Broken rogue.
Characters:
Froststar: Windclan leader, white she-cat with grey markings and blue eyes.
Thunderstrike: Windclan deputy, tabby tom with amber eyes.
Cottonclaw: Light grey she-cat with green eyes, Windclan medicine cat, used to be a warrior, used to be mates with Thunderstrike.
Silvertail: Black rogue tom with a grey-silver tail, blue eyes.
Chapter 1.
Silvertail padded quietly around the trees, his paws silently slipping over the frosty earth of leaf-bare. Ever since he had been exiled from Thunderclan for attempting to feed Feltkit death berries, he had been trying to find a new home. He had tried to convince Bramblestar that it was completely accidental, but his leader didn't believe him, sending him out of the clan.
A rustle in a nearby holly bush distracted the rogue from his thoughts. Pricking his ears, he sniffed the air; mouse. Crouching low to the ground, he slowly padded forward, his tail low, but not so low that it brushed he floor. He hoped his black pelt would blend in with the shadows, even though the leaf-strewn ground was covered in snow. When he was a couple of tail lengths from the bush, he sprang, killing his prey with one swift blow. He was about to eat his meal, when a scent caught his nostrils. Windclan! He had crossed the border!
If they see a rogue in their territory, they'll rip my fur out! He told himself.
Silvertail desperately searched for a way to get away from the patrol, but before he could sprint to safety, three cats jumped from the darkness. One was a tabby tom with dark amber eyes, another was a white tortoiseshell she-cat with unusually orange eyes, and the last was a small, dark she-cat, presumably an apprentice.
"Who are you, and why are you trespassing on Windclan territory?" The tabby asked furiously.
"He smells like a rogue!" The black apprentice mewed.
Silvertail gulped as the tortoiseshell praised her apprentice. "I thought I hadn't taught you what rogues smelled like yet, Sparrowpaw."
Sparrowpaw smirked happily.
"Whoever you are, you need to leave. Now." The tabby angrily told the rogue.
"Now don't be too harsh on him, Thunderstrike." The white she-cat meowed. "He's a loner, he's looking for a home."
"We don't accept loners and rogues into our clan, Thornleaf." Thunderstrike exclaimed with a sideways glance at the she-cat.
"Do we not?" Thornleaf smirked. She flicked her tail at Silvertail, gesturing for him to follow her, and strode back through the forest.
Sparrowpaw scampered after her, and Thunderstrike grumpily trailed behind them. Silvertail tried to process what had just happened, then, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, hurried after the patrol.
Chapter 2.
As the four cats entered the Windclan camp, Silvertail flinched at the arrogant stares from the other clan cats. Thunderstrike took Sparrowpaw to the other side of the camp, while Silvertail followed Thornleaf.
"Up here, this is Froststar's den." Thornleaf mewed to the loner, making her way up a small slope to a leafy den.
"Froststar? Is he your leader?"
"She"
"Sorry. She."
"Yes she is, and I think she'd be quite pleased to meet you."
Thornleaf stopped at the entrance to the den, and called her leaders name. Froststar answered with a quiet "Come in."
The white tortoiseshell brought Silvertail into the den, and the black tom took in the leaders appearance. She was a white she-cat, with grey stripes across her body, and ice blue eyes that widened when she saw the rogue.
"Who's this?"
"I- I'm Silvertail." He meowed nervously.
"He's a rogue we found during our border patrol. He's looking for a home." Thornleaf explained.
"Are you requesting he join Windclan?" Froststar asked with a smirk.
Thornleaf turned to Silvertail, and he stared back, before answering. "Okay. I guess that's alright."
"Then I will hold a clan meeting to tell everyone, and then Thornleaf can show you around camp, and introduce you to all the clan cats."
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Great Spruce!" Froststar called to her clan, bounding up a huge spruce tree, and settling on a thick branch that overhang the gathering area. Cats had already began to crowd around the tree, staring intently at their leader.
"Come on, it's time." Thornleaf said to Silvertail, making her way towards the meeting place. Silvertail followed, and sat down next to a ginger tom, Thornleaf on his other side.
