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"Shardscar! A good name for a traitor like you."
And something inside of him snapped.
"NO!" Shardscar screamed. He turned on Skytalon and swiped a claw at his face. "You think you're so great," He snarled at his old mentor.
He clawed him again, and a drop of blood fell to the ground.
"ThunderClan, ThunderClan, let's help everyone!" He yelled, turning on everyone. "But then you find a kit that's done nothing wrong and you scar it for life, just to remind you that Scourge was my father!" He screamed.
Firestar stood in horror atop the highrock, frozen to the spot. This wasn't supposed to be happening.
"And you!" He shouted, clawing Skytalon again. "You act like I'm your slave; 'bring back three rabbits, I'll give you another scar if you don't shut up, five mice or you can't eat for a day!'" He screamed in aggravation.
"You idiots think you're superior to everyone else, don't you? That nothing can hold you down!" He leapt at Skytalon, getting a hold of his throat.
He could feel him shaking in terror and surprise as he held him down.
"It's…it's unfair!"
There was a scream, then silence around the entire clearing.
Shardscar looked down at the limp body before him, the blood dripping from his jaws.
Skytalon's blood.
"Traitor!" Ashfur screeched, and he tackled Shardscar, catching him off guard.
"Scourge is your father; you're no different!" He yowled, and brought up a single claw.
"That first Mark," He spat into Shardscar's face as the new warrior tried to squirm out of the way, "Was just a warning, you know. This is the real thing."
He tore his claw across his forehead, once then twice as the tomcat screeched in agony.
Shardscar cursed at him and bit into his neck. Ashfur's grip loosened as he yowled in pain and Shardscar darted across the clearing and out the entrance.
"Get him," Ashfur yowled as he staggered toward Leafpool's den. "Get him and kill him!"
A few warriors darted after Shardscar, hot on his trail.
He darted back and forth, then finally spotted the stream and ran across it, water spraying everywhere. He threw a glance back at the stream and saw his blood swirling in it.
The warriors stopped at the stream, staring in horror at the water and a few scrunching up their nose at the acrid scent of ShadowClan. "He passed the border!" Brackenfur hissed.
"It's ShadowClan's problem now," Spat Dustpelt, glancing at the other tom. They looked across the border one more time then they turned and went back the other way.
Shardscar tried to catch his breath, collapsing from fatigue and loss of blood. His eyes stung as blood dripped into his eyes.
"ShadowClan," He mumbled. That meant…
No. What were the chances? He curled up in misery and exhaustion and licked a wound on his chest feebly. As he lifted his head and glanced around anxiously, he felt the edges of his vision beginning to darken.
There was a roaring in his ears, then everything turned black and he felt his head hit the ground.
He awoke freezing. What had happened? Weakly lifting his head, he stared in awe at the barren land blanketed in white. Shardscar sat up, and a thick coat of snow fell off of his back.
It had snowed. He shook his head and smelled the air. It was completely clean, with just the vague scent of ShadowClan lingering. It must have masked my scent, He thought. He yawned, and a sharp pain shot through his face.
As he came to a realization and staggered to his paws he felt multiple wounds tear back open. "StarClan, no…not again…please…" He staggered to his paws, ignoring his blood pooling in the white snow, and cocked his ears despite the ominous feeling he had in the back of his mind. "Please...don't do this to me again," he whispered.
Water. A stream. He could hear a stream. He turned and limped to where he heard it, his mind twisted to the single determination to reach it. His body was numb with cold, and the pain was slowly revealing itself again as he moved.
The stream was there when he reached it a few minutes later. Staring down at his reflection, his eyes widened.
His face still home to a few traces of snowflakes, a bloody X marked his forehead. He bowed his head, letting out a choked sob.
The first had been a warning, Ashfur had said. The second…was the real thing. He was exiled. Banned. He couldn't go back.
Suddenly the acrid scent of ShadowClan flared in his nostrils. He tensed. A patrol was coming right toward him. The only way to avoid them would be…
Back into ThunderClan.
Shardscar let in a deep breath, then stood up again, trying to ignore the cold, numb feeling beginning to seep through his paws.
With a shake of his pelt to rid himself of the snow that had since fallen on him, he took a step forward. He felt nothing but cold as his paw touched the soft white blanket.
He paused, took another breath, and leapt through the undergrowth silently.
An unexpected change of wind direction made him freeze. He was upwind of a group of cats – two or three at the least.
"Hey! I smell ThunderClan…!" He bit his tongue as the undergrowth rustled and two cats – one brown and one gray – appeared.
The gray one let out a yowl. "Intruder!" He screeched.
"Cedarheart!" Hissed the brown tom. "He's getting away!"
