Welcome to the first Challenge posted. This one is for SavageClan, under ShadeClan Witch Trials.
Words Required: 1,500
Words Typed Without Author Notes: 1,764
The skies were overcast and the moods of the Clan were dark, even though they had won the battle. ShadowClan had come, with about all of their Clan, to fight RiverClan in their very own camp. For herbs, or territory, the Clan didn't know. But nevertheless, many RiverClan cats were injured, and almost as many died from the injuries. Appleface was the medicine cat, who healed and watched for signs from StarClan.
Today, she was left handling minor injuries. She was better than that. Apprentices were supposed to do those sort of jobs! "Appleface, Maplepaw needs your help! We found a huge scratch near her throat and it's bleeding like crazy!" Flowerpaw exclaimed.
"Bring her here!" Appleface ordered, pressing cobwebs onto a warrior's few scratches. "You're done." The orange she-cat with white patches meowed. The tom didn't move. "What are you? Deaf?!" Appleface looked at the tom darkly.
"A-a-aren't you going to put on m-m-marigold?" The tom asked shakily.
"For your petty little scratches you call wounds? I'm not wasting my stock for a few bites or scratches! They're hardly even there! Now get out! You're done!" Appleface hissed, scowling. The tom scrambled out as fast as he could. Appleface snickered. "Now, hurry up Flowerpaw!" She yowled to the outside.
"C-c-coming!" The small she-cat called back. Appleface scrunched up her face in disgust. Those apprentices were too slow for their own good. She started to suspect that this wasn't a real emergency.
Flowerpaw scrambled in the den, Maplepaw lugging behind. "I got her!" Flowerpaw mewed brightly.
"It doesn't seem like you've got anything, Flowerpaw." Appleface commented dryly. "Now, come over here Maplepaw, I need to get your scratch looked at."
Maplepaw seemed to reluctantly move towards Appleface. "Now, where is it Flowerpaw?" To Appleface's disgust, Flowerpaw had already left. "I swear. That cat is less help than a badger." Appleface shook her head and started nosing through Maplepaw's fur. There was a small scratch near Maplepaw's throat. "An exaggerating badger." Appleface rolled her eyes. "Is this your huge scratch?" The she-cat asked the apprentice, prodding the scratch.
"Yes. It hurts!" Maplepaw exclaimed.
"Did some cat put you up to it?" Appleface inquired politely. It was the calm before the storm. Or rather the storm was before she lost her cool.
"No." Maplepaw shook her head. Appleface shot a death glare at the apprentice.
"You apprentices these days! So weak, and slow, for that matter! Who bother me about a scratch like this!" The medicine cat pressed the cobwebs angrily against the she-cat with a tip of a claw. Maplepaw screeched in pain. "Deal with it, you lousy excuse for an apprentice!" The apprentice tried to scramble away but the medicine cat set the she-cat down. Appleface turned calm, with a sickening grin on her face. "Oh well, Maplepaw! Now I see it!" She exclaimed, nosing through the apprentice's fur once more. "It is a mighty big scratch you have! I can't believe I hadn't saw it before! I really am a lousy excuse for a medicine cat, aren't I?"
The apprentice looked worried. "Why are you worrying, my dear? I shall fix it!" Appleface gathered marigold, cobwebs, and a few foxglove seeds.
"W-w-why are you being so n-n-nice to m-m-me?" Maplepaw asked quietly.
"It's my job of course! Now, sit still..." Appleface trailed off. "Better." She affirmed as Maplepaw's squirming stopped. She chewed a marigold poultice to put on the wound. Then Appleface pushed cobwebs over the imaginary wound. "Ouch! I bet that hurts! Why don't you eat these poppy seeds?" She suggested, pushing five foxglove seeds towards the apprentice, enough to kill. Appleface guessed correctly the apprentice wouldn't know the difference from foxglove or poppy seeds, let alone the right amount!
Maplepaw's nervous face softened as she ate the foxglove seeds. "Thanks Appleface." She meowed gratefully. A few moments later, however, the she-cat started convulsing and gasping for breath. "Help..." The she-cat whispered hoarsely before gasping for air once more. Maplepaw's life ended looking up into the emotionless face of her medicine cat, Appleface.
Appleface turned away from the annoying yet dead apprentice, lashing her tail angrily. A spark appears, then spreads as fire over the medicine cat den. The medicine cat grins, then runs towards the entrance, tugging the dead apprentice a bit before closing the dead cat's eyes. Then she burst out of the den, acting terrified and sad. "Noo!" She yowled. The leader came to her aid.
"What happened Appleface?" The leader, Streamstar, asked.
Appleface burst out in tears. "I-I-I had just given M-M-Maplepaw poppy seeds and the f-f-fire s-s-started." Streamstar looked up in horror at the burning medicine cat den.