"Thornleaf found a rogue on one of her border patrols." The leader told Windclan. Gasps of shock sounded from the cats, and the orange cat next to Silvertail shuffled away from him a bit, obviously noticing his scent.
"Now don't worry, this isn't a bad thing. From what he told me, he was exiled from Thunderclan for doing something he didn't do, and I have decided to accept him into Windclan." She flicked her ears at Silvertail, telling him to join her on the branch. The black tom stood up, and strode over to the tree, and sat next to Froststar.
"From this day on, Silvertail will be known as a member of Windclan." The leader rested her chin on the warriors head, and, remembering his apprenticeship in Thunderclan, licked her shoulder respectfully. When he sat up straight again, cheers came from the crowd, and his name was shouted.
Silvertail smiled. From now on, he was a member of Windclan.
Chapter 3.
Thornleaf led Silvertail to a small hole in the camp wall.
"This is the nursery. There are only 3 kits right now though, Shadowkit, Greykit, and Starkit, and only one queen, Darkcloud."
Silvertail peered through the entrance, and saw a completely black queen with three tiny kits nuzzling her; two were grey, and one was black like her.
Next, Thornleaf showed him the apprentices den.
"There are 6 apprentices: Bluepaw, Birchpaw, Nightpaw, Whitepaw, Lightningpaw, and Sparrowpaw."
The black tom saw the apprentices tumbling around just outside the apprentices den, playing happily with each other. Silvertail couldn't help but smile.
When Thornleaf led him to the warriors den, she informed him of all the cats. "We have 10 warriors: me, Toothclaw, Gustheart, Redblaze, Oakleaf, Burrowtail, Finchfeather, Mistfur, Ashfall, and you."
Silvertail stared at all the cats. He couldn't tell which one was which through a haze of ginger, tabby, white, grey, and black fur.
"And as you already know, Froststar is our leader, and Thunderstrike is our deputy." Thornleaf continued as she led the new warrior to a small den in the corner of the camp. "We have no elders, and our medicine cat is Cottonclaw. This is her den."
As Silvertail entered the medicine cats den, he saw the she-cat sorting through a pile of herbs. She had a light grey pelt, white paws, and a dark grey stripe down her chest. As she turned to look at him, her green gaze almost put the black warrior in a trance. If there was one word he could use to describe her, it would be beautiful. Although he knew medicine cats couldn't have mates, he still felt in love with her already.
"Cottonclaw has a pretty good story to tell you. How about you stay with her while I do a bit of training with Sparrowpaw?" Thornleaf mewed.
"That sounds great, thanks." Silvertail replied.
As Thornleaf left, he turned to face the medicine cat.
"So, I hear you're the new warrior? Silvertail?"
"Yes."
"Nice to meet you, Silvertail." She paused, obviously noticing the black toms loving stare. "Well... Would you like to hear a story?"
"Sure!"
"Okay. So, I was born a normal apprentice. I never was a medicine cat apprentice, but I was always good with herbs. I grew up as a normal warrior, and even had a mate, Thunderstrike. However, our previous medicine cat, Featherfur, never had an apprentice, and was killed by a fallen tree. The clan had to find a cat to replace her, since she had no apprentice, and decided I was the best cat for the job. So I had to end my relationship with Thunderstrike to take on a new role as the Windclan medicine cat."
Silvertail stared in awe at Cottonclaw. "Well... I know you're a medicine cat..."
Cottonclaw must have realised what he was going to talk about, and gave him a little smile. Silvertail knew she had feelings for him too. She placed her tail over his mouth to stop him carrying on, and, leaning forward, gave him a little nuzzle.
"Keep it a secret..." She mewed cheekily.
Chapter 4.
Four moons had passed since Silvertail had joined Windclan, and two apprentices had become warriors: Nightstrike, and Birchclaw. It was now newleaf, and the sun warmed Silvertails fur as he strode through the camp. The black warrior had kept his relationship with the medicine cat a secret, and so far, no cat had found out about it. Thunderstrike had started to become friends with him, and they had had a lot of good times together. He had gone out into the forest with the deputy to explore Windclan territory. Thunderstrike had needed to show his new apprentice, Shadowpaw around the territory, and decided to show Silvertail around it too.
