Whiteriver's Truth

Chapter 2

   It had been a moon since the battle between RiverClan and ThunderClan and WindClan. Whitepaw now had a scar that went across her face from above her eye to her chin. The memories of the battle still haunted her. As she and her mentor, Clovernose, were out on a hunting lesson, a cat from WindClan came running through their territory with strong fear scent clouding around him. It was a warrior she saw at one of the full moon gatherings. His name was Rabbittuft. He had come to ask for help from ThunderClan against the attack of RiverClan on their camp. The three cats raced back to the camp and got a group of cats led by Goldenstar himself to help WindClan fight off RiverClan. Even though they had won, it still felt like a loss to many cats as in the end, four warriors and an apprentice had been killed in the battle and many were left badly injured. Her father, Silverdust, the two other warriors, Freckledfur and Littleclaw and the apprentice, Shadepaw who was also her adoptive brother, were the ones who had their lives lost.
Clovernose had taken Whitepaw out for a training session to see if she was able to fight again. It was her first time out of camp in a while and she enjoyed the sights, smells and sounds even though the forest floor was now covered in snow. The cold of the snow helped numb the pain of her broken leg as she walked, but she still limped and she knew Clovernose could see that she was still not fit to fight. Despite the obvious pain, Whitepaw was quite grateful she was willing to take her out to train, but her mentor had promised Swiftfeather she would stop if the pain became too much for her to bear.
   They eventually reached the sandy hallow and they both got into position.
   "How is your leg feeling?" Clovernose asked before they began.
   Whitepaw looked back at her leg and raised it and she felt no pain. She then put it down again and felt a slight tinge of pain as it landed back on the ground before she looked back at her mentor. "It's fine." She responded.
   "Okay." Clovernose nodded and then crouched down getting ready to leap.
   The older cat sprung in the air and flew straight at her. Whitepaw tried to quickly dodge the attack, but as she fell to the side, she felt a searing pain go through her leg and she yelped. Clovernose quickly stopped and looked at her apprentice as she struggled to stand back up.
   Clovernose looked down at the ground ashamedly. "I should've listened to Swiftfeather. I know you're not ready yet, I just want you to get your warrior name." She paused and sighed then turned back to Whitepaw and walked forwards to help her stand. "I saw you out there. I know you're ready to be a warrior just like your brother. You should've been standing beside him getting your own warrior name, but you were taken out of the battle too soon and Goldenstar just won't listen to me." She shook her head and looked at her apprentice. "You deserve to be warrior more than your brother. You almost died saving that queen and her kits. You're a great warrior, Whitepaw."
   Whitepaw was touched by her mentor's words, but she didn't feel like she should be warrior. She fought off one warrior, but it was an apprentice younger than her that had an easy way out of the fighting cats. The warrior that was attacking the queen and her kits only got a few scratches and a blind eye from her where she was almost killed. Her father had scared off that RiverClan warrior and in the end he had died.
   Clovernose and Whitepaw made their way back to camp. Clovernose was faster than her, but she didn't let herself get too far a head so she could help out her apprentice when needed. When they got back and Whitepaw had reached the medicine den, Bravepelt greeted her with a friendly meow and nuzzled up beside her.
   "How was training?" He asked.
   She sighed. "I'll never be a warrior at this rate."
   "Don't say that Whitepaw. You're already an amazing warrior. Every cat knows that."
Whitepaw just sighed and stared into the medicine den as Swiftfeather made her way to them.
"I'm assuming you're not fit to fight yet." She said.
Whitepaw didn't respond. Swiftfeather started to examine her leg once again. As Swiftfeather touched and moved her leg, she winced in pain. "Your leg seems fine, you just bruised it a little bit more. Keep pressure off it for the rest of the day." Swiftfeather said as she walked back into the darker parts of the den.
   "I have some exciting news. Maybe it'll cheer you up." Bravepelt purred. Whitepaw turned to him signalling that she was listening. "You know Minttail's kit is ready to be apprenticed and Goldenstar said I should mentor him." He proudly meowed.
   "Really?" Whitepaw shared his excitement although there was still sadness showing through.
   "Yeah. Robinkit is going to be apprenticed tomorrow."
   "Well I'm happy for you." She purred. "You'll be a great mentor."

***

   Whitepaw rested in her nest, but she didn't sleep even though the moon the floated high in the night sky told her that she should be. She felt that each passing day it was getting more hopeless for her to become a warrior. Her ear was completely gone making it harder for her to hear and her leg still hurt when she walked. She sighed and then slowly pushed herself up from her nest. She limped to the entrance of the den and the closer she got, the more she could feel the cold breeze on her face. Snow was falling slowly outside and it glittered as the moonlight hit each flake. She made her way through the camp crunching the snow beneath her paws. She eventually made it to the warrior den and peered inside. Bravepelt was sleeping near the front of the den so it was easy to get to him. She walked over to his peaceful sleeping body and poked his side with her front paw and he stirred.
"Bravepelt." She whispered in his ear. "Can we go for a walk?"
The tom lifted his head and opened his eyes to look at Whitepaw. He yawned. "Why so late?" He asked.
"I can't sleep." She answered.
"Okay." Bravepelt got up and stretched before the two went back out into the cold.
They walked through the dark, snow covered forest for a while before they finally stopped. Whitepaw rested her body up against his and the warmth of their bodies sheltered them from the cold.
"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Bravepelt asked.
"Yeah." She sighed. "It's about the battle."
"What about it?" He asked.
"My brother." She turned away, clearly nervous.
"What?" He pressed.
"He... He's the reason why I had to leave the battle so soon."