TWO
Oh no.
Not this.
Smokefur was running.
This can't happen.
But there was only so far he could run. Smokefur staggered to a stop at the ShadowClan border. From here, the sounds of Leafstar's gruesome and repetitive death were drowned out by the hum of the forest.
That apprentice!
He skidded in the leaves, spun around, tried to find a solution. The apprentice. Leafstar hanging. Smokefur hanging Leafstar. The apprentice watching. The apprentice running away.
"No, no!" Smokefur hissed, and now he was sprinting, flying across the mossy ground of ThunderClan territory. There was Smokefur, there was the ThunderClan camp full of unknowing, slumbering cats, and between the two was Robinpaw, fleeing just like Smokefur was.
"Robinpaw!" Smokefur shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice bounced through the trees. The best way to deal with this was confront Robinpaw head on, right? Intimidate him, so he was too afraid to get into camp and let his big, stupid mouth spill what he'd seen. "Robinpaw! I know you can hear me!"
Robinpaw was just a clumsy apprentice, he didn't have the gift of stealth and speed the way Smokefur did. It was only moments until Smokefur saw the apprentice sprinting through the forest, tail puffed up in fear, claws splayed. He was kicking dirt and leaves everywhere. Like a badger. Smokefur would have stopped to shake his head in dismay if his heart wasn't racing so fast.
"Robinpaw!" Smokefur bellowed, shooting after him. Robinpaw looked over his shoulder, saw the black warrior bearing down on him, and ran even faster, smacked into a thicket, and turned upside down. He scrambled over the ground desperately as Smokefur skidded to a stop behind him.
"Get away from me, mouse-brain!" Robinpaw spit. He started to run but Smokefur put his paw on his tail. "Let me go, come on!"
"Why were you in ShadowClan territory?" Smokefur snarled.
Robinpaw gazed into Smokefur's eyes. His were big and round and bright yellow. His mouth hung open as he gasped for breath from their reckless dash through the forest. "Why were you?" He echoed fearfully.
Smokefur was silent for a long time, trying to decide what to say. This brat. This stupid, delinquent apprentice. "What you saw wasn't what you think you saw," he tried.
"Sorry?" Robinpaw shouted. Smokefur hissed at him to keep his voice down. "I watched you hang some cat up in a tree! What in StarClan?!"
"Why were you in ShadowClan territory?" Smokefur growled again. "Apprentice?"
"I – I don't know," Robinpaw stammered. "I go there sometimes."
"You're a ThunderClan apprentice. What makes you think you'd be allowed in another Clan's territory, and at that, a Clan ThunderClan is in a rivalry with?"
"I didn't know, I don't keep up with that stuff," Robinpaw mewled. "I just like exploring."
"StarClan, did your mother drop you on your head when you were born? Does your mentor teach you nothing?"
"No, she hates me," Robinpaw mumbled. "Wait a second, why am I talking to you? Who the hell are you? What were you doing?"
"It's not – it's not any of your business," Smokefur snapped. "Just forget what you saw. What can I give you to make you just walk into the camp as if none of this ever happened."
"I don't want anything," Robinpaw meowed loudly. "I want you to stay away from me. I don't know who you are, even. Why should I trust you now?"
"I'm a ThunderClan warrior, you can trust me! I'd give a leg for this Clan!"
"Then why were you in ShadowClan killing that cat? Who was that, what were they doing? Like, dying over and over – oh StarClan, was that Leafstar? The leader?"
"It doesn't matter who it was. It's none of your business." Smokefur narrowed his eyes. "I would advise you forget this ever happened, if you know what's best for you."
"Just – just stay away from me," Robinpaw mewed, his voice shaking. He yanked his tail out from Smokefur's grip, turned and started to run for camp, looking continuously over his shoulder all the way.
What now?
Robinpaw was notorious among the Clan for his big mouth – all he did was screw things up, spill secrets, make inappropriate remarks. And now it was Robinpaw, Robinpaw, this incompetent, screw up of an apprentice that threatened to topple everything Smokefur had built himself into for years and years.
Smokefur hadn't always taken to killing other Clan cats. As an apprentice he was just as wide-eyed and eager as any other. Always wanted to prove himself, excited to become the best warrior in the forest.
But as he'd grown older he'd realized there had to be a cat looking out for ThunderClan – a guarding spirit, of sorts. Nobody would ever know, nobody ever had to know, but it would be Smokefur who kept his Clan from harm they could otherwise not deal with themselves.
Smokefur didn't need recognition. He didn't need Brightstar to pat his back and tell him how great he was for saving their Clan and protecting them from harm like no one else could. He broke the warrior code to protect his Clan – but he did only for good reason. All he needed was to see Dawnleaf's beautiful face and hear the innocent purrs of his kits. As long as the cats he loved were smiling, that was enough.
But this…this.
