The Exile wrote:time passed.
cloverheart looked down fondly at
her new children, all four of them
soft and suckling fiercely, healthy.
pride swelled in her chest, and she
flicked her tail before sitting up,
moving away. to continue her duty
as medicine cat, riversplash would
watch her kits during the day, and
cloverheart would do her normal
responsibilities, before retiring to
the nursery to tend to them at
night. it bothered her a little, to
let riversplash nurse her kits, but
she supposed she had enough to be
thankful for at the thought that
she was allowed to have them at
all.
her fear had worn off, some. as
she walked through the reeds near
the ledge by the river, a cold shiver
ran through her, but she soldiered
on. the one who had tried to kill
her was gone, right?
she could never have been more
wrong, and fatally so.
something rustled in the bushes,
and she stiffened before turning.
a cat emerged from the foliage.
"oh, it's only you," she breathed,
but her eyes narrowed with
confusion. "why are you here?
you're supposed to be--"
the killer lunged, and cloverheart
had little chance to fight back.
blood stained the grass in smears.
cloverheart's eyes were still blown
wide with rage and fear, claws
unsheathed and maw faintly open.
her fur was dyed pink and red, and
small clumps of her fur had been
shredded from her body.
the killer stared down at her, not a
hint of remorse in their steely gaze.
she deserved this. she did this. it
was all her fault, and now she had
paid the price.
"cloverheart? you've been out such a
long time, are you alright?"
the murderer stiffened, fear crossing
their eyes only for a moment before
they dove into the bushes to hide.
splashwhisker came into the clearing.
"cloverheart, the kits are--" the tom
spotted her, and froze. grief drowned
the light from his eyes, and he came
closer. the killer held their breath.
"no--" splashwhisker croaked. "no, no,
no, no, no, NO!" the blue tom heaved
a great wail, before stumbling back,
towards the edge of the ravine, and
the killer's eyes widened as they burst
out of the brush.
"splashwhisker, no!"
it was too late. the tom, startled by
the killer's appearance, stepped back,
and he paws lost purchase as he slipped
back on the edge, scrabbling to cling
to the earth and grass with a cry.
the killer dashed out to him, digging
their claws into the grass as they sunk
their teeth in splashwhisker's scruff.
the blue tom gave a sound of pain, and
the soft earth began to crumble as the
killer tried desperately to drag him up
to safety. below, the river swelled, the
recent rains having flooded it. even a
riverclan cat would be drowned trying
to brave the rapids.
the rains had had their effect on the
ledge, too, and the earth was soft and
weak, crumbling and falling into the
river below. slowly, the killer started
to slide forward.
"let me go!" splashwhisker cried. "i
can swim it!"
you can't! don't be stupid!
"if you don't let me go, we'll both fall!
i can do it! i'm the best swimmer in
the clan--you said so yourself!" the
tom yowled as they slid father forward.
the killer's eyes darkened with regret
and desperation. every moment, they
both grew closer to toppling over the
edge, and the killer knew for certain
that they could not survive the angry
waves below.
"please." splashwhisker begged, his
eyes gleaming with both determination
and fear.
the killer's heart ached, but they opened
their jaw.
splashwhisker fell, body twisting to land
his feet on the ground, and he crashed
into the rushing river below. for a few
moments, he struggled, coming up over
the water , going under, trying to time
his breaths.
panicked, the killer grunted, pulling
themselves back up before dashing along
the ledge to the riverbank, praying for
the blue tom's survival.
the killer waited by the bank for an
hour, but splashwhisker never raised his
head above the rapids, never came to
shore. what the killer feared had become
true, and grief stung deep in their chest
as they looked out across the rushing river.
a good warrior had been lost that day.
after cloverheart's body is found, a patrol
also finds splashwhisker's water-logged corpse
by the lake. lichenpaw is made medicine cat,
and thunderclan allows her to come over daily
to train with their own.
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