Sunhigh blazed overhead as the day crawled along at a snails pace. Cicadas chirped loudly, and songbirds trilled their cheerful songs. Many cats were sprawled out around camp, sleeping off the greenleaf heat. In the shade of the elder's den, Leafear and Paleheart, the two elders, were dozing off, enjoying the peace. The leaves at the entrance rustled, and a sullen looking apprentice padded in.
"Pearpaw! What a surprise! What brings you here today?" Paleheart called.
"Looks like someone has to check us for ticks." Leafear noted, sniffing the air and catching the bitter tang of mouse bile.
"Yeah," Pearpaw confirmed, "I was distracted during the hunting patrol, and didn't catch anything. Smoketail is punishing me by making me check you for ticks. I'll never get this scent off me."
"Well, now, that isn't too bad. How about I tell you a story while you're working." Paleheart suggested. "Have you ever heard about the fall of Tigerclan?"
"No." Pearpaw padded over to Leafear with the mouse bile and started combing through her fur in search of ticks.
"Well," Paleheart started, "of the three great clans, Lionclan, Tigerclan, and Leopardclan, Tigerclan was the first to fall. It all started with one kit.
"You know, Pearpaw, that Tigerclan were cats with orange, tan, or white pelts and they all had black stripes, right? Well this one kit, who was purely Tigerclan, was all black with no stripes-"
"That's impossible! All Tigerclan cats had stripes." Disbelief colored Pearpaw's words.
"Hush. Let Paleheart finish." Leafear scolded.
"As I was saying, the kit was all black with no stripes. This amazed Tigerclan. They had never seen anything like it before. Immediately, they thought that the kit was a gift from Starclan, and revered him. They named the kit Blackkit.
"Tigerclan spoiled Blackkit whenever they could. They gave him the best freshkill, and always praised him at anything he did, even if he was bad at it. Most of all, he was never punished for anything, ever. As Blackkit grew and became Blackpaw, he never had to work for anything. He was a horrible hunter, and his fighting skills were atrocious, but no cat ever criticized him.
"Blackpaw saw that his skills were lacking, and, used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it, he demanded his skills be fixed, immediately. The whole clan tried to train him at some point, but he never worked hard, and never improved."
"Pearpaw, I think you're all done with me. Go check Paleheart." Leafear insisted.
"Okay." Pearpaw grabbed the bile soaked moss and went to check Paleheart.
"I think I have some ticks behind my ear, where I cant get them. Now, where was I? Tigerclan always gave Blackkit the best freshkill-"
"No, you were at the part where Blackpaw never improved." Leafear corrected.
"Oh, right. Sorry," Paleheart replied, slightly flustered. "Anywho, Blackpaw became Blackheart, and even though Tigerclan made him a warrior, he was still very jealous of the fact that all the other cats were better than him.
"One day, after a particularly bad hunting trip, Blackheart came across a young apprentice. As he watched, the cat skillfully brought down a small hawk. Hate seized Blackheart's heart, and without warning, he pounced on the apprentice and killed her-Ouch!"
"Sorry, Paleheart, I was just surprised. How could Blackheart kill an apprentice?" Pearpaw exclaimed.
"Jealousy can do scary things to a cat. Next time, try not to use your claws. As I was saying, when he realized what he had done, he felt no remorse. Even so, he realized that killing a cat could get him in trouble. Blackheart decided to bring the dead cat back to camp with him.
"When Blackheart entered the Tigerclan camp with the apprentice, everyone was shocked. Blackheart quickly told the clan that he found her dead. Of course they believed him. After checking over the body, the only scent that could be found was Tigerclan. Immediately, everyone suspected a different cat killed her.
"The next day, Blackheart went out to hunt, and again, his jealousy caused him to kill another cat. This time, he put the corpse in a place another cat would find it. Every day this went on, and each day, a different cat found a body.
"At this point, no cat in Tigerclan trusted one another; they always watched their own backs, and slept with one eye open. Hostility and fear hung in the air, but still no cat suspected Blackheart.
"One day, Blackheart was finally tired of staying in the shadows. When the leader of Tigerclan called a meeting to mourn the next victim, Blackheart jumped out in front of the whole of Tigerclan, and killed the leader in a way that he would never come back. Then he turned to face the clan.
"'It was me! It was me who has been killing these cats. You go through the day thinking you're so much better than me! I'll show you! I'll show you all who's better!' Blackheart roared, his mouth foaming and his eyes bloodshot.
"When the cats of Tigerclan saw everything they believed in come cashing down on them, they panicked. The one cat they thought they could trust turned out to be raving mad. After that day, Tigerclan split up. All the cats went on their own unable to trust any other cat 'til the end of their traumatized days."
"Wow. That's kind of scary." Pearpaw shivered.
"I know. That's why you should never spoil anyone. Anyway, are you done with the mouse bile? Go wash your paws in the nearest stream and tell your mentor you're done," Paleheart instructed. "It's almost sunset.".
"Yes, Pearpaw, you did a very good job with the ticks. Thank you." Leafear confirmed.
"Thanks for the story Paleheart. Good night." With that, the apprentice padded out into the darkening camp.