This was too much. For moons and moons nobody had so much batted an eye at Smokefur, never pegged him as anything more than a great hunter, a loyal warrior, and loving father. A good warrior to have in ThunderClan. Respected and liked by everyone, close to no one. Smokefur was the smartest warrior in the forest, the most cunning, the stealthiest, and he was always beyond careful covering his tracks. Nobody had ever seen him do anything to any cat.
And now this joke of an apprentice was what could topple all of that in an instant.
Smokefur didn't sleep that night. He hunted until dawn, hunted as much as he could and then more. He was exhausted and starving and reeling from the graphic images of Leafstar's violent end in his brain. He was so caught up in Robinpaw's discovery of his double life that he had forgotten to reflect on the kill he'd made.
Smokefur stumbled into camp, weighed down by squirrels, and dropped them heavily on the fresh-kill pile.
"Great work, Smokefur!" said Waterpelt, awake with the dawn, patting his shoulder with his tail tip.
"Yes, thanks…" Smokefur muttered. He stared into one of the glassy dead eyes of a hare he'd caught. Death. If Robinpaw was dead, there would be no conceivable way for him to tell anyone about what he'd seen in ShadowClan territory last night.
Robinpaw would never in a million moons see Smokefur coming.
He couldn't believe he was thinking like this.
Robinpaw was a ThunderClan cat – one of the cats he was trying to protect. It would be backward to kill him. It would go against every moral code Smokefur lived by.
But he also had to protect his secret. He had to protect himself.
"Dad!"
It was Sunpaw. She flounced from the apprentice's den, spying him staring with such intensity into the eyes of the dead rabbit. "Hey, baby," he purred to his daughter, trying to smother his anxiety, his trembling tail tip. "You're up early."
"I've got my first assessment today," she said. "Wish me luck!"
"Psh, you don't need luck."
She nuzzled against him, bouncing on her paws. "Hey, have you seen Robinpaw? He wasn't in the den last night."
"Uh – oh," Smokefur mewed, stiffening. "No, I haven't."
"I hope he's not missing," Sunpaw mewled. "I wanted to show him the squirrel I caught last night."
"If I see him I'll let you know," Smokefur said with apprehension. She bounced off to Brownwhisker, her waiting mentor.
Flanked by her senior warriors, Brightstar swept into camp and bounded onto the Highledge. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
On stiff legs, Smokefur ambled over. Brightstar's tail was puffed up, her eyes were round and circled with stress. "Cats of ThunderClan," she spoke, "Leafstar is reported dead."
"What?" Yowled Dewstripe, another warrior.
"I have spoken with ShadowClan's deputy, Iceblaze. He will be traveling to the Moonpool tomorrow. Leafstar's body was found hung in a tree just outside camp. Nobody knows what to make of it."
"What?" Dawnleaf whispered; she'd come to sit beside Smokefur with her swollen belly. "How?"
"A barbaric murder," Brightstar said clearly. "There was no recognizable scent of a culprit. ShadowClan is shaken, as is every Clan."
"But this gets rid of our problem!" Amberwind called. He looked around at the Clan for agreement. "She was going to butcher everything. And if she's dead, we don't have to worry about her anymore."
"That's true. Iceblaze has agreed to a truce with ThunderClan. The ShadowClan threat has been resolved." Brightstar slowly surveyed her entire Clan. "But Leafstar was still young, and only a new leader. She has had her chance to grow and mature stolen from her in her horrible death. Out of respect, the forest will mourn her."
"We want to know what happened!" Amberwind yowled. "If someone's going around hanging cats in trees, shouldn't we be scared too? What about the queens?"
"Everyone should be alert, especially at night," Brightstar meowed. "There are no answers as to what happened to Leafstar, but it was obviously horrific. Clearly someone wanted to take all her remaining lives in one move…but we don't know who this cat was."
Dawnleaf shuddered and pressed against Smokefur for support. He nervously licked the top of her calico head.
"I recommend we stay alert as a Clan for the next moon. We should celebrate that the ShadowClan threat is gone, but we should still travel in large patrols and watch our backs. Clan dismissed."
The Clan dispersed, but they were talking eagerly with each other. Amberwind, his usual loud self, was already gathering a small throng around him. "All I'm concerned with is that Leafstar is gone. It's a good thing. She was nuts. Whoever murdered her deserves a pat on the back. Honestly, I think maybe we've got some cat looking out for us."
Smokefur would have smiled if he wasn't thinking about Robinpaw so exclusively. He hadn't been there for the assembly.
Smokefur wandered into the forest.
Head down, eyes lowered, staring at the ferns and thickets without seeing them.
His paws silent and soft on the ground.
What he really needed was some time to think, some time to think and think and solve this problem. And Robinpaw was away now, which meant he was presently not a threat. Who knew where the apprentice was, maybe scrounging around in another place where he shouldn't be.
