Shatteredpaw woke up, stretching his sore legs. He took in a long breath smelling Cloverfeather by the shelf sorting herbs. Saptoes' scent was stale, he hadn't come back.
"Cloverfeather," he yawned, giving his pelt a wash.
"Mhm?" She cooed.
"Have you seen Saptoes?" He asked.
"You've noticed too...He's been gone, I haven't seen him," she murmured.
"He told me he would be back, after we trained," he meowed.
"Did he tell you where he was, or what he was doing?"
"No, he just said he'd be right back," Shatteredpaw huffed. Where could the old tom be? "Should we look for him?" He suggested.
"No, we'll wait for him. Why don't you check on Dovenose, she's taken Willowfur's surviving kits." Shatteredpaw flicked his tail in annoyance. As he gathered herbs to bring to the queens, it gave him time to think. Cloverfeather seemed harsh but he understood. Shatteredpaw nearly died, Willowfur and her two kits were dead, and Saptoes was missing. She had a lot of worries and so did he. He gave Cloverfeather a comforting lick before padding off with his supply of herbs to give to the queens.
As he made his way to the nursery he grabbed some fresh kill to give to the queens as well. He cautiously seeped through the entrance of the nursery, making sure he was welcome. Dovenose let out a sweet purr.
"Shatteredpaw, come in," she meowed. He slipped into the den, respectfully greeting them, giving each queen a share of prey, and giving Dovenose helpful herbs. As he turned to leave, Dovenose went on. "Would you like to meet them?" She pressed. He realized she was talking about Willowfur's two surviving kits.
"Oh, sure," Shatteredpaw meowed, crouching beside her, taking in the kits scents.
"I named them Fallenkit and Driftkit. Your brother and sister look just like their mother," she cooed, sounding quite sad.
"Hello," he quietly mewed, gently nudging them. One of them let out a quiet mew.
"What about me?" A tiny mew squeaked. It was Greykit, who grew sick just a few days past. "Shatteredpaw saved me I wanna say hi," she little she declared.
"Me too!" Stumpykit added. Stumpykit was Greykit's sister. Both of Dovenose's kits bounded to him and unexpectedly nosed him with excitement. He stood up as the kits fought, stumbling over.
"Hey, you don't need to fight, not over little ol' me," Shatteredpaw mused.
"But he didn't save you, Stumpykit," Greykit whined.
"That's not fair, I want him to save me too," Stumpykit echoed. Shatteredpaw bent down and nosed the two kits apart. He felt flattered they admired him so much.
"There, I saved you, now you both can say hi," he grunted. The two kits beamed and nuzzled him excitably. He let out a rumbling purr of gratitude, he loved their affection.
"Okay okay, I need to head off now," he meowed, shaking his ruffled fur.
"Say goodbye," Dovenose meowed.
"Goodbye!" The two kits meowed in unison. Shatteredpaw turned and found his way to the entrance.
"Come back soon!" Dovenose called. Shatteredpaw flicked his tail in acknowledgment as he squeezed his way out.
As he paced through the clearing he stopped when he heard Fallentail organizing patrols.
"For dawn patrol, I'll take Copperpaw, Scatteredclaw, and Wasppelt. I'll also be joining Sunhigh patrol with Hawkstripe and Roseshade. In the mean time I'd like the rest of you to alternate hunting," he announced.
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Warrior cats: The Silent Path
FanfictionA young apprentice struggles to fit in as a blind cat. Since he could remember, he was trained as a medicine cat. It's not what he chose for himself, but he excepts it. Although, when another option is given to him he begins to drift from his clan a...
