Username: jpano96
Cat Name: Vaanta
Gender: female
Rank: star cat
Clan: Cloud ClanAge: she doesn't quite remember, but more than 40 years
Prompt:Being betrayed by someone they trust
Vaanta had grown with her siblings as all other kits did, under the care and warmth of their mothers, the tutelage of their mentors, and the rough circumstances of the forest they called home. She had been to battle to fight for her clan, cats had succumb to the power of her paws. The power of her teeth that sunk into any cat that would threaten her, her home, her family.
Vaanta was the factor leader of the warriorcats, and under her command fierce warriors rose to the forests challenges and beyond. Territory expanded and outputs were strategically placed to warn of outsiders, be they friend or foe. Vaantas second in command was littered around the time she was, fast growing friends who would play in the center of the clan during the day and huddle together at night to sleep. They were both tenacious and future thinking, wanting what was best for the clan.
Responding to a report of three suspicious cats who had crossed into clan territory, Vaanta and her second in command had followed the scout out to the location. "When did you see them la-" The wind was knocked out of Vaanta before she could finish her sentence, a giant cat had dropped on her from the low limb of a tree nearby. Flickering eyes, she saw on her peripheral that her companion had also been knocked down by two other cats. Instinct kicked in and she tried to find her footing before the scout from before ran forward attempting to assist. One blow from the cat standing on top of her knocked the scout to the ground, unmoving. "You thought you could scare us out of our home? A conquest of the forest, you need to learn your lesson. Nothing comes free." Vaanta was knocked out.
As she came to, she heard familiar whispering. Her second in command was gone, she couldn't smell him among the cats huddled together across the cramped den. "What will you do with her? I thought you would let her go after meeting her, not this! You said you wanted to meet her!" A meek voice, trembling in their speech. Was that Lilit? Vaanta attempted to stand but pain wracked her body and she collapsed. The three cats from before turned to face her, and she could see between them her own apprentice among them, trembling with ears back and tail between their legs. "Vaanta! I didn't mean for this to happen!" They yowled, tears starting to build in their eyes. The three cats snickered before the big cat approached. "You'll watch everyone you care about perish as we get our revenge." The two cats next to Lilit grabbed her by the scruff, dragging her out of the den. The big cat dragged out Vaanta next, and she was met with a deafening roar of water. Lilit and her second in command, awake but incapacitated, were dangerously close to the edge. "You'll pay for what you did to our clan Vaanta, starting with these two." Time slowed as Vaanta watched in horror as her second in command was pushed off the edge into the raging waters below. Through the pain she tried to stand up before getting shoved to the ground, helpless to watch her apprentice - an accidental traitor - get dragged to the edge. Lilit struggled against the two cats but it was useless, as she too was tossed into the waters below. Vaanta could feel her heart pounding in her chest, numbing the pain she felt. Loss. Betrayal. Anger. Her claws dug into the rock under her feet and with a roar she pushed herself up, throwing off her captor. She slammed herself into the two cats near the edge, toppling them into the waters below before gripping tightly so she too wouldn't fall. A moment later the third cat had slammed into her, making her lose her footing for a moment. She twisted herself in that split second, sinking her teeth and claws into her foe. If she was to go down, it would be while fighting for her clan.
Her clan found them the next day, all three clan members were taken home to rest. The scout from the forest had survived, able to tell the tale the three cats had undergone. No one knew why Lilit betrayed her mentor, but they mourned the young cat and her actions. Vaantas story has passed throughout history as one of trust and betrayal, but critics will say its a warning of hubris.