A/N: This is a one-shot for the NeonClan April monthly writing contest, theme of revenge. Enjoy!
She is a leader for a reason. She can see the contempt in the eyes of her clanmates, hear the whispers of disdain for their leader they once so admired. She sees and hears all, yet ignores, as is the gift of a leader. They may tell tales of her monstrosity in the nursery to frighten kits long after she is gone, the tales of Snowstar and the blood she spilt one dark moon-high, she knows. However, beneath the sneers and the mutters, there lies a thin layer of buried admiration for no leader, no cat could ever have done what she did. She was the only cat brave enough to take the only path she saw open for her clan, and take it she did. Perhaps she is as ruthless, as bloodthirsty as they say, but she also saved her Clan and ensured their safety and she hopes that StarClan will reflect on that when she reaches Silverpelt.
Cats part as she pads out of camp, white fur pristine and muzzle raised challengingly. If she can feel their hesitation, she takes no notice of it and exits with barely a glance towards her deputy, Blackfur.
The price she paid was a high one, the price for her Clan's honor. It cost her everything, her reputation, her Clan's love, her own littermate. Her duty demanded that she give up everything to guide her Clan, and she did, leaving a trail of bloody pawprints behind her. No cat will ever know why she did it, who she did it for, only that it was necessary.
In the end, it was never about the stolen territory or the angry jeers at the gathering, no, it was about revenge and always had been.
Revenge.
It was revenge that ended Snowstar's peaceful leadership and began a cycle of blood that stained her fur and her heart forever.
It was revenge that caused the one cat Snowstar had ever loved to run far far away from her, yet it was that very cat who she had been trying to avenge.
As she wraps her tail around her paws and watches the wind move the rippling lake, Snowstar remembers...
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
"Daaawnstorm! Dawnstorm, where in the name of StarClan are you?!"
Snowstreak yowled for her littermate irritably like an elder calling for their bedding to be changed. Cats scattered out of her way as she paced relentlessly through camp, calling for her sister.
The sun dipped ominously lower in the crimson sky and Snowstreak growled anxiously, smacking her tail on the ground, sending up a cloud of dust that covered her shining fur.
"Hey! Watch it young'un!"
Stoneheart grumbled grouchily as dust landed on his silver muzzle and made him sneeze.
"Sorry." Snowstreak apologized hastily and quickly moved away, resisting the temptation to remind the heavily scarred elder that she was the deputy, not a young'un.
Where was Dawnstorm? She said she would be back when the hunting patrol returned, but the patrol had arrived at camp with everycat but Dawnstorm. Snowstreak narrowed her eyes against the glare of the sun and gave the camp a swift glance to see if she'd missed her.
Snowstreak volunteered for the moon-rise watch when Dawnstorm did not return to camp by sun-down and vowed that if she were not back by moon-high, she would personally track her littermate down and drag her back to camp.
Snowstreak's eyes were dangerously close to shutting when she heard the light pawsteps of her sister. Instantly, she became alert and waited for Dawnstorm to pass her by before mewing a simple,
"You were gone a while."
Danwstorm froze and turned slowly to face her littermate's accusing gaze.
"I didn't think there was a rule against going out of camp."
"No, but there is a rule about showing up for your patrol. You were supposed to be on the sun-down border patrol."
Dawnstorm sighed and looked down at her paws. "I'm sorry I missed my patrol. I can make it up next sun-high."
"You'll make it up on the early sun-rise hunting patrol. I think your clanmates can make better use of their sleep, given as they didn't miss their evening patrols." Snowstreak mewed firmly.
Dawnstorm snapped her head up, eyes flashing. After a moment, the blaze abated and she dipped her head down again.
"Yes, Snowstreak." Her mew was resigned, with only a hint of defiance in it as she began heading towards the warriors den. Soon, the shadows swallowed her up and all Snowstreak could see was her silver tail before that too disappeared and she was left staring after her littermate, wondering what she could've possibly been doing.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
It didn't take long for Snowstreak to follow her sister one sun-high, naturally curious cat that she was. She padded determinedly a safe distance away from Dawnstorm, as the other she-cat would occasionally pause and check behind her. With every pawstep, Snowstreak's suspicions grew until she knew exactly where her littermate was heading and her heart began to sink with dread.
Snowstreak remained hidden in the shadows as Dawnstorm crossed the IceClan border cautiously and vanished on the other side, tail waving excitedly. Soon, Snowstreak could hear two mews, one soft and gentle, the other... rumbling and masculine.
Tail dragging and eyes downcast, Snowstreak returned to camp with a heavy heart. As deputy, she had to deal with this and she had a responsibility to be fair and just to all her clanmates. Reluctantly, she settled her paws underneath her and waited for Dawnstorm to return.
The confrontation between the littermates was fast and furious, on both sides. Both she-cats parted for the warriors den with churning emotions and heavy hearts.
Snowstreak was not naive enough to think that her famously stubborn sister would stop seeing the IceClan tom, but she had hoped that after she had become leader, her word would carry more weight with her littermate. She was mistaken, and spent many a gathering watching Dawnstorm disappear into the shadows with a certain IceClan warrior, eyes narrowed with a dark anger.
But her deep love for Dawnstorm would always be stronger than any fleeting resentment, as she found out one freezing leaf-bare moonhigh.
"Snowstar."
There was an emptiness in Dawnstorm's eyes and a defeated air that clung to her pelt like dew. Snowstar listened with a cautious ear as Dawnstorm told her of how her IceClan warrior had taken a mate in his own clan, spurning Dawnstorm at every opportunity and cruelly jeering at her during gatherings.
Snowstar's rage was cold and calculating and far outstripped any indignation she had felt for her littermate's code-breaking. No cat would ever hurt her sister, she had promised, and she intended to keep that promise.
IceClan's bold statement at the next gathering that they deserved half of FrostClan's territory, for FrostClan was nothing but a clan of rogues and kittypets only served as a convenient excuse for Snowstar to launch her attack.
The elders say that all the blood spilled that day not only stained her paws, but her soul, which turned a violent red. However, only one life mattered that day which Snowstar took, and watched the IceClan tom who had rejected her sister bleed his life out on the frosted grass, with barely a trace of emotion.
The look of horror on Dawnstorm's face when she discovered what Snowstar had done would remain with her forever. Dawnstorm was gone the next sun-high, had ran as far away as she could and Snowstar had never laid eyes on her since.
Snowstar slips out of the memory, head down, eyes lowered. It was revenge that led her to destroy an entire Clan, revenge that permanently marked her as a monster, and in the end, it gave her nothing but sorrow.
Snowstar, more than any cat, knows the dangers of revenge. And yet, if it would've made her sister stay, she would've done it all again.
A/N: Please do leave a review if you have the time. Thanks for reading!