Chapter 7:

"It's not going to work, Toy," criticised the grey tom from afar, "let me try."

A large, tabby brown tom, Toy, glared back at him, "you heard what Verse said, she asked me to do it, not you."

"Well then we'll be here all night," the tom continued, "and we don't have time."

"No."

"I can get the information, you know I can."

Toy turned back around and ignored him, much to the tom's frustration. Why was he constantly undermined? The one no one listened to? He was easily the most powerful of them all, he didn't deserve to be forced to sit on the sidelines.

"Get off me, you filthy rogue," A mousy brown she-cat was pinned underneath Toy.

"She won't answer any of your questions," the tom continued.

"Shut up, Gold," Toy spat at him before turning back to the she-cat, "tell us what you know."

"I'm not telling you anything, rogue," the she-cat spat back.

"Get out of my way, Toy," the grey tom, Gold, stood up and walked towards the two.

Toy glared back at him, "no."

Gold sighed before narrowing his eyes right at him, "get out of my way."

The large, tabby tom seemed to suddenly go into a trance and move to the side like he was in a dream. The she-cat who had been pinned scrambled to her paws and began to run.

"Stay where you are!" Gold growled at her.

She froze suddenly, her posture was stiff and unnatural, her paws seemed stuck to the ground.

"What in Starclan?" She looked at her paws and back up at him, "what did you do to me?"

"Tell me your name," he ordered.

"Lilyfeather," she responded automatically before clamping her jaws shut.

"Tell me, are you a clan cat?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, what is your position?"

"I am the deputy of Heatherclan."

"Tell me, where is Heatherclan?"

"You're standing in our territory right now," She dipped her head towards a downward slope, "our camp is hidden down their in a dip in the moors."

Gold nodded, a grin spreading on his face.

"And, tell me, is there a cat named 'Amber' in your clan?"

"No."

"Tell me if you know a cat named 'Amber.'"

"I know two."

"Two?" Gold found himself getting curious, "tell me, who are they?"

"One in a Rainclan she-cat named Amberfall, she used to be a rogue, and the other is a Pineclan she-cat named Amberpaw."

The aftermath seemed horrifying for Lilyfeather. The moment the she-cat snapped out of the dream-like trance she'd been put in, her eyes widened and she fell backwards. But Gold no longer seemed to care, his eyes were narrowed in thought but with an unsettling spark in the mix.

"Gold," Toy came up to him, he was easily double his height, "how dare you use your shitty little trick on me."

"You were in my way," he glared back up at him, "I got the job done, didn't I?"

"Let me go!" She said.

Toy glanced at Gold who shrugged.

"She's stuck until I tell her she can move," he told him.

The Heatherclan deputy had both of her front paws rooted to the grass in a stiff posture, her face furrowed in an odd sort of concentration as she tried to force herself to move but to no avail.

"What do we do with her?" Gold asks, "she's worn out her stay."

Toy got to his feet, "leave it to me."

Gold turned his back to the two as Toy approached Lilyfeather as three shapes were making their way over the hill. One was a beautiful, sleek silver she-cat with crystal eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. She moved in an ethereal type manner, as though she were one of the clan's sacred Starclan cats. Beside her, a white tom whose fur stuck out in tufts was walking along, his head tilted towards the sky. On his other side walked a pitch, black she-cat with long strides and poisonous green eyes as she towered over the small, cream coloured tom beside her.

"Gold," said the silver she-cat, "I thought I told Toy to do the job."

"We weren't getting anywhere, Verse," Gold told her, "I decided to intervene."

Verse didn't narrow her eyes or show anger, her expression didn't change at all. She looked at the white tom beside her who didn't look back but, then again, it's not like he could.

"Did you get any information?" Asked Verse as Toy reappeared by Gold's side, paws covered in blood.

Gold had to stop himself from bristling. Why was he always ignored? Always lectured by Verse? He was by far the most powerful in the group.

"We did," Toy said gruffly, "there are two cats with the name 'Amber.'"

"Who are they?"

"Amberfall of Rainclan and Amberpaw of Pineclan."

"It has to be Amberfall," Gold cut in, "apparently she only recently joined the clans."

"Interesting," Verse nodded thoughtfully to herself, "what do you think, Kuona?"

The blind tom didn't move his head to look at Verse but instead continued to absently stare at the sky.

"I can see them both, Amberfall and Amberpaw," he said carefully, "Amberfall is Amber but… I have a feeling that tracking down Amberpaw would be a wise choice, she's travelling to Lightningclan territory."

