snakestrike

~~~

THE SOUND OF RUSTLING from his left caught Snakestrike's attention, snapping him out of his nap. His ears flicked with alertness at first, but relaxed when he saw it was just Viperfoot, who'd shifted onto a twig. His brother had a look of anxiety painted over his face.

He's nervous because he broke a rule and left camp, Snakestrike concluded. Doesn't want to get caught.

He'd had half the mind to turn Viperfoot in, but in the time Viperfoot had left, he'd fallen asleep. So as long as Viperfoot doesn't tell on him, he'll keep quiet, too.

It felt like dawn would never arrive. When the pale light finally beamed from the treetops, accompanied by the silhouettes of the dawn patrol and their previous mentors, Snakestrike felt an urge to yowl with relief. 

Sandstrike made his way over to Viperfoot immediately, tapping the large tom with his nose, releasing Viperfoot from the vigil. "Good job guarding the camp." When Viperfoot didn't reply, simply shifting with unease, a restless look in his eyes, Sandstrike frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Viperfoot answered quickly.

Snakestrike would've scoffed if he was allowed to make noise. Goody four-paws. He's so nervous about getting caught for breaking the rules.

"I'm just tired," Viperfoot finished in a calmer voice.

Sandstrike nodded. "I know what you mean, I felt like I could sleep for a million moons after my vigil. Come on, I'm going back to bed, and we can go find you a nest."

As Viperfoot trotted off, Snakestrike turned his attention onto Foxstorm, who still had yet to release him. The ginger tom was originally heading toward his former apprentice, but had been distracted when he spotted Brooklight on the dawn patrol.

"Brooklight!" Foxstorm meowed, tail-tip twitching. "What are you doing? You should be resting."

"I'm fine, Foxstorm," Brooklight replied, her blue eyes bright with affection. Snakestrike didn't know when the two had become mates, but he supposed it wasn't much of a surprise. "Clearfrost said I was okay to continue with my warrior duties, remember?"

"But dawn patrol? That's much too early, it might harm our kits," Foxstorm fretted. Snakestrike never took his former mentor as an overbearing father, but for some reason, this didn't come as a surprise, either. Foxstorm was always a protector, whether that be of his Clan, mate, or future kits.

Not that Snakestrike really cared. All he wanted was for the ginger tom to come release him so he could go to sleep. Plus, it was Brooklight's apprentice that he was more interested in, admiring Frozenpaw as she stood beside her mentor, jaws parted in constant yawns.

"Our kits are fine, Foxstorm," Brooklight purred. "Everything will be okay." She gave his ear a lick before moving to join the rest of the patrol, Frozenpaw on her tail.

Finally, Foxstorm padded over to Snakestrike, tapping his nose to the gray tom's fur. "How was the night?"

"Great," Snakestrike replied, shaking out his pelt. "It got a bit windy at times, but other than that, it was okay." He nodded at Brooklight. "Congratulations, you're going to be a father."

"Yeah," Foxstorm meowed proudly, puffing out his chest. "I can't wait."

Snakestrike gave him a tired smile. It was weird, conversing like they were equals rather than mentor and apprentice. "I think I'm going to go get some sleep, I'm exhausted."

Foxstorm joined him, and the two padded over to the warriors den. Whereas the ginger tom retreated to his warm nest closer to the center, Snakestrike, being a new warrior, got the worst nests at the outside. Plus, with RiverClan's attack, a good part of the warriors den was torn apart, still unrepaired. 

And that's where Snakestrike found his nest, a clump of moss so thin he was practically sleeping on the ground, back pressed against a wall which felt like would break at any second, gaping with holes and breezes whistling along his fur.

Despite all this, he fell asleep as soon as his body hit the ground.

~~~

IT WAS FROZENPAW'S scream that woke him up.

Snakestrike was on his paws in an instant, head whipped left and right, ready for the sight of RiverClan warriors charging into camp and their disgusting fish scent that accompanied them. However, there was nothing. In fact, it seemed as though Frozenpaw's shriek had come from far, far away, somewhere in the forest.

He wasn't the only one disturbed, it seemed. Many warriors lifted their heads, ears twitching irritably at being woken, and a few poked their heads out of the den to check what was wrong.

"I don't see anything," Birdfrost meowed. "Everything seems fine. Maybe Frozenpaw just slipped on mud and fell down or something."

Her words made sense. There were no sounds of fighting, no scent of fish, rabbit, or blood. Other than Frozenpaw's yowl, nothing was out of the oridinary.

The only cats that were worried were Foxstorm, Featherflight, and Frozenpaw's father, Eaglestorm.

"We need to go check on them," Featherflight insisted. "What if they were attacked?"

"Then they'll come back for help," Pinefrost, a brown tom with blue eyes, mumbled sleepily, ignoring the pointed glare Featherflight was sending him. "We can't send out a patrol every time there's a loud noise."

"I'm going to go get Ivorystar, she'll decide what to do," Featherflight declared.

"Don't bother Ivorystar," Dawnfoot piped up, her muzzle tucked neatly under her one brown paw. "If she thinks something's wrong, she'll call for us."

Featherflight bristled. "I'm her mother! I think I have a right to go wake her."

"We don't need to disturb Ivorystar," Foxstorm cut in, "but we can go check on the patrol real quick. No harm done, right?"

Nobody wanted to go except for the three worried cats, and so they set off. 

Glancing outside the warriors den, Snakestrike could tell barely any time had passed since he'd fallen asleep. He should probably get some more rest, but try as he might, his mind just wouldn't relax. His muscles were rigid, ready for Frozenpaw to burst into camp and call for backup, for Ivorystar to leap out of her den and organize patrols. 

But none of that happened.

Seconds ticked by as Snakestrike fell into a restless sleep, eyelids heavy and tired but mind refusing to shut down. After what seemed like forever, brambles rustled at the entrance of the camp, and the gray tom shot to his paws.

Ducking out of the warriors den, Snakestrike came face to face, not with a group of fierce RiverClan warriors, but rather his own Clanmates. It was the dawn patrol, with the addition of Foxstorm, Featherflight, and Eaglestorm, of course. To his surprise, however, Ivorystar was also with them, and though everyone looked shaken up, his leader was visibly trembling, her green eyes flashing. 

Physically, they all looked fine. Snakestrike frowned. What happened?

And that's when he noticed the bloodied body Foxstorm and Eaglestorm were carrying between them.

"Clearfrost?" Brooklight called softly. "Clearfrost?" 

As the ragdoll appeared from her den, her eyes flashed with a quick, undetectable emotion when spotting Waspstrike's body before returning to her typically, stoic face. "What happened?"

"He- he got hit by a monster," Ivorystar forced out in a trembled voice. "We were just talking- he got a bit passionate, didn't watch where he was going- I couldn't just come back to camp and leave him, what if he got run over again-?"

Her words were coming out blabbed, and Snakestrike could tell the ShadowClan leader was very shaken up from losing her deputy.

Brooklight touched her tail-tip comfortingly to Ivorystar's shoulder. "Do you have anything that could help calm her down?" she asked Clearfrost.

"Yes, follow me." The ragdoll beckoned to her littermate. "And I'll get some mint for Waspstrike's body."

As Ivorystar was whisked away, murmurs arose among the rest of the warriors, a gloom settling over the camp.