#swimstar

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“Everyone!” Salmonrush shouted as she darted into the camp, alarming the cats who were still waking up. It had been a quiet morning, the dawn patrol, consisting of only Toadripple and Salmonrush, had been sent out recently, and Berrysplash was still considering who to send on the next patrols when only half of the patrol she’d sent out returned.

Where’s Toadripple?

The Clan erupted into worried clamor as they surrounded Salmonrush. She didn’t seem injured, but she acted as though she’d just seen a dog, which worried Berrysplash, as she’d recently had to deal with one herself.

“It was awful!” she began to recount to the worried cats surrounding her, “there was a badger, and I urged my poor brother to run, but he was too slow! I heard him yelling, but I can’t dare go back out there! I may meet the same fate! I nearly twisted my paw, I would have been done for sure!” 

Her tone was almost dramatic, but Berrysplash chalked it up to the fear and shock she was experiencing. Still, something felt off about her story. But before she could figure out what, the Clan began to praise her for escaping such a dreadful fate.

“Let me check that paw, then. I must be sure you haven’t injured yourself and the adrenaline is keeping you from feeling it yet,” Bluestream urged as she joined the congregation.

“Once everything has calmed down, you’ll need to head up a patrol to search for his body, and the badger,” Swimstar noted as he walked up to the deputy. She nodded before turning her attention back.

“Don’t you think it’s odd, though?” she remarked, “She doesn’t even faintly smell of badger, and she was so quick to leave Toadripple behind!”

“I do not doubt she may not have attempted to save him, but it would have done her little good. Badgers are as quick as they are merciless, and saving him would have meant risking her own pelt… I do not fault her for running, although…”

“Although you know if you and Bluestream found yourselves in the same situation, you would absolutely risk yourself to save her. Even if you didn’t have 3 extra lives to fall back on,” Berrysplash finished, his expression confirming her suspicions.

“But those two were never as close as my sister and I. It’s only fitting…”

Berrysplash turned her gaze down at her paws as she let the chaos before her seep into the background of her thoughts. He was right. Salmonrush and Toadripple were absolutely prone to abandoning one another in times of need. If the positions had been switched, who’s to say Toadripple wouldn’t have done the same? She felt bad for being so judgemental when she, herself, had no siblings to care for.

She got so caught up in her own thoughts that she hardly heard the intense meow from the entrance, although it seemed to catch the attention of all the other cats as well.

“Salmonrush…”

Berrysplash’s head snapped up at the familiar voice, seeing the second half of the two-cat patrol.

Toadripple, the side of his neck marred with deep, long gashes, stood in the camp entrance, looking enraged, betrayed, pained and exhausted all at once. In a moment, Bluestream rushed over to him, examining the clawmarks on his neck, remarking about how lucky he was to have escaped the badger.

“A badger, huh? Is that what she told you?” he snarled as he turned to face his sister, and Berrysplash followed his gaze.

And she saw it; fear. Genuine, unadulterated fear as she looked at her bleeding brother.

“What’s going on?” the deputy pressed, approaching the situation cautiously.

“Brother, I… I thought you were dead! You…” she tried to stammer out, attempting to defuse the situation.

“Oh, I know you did… You tried real hard, didn’t you, sister dearest?” he spat, hissing in pain as Bluestream examined the wound closer. “But you just couldn’t strike deep enough.”

It was an instant realization, Berrysplash turning to Salmonrush with a snarl. Her pelt bristled as she stalked up to the warrior, advancing even as Salmonrush tried to back away.

“Salmonrush, explain,” she demanded, although she was certain she knew the story.

“Yes, Salmonrush, please explain this,” Swimstar urged in a much calmer tone, walking up beside Berrysplash and placing his tail over her back in an effort to at least hold her still.

The gray she once again began to stutter, switching from story to story and yet not making one bit of sense, before Bearcrush stepped in.

“Enough. It is clear what Salmonrush has done. It needs no explanation, it is simple; she tried to kill Toadripple and failed. Am I correct?” he asked, looking over at the brown tabby, who nodded as he was finally coaxed to the medicine den.

“Then it is so…” Swimstar murmured, before turning to the Clan Rock. He leapt onto it, looking out among the ever-conversing Clan.

“All cats who are old enough to swim the river without aid, gather around for a Clan meeting!” he called, and the cats began to gather around. Berrysplash, however, took one last look at Salmonrush.

“You’re lucky I actually follow the warrior code…” she snarled before moving to sit at her leader’s side.