A/N: I –just- noticed that they automatically put in 'Chapter 11: Retribution on top, so when I type in the chapter name, you see a repeat. Oh wow, I can't believe I noticed that…Too late to change it, mwahahahaha.
Chapter 11 – Retribution
When Duskshadow finally made up his mind, he found Ravenwing sullenly sorting through herbs again and again, as if the action calmed her furious mind. After Dawnstar successfully integrated the rogues into ThunderClan—the majority being apprentices despite their age—Ravenwing refused to talk to Duskshadow like a friend anymore. It reminded him of the other apprentices' coldness to him. Only this time, it actually stung.
"Ravenwing, I have to talk to you. Privately." There were guards posted outside the medicine cat's den, 'to make sure she won't cause any trouble,' Dawnstar had said. Of course, Dawnstar trusted him not to betray her—not entirely; she couldn't be stupid if she were to try and reign her Clan—and the two rogues standing outside the den stood aside for him. "We'll be back in a few minutes," he told the guards. The guards exchanged funny looks, and one meowed, "Good luck," as if Duskshadow were courting Ravenwing. Of course the rogue warriors wouldn't know the warrior code well enough to realize that medicine cats couldn't take a mate!
It was all the better for him; they wouldn't suspect his own treachery. He led Ravenwing to the familiar place: the training hollow. "What do you want, Duskshadow?" Ravenwing sighed. It alarmed him slightly how dead her voice was, and how her blue eyes lost its stubborn gleam.
"You know that after what I said, Dawnstar trusts me like the brother I am." Ravenwing looked like she didn't care. "I am inclined to play the part for her—"
She suddenly seemed to revive and hissed, "Then you're a traitor to ThunderClan as well! Why can't you help the other cats and try to overthrow—"
He interrupted her with, "That's the stubborn one-eyed medicine cat I remember. Now why don't you behave like a good apprentice and listen!" His sharp mew silenced her. "I want you to run away, and spread the word to ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan. Tell them what Dawnstar is plotting."
"Why can't you go, if you're so determined to deny that you're a traitor?"
Duskshadow felt an overwhelming exhaustion. He was tired of Dawnstar trying to use his reputation; tired of Ravenwing's stupidity; and tired of the rogues' constant violations of the warrior code that Stormclaw had hammered into him. "Have you herbs stuffed in your ears, or are you half-deaf as well as half-blind? I said my sister trusts me, and if I run off she'll turn out all the rogues whether they're trained in battle or not. They outnumber ThunderClan four to one, and they can overwhelm the other Clans my numbers. RiverClan is weaker because of the greenleaf Twolegs, WindClan has been suffering slightly because of Twoleg hunters taking their rabbits, and ShadowClan… ShadowClan is at the moment the smallest Clan.
"But she knows that you defy her rule. She can't kill you because you're the ThunderClan medicine cat, but then again, even if you run off, she'll underestimate you. How can scrawny long-legged half-blind medicine cat threaten Dawnstar? But with my reputation, you know how Dawnstar will feel."
Ravenwing listened for once with shocked and wide eyes. "I-I'm sorry about—"
"I don't care for your apologies. Save ThunderClan or ruin it, it makes no matter to me. Now get out of my sight." They were bold words for a crippled cat, but he was furious—furious of her accusations and her mistrust at every little thing he tried to do. Rowanheart. It all grows from him. He had a sudden mad thought, to sink his claws into Rowanheart's fur and hear him whimper for mercy, but the thought went away as quickly as it had come.
When he returned to camp, he carried a false expression of regret and disappointment. The guards outside the medicine cat's den seemed to sense a foul mood, and drew the obvious conclusion: whatever they wanted to talk about, Ravenwing had turned him down.
The next day, he told Dawnstar that Ravenwing had gone out for herbs. He knew Dawnstar too well—proud and underestimating. And Ravenwing was the last cat to underestimate. Leaving his sister's den, he headed towards the apprentices' den. As he had expected, most of them were still snoozing as usual—the sun wasn't up, but he felt the same distaste that Stormclaw must have felt when he saw Rowanheart and the others still sleeping when they could be hunting or practicing battle moves.
Duskshadow raised his voice. "Everyone, wake up." The apprentices whined but dared not disobey—some of the flea-ridden rogues that Dawnstar had brought were untrained yet terrifying—and when they saw the golden crippled tom instead of a foul rogue, their moods seemed to grow worse. Of course, they think I'm a traitor. Well, I'm past caring all that foxdung.
"What do you want, Duskshadow?"
"It's not even sunhigh yet!"
He silenced them simply with: "Ravenwing is raising a rebellion against Dawnstar. Anyone interested?"
A/N 2: All right, the ending sentences were pretty dumb, but review please? Thank you to the loyal reviewers and the new ones; you guys make my day. :D