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One word pierced the air. This word ended many lives.
"Attack!"
Swarms of cats flooded into the alley. Winter screeched her battle cry, a high and keening sound. Claws flashed, and fight met fight. The war had begun.
~~~Earlier that morning, Twolegplace
While Winter punished Wood, Cloudypaw was sulking. They had left without him, he thought. Onestar had forgotten about him, an apprentice from his own clan! He felt rejected.
Cloudypaw ate his rabbit a slave brought to him. It reminded him of home. He thought back on how he used to sprint across the moor, and sink his teeth into the soft fur of a rabbit. He thought back on his mentor, Gorsetail, and how his tail would twitch when he was angry, and his ears would twitch upward when he was happy. He thought about his mother, Wheatwhisker and his father, Cloudsteps. He was named after his father, a proud warrior that made Windclan strong.
Windclan…
Suddenly, a blow on his head interrupted him from his thoughts. The paw was sheathed, but still packed a punch. He looked up and saw Winter, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Come," was all she said.
Then, she whisked around and glided out of the alleyway. Gulping down the rest of the rabbit's soft meat, he followed, hurriedly, not wanting another clout to the ear.
Winter paced down the twoleg path, touching the grey brick walls. Cloudy followed behind her neatly, not knowing where they were going. Together, they wound around the dirty twolegplace maze, turning here, leaping onto roofs here. Twolegs paced by, some with kits, and others wobbling around clumsily like drunken gods.
Suddenly, Winter spoke.
"Today, your forest friends will come," she meowed, looking up at the sky, "And I may die."
"You think you'll die?"
"You think I won't?" Winter countered with a question.
"Well…" Cloudy mumbled, carefully placing one paw in front of another, "You are strong…"
Winter seemed to consider his words, but stayed silent as they walked. After another spell, they arrived at a particularly broken down twoleg nest.
"We're here."
"We're going inside there?" Cloudypaw gulped.
The twoleg nest was a dirty shade of red that seemed to be splotches of blood. There was only one window, and it was shattered. Twoleg words stained the sides, and the whole atmosphere seemed to be dead and gloomy.
"Yes," Winter meowed. Was that amusement in her voice?
They entered through the door that was barely staying on its hinges, and left it swinging behind them. In front, illuminated by the single ray of light from the solitary window, was a long row of something sharp and white. He peered closer, and realized they were cat's claws.
There were nine rows in all; the row furthest from the door was the shortest, and the row closest was the row longest.
Winter began speaking, "These are the claws torn from the cats we have killed. This one is mine," she flicked her tail at the longest row. It was more than double the next row. Some were dull and yellow, and others were sharp and pointy, but only one was stained with the Winter's blood.
"To move up a rank, you must kill more than the cat before you. This one is Basilisk's, Harp Bell's, Raven's, Lady's, Zael's, Bronze's, Panther's and Wood's."
She used a paw to brush away Panther's away from the rest. She chuckled dryly, "Now that he's gone…"
Cloudypaw stared at the long line of deaths. He tried counting, but lost count as the row disappeared into the dusty darkness.
"Why are you telling me this?" He whispered.
"I may die, and so might my followers. Let at least one cat live with the knowledge of my legacy," she meowed.
"Killing cats is not a legacy!" Cloudypaw cried out. How many cats had died because of these killers?
Winter flicked her tail, "It may not be to you, but it is to me."
She meowed, "Killing is an art of taking a life. There are many ways of doing it; elegantly, crudely, or not at all. One day, all of us will die, and postponing it is cowardly." Her voice turned into a snarl.
"No it isn't," Cloudypaw meowed boldly, "To not kill a cat is mercy, and love for life. Respect for life is the best thing a cat can have."
"Some cats don't care. If you let one slip out of your claws, they will come back to haunt you. If you could kill me right now, would you do it? Or show me mercy?" She laughed coldly, "You know me. Mercy is for cowards. Cowards who are afraid to take a life!"
She leapt at him, pinning him down. He attempted to throw her off, but she held fast. She growled in his ear, "Sometimes, mercy is weakness."
"Sometimes," he meowed shakily, "mercy is love."
Winter's face was blank, and she blinked, as if she had never known love. Emotions danced in her eyes, confusion, hope, betrayal, hatred. She snapped out of it and hissed, "There's no such thing as love."
This time, it was Cloudypaw's turn to be confused.
"What do you mean? Of course there's—" He broke off with a screech as Winter sunk her claws into his flank, trailing them downward, digging them down his stomach. His scream went a notch higher.
"Love is just a ruse, when you're using someone," she spat, getting off of Cloudypaw, letting him stagger up. Blood dripped off of his chest, and onto the floor.
"That's not true…" he meowed desperately. He truly wanted to change Winter's mind, "I love my mother, and my father…"
Anger and hurt flashed in Winter's eyes as if he had just stirred an old wound. She hissed in frustration.
"You must have a mother and a father," Cloudypaw pried, "Maybe a sibling or two… You must have loved them…"
"Never!" Winter screeched. Fury flashed across her eyes, and she bowled him into the wall. He crumpled to the floor in a heap of blood and fur.
"I don't have family!" She hissed, "Never!"
She seemed to be trying to convince herself rather than Cloudypaw.
Winter turned around, tail drooping slightly and stalked out the door. As she passed by forcefully, the door fell and clattered onto the ground. Cloudypaw winced at the loud sound and leapt over the broken door to Winter.
The clouds had covered up the sun at that time, and darkness had settled over the atmosphere like dust. The wind carried a sharp bite to it, and with each night, the air grew colder.
"You must have a family, Winter," Cloudypaw said behind her.
"No," she meowed shortly.
Before Cloudypaw could protest, he shivered.
Suddenly, the world around them grew darker. The sun seemed to have disappeared completely, and the atmosphere grew even darker. Something evil and mysterious stirred the air…
A figure appeared as a silhouette from the darkness in front of them. With each step, the air grew colder and colder. The cat before them was muscular, and each movement rippled with strength. Evil emanated from every inch of his pelt. His dark brown tabby fur glistened with stars, and his deep amber eyes were cold with hatred.
Cloudypaw recognized this cat as his captor. He shivered. Now, in clear view, Cloudypaw knew who this cat was.
It was…
"Tigerstar," Winter meowed flatly, "So it was you."
"Yes," Tigerstar rumbled, "And so you have failed."
Winter dipped her head, and Cloudypaw felt fear from her. Winter? She feared Tigerstar? It was understandable, but Cloudypaw thought he would never live to see Winter quaking before another cat.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I did not know it was you who gave me the assignment. If I had known I would have—"
Tigerstar leapt and scored his wicked sharp talons across the muzzle. She fell back without a sound, and let no pain show in her eyes. Cloudypaw was frightened out of his fur as the two cats stood beside him.
"You should be sorry," Tigerstar growled.
Then, there was a laugh from behind Tigerstar. A smaller figure stepped out from behind Tigerstar, cold blue eyes narrowed with hatred. The cat at shining black fur with dots of stars scattered across his pelt. His voice was high and unearthly.
"You were always a failure, Winter."
Cloudypaw barely heard Winter's next words.
"Father."
A/N: Who is this cat?? Any guesses? :D The next chapter will continue this, and then afterwards will be the battle.
Thank you for reviewing everybody!! I'm feeling happy. So I will send all the next reviewers a story about Panther's past!
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