Warrior cats: The Silent Path

Chapter 12

Shatteredpaw stood, covered in blood and fatal wounds. His body trembled, feeling a rush of guilt and shock pulse through him. What had he just done? His heart still pounding he reached for Copperpaw. His gut twisted. 

"I'm... I- I."

"Get away from me!" She snapped, her paw steps faded as he listened to her bolt away. Her tone was afraid and angry and it made him all the more guilty. Many strong emotions flooded through him that he didn't know how to handle.

"I didn't mean to," he quietly finished, though she was already long gone. He leaned towards her fading scent, staggering as he struggled to even stand. He was alone, a dead cat that he'd killed, sat behind him. He sat down, his rump stung, but he didn't care. He didn't deserve comfort, not after harming his friend. He realized how much she really meant to him as his heart stung with pain and guilt. She was a good friend who'd been there during a dark time. He realized he'd been horrible lately, all to avenge the death of Saptoes, but was it even worth it? He was so convinced that it'd make him feel better, that it'd help him move on, but it seemed to make things worse. 

After what felt like a moon of sitting in silence, bleeding in pain, and pondering what he'd just done, he scented a patrol nearing. To his dread, it was Darkstar who was in the lead, followed by Fallentail, Ravenpelt, and Leopardtail.

Darkstar came to a halt, just a mouse length away from Shatteredpaw, his whiskers twitched. Shatteredpaw felt weak, his head hurt as it hung low and his ears down in shame. The patrol seemed just as shocked for it was silent for a long heartbeat.

"You three, get rid of the body," Darkstar ordered to his patrol. "Shatteredpaw, with me. Now," the tom meowed. Shatteredpaw couldn't quite read his leaders tone. Was he angry, worried, or disappointed? Shatteredpaw sluggishly limped behind, his wounds bled out and he felt like collapsing, but he forced himself to keep moving. He regretted letting the rogue near his belly. It felt like maybe this would be the end.

Before they made it to camp, Cloverfeather was racing towards them, her fear scent reached his nose. "Oh dear, Shatteredpaw!" She called, she sounded horrified.

As soon as he heard her voice he let himself falter the the ground, his breaths were uneasy and he felt himself losing consciousness. He was in the paws of StarClan now. Before he drifted away, he could hear the voice of the silver tom echo. "Well done." As he drifted it was silent, Shatteredpaw had lost consciousness. 

*                  *                *

Shatteredpaw awoke in a nest, in the medicine den, full of the smell of herbs. His head spun for a moment before he was able to fixate his senses. It took him a long heartbeat to realize what had happened. I killed a cat, he thought drearily. He winced as his head slowly sat upright, his wounds were patched up, but stabbed at him with a sharp pain. He let out a groan. 

"He's awake!" A voice called. He flinched, feeling a horrid headache as the cat spoke. As he took a moment to focus he realized it was Violetpaw. A few heartbeats later he heard paw steps approaching. As he sniffed if found it was Cloverfeather. 

"Thank StarClan, I thought you'd never wake," she cried, giving him frantic licks. Shatteredpaw was silent, everything hurt, and he couldn't bring himself to react.

"And I thought your were dead," Violetpaw added.

 "I'll be right back, let me go get some prey, Violetpaw, give him some moss to suck on," Cloverfeather meowed. 

"I'm not your stupid apprentice," Violetpaw objected, but Cloverfeather had already pelted out the den. 

"Ugh," Violetpaw huffed. He heard her heaved herself out of her nest, which he realized was next to his. She padded to the shelf and came back dropping moss at his paws. "Suck on this," she snorted. He sniffed it, feeling stiff and uncomfortable. "What was the point of going all the way to get you some stupid moss, if you're not even going to drink?" Violetpaw grumbled, breaking him from a haze. He shook his head and began to drink from the moss, Cloverfeather arriving with the scent of a rabbit. 

As she dropped his the smell of blood seeped through his nose. Shatteredpaw's heart pounded, the memory of the fight came flooding back to him. He leaped up and his fur bristled.

"Shatteredpaw, it's okay. It's just a rabbit," Cloverfeather meowed. Her normal gentle tone was back, giving him comfort.

"Yeah, you stupid mouse brain," Violetpaw added dryly.

"That's enough," Cloverfeather hissed to her. Shatteredpaw slowly but surely crouched down to the rabbit, taking a sniff and eating it. He let out a groan as his wounds ached. His hunger came to him as he began to eat. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it, you've been out for four days, which is... never mind, this is a miracle," she meowed, showering him with more licks.

"I'm sorry," he finally croaked as he slowly ate the rabbit.

"For what?"

"For causing so much trouble, if I had just..." Shatteredpaw let out a wheezed as pain jabbed though his side.

"Shatteredpaw, I couldn't ask for a better apprentice," Cloverfeather cooed gently. He heard her pad away and return. He smelt a bundle of herbs. "Here, eat these," she meowed, nosing, the herbs to him. It was poppy and juniper. He ate them, a few long moments went by and he had already begun to feel better. His pain drifted and he didn't feel so weak, which was the purpose of the herbs. When his thoughts were better organized he realized StarClan hadn't visited him once while he was unconscious. Was it a punishment? Would he not be accepted into StarClan? His thoughts broke as he heard a meow. To his surprise, it was Dovenose who spoke.

"He's awake? May we see him?" The queen meowed. We?

"Sure, but don't overcrowd him," as soon as Cloverfeather answered he heard the patter of little paws racing towards him. 

"Yay! Shatteredpaw is alive!" A tiny mew squealed. He scent four of them, Greykit, Stumpykit, and to his surprise, his two little siblings. They hobbled behind, letting out mew of protest as they followed.

He was given excited licks and nudges from the kits, they each pranced around him excitedly. He never expected kits to be so thankful he was alive. Dovenose was close by. "We weren't sure you would make it. Thank StarClan you're awake," She purred. Did he really mean that much to his clan? The kits smothered him, asking him all kinds of questions and trying to climb over him. He winced, his belly grew a sharp pain. "Alright kits, time to head back now, Shatteredpaw needs some space," Dovenose meowed. He felt her scoop the kits from him, one by one, listening to her herd them away. 

Shatteredpaw wondered if anyone came to visit while he was out. He wondered if Copperpaw visited. His heart sank. Of course she hadn't, how could she after his unforgivable actions. He heaved a sigh and rested his head on his paws.