(Outdated) Warriors: Clouded Skies #2 - Frost

Chapter Fourteen

As Rowanpaw slowly made his way back to camp, his chest began to hurt where the fox had kicked him. There was a light trail of blood from three scratches from the creature's claws that had barely pierced his skin, but the powerful force of the blow left it hard for him to breathe the longer he walked.

It got harder and harder to walk because of the suckling mud that pulled at his fur. The rain had thickened it, making it harder to cross the murky territory. After sharp pains crossed his chest, he finally decided to take a break and crawled up onto a log with old, peeling bark that fell away under his claws.

As he rested, trying to catch his breath, he decided the fox had probably bruised his chest bones, which was why he was having trouble breathing. His legs also hurt from the long journey out of the territory and carrying the two kits back. He slowly licked the blood away from his chest, though stopped when it made him out of breath.

He waited until his chest started to feel better, but when he slid off the log and onto the mushy ground it began to burn again. Ignoring it, he continued on. He slowly got closer and closer to camp, his paws covered in wet mud that filled his claws. His ears perked and twitched as pawsteps came to his senses. He turned his head and saw a few of his Clanmates picking their way through the territory. Noticing him, they headed over, looking worried. The lead cat was Duskfang, while Leafpelt hurried behind him, and Carppaw right behind his she-cat mentor. Leafpelt held a small mouse in her jaws, holding it loosely in her teeth.

"Ratpaw? Are you okay?" It was Carppaw who spoke, looking curious. Rowanpaw eyed himself, noticing his ruffled, bloody fur and soaked chest. 

"Birchsplash and I ran into a fox..." He didn't want to say too much, in case his story didn't line up with the black and white tom's.

"Great StarClan!" Leafpelt murmured through the prey, looking scared. Her eyes were wide and she flicked her gaze around like she expected the fox to leap out and attack at any moment.

"Is he okay?" Duskfang asked, "where is he?"

Leafpelt looked even more scared for a moment, and Carppaw looked terrified. They probably thought Birchsplash had been either greatly injured or killed during the attack.

"He's okay," Rowanpaw hurried to reassure his Clanmates, and they all looked relieved. "He was more injured than me, so he went ahead to camp while I stayed behind."

"Why'd you stay behind?" Carppaw asked. Rowanpaw tried to quickly think of something that Birchsplash would've likely said, to keep their stories similar, but it was unneeded.

"Rowanpaw can answer questions later, let's first get him to camp and have Sandflight check him out. I'm sure he's tired," Duskfang meowed with an understanding glance at the apprentice. Despite his normal harsh attitude, he was often nicer to younger cats--more patience for them, Rowanpaw guessed. He was almost surprised the tom didn't have kits, but then again there weren't many cats in the Clan. The only available she-cat to have kits was Juniperfur, and the two cats had never really seen eye-to-eye.

Rowanpaw felt bad for the tom but stayed silent about his thoughts. Whether Duskfang got a mate or not was his decision, and the apprentice had nothing to say in it. Clearing his mind, Rowanpaw fell in step with the other cats, walking close to Carppaw. His chest began to burn again, and the bigger apprentice pressed against him, letting Rowanpaw use his friend's shoulder to help himself walk.

"Thanks," he muttered quietly, his pride injured. But he still accepted help when he knew he needed it. It wasn't far to camp, and soon the warriors were leaping up the rocks, claws scraping against stone.

"Need help?" Carppaw asked, stepping away. Rowanpaw shook his head, gesturing for Carppaw to go first. "I'll go after," he said. Rowanpaw knew the other apprentice wanted to make sure he didn't fall and tried to be grateful to the fact, but it was hard, wondering if Carppaw thought he was too weak. Sighing, Rowanpaw pushed off from the mushy ground, gasping for breath as he landed on the first rock. He stood there, head down as he panted for a moment. "Are you okay, Ratpaw?" Carppaw called. Nodding, Rowanpaw forced himself to go the rest of the way up, groaning as his chest closed on itself.