Revenge of the Jackal
~Jackalflight's POV~
Hi everybody, I felt like writing a quick one-shot about the cat I created in under a minute, so I'm going to. R&R if you feel like it.
Commercial: Check out "Falling Shadows" (it's much better than it's really bad beginning makes it out to be) and "Picking on…" (where I make fun of (for fun of course, it's all a joke) all your favorite/hated secondary characters). Oh, and of course, check out "Answers" which gets no love but is my favorite thing I've written for Fanfiction. Oh, and if you don't like this story, still check out the others 'cause this IS NOTHING LIKE THOSE!
Alright, enough of that, enjoy the story of Jackalflight!
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors (if I did, the focus would be on ShadowClan, obviously, and I'd be very rich and not writing fanfics). However, I DO own my characters (Jackalflight, Sharpstar, Swiftwind, etc.) and I DO own this plot line.
My name is Jackalflight. And I don't even know what a jackal is supposed to be.
I was born to two noble warriors: Sharpstar, our leader known for his aggressive, vengeful nature, and Swiftwind, who probably would have been his deputy had she not had me and my two littermates. Out of my litter, I was the only one to survive this long. My sister, Amberpaw, died of greencough right after being apprenticed as a medicine cat, and my brother, Wolfheart, died in one my father's wars that should have never happened. If only he was more like my mother before everything else happened. If only…
My name is Jackalflight. And I shouldn't have been born.
Swiftwind loved my father, she really did. She fell for him when he was the deputy because she only saw the good in him and not the evil. She saw his wit, she saw his caring side, she saw his toughness, and she loved him. But he didn't really love her. I've known that since the day I opened my eyes. We were a mistake, and we were nothing to Sharpstar—still Sharpfang back then—who already had everything he wanted. Because all he wanted was glory and respect and power. And not us…
My name is Jackalflight. And I have seen too much…
The end is coming for me.
Wolfheart, back when were kits in the nursery—gosh, those were simpler times— used to joke that I was named Jackalkit because we were unwanted. Unwanted? How is that a joke? Amberpaw—gosh, I miss her every day, I miss them both so much—would then launch into one of the legends that Beechtail, one of the elders, told her and that she had memorized. The one about the jackal that used to torment LeopardClan… The jackal that, when he got killed, everyone was happy was dead. But I still don't know what a jackal is supposed to be…
My name is Jackalflight. And my father murdered three cats already: my mother, the former leader and my mentor, Fogstar, and an elder named Redfoot who saw him kill my mother.
And if I wasn't so popular with my Clanmates and if I wasn't deputy, I'd be dead already. Like my sister, my mother and my brother.
Fogstar treated me like he was my father. He was more of a father to me than Sharpfang ever was. He taught me to hunt, he taught me to fight, he taught me everything I know. Sharpfang wanted nothing to do with us. Even when Amberpaw died, he didn't seem to care. Wolfheart and I were devastated. Swiftwind was already losing her mind by that point. Because she was beginning to see what Sharpfang really was, and it hurt her. It devastated her. It ruined her life…
My name is Jackalflight. And I love Emberspot.
She is a beautiful black cat with lighter patches that glow like fallen embers in the sunlight. Her eyes are a beautiful orange. She was an apprentice with me, started her training only a moon after me. We've been together basically our entire lives. But I can't love her. For Sharpstar won't allow for it. She is half-Clan. A mistake like me. But shouldn't all us mistakes be lumped together? No, according to Sharpstar, I am his son after all, his flesh and blood and pure ShadowClan—when has he ever told me he cared about me? When?—so I am different than Emberspot. Better than Emberspot.
My name is Jackalflight. And I am crippled.
Not that it matters anymore. I was crippled as an apprentice. I've learned to live with it, I guess. And no cat speaks of it anymore. Because my crippling coincided with Fogstar's death. And my father caused both, not that any cat other than me knows that. I don't even think Sharpstar knows that I know. Or maybe he knows now. I don't know. Killing Swiftwind was easy for him, Redfoot told me before his unfortunate "accident." Slipping those deathberries into that fat, tempting mouse in the middle of the harshest leaf-bare we can all remember did the trick quite easily. And I've never forgiven him for that. In a way, I forgive him for crippling me and killing Fogstar. But I can't, and won't, forgive him for killing Swiftwind.
My name is Jackalflight. And I lived when I wasn't supposed to…
For Emberspot saved me. Then an undersized and rather timid half-Shadowclan, half-Windclan she-cat apprentice that nobody ever thought would ever amount to anything more than a queen—still Emberpaw in those glorious days, before Fogstar and my "accident"—she saved me when I wasn't supposed to be saved. For she found me while I lay bleeding out my life, my front leg crushed, on the Twoleg path where we had never seen any monsters before until that moon, for she didn't listen to her mentor, Graydove and came looking for us when we didn't come back to camp. And she saved me…
And I love her.
My name is Jackalflight. And my father is Sharpstar, even though I wish every day that wasn't the truth.
