salt in the wound || warrior cats

chapter 13

ignorance

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WHEN THE THUNDERCLAN PATROL returned to camp, the air between everyone was tense. It was only because she was near the front of the patrol, next to Lilystar, that Violetpaw caught her leader's words, low and murmured into Russetfrost's ear.

"Send the apprentices to their den, then go wake the warriors. We're to have a Clan meeting."

Russetfrost twitched his pelt. "Right now?"

"SkyClan has practically declared war on us," Lilystar replied, stalking over to the Highledge and leaping onto it. "What else are we to do?"

The deputy's face was grim when he nodded once, then moved to carry out his leader's orders. Violetpaw, Sweetpaw, and Brightpaw were soon ushered into the apprentices den, and as they begrudgingly went, tired and sleepy warriors started padding out into the clearing.

Once they were inside, Violetpaw glanced at her friends, her jaw opening then closing, unasked questions at the tip of her tongue. Her biggest question hung in the air, and Sweetpaw voiced it for her.

"What in StarClan's name just happened?"

Brightpaw shook her head, as though she just couldn't wrap her mind around the event. "Crowstar's lying. He must be. Nobody in ThunderClan is a killer."

"Yeah," Violetpaw mumbled. "Yeah, no, I guess not."

As the three friends stood there, not sure what else to say but too energized to go to sleep, Ravenpaw's voice suddenly broke the heavy silence.

"Great StarClan, can you keep it down?" 

Instantly, the white she-cat glared over at him. Ravenpaw, who was in his nest, had rolled upwards so that now his yellow eyes were beaming at them like light in the dark. 

"Sorry-" Brightpaw started.

"No, not you," Ravenpaw mewed, waving her apology off. "Violetpaw's the one yowling like a fox in a fit."

"Me?" Violetpaw gaped at him, lashing her tail. "I've barely said anything!"

The black tom rolled his eyes. "Well, you're the one whose voice woke me up. There are cats sleeping in here, you know."

"Whatever. Go back to sleep, then," Violetpaw spat at him, before turning around and flopping herself at the entrance. Her heartbeat and mind was running way too fast for her to get any rest tonight, and she found herself stretching out her ears to try and listen to the discussions of the warriors.

"I can't. You've woken me up, and it takes forever for me to fall back asleep." 

"Marvelous. Now go tell someone who cares."

"Stop bickering." This was Sweetpaw, who plopped herself next to Violetpaw, joining her sister in eavesdropping on the Clan meeting. Though, neither of them could hear much with the den being so far away. "Otherwise you're going to wake Eaglepaw and Dapplepaw."

A pause. Then, Ravenpaw mewed, "What are you two doing over there?"

Violetpaw, who was thoroughly annoyed now, whipped her head around to hiss at him, "Use your head and make an inference, mousebrain."

"Hey." Ravenpaw's face tugged into a mock frown as he pretended to be upset. "I'm hurt."

"Be quiet," Violetpaw snapped. "Your loud voice is covering what Lilystar's saying. I can't hear her with you talking."

"I doubt you could hear much in the first place," the black tom muttered. "So, what happened at the Gathering tonight? It must be bad if Lilystar's holding a meeting."

Violetpaw faced away from him firmly, refusing to reply. In the end, it was Brightpaw who swooped in to answer, breaking down tonight's events for him. Ravenpaw's response was much like the other ones tonight.

"The Ghost Assassin?" Violetpaw can tell by his confused voice that the black tom's eyes have narrowed. "But that's a kit's tale."

"Yeah," Brightpaw mewed, agreeing. "Crowstar's gone crazy."

Just then, the sound of moss rustling came from near the end of the den, and Eaglepaw's sleepy voice filled the den. "Hey, what's going on?"

At the sound of his voice, Violetpaw suddenly felt herself tense, her pelt heating, and she did her best not to look behind her shoulder as the moss in Eaglepaw's nest rustled, indicating that the brown tom had pushed himself upwards into a sitting position.

None of the four were that close with Eaglepaw, so an awkward silence stretched out in the den as Violetpaw, Sweetpaw, Brightpaw, and Ravenpaw tried to silently signal each other to answer the older apprentice's question.

In the end, Violetpaw cleared her throat. "Lilystar's holding a Clan meeting." She winced quietly to herself as her voice came back oddly high to her ear.

"Really?" Eaglepaw yawned, still trying to fully wake himself, recent sleep still holding on strong. Great StarClan, his yawn is cute. Great StarClan, what was she thinking?

"Yeah." Before she knew it, the words were coming out of her mouth in a blur. "At the Gathering, Crowstar accused ThunderClan of being murderers. Well, not all of us, I guess. Just one. He thinks that the Ghost Assassin is a ThunderClan cat, and-"

"You ignored me when I asked, but you'll fill Eaglepaw in." Ravenpaw rolled his eyes. "Real nice, Violetpaw."

The white she-cat's tail lashed in defense. "Maybe I wouldn't have ignored you if you asked nicer, like Eaglepaw did."

"Eaglepaw didn't even ask." Ravenpaw twitched his pelt, then rolled his eyes again. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep."

Eaglepaw blinked, albeit a little awkwardly, as the black tom stormed past him to his nest. "Sorry. Did I do something?"

Violetpaw flushed. "No, no, of course not. I don't know why he's acting like someone put bees in his nest."

Thankfully, the brown apprentice didn't seem upset, and offered her an easy smile. "Well, I should get back to sleep. It's getting late, and Russetfrost has got me on dawn patrol tomorrow morning."

"Oh!" Violetpaw's tail lifted into the air, embarrassed. "Oh, yes. Sorry for keeping you up. And waking you."

"Don't be," Eaglepaw mewed lightly as he picked his way over to his nest. 

As soon as his head was reburied in the moss of his nest, Sweetpaw and Brightpaw's heads whipped to face Violetpaw with a suggestive look on their faces.

"You so like him," the calico whispered as she stepped past the sisters towards her nest.

"No I don't!" Violetpaw hissed in reply, afraid that Eaglepaw had overhead, despite the fact that Brightpaw's voice was quiet enough and the brown tom's nest was far enough to avoid such a thing.

Sweetpaw only smiled at her knowingly. 

Grumbling to herself, Violetpaw turned firmly towards her, facing the night again, flicking her ears to try and listen to the Clan meeting. However, as she did so, she found her heart beating faster than before. Though only by a little, she made sure to tell herself.

~~~

i already know who i want her to end up with, but do you guys like eaglepaw or ravenpaw better?

make sure to drink water today!

~ lily