A/N: HI! Spirit of the Brook here with the 2nd chapter of The Fall of the Clans! Gods, the first chapter was intense. But now, we are faced with more intensity, cliff hangers and dramatic twists with romance and action and death and grief and….. *sigh* I need to calm down. Okay, time for the next chapter! OMO (Oh my Olympians), I can't believe it's already past Christmas!
*Dovewing's POV*
Dovewing sensed the camp before she even got there. Her special senses picked up the sound of wailing and screeching. These were the sounds of torture and she guessed that this would be where the camp was.
She began steering herself in that direction, but a large blue gray tom stopped her. His nostrils flared and his eyes flashed dangerously, showing that he had already dealt with some tough cats earlier and he was not one to be messed with now.
Dovewing fell back into line, casually strolling along, but eyeing where the wails came from. "What're you looking at?" the tom grunted. "Something caught your eye?"
She shook her head. "It's nothing," she muttered. "Aw, c'mon. I know somethin' got yer attention, miss!" He prodded her in the shoulder harshly. Dovewing whipped around, her blue eyes blazing in indignant rage.
"Would you stop it, you hulking idiot?" she hissed, pushing through the line of cats. She didn't care that the Dark Forest warriors were chasing after her. She was going into hiding. She was never coming back to this horrible camp for slaves.
Dovewing quickly lost the other warriors and plunged through ThunderClan's thick undergrowth and trees. She hooked her claws in an oak's bark and shot up the tree like a squirrel.
She got a good look at the surrounding area and she quickly spotted the ThunderClan camp. Smiling, she began to jump from branch to branch, steadying herself until she finally reached the top of the hollow.
She let out a breath of relief and jumped down. Dovewing peered into the camp and immediately, she knew that someone had been using the camp as a place to hide. Herbs were scattered everywhere around Jayfeather's den and she could see slight movements in the darkness of the cave.
She snuck down through the camp entrance and bounded silently across the bottom of the hollow. She reached the medicine cat den and she cautiously took a step in. A flash of golden fur hit her and tackled her to the ground.
Dovewing gasped with pain as her attacker began to dig her claws into her stomach. Suddenly, they stopped and she opened her eyes to be faced with a familiar golden tabby face.
"Lionblaze!" she meowed in delight. But her happiness dimmed when she saw the serious look on her former mentor's face. "What is it?" she asked, concerned for the tom.
"Cinderheart," he muttered. Dovewing's jaw dropped. "You brought her?" she hissed. Lionblaze nodded and she saw the tears gathering at the edges of his amber eyes.
"She just kitted," he replied, looking up with an expression as hard as steel. "Follow me." Dovewing sighed and followed the older warrior until they were in the shelter of the cave.
"Oh, hey, Dovewing," Jayfeather, who seemed to appear out of nowhere greeted the gray she-cat. "I'm assuming you've heard the news?"
"Yes," she replied, dipping her head even though he was blind. "Where is she?" Jayfeather stared down blankly at his paws in guilt. He took a deep breath as if to steady himself. "She's dead. She died when the third kit was born."
"No, she couldn't have died," she breathed, shaking her head in disbelief. "She was so young and strong. You can't be serious….right?" The word "right" came out as a weak squeak.
Jayfeather didn't respond, but Dovewing immediately knew that he was being serious. She took a moment to grieve for the loss of Cinderheart. Then she held her head up high, tears streaming down her cheeks and boldly declared, "I'll take care of them."
"Who?" Lionblaze asked flatly, his head drooping in pain and grief and his eyes red from crying. "There's nobody left."
"The kits are still alive, though, am I correct?" she asked, desperately hoping that she was right. Jayfeather hesitated then nodded, his blind blue eyes admitting defeat which Dovewing was pretty sure was a mystery feeling to him.
"Then where are they?" she asked. He motioned his tail to a small crevice in the wall that she had not noticed before. She padded over to the crevice and peered inside. There were three mewling kits; one was a tortoiseshell like Cinderheart's mother, Sorreltail and another was gray like its mother. But the last one was a bright golden tabby, like Lionblaze.
"What were you going to name them, Lionblaze?" Dovewing asked her former mentor. The tom walked over and looked at his three kits. "I was going to name this one, Mistkit," Lionblaze meowed, gesturing to the gray she-kit. "Cinderheart said she would name the second one, but now that she's not here-"he winced-"I guess I'll have to name it."
"So," Dovewing replied awkwardly. "Which one was born second?" Lionblaze dipped his head to the tortoiseshell that was also a she-kit. "How about Fallenkit, since her mother fell to StarClan's will?" he asked, yet again wincing at his mate's death.
She nodded. "Fallenkit is a beautiful name," she assured the new father. "What about the golden tabby?"
Lionblaze thought for a moment then looked Dovewing straight in the eye. "I think you should name him," he meowed warmly. She was taken aback by the request.
