- votes
bluepaw --- ||
brookpaw --- |||
windsong --- |
[6/18]
the exile wrote:"it's bluepaw. i'm sure of it." goldenfeather said with
a tone of finality. he punctuated his words with a seething
glance at the said cat.
at the mention of his apprentice, firefeather's eyes shut
close and his tailed twitched uneasily. still, he remained
silent, not wanting to speak out against the bengal tom.
finchblossom hesitated before speaking, then responded,
"w-well...i have some suspicions that lead me to
thinking that it might be brookpaw..." he quickly
added, "that doesn't mean that you're wrong about it
b-being bluepaw, i just, i figured that i should bring that
up too." he ducked his head shyly.
"brookpaw?" windsong's head popped out of
the nursery, ears perked and eyes wide.
"my son is not a killer! he's barely a kit!"
she squeezed out of the den with some difficulty, her
plump build just barely slipping through the entrance.
"he hasn't put on enough weight on him to commit
such crimes - it had to have been someone much bigger.
i agree with goldenfeather, it could be bluepaw."
windsong sat down with a huff among the ring of
warriors.
a dark tabby she-cat said with a muffled growl to her
voice, "you've put on some mighty fine weight yourself,
haven't you? someone bigger, you say, could've done it?
you seem to fit the bill just fine, to me." despite not
being to able to see yewbriar's narrowed, mistrustful
expression, a shiver still ran down windsong's spine at
the thought that she was being accused. somewhat
dumbfounded, the queen said nothing in response.
"thank you for your input, everyone." jadeeye
nodded. this was the last round of votes that she'd be
tallying for this trial. turning away from the group, she
padded towards the leader's den to inform otterstar of
the final verdict.
"they believe it's another apprentice?"
"yes, m'am."
"starclan forgive us if we're wrong again..."
"otterstar, jadeeye, may i come in?" a voice from
outside called.
"let her in, jadeeye."
the deputy shuffled aside to give the black shecat space to enter.
her once vibrant turquoise eyes seemed to be lacking its usual
luster.
"there's...nothing to be done about it? brookpaw, you're doing
away with him?"
"it's what the clan has decided, breezefire."
"no other way, then..." breezefire heaved out a shaky sigh
of defeat. her shoulders slumped, seemingly weighed down by
the dozens of burdens that had fallen on them in the span of only
a few days. now, she would have another one to carry.
"may i...at least escort him out?"
otterstar paused, glancing at jadeeye, whose sightless expression
remained neutral. after a moment's silence, she nodded.
"breezefire, please, oh starclan please, don't tell me that
they've chosen brookpaw," windsong confronted the medicine cat
the moment she had stepped out of the leader's den. the queen was
in a clear state of distress. her long fur was fluffed up in fear and
both her frantic speech and twitchy movements conveyed nothing
but pure and utter panic.
"i..." breezefire struggled to find the right words to break the
news to the agitated shecat.
"they'd let me try to plead with them, right? change their minds
about this?" though sightless, she could almost feel windsong's
clear, icy eyes piercing through her own. a look of desperation
and fear only ever seen on a mother worrying for her child.
breezefire kept her voice steady and calm as she replied,
"they haven't told me anything yet. there's still hope for him."
the lie felt sour on her tongue.
"oh, oh thank starclan." windsong calmed down somewhat,
her distress for the moment tempered.
"go rest, alright? you shouldn't be stressing out at a time like
this." breezefire's lightly touched windsong's belly with her
muzzle."i'm sure everything's going to work itself out in the
end."
"you're right..." windsong sighed. with dragging paws,
she returned to the nursery, disappearing back into its dark
depths.
breezefire didn't have the heart to tell her the truth.
she spotted him snuffling among a patch of white flowers.
he wasn't alone.
the dappled grey tom's gray-blue eyes were beaming as he
spoke to his larger companion, who seemed happy to listen
to him.
"and, this is feverfew, i think."
bluepaw sniffed the small, daisy-like buds. "what're
they for?"
brookpaw paused. his face scrunched in concentration
as he tried to sifted through the memories of his lessons.
"fevers. chills. some aches, too. it's what breezefire
gave you when you had a headache."
eyes glinting with fascination, bluepaw nodded.
"you're doing really well in your training, you know?
you're so much younger than me, yet you know all these
cool things about all these different plants. i probably
wouldn't remember a single one!" she chuckled
lightheartedly.
bashful, brookpaw looked down at this paws as he
kneaded them into the ground.
"well...i'm only good because breezefire's teaching me
all these things...she's a really nice mentor. the best i
could ever ask for."
breezefire's heart was warmed at the sight. only just a few
weeks ago, she'd hardly been able to coax him out of the
den. now, here he was, happily chatting away out in the
open, with no fear or restraint. he was a diligent pupil,
and though it often took time for him to understand
certain concepts, he still was clearly doing his very best in
his training. it was that quality that she appreciated the
most in him. she was sure that he would make an amazing
medicine cat.
a cold feeling sank in as she grimly noted that that would
not be. not anymore.
