Whiteriver's Truth

Chapter 7

   The cat she had found was obviously dead, frozen over from the blizzard that night. She sniffed the ear that was sticking out and the scent of ShadowClan filled her nose. She stepped back. What was a ShadowClan cat doing in our territory last night. Bravepelt had now made his way over to her and looked down at the place she was staring and his eyes went wide.
    He turned back to inform Clovernose. "Whitepaw found a cat in the snow. It's clearly dead."
   The she-cat rushed over and helped the two pull the frozen mound out of the snow. The cat was black and white and someone she recognized from gatherings.
   "It's a ShadowClan cat." Clovernose hissed. "Why is fox-heart like her doing in our territory."
   Robinpaw suddenly dug at the snow. "He wasn't alone." He said.
   Another cat suddenly lifted her head and a bunch of snow fell off of her. It was Brightwhisker and she had somehow survived buried under the snow.
   "What were you doing with a ShadowClan warrior, especially in a storm like this." Clovernose hissed at the she-cat.
   Brightwhisker looked to the ground. She didn't want to answer which made it obvious to every cat here. "He saved my life." She suddenly said.
   "Were you too seeing each other?" Clovernosed hissed once again.
   Brightwhisker didn't say anything.
   Clovernose suddenly sighed. "At least you're still alive."
   "I told him that it wasn't a good idea to be out in a storm like this, but he instead I stayed." She explained.
   "How long?" Whitepaw asked.
   Brightwhisker took a moment to respond. "Since the first gathering I went to."
   Clovernose sighed and shook her head. "Let's get you home and checked out by Swiftfeather." She said as she turned and stalked back the way they came.
   Brightwhisker followed behind them, but kept her head down and glancing back to her late mate every few moments until he was out of sight.
   "We can't leave Shadowtalon there." She suddenly blurted out, grief showing through her voice.
   "Well we can't stay out here, we can come back for him later." Clovernose snapped.
   Brightwhisker looked back down ashamed. Whitepaw slowed her pace until she was walking in pace with her old den mate. "What even happened?" She asked.
   Brightwhisker looked up at her, shame still blazing in her eyes.
   "You can trust me, Brightwhisker. You know you can." Whitepaw pushed. She knew she had always been quite a reserved cat and had never been close to any other cat in particular.
   She sighed. "The wind started growing stronger and the snow started to fall more heavily. I was getting cold so he wrapped his body around mine to keep it warm and we eventually drifted to sleep." She sighed again. "Once the wind had stopped I woke up and found him very cold and still." She suddenly grew mad and unsheathed her claws, quickly sending a strike with her paw to the top layer of snow. "I told him that we shouldn't stay." She spat.
   Whitepaw put her tail on her flank in an attempt to comfort her even though she didn't know what she could do for the she-cat.
   They continued walking back to the camp, Brightwhisker keeping her head low in grief in shame. Clovernose kept in the lead despite Bravepelt being the leader of the patrol. She was far ahead of the rest of the group. Robinpaw struggled to walk through the snow but he kept his pace to be faster than Bravepelt's.
   Eventually, the camp came into sight making Brightwhisker stop. Whitepaw turned to face her. "We're almost there. You need to go see Swiftfeather."
   The she-cat shook her head. "I can't go back now."
   Bravepelt waited for the two of them just by the entrance as Robinpaw bounded into the camp with Clovernose happy to be free of the deep snow that covered the forest.
   "Come one Brightwhisker. I won't let anything happen to you." Whitepaw tried to encourage her, but she didn't seem to budge.
   Bravepelt then walked over. "What you did broke the warrior code, but you're still a ThunderClan cat. You won't be casted out without a fair trial and you need to be seen by Swiftfeather."
   It was silent for a moment before Brightwhisker nodded and the three cats made their way into the camp.
   Clovernose was over talking with Bramblefoot and Minttail and it made Brightwhisker worry. She followed quickly keeping her head low to the ground as they made their way over to the medicine den.
"Swiftfeather." Bravepelt called in.
The white she-cat appeared at the entrance looking more worried than she usually did. The storm must've worsened Mistyeye's condition. "Yes?" She responded with a gentle meow.
   "We found one of our warrior buried in the snow." Bravepelt informed.
   Swiftfeather nodded. "Alright." She turned and gestured with her tail for them to follow.
   One by one the cats entered with Brightwhisker being the last. Whitepaw guided her over to one of the nest in back taking a glance at the older medicine cat ashore she walked past. Brightwhisker laid down and Swiftfeather started to quickly examine.
   Mistyeye seemed to be awake now, but she looked very ill. She now knew why Swiftfeather had looked so worried when she met them at the entrance. It was obvious that the medicine cat was on her final days. The younger she-cat kept the nest comfortable and had left her some fresh-kill near by that had only been half eaten. Mistyeye was well taken care of.
   Suddenly, Clovernose appeared in the den. "Brightwhisker." She called as she walked closer. She gave Swiftfeather a look that asked for a moment alone and so Swiftfeather walked in the storage. The she-cat then sighed. "I didn't tell anyone, that for you to decide when." She said.
   Her face had a little hit of relief that washed over her for a second. "Thank you."
   "You should be thankful." She said before turning tail and walking back out of the den without another word.
   Brightwhisker let out a sigh as Swiftfeather made her way back over and examined her a little more. She suddenly let out a small purr. "Well you're not sick and I'm sure you already know, but you're expecting kit. What wonderful news. We definitely need some more kits around here."
   The smile on Swiftfeather's face was not reflected through Brightwhisker and she was just as shocked as her.
"What?" Brightwhisker meowed. Her voice low.
"You didn't know?" The medicine cat responded. "I'll give you some time to process." She said walking over to Whitepaw and Mistyeye.
Brightwhisker looked down to the ground and you could tell she was filled with conflicting emotions.
"Did you know?" She asked Whitepaw.
She shook her head. Both cats then looked down to Mistyeye and then back to each other both giving each other a knowing glance about the elder medicine cat.