Breezefire teared up a lot. Tears flew from her face as she sobbed. What did we do? She asked Starclan silently.
((Abstain))
the exile wrote:talking in solemn tones and sitting among a tangle of reeds,
a group of riverclan cats arranged themselves in a semi-circle
to discuss the matter at hand.
"something's 'ought to be done about this." a thinly built
tom said, narrowing his mismatched eyes. "we can't just let
a murderer pick off our apprentices one by one. we'll be sitting
ducks, for starclan's sake! we're playing into this little game of
there's - we can't let them win."
"coldgaze...we've already lost. they...they took her.
firefeather murmured, his head bowed and ears drooping in
a gesture of defeat. a low, despairing wail resounded throughout
the clearing, causing the tom to flick his tail uneasily. his mate,
yewbriar, was still grieving at shiverpaw's side, staunchly
unwilling to be parted from their daughter.
the pale grey shecat seated beside him nudged the sullen tabby,
saying gently, "shiverpaw was a promising apprentice from
the start, with a talent for healing and a passion for her work.
she would've been one of the greatest medicine cats the clans
have ever seen. for reasons unknown to us, the stars called her
early. now her spirit is honored among starclan's ranks, and she
would want for us to move forward with our own lives, and keep
her memory alive in our hearts." doveroot shut her eyes,
adding, ”i miss her as much as you do, although i can’t
imagine what it’s like to lose a child.”
firefeather let out a defeated sigh, pawing numbly at a dried leaf
that had settled in front of him.
"don't forget about rosypaw or falconpaw either." jadeeye's
sightless gaze was pointed to the ground. raising her head slowly
and purposefully, she said, "clearly falconpaw wasn't lying when
he claimed he was innocent. we can't risk voting off another guiltless
cat."
"are we just going to let shiverpaw's death slide then, without
doing anything?" breezefire worried, shooting a glance at the
area where her body had been laid out for the vigil. moonpaw and
nightpaw both were seated nearby, unnaturally stiff and silent as
they took in the sight of the fellow apprentice's corpse. she dreaded
the thought of them being targeted next.
otterstar, who sat in the center of the meeting, said, "we won't.
though we are not going to hold another exile tonight, we'll be alert
for any tangible signs that might point out who the culprit is. keep a
close watch on everyone, and if anyone seems to be acting off,
report it immediately." addressing her warriors, she inquired,
"any objections?"
none of the cats spoke up. giving a curt nod, otterstar dismissed
them, and they retreated to their respective dens. firefeather
and doveroot padded towards yewbriar, joining the shecat in her
mourning, which lasted long and throughout the somber night. she
had stopped her pained wails in favor of burying her muzzle in her
daughter's calico fur.
soon enough, no sound could be heard but the melody of crickets
chirping in the underbrush and the hushed whistling of the winds
among the reeds.
no further deaths tonight, riverclan. you can rest easy...
for now.
the kill wrote:"slow down!"
above the thudding of her paws on the forest floor and the pounding
of her heart against her chest, doveroot could barely catch the sound
of laughter in the distance.
"hey, it's not my fault you're out of shape! you should get out of
that den of yours more often, y'know? meddies don't get enough time
to stretch their limbs, feel what's really like to live the warrior life!"
"but I'm not a warrior-" doveroot gasped softly as her one good paw
tripped over a tree root. her face plowed into the soil beneath her as she
tumbled to the ground. a wet splorsh rang out, splatters of
rain-beaten mud dashing her pale grey coat.
quickly righting herself, she took a moment to hastily paw the dirt off her
eyes then went straight back to running. after grumbling under her breath,
doveroot continued "-and neither are you!"
a voice faded into the distance replied, "so? i'm gonna be one in a moon
or two. i'm gonna hunt, fight, all that cool stuff. all you do is just stare at
plants all day."
she rolled her eyes at his imprudence. curse her nephew and that
obnoxious accent of his...
doveroot called out, "just? are you belittling the position of a
medicine cat-"
"pretty much."
"who took care of you when you were stuck with that tail of yours,
huh? who saved brookkit from dying of greencough, huh? who patched
up finchblossom when he nearly got mauled by those thunderclanners,
huh? who healed dustfire after he got those nasty bites from the dog,
huh? oh, and who was the one who-"
"yeah, yeah i get it. you're jealous that my job is better than yours.
hey, it's not my fault that-"
his voice cut off into a bloodcurdling shriek.
doveroot came to an abrupt stop, her eyes growing wide as a cold shock
of fear coursed through her.
"beaverpaw?"
silence.
