Warrior Cats: Shadow Propechy (ENG VER.)

CHAPTER 2

The mourning of his father's death couldn't last long. As soon as dawn broke, the elders took away Redstar's body for burial. Wolfclaw watched as his father's tail disappeared into the thorn bushes. He mumbled his last goodbyes before rising, determined.

The scar on his cheek still hurt, and his vision still remained totally blurry. He feared he would be completely blind in his eyes, but he believed in Morningcloud, and he knew she would find a way to help him. He turned to Treestripe, who was still watching the camp tunnel. "Hey," he called, gaining his brother's attention. The yellowish green eyes looked more tired than usual. "Let's focus on the Clan, shall we? Take Sunnypaw on a patrol."

The Siamese warrior smiled halfheartedly before getting up and going after the apprentice. He knew that Treestripe was completely exhausted, but he also knew that his brother would not be able to sleep after the fateful day. "Just remember not to go near the Dead Forest, that's where we found the badger!"

Treestripe turned his face back, but said nothing. Wolfclaw sighed, suddenly too tired even to eat. He felt as if he had run across the entire territory of the Five Clans. Before he got up he heard Morningcloud approaching; her low and high mews calling for the warrior. "Here, more celandine for your eyes."

The medicine cat dropped the long, yellow flower to the ground, waiting for the cat to eat it. "I've had too many of those, Morningcloud."

The she-cat wagged her tail impatiently. "Well, eat more! Your eyes depend on it!" She turned away, not waiting for an answer. Wolfclaw panted softly, bending down to eat the strangely sour-tasting flower.

He grimaced, wiggling his whiskers. Indeed, they tasted very sour. He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and turned, coming face to face with Batwing. The black cat looked at the floor, a little embarrassed. "Thank you for your words yesterday, Wolfclaw." She looked up with orange eyes, still afraid to look at the older cat. "I don't think I'll forget about my sister anytime soon, but... it was good to hear that from our leader."

She smiled and walked away. Wolfclaw pondered those words. Our leader... It was true. He was now the leader of the FieldClan. A terrible feeling came over Wolfclaw, and he had to stop himself from throwing up the celandine he had eaten.

Suddenly, becoming leader seemed like a terrible idea. He wouldn't be helping someone lead a Clan, he would be leading the Clan. The responsibility never seemed to haunt Wolfclaw until now. Perhaps because he was the leader's son, the others had gone too easy on Wolfclaw, and he had never felt the burden of being a warrior until now. Or worse, the burden of being a leader. He would have to appoint new apprentices and warriors, advise the other cats, go to meetings, speak face to face with the great leaders of the other Clans...

If not for Tinypaw, Wolfclaw would probably have vomited up whatever Morningcloud had given him. "Are you all right, Wolfclaw?"

The apprentice called out to his mentor fearfully. The tabby warrior must have made some kind of grimace, because the apprentice took a huge step back, as if he feared that Wolfclaw would actually throw up.

"I think the herbs Morningcloud gave me didn't go down very well," he lied, laughing at the apprentice's worried expression.

"Let me get you some juniper berries!"

The white apprentice dashed after the medicine cat before Wolfclaw could protest. He sighed, trying to calm himself under the sun. Soon, the Leaf-fall season would come, and Wolfclaw feared the worst would happen. Prey became scarce and the green cough would take over the fields, as it always did in cold seasons.

Wolfclaw feared he couldn't handle such a huge responsibility, especially on his own. No, I'm not alone, he scolded himself, looking around the camp for his friends. Treedtripe was heading out with Sunnypaw at the back. The apprentice tried to lift the mentor's spirits with dull jokes. Salmonnose, Treestripe's former apprentice, also followed.