Warrior's Creed Ch 4
Bluestar Tallstar Sopttedleaf and the other she-cat looked at me amazed. It had only been a few minutes since I'd defeated Thistleclaw without so much as a scratch on me.
"How in the stars did you defeat him so easily?" Tallstar asked breaking the five minute long silence.
"It was easy, I just kept calm and reacted to him. I'm faster and stronger when I'm on defense then on offense." I replied.
"So if I attacked you right now, you'd play it defensively?" Bluestar questioned.
I nodded.
"An interesting strategy, so you never throw the first attack?"
"Not never, whenever I throw an attack, it's fast hard and accurate, like pouncing on prey,"
"So if you attacked me first what would you do if I countered?"
"There wouldn't be a counter, because you would be dead and Tallstar would be next."
Tallstar bristled a bit but Bluestar remained calm professional and collected, "So then fight me...prove yourself,"
"I won't kill you Bluestar, you are not my target," I took a stance ready to pounce her.
We circled each other for a moment before I stepped forward, Bluestar dodged but it was for nothing and by then it was too late that's when I pounced, bowling her over and setting a claw to her throat. She tried scrabbling loose but I didn't let up.
"Dead." I said to her.
She relaxed and tried the old jumping up when you think I'm beaten move. I held her down not even hesitating to release her.
"I don't care what you try Bluestar," I told her, "If this were a real fight, you'd be one dead cat,"
Bluestar sighed, "When did you start training?"
I let her up and she tried to unbalance me. I jumped up and to the right, causing her to miss completely.
"I started training when I was three moons old, I'd just got off of my mother's milk then she abandoned me,"
Bluestar's eyes widened with grief, it was almost as if she knew what that was like.
"That's hardly an appropriate age to start training any cat, you were practically still a kit,"
"But look what it did to me, I'm stronger and faster then probably any cat here,"
"Oh really?"
That was a new voice. I spotted a cat coming over the ridge an orange tom with white paws. He was flanked by a black thick furred she-cat and a wiry brown she-cat. The trio approached us and every cat but me dipped their heads.
"Thunderstar, Windstar, Shadowstar," They said.
The orange cat looked at me, "Who might you be,"
"I am Iceclaw, from the order of the Assassins, or Assassin-Clan as you would probably say,"
He glance at the other two, "So Spottedleaf didn't lie,"
"It would appear not Thunderstar," the black she-cat replied, I guessed she was Shadowstar
"Then this is either very good or very bad,"-he faced me again, "Why have you come?"
"I didn't come of my own will, I was brought here by my dream, which I can honestly say this one hell of a dream but a dream nonetheless,"
"You aren't here by mere coincidence," Windstar said, "There has to be some reason,"
"I cannot think of one." Bluestar said.
I looked at my paws for a second, do I ask them about my enemy? I shook my head, Dawnpelt didn't give me a solid answer, only some excuse, "Who are dark forest?"
The cats look over my shoulder then Thunderstar answered, "They are cats that used to be our own, corrupted by a hunger for power. All they care about is such,"
"They are the enemy of StarClan," Shadowstar said.
Windstar just growled in agreement.
"That is who my enemy is, my brothers seek to make them weak and ultimately destroy them."
"And how would Assassins go about doing that?"
"Find out who is plotting with them...then of course, we have to kill them,"
Thunderstar looked at me with a very serious look, "So that is why Ivyfur suddenly came to us?"
"Wait she's here?" I asked. That couldn't be she was dark forest wasn't she?
"Yes, when Nightstar found her, it looked as if she'd died in her sleep, then he discovered a claw make across the back of her throat, a sure sign that she'd been murdered."
"Did your order have anything to do with one of my clanmate's murder?" Shadowstar asked she seemed pissed straight to the abyss. But I couldn't lie.
"Yes," I told her, "She was ordered killed for plotting against Blackstar with Oakfur, under order of Dawnpelt leader of the Assassins,"
Shadowstar pounced at me but I moved out of the way, she was quick but I was faster and all I had to do was dodge, I'd hurt enough cats for one dream.
