The Kill/End wrote:Only a day had passed before the killer decided to strike again.
Emeraldeye padded slowly up to Bramblestorm, seeing her alone. "Hello," she mewed softly, nuzzling her gently. "Are you okay? You looked sad over here."
The fur on Bramblestorm's neck bristled. She stood up, towering over the warrior, and hissed, "No! I'm not okay! All of my Clanmates are either dead, gone, or useless! Why in StarClan do you think I'd be okay?!"
The silver warrior whimpered, backing up a few steps. "Sorry..." she apologized weakly, nosing a bundle of leaves and seeds over. "I, uh... went through Skywhisper's den to see if I could find anything to help. There's a bunch of poppy seeds, and also some thyme, I think. Sorry to bother you again, I'll leave now..."
Bramblestorm sighed and dipped her head, taking in a few large breaths. "Er... sorry for snapping like that. Thanks for these." She gestured to the nearly-empty fresh-kill pile and nodded to her. "Go get something to eat."
"Thank you," Emeraldeye breathed, turning around to go fetch a piece of prey. Bringing it back to Bramblestorm, she offered, "Would you like to share?"
The 'leader' nodded and bit into the vole, swallowing a bite before chewing on the herbs that Emeraldeye had brought her. "A bit bitter, but not too bad," she commented, before freezing.
The silver she-cat's grin was wide as she watched Bramblestorm stop. She stayed stuck for a few heartbeats, at least to Emeraldeye, before falling to the ground. She began gasping for air and writhing around on the ground while the warrior chuckled above her.
"That was almost too easy," she giggled, not caring about what was going on before her. "You know, Bramblestorm, you're just like her. Gullible and idiotic."
A soft voice from behind broke into her thoughts. "Why?" She whipped around with a growl to face him.
Of course. Him and his stupid eyes. His dumb taunts, his crazy ideals. "Why do you need to know?" she spat, tail lashing behind her.
He was staring into her eyes. Green against... she couldn't see his in the dark. Not like this. "Why?" he repeated, standing in his spot. "I was there, you know. I didn't see it, but I was there."
"You were following me like a weird stalker is what you were," she grumbled, kneading her claws into the ground. "So what are you gonna do now? We're the only ones left, and it's me against you. You don't really have much of a chance."
He was silent. For one heartbeat.
One turned to two.
Two turned to three.
Three turned to five. Five to ten, ten to a minute. A minute to ten minutes. They stared at each other, neither willing to let their guard down for even a second.
"Why?"
She stopped. She blinked.
"They didn't love me. They never could."
He stopped. He nodded.
"I'm sure they did. Please, don't get worked up."
She stepped closer. Her gaze softened.
"She was always too busy. She was too busy with her to pay attention to me."
He sighed. His paws moved forward.
"Well... we're the only ones here. We won't be too busy."
She purred. They brushed against one another.
"They didn't understand. You do."
"That doesn't mean you're welcome here," he reminded her, gesturing towards the exit."You'd better leave. I can rebuild this place on my own."
She echoed his sigh. "Fine. But... can I come back?"
He shook his head. "No. At least, not for a while. But, you know... if it's been a while, and I've put this place back together... maybe then you could. But for now, you should go."
Emeraldeye nodded, turning to leave. "Very well, then. Goodbye, Firefeather."
"Goodbye, Emeraldeye."
"Good luck."
Congratulations, RiverClan! The murderer was left alone with a witness, who will now rebuild the Clan.
RiverClan wins!