Smokefur went all the way to the lake.
There was a spot here, closer to WindClan territory, where old, wet branches and logs had accumulated at the bank in a little grove where the ground was steeper. It made a sort of cage, almost, and if a cat wasn't careful they could slip inside and struggle to get out. Smokefur crept here, hopped on top of the mesh of swollen branches and balanced himself neatly. He gazed out at the lake where it was full of sun and continuous, swelling ripples. Far away was the island where the Gathering had taken place last night, adjacent to RiverClan territory. Smokefur let the sun bathe his black fur.
If he didn't do anything about Robinpaw seeing him kill Leafstar, Robinpaw could squeal on him. And that could easily lead to exile. Smokefur was a very secretive cat – he prided himself in his secrecy, in his ability to hide so much from his Clan and loved ones while still caring about them so much. If the murder of Leafstar was exposed, other things could be as well. It wasn't the first time a Clan cat had "mysteriously" died at Smokefur's paw. If those blew up, everything else would unravel.
But to kill Robinpaw would be something else entirely. Smokefur was definitely a killer, he'd learned how to detach his emotions from his actions to get such gratuitous jobs done. But Robinpaw was kin, he was ThunderClan blood, he was one of the cats Smokefur was set on protecting, no matter how shabby of an apprentice he was.
He decided to make a list, a list of reasons not to kill Robinpaw, and a list of reasons to kill him.
First, the nots.
"He's kin," Smokefur said aloud.
"I work to protect ThunderClan."
"He's my daughter's best friend."
"He's an innocent apprentice."
"He's never done any wrongdoing."
"He's never hurt any cat."
And then…
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
His heart was palpitating by the time he was done speaking his piece. This was all so much. He moved on to the reasons why.
"He will tell someone."
Smokefur paused for a long, long time, running every possible situation through his head.
"I will be exiled from ThunderClan and I will lose everyone I've ever loved."
As darkness encircled him and corrupted his thoughts, as the world around Smokefur was colored gray and hopeless, he suddenly had a new thought.
Why had Robinpaw been in ShadowClan territory?
If he was really stupid enough to wander freely into an enemy Clan's territory like that, would he maybe be stupid enough to do other things as well?
Smokefur had his ways of sneaking into other Clan's territory, he had his careful, honed ways of gathering information about them as well, about his chosen target. But maybe Robinpaw's stupid was what he needed. Robinpaw was reckless, he clearly didn't think about his actions. Just maybe, Smokefur could use him as the perfect mule.
Smokefur started running, following near the WindClan border, head down to try and snatch Robinpaw's scent. He traveled for a long time before he caught it, fairly stale but glaringly obvious, crossing straight into WindClan territory. Smokefur hopped into the freezing stream to wash his scent off; he was always so careful, and then followed it into the grassy moor.
He spied Robinpaw comically trying to hunt a rabbit, crouched down with his rump in the air, his black and white tail swinging wildly. The rabbit spied him, ran, and Robinpaw raced after it, slipped in damp earth, and fell on his face.
When he looked up, Smokefur was already right there.
"StarClan!" He shouted, toppling over in his surprise even more.
"Nice catch," Smokefur growled sarcastically.
"Shut up," Robinpaw snapped. "Why are you here?! Leave me alone!"
"As your superior," Smokefur meowed dangerously, "I am ordering you to get out of WindClan territory."
Robinpaw trotted quickly toward the border, ears back. Smokefur followed close behind as they tumbled into the woods together.
"Robinpaw," Smokefur growled, rounding on the black and white apprentice. "If you speak a word to anyone about what you saw in ShadowClan territory, I will tell them I found you in WindClan territory."
"Why should I be scared of that?" He snapped. "If I breathe a word about the kind of sick cat you are, you're going to be out of this forest before you can say mouse."
Smokefur let a silence sit between them for a bit.
"Then if you tell anybody, I will kill you."
Robinpaw was silent and terrified. "Listen, I don't want any trouble…just leave me alone."
"Robinpaw, why are you so uncaring about being a warrior?" He asked thoughtfully.
"I am caring. I'm so caring. Look at me."
"Don't lie to me, little cat. The entire Clan badmouths you and your poor training marks. They say you can't even catch a shrew."
"Well, nobody really likes me," he mewed, ears flat. "Sunpaw's my only friend. My mentor makes fun of me because I'm so clumsy."
"But you don't feel the urge to protect your Clan? Or hunt for them?"
"Not so much…why should I."
"Hmm," Smokefur muttered. He stood and started to walk.
"Listen, I don't care if you tell anyone I was in WindClan territory," Robinpaw mewed after him. "I don't care what happens to me in this Clan."
"If you don't care, that's why I can't trust you. If you don't care, what reason do you have not to tell anyone what you saw in ShadowClan last night?"
