Warriors: Shadows of Blood (COMPLETE)

Chapter 19

A paw prodded Bloodfur's side. He almost immediately jerked awake, his claws unsheathing as his eyes shot open. "No!" He gasped. He'd been uneasy about sleeping in the warriors den that night. So many cats hated him now, he was afraid of being murdered in his sleep. He half expected to see Crowmask or Cliffshade standing over him. He was relieved to see that it wasn't.

"Shh!" Revengeheart hissed, amber eyes glinting in the darkness."Are you trying to wake everyone up?" He looked impatient. Mottledface was standing beside the tom, his tail twitching.

"Get up!" The mottled tom whispered. "Come with us."

Bloodfur blinked, feeling drowsy with sleep. "What's going-"

"Come on!" With a lash of his white tail Revengeheart turned away. Mottledface followed, looking at Bloodfur impatiently.

He sighed and rose to his paws, quickly following his clanmates. They stopped just outside the den. "Ashcloud and Cliffshade are on guard," Revengeheart murmured. "This way." He turned, and Bloodfur followed, confused as they headed toward the apprentices den. He watched as Revengeheart pawed at a pile of leaves, sweeping them aside to reveal a gap in the bushes behind them. A secret way out of the camp! The warriors quickly ducked through the hole, and Bloodfur followed.

"How long has that been there?" He hissed to Revengeheart as they padded through the forest.

The tom let out a snort of amusement. "Don't tell me you never knew about it? We've been using it to sneak out of camp since we were apprentices!"

Why would you need to sneak out of camp? Bloodfur wondered. Wait, why are we sneaking out of camp? "Where are we going?" He asked.

"We're meeting a friend by the edge of the territory, just beyond carrion-place." Mottledface responded. "We meet him there every moon. We think you should meet him."

Bloodfur frowned. It sounds like he's from another clan. Or maybe not a clan cat at all... A few minutes ago, he'd been wanting to return to his nest and sleep. But now he was curious about who they were meeting. In addition, it was a warmer night than usual. He didn't mind going out into the forest. They continued beyond carrion-place until Revengeheart and Mottledface stopped near some lone trees.

Bloodfur blinked. "What are we-"

As he spoke, the bushes a few fox lengths away from them quivered, and a silver tabby tom stepped out, padding toward them. Bloodfur couldn't recognize him from any clan. He looked very close to Bloodfur's age.

"Castiel." Revengeheart dipped his head when he reached them.

The tabby's ice blue eyes flashed to Bloodfur. "Who's he?" He demanded.

Bloodfur was about to speak when Mottledface did it for him. "This is Bloodfur. He's decided to join us."

"Hmm." Castiel looked at him for a moment longer, then focused his attention on Revengeheart. "Will you be visiting us next moon?"

"Yes." Revengeheart responded. "But Poisonedsap is expecting more kits. She won't be able to attend."

Castiel narrowed his blue eyes. "My father has developed a plan and wishes to share it with you. All of you. Poisonedsap needs to hear it."

"I will pass the message on to my mother afterwards," Revengeheart assured him.

Bloodfur was surprised at how respectful his clanmate was acting toward this cat. Castiel's strange name made him think he had to be a kittypet or a rogue. Yet he spoke as though he held some level of authority.