The grey-tailed tom had become good friends with Thornleaf too, sometimes offering to help train Sparrowpaw with her.
Silvertail returned to the camp after a hunting trip with Oakleaf, Finchfeather and Ashfall, and, after placing his kill on the fresh kill pile, made his way to Cottonclaws den. When he entered, the medicine cat looked up at him.
"Ah, just the cat I was expecting. I need to go and get some more borage, and I need you to come with me. It's late, and I didn't want to go out in the dark without some company."
Silvertail nodded, smiled, and followed his mate out of the camp.
When the two cats returned with mouthfuls of borage leaves, they placed it inside the medicine cat den. Silvertail gave Cottonclaw a loving lick on the forehead before leaving the den. However, when he was only halfway out of the den, he bumped into another cat. From the scent, he recognised Redblaze. The red-ginger tom stared angrily into Silvertails blue eyes, making the black warrior slightly uncomfortable. Redblaze flicked his ears and strode toward Froststars den. Silvertail gulped, wondering what was wrong, and followed the warrior.
When the two toms entered the leaders den, Redblaze began to explain what he had seen to Froststar.
"I told you we shouldn't accept rogues into our clan. This cat obviously has no knowledge of the warrior code."
Froststar stared in disbelief at her warrior. "What in Starclan are you talking about?"
"Silvertail is in love with Cottonclaw." Redblaze held his leaders gaze intently.
Silvertails ears felt hot with embarrassment and his neck fur rose in panic.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I was going to go to Cottonclaw for some juniper berries for my headache, but I saw them both in the den nuzzling each other."
Froststar glanced at Silvertail. "Is this true?" She asked him, her voice beginning to fill with anger.
Silvertail stared at his leader for a while, shaking in fear. Then he hung his head in defeat.
"Yes..."
Chapter 5.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Great Spruce!" Froststar shouted, standing on the thick branch of the spruce tree.
Silvertail sighed. Cottonclaw, standing next to him asked: "Something wrong?"
"Yes... She found out about us."
Cottonclaw stared at her mate. "Did you tell her?"
"No." The black tom replied sadly. "Redblaze saw us and told her."
Before the grey she-cat could continue her conversation, Froststar called Silvertail over to her. He padded slowly over to the great tree, his gaze flicking around all the clan cats. Redblaze had obviously told everyone about him.
"Silvertail. I thought I could trust you." Froststar mewed to the black cat angrily. "I'm afraid I can't let you stay in Windclan if you are going to try and be mates with a medicine cat."
"Froststar, it was mainly my fault." Cottonclaw shouted up at her leader. "I agreed to love him and-"
"No, Cottonclaw." Silvertail replied, his voice filled with mixed emotions. "It was all my fault. I should have never even joined this clan..."
"You are a loyal Windclan cat, Cottonclaw. But him." She looked at the dark feline, his head hanging in shame. "He is no longer a member of Windclan."
Silvertails head suddenly shot up, and he stared at the white she-cat in shock. Cottonclaw gasped, looking at her leader as if to say: He didn't do anything wrong! Let him stay!
"For breaking the warrior code, I, Froststar, leader of Windclan, sentence you to exile. I never should have trusted you."
Silvertail felt tears welling in his eyes. This was the second time he had been kicked from his clan. Swallowing his tears, the black tom slowly padded towards the camp exit, not even glancing back at the other cats.
Cottonclaw stared after him, her ears flat against her head, her grey tail drooping with sadness.
Once again, Silvertail had failed to follow the code, and would now have to join another clan. He figured he couldn't swim, so Riverclan was not his type of clan, and Thunderclan would not accept him again. There was only one clan left.
Chapter 6.
Cottonclaw neatly arranged the various herbs in their piles, sighing sadly, remembering how Silvertail used to sit next to her and help her. Those times were over. She could never have a mate again. Then her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed she was nearly out of burdock root.