"you two."
brookpaw and bluepaw both looked in the direction that
breezefire was approaching them from.
"bluepaw, you're being called back at camp."
she nodded, saying a quick goodbye to her nephew before
she trod off towards camp.
brookpaw picked up a few stems of feverfew in his pink
maw.
"if dif emough fow the stock, breefire?" he looked
up at her expectantly.
swallowing her inhibitions, breezefire shook her head.
"we won't be needing them yet. put them down for
now, we'll get back to them later."
raising her head, she gazed off into the distance with a
faraway look.
"we're going to twolegplace first."
lightly setting the feverfew back on the ground,
brookpaw's head tilted slightly in confusion.
"twolegplace? it's really far from here, i think..."
"there are some herb gathering spots there that i
need to show you."
breezefire started walking away, and brookpaw trailed
behind her without any further questioning.
"breezefire, i found the catmint!"
brookpaw squeezed through the narrow gaps between
the white picket fences. he silently wished that he
had toned his voice down - anyone could have heard
him.
everything around him was so...alien.
the bright plants growing outside the twoleg's den.
all the weird scents and noises. it was all starting to
dizzy him a bit. still, breezefire said that this was a
really good place to forage, and he had to trust what
she said.
arriving at their agreed meeting place by a small
twoleg-made pond, his mentor was nowhere in sight.
"breezefire?"
brookpaw looked around, alert for any sign of the
black shecat. still...nothing.
anxiety began to set in. breezefire promised she'd
be here...what did she say before she left?
stay in place. someone will find you.
"stay in place, stay in place...someone will find
you...breezefire will find me..."
brookpaw murmured the phrase to himself in a
mantra. it was the only thing that he could cling
to that could give him comfort.
the moons had grown colder as time went by,
with leafbare just around the corner, and after a
few minutes of waiting, the chill was beginning to
set in. brookpaw's spotted pelt was nowhere as
long as windsong's. he had grown used to her
protecting him from the horrors of the cold,
but now, without her, he was helpless to fight
against it.
he crouched at the water's edge, beginning to
shiver. his downy kit fur was useless against
the battering winds that were slowly sucking
him dry of any heat.
it was so...tempting...to leave, but he couldn't
disobey breezefire. he couldn't disappoint her
- not now, when he was doing so well.
"she'll...she'll reward me for being brave...
it's just part of the training..." he whispered
softly to himself.
his paws...he couldn't feel them. brookpaw
shook them, trying to get some feeling back into
them, but nothing. trying to ignore the spreading
numbness in his body, he focused on the shapes
drifting underneath the water's surface.
fish. of course. big, plump carp. his favorite.
only...they weren't quite carp. these ones were
painted with shades of orange, red, black and
white, all splattered on their scales in a bright
collage. the strange patterns reminded him of
calico cats, almost.
he watched them, entranced by their lazy, calm
movements. they drifted through the pond with
a carefree attitude, seemingly unaffected by the
cold.
brookpaw had an idea. maybe, if he could just
lean down and catch one, he'd gain more strength
from eating. and then, the cold wouldn't feel as
bad as it did now. he took a deep breath.
"i can't...i won't fail her."
leaning forward precariously, he stared down
at the fish with a look of concentration. they
swam past him almost teasingly.
extending a paw, he leaned forward to grab-
he slipped.
splash.
the cold - it was worse, so much worse.
it dragged him down, it was everywhere,
he couldn't feel his limbs, and starclan,
it was filling his lungs! the air had been
knocked right out of him, he was choking,
choking, no air no air no air-
he gave in.
warmth. that the was the first thing he felt.
the warmth of a towel wrapped around his body...
the warmth of a hand stroking his fur...
the warmth of a fire, burning in the hearth.
the warmth of blood still pumping through his veins.
he didn't know where he was, why he was here,
and how he was here. how he was still...here.
he had been found. like she said.
that was enough for him. brookpaw set his weary
mind to rest, and fell back into a peaceful slumber.
the youth of the clan are still disappearing, with
no clear end in sight. riverclan is slowly fading away
from the proud clan it once was. will you still be
able to maintain that image? or will the memory of
riverclan eventually be washed away, at the hands
of one of its own?
bluepaw chooses to take brookpaw's place as
medicine cat apprentice.
the kill wrote:with a thud, her landing sent a stir of autumn leaves into the air,
brittle embers whirling in a spritely dance before settling back on
the forest floor. her jaws clamped down, and with a firm crunch,
the body went limp.
the shecat's sides rumbled with a purr of satisfaction as she dropped
her catch back on the ground. she had never been any good at
catching rodents. in fact, this water vole in particular had nearly
ran right past her, but thankfully she had managed to get her claws
on it before it could scamper back into its den. hunting was becoming
more and more difficult as leafbare approached, and any prey they'd
be able to scrounge up would count - especially if the river froze over.
burying the vole in a shallow hole, she reminded herself to pick it up
later, on her way back to camp. wandering away from her kill, she
unconsciously avoided coming anywhere near the place she had almost
fallen prey herself - the tree where she had nearly lost her life. a cold
shudder ran through her as she recalled the moment. as much as she
hoped that it had just been a freak accident, a streak of bad luck,
her gut told her otherwise.