"Apprentices! Get water!" Streamstar demanded. The apprentices rushed towards the river.
"I-I-I tried to get her, I r-r-really did. B-b-but I couldn't s-s-save her!" Appleface sobbed.
"I never knew the apprentice meant so much to you." Streamstar meowed softly.
"Of course I do! The whole Clan I care for!" Appleface defended herself.
"I know you do." Streamstar meowed, and they both watched the medicine cat den burn to the ground. The apprentices were stuck at the river for some reason. Appleface smiled, knowing the fire had somehow spread, surrounding the apprentices. The apprentices were slowly dying, their screams muffled by the smoke.
Streamstar watched the elders carry the bodies away to their graves by dawn. The clouds had miraculously cleared overnight and she watched a few wispy clouds drift across the sky, near the sunrise. A vision came to her. There were apprentices burning and choking, not able to breathe, all convulsing then dead, staring upwards fearfully. Then a raspy, yet feminine voice came to her. "The Apple has poisoned, and engulfed in flames. No air left, the Apple makes, for help doesn't come, no matter the say."
The vision had abruptly ended. Streamstar was confused, so she chose to ignore it and lead the Clan in this time of grief.
Appleface roamed the riverside, grinning evilly. She had gotten away with what, seven murders? And no cat even suspected her. Life was too easy. She was ready to kill again, but watch the cat die painfully like Maplepaw had. Though, she might add another touch. Say, Water Hemlock, Willow Leaves, and what about some Holly berries which causes long suffering before finally ending life when heated. Her tail flickered with a spark as she lashed it. She felt eyes staring at her. Appleface whipped around to find a young warrior who had bothered her many times. "Come here my little warrior. I'll show you just what I can do, if you want." The warrior ran towards her excitedly. "Here, first I need you to eat this poultice, it's very important." Appleface lied, pushing over to the warrior, several Water Hemlock flowers and a few Willow Leaves. The warrior gulped them down excitedly.
"Eck!" The young tom exclaimed. "They taste foul!"
"It's needed, my young warrior." Appleface meowed mysteriously. The tom suddenly fell to the ground and started writhing and foaming at the mouth. He tried to get it back up but the Willow Leaves stopped him from doing so. "Now eat these berries. They will stop what you are experiencing now." She lied convincingly. The tom picked the berries up and swallowed them whole. She shoved a few more Willow Leaves in his mouth which he obediently chewed.
Appleface looked fondly at the warrior and watched his mouth drip with foam. "Do you still want to see?" She asked softly, gazing at the writhing figure. The young warrior managed to nod. "I'll show you my dear." Appleface trailed her tail around the tom, making flames, which moved inward onto the tom. He tried to scream and the flames only licked and he swallowed them, making him die by the holly berries. Appleface looked with hard scorn at the tom. He had taken away her fun too quickly.
A dark tom watched from the shadows, his mouth agape at what the medicine cat had done. He dashed back to Streamstar, knowing only she could make this right. "Streamstar!" He gasped. "You won't believe what I've just seen..." The dark tom explained what he saw.
"Shadefeather, my loyal deputy, I know you would never lie, but I must see this for myself." Streamstar meowed. Shadefeather nodded and ran back, with Streamstar in tow, towards where he had last saw the witch.
Appleface twirled, her tail spouting happy flames in the air around the dead warrior's body, singing 'curiosity killed the cat!' The wind carried them and blew them around her head. Little did she know, that the very leader she shared with was staring shocked, in the shadows of the reeds.
Streamstar, who had enough, leaped out of the shadows to confront the medicine cat. The crazy witch scowled at her. "Well, I suppose you know my secret now and unfortunately, I will have to kill you." Appleface tried to move her tail only to find Shadefeather holding it in his teeth under water. "Great idea, Shadefeather!" Streamstar praised. Appleface gasped and lowered her head, ready to accept her punishment.
Streamstar stood over the Clan. "Only let those who are warriors and older to join below me for a Clan meeting!" Streamstar called. Shadefeather gripped Appleface's tail tightly, and bravely. She watched the Clan gather before her. "Shadefeather and one of our brave own warriors discovered a terrible secret that killed many apprentices. Shadefeather told me and now we have the cat who murdered the warrior and apprentice of Flowerpaw, Maplepaw, Fishpaw, Reedpaw, Pebblepaw, Sunpaw, Dapplepaw, and the too curious for his own good warrior, Hailwhisker." She paused and the cats below gasped in rage. "The evil cat who did this would be our very own medicine cat, Appleface. Shadefeather, please release her tail. Sparks of fiery rage flew into the air at the release. "See, she used herbs and fire to kill all of these innocent cats. I have come up with a suitable punishment where she will never harm any one of us ever again. We will trap her in a cave, with food and water, but she will live imprisoned for the rest of her time."