Hey guys! So here's my fourth one-shot for DarkClan, I know the title sounds like a two year old, but I thought it was a cute name :) So the theme is 'Two wrongs don't make a right,' so see if you can find that in there somewhere! I'll explain at the end if it doesn't make sense. Oh and the italics are flashbacks. Enjoy!
~Munchie
Grayshadow padded softly through the night, heading for nowhere. He closed his eyes, relishing the cool greenleaf breeze whistling through his fur. The moon shown up above him, turning his dull gray fur into a metallic silver.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed a shadow in the trees. It leapt from one branch to the next, making no noise in it's flight. Grayshadow squinted his eyes, trying to make out who it was.
Glowing green eyes met his cool amber ones, and he knew. Nightshade. What was she up to? The eyes disappeared again, and the shadow moved with increasing speed. Grayshadow followed on Nightshade's tail, pondering over the black she-cat.
"Nightshade! Hey!" Grayshadow called, trotting up to the black she-cat. She turned to look at him, an unreadable emotion in her beautiful green eyes.
"Hey Grayshadow," Nightshade murmured, uncharacteristically soft for the out-spoken she-cat. Her black fur shone a deep, dark blue in the fading sunlight.
"Want to share this thrush with me?" Grayshadow purred, running his tail along her side as a friendly gesture. The two had been close in apprenticeship, and Grayshadow felt it was his obligation to reconcile that. Nightshade flinched slightly at his touch, then relaxed.
"No thanks, I already ate," she meowed stiffly. What was wrong with her? She was always friendly with Grayshadow. "I'm going to go hunting."
"I could come with and keep you company," Grayshadow offered. He glanced hopefully at Nightshade.
"Uh I promised, um, Bramblethorn that I would go hunting with him so, um, no..." The lie was plain on her face. Grayshadow felt a stabbing pain in his chest at the fact that Nightshade was so desperate to get away from him that she'd blatantly lie to his face.
"You know, if you don't want to you could just tell me," Grayshadow hissed, whipping around to walk over to his brother.
Bramblethorn tore his claws through the tree bark, pretending it was Nightshade's fur. He climbed higher up in the thick birch tree, trying to get away from the horrible blue-black she-cat who had ripped his heart to shreds.
Suddenly, he heard a noise. He glanced down to see a silvery-gray cat walking under the birch, looking up to somewhere in front of him. Bramblethorn realized the cat was following something, as he tried to make out the object of interest. A couple of trees ahead, something black and feline was balancing on a tree branch. Nightshade!
Bramblethorn ceased his mauling of the tree, and leaped from the birch tree onto a pine, drawing closer to the back-stabbing she-cat. As he silently stalked her, he remembered that afternoon.
Nightshade and Bramblethorn leisurely walked through the forest, tails twining. They had been going on walks daily, ever since Nightshade had approached him and asked him to go hunting with her, Grayshadow staring after them angrily.
All of a sudden, Nightshade stopped. "What's wrong? Bramblethorn asked, worry clear in his voice. Nightshade shook her head.
"I can't do this," Nightshade whispered, pulling her tail away from his. Bramblethorn stared at her.
"What... I thought you loved me," Bramblethorn protested, feeling something crack inside of him.
"I don't think I ever did." The brown tom stared after her as she turned and fled. He howled to the sky, releasing his hurt and pain from the she-cat who'd just broken him.
Nightshade slowed to a stop, leaping down from the tree branch she was perched on and rolling to a stop. She'd made sure that both Grayshadow and Bramblethorn would follow after her. 'Maybe now I can make it all right,' she wistfully thought, curling her tail around her paws.
"I know you're there, Grayshadow, Bramblethorn. Show yourselves!" Nightshade called, eyes trained on a rustling bush.
Slowly, the shadowy figure of her former best friend crept out, anger and hurt shining through his amber eyes. "Nightshade." His voice was flat, as dead as the fallen leaves he stood on.
"What in the name of StarClan are you doing out at night, hm?" a low voice growled from behind her. Nightshade turned around and leveled her gaze with Bramblethorn's. "I hope you're here to apologize."
"Psh, in your dreams, Brambles. You honestly thought I liked you?" Bramblethorn's green eyes flashed as he bared his teeth. "I see I'm a very convincing liar. And you, Grayshadow. Honestly, when have I ever been a friend to you?" The lithe gray tom widened his eyes, hurt plain on his face. "You've been deluding yourselves, both of you. How could a cat as... perfect as me go for any cat less than perfect?"
"Then what was with the lying? You could've told me you didn't want to be my friend," Grayshadow hissed. His neck fur was bristling slightly, although Bramblethorn had grown two sizes because of his bristling fur.
"And you didn't have to ask me to go hunting with you that day!" Bramblethorn spat angrily.
Nightshade shrugged indifferently. "I had to convince the clan that I was loyal, when really... I wasn't." A third tom crept out of the undergrowth, a pure white tom with ice blue eyes.
"Iceshard!" Bramblethorn snarled, eyes widening in shock. He shot a look at Grayshadow, and saw they shared the same thought.
"ShadowClan is sad to announce that Iceshard, our loyal deputy, was found dead on the ThunderClan border." The black tom who spoke shot an icy glare at a ginger she-cat.
Down in the crowd of gathered cats, a dark she-cat flinched, curling into herself at the news. Two wrongs don't make a right, Nightshade, voices seemed to whisper in her ears. She turned and ran away from the gathering of felines. Nobody ever saw the she-cat who was so much like the poison she was named for ever again.
Some people might not get that last line, but Nightshade is a poisonous flower so... that hopefully makes a little more sense! The ending was a flash forward to the next Gathering, if you didn't get that. Was it good? Bad? I'd appreciate concrit, don't be afraid to be mean, I'm trying to improve my writing! I can't know what y'all think if you don't review! ~Munchie
