Warriors - Burnt Skies

Chapter 28

Nightstorm sat next to the stream, watching as it trickled past her paws. She squinted at the murky water, waiting for even the slightest disturbance. Tigerflame sat next to her, looking like she was more interested in sitting in her nest.

Nightstorm scowled at the water. "I don't understand how anyone can actually enjoy this."

Tigerflame shrugged. "You was the one who dragged us out here early in the morning," she grumbled, long fur fluffed out against the cold.

"You didn't have to come fishing with me, you know," Nightstorm shot back.

"You was the one who decided no cat should go out on their own for too long with a possible murderer in the loose," Tigerflame pointed out.

Nightstorm sighed. "Whatever."

She continued staring at the water in front of her.

"He's going to be fine," Tigerflame meowed, amber gaze fixed on the water.

"You don't know that," Nightstorm growled.

Tigerflame gave a wry smile. "Trust me, Nightstorm. I've seen my fair share of death before, and Blizzardfrost seems pretty determined to hang on."

Nightstorm pricked her ears as a shadow flitted underneath the water. She slashed her paw through the water, making contact with a slippery blob. She suppressed a shudder, flipping it over onto the bank and giving it a quick killing bite.

A dead, silver eye, stared back at her, as if it could see into the very depths of her soul. She shuddered.

"Hey, you caught one!" Tigerflame glanced at her catch. "Finally."

Nightstorm tried not to look at the eye. "Yeah. It's creepy, though."

Nightstorm shook out her pelt. "Come on, let's get back to camp."

She bent down, gripping the slippery fish in her jaw before turning in the direction of camp. It immediately slid out of her grip.

Tigerflame snorted as it landed on the ground with a 'plop'.

"I'm not used to carrying such slippery prey," Nightstorm mumbled, picking it up again and ensuring that it was secure before moving forward.

Nightstorm and Tigerflame padded towards camp in silence, the birds above their heads tweeting in the trees. A squirrel stared at them, almost mockingly, from a branch too high to reach, clutching a nut in its mouth. They ducked into camp.

"What do you want me to do now?" Her tortoiseshell companion asked.

Nightstorm blinked, surprised. "You could go and see if the apprentices need any help with training? Or wait for me and go out hunting again, I guess?"

"I'll wait for you," Tigerflame offered, sitting down at the edge of the clearing.

Nightstorm nodded before turning towards the medicine den, depositing the fish on the fresh kill pile as she went. She ducked into the den, eyes adjusting to the dim light. Dawnbreeze was sat next to Blizzardfrost's nest, presumably changing his wound dressing.

"Hello Dawnbreeze, how's-" Nightstorm broke off as a second pair of eyes stared at her from the nest.

"B-Blizzardfrost? You're awake?"

"What does it look like?" was the grumbled response.

"Blizzardfrost!" Nightstorm bounded forward, purring. "How are you?"

"Fine. Well, as fine as I can be when something tore into my side and caused me to bang my head," Blizzardfrost replied.

"You mean you don't know what happened?" Nightstorm asked.

"I know what happened, I just don't remember it," Blizzardfrost scowled.

"You'll probably remember it eventually, though," Dawnbreeze pointed out, looking up from where she was peeling off a bunch of leaves from Blizzardfrost's fur.

Blizzardfrost shrugged, then winced. "Maybe."

Nightstorm sat down. "Are you hungry?"

"Not right now," the grey tabby sighed, resting his chin on his paws. "Although, is that fish I smell?"

Nightstorm pricked her ears. "Yes! I caught one!"

"Oh, really? Took you long enough," Blizzardfrost meowed, lifting his chin off his paws. "What fish was it?"

"I don't know. It had grey scales and a creepy silver eye," Nightstorm described.

Blizzardfrost snorted. "That doesn't narrow it down very much."

He shifted uncomfortably as Dawnbreeze put some new leaves on his wound. Nightstorm suddenly became aware of Tigerflame's gaze searing into her back from outside the den.

"Anyway, I better go now. Tigerflame's waiting for me to go hunting."

"Oh," Blizzardfrost's ears drooped slightly. "That's fine."

"I'll come and see you later," Nightstorm reassured, touching her nose to the top of his head. "I'm glad you're awake."

"Thanks for coming to visit me," Blizzardfrost mewed quietly. "And well done for catching the fish."

"See you later!" Nightstorm purred, trotting out of the den.

Tigerflame padded over to her from where she'd been waiting, studying Nightstorm's face. "So, he's awake?"

Nightstorm nodded in response.

"Not to say I told you so, but I did say he was going to be fine,"Tigerflame pointed out.

Nightstorm shrugged. "He doesn't remember what happened though, and the wound still looks pretty bad."

Tigerflame briefly touched her nose to Nightstorm's fur. "Blizzardfrost will make it. Trust me."

Nightstorm pondered those words as she prowled through the forest next to Tigerflame, in search of prey. Two simple yet powerful words, but Nightstorm now felt less conflicted over the answer as she had been previously. Tigerflame may have had a ... troublesome past, but she seemed like she was trying to put that behind her.

Maybe Tigerflame was deserving of trust after all.