"Why don't you tell me what that was?" Robinpaw said loudly. "Who's Nightwind?"
"I am Nightwind," Smokefur said quietly. "I tell any cat I communicate with outside of ThunderClan my name is Nightwind. That way, nobody can use my real name against me."
"But…why?" Robinpaw mewled. "Why kill a cat like that? Who are you to decide who lives and who dies?"
"Everything I do, I do for this Clan," Smokefur snarled. "I have saved ThunderClan from pending danger countless times, singlehandedly, and nobody has never known or will ever know."
"You do that…often?" Robinpaw gasped, appalled.
"More than once…yes."
"You're, like, an assassin. Wow! No way!"
"Keep your voice down!"
"I always thought you were just a fuddy-duddy old cat puttering around with your silly mate."
"Excuse me?"
"So you just kill the bad cats?"
"I kill cats that have wronged ThunderClan, that have killed our own unfairly or in cold blood. Or cats that present a near and real danger."
Robinpaw started walking toward camp.
"I need to know I can trust you to keep quiet!" Smokefur shouted after him.
"Who cares what I do?" Robinpaw said over his shoulder, looking put out. "Nobody in the Clan does, that's for sure."
Smokefur cursed after he disappeared. But this time it was not with the same panic he'd had last night, because now it was clear to Smokefur what he had to do.
Robinpaw's mentor was Windfang, a young warrior with a sharp tongue and snarky personality, and Smokefur could see why the two would not be a good fit. Smokefur tailed Windfang. Far behind, in the trees, watched her travel through the forest, hunting, sometimes with other cats, somehow without. Deep into the woods he followed her, ever so slowly growing closer and closer until it was sunset and the forest was turning cool. He snuck closer while she dug a hole to bury prey for later.
Silent, his paws flicked over the ground as he dashed up to her and sprang upon her neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered into one of her pale ginger ears, sinking his teeth into her spine. "I have to do this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Her body jerked once, but the severance of the nerves in her snapped neck killed her instantly and painlessly. Her body melted beneath him, soft and small and still warm. With his eyes closed and his breath held tensely in his throat, Smokefur eased her body into the hole she'd dug for the prey, curled her up and buried her, packing the dirt down with his paws to ensure she was well hidden. He dragged dead moss and leaves over the spot with his teeth and rubbed his scent everywhere to cover hers.
Smokefur strode home to camp covered in clumps of dirt and guilt.
The disappearance of Windfang was quickly brought to everyone's attention. Within a day search patrols were swarming ThunderClan territory, and Smokefur watched with silent remorse as his Clan was swept with worry, mumbling to each other, fearing for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones, not understanding.
"You're gone so much," Dawnleaf said when he sat with her in the nursery later for dinner. The nursery was empty, it was just the two of them and their unborn children in her stomach. "You come home so late."
"I'm so busy hunting," he muttered.
"I worry about you."
Dawnleaf was tense and melancholy, she was greatly affected by Windfang's creepy disappearance so soon after the abhorrent murder of Leafstar. When Dawnleaf was sad it was written all over her face, it was held in her body and colored in her fur. She was a cat of much emotion, she couldn't lie, she was sensitive to the feelings of everyone around her. Tonight she picked at the vole Smokefur had brought her and wouldn't look up at him.
"Dawnleaf, I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I wouldn't want anything to happen to you," with her paws trembling.
"You know I'm safe, love."
"Sometimes I – sometimes I think of you, you know. When I'm lying here feeling the kits kick. I think of how much I want you to come home. I wouldn't…want them to never meet their father. I wouldn't want you to just be a story I told them."
"Love, love," Smokefur purred very quietly, stretching his face toward hers to try and get her to look up at him. "Love, look at my face. Look at how safe I am."
She met his eyes and nodded tersely.
"I'm out there protecting you, that's what. Just think of that. I'm protecting you. I'm protecting Sunpaw." He touched his tail tip to the side of her swollen stomach. "I'm protecting them."
She seemed somewhat comforted, but Dawnleaf was a smart cat, and her feelings weren't easily dismissed. Before she'd become a queen the Clan had relied on her for her intuition. It was almost like she had a sixth sense, she sensed something was coming before it did. Quite a few toms had followed her about before she'd chosen Smokefur as a mate.
When Windfang continued to not appear, continued to be missing, Smokefur took quiet action. He visited Brightstar in her den, after she was finished sharing tongues with Waterpelt.
"Brightstar? I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Come in," she said softly. "How are you doing?"
"I'm…well. Worried about my family, because of the disappearance and what happened to Leafstar but…I'm sure we'll be safe."
"May StarClan watch over us all," Brightstar mewed grimly.
"Listen, about Windfang's apprentice."
"He is quite a pawful."
"I was thinking. If Windfang doesn't show up…"
Brightstar stared at him.
"I'd like to take over Robinpaw's training."
