(A/N: Okay, I'm going to try and get this wrapped up fairly quickly. I think I want to make it fairly dark, so Swallowflight is going to be even less likeable than usual. In fact...by a show of paws, who wants her dead by the end? *Tansy raises her ginger paw*. Yeah...let's make her go completely insane.
Hm...I wonder how Newtclaw will react to all of this? Will they be star-crossed lovers who die for each other in the end or will he realize his mate i Y? Will any of their kits support them?)
Chapter 11
"Pineheart, slow down!" a small gray tom cried, racing after a dark brown tabby through the marsh.
A black she-cat peered out from under a thick pine tree, hidden from sight of the cats, watching in silence as the young tom followed his mentor.
"Frogpaw, you need to be faster," Pineheart meowed, slowing down to stop. He turned to face the apprentice. "If an enemy were too attack us and you had to carry a message, you'd want to get to camp as fast as possible, right?'
"Yes, but my legs are shorter than yours!" Frogpaw whined. "I can't run as fast as a warrior. I'm only six moons old, what do you expect of me?"
Pineheart shrugged. "Maybe I thought you'd be more like your sister."
"He'll never be as fast as me!" a small black she-cat meowed, bouncing through the forest toward the too toms. A larger ginger she-cat followed closely behind, a look of pride in her green eyes.
"Breezepaw may be on to something," the she-cat meowed. "She'd be able to carry a message back to camp as fast as lightning."
"Frogpaw can be every bit as fast as her!" Pineheart hissed. "He just needs more time to-"
"I didn't need any time," Breezepaw meowed proudly. "I'm just better than him at everything."
The black she-cat watching from under the tree twitched her tail. Breezepaw was so much like her mother. She was jubilant, enthusiastic, and naturally talented.
"Hey, do you smell something?" Breezepaw suddenly meowed, her green gaze darting away from the training patrol.
"No," Frogpaw mewed. "I just smell mud and grass."
The hidden cat froze as her daughter glanced toward the pine tree.
"No, I definitely smell a cat," Breezepaw meowed. "Mallowheart, do you smell it?"
The ginger she-cat narrowed her eyes. "I do. Smells like…not a Clan scent."
Frogpaw bounced beside his sister. "Is there a rogue here? Can I fight him?"
Pineheart cuffed the tom on his head. "If there's a rogue here we will drive him out. Surely he wouldn't take on four cats by himself."
Breezepaw took a step toward the pine tree, her eyes dark. "I think it smells familiar," she meowed. "It's not a rogue."
The hidden cat sighed heavily. Her daughter recognized the scent. Now she would have to show herself.
"Mother?" Breezepaw meowed. "I know you're under there."
Swallowflight took a deep breath and rose to her paws slowly, ducking under the sharp bristles of pine needles to face the patrol. She had not come to ShadowClan's territory to spy on her kits, but to speak to their father. This was not in her plans, and she didn't like being found out before having a chance to see Newtclaw.
Frogpaw's eyes lit up at the sight of the black she-cat. "Mother!" he squealed, peeling toward her. He pressed his face into her fur, a loud rumbling purr erupting from inside him. "You came to see us!"
Mallowheart sent Swallowflight a sharp glance. "What are you doing here, Swallowflight?" she growled.
"Isn't it obvious?" Breezepaw asked. "Clearly she came to see us!"
Pineheart snorted. "She gave up her right to see you when she abandoned you."
"She did not abandon us!" Frogpaw hissed, turning to stare at his mentor. "She wanted us to live with our father! She still loves us. Father said so."
Swallowflight brushed her tail along her son's pelt. "Can a mother not come to see her kits?" she meowed steadily, giving the warriors an icy stare.
"Are you even allowed to see your other two?" Pineheart snarled. "You know, since you abandoned them too?"
"What?" Breezepaw squeaked in surprise. She glanced at her mother. "What happened with Marshkit and Cloudkit?"
Mallowheart stepped in front of her apprentice. "Didn't we tell you?" she asked. "Your mother abandoned them, too. At the last Gathering she got so mad at our leaders that she left her Clan. Apparently her need to break the warrior code meant to her than all four of her kits. Now her other two are left without their mother just like you and Frogpaw."
"That is not true!" Swallowflight spat. "I love my kits just as any mother has ever loved theirs!"
"Do you?" Mallowheart snapped. "A real mother doesn't separate their children between two Clans. A real mother doesn't abandon them just because she can't have her way. You care more about Newtclaw and breaking the warrior code than you do about your own flesh and blood."