"Why is that?" Verse enquired.

"It's foggy, I can't see clearly, you're just gonna have to trust me on this."

Gold didn't trust him as far as he could throw him.

Verse looked right at Gold, "it's decided then. Kuona and I will be travelling to the Moonpool, as we originally planned. Toy, Mo, Viper, you will go to Rainclan and Gold, you will find Amberpaw."

"What?" Gold looked up in horror, "I'm not looking for the traitor."

"I wouldn't argue with me, Gold," Verse said in her annoyingly calm voice, "you're always so desperate to prove yourself? Find this 'Amberpaw,' tell me what's she's doing, tell me why she's doing it and why her name is the same as our favourite traitor, got it?"

Gold tried his hardest to remain stoic.

'How dare she?' He thought, 'She can't tell me what to do!'

But he gave up.

"Fine," he said, the spite strong in his voice.

"Good," Verse glanced around, "does anyone else have any more problems?"

No one said anything, but Viper sat next to Mo, a smirk strong on her face as she watched Gold very carefully.

"No?" Verse nodded, "then go, do what you must. But make sure you bring the traitor to me."


Shadepaw padded calmly along the undergrowth, Violetpaw not too far behind him. She was gazing around excitedly, bounding through the undergrowth.

"So," she said, "when we get to Rainclan camp, how are we gonna get to Amberfall?"

"It'll be easier for me to get in on my own," he told her, "I can read minds, remember."

She scoffed, "so what's the point of even taking me on this mission if I'm not doing anything?"

"Stop complaining," he snapped, "you're gonna be standing outside on guard duty, you are the best fighter after all."

That was a lie, but, then again, she couldn't read minds so she wouldn't know.

"You think I'm the best fighter?" She beamed at the praise.

"Uh-huh," he lied before flicking his tail and dropping into a crouch, "quiet, we're getting closer to Rainclan territory."

Violetpaw, who wasn't great at being quiet, did as she was told anyway and dropped into a crouch beside her brother. They were near the small Thunderpath that divided Rainclan and Pineclan and were reaching exposed grounds. Sometimes, two-legs and their monsters would careen up and down, but not during this season or this time of night.

Carefully, Shadepaw checked for any cats prowling around on the more exposed Rainclan territory and flicked his ear for Violetpaw to follow.

The two swiftly darted across the Thunderpath and hid in a bush on the other side. They could hear voices.

"You never listen, you're always off on your own and getting into messes that I have to fix for you!" A tom's voice drifted over, "and now you're out here? Sneaking around at night? You're a mess!"

"Don't call me that, Redfall!" The second voice of a she-cat came over, "you don't know me."

"Exactly! I don't! And I am trying so hard but you keep pushing me away, do you know how hard that is?"

"I never asked for you to get involved in all my business, did I?"

Shadepaw peaked out from the bush, his eyes narrowing in on the two figures. One was a brown tom with a tint of red in his fur whilst the other was Amberfall.

'That's convenient,' he thought.

"There she is," said Violetpaw in a harsh whisper, "read her mind now!"

"It's easier if we're making direct eye contact or, at least, looking in my direction."

"She'll see us if she does that though," his sister pointed out.

"I know, mouse-brain," he rolled his eyes, "we need to get rid of the tom."

A plan was forming in Violetpaw's mind, Shadepaw could see the building blocks in her brain.

"That's not a good idea," he pointed out.

"I know," she said honestly, "but trust me on this."

He paused and then sighed, "fine, but don't be too stupid!"

She darted off before she could even hear the end of his sentence.

Shadepaw sighed and waited patiently, his muscles bunched up ready to move. He heard a rustle from the other side of the small clearing outside the bush. Amberfall didn't seem to hear it but the brown tom, Redfall, did as his ears suddenly pricked up.

"Did you hear that?" He asked.

Amberfall looked at him through fiery amber eyes, "hear what?"

"One second," he said, "I'll be right back."

She sighed and sat down as he vanished off into the distance.

Shadepaw waited a few seconds before appearing.

Amberfall glanced at him, not looking at all startled by his sudden appearance.

"Redfall will be back in a few seconds," she said simply, "what do you want to ask?"

"You know Ace," he said simply, "is he your brother?"

"Yes, he is."

"Why did he join the clans before you? Did you have a falling out?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Shadepaw considered the question, "they won't tell us anything, it's like cats want to keep their past a secret from us, which isn't fair because you're my family too."

"It's complicated," she simply said.

Shadepaw gave up and looked her directly in the eye.