"Me?" she stuttered. He nodded and smiled, his amber eyes glowing with amusement. "Uh, okay," the young warrior responded and she looked upon the golden tom-kit. He looked so much like his father, except he had several tiny black spots under his closed eyes. Dovewing nodded confidently. It would be a perfect name, considering both he and his father resembled noble, proud ancient cats….
"I say his name should be Leopardkit," she announced, smiling at the little tom-kit mewling at his new name. "Mistkit, Fallenkit, and Leopardkit," Lionblaze whispered, grinning and picking up his only son by the scruff of his neck.
Then alarm flashed in his eyes. "Do you have any milk for them?" he asked, his voice muffled by Leopardkit's fur. Dovewing glanced around awkwardly. "Uh…. Yeah," she said in a small voice, glancing at Jayfeather. "I figured out that I was expecting Bumblestripe's kits a few days ago."
"Then you can suckle my kits, right?" he asked. "You can be their adoptive mother?" Dovewing nodded, understanding completely Lionblaze's pain and worry.
The golden tabby warrior laid down all three kits at her belly and she nuzzled each one comfortingly. They immediately started suckling and Dovewing smiled down upon them.
Mistkit, Fallenkit, Leopardkit, she thought. Raised in a safe environment.
*Silverkit's POV*
The trip through the forest was not safe at all. When the Dark Forest won, it seemed to affect the forest around her. All the trees had turned black and pieces of bark fluttered off like flakes of ash when Silverkit bumped into one of them.
She peered nervously over her tiny shoulder to see Cutthroat. He was padding along with a smug, determined look on his face. Immediately, Silverkit knew that he was not one to be trusted. The very pale gray she-kit shuddered and looked ahead. The trees seemed to be closing in on the dusty, soot colored path and she could almost feel eyes in them boring into her pelt.
Finally, they reached a clearing with a large gray tree stump in the middle. Vines curved around it and their leaves trembled and made a strange whispering sound like they were afraid of what they possessed. At the far end of the clearing was her mother, Whitefoot, queen of RiverClan.
Her snowy fur was riddled with pale gray stripes and she had deep midnight blue eyes, which were so dark they almost looked black. They glistened with tears and when she finally spotted Silverkit, she began to struggle against her captors, hissing and wailing in agony.
Silverkit's heart ached for her mother and she forced herself to look at the ground for fear that she might start crying. She looked off to the sidelines. Clan cats were being herded into a small corral, their pelts giving off an unbearable stench.
She gulped. She could tell that they had been abused for the past hour. Was this truly her future? Silverkit had planned to grow up as an apprentice then a warrior. She would've found a loving mate and had kits together. But now, her dreams were in the process of being shattered to bits. Through the darkness, though she believed there was hope.
Silverkit glanced over at the opposite side of the corral of warriors. A giant metallic red Twoleg machine was standing at the edge of the woods. Inside was Tigerstar, his amber eyes glowing with an evil light.
She switched her gaze over to Coyoteclaw who was staring at the stump with a noble, yet pained look on his face. She could tell what she had said to him had changed him and she could sense the longing in him to stop Tigerstar and his minions and save the Clans.
"Greetings, all cats!" Tigerstar boomed his voice amplified over another Twoleg object. "You have been brutally ushered into The Corral, where you shall watch a criminal be murdered. This cat, Whitefoot of RiverClan opposed my rule to protect her precious kits." He sneered. "This is for all cats who wish to disobey me so that they may know that they will be punished severely for their actions. Be warned… Let the trial begin!"
A massive coal black wolf came out from the shadows around the Twoleg machine, its red eyes gleaming with malice. Its paws were bigger than Coyoteclaw and Silverkit combined. It snarled and snapped at every living thing in and around the clearing. He walked up to Whitefoot and Silverkit's heart nearly stopped when her mother glared at the beast and snapped right back.
The wolf gave a cold grin with pointy pure white teeth stained red at the tips. It suddenly bent down and closed its slavering jaws around Whitefoot's scruff. She shrieked in pain and Silverkit gave a little gasp of horror. It swung its head around to point directly at the stump. Then, without another moment's hesitation, tossed her mother straight into the vines.
Silverkit's eyes widened in fear as the vines began to curl around Whitefoot's body, squeezing her tighter and tighter. The wolf walked up with a spiteful smile on its muzzle. Finally, it spoke. Its voice was deep and hollow and resonated through the entire clearing. "Do you accept that Tigerstar is your ruler and you shall serve him forever and ever?"
Don't agree, Mother, Silverkit pleaded. They'll kill you, anyways. "Never!" Whitefoot boldly screeched. The wolf let out a low, snake-like hiss and glared at her. "FINISH HER!" Tigerstar roared.
It was at this moment that time seemed to slow down. Silverkit sped through her short life; all her memories of greeting her father in the RiverClan camp, the night her father went out on a patrol and never came back, her mother telling her that he had been murdered by a Dark Forest warrior, the day she figured out the Clans were at war with the Dark Forest, sticking with her brother as they were surrounded by Dark Forest warriors, their mother being captured, meeting Coyoteclaw, and now she saw Whitefoot being slain on a tree stump.
With one last scream, her mother was gone.
