Spiderfrost stood in the middle of Shadowclan camp. Or, what was Shadowclan camp. The deputy of Shadowclan stood frozen in the middle of his home. He heard the thump of paws on the ground.
"Spiderfrost! I came as soon as I could." The cat slowed down to a walk. "Who's done this." He heard her growl.
"Echoshade, it was RiverClan." He spat, his voice shaking.
Echoshade let out a low growl. "Those snake-hearts! Why? We haven't attacked their camp for a moon or so. Probably more." I know. Spiderfrost thought. Shadowclan had tried not to attack Riverclan for as long as they could. Riverclan had focused on attacking WindClan. They thought that it had been WindClan warriors who had killed a litter of their kits. Berrykit, Sagekit, and Carpkit. Shadowclan had also lost three kits. Dawnkit, Ravenkit, and Pinekit. It had looked like a ThunderClan warrior had snuck into Shadowclan camp and killed the three. And Spiderfrost alone knew who it was.
He glanced at Echoshade. "We have to search for survivors." Echoshade nodded. The two hurried in different directions.
Spiderfrost went to the nursery. The brambles had thick tufts of fur on them. A white and brown one caught his attention. "Mudkit!" The one moon old kit was a lively young tom. He scented Riverclan on the tuft. But under that he could smell... no, it couldn't be. The murderer had struck again. And this time, Spiderfrost wasn't going to let him escape. He called to Echoshade. She hadn't found any survivors.
"I'm going to follow the trail. You should go out and find Finchstar. He'll want to know about this." Echoshade nodded.
"Be careful." His sister told him. She had already lost her mate in the war.
"I will be."
Spiderfrost was out of clan territory now, still following the murderer's scent. It was growing stronger and fresher by the minute. His belly rumbled, but Spiderfrost ignored it. The ThunderClan cat was near by. Blackclaw was near him, and Spiderfrost wanted justice.
He called out "Blackclaw! Come out and show yourself, you fox-heart!"
There was a pause, and then a nearby clump of ferns rustled and a large black tom came out. He had yellow eyes, like a hawk's. His great black paws were stained with blood. "You wanted me?"
Spiderfrost's hackles rose. He unsheathed his claws, and a growl rose in his throat. "I know what you've done. You're the reason the clans are at war. You're the reason my sister's mate is dead. It's your fault." He was yowling now, his rage consuming him. How could it be that one cat had caused so many deaths? So much pain.
Spiderfrost went on yowling. "You're no better than Tigerstar. You're a kit-killer, and a coward. " He tried to stop the flood of hate ripping through him. He tried to just shut his mouth. But he couldn't.
"Do you have any idea how many lives you've taken? How many lives you've ripped to shreds?" Spiderfrost heaved a breath. "And for what?"
Blackclaw looked at him. "You want to know why? Because of what you did to me. Seasons ago I was a proud and happy warrior of ThunderClan. I had a mate, and kits, and an apprentice, and two sisters. Then my mate died of green cough. One of my kits died with her." Blackclaw said. "Everyone I loved was ripped away from me. My clanmates told me that I had to move on, that Sunstream, and my kits and sisters and my apprentice would want me to find happiness again. But how could I be disloyal to them? How could I leave them like that. So instead I killed. I ripped loved ones away from life like mine were taken from me. And then, I caused a war, so that the clans would destroy each other. They would be forgotten, like my family was. They would finally no my pain."
Spiderfrost stood, dumbfounded. This cat was insane. He had loved to hard. He hadn't been willing to let go. And now he was going to pay for it. "You're coming back to the clans with me. So that you can tell everyone what you've done. That it was you who killed the kits, not my clanmates."
"Why? Why should I?" Blackclaw asked.
"Because if you don't, I'll kill you."
Blackclaw gave a mirthless laugh. "I don't think you have the guts. You need me alive, so I can tell the clans."
He's right. Spiderfrost thought in despair. He's seen through my bluff. Or he's bluffing himself. Spiderfrost hoped it was the later of the two. But it didn't matter. This cat was going to get what he deserved. Spiderfrost would make sure of it.
"I'm warning you. This is your last chance."
"Ha! Prove it."
Spiderfrost growled. "Fine then." And he lept at Blackclaw's throat.
Spiderstar stood beside Songflower. His mate pressed against him, her eyes shining. "So, my leader, how does it feel to have nine lives?"
Spiderstar purred. "Good. Although I'll miss Finchstar."
"He had a good nine lives, and he died heroically, like he lived." Songflower reassured him. She had taken the loss of their leader harder than he had. Finchstar had been Songflower's father.
"I suppose so."
All of the sudden a couple of kits rolled into them. A Tortiseshell kit got up, and, realizing that it was Spiderstar, squealed in delight. "Spiderstar! Will you tell me about how you ended the war?"
Spiderstar and Songflower exchanged glances.
"Only If your mother says yes."
The kit ran of to get her mother, Brightmoon. The tabby she-cat agreed, and Spottedkit hurried back to Spiderstar.
"She said yes!"
"Alright then. Back in those days..." Spiderstar remembered Blackclaw's face as he had slit his throat. The look in his eyes. It was his fault. The war of the Broken Code. It was his fault.