#deerthorn

Climbing through and to the other side, Redshade was greeted to the clearing of LotusClan’s camp. Beside a short hill, a large assortment of mossy rocks in different shapes and sizes formed the walkable areas for the cats of the clan to hop along and rest upon, able to avoid the puddles that often formed between the stones. 

Between the larger boulders and the bushes that bordered the camp were where some of the dens were hidden, formed with stones and large twigs for extra reinforcement. Some of the dens used to be dug out underground, as Redshade recalled, but upkeep proved difficult.

Some of the younger warriors proposed that they start elevating the dens with stones for the water to move through the ground and not soak in the earth. This solution left less room for some and made sleeping on those stones uncomfortable, but moss was plentiful enough to make up for that.

Redshade watched as a few of his clanmates filtered in and out of the warriors' den with moss beds in their mouths, some exiting the den dragging out soaked moss, and others entering with slightly drier moss.

Back then, Redshade never made any input on this new construction of the dens; he knew he hated waking up with his fur cold and soaked from the mud, but he really only saw the moss-stone solution as fixing one thing yet adding more problems for the clan to work around.

Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of ginger fur slipped into one of the other dens, quickly catching his attention. The ginger cat had entered the nursery, which was the first den to be refortified with the moss-stone ground, and had the largest and flattest stones placed against the hill.

Redshade himself helped move those stones, mostly on his own at his insistence, and he recalled his shoulder swelling a bit for a few days after that construction. To him, it remained unfinished, but his clanmates kept telling him that his work was done, and the kits and guardians could rest fine there.

With his rabbit, still fresh to share, Redshade only took a few steps toward the nursery before he was met with an obstacle that sat his high and mighty self directly in front of the warrior.

Newtstar. 

“Redshade!” The young leader chirped, glossy brown tabby pelt reflecting the sunlight, blinding the warrior. “Beautiful, beautiful catch you got there! Let me walk you over to the fresh-kill pile so we can catch you up to speed on my morning announcement. Of course, I take absolutely no offense to your absence, and wouldn’t penalize you or anything like that of course, you’re a grown warrior and I’m not that type of leader, but I do think that every cat should be well informed on the current status of our borders!”

Redshade withheld a groan as Newtstar rambled on, leading him in the opposite direction of the nursery. He was grateful to have the rabbit he was carrying obstruct his mouth, giving him an excuse to not respond to the spindly brown tabby tom with any sort of polite formalities.  

Newtstar had only been the leader of LotusClan for two moons, and deputy for four. He belonged to a younger generation of warriors, and Redshade only recognized Newtwhisker for his inflated ego and mediocre battle skills. Every day, it proved more and more difficult for Redshade to give his respect to the current LotusClan leader, and often questioned why he was ever chosen to be in that position.

They approached the Talltree; a dead oak that stood sturdy on its giant roots, bare of any leaves, with its branches severed merely tail-lengths from its trunk. It was slanted enough for cats with the most minimal tree-climbing experience to ascend it easily, and what was left of its branches was still suitable for cats to perch on.

However, only the leader was given the right to, sit themself on the branches, as the Talltree was where the leader of LotusClan would give their addresses to the clan. And in the center of the trunk was a hollow, perhaps once an owl’s or hawk’s den, where the leader slept and held private discussions with other warriors.

At the base of the Talltree and between the large roots was the fresh-kill pile, as Redshade and Newtstar were approaching it. Newtstar leaped up to seat himself on one of the roots, tail flicking in anticipation, waiting for Redshade to drop the rabbit on the pile and join him. Reluctantly, he placed the rabbit down with the other prey, and climbed another root to sit near, but not too near.

“So!” Newtstar continued with a proud smirk. “Here’s our situation–There’s been a lot of reports from some of the other warriors that SpruceClan and PeakClan have been getting pretty… Stubborn and bold, recently, to put it in blunt terms. We’ve known that PeakClan’s had their eyes on Giant’s Rock for quite a bit, but hoo boy, have they been putting up a fight for it, you know how Cloudystar is. This morning I sent a scouting team to survey that portion of territory, as well as the lavender field near SpruceClan. I ended up speaking to Juniperstar myself over there the previous night, and she was civil... But persistent.”

Redshade stared at him for a few seconds. 

“What’s your point?”

“Oh, ah–” Caught off guard, Newtstar avoided Redshade’s gaze. His ears then perked up, catching the sight of another cat approaching. “Deerthorn! Please, join us.”

With grace in their step, a long-furred, heavily scarred, white, gray, and cream cat made their way forward to the two toms sitting at the base of the tree, clearing the roots in one swift movement.

Perching themself on the same root as Newtstar, the cat’s feathery tail fell over their paws. They met Redshade’s gaze, giving him a nod. Redshade nodded in return, fixing his posture.

Deerthorn was Newtstar’s deputy, and his former mentor, as well as a cat who Redshade had known for a very long time. Only a moon older than him, Redshade trained alongside Deerthorn as apprentices. Newtstar, in Redshade’s opinion, still had much to learn from them.

“Newtstar,” Deerthorn’s soft mew was just clear enough for the two toms to hear. “You don’t need to bore Redshade to death with all of this… Supplementary information. I’m sure he has already made his decision on the matter.”

Redshade turned his head. “What decision?”

Deerthorn turned to Newtstar. “Did you not tell him?”

“I was-!” Newtstar inhaled a sharp breath. “Getting to it.”

Deerthorn nodded.

“Right,” they mewed. “Between the three of us, Newtstar and I had a minor disagreement on how to handle this matter.”

“And this will remain between the three of us,” the young leader added. “We wouldn’t want the clan to worry about us having a disagreement.”

“What we’re asking here is…” Deerthorn exhaled. “Do we give up these pieces of land LotusClan have lived on for generations, land that is full of prey for us to prosper off of after our resources have plummeted from the flood, land that is dry enough for our paws to not go frozen while hunting, or do we…” The deputy trailed off, allowing the leader to speak up.

“We…” Newtstar paused, thinking. “Give it to them.”

Redshade was now sure this was a joke.

“Defend our territory,” Redshade spoke without hesitation. “Is this all you need me for?”

Deerthorn gave Newtstar a look. Newtstar kept his gaze straight forward.

“Yeah, you’re dismissed, I guess.”

Redshade dipped his head and hopped off the tree root.

He never understood why Newtstar and Deerthorn usually turned to him on matters of territorial disputes. It was obvious to Redshade that Giant’s Rock and the lavender field were valuable, LotusClan needed their supply more than ever. They had hungry mouths to feed. To him, Newtstar would certainly be spineless to give them both up to their enemies.

At the base of the Talltree, Redshade scanned the fresh-kill pile for the rabbit he left there. He scanned it again. 

Gone, he thought. Of course.

Redshade propped his forepaws on one of the tree’s roots, getting Newtstar and Deerthorn’s attention again.

“Did you see who–”

“Grapeberry.” The two responded in unison.