I don't own any part of Warriors or it's characters. I only made up Thunderpaw and Twigpaw.
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Chapter Eight: Trial and Error
Cloudtail screeched with undaunted fury and flung himself at the motionless apprentice. Thunderpaw did nothing to stop him from pinning her onto the ground. She did nothing to stop his teeth from clamping down on her throat…
"Stop!" Firestar bellowed, knocking Cloudtail off. "We have no evidence that Thunderpaw is the one who killed Twigpaw. She deserves a fair trial, and the chance to tell her side of the story."
Cloudtail glared at him. "What more evidence do you need?" He snarled. "Look! You can see their fight all around this clearing!"
Thunderpaw murmured something, but it was too quiet for anyone to hear. Firestar flicked his ears at her, trying to catch some of her words. She didn't seem to want to talk at all, so instead Firestar addressed the Clan.
"It's obvious that there was a fight, but it wasn't necessarily between Thunderpaw and Twigpaw." Firestar wondered if he was trying to convince the Clan or himself. He doubted his own words as much as any cat. "In any case, we must bring Twigpaw back to the camp so he can begin his journey to StarClan. There we will hear what Thunderpaw has to say."
A murmur of unease rippled through the Clan. Finally Dustpelt, Longtail and Thornclaw stepped forward to bring the dead cat back to the camp. After the vigil, the elders would bring him to be buried.
Cloudtail stared after them. The rest of the Clan followed them, Cloudtail trailing at the very back. Firestar started to leave, but noticed that Thunderpaw still hadn't moved. Graystripe padded over to Firestar. "Is it really wise to bring her back to camp?" He mewed. "The evidence is overwhelming. They will drive her out anyway."
Firestar shook his head. "She should have her say in the matter." He replied. "Traitor or not, right this moment she is still a member of ThunderClan."
Graystripe nodded grimly. Firestar approached Thunderpaw. He let his tail tip rest for a moment on her shoulder. "Thunderpaw." He said firmly. The multi-colored cat jumped, as if she had awoken from a deep sleep.
She turned her haunted gaze to him. Her eyes were livid with terror. "Firestar, I didn't kill him, I swear!" She screamed. "You have to believe me! I'm not a murderer!"
"That's still up for discussion." He hissed. "Come with me." He led the trembling apprentice back to the camp, Graystripe flanking her from one side, him on the other. When they had pushed through the gorse tunnel and into the clearing, he sprang up onto Highrock and summoned the Clan. Or at least the cats that hadn't rushed out to see what had happened, and were already waiting by Highrock for him.
"Will cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" He called, using the traditional summoning even in this time of crisis. The Clan organized itself below him, Thunderpaw trembling right under the rock.
"You all must have already heard what has happened." Firestar assumed, knowing how gossip spread like wildfire between the cats. "Before we jump to any conclusions, I want to know what happened from Thunderpaw's mouth." He looked down at her.
The small apprentice gulped and looked around nervously at the accusing stares all around her. Finally, she began, "Twigpaw ran off when we were heading back to camp earlier. I already told you that. I couldn't sleep that night, because something about him running off hadn't seemed right. So I slipped out through the wall of the apprentice den to go look for him.
She hesitated and glanced up at her leader. Firestar gave a curt nod, telling her to continue. Thunderpaw sighed, and began again. "After a minute, I found his sent and followed it to that clearing. I still felt something was wrong, so I tried to come up as quietly as possible. I peaked through the bushes, and he was surrounded by wolves!"
Thunderpaw paused again, waiting for this to sink in. The rest of the Clan looked around in confusion.
"What in StarClan's name are wolves?" Dustpelt spat.
"It sounds like something you made up on the spot." Cloudtail snarled.
"No!" Thunderpaw insisted. She turned her gaze to Firestar again, who had gone rigid at he word 'wolves'. He remembered his dream from not too long ago, where he had heard Thunderpaw scream out that same word.
"Thunderpaw, what to wolves look like?" He prodded her suspishiously.
Thunderpaw blinked. "Well, the ones I saw were big and burly with thick gray fur and really big fangs. They kind of look like giant dogs, but worse."
Yowls of disbelief sounded around the clearing. No one was willing to believe that Thunderpaw had seen these 'wolves' killed Twig paw.
"Silence!" Firestar bellowed. His command rippled through the Clan and shook the trees in the forest. He was sure WindClan must have heard him. "Thunderpaw is not finished yet." He growled. "Let her complete her story before we decide what to do." He nodded at the apprentice. "Please continue."
Thunderpaw glanced around the clearing again before she spoke again. "W-well, the wolves were surrounding him, and they were talking to him too. I don't know what; I couldn't hear too well. Then suddenly, they started lunging at him!" She swallowed nervously. "He tried to fight them, but he was outnumbered and outmatched. I jumped in to help him, but they ignored me and killed him. Then they ran away and you all showed up."
With her story done, she looked up at her leader again. The fear was suddenly gone from her eyes. Her gaze was challenging and defiant.
The Clan started to mutter to each other. Firestar mulled her story over in his head. It was hard to believe, but somehow Firestar could believe it. It might have been because of his dream.
The rest of the Clan didn't agree with him.
"If he was killed by wolves, why didn't we smell them?" Longtail demanded.
Thunderpaw glared at the ground thinking hard. "They must have crossed the river. It would have masked their sent."
"You said Twigpaw fought the wolves." Firestar said slowly. "Wouldn't their fur be between his claws?"
Cloudtail padded over to his apprentice and nosed his limp paws. The rest of ThunderClan held their breath, waiting for his answer.
Cloudtail whipped around and glared accusingly at Thunderpaw. "It's Thunderpaw's fur hooked on his claws!" The white warrior yowled. "Thunderpaw killed him!"
"No!" Thunderpaw insisted desperately. "We had a fight when we were out in the forest together. I would never kill another cat! You have to believe me!" She stared up at Firestar again, begging him to believe her. The ThunderClan leader was silent.
The Clan started to close in around Thunderpaw, driving her towards the gorse tunnel. Thunderpaw snarled at them as she backed away, knowing she was defeated. Firestar just watched as his Clan drove out his apprentice, but knew there was nothing he could do. Something didn't add up, but he couldn't explain it to the Clan. All he could do is let them get rid of the problem.
Thunderpaw stopped just inside of the camp and sent a searing glare toward Firestar. It was full of anger, betrayal, and sorrow. "Listen up, Firestar. This won't be the last you see of me, or those wolves. They're gonna show up here and destroy this Clan, and when they do I'll just have one thing to say: I told ya' so!" With that last threat, she turned and fled into the forest.
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Sorry for this update taking so freakin' long to come. The last update was right before I started eighth grade, and this one is just as I'm finishing it. ; Well, I did warn that school would bury me in homework again. But now in about 11 days I'll be able to sit and type here all day, so look out for the next chapter after this.
This chapter might be a little boring. Too much like a trial. Sorry, I watch a lot of Law and Order. But the next chapter is really where the fun starts!
As usual, read and please please PLEASE review!
peofun1