"beaverpaw, answer me!"
silence, but the chirping of birds in the treetops above her.
keep him safe, you were supposed to keep him safe.
doveroot’s thoughts crumbled into a whirlwind of panic and dread as she
dashed like a madman towards the direction of the shriek. shrubbery and
bracken fronds whipped at her face while she plowed through the
underbrush.
a weight landed on her back, forcing her to the ground and knocking the
breath out of her. mustering up her strength, she twisted around and with
claws outstretched lashed out at her assailant. they jumped back swiftly,
collapsing into a heap.
fur raised, it took a moment for doveroot to register that the loud, hacking
noises they were now making was...laughter.
"oooooh, doveroot, doveroot! i'm hurt! help me pleease, i got a little
scratch on my face, can you get that for me pleeease."
the skinny tom rolled around carelessly in the mud, a wide, smug grin
plastered on his muzzle as he choked out another chuckle. the clawmark
that she had inflicted had little beads of red dripping from it, however
the apprentice seemed too delighted with his successful scare to notice.
glancing up at doveroot, who was staring at him with a look of disbelief,
beaverpaw smiled cheekily.
"gotcha. i got you good, didn't i-"
"i thought you were dead, beaverpaw! dead like the rest! like
rosypaw, like, just like shiverpaw!"
doveroot was quivering with rage as she yelled at the apprentice.
beaverpaw's face darkened at the mention of the latter. looking away,
he mumbled, "don't...talk about...her."
doveroot's stance softened immediately, quickly remembering how close
of a bond the pair had. blinking, she lightly touched her tail to his shoulder
in an apologetic gesture. her death was probably still fresh on his mind,
even if a week had passed, so mentioning her had just rubbed salt into
the wound.
voice losing its anger, she said firmly but gently, "get up. we need to
clean that cut of yours."
"it feels fine." beaverpaw got up stiffly, shaking himself to clear
his pelt of the mud that now decorated it.
"not when you die of an infection. come on, the river's nearby."
he obeyed without any further resistance, and the duo walked in silence
until they reached their destination. the river had eaten up much of the
shoreline, rushing and crashing with a ferocity invigorated by the recent
rains.
"wash your face in the water. i'm going to go find some cobwebs, stay
put 'til i come back, alright?"
"yeah, yeah, yeah, wash my face, find cobwebs, stay here, nah nah."
beaverpaw mouthed her words back at her mockingly, doing a voice
impression made even more ridiculous by his vastly different accent.
cuffing his ears playfully, doveroot padded off to hunt around for the
cobwebs. once she'd gathered a decent amount, she returned, only to
find that the spot that he had occupied was now empty. she let out an
irritated sigh. why couldn't he just listen to her for once?
her ears twitched towards the direction of the sound of splashing a
few fox-lengths away. splatters of frothing water bloomed from a ring
of ripples that had been disturbing the surface. a dark brown shape
popped out, jaws widening into a gasp, and in the blink of an eye
disappeared back under.
once again, doveroot found herself running like her life depended on
it - beaverpaw's life depended on it. a sharp, hoarse sound was
piercing the air, and she dimly recognized it to be her own screams.
diving into the chilly river, doveroot paddled towards the two blurred
shapes that appeared to be wrestling in the water. she grabbed the
nearest one by the scruff and ripped them away from the grip of the
attacker, swiftly dragging the sodden body back to shore.
a wave of relief flooded her once they were back on dry land.
"beaverpaw, are you alri-"
she cut herself off abruptly when she saw an entirely different cat
staring back at her. tearing her gaze back to the river, she saw the
outline of a dark shape being dragged away by the currents, going
under and disappearing from sight.
the cat's eyes were wide with confusion.
"you weren't supposed to-"
despite the pacifistic inhibitions that were present in all medicine
cats, doveroot dove for their throat without a second's hesitation.
this cat - they were responsible for everything.
the cat choked out a gasp, kicking out their hind legs at her stomach.
their back claws raked against her underside, and she unclenched her
grip on their neck to let loose a howl of pain. gaining the upperhand,
they lunged up and grabbed at her own exposed throat, clenching their
jaws around it much more firmly.
after choking out a few garbled gasps, soon enough it was over and
doveroot was limp. the cat backed away from the second kill they had
committed that day, hastily washing the blood splatters off their body.
they shoved the body into the river and soon it was gone with the current,
suffering the same fate as beaverpaw.
not daring to linger any longer, they were gone as well.
your first pair.
after doveroot's death, breezefire volunteers to take her place as
medicine cat.
brookkit becomes her apprentice, and is named brookpaw.
windclan's own medicine cat visits from time to time to assist them in
their training.
in a situation as dire as this, riverclan, time is of the essence.
so don't waste it.
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