𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 (BOOK 1) (ROS)

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 20

Red'fang had run into the middle of camp as Dune'gale began to assign patrols. He eased his way between the warriors who gathered below the shell rock.

His eyes focused on the deputy, but then at River'lily. There was that slight warm feeling he had when he first became mates with her. All of that is gone now. He couldn't just focus on the past for too long. That would've been his only mistake that led to him becoming who he used to be. A cat who hurt others more than himself. 

He does eye at the refugees who came from MurkClan's massacre, and they were all apprentices. No one had lived to see another day. There was guilt that reminded him of what the lake settlers had done, and now this was a repeat. What was he supposed to do? There was no plan of what he could do to take down his father's reign. He felt useless knowing that he was a remnant of a powerful warrior. He didn't know what he could do to prove himself. 

Then, Dune'gale searched for someone who could lead the patrol. He spotted Red'fang. 

"You." He called, Red'fang turned his head. "Will you lead the patrol?"

Everyone turned their heads to look at the warrior, and River'lily hid herself behind another to avoid him. The tom looked back at others who were staring like scared prey. Some had a scowling look. He couldn't reject this offer. He hasn't led one for a good while since he left CavernClan.  He stood on his four paws. "I will." He responded. 

Dune'gale gave a nod and then stepped down from the rock. All of the focus was now on Red'fang. He could feel that pressure weighing him down to the grave. It wasn't the first time, but it had been a while. "So," He started, trying not to focus much on River'lily. "You all will be split in groups." 

He wandered around, looking for possible candidates to take on hunting patrol. Some cats didn't trust him. Those daggers in their eyes are clearly shown. He couldn't blame them, though. The truth of him being a powerful deity was something he couldn't accept easily. He passed by all the other warriors, including River'lily. He stopped in front of a tom named Coral'flash. 

"You. I will assign you to lead the hunting patrol." He ordered. Coral'flash didn't trust him all too well, but he greatly appreciated him of that privilege. "Thank you." He purred quietly. He moved from the group and called on some cats that could join the hunting patrol. Red'fang will have the responsibility of calling for border patrol. 

There were some gossips shared between each cat as they gathered themselves to their respective patrols. River'lily, on the other hand, was focused on where to go. Hunting patrol looked already full of some cats participating with the hunt, so she was forced to go with border patrol. She didn't want to, knowing that her ex-mate was the leader of the group. She had no choice but to do so. 

When she walked towards the group of cats for border patrol. Red'fang watched her head moving down as she hid behind a warrior. The exhausted look on her face says it all. She looked soulless to him. That made him extremely worried. He didn't say anything just yet. 

And when the time was up, the border and hunting patrols were split. A number of four cats and one apprentice followed Red'fang to the forest away from the beach. He could hear some chatter between two she-cats that were rambling non-stop. It was annoying him because they couldn't shut their maws. He could tell that they were mostly talking about the refugees and MurkClan. River'lily looked pretty annoyed. Her eyes shifted at Red'fang's face, who were quite irritated with them just as she was. 

 When cats began to split, everything was quiet now. It was just them walking silently in the voided forest. There was some awkwardness that prevented one of them from initiating a conversation with one another. Both were afraid of what they thought of themselves and each other. Red'fang had gone to patrol for a reason. Why would he waste that opportunity?