Warriors: Shadows of Blood (COMPLETE)

Chapter 28

For several days Bloodfur had wandered outside of clan territory, hunting for himself, finding shelter for the night, then moving on in search of a place he could call home. But no place made him feel happy or secure. He constantly felt vulnerable to other rogues, foxes, badgers, twolegs... He was used to living with a group of cats. He concluded that rogue life was not for him.

So one moon ago, he had turned to the only other place he knew. Deserve's Army. He had expected Deserve to be angry with him after hearing he'd failed to kill Creamheart. But instead, the leader had understood that Cardinalpaw's death had interfered with the plan. Deserve had welcomed Bloodfur into the army. The other soldiers were nothing like his clanmates. But at least he was surrounded by other cats. It made him feel more comfortable.

He lay near the soldiers den, curled up in a ball with his tail over his nose. Since Cardinalpaw's death, something inside him had changed. He no longer felt anger, or the hunger for revenge that had burned so strongly inside him for so long. He could still feel his claws ripping open Cardinalpaw's throat. And Silverberry's throat... How he'd prepared to kill Bloomfire and Creamheart... The looks on their faces... What happened to me? He wondered. How could I have been so willing to kill? I'm a monster... A murderer... Just like the clan always said... Hawkfeather was right... I tried to destroy the clan.

"Bloodfur."

He twitched an ear at Castiel's voice, but didn't get up. Not every cat liked having Bloodfur there. Some felt that he was weak for being so upset over the death of a clan cat, while others thought he was a waste of space for laying around all the time. And it was true. Bloodfur had contributed little to nothing to the army since he arrived. He was still heartbroken over Cardinalpaw and dealing with a lot of inner conflict. Castiel seemed to be the only cat who understood that.

"Come on, get up. I brought you a mouse."

"I'm not hungry," Bloodfur mumbled, though his stomach growled at the scent of prey. He'd gotten very thin. For the past moon, he'd been keen on starving himself. Castiel managed to convince him to eat just enough every few days to keep him alive.

Castiel snorted. "Sure you're not." He nudged the mouse closer to Bloodfur's muzzle. He felt his mouth water at the scent. "You have to eat. Stop doing this to yourself."

"Fine," He muttered and shifted into a crouch, hesitating before taking a small bite from the mouse. The more he ate, the more hungry he got, and he took quicker, larger bites until only bones remained. He swiped his tongue over his muzzle. "Thanks," He meowed quietly. "You've treated me better than anyone else here."

"I wouldn't let any cat starve." The silver tabby twitched his tail. "I was going to patrol the territory. Want to come?"

Bloodfur hesitated. He hadn't set paw outside the camp since he got here. But he did feel like going out and stretching his legs would be a good idea. "Sure."

***

The two cats padded through the forest quietly. Bloodfur looked at the trees around him with a pang of homesickness. "There are a lot more pine trees in ShadowClan territory."

"Are there?" Castiel meowed as he sniffed a rock.

"Yes." He paused. "I climbed one once when I was an apprentice. It was the only time I managed to impress Brownstripe." It was quiet for a while.

"So this Cardinalpaw..." Castiel paused, glancing back at him. "What was so special about him?"

Bloodfur's heart ached as he thought of him. "He was Flameheart and Bloomfire's son- the cats who raised me." He quickly added. "We believed we were brothers for a long time before we found out the truth." He looked down. "He loved and looked up to me. And I promised to always be there for him."