"Shadowstar control yourself!" Thunderstar demanded.
But the she-cat was in a blind rage and she kept coming at me.
"You may want to listen to him..." I warned.
She wasn't listening and kept swinging.
"If I counter you'll regret it..."
"GO JOIN DARK FOREST, YOU MURDERER!" She spat.
I shrugged after dodging the next shot. Her final shot I countered before landing a blow that sent her sprawling head-over-tail for a good fox-length.
"I warned you,"
She stood hissing.
I motioned my tail to Thunderstar, "He warned you,"
"Hey don't bring me into this," Thunderstar stepped back
Shadowstar staggered towards me and swung a pathetic shot at me. I caught it and looked her in the face, "Are you done?"
She headbutt me and I staggered back seeing stars for a second then she leaped up at me. I rolled to the side and pinned her down. She was swearing and cursing so much I'm glad that no kits were around. After what seemed like a few minutes of her doing that she was panting really hard.
"Now are you done?" I asked
"I...yes...I think I'm done," she replied
I let her up.
"You fight well for your age,"
I dipped my head, "Thank you,"
"Wait a minute..." The other black she-cat said, "You looked ready to rip his fur off a minute ago, then you get your ass kick and suddenly you're best friends?"
"Yellowfang, sometimes your best friends can also be your greatest rivals," Shadowstar said plainly.
"Ain't that the truth," Tallstar muttered.
"You bested Shadowstar sure," Windstar said, "Any cat could best her,"
Shadowstar glared at her but said nothing.
"Rivalries aside," I said, "You still haven't told me why I'm here I know one of you have something to do with it,"
"I brought you here," Thunderstar said.
Every cat now faced him curious.
"You brought a murderer into our territory...why?" Shadowstar said.
"Because we need his help,"
I tilted my head to the side, "But you are all dead aren't you? What more help could you need?"
"Dark forest grows strong with each passing moon, you Assassins are known for killing agents of the dark forest, we need you to stop screwing around and take out their leader,"
"You're requesting that I not kill my current target and kill Firestar?"
Thunderstar looked at me funny, "Why him?"
That's where my dream ended as sunlight pierced through the brambles of the Assassin's room and woke me up. Thunderstar's last words still rang in my ears.
"Why him?" I quoted.
If Jayfeather was telling the truth, then something was defiantly wrong and I don't think it was within the clans more then it was elsewhere. I shook moss from my fur and headed outside into the clearing just lounging. Three days I'd be stuck here but as soon as Sootpelt cleared me to leave I'd be on my way to take out Oakfur. I visited the nursery today and played with the kits while I recovered. Just because I'm an Assassin doesn't mean I'm evil or don't care about kits or queens or my friends and clanmates. Hell sometimes I wish I was still a kit, with a regular kithood. I didn't have that, instead my kithood was train or die. That was until Dawnpelt found me hunting in his clans territory. He took me in and raised me practically as his own son, of course I didn't think of him that way, he was my teacher. Sure I never knew my father, but to be honest it doesn't hold me back. If I met him neat, if not oh well. Then there are those times when I love this life. Dirty yes, but if you don't really talk about the killing some cat thing it's a lot of fun.
"Ah the great Assassin himself!" some cat said.
I turned it was Mothfur, she was a relatively new assassin. She'd been given her rank not last moon.
"C'mon Mothfur, I'm not that good," I said.
"But you are, Iceclaw, next to Dawnpelt himself you're the best Assassin in the camp. So who fell under your claws this time?"
"No one," I felt ashamed again.
Mothfur got in my way, I was heading out to go hunting, "No one? That's a load of mouse dung,"
"You know I don't lie to any cat,"
"Then who fell? What cat died that made our enemies weaker?"
"No cat died..." I brushed passed her. She was so convinced that I was invincible and the ultimate Assassin. To her, I was greatest force the waking world had ever seen. In reality I just do my job, kill who needs to be killed, hunt for the clan and protect those who cannot protect themselves.