I am not naïve. I am not utterly stupid. My position of power despite my disability has been a blessing from StarClan. If my father wasn't Sharpstar, I wouldn't be deputy because of my crippled front leg, but I am. And, what he doesn't seem to really be able to comprehend is that I'm much more popular than he. Oh, he thinks that every cat loves him, thinks that we all appreciate so much all the land he made us fight for—in fights that killed good cats like my brother, and all for nothing, for pieces of land not worth the fight—and he thinks we think that he's the greatest leader in our Clan's history. He's wrong. Fogstar is. What's worse is that he thinks that I am loyal to him. For we are family, and blood runs thicker than everything to him. Even if he doesn't care about me and watched Wolfheart, his oldest son, die at the claws of a cat he shouldn't have been fighting without batting an eye. If I died tomorrow, he wouldn't even be at the vigil for me. Because that's how he is.
My name is Jackalflight. And I have a plan.
I am not, fortunately, the only cat that knows of Sharpstar's treachery. The medicine cat, Littlespring, knows too. StarClan warned her of treachery long before it happened, but then she didn't know what their warning signs meant. Now she knows. And we have a plan. Oh, it is a wonderful plan. Lucky I'm so popular. Lucky I was what I was as an apprentice, back when I was energetic and had aspirations to be leader. Back when every cat said that either me or Wolfheart would be the next leader of ShadowClan because we were both so energetic, thoughtful, smart and caring. Lucky StarClan told Littlespring of Sharpstar's treachery. We will run Sharpstar out tonight or kill him.
My name is Jackalflight. And finally I will have revenge for all that I lost…
My mother, Swiftwind, killed by her mate for reasons I can't explain (maybe because she knew that he didn't love her and had the nerve to flirt with Eaglewing…but he didn't care about her, did he? It was probably because her change in mates somehow made him look bad. Maybe he saw it as treason. I don't know)…
My brother, Wolfheart, killed because of his incessant need to take new territory and prove that ShadowClan is the strongest Clan in the entire forest. Who died for nothing…
My mentor, Fogstar, the rightful leader of ShadowClan and more of a father to me than Sharpstar will ever be, killed by him in a deadly trap…
My mate Emberspot, who is carrying my kits right now, so that we can be with each other and not hide our relationship…
My sister, Amberpaw, who he didn't grieve for when she died…
And for myself.
My name is Jackalflight. And I know Sharpstar only has two lives left, because I'm his loyal deputy, and he thinks he can trust me, because I am absolutely harmless, the jokester, the cripple, the cat who all his Clanmates love. And I wouldn't harm him. Because I'm his son. But was he ever my father?
In the stories Amberpaw told, the jackal was the curse of the forest, an undersized beast that tormented all Clans, but LeopardClan in particular, because of some intense jealousy the reason of which I can't remember. He was as stealthy as a cat, cunning as a fox, heartless as a bloodthirsty dog, smart as a snake, and he drove the great cats mad until one day, a LeopardClan warrior named Sharpfang (what a coincidence) ended his life by turning one of his tricks against him. When we were kits, Amberpaw, Wolfheart and I would play this game. Naturally, Wolfheart was the noble LeopardClan warrior, Sharpfang, and I was the jackal. Because that's my name. Jackalflight. Amberpaw was more content to watch, she was, after all, going to be a medicine cat apprentice. Those were the days…when I didn't really understand the meaning of the story. When it was all fun and games. When the fact that the jackal always lost in our little games didn't mean a thing to me…
And I wish every day I could've remained a kit with my brother and my sister. Even if I didn't have a father.
Before my accident, Fogstar and Wolfheart's mentor, Eaglewing, used to train us together. I didn't mind taking care of the elders because, if I did my job right, it meant that we got to train, got to learn to hunt and fight. Together. We were always disappointed Amberpaw didn't get to train with us, but everything was amazing. And then Amberpaw died. And then Swiftwind died. And then Fogstar died and my accident happened. And then, while I lay in Littlespring's den with my front leg in a splint of reeds and cobwebs, Wolfheart was killed. If it weren't for Emberspot, let me tell you, I wouldn't have gotten through it.
I will have my revenge. Failure isn't an option. I don't care if I go to the Dark Forest, I know Sharpstar is evil and must be stopped…
My name is Jackalstar. And I am leader of ShadowClan. My mate is Emberspot. My deputy is Eaglewing. The past is finally behind us. The jackal has finally taken his revenge. The jackal that tormented the forest in the legends saved it now.
Or so I hope…
Yeah, that's an odd story lol. Jackalflight doesn't have the same personality as the one on my profile page. *sigh* oh well, I like haunted Jackalflight better. I just wanted to write a story in this style, so I did. Hope you enjoyed it a little. Please check out my other stories. Oh, and review this if you feel like it (please no flames though, I realize this is bad. I know…)
Oh and don't ask me where the jackal story came from. You know, the jackal that tormented the Clans. I MADE IT UP!
~Moore12~
Oh, and for all of you who probably read this hoping that it was the new addition to "Picking on…" 'cause it came up under your author alert, that will be up tomorrow! Stay tuned!