Warriors: Shadows of Blood (COMPLETE)

Chapter 17

The late afternoon sunlight shone down onto the pine trees. Birds chirped excitedly within their branches. Green-leaf had arrived. Bloodfur sat at the edge of the forest, looking out into the distance. He'd been here for a while now. Since the fight with Revengeheart, his clanmates had been acting even more hostile around him. Some just gave him cold looks when he walked by, while others quickly moved elsewhere when they saw him. Bloodfur tried to ignore them as he'd always done in the past, but it was getting harder and harder. He wasn't sure how much more he could take. Even Dewstorm, whose life was saved thanks to Bloodfur's help, was acting uneasy around him. The medicine cat had always shown him kindness before. But now, Bloodfur was beginning to fear he would receive the same hostility from Dewstorm as he had from Hawkfeather.

Why did I let Revengeheart provoke me? Bloodfur's mind repeated the question he'd been reflecting on for the last two moons. I should have just told Depthstar what he was doing. I shouldn't have attacked him. And in front of the entire clan... He remembered the stunned looks on the faces of his parents and Cardinalpaw. I let them down... Even though they had understood the situation and forgave Bloodfur since, the shame continued to weigh him down.

He expected to have been confronted by Revengeheart after the fight, but to his surprise, the intimidating warrior hadn't interacted with him at all since. He supposed that was a good thing. He tried to keep his distance from Revengeheart to be sure that another bad situation could be avoided.

Bloodfur drew in a slow breath. I should go back to camp. He stayed still for a moment, then rose to his paws, turning and heading back the way he'd come through the trees. He needed to train Cardinalpaw. When he reached the camp, he saw Ashcloud and Cliffshade sitting near the thorn tunnel. When they saw Bloodfur, they exchanged a glance and walked away.

I'll prove you're wrong about me. Bloodfur thought. One day. Pushing away the hurt and irritation he felt, he started scanning the clearing for his apprentice. Sure enough, he was sitting outside of the medicine den with Creampaw. The two young cats were meowing to each other, deep in conversation.

Bloodfur sighed and shook his head. Cardinalpaw was becoming an excellent hunter, but he spent so much time around the medicine den, Bloodfur feared that he truly wanted to be a medicine cat. He didn't want to hold Cardinalpaw back from pursuing his dreams. But thinking about losing his apprentice and brother hurt. And what would the clan think of him then? He tried to comfort himself in knowing that Dewstorm already had an apprentice. Cardinalpaw couldn't train as a medicine cat unless Creampaw changed her mind, and that was very unlikely. The young she-cat seemed destined to follow the path of a medicine cat.

With a flick of his tail, Bloodfur padded across the clearing toward the medicine den. "Cardinalpaw!" He called. The orange-red tabby quickly turned to Bloodfur, looking startled. "It's time to go out for a hunting session," Bloodfur meowed, pausing when he reached him. "Are you up to it?"

"Oh, yeah, sure Bloodfur," Cardinalpaw meowed, flashing Creampaw a quick look. "I have to go. See you, Creampaw." He hurried toward his mentor, and the cream and brown she-cat purred goodbye before turning to her den.

Bloodfur looked at his apprentice as they padded across the clearing toward the thorn tunnel. "You hang around the medicine den a lot. Are you sure you don't want to be a medicine cat instead?" He joked.

Cardinalpaw looked at him, confusion flashing in his green eyes. "What?" He blinked, then understood. "Oh, no. I want to be a warrior."

He tipped his head, wondering why Cardinalpaw had been confused. "Well-"

"Bloodfur!"

He paused, turning to see Cobratail standing by the meeting rock with Crowmask, Tinypaw, and Cougarfoot. "I'd like you and Cardinalpaw to join Crowmask's patrol," The deputy meowed.