"Where are you going?" she asked me.
"Hunting, you want to come?" I replied.
She dashed after me and we plunged out of the camp.
"Light steps," I reminded her, "You don't want to scare everything off would you?"
Mothfur slowed up and I caught up to her.
After a few hours of hunting we brought our kill back to the camp. The sun was setting now and I'd just sat down to rest. I muscles aced from all the running and pouncing.
"So I had fun!" Mothfur mewed delighted.
I nodded, "I am really tired..."-I yawned.
"Okay, I'll see you in the morning,"
I watched as she left to the Assassin's room while I lounged there in the clearing until I myself went into the Assassin's room and fell asleep.
I had no dreams tonight.
The next morning was my last morning in camp I had to leave now if I wanted to get into ShadowClan, kill Oakfur and weaken Dark Forest. I didn't know why but my master wanted me to leave a trail that didn't point to us. That was typical, someone get's found out and we have to start dodging blame or else we have the masses coming after us. I said good-bye to Mothfur and the others before heading out. Before I even made it thirty minutes out of camp I ran into Bristlefang. He looked at me with a very familiar look. I nodded acknowledging it and we passed each other without a word. His look said something was up.
So I'm not the only cat who suspects a plot of some kind? I kept going. Jayfeather's and Thunderstar's words were still on my mind. If that was the real StarClan, and the four clans all believed them then who were dark forest really? I knew that Thistleclaw was, that was for sure, now what happened to him I don't think I'll ever know nor do I want to. At sunhigh I had arrived at the giant Thunderpath that Twolegs rode their machines on. I waited for traffic to clear up before dashing across without so much as even trying, my pads were a little roughed up but that was no big deal. Heading for the farm I'd crossed back into WindClan territory by nightfall. I looked up, a full moon rested over head and as I neared the camp a group of them suddenly dashed towards the lake.
Strange...I stayed a way's back and followed them. They scrambled alongside the lake until coming to a fallen tree. This thing must've been knocked over by something huge because the tree itself went from the shore across the lake to an island easily fifteen fox-lengths out on the lake. The leaped up and scurried across like it was nothing. When the last cat had crossed I jumped up and followed them balancing easily on the slick trunk where as one cat in WindClan almost fell. I supposed I was used to climbing things like this, seeing as I'd kill cats in some strange places. I padded around the island as they headed inland. That's when I noticed ThunderClan coming. I hurried after WindClan using the conflicting orders to cover my own. There was a clearing where all the cats gathered from all of the clans. Most were gossiping, but what they said wasn't the whole truth, from my ears and their hesitations every now and then I could tell tensions were relatively high right now. ThunderClan entered the clearing not too long after. I made my way towards some ShadowClan cats. I'd seen Oakfur a few times before this and made a mental note of what he looked like. I used my Eagle vision and picked him out, he wasn't very close to the giant tree that had four bare branches that I saw three cats in but he wasn't far from it either. This was my chance, with a crowd this big, no cat would notice unless they were right there. I knew how to do this, kill him then make it look like he's lying down for comfort sake. It wouldn't be the first time I'd had to do this. I headed for him but had to duck out of the way of Brambleclaw and some other ThunderClan cats. I noted the Cinderheart and Lionblaze were both here. I was a mouse-length from my target, my claws were unsheathed when I heard a yowl and the whole clearing went silent. I thought for a moment I'd been seen but all eyes face the tree. I looked there and saw Firestar up there along with Blackstar, Leopardstar and Onestar up there in the tree.
"Greetings cats of all Clans," Blackstar started. I slunk closer to Oakfur, "ShadowClan mourns the loss of Ivyfur to a rouge cat, she was killed by a bite to the back of her throat,"
"Dishonorable rouges!" some RiverClan cat shouted.
"Where's the honor of a fair fight?" a ThunderClan cat agreed.
Blackstar signaled for silence, "This rouge was last seen near ThunderClan's border, perhaps it was no rouge..."-the white tom faced Firestar, "But a cat of ThunderClan,"
Gasps and worried murmuring could be heard throughout the clearing, I inched a bit closer to Oakfur, the tom still hadn't noticed me.
