Welcome back, my faithful readers! And thank you for the reviews! My favorites are when you all give your opinions on certain characters. :]
Rainshimmer - I'm glad you agree. And that's not even his worst.
Nightdapple - It is kind of cruel. That was, of course, Skull's intention.
Wolfgrowl - Don't worry. It only seems that they're bad. Really, Bardolf just has his family's health in mind. If you think about it, the Clans seem to be in the fault here. ThunderClan and the badgers, anyone? :]
Anyway, I just realized I've been lacking in disclaimer. So here it is: Blizzard-dream does not own Warriors. If she did, Rainwhisker never would have died and would have become a major character in the series.
Chapter Two
"You want me to what?" Rippedheart's question broke the silence. Skull was back, this time in the dead of night. A full moon hung over their heads, and down below, in the valley, cats from the Clans could be seen massing on either side of the river. At first, Rippedheart thought they were fighting, but Skull informed her that at every full moon, the two Clans came together and shared news.
Skull nodded. "To infiltrate the Clans. Find out their strengths and weaknesses, how many cats there are, and what they know of the wolves. The less they know, the better for us." The skull on his head shadowed his amber eyes, and Rippedheart couldn't tell what expression they held.
"But… why? What purpose would that serve? And why me?"
Skull sighed in an irritated sort of way. "Rippedheart, this is all part of the plan I was talking about earlier. The Clans don't know about you; you could easily join them and earn their trust. Then, you slowly milk the information out of them and report it to me." Skull tilted his head up. "Think of Bardolf's pack. Think of Moon, Siri, and Birch. Do you want them to grow up starving in the mountains? Without the capabilities to feed them all, the pack will have to get rid of some of its members. And the first to go will be Felan."
Rippedheart winced and Skull noticed with satisfaction that he'd hit a soft spot. Rippedheart liked Felan; saw him as an equal. "It's not fair," she hissed, her claws digging into the ground. "Why do the Clans think they can just shove everyone out of all that territory? They don't need it all."
Skull nodded gleefully. "So will you do it?"
At his question, all of Rippedheart's anger seemed to deflate, replaced by uncertainty. How could she leave the only family she'd ever known, and venture into enemy territory, living with cats she hated with all her heart?
"I… I don't know. Let me think about it." Rippedheart looked away, not wanting to meet Skull's gaze.
Skull huffed in irritation and impatience. "Fine. But I'd like your answer in three days."
Rippedheart nodded and turned away, heading in the opposite direction of the pack cave. She needed time alone to think about what Skull was offering. She padded along, her keen night vision picking out every sharp stone and rolling pebble on her path. The night was cloudless, which meant the moon was at its brightest. It cast long eerie shadows everywhere, making Rippedheart jump at the slightest movements and sounds.
As if going along with her thoughts, and shadow stretched in front of her, and the sound of breathing made her whip around. Standing in her path was a wolf. It wasn't anyone she knew, which instantly made her afraid. She'd had little contact with other packs, but she knew she'd never win a fight against a full grown wolf.
"What is this?" the wolf whispered. It circled Rippedheart, and she realized it had no scent. Not a real scent at least. Rippedheart could only catch a smell that, for some reason, made her think of starlight. The wolf leaned forward to sniff her, and she flinched back, growling deep in her throat.
"Leave me alone. I'm no threat to you." They were the first words she'd ever learned in wolf. And they were essential to keeping her alive in the mountains full of wolves. Rippedheart tucked her tail between her legs and bent her head, trying to appear as submissive as possible.
The wolf chuckled, a strange high-pitched giggle that grated on Rippedheart's ears. "A cat who thinks she's a wolf." The wolf whispered. It didn't seem to want to raise its voice, a wise choice on enemy territory.
Rippedheart didn't say anything.
"What's wrong, kitty? Cat got your tongue?" The wolf giggled again as Rippedheart filled with rage.
"I said leave me alone!" Rippedheart sprang at the wolf, raking her claws towards its muzzle. To her complete and utter surprise, her paw went right through it. This was no real wolf. It was a spirit.
Now Rippedheart was really scared. She didn't know how to fight a spirit. She remember stories that Jinx would tell the pups, about how wolf spirits were vengeful things who would rise out of the ground and eat your soul.
The wolf's eye gleamed red. Rippedheart could now see that its body was slightly unsubstantial, and she could almost see through its silvery pelt.
The spirit wolf tilted its head, its eyes gleaming with madness. "What're you thinking, pup? Think you don't want to be a pup anymore? Think you want to run back to your little cat friends?" The spirit continued to circle her.