The grey cat left camp in search of the herb, feeling down from the fact that Silvertail wasn't traveling with her. She made her way toward the Shadowclan border, and saw the birch tree that sheltered the burdock roots underneath it. As she began to dig around the bottom of the tree, a scent caught her attention. She was on her side of the border, but the Shadowclan scent alerted her slightly. Judging by the smell, there was only one cat, and, peering into the darkness on the other side of the border, Cottonclaw saw a figure walking toward her. It was a new Shadowclan cat; she had never smelled it before, but she was sure she knew that scent from somewhere.
"Cottonclaw?"
The medicine cats green eyes widened at the familiar voice.
As the cat stepped out of the shadows, she recognized the sky blue eyes and grey tail tip.
Silvertail.
"Silvertail!" The light grey cat stood as close to the border as possible to greet her friend. "You joined Shadowclan?"
"Well I couldn't join any other clan." Silvertail replied with a cheerful smile.
"I'm just glad you have a new home. And, although we are from different clans now, I think we could still carry on our relationship secretly. And no one will find out since we're from different clans."
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Her mate replied, touching his nose to hers.
"So, what's it like in Shadowclan?" Cottonclaw asked curiously.
"Not as good as Windclan was. Russetstar is really cruel to her clan, but it's better than nothing. Also, have your clan been trying to steal prey and territory from us?"
"What?! No! Well, not that I know of."
"Oh, because Blackclaw, our deputy, has been coming back from patrols saying that he's seen Windclan cats attempting to steal prey from our land." Silvertail informed his mate. "Even sometimes trying to mark their territory on ours."
"I'll ask Froststar when I get back." Cottonclaw replied indignantly.
"Good. I've got to get back too. Russetstar will claw my ears off if I don't bring back enough prey." Without waiting for an answer, Silvertail turned tail, and headed back toward his own camp.
Cottonclaw finished digging up the burdock root, and made her way back to the Windclan camp. After leaving the herbs in her den, she headed toward her leaders den, but before she could call her name, she heard Froststar talking with Thunderstrike.
"How's the territory going?" Froststar asked her deputy.
"Good. We have taken quite a lot from Shadowclan, and the prey is running smoothly." The tabby replied.
Cottonclaw gasped quietly so as not to show her presence. She knew Thunderstrike was an ambitious cat from her experiences as his mate, but she never thought he would want to steal prey and territory from other clans.
Silvertail was right. Windclan were stealing Shadowclans territory.
Chapter 7.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath The Boulder for a clan meeting!" Russetstar called out to Shadowclan.
Silvertail slipped from the warriors den and sat down within the crowd of cats. When everyone had quieted down, the leader began.
"Windclan are stealing our territory, and our prey. In order to stop them, there is only one thing we can do."
All the other cats seemed to know what she was talking about, as they growled in angry joy, but Silvertail had no clue what was being planned.
"We head out at moonhigh. Be prepared, rested, and full. We don't want any weak warriors. Dismissed!" Russetstar leaped down from the huge rock, and the rest of the clan began to spread out, getting ready for whatever was to come.
Though he didn't know what was going to happen, Silvertail decided to eat, and have a rest. It was nearly sundown, and he didn't want to oversleep.
The black tom awoke from a paw poking him in the side. Looking up, Silvertail saw Smokeleg standing over him, his yellow eyes filled with impatience.
"Come on, we're leaving."
Silvertail pushed himself to his paws, the moon shining bright above him, and followed Smokeleg over to the crowd of Shadowclan cats gathered by the camp entrance.
"That's the last of them." The grey warrior told Russetstar.
"Good." Without warning, the Shadowclan leader raced through the exit. "Move out everyone!"
Her clan followed her, and Silvertail ran as fast as he could through the trees. He realised they were heading toward the Windclan border. The dark cat heard Blackclaw talking to his leader.
"I invaded Windclan territory and told them to meet us at the border at moonhigh." The deputy told Russetstar.
"Good." The leader said without any flare.
Silvertail skidded to a halt as Shadowclan stopped at the border. Peering over the shoulder of a tabby, his eyes widened at what he saw.
