Light Fading

Chapter 8

By Winterpaw/Winter432

Ripplepaw stared at the shape silhouetted in the striking white moonlight that dappled the ground. The shape sat still, with its head turned up towards the moon and shimmering stars of the dark night.

That shape was easily recognized as Clawpaw. Her brother barely moved, like he was having a vision.

Ripplepaw felt a knot in her belly as she scrambled to her paws, as quietly as she could. She dodged the sleeping bodies of her littermates and padded out into the moonlit darkness, arriving by Clawpaw's side silently. They both just stared, forever it seemed, until finally Ripplepaw turned to her brother and mewed curiously in a slightly worried tone. "Clawpaw, what…what are you doing? Is something wrong? Tell me."

Clawpaw turned his head like an owls, his body staying in the same position. Finally he stared at Ripplepaw. Oh no…. She thought.

But there was an anxiety in his green eyes. Like something really was troubling him. If he lies, I will know, but how long would it take for us to be honest with each other again?

"I–I talked to Flametuft. He told me that we would eventually find out who did that to him, with the help of my sibling. He also said that some StarClan cats don't believe it, because the "sickness" hasn't been in the clans for generations."

Ripplepaw took it all in, with a slight awe. Her brother had gotten to meet a Starclan cat. But she worried more about the supposed sickness, and how it affected them all.

Somehow, Ripplepaw tied everything that had happened together. The prophecy, that told of a drifting feather that would destroy the clans, was in the same category as Flametuft's death. And Ripplepaw had speculated what it meant.

There was a cat in the Clan, that had to do with a feather, but it also was like a ball of darkness, it was growing, and taking cats in with it. And this darkness would only consume the whole Clan, then move on to the next.

Riverclan was first. Clawpaw and Ripplepaw HAD to stop the darkness, before it was all too late.

"Clawpaw, we have to do this together."

"What? What do you mean?" Clawpaw mewed back.

"From now on, it is our duty to figure out this mystery and solve it. We need to stop this evil cat before anything else bad happens. So, tomorrow morning, I am gonna volunteer to go to the elders' den to see if they know anything about this. Maybe they know and bad blood between anyone in the clan, or what could have killed Flametuft. Meanwhile, you will explore everywhere and watch every cat closely to see anything they do that seems bad. We NEED to save our clans…..we are those cats in the prophecy! Don't you see?"

Clawpaw had a dawning look of understanding in his eyes, and slowly nodded, listening. Which was surprising, since he usually was stubborn, and refused to listen to her opinions.

So Ripplepaw thought more as she returned into the den, with Clawpaw following her. She would be ready in the morning, but right now she and her sibling needed sleep. They had to have energy if they were to solve this deathly and dark time. This awful mystery.

—–—

The sun shone through the fluffy clouds, casting strands of light around the RiverClan clearing. The nice lake breeze and smell drafted over the camp, and the day was humid but nice.

Ripplepaw had just checked with Featherflight about going to the elders instead of hunting, and she responded with an odd and questioning look, but accepted. Ripplepaw had to laugh at her reaction.

She then had to check with her mentor, and Hollowbranch had excepted kindly. The day grew hotter as she made her way to the elders den after perking herself up from sleep.

She squeezed through the tight entrance made of protecting plants, (thorns and brambles) and went in to see Redfern and Whitewhisker glaring at her, in their nests. Oops, they must have been sleeping. She thought guiltily.

She mumbled an apology as the two elders stretched and creaked their muscles, arising from their warm slumber.

"Yes?! What do you need? I was having a wonderful dream about this fat mouse…ooh it looked yummy." Whitewhisker delved into a euphoric thought, licking her dry lips.

Ripplepaw slightly laughed, ignoring her dark mission for a second. Whitewhisker had always had such a funny, childish personality. She was goofy, but lovable and amusing. Everyone in the Clan liked her.

Meanwhile, even though Redfern was the opposite, he still got along very well with her. They were mates.

Redfern was slightly grumpy, but unbelievably caring, helpful, daring and wise. He had knowledge that was useful to everyone.

Exactly what Ripplepaw needed- in this case, at least.

"I came to take off your ticks." She lifted her wad of leaves with disgusting mouse bile on them.

"Hmmph, fine, but be gentle." Redfern meowed crossly but jokingly.

So Ripplepaw got to work, starting on Redfern. Whitewhisker washed herself while Ripplepaw cracked a flea she had found in her teeth. Next, she rubbed mouse bile onto the spot where a little tick was burrowed. She started to make casual conversation, leaning towards her real case.

"So, a lot i–is happening in the Clan right now." She mumbled her words, slightly stuttering while thinking of what to say. "It is sad that Flametuft died. But odd that no one knows how?" She added an extra noticeable questioning tone to her voice to make sure the point went across.

"Do you," she nodded to Redfern, "know of anything that could have caused his death…..?"

Weirdly enough, it was Whitewhisker who replied. I always thought Whitewhisker was more… Out of it?

"Well, actually….I might know."

Ripplepaw drank in every word, listening intently as the elderly she-cat continued.

"A long time ago, two warriors named Timberleaf and Shimmerstream had got poisoned. Well, that is what everyone thought. The cats both left one day and when their clanmates found them, days later, they had been cold and stiff, with no visible injuries, but foaming around the mouth and wild eyes. Did Flametuft have these signs?"

Ripplepaw thought back.

She remembered.

The body of Flametuft was being carried in by Clawpaw and Talonstar. Ripplepaw watched silently as they placed it down on the ground, then stepped back respectively. Ripplepaw watched, in horror, and noticed the few foamy white bubbles around the tom's mouth.

That was the sickness. Flametuft was killed by…

"What-what is the this sickness called…?" Ripplepaw asked, curious and frightened at the same time.

Whitewhisker meowed grimly in unison with Redfern, who was remembering with a skeptical and sad and slightly angry look.

"Rabies."