sage | a warrior cats fanfiction

chapter five

Upon entering the den, Adderheart discovered there was a cat in the warriors' den, which was to his utter disappointment. He had hoped there wouldn't be anyone inside, so he could do what he was meant to and then leave.

But StarClan curse him, that could not happen today. Of course not. Coalbelly first, now this...

Just let me be.

He prayed and hoped that the cat inside of the den wouldn't say anything. Although, he knew better than to assume that Coalbelly wouldn't be saying anything to at least her apprentice, who surely would at least slip up around Bearpatch, and then who knows where the information could go from there.

"Why do you have moss, Adderheart?"

His tail with the two white stripes whisked upon the ground as he turned to face the warrior who had spoken. It was Dustshade, a fluffy white tom. His paws, belly, and muzzle were all a dark russet.

The warrior's dark amber eyes glittered.

"I'm cleaning out the den," the pale-furred warrior answered without missing a beat.

"And why is that?"

Fox-dung. He knows I'm not nice enough to just clean out the entire den on my own.

"Assignment."

Adderheart replied simply, setting down the moss and turning to a nest with crusty, old moss. There was no need to say anything more. He took some and placed it in a smaller pile next to the new, fresh moss.

Dustshade's head tipped as he stood, continuing, "And why is that?"

Just leave me alone!

"Pantherleap and I crossed the border to investigate a rogue scent," the warrior answered, working to try and distract himself from the small forms of annoyance that was worming its way into his system.

It was easy enough. He should've understood it.

"Really? A rogue scent?" Dustshade didn't sound surprised nor angry, rather almost boredly intrigued.

Irritation bubbled hotly within him, and so Adderheart did not answer; instead, he whipped his tail, mewed a quick "Get out, you're taking up space" and began making the next nest.

Dustshade's amber eyes darkened but he did do as he was told, performing a quick exit.

Finally.

After that, Adderheart resolved to work on the nests in complete and total silence. If he dare say something or do something too loudly, then surely it would increase the chances of someone else figuring out what had actually occurred.

Briefly, while in the middle of putting some more moss back in his pile, the tom wondered how everyone else would be reacting to what had occured. He was meant to be the example, or one of them, for the Clan. He was meant to be the intelligent, quiet, hardworking warrior who never stepped out of the line, and who never would do anything without Cougarstar's permission.

Not anymore. He thought, almost miserably as he stepped back to look at what he'd done.

The majority of the nests were well-structured, with a decent chunk or two of moss surrounding a few main sticks. Some had more than others, as Adderheart had replaced the same amount of moss. If he would have done any less to the ones that had more moss, then nothing would end well. Although, he knew that it likely wasn't too big of a deal.

Well, for some of the warriors.

He knew better than to indirectly challenge another senior warrior. Pantherleap likely wouldn't be angry, though he was sure that others would be. Marigoldcry would surely throw a fit and probably report him for something he didn't do to Bearpatch - better yet, report him directly to Cougarstar. The thought caused a bubble of irritation to fill up his belly.