"I am a wolf!" Rippedheart yowled, and launched herself at the spirit, all reason forgotten. She, of course, flew right through it, and nearly fell over the other side of the path. She managed to catch her front claws on the edge. She struggled to pull herself back up.
The spirit wolf crept towards her on his belly, keeping his head at her level. Its eyes were shining with triumph. He sniffed the air as she panted in her effort to regain her footing. "Just a confused pup; with the breath of a warrior." The spirit sneered.
Rippedheart stopped dead and stared at the wolf. "What do you mean, warrior? I'm not a warrior," she hissed.
The spirit wolf let its tongue loll out of its mouth. "Of course not. Warriors aren't cowards. And neither are wolves!" It giggled again.
"I'm not a coward," Rippedheart growled.
"Then prove it!" the spirit wolf barked. It suddenly lunged towards her, jaws open wide. In surprise, Rippedheart lost her grip and went tumbling down the mountainside. Rock scraped her pelt as she fell. She hit her head, hard, before coming to a rest on an outcropping of rock. Rippedheart's world began fading around her, but before she black out, she heard a quite voice giggle, "Prove it."
Rippedheart awoke to the sound of a voice calling her name. At first she thought the spirit wolf was back to taunt her, but then she realized she recognized this voice. She opened her eyes to see a slim black face peering down at her.
"Conall?"
The wolf nodded. "Thank goodness you're alive; when I saw your body down here I wasn't sure." He tried to nudge Rippedheart to her feet, but stopped when she let out a whimper of pain. "Everyone's been worried about you. Even Skull." Conall shook his head, as if he couldn't fathom that Skull had any feelings at all.
Skull? That was a surprise. But then Rippedheart blinked. "Everyone?"
Conall shrugged. "Well… Raff wasn't really, and Jinx was… well, Jinx. But Felan and the pups were especially. They wanted to come searching too, but Bardolf wouldn't let them." He looked over Rippedheart's battered body. "How far did you fall?"
"I don't know, a couple wolf-lengths at least." Rippedheart shook her head. "I think I'm just sore."
"How did you fall?" Conall asked as she slowly stood up. "You're so sure-footed."
Rippedheart squinted, trying to remember what exactly had happened. "I was attacked… attacked by a spirit wolf."
Conall's eyes widened fearfully. "A spirit wolf?" He kept his voice low, though his ears went back. "What would a spirit wolf want with you? Did it try and eat your soul?"
Rippedheart shook her head. "I don't think so. It just stared at me, saying weird things."
Conall gasped. "It spoke to you? What did it say?"
Rippedheart snorted. "It called me a pup, and said I was a coward." She growled, remembering what else it called her. But she wasn't going to mention that part to Conall.
"Maybe you should talk to Jinx about it. He might know what was going on."
After the pups had appropriately attacked Rippedheart, they forced her to tell them what had happened. She made up a scary story about how she'd battled an evil wolf spirit who wanted to eat her soul. In the end, she was victorious, after ripping the spirit wolf's essence in half. The pups gasped as one, eyes wide in wonder.
When they finally let her go, Rippedheart and Conall sought out Jinx, who was wandering the paths outside the cave. Rippedheart launched into her story, pausing just after her realization that it wasn't a real wolf she'd encountered.
"And then what did it say?" Jinx asked. His mismatched eyes were starting to bother Rippedheart, as much as the wolf was staring at her.
"It said I was a 'confused pup.' When I said I wasn't, it said, 'Of course. Wolves aren't cowards.' I figured it was calling me a coward. When I said I wasn't one, it said, 'Then prove it!' That's when it lunged at me and I lost my footing and fell."
Jinx was nodding excitedly, as if it all made sense to him. "The ancestors must consider you a wolf! Why else would they send a wolf spirit to speak with you. You must have an important task to do, and that's why it didn't eat your soul," he stated matter-of-factly. "It probably called you a coward because it thought you wouldn't accomplish that task and it was trying to inflame your pride. That's all I can think of." Jinx then wandered off, as if Rippedheart's strange encounter had never happened. What a weird wolf, Rippedheart thought.
But she continued to think about what he'd said, well into the night. It was true; she had a task, and she was afraid of it. Rippedheart looked around at her sleeping family fondly. She had to do this. For them.
When Skull arrived the next night, Rippedheart gave him her answer.
Skull smiled. "Good. We'll start with you education now."
Did the spirit wolf remind anyone else of Rafiki from the Lion King? o.O Anywho, read and review please! :D