The black she-cat unsheathed her claws, her tail lashing furiously. "I came here today to speak to Newtclaw, not fight over my kits. Will you allow me to see him or not?"
Pineheart snorted. "See? You didn't even come to see Frogpaw and Breezepaw. They thought their mother had come to visit them and you just admit you didn't!"
"Mother?" Frogpaw mewed, his blue eyes round with worry. "Did you really not come to see us?"
Swallowflight heaved a sigh. "Of course I did, Dear. I wanted to see all of my ShadowClan family. You are just wanted to talk to your father about."
Breezepaw narrowed her eyes. "Why?" The young she-cat looked confused. "Did…did you really abandon Marshkit and Cloudkit? What's going on?"
"I did not abandon any of my kits!" Swallowflight insisted. "I left ThunderClan because they are a bunch of mindless rule-followers who are incapable of thinking for themselves. They think they are so righteous and perfect that they can't see how corrupt they really are. And I did not abandon Marshkit and Cloudkit. I went back to get them, and they refused to come with me. I had a plan for all of us to be together, but no. They are just as corrupt and brainwashed as the rest of ThunderClan."
"What mother calls her own children 'brainwashed'?" Mallowheart spat.
"The mother of children who prefer to live with a tom who's not even their father," Swallowflight hissed. "They took his side! They took ThunderClan's side! How can my family be together if the Clans are corrupting my kits?"
Pineheart circled the black she-cat, his amber eyes dark with rage. "Are you suggesting that we are corrupting your kits as well? The kits who dumped on us that we kindly took in and raised alongside our own? The kits who have come to see themselves as ShadowClan cats?"
"We are not corrupt!" Frogpaw meowed, stepping away from his mother. "We…we like ShadowClan."
Swallowflight kneaded the ground with her paws, closing her eyes for a long moment. "Look, I did not come here for a fight," she meowed as calmly as she could. "I came here today in good faith. I want Newtclaw and my kits to come away from ShadowClan and be with me as a family. All I want is my family to be together. That is no more than any mother ever wants."
"We don't want to leave ShadowClan," Breezepaw squeaked. "We like it here. I'm training to be a warrior now. I can't leave. Mallowheart says I show a lot of potential."
"She does," Mallowheart meowed, her green gaze softening as she glanced at her apprentice. "Breezepaw will make an excellent warrior someday."
"And so will her brother," Pineheart echoed. "They are wonderful cats and we love having them in our Clan, regardless of how they came to be here."
Swallowflight narrowed her eyes. "But they don't belong here. They belong with me. All four of my kits belong with me. Newtclaw and I will leave our Clans and take our kits. We will be together as a family and be happy without a stupid code getting in the way of our happiness!"
Breezepaw shook her head. "No, Mother. You can't take us anywhere. We're not kits anymore. If I want to stay in ShadowClan, I will. You can't make me leave."
"And I will never leave ShadowClan," Frogpaw meowed. "This is my home, and I want to stay here."
"You are my kits and you will come with me," Swallowflight hissed. "We will be together as a family."
Pineheart glared at the she-cat. "They have made their choice, Swallowflight. Why should they leave their Clan to be with you? They know what you and Newtclaw did. They know it was against the code. They also know that ShadowClan will not punish them for the sins of their parents. Your kits are welcome here and we love them. If you try to take them by force, we will fight for them."
"You sound just like ThunderClan," Swallowflight spat. "They wouldn't let me have my children, either. The Clans are messed up. Can't you see how wrong all of this is? Forbidding a mother from having her children with her is alright in your eyes? Clan cats think they're all so high and mighty when in reality they are the ones in the wrong. This is why I left ThunderClan. This is why Newtclaw will leave ShadowClan. He understands how wrong all of you are. Someday my family will all be together, and we will make all of you see how twist you've become."
"There is so much wrong with you," Mallowheart snarled. "You seem to have lost all the potential you once had as a warrior. You've turned your back on everything the Clans stand for and you're willing to drag innocent kits with you. Leave ShadowClan immediately. You are not welcome here."
Swallowflight realized that this would not end well for her. She didn't understand why her kits didn't see they were being brainwashed by these insane Clan cats. How could she lose everything she was trying to fight for? None of this was going like she and Newtclaw had planned.
"Fine," she hissed. "I'll leave today. I will be back, however. Newtclaw will be on my side and we will get our children, be sure of that."
"You will never make us leave ShadowClan," Breezepaw spat.
"You're the one who sent us here," Frogpaw added. "You will not be the one who makes us leave."
