Warriors: What Is There To Do?

Chapter 33- Of Course

Teeth were a whisker-length away from her throat. Everything was silent for several heartbeats while she digested Moongaze's hiss.

"I—"

"I suggest you stay in character, or else you'll never come home. That Riverclan tom is watching you," came his growl, as he flipped both of them over. A mixture of confusion at the undercurrent of jealousy in his tone and the fact that Rapidflame was watching her fueled the launch of her hind legs to send the bluish grey warrior several tail-lengths away. Just overhead she saw a small nook; if they could disappear behind it, they would have a few free moments.

Splitrain swiped at his muzzle, forcing him back to avoid her claws that were just barely unsheathed. Moongaze seemed to catch on, and allowed himself to be herded back into the space.

When Splitrain peeked behind her to see if they were fully covered, she received a harsh blow to her side. Eyes wide with shock, she stared at Moongaze's hurt expression.

"Did you not think I cared about you? How you leaving would make me feel?"

Indignation flared up inside of her. "It's my duty as a Shadowclan warrior to both follow my leader's advice and my own heart. This could make us the most powerful clan in the forest! Don't you understand that, Moongaze?"

The fight seemed to leave his body as he digested her words, and Splitrain took the chance to self-consciously check her mouth, finding the tang of warm blood on her tongue.

His eyes were filled with a desperate passion, "Power would mean nothing to me if something were to happen to you. And something will happen, with you being a sitting duck for someone to discover! Do you know how you would be punished, Splitrain? Death! And I could do nothing about it... you have no idea how that would destroy me."

Peeking around the nook they were in, she caught Rapidflame searching for her. Time was almost up.

"Moongaze... I have to go before someone becomes suspicious. Is there anywhere I can meet you?"

Looking down, ears flat, he perked up when she mentioned meeting him. "Actually, that's what Sharpstar wanted this whole skirmish to be about. She wants you to go to the edge of where Shadowclan's territory is before the Fourtrees path begins. Tonight. I'm sure I can convince her to let me tag along—"

"Splitrain?"

Time was up.

With an apologetic glance at Moongaze, she hissed in false pain and tackled him to the dusty ground, making sure they slid into view of Rapidflame's worried mew. Seeing relief in the Riverclan tom's eyes was relieving, but she hadn't planned on one thing.

With a triumph yowl, the thick muscled tom joined her in her half grip in Moongaze. Mousedung! She couldn't let Moongaze get hurt...

Letting Rapidflame batter him for another heartbeat, she hooked deft claws in behind his hind legs, making his slide to the ground. Standing over him, she nipped his ear and whispered for him to run. She could see the reluctance to retreat, but this was for both of them. Splitrain needed to know that he wouldn't get hurt.

With one more feeble swipe to his ears, he pounded out from the overhang and out towards the pines, where the other Shadowclan cats were retreating.

After watching them retreat with hawk eyes, Rapidflame turned to her with a worried glance. "You're bleeding."

Almost in shock, she looked down to where her belly was stained red with blood, and her flank, which was redder than white and brown. Faintly she remembered someone saying how excitement over a fight made pain fade. A throbbing sensation ripped its way into her head and behind her eyes.

"It's nothing," she mumbled, wincing as she tried to bend down to start cleaning the wound, but Rapidflame would have none of it.

"Don't you dare move, Splitrain. I'll grab another warrior; you're bleeding out.

A protest built in her chest, but nothing would leave her numb mouth. Had Blackrose and Oakcloud really done that much damage to her? So much for her first fight ending smoothly... she fell into a pit of depression. How could she save Shadowclan from the impending attack from Riverclan, spy successfully, and balance feelings for two different cats if she couldn't even handle a simple border skirmish? And even that wasn't real; as Moongaze had said, it was a way for Sharpstar to get a message to her.

Behind a cloud of increasing pain and misery, she felt herself moan and whine as she was picked up, jostling her sensitive wounds and making her vision blacken.

Another moment and she was in the medicine den. An immediate threat, considering her past in the herb-smelling hole. Then she felt a warm pelt beside hers, and she looked up to see Rapidflame. He blinked his greeting to her, and bent down to lick between her eyes.

"Go back to sleep, Splitrain, you're fine. The wounds aren't too deep. You're safe."

Not questioning his soft but firm order, another bit of restless sleep overcame her.

For the second time she woke up, she was alone. The sounds of a leaf-bare night were filling the air, and it would've been peaceful if she hadn't been able to see the moon, half full, already almost at it's highest point in the sky. For a moment she just stared at it, knowing it meant something, but she couldn't remember what.

Then, with a start, she got up, hissing at the way her wounds bit into her mind and the poultice caked on her flank and belly seeped into her cuts, unleashing a new volley of pain.

Releasing a deep breath, Splitrain watched in fascination as it clouded in front of her for a moment before dissipating, and she began the long trek to the Fourtrees path.