CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - Ivypool

The moment that the words flew out of Jayfeather's mouth, Ivypool was already preparing to flee. To run and hide. Anywhere to not be looked down upon by his blind blue eyes. She'd feared this but had shrugged it off as highly unlikely. But now that it was happening, Ivypool didn't know what to do or say.

"You can tell me." Jayfeather pressed, seemingly staring into her soul. "In fact, you need to tell me. Do you really want to live with this by yourself?"

Ivypool winced. She really didn't want to go alone. But nor had she expected the offer to come from the medicine cat. Gathering her remaining courage, she managed to speak up. "I don't really know. I'm sorry, really."

Jayfeather's eyes glimmered. "Being apologetic about something isn't going to suddenly make it all okay. And it was Hawkfrost, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Ivypool whispered quietly. "I don't know how you know, but it was him. Are you angry with me? I haven't been back, I swear-"

"I understand." Jayfeather's ear flicked, angling towards the sound of the battle still raging around them. "You'd better get back to fighting. Go."

Ivypool didn't stick around to find out anything else. Before long, she was thrown back into the battle between ThunderClan and WindClan, attempting to forget about the whole conversation. She had lost sight of both Breezepelt and Foxleap, but she dared not think about the endless list of possibilities.

Soon she found herself beside Lionblaze, who was growling and clawing with a fire that scared her slightly. But she jumped beside the tom, helping even though she was useless compared to her sister's mentor. The older warrior that they were fighting lurched forward and dragged his claws along Lionblaze's pelt, but no blood sprang from the small indentations in her ally's pelt. Nothing, not a speck of blood.

"What? I thought your power-" Ivypool broke off as she was knocked over, dragged into the dust of the ground. She coughed and tried to blink away the darkness at the edge of her vision, her head pounding.

No cat was clawing at her. She was fine. Ivypool managed to stand, her balance tipping slightly, but she wasn't badly injured, which was the best news that she had heard in a long time. Lionblaze chased away a young apprentice and then glanced over at her. "Are you alright? It's crazy in here." He sighed.

"I'm okay." Ivypool shuddered. "What about you? I thought your power was gone for good. And you told everyone that it was gone. Were you lying this whole time?"

"No." Lionblaze shook his head and flexed his blood-covered claws. "Not until now. What about the others?"

Ivypool blinked, reflecting on how Jayfeather had acted during their conversation. "Jayfeather acted relatively normal, I think. And I haven't been near my sister for a while."

Lionblaze was preparing to say something when a yowl silenced the battling cats. Every warrior and apprentice broke apart and turned to stare. For a moment, Ivypool couldn't see anything, but then she caught sight of Onestar and Bramblestar, facing each other with narrowed eyes. Ivypool's stomach twisted. She could have stopped this. She should have. But now it was too late. One of them would die-

"We came to teach you a lesson, once and for all." The Windclan leader growled. "And by the looks of it, we have taught you well not to mess with us or trespass on our territory ever again. Is that clear?"

Bramblestar's ears flattened against his head. "We would never trespass, Onestar. I will now kindly ask of you to return to your own territory."

Ivypool watched in shocked silence as the warriors of Windclan turned and began heading away, their pawsteps thrumming against the dusted ground, specked with blood. Several of Ivypool's clanmates hissed at the retreating enemies, ears pressed back against every warrior's head.

When Breezepelt passed her, Ivypool looked away. She couldn't bear to see that stupid smirk painted on his face. Inwardly, Ivypool screamed. So silly, she had been, thinking that they were lying. But equally, she hadn't bothered to tell anyone.

As soon as the WindClan warriors had disappeared from the camp (with a few of ThunderClan's less injured warriors following), Ivypool found herself fading into the background. Her sister rushed from the nursery, weighed down by her unborn kits, and towards Bumblestripe. The young warrior was bleeding from his shoulder and seemed flustered, but accepted his mate's affectionate licks.

Ivypool narrowed her eyes slightly. She still didn't understand what her sister was doing. Either way, someone was going to get hurt.

"Ivypool?" The familiar voice of Foxleap reached her ears, and she turned with a forced smile. "Maybe you should see Jayfeather about your wounds."

The silver she-cat blinked and glanced downwards. She had been so caught up in everything around her, that she hadn't been paying attention to herself. A claw was torn, scratches marking her legs and a thin trail of blood crept along her spine. Now that she was paying attention, a gentle sting was irritating her.

Seeing Foxleap's firm look, she sighed and made her way towards Jayfeather. They didn't speak at all, even when he began applying herbs and other medical ingredients. After she had been seen, Ivypool slinked towards the warrior den, her mind buzzing. Her paws felt heavy and her eyes were dry with exhaustion. Ivypool hadn't felt it until now. All she wanted was to fall asleep forever.

She curled up, her tail resting against her muzzle and her eyes slowly drooping. When her denmates entered, she didn't stir, and when Foxleap settled in his nest close by, she didn't greet him.

Ivypool squeezed her eyes shut. And it was only when she was falling into a deep sleep, did she remember Hawkfrost's request.

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I really hope you enjoyed! I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to update this for ages - I hope that this chapter wasn't too boring!

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Thank you,

Nat xx