WarriorCats: Raised by foxes

Chapter Fifteen

River Heart regained consciousness a few seconds before she opened her eyes, just in time to hear unfamiliar voices discussing whether or not she would wake up.

"It's not looking good. The sun has already risen."

"I don't want to miss the vigil. Do you think they have buried him yet?"

"You can go check. I'll watch her."

River Heart heard pawsteps retreating and she stirred, turning towards where the voices had been. She was met with an unfamiliar face, and although things were blurry the creature was black and white. Her vision cleared to reveal another cat.

So she had been taken prisoner. She sighed.

"Are you okay, young one? You got pretty banged up. To be honest, we didn't think you were going to make it."

"Why does it matter?" she replied grumpily. She turned away again.

The cat clucked. "What have those foxes done to you?" she asked sadly.

Anger flared in River Heart's eyes. "Those foxes were my family!"

The she-cat returned a wry smile. "From what I heard, this "family" of yours flung you into a tree!"

The moments before her impact flooded through her memory, River Heart realizing them for the first time. "The Inspector! He - he..." she trailed off. "What if he takes it out on my family? I have to find them!" She staggered to her feet, almost immediately falling over, a wave of dizziness causing her vision to turn black.

"You're not going anywhere until you're fully healed," said the black-and-white cat firmly. "As medicine cat of ThunderClan, that is my job."

"What is ThunderClan?" The name sounded familiar.

"So you're not a Clan cat. Hmm. That was the prevailing theory, I must say. I had my doubts though. You were not in any Clan's territory. Clearflame owes me a rabbit."

"Who is that?"

"My sister. She made me a bet. We were all betting. And I was right," she finished triumphantly. "I bet you that she'll say I was cheating. 'You're a medicine cat, Grouseheart, I bet StarClan told you the answer,'" she said in a mocking tone.

"I-I can't catch a rabbit. I am not very good at hunting."

"What do you mean? Ohhh... Don't worry, little one. I wasn't making an actual bet with you. You don't need to catch me anything. Just rest up and get better, that's enough for me."

"Grouseheart! They're taking out the body! Come say goodbye," called a voice from outside the den.

"What is going on?" asked River Heart.

Grouseheart's eyes clouded in sadness. "Mousepelt died in the battle."

River Heart looked horrified. "It was all my fault and now someone is dead!"

"What do you mean, it was all your fault?" Grouseheart was thoroughly puzzled.

"The cats came to find me I betrayed them all!" River Heart was panting now.

Grouseheart laid her tail on River Heart's shoulder. "We didn't come to find you. We were ambushing the foxes and rescued you, but that was just by chance. We wouldn't have found you if it wasn't for Silverpaw."

River Heart relaxed again, but then stiffened. "How did you know where to find them? It was not magical cat-seeking powers?"

"What do you possibly mean?" Grouseheart rolled her eyes.

River Heart pondered this in silence.

"If you must know, one of our apprentices snuck out of camp to look for foxes, she's a bit obsessed with them ever since her mother was killed by one, and sent us all to battle in the middle of the night."

"A fox killed a cat? How did they manage to do that?"

"Very easily," Grouseheart snorted.

"But cats eat foxes for dawnfeast, especially the naughty ones," said River Heart.

"Have you ever heard of a cat eating a fox?"

"Only in the stories Soft Heart told us... oh I see. It was probably just to scare us."

"We were trying to drive it away from our territory, standard protocol, but the trap went a little wrong. The fox cornered Doveflare in the back of the den and no amount of attacking its haunches drove it off until she was past saving. When they brought her to me she was already dead. Nothing to do but clean her up for the vigil." Grouseheart shook her head.

That is awful, River Heart thought. Why were they chasing the fox from its own den? If they left it alone, that cat wouldn't have died.

"I better go see Mousepelt. Sit tight."

Now alone, River Heart began examining her surroundings. She was in a cave of some sort, the entrance covered with hanging vines, but it was made of rock, not dirt like her den back home. Various leaves and other seemingly random things were stuffed in clefts in the wall. Farther back were two nests woven with brambles and stuffed with moss, and there were a couple others where she was.

Although this nest was certainly more comfortable than the one back home, River Heart missed it. She wondered if her parents were missing her. What happened to her brother? Was he okay? What about Dazzle Heart? Was she still able to be initiated? Did they think River Heart was a traitor too?

She realized that she didn't even know how much of her family was still alive.