Shardscar shot into the brush, not expecting his paws to fail on him from the brutal cold. He tripped as one went limp and crumpled beneath him. He tumbled into a clearing –
And down a cliff.
Shardscar let out a wild yowl, clawing the air for something to grip. He screeched as he hit the ground with a thump, and his body became limp as much as he tried to prevent it.
He glanced up at the cliff to see a very familiar she-cat pelt through the undergrowth, before he closed his eyes and only became distantly aware of what they were saying.
"Oakfur, Cedarheart! What happened? I heard a yowl and -"
"We found a ThunderClan intruder. He fled, but he must have twisted a paw or something because he lost his footing and went off the cliff."
The white she-cat bent over the edge and held her breath as she recognized the crumpled and bloody tom at the bottom of the cliff.
"I'll bring him back to camp, you two. Finish patrolling the ThunderClan border."
"Snowbliss, are you sure?"
"Positive. He doesn't seem like much trouble. Now go."
Shardscar took a breath and felt his head spin. His front paw was numb from the cold. It was the one that had thrown him off a cliff. His whole body ached from the shock of falling that far.
Quite a lot of trouble for a single day, he though faintly. He set his head down and closed his eyes.
Shardscar awoke to a soft light. Glancing wearily around, he found himself in a den of some sort. ThunderClan? No, the scent of ShadowClan hung in the air.
Someone was talking outside the den.
"Snowbliss brought him into the camp, Blackstar. He was nearly frozen solid. He was torn up too. Snowbliss suggested we keep him as a prisoner."
"Do you know who he is?"
"Some cats do. They say he's Shardpaw of ThunderClan."
Shardscar's eyes widened. They knew who he was.
"Is he awake?" Blackstar demanded.
"Yes."
"Good. Send Snowbliss in to question him."
"Of course."
The next thing he knew, he saw a pretty white she-cat slipping through the entrance and staring at him in a mix between relief and fear.
"Shardpaw!" She hissed at him. "Are you okay!?"
"I-I'm fine..." He tried to stand up, but all four paws throbbed in pain.
"You fell down a cliff."
He glanced at her. "I'm fine. Why do you care so much anyway?"
She sat down. "Because you're mistreated, for one thing. And for another, if the 'prisoner' died Blackstar would kill me."
He shook his head and tried to get to his paws. They were numb and sore, but weren't cold anymore.
"What happened? Why were you in ShadowClan?" She asked quietly.
"They gave me my warrior name," He whispered. "Shardscar. My mentor started insulting me...He was saying that it was a good name for…for a traitor... I attacked them…Everyone started jumping at me...Ashfur put the X on my forehead…said the first Mark had been a warning and that this was the real thing. I ran across the border but I passed out...I-I woke up t-to the patrol…" He tried to catch his breath. Snowbliss was looking at him sympathetically.
"We can't let Blackstar know who you are," She said doubtfully. "If he finds out you'll have nowhere to go."
He stared at her. "Thanks, I guess..."
"I'll say that you're just a loner," She began after a few moments bearing a thoughtful pause, licking him once. "And that you were trying to flee from a rogue that attacked you."
He glanced at her. "All right." He laid down. "I guess I can live with being prisoner for a while."
"One more thing," she whispered as she backed out of the den, pausing as he stood up curiously.
"The gathering's tonight. Chances are Firestar's not going to be keen on keeping this a secret," She told him quietly.
He sighed, and laid down again. "That'll be a problem. But can we deal with that when it's necessary?"
She nodded. "Fine by me."
He set his head on the ground. "Will you come back later?" He asked her as she started to leave.
She glanced back at him for a second. "Sure," She said quietly, and left.
"Leafpool."
Firestar stepped into the medicine cat den, the moonlight bathing the floor in a white glow.
She looked up at him. "Firestar. Has StarClan contacted you yet?"
"No," He answered, glancing outside wearily, where he could hear cats chatting idly. "Nothing but the prophecy."
"If it's all they're willing to give us right now it must be important to remember our patience," She told him.
"This will be a hard time for ThunderClan, if it means what I think it means," He muttered, looking at his daughter with doubt in his eyes.
"If StarClan wills it, we will have to align with cats we would never think of joining," She agreed quietly.
Firestar was silent for a couple of moments, then he spoke, his voice low.
"I just don't understand what we are to do when he returns."
She rubbed up against him. "StarClan will show us when it's time."
He licked the top of her head. "I hope you're right," He sighed, looking toward the moon.
"I just wish all of this didn't have to happen."
LostBluePhantom - XD
Izzy - Thank you:)
Ferntail - I appreciate that a whole lot! I'll keep those things in mind. These are the kind of reviews I like the best!
Rainstorm007 - Thanks! There will be quite a few cliffies in the story. ;)
