BloodClan's Wrath: Boulder's Story - Chapter 9

Okay, before you read this chapter, and you might have noticed from Chapter 4 as well, when I was writing this, I had recently watched the old movie "Ben-Hur" and there are a couple lines from it. :) Hope you don't mind, 'cause I love that movie.

I don't own Warriors.

Chapter Nine

Stand

I whipped around growling. I wasn't surprised by what I saw. Bone, Snake and Ice which were now training to take on Bone's position. I hissed dropping my moss, but I let it fall. I was done putting up with them. I had to take a stand.

"Well?" Snake sneered. "Did you come all this way just to get us some moss?" he taunted.

My neck fur bristled and my hackles rose. "Leave. Me. Alone," I meowed my voice was as dark as possible and my eyes were as cold as ice.

Ice stared at me in disbelief. I narrowed my eyes dangerously at them. "Go."

Bone narrowed his own eyes in return as if deciding whether to heed my request. "Snake, Ice," he meowed to his two companions. "Leave us. I wish to have a word alone with Boulder."

"But Bone! We'll miss all the action!" Snake protested his eyes looking almost hurt. "Please can we stay?"

Bone snarled and turned on him his lips curled into a snarl. "When your prince tells you to do something, you do it!"

I arched an eyebrow at Bone's words. If I were still prince those words never would've come from his mouth. Snake and Ice both flattened their ears against their heads in submission and padded off down the sidewalk and out of sight.

Instinctively, my claws slid out. "What's this about, talking to me in private?"

Bone took a deep breath before beginning. "Look, I just want to know one simple thing—what do you think you're playing at?"

The words confused me. His voice almost had an edge to it as if he were almost frightened of me. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you pass Scourge's alley the other day with Misty, don't play dumb, I saw you! Why are you risking everything you've got? It just doesn't make sense," he mewed with a sudden look of confusion in his eyes; a look I've never seen.

"Why am I taking the risks?" I asked shaking my head slightly as if it were common sense. "Because I've got nothing left to lose. Star's dead, the love of my life, Mouse is too, my best friend, I literally have nothing but the fur on my pelt."

Bone listened, his face expressionless. "I see," he mewed at last. "If you would consider it… how would you like to join BloodClan? Once Scourge dies, I could pull some strings and—"

I cut him off. "No." The reply was instant; I didn't even have to think about it. I didn't belong there, and after all that blasted Clan did to me; Bone had a lot of nerve asking.

I heard Bone grit his teeth. "Why not?" he tried not to growl.

My ears flattened against my head in fury. "Because, BloodClan is a stupid, blasted Clan that does nothing but causes cats harm! I'm not a murderer and I never will be! And let me tell you something, Bone!" I hissed somewhat surprised at how defiant and fearless my voice sounded. "The day BloodClan falls, there will be yowls of freedom that the world has never heard before! You can be sure of it!"

Bone looked shocked that I had spoken to him that way. He was speechless and he turned and walked slowly away every now and then glancing over his shoulder as if to see if I would lunge at him. Part of me wanted to, but I had to get the moss back to Misty as soon as possible and get out of the open for that matter, despite my outburst, there was still a danger.

I picked up my moss and put it between my chin and the top of my chest and bounded back at a somewhat awkward gait to Misty.

There was a chilling breeze as I ran. It whisked through my fur almost chilling my bones. I shivered every now and then. Winter's nearly here, I thought to myself. I remembered some of Brokenstar's words: Leaf-bares are hard, prey is scarce. Only the strong can survive. Many die.

Dying, however, at this point in my life would seem like a blessing rather than a curse or misfortune. Only then would I be with my lovely Star. Maybe I did need to go with Clans, and then I could die and hopefully rest in peace.

I finally reached the alley where Misty and I had spent the night. I padded forward and saw her grooming herself. She looked up when she saw me and smiled. "Thanks," she mewed and flicked her tail toward the now cleaned out box. I nodded and raised my head up letting the moss drop onto the cardboard. I swore I heard my neck crack when I raised my head.

Then, I began to spread the moss over the den and made two nests, one on each side. I sighed and backed out of the box and sat down next to Misty and began to groom one of my forelegs. I glanced over at her and wondered if I should help her but wasn't keen on the idea.

I leaned over and licked her flank. I felt her shiver as my tongue rasped over her fur. I closed my eyes as I began to fight with myself silently. A part of me told me that I was betraying Star and to stop, but another part, the more responsible one was saying that we were just friends helping each other. I nearly hissed in annoyance but held my tongue and continued to groom her.

Once the both of us were clean I rose to my paws and saw that the sun was still relatively high. I guessed it was sometime around noon or one in the afternoon. I sighed and figured that I should probably do something productive.

"Is there anything else you need me to do?" I asked wiping my tongue over my lips quickly.

Misty shrugged. "Nothing that needs to be done, but if you're so desperate for something to do, I'll put you to work, don't worry."

I smiled. "What do you need me to do?"

Twilight fell and by that time rolled around I was exhausted. Misty wasn't joking when she said that she'd put me to work. Then again I did ask for it.

I finally staggered to my nest and flopped down my eyes already drooping. The fresh soft moss under my body was exhilarating. I wanted to roll around but I was already slipping into a deep sleep.

My dream was almost the same as before, but snowflakes cascaded gracefully down from the sky clinging to my pelt. I laughed and held out my tongue. The frozen water dissolved once it hit it and I smiled and rolled around in the snow that was accumulating on the ground. My fur began to feel wet but I ignored it. Then I saw her again.

The pretty ginger she-cat stood looking down at me. Her whiskers twitched in amusement and turned to pad off. I narrowed my eyes and leaped to my paws. I bounded over and tried to tackle her, but ended up going through her.

I heard her giggle and I hissed in annoyance. "You're brave, Boulder. Attacking a spirit," she chuckled.

I whipped around to face her. "So you can talk!" I mewed proudly. "I knew it!" She purred in laughter. "Yes, I can talk, but there's a reason I didn't. My name is Blossomstar, an early leader of ShadowClan. Your destiny does not lie within the fences of the Twolegplace. Journey into the forest, there you shall find your true fate."

Blossomstar then began to fade into the landscape and I felt myself begin to wake…

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