"I don't understand," said a voice next to him, "why do we have to leave?"

Shadepaw felt the same experience as he had before as his body switched to another with a sudden jolt. This time, he had it figured out. He was looking through the eyes of Amberfall and, if he was right, Ace was next to him.

His father looked even younger than he had before, he was hardly six moons old!

"I have greencough," said an older she-cat, "you can't stay."

She was a frail, starved-looking she-cat who looked slightly too young to be a mother. Her eyes were the colour of heather and were warm with the kindness akin to Shadepaw's own mother.

"Why not?" Said Amberfall, "we can make you better!"

"You have to leave before you make yourselves sick," their mother went on, "I love you both."

"Where would we go, mother?" Ace looked and sounded distraught, "we want to stay with you."

"No," she shook her head but the movement looked too painful for her to manage, "you must find your father, in the city."

"You told us he was bad, mother," Amberfall said fearfully, "I don't want to live with a bad cat."

"Listen closely you two," she managed to sound stern even in such a weak state, "your father may not be a good cat, but you're still too young to be on your own."

"So why can't we just stay with you?" Shadepaw had never heard his father whine before.

"Are you even listening to me, Flicker?" His mother sighed.

Shadepaw blinked, he had never heard anyone use his father's old name before.

"You won't have to stay with him forever," she promised, placing one paw on his chest, "just until you're both old enough to live on your own."

"Really?" Amberfall scooted closer to her mother.

"But there's one thing you have to re-"

Their mother was cut off by a sudden fit of coughing as the two siblings wheeled back, probably to avoid catching their mother's greencough. When she was done, she looked even weaker, frailer than before.

"There's one thing you must remember," her voice was hoarse.

"What is it?" Ace, or Flicker, asked gently.

"That you must always stay together," she told them, "the bond between siblings is strong, you cannot let yourselves be divided, promise?"

"Promise," the two said at the same time.

"Now, go," she coughed a little, "travel north until you reach the city, find a cat named Smoke, tell them that you're my kits."

"Mother-" But Amberfall was cut off.

"Go!"

The two siblings turned and ran, they kept running until they could no longer see their mother lying alone in her nest. Shadepaw felt exposed in this unfamiliar land and unsettled by what he had just seen.

"Gah!" He said as he suddenly shifted back into reality.

"What?" It was Amberfall, the current version, looking down at him in bewilderment.

His blue eyes suddenly narrowed as he glared at her in suspicion, "you left your mother there to die, how could you?"

Her fur bristled, "how do you know that?"

"If it were my mother, I would've stayed there until she was dead, so she wouldn't have to be alone!"

"And let yourself catch greencough too?" She growled at him.

"You were selfish to leave her."

"No, we weren't. We left so she could die knowing her kits were healthy and safe, not that they were dying of a cold! And don't forget, your father was there too, Ace has done equally as many shitty things that I have."

Shadepaw glared, "don't bring him into this."

"Then don't act sensitive to the truth," she glowered down at him, "Ace thought that he could run to the lake to escape his problems, to escape me, but it's catching up to him now, just you watch, kit."

Shadepaw didn't like how she was talking about his father like he was the worst cat in the world. But, he could also see that she didn't fully believe that, her mind was filled with doubt and fear and memories that threatened to pull Shadepaw back into her brain.

"I saw you standing on a hill, watching a two-leg place burn down," he lowered his voice, "did- did you and my father do that."

A guilty look flashed across her features, "it was a mistake."

"Someone's after you," he pointed out, "you're running away from someone."

"How do you know?" She asked.

"I can see it, in your mind."

Her facial expression was flat, "so you're a creepy kit who can read minds?"

"I'm not creepy and I'm not a kit," he said stubbornly.

"Stick your nose out of this," she told him harshly, "you think you're all big, trying to discover all the dark, hidden secrets of your family, but there are some things you just should not know, got it?"

But it was too late, Shadepaw was distracted by the large, ghostly black figure with poisonous green eyes standing in the shadows. Amberfall turned around to see who he was looking at.

"Viper," her breath seemed to leave her body.

Shadepaw was suddenly hit by a jolt of fear, coming from Amberfall.

A tall, seductive she-cat stepped out from the shadows, her fur a pure black and her eyes were a green that almost seemed to glow.

"Hello, traitor," she said, "long time, no see."


A/N: I haven't got to write a properly evil character since Duskpelt, and now I'm throwing in both Gold and Viper. Don't get me wrong, they're both terrible people who have done and will do some shitty things but, man, are they fun to write about.