nettleburr, Spiderpaw, and Cloverpath."

"Can I join?" asked Honeypaw quickly. She itched to feel the wind in her fur and the grass underneath her paws, longing for a chance to finally get out of camp.

The deputy turned to her. "Of course," she meowed. "You can be on Mossydawn's patrol."

Honeypaw dipped her head. "Thank you," she said, quickly following behind Mossydawn as she led the patrol out on the moor.

Mossydawn paused as soon as she was an earshot away from camp, wind tugging and ruffling her fur. "Alright," she started. "Nettleburr, you and I will mark the area around the barn and the twolegplace. Cloverpath will take Spiderpaw alongside the FrostClan border, and Rainfall and Honeypaw will go together to mark the border between PineClan and the Calm Waters."

There was a murmur of agreement. Honeypaw raised her head and shivered, despite the searing heat of the sun. She felt the wind pull and tousle her fur, tripping her as she bounded after Rainfall.

Honeypaw heard the rushing of the river, and she quickened her pawsteps, stumbling across the stone-embedded water. The Calm Waters was as blue and clear as the sky, reflecting sunlight off of its surface. The water spilled over Honeypaws' feet, and she tried not to fall into the bright depths of the river as she made her way across the stepping stones.

Rainfall said, "start marking the borders. I'm going to try and see if there are any squirrels hiding about in the bushes."

"Okay, Rainfall," meowed Honeypaw. She watched as he disappeared among the foliage, staying right on the border as he was careful not to tread accidentally on to PineClan territory.

Honeypaw began to place scent markers along the border. She turned at the sound of rustling leaves, twitching her ears at the noise.

Her eyes widened. "Emberpaw?" she asked, sniffing. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, stepping out of the bushes that made up PineClan territory. But his words were teasing, and Honeypaw felt herself relax, fur no longer bristling.

"It's good to see you again," continued Emberpaw, smiling. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Honeypaw flushed. She was about to reply when a yowl pierced the air, followed by the hisses and growls of numerous PineClan warriors. Her heart twisted in her chest, painfully, as she recognized that yowl, laced with fear-scent.

"Rainfall!" she gasped.