Why'd You Do That?

I walked out into the camp and raced to my sister, Leafkit.

"Leafkit, Leafkit!" I called. "I have a great idea!"

Leafkit scurried over to me, her dark gray fur still rumpled and messy. "What is it, Stonekit?" she asked grouchily.

I bent forward and put my muzzle into her ear. "Let's sneak out of camp."

Leafkit's blue eyes widened. "But that's-" I slapped a paw onto her muzzle.

"C'mon!" I hissed. "It'll be fun."

Leafkit sighed. "It would be nice to go out of camp..."

"We'll do it now!"

I glanced around at my clanmates. Our mother, Pebblefur, was grooming her shining gray coat, our father, Bramblescar, was eating, and everyone else wasn't really noticing Leafkit or me.

Leafkit and I made our way to the dirtplace. We crawled through the stinky-smelling filth, and then made our way through the dirtplace tunnel. And then, we were out in the forest.

"Oh wow!"

Leafkit and I looked at the huge, towering trees, the chirping birds, and the squirrels climbing up the trees. "This is so amazing!" I squeaked.

"Yeah!"

Then I caught a whiff of a familiar scent. It was Palefeather, a warrior of our clan.

"Hide!" Leafkit hissed in my ear. She dragged me to a clump of nearby ferns and we hid in them. Palefeather was walking right by us. She was glaring at Fuzzypaw, a friendly gray tom who was Palefeather's son. I leaned forward, trying to hear what Palefeather was saying to Fuzzypaw.

"It's idiotic, meeting up with a Riverclan warrior in the dead of night! What are you thinking? Spreading a nasty half-clan disease everywhere? It's against the warrior code-"

"Palefeather, I just-"

"No! You can't, just can't fall in love with a Riverclan warrior! We're Thunderclan! We have Thunderclan mates, not Riverclan ones!"

"Palefeather," Fuzzypaw began slowly. "I love Mosstail. I am joining Riverclan, and that's that."

Palefeather lashed her tail angrily. "I'm sorry that I have to do this, Fuzzypaw," she began quietly, "but I can't have cats finding out that I produced a cat who broke the warrior code and fell in love with a Riverclan cat."

"What do you mean-"

Fuzzypaw was cut off as Palefeather lunged at him. I stared in horror as she let out a mighty screech and slashed at his throat. Fuzzypaw tried to wriggle out of his mother's grasp, but she was quicker, and pinned him down.

"So sorry," Palefeather said. Fuzzypaw's expression was one of absolute horror as Palefeather slit his throat.

Leafkit and I gasped. Palefeather swung her head in our direction, and she let out a startled cry.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked nervously.

Palefeather purred. "Oh, he was a bad cat. A very bad cat."

I looked at her, puzzled. "But he always seemed so nice!"

Palefeather purred again. "He was not. So," she added. "You saw me do it?"

Leafkit and I nodded.

"Then I think you need a special treat. Follow me." Palefeather flicked her tail. We nervously stumbled after her. Finally, we stopped at a bush filled with scarlet berries. "Eat one."

Leafkit's eyes widened. "But those are deathberries!"

Palefeather shook her head. "No. They just look like them. They're extremely tasty."

"Why don't you eat one?" I asked.

Palefeather purred. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Leafkit and I stepped closer to the tasty-looking berries.

"Eat up!" Palefeather meowed cheerfully.

I picked up a berry, put it in my mouth, and swallowed.