whoever it was, that was up there in the treetops that rainy night,
was still walking among them to this very day. her thoughts wandered
to the speculation that was beginning to crop up about the identity of
the enigmatic vigilante. who was committing these murders, and why?
what did they have to gain? what was the motive behind their actions?
slipping to a bought of pondering, her body switched to autopilot as the
route she was taking began to veer away from the heart of the territory.
she didn't notice that she was nearing the border, until the sharp snap of
a twig cracking brought her back to her senses.
dropping down into a hunter's crouch, she slunk towards the noise,
each pawstep carefully and deliberately being placed one after the
other. scenting the air, she froze when she realized that the scent
she picked up on was not of a mouse nor a shrew - it was of a cat.
a riverclanner.
"i'm running out of time, i'm running out of time..."
peering from the underbrush, she caught sight of the silhouette of a
cat pacing back and forth in a hurried gait. they muttered under their
breath in a voice slightly muted by the gurgling of the river halving
their territory from sunningrocks.
"oh starclan, where is she?" they let out an unhappy sigh,
shaking their head.
odd...what were they doing here? raising her head to get a better
look, she ended up rustling the thickets that she was hiding in.
the cat halted immediately at the sound, their eyes widening.
"hey, who's there?" they called out.
she stayed still and silent, her heart beat beginning to pick up the pace.
they stared at her hiding spot for a few moments before they returned
to their pacing, muttering "i'm starting to hear things, too, aren't i?"
slowly but surely rising from her position among the thickets, she began
to slink away as quietly as possible, praying that she wouldn't be caught
spying on them. sharp edges began to snag into her fur, and she realized
that she gotten herself tangled up in a patch of thorny brambles.
"frogdung!" she hissed as a thorn poked at her eye.
she heard a thunder of pawsteps beginning to rush towards her. consumed
in panic that she was about to be found, she thrashed around in an attempt
to wrench herself away from the brambles, however, it only seemed to
make matters worse as she became even more deeply entangled.
sensing the cat approaching behind her, she called out, "h-hey, it's
just me, nightpaw! i didn't mean to spy on you, i swear, i just wandered
in and i saw you talking to yourself and i-"
"nightpaw? you saw me?" their voice was incredulous. it took on a
more worrisome tone as they mumbled, "no, that can't..."
"look, i'm sorry that i was watching you...can you help me out of these
brambles, please?" nightpaw winced at the thorns digging into her sides.
they breathed in, then let out a heavy sigh.
"better now than never..."
nightpaw felt jaws wrapping around her neck. she felt relieved that they
were going to help her out of her rather sticky situation, instead of
punishing her for her eavesdropping.
that relief swiftly transformed to panic when she felt their fangs sinking
into her flesh.
"a-ah- hey! cut it out - stop it!"
the pain shooting through her neck fuelled her adrenaline as she managed
to flip herself over onto her back. nightpaw found herself staring
face-to-face with her would-be murderer. unsheathing her claws, she
aimed a strong blow at their face. reeling from her retaliation, they hissed
through her fur and loosened their grip on her. it was enough for her to
wriggle out of their grasp.
leaping out of the bramble thicket, she ran blindly, her vision blurred by
the wave of fear that seemed to take over her body. with a splash, her
paws met the cold shock of water as she landed herself in the river.
running downstream, the water soon began to rise up to her shoulders.
nightpaw prayed that she'd be able to escape the shallows to delve in
the deeper regions, where she might be able to out-swim her pursuer.
up ahead, she spotted the stepping stones poking out of the froth of
rolling waves. the river began to widen around this area, dropping
to much farther depths. soon nightpaw's feet no longer were running
along the riverbed, and were instead paddling with the current.
a sharp pain shot down her tail as teeth dug into it. gasping in pain,
her head swivelled behind her to see her assailant, with her tail
grabbed in their maw.
hastily she scrambled up one of the stepping stones in an attempt to
avoid them. once her paws were on solid rock, she kicked them square
in the face with her hind legs, which was enough to make them let go
once again. they disappeared under the water, and from what nightpaw
could tell, they had been taken away by the current.
she stayed where she was, dripping wet and shivering from both the
cold and shock.
in rain of water droplets, the cat burst from the river, slamming their
body against hers. she fell against one of the stones jutting out of the
water nearby, her head taking the brunt of the fall with a hard thud.
her body twitched, then went motionless.
the cat clung to the stone they were now crouched upon, watching the
apprentice's blood mingle with the water. they opened their mouth as if
they were about to say something, then quickly changed their mind and
let it shut. they nudged her body off of the stone, and watched it get
carried off by the river.
long after, they were back at camp, safe, warm, and dry.
a life saved, a life gone. will this be the last time this happens, or
is this just one in a series of tragedy upon tragedy yet to come?
Fading Dreams wrote:@Mileven Nightpaw wasn’t exiled in the last kill, she was saved by the guard, leaving her alive. Though in this current kill she was now killed by the murderer. ]
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