(Willowpelt's perspective)
No, no, no...
Swift paws pounded through the undergrowth as it carried the pale gray she-cat through the forest, resounding like an ominous heartbeat through the muffled trees.
Not fast enough... should have realized...
She was foolish to think they wouldn't come for her someday; but to hunt down her son like a piece of over-fed prey? To attempt to crush out the life of her dear, precious Sootpaw?
They can't be after him...
Still, now the sounds of the vicious, grating snarls of a badger were evident to her sensitive feline ears, and she knew her nightmare was coming to life.
Then she saw it; the black and white pointed muzzle of the creature, the huge, muscled monster, rearing up with his heavy paws poised in mid-air. It's black beady eyes sought out it's prey below eagerly, prepared to strike...
Sootpaw lay in the devil's shadow, his pale green eyes staring up in shocked horror. Others were there; the flickering shapes of pelts edged the nightmarish scene, but these were of no consequence to the queen.
The sight of her son's eminent doom sent the she-cat into a frenzy. She bunched her legs and sprang forward, only one thought in her mind; to get between that monster and her son.
Willowpelt was vividly conscious of the feel of dry grass beneath her as she landed, and the touch of her son's neatly groomed fur scorched it's memory into her mind as she pushed him away with her muzzle, using more strength then StarClan could have mustered. They were the last peaceful feelings she experienced.
The crushing badger's paws snapped into her spine a heartbeat later, all the doom of her son landing on her shoulders. She shrieked out in agony as fire filled her veins, drowning out all sights, scents, and sounds.
I saved him... the perfect clarity of this thought filled her pain-entrenched mind with a moment of sweet bliss.
But for how long?
A few moons earlier (Bone's perspective)
Fear flashed through him, making every hair on the BloodClan warrior's pelt prickle and puff out. This was not a feeling Scourge's deputy usually experienced.
What is Scourge thinking, letting a badger into our camp?
The huge, black and white striped beast was intimidating, more ferocious then any Bone had seen before. He had fought badgers and won many times in his service to Scourge, but something about this particular beast made him skitter anxiously across the den floor.
"You summoned me, Scourge?" the black and white tom's voice was grudging and edged with fear that had nothing to do with the monster overshadowing his small master. The day that Scourge would call him in here to do away with his all-too-replaceable deputy could be nigh at hand. Bone shivered as images of the last deputy, Streak, came to mind; a slashed body, claws and teeth torn from him, brown tabby fur torn and peeling from the muscle...some of those scars were from me...
Did Scourge mean to replace him with this badger?
The small black tom looked over his deputy unfeelingly. "I see you have noticed my friend here; this is Darkest Night."
The BloodClan deputy looked over the badger grudgingly. It had a name? It was Scourge's friend? His master had no friends. Even Tigerstar was nothing more to the arctic-eyed tom then a tool.
Bone dipped his head slightly to the badger, curling his lip in disgust. "Hello, Darkest Night."
The beast grunted in response. Scourge stood nonchalantly. "Darkest Night has a favor that I find won't interfere with out fight at all, but rather help with our mission. I will let him explain." With this final word, the small leader padded past his deputy, reinforced claws clicking against the hard-packed floor.
Bone stared after Scourge in astonishment. "But he's a stupid badger! How can he explain anything to me?"
A snarl ripped from Darkest Night's throat, and Bone shrank against the den wall.
"You will find, insolent cat,that this 'stupid badger' has a quite remarkable gift for explaining things...and getting what he wants," the gravelly voice, to Bone's surprise and fear, issued from the badger's parted muzzle. The language was crude and slow, but definitely understandable.
The big cat cowered against the den's bramble wall, as far away from the badger as he could be. Darkest Night gazed upon him with scorn. "I understand that your clan is battling against the cats of the four clans soon, and there is a certain cat I want dead..."
Bone leaped into battle, clawing any and every cat that got in his way. He exulted every time his reinforced claws ripped through a cat's flesh, growing into a frenzy as blood began to wash his paws scarlet.
Something suddenly slammed into him, surprising him with the strength of it's force. Twisting his head around, he saw a pure white warrior, muscular and snarling at him.
A twisted smile lit upon the black and white tom's face. Yes!
He had found the cat Darkest Night had told him about. The cat that had, somehow, wronged him, and needed to die. No problem with that...
The battle did not last long. The white warrior was strong and skilled, yes, but he was not match for even the most inexperienced BloodClan warrior.
With a yowl of victory, Bone dealt the killing blow. He watched in satisfaction as the tom's sand-colored eyes widened and he choked, scarlet splashing from his mouth in a sickening gurgle.
Just as Bone relaxed to watch the slow, painful death of his prey, he was assaulted by small, furry bodies. A group of five or six apprentices, younger then their mentors but certainly more ferocious and thirsty for revenge. They swarmed him, and try as he might, Bone couldn't get in more then two swipes at the young cats.
He screeched in pain as one of his attackers bit into his throat, tearing it from him in cannibalistic fury. His sight darkened, claws lay limp, and his muscles relaxed.
So this is what death feels like, he mused idly as the pain, as well as all of his other senses, dimmed. The sounds of fighting cats ebbed away from his ears, but one pleasuring thought occupied his mind.
Scourge gave me one last command, and I followed through. He told me to do what Darkest Night requested, and that white warrior will surely die...my mission to Scourge is complete.
Moons later(Sootfur's perspective)
Huge, black and white creatures poured into the camp from every side. Everywhere the gray tom turned, more muscular monsters raced at him. The young warrior screeched as a badger's sharp, stinging claws sliced into his side. Turning, his eyes widened. A huge badger, far wider and taller then the rest, glared at him with malicious eyes. It paced towards him, evil beady eyes fixated on it's prey; Sootfur.
Glancing around in fear, he saw bramble bushes enclosing him. This badger had backed him into a corner; there was no escape from the familiar black eyes.
Familiar?
Sootfur realized now why the monster's eyes struck such a deep chord of fear and panic inside of him. A badger, long ago, had aimed for him. His mother had flung herself between the creature and her son in a desperate fury and desperation that only queens could posses, and the monster had crashed onto his sweet mother, killing her instantly.
It was the same one. The same badger.
Fury built up inside the innocent young tom's heart, more hate then he had ever felt for another creature blinding Sootfur. He had never felt such a strong, wild, evil emotion before, and the strength of it nearly knocked him off his paws.
"You killed her!" He screeched, claws unsheathing. His pale green eyes were hostile and burning, malicious. His paws trembled beneath him as the monster sneered at him.
He bunched his legs beneath him, hate clouding his judgment. With an almighty leap, he pounced, claws aiming for the badger's snout.
Sootfur didn't get farther then a tail-length. The badger struck out it's massive paws, and the pale tom fell limply to the ground as it struck him in the chest. As he fought to breathe, the world dimmed, and he screeched and curled in pain as the badger's claws split his belly open.
I'm sorry, Willowpelt. I've failed you...