"You accuse us of murder?" Firestar said, "Ridiculous! We have no quarrel with ShadowClan,"
"Then why murder one of us? What has ShadowClan done to you in these passed moons,"
"You've done nothing, what proof do you have that is was ThunderClan?"
"One of my warriors, an honest cat who shall remain anonymous, reported seeing a white cat near the lakeside border with ThunderClan. ThunderClan have two white cats in their midst right now. The she-cat Brightheart, whom I know is innocent, my source did not report a scar on the murderers face. And the nephew of Firestar Cloudtail."
"Where's Cloudtail?" Some cat shouted.
"Bring him forward!" said another
"Kill him!" a third said.
I was on top of Oakfur at this point and without hesitating I bit down on his throat killing him silently and quickly. I then lowered him down into a laying position before closing his eyes, "Requescat en pace,"
The commotion was the perfect distraction to get away from here.
"Just because Cloudtail is white however," Firestar said, "Does not mean he is the murderer. In fact he isn't at this Gathering but a white cat is here. I see an Assassin in our midst right now trying to escape."
"Shit!" I cursed under my breath as all eyes turned to me minus Oakfur who now lay dead. Blackstar looked pissed to circle seven of hell at me.
"You are accused of murdering one of my cats!" the white tom shouted with teeth bared, "How do you plead?"
I took a step back and ran.
"GET HIM!"
Looking over my shoulder I noticed three cats on my tail. I jumped up onto the log and sprinted across without fault. It took them a minute to get across but by then I had hidden myself in a bush and watched them blunder passed me. I jumped out and headed back, what other news in the clans might I need to know.
"You see!" Firestar said after I had arrived, "ThunderClan is innocent. He is not one of my cats."
"But you'd seen him before haven't you?"
Firestar made the report of how Brambleclaw chased me into ShadowClan territory.
"White with red stripes?" Onestar said, "Strange three days ago a kit said something about a cat like this one."
"So you side with Firestar that ThunderClan are innocent? Then explain to me how this cat got from our territory to yours without swimming across the lake, which every cat, even RiverClan, knows is complete and utter suicide?"
"That's where we can vouch Blackstar," Leopardstar said she told her report of how Blackclaw picked a fight with a rouge and chased me into WindClan territory.
"So this cat came from seemingly no where, was chased out of ThunderClan into our territory, killed Ivyfur, slipped passed us into RiverClan territory then to WindClan territory and no cat knew until just now?" Blackstar repeated taking a breath, "We all must be blind. I suggest that all clans double their patrols until this rouge is dealt with,"
I spotted Blackclaw in the remnants of the audience, "He is skilled, the only reason he escaped was because I was too cocky. He managed to knock out two of my patrol's warriors before knocking me down enough to escape."
"Three-on-one, odds in your favor and you lost!" Onestar commented, "How can this be, no cat can be that skilled."
"Unless trained from a young age," Blackstar commented, "You all know I was trained from the time I could eat fresh-kill, I've become a very strong warrior,"
"But that was under Brokentail, no cat trains like that anymore,"
"Not among the Clans, Onestar,"
"Are you saying that there may be another clan trying to claim this territory?"
Firestar cut in, "It is possible, it's not like it hasn't happened before,"
"Keep vigil, this cat could be anywhere," Blackstar warned, "Even as proud as I am of my clan and my own desire to take over a bit more territory, I still would not wish such a dishonorable death upon any cat."
"This meeting is over, we should return and rest." Firestar said.
The cats started to break up but ShadowClan was gathering around the dead body of Oakfur. I left when Russetfur, the ShadowClan deputy, yowled, "Oakfur has been murdered!"
So tensions were high, especially between ShadowClan and ThunderClan. That was very interesting. My first target when I engaged these cats this passed week was in ThunderClan, the next in ShadowClan. It may have just been coincidence but I made a note of it too as I made my way out of WindClan territory.
