𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝓇𝒶𝑔𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈

↳ chapter six.

Blackbirds chirped in the night. Russetfire lifted himself to his legs. He felt wide awake, but this wasn't camp.
He was back in the Dark Forest.
Black mud smeared his paw pads and the taint of blood lingered in the air. He walked forward anyways, hoping to see Hollowbreeze. He missed his face and wanted to talk to him. Not about fighting or anything, but about his life in general. A few days ago he had realized Hollowbreeze knew almost everything about him. His Clan, his family, his rank, and even some things Russetfire didn't know about himself.
But, as soon as he saw his thin, brown and cream tail, panic seared through him. Will he hurt me again? He told himself to stop being silly. Of course he wouldn't; he had no reason to.
Hollowbreeze seemed to think otherwise. He prowled the forest with a savage look in his eyes. Russetfire kept walking forward. Hollowbreeze turned his head. Anger sparked in his gaze.
"Russetfire-."
Russetfire liked it when he said his name.
"-you filthy, disgusting, rat."
Now Russetfire wasn't so sure.
Hollowbreeze approached him. "If you keep missing lessons you know I will not hesitate to remove you."
Remove. Russetfire questioned whether he meant from training or from the world.
"I'm sorry," he meowed, "I'm still recovering."
"Weak," Hollowbreeze said scathingly. Russetfire didn't move. Fear kept him planted to the ground.
"Are you going to join us today?" Russetfire didn't notice Milkpaw, who was panting heavily. Blood ran down from a cut above her eye and her paws were stained red. Nevertheless, a determined snarl stayed on her face.
"I told you I'm not healthy yet. But when I am, I will never miss another one. I miss our training sessions, and I'm shocked you so easily replaced me with an apprentice," Russetfire said truthfully.
"This apprentice is better than you. Everyone is. I never understood why you became a warrior. You no stronger than a kit."
I am. I'm a strong cat. I fought more battles than you could ever count. You just never saw me.
Russetfire didn't reply. Hollowbreeze growled and lifted his unsheathed paw.
"You can hurt me all you want," Russetfire told him, "Your claws don't hurt me anymore. I'm used to those now."
Hollowbreeze saw he was bluffing and raised his paw higher.
"If you hurt me I can't train with you. I'll be broken for too long."
Fennelshade lowered his claws. He grinned. "Fine. I won't hurt you."
Hollowbreeze padded away from him and whispered into the white apprentice's ear. Her eyes sparked with excitement.
"What do you think?" Russetfire managed to hear Fennelshade whisper. Milkpaw nodded, an evil smile spreading on her face.
Their grins made Russetfire's legs tremble in fright. He tried to walk away, but he couldn't move. The echoes of laughter engulfed him. He couldn't tell himself he wasn't scared anymore.

✕ ✕ ✕

A shrill scream interrupted their meeting. Russetfire jolted up from his moss nest, relieved to see he was back in camp. Ferretpaw and Hollowbreeze bolted from the den towards the sound. Russetfire followed them, ignoring the pain tearing at his body.
Mintsplash lay shuddering in the den. The room suddenly turned to ice and goosebumps crawled up his legs.
"What's the matter?" Hollowbreeze meowed urgently.
"I was attacked," she panted. Ferretpaw and the older medicine cat exchanged confused looks.
"In my dream. There was a cat," Russetfire saw the blood drip down from her eye.
"What did he look like?" Russetfire demanded.
"I don't remember that well," she confessed, "but he had blue eyes and creamish or reddish fur. I couldn't tell if the red was blood or not, though."
Russetfire met eyes with Ferretpaw. He felt the same way when he'd first met him. He'd never seen so much blood in his life.
It all made sense now. Blood came from above her eye, the same place where Hollowbreeze struck Milkpaw.