Cloudtail looked up at the evening sky, sighing hopelessly. Today was his birthday and it was almost about time for ThunderClan to go around and give him birthday presents. But it wasn't like he or half of the clan, cared. Firestar had only set this up to make each clan member feel appreciated. But to a large majority of the clan, this was all garbage. Seriously, what was one to give another cat? A whole stack of mice? Please, at least twolegs can do a better job.
Just then, Firestar hopped onto the high rocks and cleared his throat to get the attention of the other clan members. Once everyone was settled in, he began his long, boring, and pointless speech.
"As you all know, it's Cloudtail's birthday today. And as clan tradition, we are all endowed to give the birthday-cat a present." His emphasis on "all" made many of the cats scoff causing Firestar to glare at the group who had done so. "So I would like to take a number of paws as to who has gotten Cloudtail a present before we sing to him." Many cats groaned at the mention of "sing." Firestar rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. Groan all you want, but since I'm leader, you must follow what I say-"
"GET ON WITH IT!" a cat shouted. "We don't have all day!"
Firestar glared at the cat who happened to be Purdy. "As I was saying," he growled. "Now please, line up. Go on now."
Slowly as many other cats groaned, at least 10 or so cats lined up all with bundles in their mouths.
"Alright, there are 10 of you. Come on, I know this clan can do better than that." Firestar's eyes scanned around the camp, looking out for any other volunteers. When none stood up, he continued. "Fine. Be that way. I suppose 10 is enough." He, along with other cats, rolled their eyes, but for different reasons. "Now we shall sing to Cloudtail."
"UGH!" the clan groaned.
Cloudtail facepawed. "Please save me from this embarrassment," he groaned to Hollyleaf who looked cheerful as ever.
"What are you talking about?" Hollyleaf asked him. "This is a time of celebration! Look proud!"
Cloudtail facepawed again.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. BLAH BLAH," the clan sang.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CLOUDTAIL!" Hollyleaf was the only cat singing enthusiastically besides Firestar who had to fake his enthusiasm because he knew how stupid this all was.
It's for the good of the clan's chemistry, he thought to himself grudgingly.
Those who had gotten Cloudtail presents (pretty much everyone related to him) laid them out in front of him. There were multiple mice (as he predicted), a few herbs, a honey comb, but most strangely of all, a gun. A gun. Something twolegs had. Guns had been recently known throughout the whole lake territory but it was never feared. He took the gun in his paw and looked confused. Eerie, his thick white pelt got ruffled by a passing by wind.
"Who gave me the gun?" Cloudtail asked suspiciously.
Jayfeather walked up to the white pelted warrior, smirking. "I didn't realize it was a gun until you said that. I honestly thought it was something else. But a gun will do."
"Yeah… it looks like a revolver," Cloudtail commented.
His brother, Lionblaze, reared up behind him. A similar yet mischievous smirk was on his face. He took Cloudtails gun in his paw and unlocked the safety. His smirk widened.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?" Cloudtail asked, now worried. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Russian Roulette, brah," Jayfeather replied, his personality completely shifting.
Lionblaze nodded in agreement. The two brothers had a similar look and feel. "Totally."
Cloudtail cocked his head. "What's Russian Roulette?"
Foxleap appeared behind Lionblaze and Jayfeather. "It's a lethal game of chance," he explained. "That's a pretty beast gift to get for your birthday, especially since Russian Roulette came into play." He motioned all the cobwebs placed on his head. "That's how I got this. Good thing Jayfeather saved me. I'd be a goner."
"What do you do?" Cloudtail asked.
Lionblaze checked the bullets in the gun. "We all have a one in six chance of dying here today. But since there's four of us here, we have a more likely chance of living." He spun around the revolver, placing the bullet in a random place.
"Make that 5." Firestar bounded up to them, smirking.
"Alright. The gang's all here. You gonna go with us, brah?" Jayfeather asked Cloudtail.
The white cat narrowed his eyes in thought. "Well if it's a game at chance, then I'm going to win. My luck is the best out of all of you." His arrogance made Jayfeather's pelt bristle with irritation.
Lionblaze pointed the gun to his head and smirked. "Then if that's what you say, you can go last, buddy," he said.
A few foxlengths away from the ground, a black cat sat, perfectly poised as she watched them play. She shook her head in annoyance.
"There they go again." Whitewing padded up next to Hollyleaf, sighing.
Hollyleaf looked at the cat, both of them sighed in unison. "They just seem to be asking for a death wish," she commented.
"I do wish they'd stop before they seriously kill themselves," Whitewing said, tensing as Lionblaze propped the gun near his head.
Lionblaze closed his eyes and tensed as he pulled the trigger. He sighed in relief when he didn't feel anything lodge itself into his skull. Though, why am I worrying, he thought to himself as he handed Jayfeather the gun, I can't get hurt because of the prophecy.
The blind cat hesitated as he pulled the trigger, making the barrel press against his ear. Thankfully, no bullet appeared.
"Brah, I swear, I had a feeling it would be me," Jayfeather mumbled, passing the gun to Foxleap.
Giddily and grinning, Foxleap aimed the gun to his head. "I have a good feeling about this!" He pulled the trigger. A click. Then, nothing.
Firestar was next. "Well, if I die, I have another life to rely on." In the distance, his mate, Sandstorm, glared at him, growling about how he was wasting his precious lives. The ThunderClan leader pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He released his breath then passed it on to Cloudtail.
"It's either live or die for this one, bro," Lionblaze said. "You sure you wanna do this? Especially since it's on your birthday."
Cloudtail snorted. "Please, I know I'm going to live. I'm that awesome."
"WAIT!" A shrill cry was heard. It was Longtail, he bounded over to the group. "Don't do it!"
Lionblaze, Jayfeather, Foxleap, and Firestar all gasped in shock.
"It's a ghost!" Foxleap exclaimed in horror.
"No, brah, that's Longtail's real body," Jayfeather said, rolling his eyes.
"Really?" the other cat asked, growing less afraid.
"YES," the blind cat hissed.
"No! I didn't die! After you guys left my body lying there, a twoleg came and healed me!" Longtail exclaimed.
"Twolegs do that?" Jayfeather asked. "Aren't they like, bad dudes?"
"You didn't know that?" Longtail asked. "All twolegs do that to injured animals they find!"
"Oh well that's fun. You gonna play again with us, bro?" Lionblaze asked.
Longtail nodded, smirking slyly. "Oh yeah, totally. I'll go after Cloudtail. One of us will get shot."
Cloudtail put the barrel to his head and pulled the trigger. There was a click but not the safe kind of clicking. He faced the inside of it, wondering what happened. "Aw what?" Just then, a bullet struck his forehead. "AAAHHH!" he screamed, falling backward. He then sat up, confused. "Wait. What?"
Lionblaze facepalmed. "You idiot, you're supposed to pretend like it's real! That's the point of this game! We're not going to actually kill ourselves!"
"Dumb butt," Foxleap laughed.
"…Wow… Wait… So why do you have cobwebs on your head and why did Longtail get taken by twolegs?" Cloudtail asked, completely confused.
"Longtail was the reason why we have fake bullets now," Lionblaze explained. "And Foxleap…" he looked at the cat. "Well, he's just Foxleap."
Jayfeather snorted. "So much for being lucky."
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OwlCookies: I do realize how out of character they are… I just… im sorry….