All of Windclan was standing in front of him.
Chapter 8.
Silvertail pushed his way to the front of the crowd. His heart flipped over at the sight of one cat in particular: Cottonclaw.
"Russetstar." Froststar exclaimed intently. "What have you called us here for?"
"Windclan have stolen our territory, and our prey, have they not?" The Shadowclan leader replied evilly.
"In all honesty, yes." Froststar held her gaze without flinching.
"Then I request a battle." Silvertail flinched, crouching to the ground a bit. He didn't want to fight! "If Windclan wins, you get to keep the territory you have stolen. But if we win, we shall take back our land."
"Agreed." The Windclan leader was about to flick her tail to begin the battle, but Russetstar interrupted her.
"Not just any battle. A battle to the death."
The Windclan cats gasped in horror. Even Shadowclan seemed terrorised by the thought.
"You know as well as any of us that that is against the warrior code." Thunderstrike mewed, stepping forward.
"Not when you're fighting a territory-stealing clan!" Before Froststar could reply, Russetstar signalled for her warriors to attack, and the Shadowclan cats lunged at Windclan.
Froststars clan sprang at the rivals too, and the border between Windclan and Shadowclan became a flurry of fur and claws.
Silvertail was knocked from his paws as a cat jumped on him. The black tabby noticed it was Gustheart. Though he used to be good friends with the brown tom, he kicked at Gusthearts stomach with his hind paws, throwing his attacker off. He got to his paws quickly, and slashed the tabby's nose.
Without waiting for him to flee, Silvertail turned and lunged at the nearest Windclan cat, and his eyes widened when he saw who his prey was. Thornleaf.
The white tortoiseshell didn't seem to recognise him, as she scratched his muzzle with her front paws, making him stagger backwards. Thornleaf didn't take much interest in him, as she turned around and began to attack a grey Shadowclan apprentice.
Silvertail scented a Windclan cat behind him and spun around, his back fur raising. Then he froze.
Cottonclaw.
His secret mate stared back at him, her eyes filled with fright.
"Should we use sheathed claws?" He asked the grey she-cat, struggling to be heard over the yowls of the fighting cats.
Cottonclaw didn't get the chance to answer before Froststar leaped next to her.
"If you are truly a loyal Windclan cat, you will fight Shadowclan. All of them." The Windclan leader told her warrior angrily before pouncing on a ginger Shadowclan she-cat.
Silvertail felt his own leaders gaze burning into his fur, telling him the same thing.
He had no choice.
Chapter 9.
Unsheathing his claws, he sprang. The world seemed to be going in slow motion as he raised his paw. The grey cat stared up at him as he flew toward her.
Cottonclaw yowled in pain as her mates claws pierced her throat, sending her crashing to the floor. Silvertail stared down at her, his eyes filled with sadness and anger. He shook the blood from his paw, before lifting it again.
Cottonclaw gazed up at the black warrior, her ears flat against her head. Then she felt the sharp talons cutting through her chest fur, before everything disappeared.
Silvertail looked down at his motionless friend, the first traces of tears welling in his eyes. Then another cat crashed into him, slamming him to the ground. He opened his tear filled eyes, his ears ringing from the loud fight. Silvertail stared at his attacker, before speaking in a pained voice.
"Thunderstrike...?"
Then the deputy's jaws clamped hard around his neck, and he felt warm blood dripping from the wounds, before his world went black.
The dark cat stared at the star filled clearing. The pain on his neck had vanished, and the ground lit up at each paw step he took. He saw another cat. Instantly, the tom recognised her grey pelt and green gaze.
"Cottonclaw, I'm so sorry I did that to you..." Silvertail told the she-cat.
"Don't worry. It's not your fault." Cottonclaw replied, padding toward him. "You were just being loyal to your clan. And now, we can be together, forever."
The starry she-cat placed her muzzle against her mates, intertwining her tail with Silvertails own.
"I love you Cottonclaw..." Silvertail quietly told her, closing his eyes.
"I love you too..."
The end.
